Chapter 5: The Price of Miracles
The six-hour bus ride home felt like a descent into hell. Marcus sat in the back, watching the countryside blur past while twenty-three stolen dreams churned in his consciousness like acid. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw their faces—Sarah's confusion as her medical ambitions died, David's blank stare as years of revolutionary research became meaningless, Jennifer's casual dismissal of work that could have saved millions.
ENERGY DECAY RATE: 0.3% PER HOUR
EMMA'S MIRACLE MAINTENANCE: 12 UNITS PER HOUR
CURRENT RESERVES: 8,221 UNITS
TIME UNTIL CRITICAL LEVELS: 27 DAYS
Twenty-seven days. That's how long Emma had unless he fed the system again.
The golden voice had been mercifully quiet since the campus, but Marcus could feel its presence lurking in the back of his mind like a satisfied predator. Waiting. Watching. Confident in the choice he would ultimately make.
His phone buzzed with a text from Jake: Dude where are you? Missed algorithms class. Prof Chen was asking about you.
Marcus stared at the message, remembering his roommate's former passion for gaming, his dreams of going pro. Now Jake was probably just relieved to have missed one less class. Another casualty in Marcus's growing wake of destruction.
He typed back: Family emergency. Back soon.
The lie came easily now.
St. Mary's Children's Hospital looked exactly like Marcus remembered from his childhood visits—sterile white walls, cartoon murals that couldn't quite hide the underlying sadness, the faint smell of disinfectant mixed with cafeteria food. He found Emma's room on the third floor, his heart pounding as he approached the door.
His mother was asleep in a chair beside the bed, exhaustion etched deep in her face. But Emma was awake, sitting up and coloring in a sketchbook, her tongue poking out slightly in concentration.
She looked... healthy. More than healthy—she looked radiant. Her skin had a flush of vitality that hadn't been there in the photos his mother had sent over the past months. Her hair, which had started falling out from the early treatment attempts, seemed fuller. Even her posture was different, more energetic.
"Uncle Marcus!" She dropped her crayon and launched herself at him with the enthusiasm of a perfectly normal eight-year-old. No weakness, no fatigue, no sign of the tumor that should have been killing her.
The system's power was terrifyingly effective.
"Hey there, little artist." Marcus caught her in a hug that felt like both salvation and damnation. She smelled like hospital soap and strawberry shampoo, so alive and warm against his chest. "I heard you've been giving the doctors some surprises."
Emma pulled back, her eyes bright with excitement. "They keep saying it's a miracle! The bad thing in my head is getting smaller and smaller. Dr. Peterson says if it keeps shrinking like this, I might not need the scary treatments anymore."
"That's incredible, Em. I'm so happy."
"Look what I've been drawing!" She dragged him to her bed, where her sketchbook lay open to a page covered in colorful animals. "This is a dolphin that saves other sea animals from fishing nets. And this is a dog that can sniff out sick people and help them feel better. And this one—" she pointed to a carefully drawn horse, "—this one takes medicine to places where there aren't any hospitals."
Each drawing was more detailed than anything Marcus remembered from her previous artwork. The improvement was dramatic, as if her enhanced health had unlocked hidden artistic potential.
SECONDARY EFFECTS DETECTED
SUBJECT'S COGNITIVE ABILITIES ENHANCED BY 23%
CREATIVE CAPACITY INCREASED
EMPATHIC RESPONSES AMPLIFIED
MIRACLE OPTIMIZATION: ACTIVE
The golden text appeared without warning, making Marcus flinch. Emma didn't seem to notice.
"They're beautiful, Em. You're getting so good at drawing."
"I want to draw every animal in the world! Then when I'm a veterinarian, I'll already know what they all look like." She turned to a fresh page and started sketching what looked like a tiger. "Daddy says I can have art lessons when we get home. And maybe a puppy too!"
Marcus's throat tightened. The little girl in front of him was everything he'd hoped to save—healthy, happy, full of dreams and potential. She was going to live, going to grow up, going to make the world better in her own small way.
All because he'd destroyed twenty-three other futures.
His mother stirred in her chair, blinking awake. "Marcus? Oh, sweetheart, when did you get here?"
"Just now." He hugged her, noting how much weight she'd lost during Emma's illness. "You look exhausted, Mom."
"I'm fine. Just so relieved. The doctors can't explain it, but Emma's latest scans show the tumor has shrunk by almost sixty percent in just two days. They've never seen anything like it."
