Circuits And Synapses Part 4

"So girls, we are heading into a new stage of the experiment and our meeting here today will go over a few things we are going to do as well as map out the next few months as far as procedures go." At that moment the door opened and Elizabeth walked in. She sat down next to Jack but remained silent.

"This is Elizabeth for those of you whom have yet to meet her. She is going to help me explain what we are going to do. Let's start with the next procedure planned, it is a very invasive surgery and will perhaps change your life in a different way than what we have been doing thus far." The girls in the room were puzzled, what could they do that was different from replacing their human parts for machines. Elizabeth cleared her throat at that moment and opened her mouth to speak.

"We plan to remove your uteruses, making it impossible for you to have children, this will cease your menstrual cycle and allow you to cope better in missions and in the future we have planned for you. Does that make sense? Are there any questions concerning that procedure?" Elizabeth paused for a moment to answer any question but most of the girls were still getting their heads around what she had said. One of the other girls in the group must have processed faster than the rest and eyed Elizabeth.

"So we won't be able to have kids, ever?"

"Never ever, that does not fit in with the lifestyle of your job, nor does it make any sense to leave the possibility that one day you might. With nearly all your body made of machines you will be a different sort of human. Interaction will be different and thus reproduction is out of the question. Does that answer your question?" The girl nodded but was no happier about the situation than before. A few other questions were asked, mostly dealing with the pain and length of recovery time. Elizabeth answered that the pain would be minimal the recovery time a few days. All that the surgeons were going to do was remove the female organ and close them back up.

"Which leads us into the next procedure, which will directly follow the one we just explained." Jack brought out a suitcase and set it on the table. He opened it up and pulled out several files. Each file had a girl's name on it and all of them eyed Jack suspiciously.

"These files here are going to be a key factor in your first limb replacement procedure. Depending on what we decide here we can map out the remainder of your time here at the company. We will start with Rebecca." Jack pulled out the file with Rebecca's name on it and flipped through the pages until coming to a diagram of her body.

"For you we can either start with the right leg or left arm. For you and Michael we feel that either of these limbs would be a good starting point. We will let you each pick out which one to do first, recovery time is about the same for both. So which one will you pick?" Elizabeth and Jack were staring at Rebecca and she seemed to shrink under the sudden pressure placed on her. This was what Nadia had feared would happen. She had wanted to be out of this place before they got to this point, but now they were here. What to do, what to do? Rebecca looked flushed and the prospect of losing an entire limb to be replaced with machine was overwhelming her. Jack and Elizabeth noticed the hesitation and leaned back in their chairs.

"Would you like us to pick it for you?" Rebecca shook her head; she knew that she had to do this by herself. After a few minutes of staring at the diagram Rebecca pointed to the left arm before crumpling and leaning back in her chair. Jack took the file and made some notes near the left arm before looking back up at Rebecca.

"By choosing to do your left arm first the plan for you will go as follows. First, the left arm, second, the right leg, this will be followed by the right arm and finished up with the left leg. Once those procedures are completed we will start with the organ replacement and finish up your procedures with a reinforced armor plating underneath most of your skin. After that you will be trained for the field and then sent on your first mission. This plan will probably take until you turn twenty years old. Enough waiting time will be put between surgeries in which you will continue your schooling and hand to hand training. That is all for you." Jack closed up Rebecca's file and set it aside. Jack then ushered Daniel into the room.

"Daniel, will you please escort this young lady here to the prep room, we are going to do the female organ removing surgery today. As you finish up here Daniel will escort you to the surgery room where the procedure will take place. Afterwards you will be placed in the infirmary just like usual. You may go Rebecca." Rebecca got up from the seat and Daniel grabbed her arms and placed them behind her. Walking out of the room Rebecca looked over her shoulder at Nadia. She was trying to catch her eye but Nadia was just looking at Jack, waiting to hear who the next person was going to be. Rebecca was escorted out of the room and Jack reached for the next file. This process continued until Nadia was the last one in the room.

