The Cadet - The Officers 1 #watty2015

Chapter 15 - The trial part 1

The message Williamson had recorded for his father had finally been reviewed and processed. It had to clear both his step-mother and the doctors before they actually played it. In the case of his step-mother it was her way of being annoying. For the doctors it was to ensure nothing in the message might further aggravate the condition Herman was in. When they did play it even though it had been vetted and cleared it did cause issues.

At first when it had been played there had been a very slight but noticeable change in Herman's brainwaves. Even with the reaction the doctors had chosen to remain neutral about them since it didn't mean the man would wake. A short time later Herman had gone into cardiac arrest, possibly due to the message and he had been taken to surgery for an emergency bypass procedure. They had been hoping they wouldn't need to do that but again they had been neutral about it. Herman was in such bad shape the doctors had expected it to happen sooner or later.

The big question was would the surgery have a further impact on Herman and his other issue. The liver they couldn't do much about unless a donor came forward. Even if they did due to his lifestyle he would be extremely low on the list of recipients. They could have used a genetically engineered liver but that was something he had chosen to not use. The other issue they were hoping the surgery wouldn't affect was the effects of the stroke on his brain.

It was possible with the bypass surgery that there would be sufficient loss of blood flow to the brain it might worsen it. If that happened what little hopes they had of Herman's waking up would be dashed. They would end up with a vegetable in a hospital bed. That wouldn't be good at all.

Jackie had received the news of the cardiac arrest almost as it happened. The doctors had already told her if one happened he would have to have surgery. She had made sure to let them know she understood and for them to do their best. Jackie needed Herman alive till the end of the trial if at all possible. Once the trial was over and her eventually no longer son in law would lose everything. He would no longer be eligible for becoming the heir of his father. This was especially true when it came to the personality programming.

Once the personality mod happened it invalidated him from anything except a trust fund. It was to keep people from getting a personality mod just to keep a fortune. When the process had been started it had happened several times. A criminal would undergo a 'mod' and have someone proclaim him sane and safe. The criminal would then take ownership of the ill gotten gains, or the legal portion of the money. They would then start over anew. Now the entire process was very heavily audited and reviewed. Each personality mod was reviewed, audited, additional reviews, and then a final audit. This was to ensure the 'mod' had actually been done.

Since Herman was going under the knife at the moment Jackie had decided it was best to be at the hospital. Adelbert was there along with one of the company lawyers. She was ignoring the female since she had been one of Herman's lovers. How she could stand to be in bed much less the same room with Herman Jackie didn't know. It had to have been large quantities of booze and money she guessed. Both women not just despised each other but hated the guts of the other. Listening to the two at one of the various company meals similar to listening to sharks debating on who got eaten next.

"Adelbert I am going to get some coffee. Would you mind escorting me? I don't feel like being alone at the moment." Jackie looked tired and drawn, which she was. The last several weeks since her husband had had the stroke had been very busy and tiring.

"Not a problem Mrs. Williamson since I could use a cup myself." The two of them slowly walked down to the cafeteria. Just to be somewhat snobbish she ordered a Latte with all the fixings from one of the stands. Frankly she liked her coffee black and strong but this fit her image as much as she hated it. When Adelbert ordered a strong black she frowned at him.