TUMOR REDUCTION: 63.7%
PROJECTED FULL RECOVERY: 8 DAYS AT CURRENT ENERGY EXPENDITURE
WARNING: RAPID HEALING DRAWING MEDICAL ATTENTION
RECOMMEND SLOWER PROGRESSION TO AVOID INVESTIGATION
Marcus ignored the system's warnings and focused on his mother's hopeful smile. "That's amazing news."
"It is. Your uncle Tom keeps saying it's a miracle. He's been praying nonstop." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Between you and me, I think Emma's recovery is what's keeping him sane. After losing Michael to cancer, the thought of losing Emma too..." She shook her head. "This is giving our whole family hope again."
Uncle Tom. Marcus had almost forgotten about him. Tom had lost his eldest son to leukemia five years ago—a tragedy that had nearly destroyed him. Emma's illness had reopened all those old wounds. But now...
"How is Uncle Tom handling all this?"
"Better than I've seen him in years. He's talking about going back to work, maybe even dating again. Emma's recovery is like... like it's healing the whole family."
RIPPLE EFFECTS DETECTED
PRIMARY MIRACLE INSPIRING SECONDARY PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALING
ESTIMATED POSITIVE IMPACT: 47 INDIVIDUALS
EFFICIENCY RATING: EXCEPTIONAL
The system was right. Emma's miracle wasn't just saving her—it was healing her entire extended family, giving hope to everyone who'd been watching her slowly die. The ripple effects would spread outward for years, maybe decades.
But so would the ripples from the twenty-three dreams he'd consumed. David Kim's abandoned solar technology, Sarah's lost medical ambitions, Jennifer's scrapped water purification systems—how many lives could those innovations have saved?
"Uncle Marcus, want to help me color?" Emma held up a red crayon, her smile radiant.
"Of course."
They spent the next hour working on her animal drawings while his mother dozed in her chair. Emma chattered constantly about her plans for the future—the veterinary school she wanted to attend, the animal shelter she wanted to run, the endangered species she wanted to help save. Her dreams were so pure, so untainted by cynicism or doubt.
The kind of dreams the system fed on.
"Emma," Marcus said carefully, "what made you want to become a veterinarian?"
She paused in her coloring, considering the question with the seriousness only children could bring to such topics. "Animals can't tell people when they hurt. They just have to suffer and hope someone notices. I want to be someone who notices."
The words hit Marcus like a punch to the gut. This little girl, faced with her own mortality at age eight, was thinking about alleviating suffering in others. She had more compassion in her small finger than most adults possessed in their entire bodies.
And if he didn't keep feeding the system, she would die.
"That's a beautiful reason, Em."
"Plus, animals are nicer than people sometimes. They don't lie or try to hurt each other on purpose." She switched to a green crayon, carefully coloring inside the lines. "When I get better, I want to volunteer at the animal shelter. Maybe I can help them find homes."
SUBJECT DEMONSTRATES EXCEPTIONAL EMPATHIC POTENTIAL
PROJECTED LIFETIME IMPACT: SIGNIFICANT
ESTIMATED LIVES SAVED THROUGH VETERINARY CAREER: 3,000+ ANIMALS
ESTIMATED HUMANS INSPIRED BY SUBJECT'S EXAMPLE: 200+
MIRACLE EFFICIENCY RATING: MAXIMUM
Marcus closed his eyes, the system's calculations burning behind his eyelids. Emma would save thousands of animals and inspire hundreds of people. Her recovery would heal her family's generational trauma. Her very existence would be a beacon of hope.
All for the low price of consuming other people's dreams.
His phone buzzed. A text from an unknown number: This is David Kim. I know what you did.
Marcus's blood turned to ice. He glanced around the hospital room—Emma was still coloring, his mother still dozing. With shaking fingers, he typed back: I don't know what you mean.
The response came immediately: Room 314. Engineering dorm. You took something from me. I want it back.
That's impossible, Marcus replied. You don't remember—
I remember everything. The system doesn't erase memories, just motivation. I know exactly what I lost and exactly who took it. Meet me at the campus coffee shop tomorrow at 2 PM, or I start asking questions about the miracle recoveries.
Marcus stared at the screen in horror. David remembered. Somehow, despite having his dreams consumed, he remembered what had happened. Which meant others might remember too.