"Nadia, the last one left. Do you know why we put you last, my little lovely?" Jack was using his b.u.t.tery language, trying to get Nadia to pay attention to him. She had learned better than to fall for his cheap deceptions. Nadia made no comment to him and that put his panties in a twist. Elizabeth piped up so as to silence Jack.

"You may not know this but you are the most important subject we have here at the company. Nadia, you are the one that the boss has his eye on. He wants us to hurry and finish transforming you so he can send you on your first mission. He feels that you will be the cornerstone of this company. Not just because of age or the way you handled yourself in the torture room, but your body's way of adapting to the machines and synthesizing it with your body's make up. It is truly genius how your body works and we, as your handlers are especially proud to enable you to grow as much as you can. The reason we put you last for today was so that we may be able to explain this to you and so that you may further evolve and provide this company and the world with a face for the future." Jack had nodded through the whole speech but when Elizabeth finished up he still had a few words of his own he wanted to share.

"As soon as we found you, through years of researching the best candidates, we needed to have you. Your siblings had similar aspects but none that could rival your genetic makeup. We wasted no time acquiring you and thus far you have not let us down." Nadia had sat through both of Jack's and Elizabeth's oh so compelling speeches but none of it made a difference to Nadia, all the things they were saying were not going to help her get out any faster or easier. At that point Jack opened up Nadia's file and turned to the set page.

"For you Nadia we want to do your left leg first, it is far easier to rehabilitate and while that one is healing we can do your right arm. We like to stagger them; it just makes things easier for us in the long run. Our goal is to have you finish before the rest of your group. We understand that is goes against our usual rule, but we feel obligated to accelerate your transformation.

"As for your counterpart, we will match what we do to you and will do the same to him. I expect that you will see a lot of each other for the next little bit. If I understand correctly you have been at this facility nearly two years, is that correct?" Nadia shrugged, time pa.s.sed differently here, she was unable to keep Mondays apart from Tuesday, let alone keep track of the weeks or months that pa.s.sed. All the days seemed to blend together and the only thing that distinguished one part of time from another was the meal rotation. Breakfast meant morning, lunch meant afternoon and dinner meant night. Beyond that there was no separating one week from another.

"Well, you have, it says so on this sheet. So that makes you sixteen, my how time flies when you're having fun. Isn't that right Nadia?" Nadia did not say a word nor make any attempt at conversation.

"Maybe we should have a little party or something. Well, maybe not, anyway let's move on. With this accelerated course you will most likely be done in two years. The hardware for your new limbs need to be set and of course it will take another year or so to train you on the equipment and then after that, when you are nineteen you should be ready for field work. Isn't all this wonderful?" Jack seemed to be way more excited than Nadia, but than again she was the one that had to endure the surgeries, the recovery time, the training and then to be placed out into a world with her main goal of killing people. Some how the excitement was lost on her. Elizabeth got up from her chair and went around standing on the other side of Nadia.

"It's time to go child, this is the day you leave your childhood behind. By removing your uterus we are severing your tie to childhood. It is more of a symbolic severance, seeing as you will still be sixteen." Nadia got up from her chair and Elizabeth opened the door where Daniel was waiting on the other side.

"Daniel, this is the last one, take good care of her." Daniel took both of Nadia's arms in one hand and then pointed out the way she was to go. Nadia walked down the hall and into the prep room. Once there Daniel opened the door and walked Nadia through. It was like any other surgery she had done here at the company. The doctors greeted her and took her to the room where she was put under and then the surgery began.

What must have been hours later Nadia opened her eyes to a bright white light. She moved her arm to s.h.i.+eld her eyes. There were soft sounds all around her and she a.s.sumed that is was just James or Rebecca talking or moving around. Then she realized that James wouldn't be here, it was a female surgery. Unless there was a male surgery to mirror hers. This made Nadia wonder and she sat there and contemplated the thought. After sitting in silence for an additional few minutes Nadia opened her eyes once more and sat up slowly. There was a little pain in her abdomen, but it was nothing that she couldn't handle. It was odd to think that now she could no longer have children in her life. She didn't feel any different than before, but there was a change in her life. Then she thought, if applied to a male would that mean that they had to be fixed as well. Nadia could only a.s.sume that it was just as painful as what she had done to her.

When Nadia sat up she looked around the room, but surprisingly there was no one in the room with her, not even Rebecca. This struck Nadia as odd and she looked around the entire room, but not a soul was nearby. Nadia lay back down on the bed and gazed up at the ceiling. It was white, just like everything else in the room. Unsure of what to do Nadia remained in silence for several hours. There was nothing to do, no one to talk to and that made Nadia bored, more than usual with the procedures. Night time came and still there was no one in the room, no one had even come to check on her. Now things were at the point where Nadia became upset. Though not showing it she was starting to get afraid, what if there had been some sort of accident and everyone in the company had died, leaving her all alone?

Night came and Nadia was lost to the realm of sleep and dreams. The next morning Nadia awoke to the sound of Rebecca's voice. It was comforting to Nadia to hear such a familiar sound. Without opening her eyes Nadia turned on her side to better face Rebecca.

"Hey Rebecca, where were you yesterday?" For a moment there was silence, as if Rebecca had been talking to someone else and had stopped for a moment. Nadia sat up and looked across from her where Rebecca was supposed to be. There she was, sitting up in her bed and looking at Nadia. Something was off, Rebecca was not talking to her and Nadia was staring right at her.

"Rebecca what's the matter? Tell me, and also where were you yesterday? I woke up and you weren't here, it was so quiet and lonely here." Nadia was talking at Rebecca but none of her words seemed to reach her. Finally after several minutes of silence Rebecca opened her mouth to speak.

"Oh, sorry about that, there was some complications and it took longer and they wanted to keep me there incase something happened again. I am sorry if I worried you." The way Rebecca was speaking it was if she was angry at Nadia. But Nadia was unsure of why Rebecca would be mad at her. Things were starring to get out of hand. Just before Nadia was about to talk to Rebecca, she woke up. It had been a dream, talking with Rebecca. When Nadia sat up she looked at the bed across the room and saw Rebecca was across from her sleeping. It still didn't answer Nadia's question of where she had been yesterday but at least she was here now. Not wanting to wake her up Nadia laid back down on the bed and waited for her to wake up. It took nearly two hours before Nadia could hear Rebecca stirring in her bed.

"Rebecca?" Nadia whispered, not wanting to disturb her if she was just flipping over. But Rebecca replied, if only a bit tired sounding.

"Yeah Nadia, what it is?"

"Where were you yesterday?" Rebecca moved in her bed again before answering.

"I was here, why do you ask?" Nadia was confused, when she had woken up the other day no one had been in the room. Unless that was a dream too, then was this a dream too? Everything was starting to hurt Nadia's head and just like that a migraine flared up in her temples. It was painful but not the worst she had endured. Rebecca sat up in the bed and rubbed her eyes to help wake herself up.

"Nadia, tell me why did you ask me that?"

"I thought that yesterday when I woke up there was no one in the room, for the entire day. Then I had a dream that you were here, but you were mad at me. I feel a bit confused right now." Rebecca opened her eyes all the way and eyed Nadia.

"Stop being such a weirdo, everything is fine. It must have been a dream; you know that people have several dreams a night. It could have been two of your dreams from last night. Just put it behind you." Nadia nodded at Rebecca and decided to put it behind her. A little while later the lunch trays came in and Rebecca and Nadia had some lunch.

The very next day Jack came by for a visit, this time Elizabeth was not with him. Rebecca and Nadia sat up in their beds and wished that he would just leave already but he pulled up a seat and made himself comfortable.

