Free Dhungwana 2117: A captivating sci-fi novel: The Dhungwana Chronicles (2117-3451) Part 1 by Baibin Nighthawk, Dominick Fencer

record the sale and unfortunately for this sum I cannot accept cash.”
    Dayla took the hint and, looking around and seeing no other customers, she replied with a confident tone: “I’d like that drone, I don’t need a warranty. Perhaps this drone is broken... it fell from the top shelf of that cabinet, right?”
    The owner thought it over a moment.
    “You’re right, it's definitely broken... yep... it’s damaged beyond repair... Damn it, I am going to order a new one indicating that this item was thrown away... in fact, I just lost a sale.”
    “Thank you, that’s very kind of you” answered Dayla, putting the cash on the counter, pocketing the drone and immediately leaving the store.
    The owner put the money straight into his pocket and, with a shake of the head and a smile, he disappeared into the back room.

29
     
    An hour later Dayla was in the hospital, standing in front of a doctor at Dispensary 27. She was out of breath as she spoke: “Good morning, I am Dayla Erle. I came to pick up a pack of patches to replace a defective lot.”
    “Hello, madam, we were not expecting you. Let me check the system... ” The doctor seemed nervous and absent minded, not at all sympathetic.
    “My Health Tutor told me to come here... ” Dayla explained, kindly.
    “Even if you were the President of Dhungwana, you still have to wait for the results of the check” he said, rudely.
    Dayla, who wasn’t the type to be intimidated, replied bluntly: “I only wanted to point out that since the faulty patch was issued by this hospital, and my Health Tutor told me to come this morning, it seems strange that I wasn’t expected. That's all.”
    The man looked at her with annoyance, then continued his search and finally said: “No way, you’re not on the waiting list... I mean your customized patches are not yet ready... But it seems that all, and I mean all, drugs are out of stock... what is happening to the system? I’ll go and check with the researchers in production. I’ll just be a few minutes, wait here and we will soon clear this up. I can’t understand what’s going on.” The doctor immediately left the room, grumbling as he went.
    Dayla quickly realized she was alone, and without wasting any time, she used her new microdrone to photograph the screen system and the names and addresses of the patients listed there, using the remote control she held in her jacket pocket. The drone landed on the screen, scrolling down the page and recording everything.
    The doctor came back to his desk after ten minutes and Dayla had had plenty of time to take the pictures and now the tiny fly hid in her hair over her shoulders.
    “We cannot do anything this morning. Your patches will be ready in two days; you’ll have to come back the day after tomorrow at 8 am. We had a production delay due to a technical fault that has now been resolved. Have a nice day!”
    Dayla said goodbye to the strange doctor, left the hospital even more puzzled, and walked lost in thought towards BlueGray Corporation.

30
     
    “Why don’t you want to make love to me tonight, Ian?” asked Dayla at 10.30 pm. They had met at his house and had already had dinner.
    “I’m not in mood, that's all. So… you’ll have to go without treatment tomorrow, too.”
    “Yes, but I'm fine… really… ” answered Dayla, without telling him anything about the drone and the list that she had photographed secretly.
    In fact, before meeting him, Dayla had gone home, downloaded the list onto a pendrive and had examined it. She was astonished: the list contained the names of 2,352 people from District 604, including their full personal details, people who were all being treated with the same therapy as her and had been diagnosed with paramnesia. The list contained no indication of personalized treatments and no mention of the active ingredients administered.
    Dayla got up from the couch to fetch a glass of water and, passing near the wall, leaned close to listen: