The atmosphere among us was calm and collected, which it had never been since we started this project. Whiskey was in its final segment of the whole construction period. I look at the tank that holds our creation, submerged in curing agent. This fluid will clean out everything we might have left behind during the build and seal the whole body together.
“She looks so uncomfortable in there” Nicholas said, looking at Whiskey it looked like it was holding its breath underwater. Its arms and legs were bound to limit the movement while submerged, but I think Nicholas looks at it as if we were mobsters tossing a body in the river.
I didnt want to say anything, I just wanted to admire my work. If you didnt know she was a cyborg it would never cross your mind, it was a perfect blend of deception, beauty, and power. The door opened and the annoying doctor that headed the whole project walked in.
“Gentlemen, in an hour our work will be officialy over. Its been a long BUT rewarding week. Marcus, Nicholas. Feel free to go take a break I’ll oversee the curing and I’ll call for you when we transfer her to a regular room.” I grab my hips and stretch my back, I was pretty worn out, a nice plate of pasta sounds wonderful.
“How about lunch Nick?” he nods, a slow and creaking turn away from the tank he follows next to me as we meander down the hallway.
“Dr. Black I have your daughters report” Barbara, Nicholas’ receptionist was waving a clip board towards us. Nick collected the report as we walked by, he didnt say a word as he walked past her. He sifted through the paperwork reading specific notes and numbers. He chuckled for a second.
“Anna was claimed legally dead for 30 minutes, I’ll have to have fun with her about that”
“You enjoy teasing her quite a bit” I said holding open the door to the elevator.
“I have to bug her like that, I’m her father afterall” he smiled, I just rolled my eyes. The elevator fell to level 2 ‘cafeteria, gifts, pharmacy’ the area was pretty vacant, a few random visitors lay strewn about the area. We walked into the cafeteria and I grab a tray.
“I hope the pasta is chicken fettuchini, that’s got a good ring to it today” I shuffle into line ahead of Nicholas who’s looking around like he’s looking for someone, then I hear it.
“Doctor Black!” a young girl with light pink hair gallops over to Nicholas while typing on her phone.
“Tesla, how are you” Nicholas said.
“I’m fantastic Doctor, we just relocated your daughter to her new room, she’ll be up in an hour or so” she didnt stop typing throughout the whole conversation, let alone look down to see what she was typing. Kids these days.
“I have Anna’s report right here, I was just skimming through it” Nicholas and Tesla spoke while we shuffled through the line, I placed my order for chicken parmigiana. Nicholas made a hasted order for a bowl of clam chowder and breadsticks, and Tesla got a simple hot dog. I grabbed a cup and filled it with that which I wanted so much, cola. I ignored the two as I searched for a table to settle at, they crept over while still chatting. Nicholas looked at me in surprise, like he forgot I was around.
“I’m sorry Marcus. Tesla, this is Doctor Marcus Wheeler, he’s been working with me on the project i’ve been busy with” Tesla sprung from her seat and held out her hand in a professional handshake.
“Tesla Watchman, aspiring Cybernetic Engineer, its a great pleasure to meet you Doctor Wheeler” I didnt want to but I would’ve felt awkward not standing up, I was being played up so well I couldn’t put a bad image on someone who was interesting in our particular field. I returned a firm handshake and a kind smile.
“Marcus Wheeler, its always nice to meet people who are interesting in science” She gave a half curtsy before sitting down to her lunch. I got in a few bites of my chicken before Tesla started asking questions related to the field, which I for the most part was glad to give. Having been around Nicholas and other people who were well rounded in our practice didnt give me much chance to converse like this.
“What about those new accelerator cores coming out, how do you feel about the potential advantage they have for athletes?” Tes said.
“Well, given their statistical output they have been banned by numerous sponsors as an unfair advantage, there are two places they will find potential use, your average civilian can get an advantage from it. But the Military will find it to be a great addition to any soldier upgrade” I boasted a little.
“But in natural fashion the military will work with the lowest bidder meaning the quality will be questionable. Do you remember the Madness case reported last year? the soldiers were equipped with a low quality power core upgrade and most of those soldiers went mad from side effects. And your average civilian wont need such a high end upgrade unless they decide to put on a cape and fight crime, or even do the opposite. Athletics and sports can gain a huge advantage from applying this technology with a little calibration regulation, we could even see the invention of a new sport or two from something like this” Tesla said. I was thrown back, she had done her research.
“It seems to me we’ll have a strong addition to the field with her around” Nicholas said.
“More than that, she’ll be running this place in no time” we all had a cheerful laugh as we finished our lunch. The PA system rang its polite bell across the cafeteria.
“Dr. Black, Dr. Wheeler, please report back to your stations” the message repeated again.
“Just in time” I said, excited that we were about to watch our creation awaken to its new life. Nicholas sighed, whether or not it was one of stress or joy was hard to tell.
“Why dont you check on Anna’s condition Tes, I’m sure it would make her happy to have a friend around when she wakes up” Nicholas said.
“That was my plan from the start, I want to help her work into her new body” Tesla was working the keys on her phone again.
“I do have to say that I would prefer if you didnt tinker with these parts, their top notch” Nick asked her. She smiled and understood what he was saying. I’m sure she was part of the reason Anna’s old parts worked like they did.
We made our way back to our station and saw a camera that was watching our project as it slept in its bed. Whiskey would wake up soon. Not too long after that it would be out of our hands. Whiskey would go through basic training before being sent off to its new home at sea.
“What the hell is she doing in there?” I said. She sat next to the other bed in the room, the one I didnt pay any attention to until now. Anna was in the bed next to Whiskey.
“They put... my daughter... in the same room as Whiskey” I looked around at the staff in the room, they didnt seem to have an issue with it.
“Too late now, look” Marcus said. I looked at the monitor, Whiskey was shuffling in her sheets while Anna was waking to Tesla’s excitement over her new look. Anna waved Tesla to calm down with her real arm since she had just woken from her procedure. The two girls looked over at Whiskey who was looking around the room.
“Look at that!” Marcus said. Watching our piece of work do something as minor as sit up and look around, granted she had no idea where she was or even who she was.
“Get someone in there to look Whiskey over, right now” I wanted to go in too, I want to make sure that if something bad happens i can protect Anna.
“I’m going in too” I started out the door, with a nurse in tow. Marcus grabbed my lab coat.
“Nick, everythings fine... Whiskey isnt a danger”
“We dont know that yet” I growled. I hustled down the hall to their room on the way I ran into members of the team Whiskey was going to be joining. I cant deal with them now, I need to get in there and make sure everything is alright. I stop at their door and take a deep breath just as I open the door. I found Whiskey flying through a small bowl of soup, like it was the last one ever. Anna and Tesla were chatting about breaking in her new parts when they looked at me.
“Dad, look!” Anna lifted her new arm, but it looked like she was wading through molasses, she waved at me, my guard fell like a stack of bricks I walked over to her and hugged her with the kind of hug I as her dad can only give her. Tesla watched with a kind smile.
“Anna, how are you? are you okay?” I asked her.
“I’m fine dad, what about you, your sweating” I took the back of my hand and set it on top of my head. I was indeed sweating, with worry for my daughters well being with someone who has, for the most part, woken for the first time. The nurse who tagged along was looking over Whiskey, reassuring her she was in safe conditions. I had to talk to her, to say something positive to her in her moment of unknowing, the fear that can creep in and say things are not right. I set my daughter down, Vincents work was just as I expected it to be, incredible.
“I’m going to look at your roommate for a just a second” I step up and move to the other bed. I had to be very careful of what I say right now, I cant say something that will bring attention to what Whiskey is, I need to focus on making sure she’s alright, not afraid of her surroundings. The nurse checks her breathing as I sit down.
“She’s just fine, breathing is normal, no abnormalities detected” she says.
“Thank you, I think I have it from here” I look at whiskey who is running her fingers through the bottom of her soup bowl.
“Do you like the soup?” I venture, she nods.
“Bring us another helping, just like this one” the nurse nods and leaves the room. I reach for Whiskeys hand and start checking that everything is as it should be. I stand up and feel her back, measure her breathing. I feel so strange, she feels so natural to the touch, it was eerie that she was filled with metal and wire.
“Lie down please” she does as I ask. I squeeze her stomach and check for irregularities, again I come up empty.
“Where... am I?” she asked in a whisper I almost didnt hear her.
“Your in Van De Merve Hospital” I said.
“Who... who am I” A feeling like a baseball in my stomach hit me. I was afraid she would ask that. What do I say? what can I tell her that can reassure her she is in safe hands?
“I can answer that for you” I looked at the door to see Levan she floated in to look at Whiskey.
“Wow just look at you, your a cutie” I step away from the bed and Levan replaces my position. She poked and prodded at Whiskey who, was attempting to protect herself from Levans groping assault. The nurse returned with another tray of soup, and swapped it with the old one. Whiskey lunged for it and ditched the spoon. She for the most part drank most of the soup, stopping every once in a while to mix her bread sticks in. Anna and Tesla watched as Whiskey consumed her second helping, such a small girl had such a big appetite. There was a knock at the door, Marcus had caught up with us.
“Dr. Black, we still have work to do” I looked at Anna, then at Whiskey her eyes, those deep blue eyes were easy to get attached to. Levan walked over to me and started patting my on the shoulder.
“Dont worry about her Doc, Ill take care of her. We’ll get every situated” I nodded in understanding. I turned towards the door, but not before turning to Anna.
“I’ll see you later ok? Take care of her Tes” Tesla gave a mock salute while Anna waved and smiled. I walked through the door catching Whiskeys glance one more time, she smiled at me.
The same smile that Anna had.
“She looks so uncomfortable in there” Nicholas said, looking at Whiskey it looked like it was holding its breath underwater. Its arms and legs were bound to limit the movement while submerged, but I think Nicholas looks at it as if we were mobsters tossing a body in the river.
I didnt want to say anything, I just wanted to admire my work. If you didnt know she was a cyborg it would never cross your mind, it was a perfect blend of deception, beauty, and power. The door opened and the annoying doctor that headed the whole project walked in.
“Gentlemen, in an hour our work will be officialy over. Its been a long BUT rewarding week. Marcus, Nicholas. Feel free to go take a break I’ll oversee the curing and I’ll call for you when we transfer her to a regular room.” I grab my hips and stretch my back, I was pretty worn out, a nice plate of pasta sounds wonderful.
“How about lunch Nick?” he nods, a slow and creaking turn away from the tank he follows next to me as we meander down the hallway.
“Dr. Black I have your daughters report” Barbara, Nicholas’ receptionist was waving a clip board towards us. Nick collected the report as we walked by, he didnt say a word as he walked past her. He sifted through the paperwork reading specific notes and numbers. He chuckled for a second.
“Anna was claimed legally dead for 30 minutes, I’ll have to have fun with her about that”
“You enjoy teasing her quite a bit” I said holding open the door to the elevator.
“I have to bug her like that, I’m her father afterall” he smiled, I just rolled my eyes. The elevator fell to level 2 ‘cafeteria, gifts, pharmacy’ the area was pretty vacant, a few random visitors lay strewn about the area. We walked into the cafeteria and I grab a tray.
“I hope the pasta is chicken fettuchini, that’s got a good ring to it today” I shuffle into line ahead of Nicholas who’s looking around like he’s looking for someone, then I hear it.
“Doctor Black!” a young girl with light pink hair gallops over to Nicholas while typing on her phone.
“Tesla, how are you” Nicholas said.
“I’m fantastic Doctor, we just relocated your daughter to her new room, she’ll be up in an hour or so” she didnt stop typing throughout the whole conversation, let alone look down to see what she was typing. Kids these days.
“I have Anna’s report right here, I was just skimming through it” Nicholas and Tesla spoke while we shuffled through the line, I placed my order for chicken parmigiana. Nicholas made a hasted order for a bowl of clam chowder and breadsticks, and Tesla got a simple hot dog. I grabbed a cup and filled it with that which I wanted so much, cola. I ignored the two as I searched for a table to settle at, they crept over while still chatting. Nicholas looked at me in surprise, like he forgot I was around.
“I’m sorry Marcus. Tesla, this is Doctor Marcus Wheeler, he’s been working with me on the project i’ve been busy with” Tesla sprung from her seat and held out her hand in a professional handshake.
“Tesla Watchman, aspiring Cybernetic Engineer, its a great pleasure to meet you Doctor Wheeler” I didnt want to but I would’ve felt awkward not standing up, I was being played up so well I couldn’t put a bad image on someone who was interesting in our particular field. I returned a firm handshake and a kind smile.
“Marcus Wheeler, its always nice to meet people who are interesting in science” She gave a half curtsy before sitting down to her lunch. I got in a few bites of my chicken before Tesla started asking questions related to the field, which I for the most part was glad to give. Having been around Nicholas and other people who were well rounded in our practice didnt give me much chance to converse like this.
“What about those new accelerator cores coming out, how do you feel about the potential advantage they have for athletes?” Tes said.
“Well, given their statistical output they have been banned by numerous sponsors as an unfair advantage, there are two places they will find potential use, your average civilian can get an advantage from it. But the Military will find it to be a great addition to any soldier upgrade” I boasted a little.
“But in natural fashion the military will work with the lowest bidder meaning the quality will be questionable. Do you remember the Madness case reported last year? the soldiers were equipped with a low quality power core upgrade and most of those soldiers went mad from side effects. And your average civilian wont need such a high end upgrade unless they decide to put on a cape and fight crime, or even do the opposite. Athletics and sports can gain a huge advantage from applying this technology with a little calibration regulation, we could even see the invention of a new sport or two from something like this” Tesla said. I was thrown back, she had done her research.
“It seems to me we’ll have a strong addition to the field with her around” Nicholas said.
“More than that, she’ll be running this place in no time” we all had a cheerful laugh as we finished our lunch. The PA system rang its polite bell across the cafeteria.
“Dr. Black, Dr. Wheeler, please report back to your stations” the message repeated again.
“Just in time” I said, excited that we were about to watch our creation awaken to its new life. Nicholas sighed, whether or not it was one of stress or joy was hard to tell.
“Why dont you check on Anna’s condition Tes, I’m sure it would make her happy to have a friend around when she wakes up” Nicholas said.
“That was my plan from the start, I want to help her work into her new body” Tesla was working the keys on her phone again.
“I do have to say that I would prefer if you didnt tinker with these parts, their top notch” Nick asked her. She smiled and understood what he was saying. I’m sure she was part of the reason Anna’s old parts worked like they did.
We made our way back to our station and saw a camera that was watching our project as it slept in its bed. Whiskey would wake up soon. Not too long after that it would be out of our hands. Whiskey would go through basic training before being sent off to its new home at sea.
-=+=-
I was nervous, or maybe I was upset, or guilty, or proud. It was way to hard to tell. The way I felt about Project Whiskey was a roller coaster. I was proud of my work, but working on an innocent girl who should be dating and getting an education was out of my moral range. The door opened to the room and Tesla walked in.“What the hell is she doing in there?” I said. She sat next to the other bed in the room, the one I didnt pay any attention to until now. Anna was in the bed next to Whiskey.
“They put... my daughter... in the same room as Whiskey” I looked around at the staff in the room, they didnt seem to have an issue with it.