"So my little pretties, how are you this fine day? Good? Great. Anyway I am here to inform you that the recovery time for this little beauty is over and now it is time for one of the big ones. If you are a bit scared I would get over it now." Nadia and Rebecca held their breath and Jack sat up in the chair and motioned for Daniel to enter. When he came into the room Nadia and Rebecca knew that this was the last possible moment they had with all their fleshy limbs, before one of them was chopped off and replaced.

"Let's get a move on it Daniel; we have a long surgery ahead of us." Rebecca and Nadia were un-cuffed from the beds and brought towards the door. Jack got up form his chair and grabbed Nadia, leaving Rebecca with Daniel. Together the four of them proceeded down the hallway. This time felt different than all the rest of the times that Nadia had walked down the hallway. It was this time that she was losing her leg, it was not something that grew back or wouldn't be missed.

Once Nadia crossed this bridge it would be a lot harder to return to the other side. Jack was in the front which meant that Nadia was leading the way to her fate. The doors seemed to come up faster than usual and Nadia was suddenly overcome with fear and anxiousness. Jack could feel it in her hands as he held them behind her back. There was shaking and a bit of squirming on Nadia's behalf and it was hard for her to control it.

"All right, once you enter those doors, it will be the end of one of your limbs and a beginning of a new way of life. See ya on the flip side." Jack opened the doors and led Nadia through then released her to the staff of the hospital. Rebecca followed right behind Nadia but they were s.n.a.t.c.hed up by the staff within seconds and separated for their procedures.

"Good luck Nadia, see you later."

"You too Rebecca." And with that they were pulled apart and Nadia was taken to the surgery room and put under anesthesia for the surgery. The doctors had decided to remove part of Nadia's hip, thus strengthening her joints in that area. They began by removing her leg muscle by muscle, vein by vein, until it was completely severed from her body. It was at that point that they brought in the mechanical hip joint. It was made of metal but vaguely resembled a human like appearance. All the muscles were artificial and the joint would never get arthritis. The reason for removing the hip joint was that it was going to be better in the long run. Every joint in the body was to be replaced, for a longer lasting cyborg version. If the joints were still human and fleshy then they would age and become painful and that was not an option for military cyborgs in battle.

Once the hip joint was set on the table the doctors worked with the scientists to attach each piece of the hip to the opening that they had created. The nerves had to be attached so that Nadia could operate the leg using her mind as she would her normal leg. Without the connections made by the electrical aspect of the leg it would act as dead weight and unable to be move in accordance to how Nadia would move. The procedure took several hours, it was meticulous work and required expertise and a keen eye to make sure that the hip joint was attached properly and effectively.

As soon as the final connections were made the doctors ad scientists needed to confirm the connections to the brain and leg. They took Nadia off the anesthesia and waited for her to regain consciousness. It was going to be painful for her but it had to be done. Once the medication wore off she would wake up and at that point the switch would be turned on. The initial electrical currents running through her body would jumpstart the mechanisms in the hip and have them reach the brain. If it went according to plan then there would be a rush of pain to the newly connected area and Nadia would scream out in utter pain. If the connection failed then she would still hurt a bit, but not to the point of screaming b.l.o.o.d.y murder.

It only took Nadia a minute to come out of the drugged sleep. She opened her eyes to the many faces of the doctors in their masks all looking at her. There was a tube down her throat and so she nearly gagged on that. Then the doctors nodded to the scientists and the flipped a switch. As if from out of nowhere a sudden surge of pain flooded Nadia's body, it was the most painful thing Nadia had ever felt and she could not keep it bottled inside up inside herself. A scream of sheer pain and agony filled the room and the doctors covered their ears.

The doctors nodded to the anesthesiologist and they injected Nadia with a medication that would knock her out until the real anesthesia took effect. In the time remaining in the surgery the doctors and scientists closed the wound and secured the joint area so Nadia could not move around and mess with the work that the doctors had worked meticulously for. With too much movement she could cause ruptures in her joint and disconnect the joint from her body before it had a chance to heal together. Though the doctors had cemented the metal frame to the bone that needed time to set and firm up so that it could stay. Too much movement would disrupt the healing process and the surgery would have to be redone.