ALERT: SECURITY BREACH DETECTED
SUBJECT RETENTION OF PRE-CONSUMPTION MEMORIES: ANOMALOUS
PROBABILITY OF ADDITIONAL RETAINED MEMORIES: 34%
RECOMMEND IMMEDIATE CORRECTIVE ACTION
The golden voice whispered in Marcus's mind: This is unfortunate but manageable. The subject can be silenced permanently.
"No." Marcus said it out loud, making Emma look up from her drawing.
"No what, Uncle Marcus?"
"Nothing, sweetheart. Just... talking to myself."
The alternative is exposure. Investigation. Discovery of what you've become. Emma's miracle will be questioned. The energy maintaining her recovery could be disrupted by external interference.
Marcus felt the walls closing in. If David went public, if he started asking questions about impossible medical recoveries and students suddenly losing their motivation, it would lead to investigations. And investigations would lead to questions about Emma's miraculous healing.
Questions that might disrupt the system's maintenance of her recovery.
One more consumption. David Kim's memories of the incident. Simple, clean, surgical. He goes back to his normal life, Emma stays healthy, everyone wins.
"Uncle Marcus, you look sad. Are you okay?"
Marcus looked into Emma's concerned eyes and forced a smile. "I'm fine, baby. Just tired from the bus ride."
But he wasn't fine. David Kim was a threat to Emma's miracle. And despite everything Marcus had already done, despite the twenty-three dreams he'd already consumed, he was going to have to do it again.
The hardest choices require the strongest wills, the system whispered. You're protecting your family. You're preserving hope itself.
Marcus's phone buzzed again. Another message from David: 2 PM tomorrow. Don't make me wait.
Then another text, this one from a different unknown number: This is Jennifer Walsh. We need to talk.
Marcus's heart stopped. Another one. Another person who somehow retained their memories despite having their dreams consumed.
A third text arrived before he could process the second: Sarah Martinez here. I remember what you took from me. What you are. We all remember.
CRITICAL ALERT: MASS MEMORY RETENTION EVENT
ESTIMATED AFFECTED SUBJECTS: 23/23
SECURITY COMPROMISE: TOTAL
IMMEDIATE CONSUMPTION OF ALL AFFECTED SUBJECTS REQUIRED
Twenty-three people. All of them remembered. All of them would demand answers, threaten exposure, risk Emma's miracle.
All of them would have to be silenced.
This is larger than we anticipated, the golden voice admitted, but the solution remains the same. Total consumption of the affected subjects' memories. They'll forget what happened, return to their empty lives, and Emma remains safe.
"I can't," Marcus whispered. "I can't do it again."
You can. You will. Because the alternative is letting an innocent child die to protect the feelings of adults who will never even remember what they've lost.
Emma had finished her tiger drawing and was starting on what looked like a giraffe. Her small hands moved with confident strokes, bringing the animal to life on paper. She hummed quietly as she worked—a happy, healthy eight-year-old with her whole life ahead of her.
A life that depended entirely on Marcus's willingness to become a monster.
The meeting is a trap, the system continued. They're organizing. Planning to expose you. If they succeed, the investigation will disrupt Emma's treatment. Her tumor will return, more aggressive than before. She'll die in agony while you sit in a psychiatric facility, branded as delusional.
Marcus imagined Emma's bright smile fading as the cancer returned. Imagined her small body ravaged by treatments that no longer worked. Imagined Uncle Tom's fragile recovery shattered as he watched another child in his family die.
All because Marcus wasn't strong enough to make the hard choice.
"Twenty-three more," he whispered.
Twenty-three more, the system agreed. And then Emma is safe forever. The miracle becomes permanent. No more feeding required for her maintenance.
"Promise me."
I promise you, Marcus Chen. Consume these twenty-three threats to your family's happiness, and Emma's recovery becomes self-sustaining. No more hunger. No more choices. Just a healthy little girl who grows up to save the world one animal at a time.
Marcus looked at Emma, still humming as she colored, completely unaware that her uncle was planning to destroy twenty-three lives to save hers. She looked up and caught him staring.
"Want to help with the giraffe's spots?"
"Sure, baby."
As Marcus picked up a brown crayon and began adding spots to Emma's giraffe, he made his choice. Tomorrow, he would meet with David Kim and the others. He would listen to their demands, their threats, their righteous anger.
And then he would consume every trace of what they'd lost, leaving them as empty shells who would never again dream of changing the world.
Emma's laughter filled the hospital room as Marcus helped her finish the giraffe, the sound bright and pure and worth any price.
Even the price of his own soul.