“Too late now, look” Marcus said. I looked at the monitor, Whiskey was shuffling in her sheets while Anna was waking to Tesla’s excitement over her new look. Anna waved Tesla to calm down with her real arm since she had just woken from her procedure. The two girls looked over at Whiskey who was looking around the room.
“Look at that!” Marcus said. Watching our piece of work do something as minor as sit up and look around, granted she had no idea where she was or even who she was.
“Get someone in there to look Whiskey over, right now” I wanted to go in too, I want to make sure that if something bad happens i can protect Anna.
“I’m going in too” I started out the door, with a nurse in tow. Marcus grabbed my lab coat.
“Nick, everythings fine... Whiskey isnt a danger”
“We dont know that yet” I growled. I hustled down the hall to their room on the way I ran into members of the team Whiskey was going to be joining. I cant deal with them now, I need to get in there and make sure everything is alright. I stop at their door and take a deep breath just as I open the door. I found Whiskey flying through a small bowl of soup, like it was the last one ever. Anna and Tesla were chatting about breaking in her new parts when they looked at me.
“Dad, look!” Anna lifted her new arm, but it looked like she was wading through molasses, she waved at me, my guard fell like a stack of bricks I walked over to her and hugged her with the kind of hug I as her dad can only give her. Tesla watched with a kind smile.
“Anna, how are you? are you okay?” I asked her.
“I’m fine dad, what about you, your sweating” I took the back of my hand and set it on top of my head. I was indeed sweating, with worry for my daughters well being with someone who has, for the most part, woken for the first time. The nurse who tagged along was looking over Whiskey, reassuring her she was in safe conditions. I had to talk to her, to say something positive to her in her moment of unknowing, the fear that can creep in and say things are not right. I set my daughter down, Vincents work was just as I expected it to be, incredible.
“I’m going to look at your roommate for a just a second” I step up and move to the other bed. I had to be very careful of what I say right now, I cant say something that will bring attention to what Whiskey is, I need to focus on making sure she’s alright, not afraid of her surroundings. The nurse checks her breathing as I sit down.
“She’s just fine, breathing is normal, no abnormalities detected” she says.
“Thank you, I think I have it from here” I look at whiskey who is running her fingers through the bottom of her soup bowl.
“Do you like the soup?” I venture, she nods.
“Bring us another helping, just like this one” the nurse nods and leaves the room. I reach for Whiskeys hand and start checking that everything is as it should be. I stand up and feel her back, measure her breathing. I feel so strange, she feels so natural to the touch, it was eerie that she was filled with metal and wire.
“Lie down please” she does as I ask. I squeeze her stomach and check for irregularities, again I come up empty.
“Where... am I?” she asked in a whisper I almost didnt hear her.
“Your in Van De Merve Hospital” I said.
“Who... who am I” A feeling like a baseball in my stomach hit me. I was afraid she would ask that. What do I say? what can I tell her that can reassure her she is in safe hands?
“I can answer that for you” I looked at the door to see Levan she floated in to look at Whiskey.
“Wow just look at you, your a cutie” I step away from the bed and Levan replaces my position. She poked and prodded at Whiskey who, was attempting to protect herself from Levans groping assault. The nurse returned with another tray of soup, and swapped it with the old one. Whiskey lunged for it and ditched the spoon. She for the most part drank most of the soup, stopping every once in a while to mix her bread sticks in. Anna and Tesla watched as Whiskey consumed her second helping, such a small girl had such a big appetite. There was a knock at the door, Marcus had caught up with us.
“Dr. Black, we still have work to do” I looked at Anna, then at Whiskey her eyes, those deep blue eyes were easy to get attached to. Levan walked over to me and started patting my on the shoulder.
“Dont worry about her Doc, Ill take care of her. We’ll get every situated” I nodded in understanding. I turned towards the door, but not before turning to Anna.
“I’ll see you later ok? Take care of her Tes” Tesla gave a mock salute while Anna waved and smiled. I walked through the door catching Whiskeys glance one more time, she smiled at me.
The same smile that Anna had.
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