Nadia was loaded up with drugs to keep her sleeping until the initial healing had been complete. The idea was to have the healing be mostly done before she woke up, to minimize the damage to both herself and the hip joint. It would also minimize the pain Nadia would have to endure. The total time Nadia was pa.s.sed out for was nearly a week, in that time she was monitored, along with all the other members in her group. James and Michael had been rolled in the room and they too were unconscious.

Of all the members in the little group of four Michael was the first to wake up. His medication had run out and his eyes fluttered open and a wave of pain hit him. The nurses upped his morphine and tried to calm him down, telling him that if he moved around to much that he could seriously damage either himself or the shoulder joint that had been attached to him. He tried to calm down but the pain was intense and the nurses had to sedate him again.

Another few days later Nadia and James woke up. On the same day, within hours of each other, they opened their eyes and felt the pang of pain emanating from their hip area. It was odd how, though they had not been near each other during the time of choosing, Michael had picked his arm to replace, same as Rebecca, and James had chosen his leg, the same choice as Nadia. It was as if their minds were connected even though they were far apart.

Nadia moved her head to the side and saw James laying there looking so serene. The drugs must have been working because he looked as if he felt no pain. Nadia lifted her arm above her head and tested her reflexes. She was happy to find out that her upper body worked just find. Then she noticed that from her waist down she was immobile. She was completely strapped down and unable to move. Nadia knew that they must have done it on purpose and so Nadia tried not to move her lower body at all. For the first few minutes Nadia was laying there she contemplated trying to see what they had done and what it looked like. It was her curiosity at work, but she figured that she would have plenty of time to look at it later on.

When James woke up he freaked out a bit more than Nadia did, she had remained calm but James woke up in a fit of fear and attempted to thrash around. Nadia knew that he needed to stop moving or something bad might happen so she called out to him and tried to sooth him.

"James, it's me Nadia. If you can hear me you need to calm down. The more you move around the more it is going to hurt later on, not to mention the damage you could be causing to yourself. Please James, lay back and relax. When you calm down I will tell you a little secret." Usually that sort of bribe worked on James, but he must have been too out of it to hear her and he continued to move around. In the end he was sedated again and Nadia was left alone again.

The next few days pa.s.sed in slow succession for Nadia, no one was awake yet. Every time of the other three would wake up they would act in a fit of fear and pain and move around. That was not allowed and thus they had to be out under again. It was quiet lonely for Nadia, with no one to talk to but the inside of her mind. Jack came by a few times to check on Nadia's progress and he always walked away happy. Nadia seemed to be doing well and was apparently ahead of schedule. Unfortunately her counterpart was having a harder time adapting to the new machines. Nadia waited for over a week before one the others would wake up and stay awake for more than a few minutes before being put back under.

The person who became lucid next was James. It took him a while to come out of the drug induced sleep and he was groggy and a little loopy for a few hours before Nadia could talk to him. Though he was awake from the drug sleep he dozed in and out of consciousness before waking up with any coherent thoughts.

"Nadia, are you awake? I thought I had heard you talking to me before." James had not opened his eyes but moved his head to face Nadia. She in turn moved her head and eyed James, unsure if he was really awake, or if the drugs were talking. She figured there was no harm in talking to him, even if he was possessed by the drugs.

"Hi James, yeah that was me talking to you earlier. You seemed really out of it and I was trying to bring you down to earth. Glad to see you awake; it's been kind of lonely with no one to talk to." A slight chuckle escaped James but it sounded soft and lacked the humor James usually had.

"Yeah, I don't really remember much after the surgery, just the sound of your voice calling me. I still feel a bit woozy from the drugs. I think I will take a nap or some..." And without finis.h.i.+ng his sentence James had dozed off. Nadia was a bit frustrated but understood that James needed to get his rest.

