"Import biology.neurology as neuro. Import chemistry.organic as orgo."
Every programmer had their little tricks, based on their background. Once, long ago, I'd studied to be a biologist. This was one of mine.
"TTDX = orgo.complex(). TTDX.formula equals C eleven, H seventeen, N three, O eight. TTDX.structure equals..."
I slammed the door shut, and closed my eyes. I had about five seconds to visualize the molecule I wanted. The loops arranged themselves in my head, coiled like miniature serpents.
The door burst open.
Repelled object (Type:bullet) at 2016-05-20 23:44:10.339582 Repelled object (Type:bullet) at 2016-05-20 23:44:10.512341 Repelled object (Type:bullet) at 2016-05-20 23:44:10.522345 Repelled object (Type:bullet) at 2016-05-20 23:44:10.633456 Repelled object (Type:bullet) at 2016-05-20 23:44:10.723434
My fingers went numb. Something warm and wet ran down my arm. The code keeping my shoulder stable had finally crashed.
"For each (person in physics.location(relative, self, phys.SI(10)))..."
Repelled object (Type:bullet) at 2016-05-20 23:44:13.212344 Repelled object (Type:bullet) at 2016-05-20 23:44:13.238783 Repelled object (Type:bullet) at 2016-05-20 23:44:13.338783
The words came hard, my tongue thick and heavy. The world flickered back to solidity for one brief, terrifying moment. I looked up at a blank visor, and spoke.
"...neuro.medulla(person).apply(TTDX, 10)."
>>>
There was a clattering of guns, the heavy slump of bodies hitting the floor, then silence. Tetrodotoxin. Or, to most people, pufferfish venom. I'd paralyzed them completely. They had about three minutes before they died of asphyxiation, but I had about one before their self-diagnosis systems figured out and fixed what I'd done. And after that, if anyone ever figured out I'd used my equivalent of nerve gas, I was going to jail for a long, long time.
InsufficientPowerError: Warning! Phys.repel will not function.
>
Error: Heal.exe terminated.
My shoulder blazed, but adrenaline kept me moving down the stairs. I made sure to step on as many of them as I could on the way down.
Forty seconds.