The cycle of sleep and talk continued on for a few days before James was conscious and lucid on his own time. The drugs no longer claimed him and he could carry out an entire conversation without randomly falling asleep in the middle of it. Rebecca woke up next and the same sort of cycle controlled her before she grabbed control of herself. Michael was the last to regain full consciousness. Once all four of them were awakened they talked of the pain they remembered, at being woken up and gagging on a tube down their throats. Most of all they remembered the pain at the connection of the joint to the rest of the body.

Nothing much happened for the next few days, just talking and eating at set intervals. Rebecca and Nadia related the surgery involving their uteruses and James and Michael informed the girls of the male counter-part surgery that they had received. As far as that goes James and Michael received the short end of the stick. The pain for them was a lot more intense and the lasting results far more painful to the ego. For the girls it was a simple open up and take out, not much pain involved and little damage to the pride or ego.

Nadia and James tried to get a read on the artificial joint that had been attached to their body and thus far had not gotten a glimpse of it. Rebecca and Michael had their shoulders covered as well. That was certainly an odd experience, to look at a friend and clearly see a missing limb where there had been one before. All of the them were eager to see what their new limbs would look like. Would they be mechanical or covered in a fake flesh? How painful would the connection be? How long would it take to adjust? The questions were flying around in each of their minds and they wouldn't be put to rest until the time came for the doctors to connect and turn on their new parts.

The next day Jack came strolling in with a toothy grin and a spring in his step. That could only mean bad news for the rest of them. He frolics right in and stops at the front of the room. He moves his glance to each of the subjects before saying a single word. His smile started to freak Nadia out, his face was not designed to hold a smile very well. Finally, after several excruciating minutes of silent smiles Jack took a step forward and opened his mouth.

"Ladies and gentlemen, now is the day you've all been waiting for, the day that your new limbs have arrived. It is the day when you get to have the wonderful feeling that comes with attaching the limb to your new joint receptors, as well as the exhilarating feeling of linking the limb to your minds. Then there is the long road of rehabilitation. For that James and Nadia will be working with myself and Rebecca and Michael will be working with Elizabeth." This was not a shock to Nadia that Jack would want to be her little helper. Nonetheless, it was nice to know that she would be able to get a glimpse at her new body part. She expected it to look like a hunk of metal, with oil and pumps or whatever they might use. Jack rounded them up and Elizabeth entered to stand by Rebecca and Michael while other doctors wheeled in carts that held their limbs, but covered by a white sheet.

"Come my pretties, time for the fun to begin."

Chapter 8.

The sheet was still covering their appendage, so Nadia and James were still uncertain as to the visual make-up of the limb. Jack took both ends of the sheet in each of his hands. Nadia, James, Rebecca and Michael all held their breath, waiting for the big reveling.

"Ready to see your new legs, Nadia and James? And your new arms, Rebecca and Michael?" They nodded silently, unsure of how they should react once they saw what lie beneath the sheet. Jack did a countdown, starting at three.

"Here we go...three...two......one................ZERO!!" Jack pulled the sheets off and Nadia and James got their first glimpse of the new limb. The four young subjects were holding their breaths as the sheets were removed to reveal their new limbs. And for Nadia it wasn't what she was expecting at all. They looked so real, down to the nails. The skin color seemed a perfect match for each of them, ranging from the creamy white of Nadia's skin to the deep chocolate brown of James skin. What they saw before them was surprising and it left Nadia and James unsure. They had been expecting to see metal, wires, oil and the like, but what they saw was fleshy skin. Nadia had a look of confusion written across her face.

"Surprised? You shouldn't be, we told you that there would be a skin covering added to aid in your undercover missions. It would be a bad thing if you had a hunk a metal attached to you while trying to do some spy work; it might get you noticed faster than would be desired." Jack winked at them as if it were some sort of joke to him. But Nadia and James were not laughing, far from it actually. Though they did not show it Nadia and James felt annoyed, for believing in something that was a joke and having Jack try to make fun of them for something that was not in their hands.

For a few long moments the Nadia just stared at the new limb, before looking down to the covered and bandaged socket that was her new hip joint. But then there was a flurry of motion as the doctors began to prep the limbs for attachment. Suddenly there was a doctor at Nadia's side, working on removing the covering of the hip socket.

"So how does it work? Is there a switch you press or a current you run through? It is going to take long to adjust to?" James fired off several questions at once, hoping to better understand what he had gotten himself into. Jack mockingly backed up, as though the questions were bullets. .h.i.tting him and causing him to move backwards.

"Geez kid, calm down with the questions. All will be made clear to you in due time. For right now we are going to start by attaching the limb. While the doctors are doing that I will try to answer some of the questions you shot at me. This 'thing' works by your brain sending signals to move and the limb. That connection was made during the surgery, I think you remember when. We kept you immobile as the joint healed to your skeletal frame." James was sure that there was more to the story than that but then a thought popped into Jack's mind and he was distracted from his explanation.

"Now I probably should warn you that you might be a little pinch when the doctors attach the limb to your sockets, and perhaps a whisper of pain as the link is formed between your minds and the new limbs." Nadia could read through Jack's little charade, he was far too happy at the imminent and most likely excruciating pain that they were all about to endure. If Jack had his way he would draw out their pain and screams for as long as he could.

Then, at that moment the doctor's finished removing the bandaging from her hip and Nadia could see the currently ugly scars of where her flash had been torn and then replaced with the artificial skin. But what caught Nadia's attention was the open socket that clearly looked mechanical in nature. There was no leg where her leg had been and in its place was this gaping hole that was to be the socket for the new leg currently being brought over to her. At the top of the leg, the part that was to be inserted in the socket, there was a circular, almost ball like shape that looked like it would fit perfectly in the hole of Nadia's hip joint. Then, as Nadia looked closer she saw that there were little circles on the ball. And it hit Nadia; those little circles would pop out and enter into receptors in the socket, thus creating a better hold for the new limb. That was where the bulk of the pain would come from.

It was then that a slight unease filled Nadia as she quickly darted a look to James. He must have felt her gaze as he looked up and returned her look. He could see the fear, though buried deep, was as clear as day to him. On the other side of the room Rebecca and Michael were preparing themselves for the new arm that they were about to have installed. Rebecca had her eyes closed, trying to stay strong against the inevitable onslaught of pain she was sure to experience. Michael just stared straight ahead, attempting to keep his mind clear and calm.

Then the presence of the doctor at her side drew Nadia's gaze away from James and onto the doctor who held her new leg in his hands. Carefully he lined up the ball at the top of the leg with the opening specially made for it. Nadia grabbed a fistful of her sheets as the doctor, along with an a.s.sistant, gave a quick thrust, snapping the leg into place. There had been a slight feeling of discomfort, but it had not been as bad as Nadia had expected.

"Alright, secure the connection." The head doctor called out each of the small doctor teams around each of the four. Nadia knew what was about to come but didn't have enough time to mentally prepare herself for it. The next second the little circles in the ball extended into the socket to secure the connection. A scream ripped through the room as Rebecca's connection was cemented. It was high pitched and borderline hysteric in its sound. A somewhat m.u.f.fled cry came from Michael's direction as he clamped his mouth over his fist, trying to distract himself from the pain. But it was too much for him and his teeth tore into the flesh on his hand, drawing blood that both filled his mouth but as well as covered himself with it. Another doctor entered to deal with his self-inflicted bite wound.

The pain for Nadia was equally debilitating and a scream of her own filled her mind as well as the room where the others echoed her pain with their own. Jack seemed to be bathing in the sounds of their pain, a content smile playing lightly on his face. Had Nadia not been on the verge of pa.s.sing out due to the extraordinary level of pain she was experiencing she would have cursed Jack out, worse if she wasn't restrained.

"Beautiful, absolutely beautiful." Jack cooed to himself with his eyes closed before opening them and looking around the room at the experiments that he was in charge of. Things were actually going well for him, and Jack was certainly happy to have the most promising team out of the whole company. As the four test subjects began to calm down from the pain they had experienced, Jack piped up again.

"Now wasn't that just so much fun?" Jack beamed. If looks could kill Jack would be slaughtered and drawn and quartered before being burned and tossed off a cliff. But alas, he stood with his sickening smile, looking down on them.

"Alright now time for the really fun part." Jack rubbed his hands together as the head doctor nodded to the doctor teams. The teams of doctors surrounding each subject moved around, gathering important machinery for the stimulation of nerves, thus jumpstarting the link between the mind and the new limb. Every time before, when the doctors had turned on a new piece of equipment there had been a few brief moments of pain, but now Nadia was worried about the level of pain this time around would bring. Gritting her teeth she prepared for what was coming next, hoping that it wouldn't be worse than what she had just experienced but somehow knowing that it would be.

This time around Nadia didn't look around the room, didn't look over to James, but rather kept her focus on other things, hoping to distract her mind away from what was about to happen. The doctors lined up the electrical shock machine with her new limb and joint and Nadia closed her eyes as they sent the first pulse coursing through her body. A scream of b.l.o.o.d.y murder rang out in the small room and reverberated down the halls of the white hospital, echoing in its dark corners. The pain a.s.sociated with this part of the procedure was more than any of them could handle and Nadia, along with James, Michael and Rebecca, pa.s.sed out because of it.

What seemed like only a short time later Nadia could feel herself slowly s.h.i.+fting into consciousness. A dull aching sensation drummed steadily in her mind, emanating from her hip area. The memory of pain echoed deep in her mind as she hesitantly opened her eyes. Peering out of the corner of her eye Nadia could see James looking at her.

"How long have we been out?" Nadia managed to croak out. James just shrugged.

"I only came to about twenty minutes ago and no one was in here and you three were still out." Nadia pushed herself into a sitting position though cursing herself for the movement when it jarred her still tender hip joint.

"I would be careful moving it, though you should try and wiggle your toes to see if it worked. I know I did it right away, because if the first stimulation didn't work they have to do it again. And I think we both agree that going through that again is not an ideal situation." James briefly paled at the thought before urging Nadia to test it out with his eyes. Nadia settled herself into a seated position and then worked to move her toes of her left leg. There was a shooting pain but a.s.sociated with the act but Nadia was able to move her toes, so it was worth the brief episode of pain.

"It works, thank G.o.d." Nadia breathed a sigh of relief and she could hear James do the same. As Nadia was silently celebrating this small achievement she could hear Rebecca stirring in the bed across the room. A groggy and slightly out of it Rebecca opened her eyes slowly, then they shot open as she leaned forward holding onto her new arm and shoulder joint.

"Rebecca lay back down; you don't want to mess with it too much. Just calm down and breathe." Nadia and James were trying to soothe Rebecca and slowly she was calming down, her mind finally catching up and getting things under control.

"It hurt so much, G.o.d it hurt so freaking much." Rebecca was still trying to ignore the aching limb now connected to her.

"I know it hurt, but you can't fuss with it too much or they might have to redo it or something. Though you should try and wiggle your fingers if you can handle it, just to make sure the connection went smoothly." James interceded before Rebecca could focus too much on the pain. With a wince Rebecca tried and succeeded in moving the tips of her fingers, if only just slightly.

A few minutes later, as Michael was just coming out of his own slumber and having a similar reaction to Rebecca's, Jack and Elizabeth came waltzing through the white double doors and strode to the center of the room. It was a small relief that Jack wasn't grinning as madly as before, but their presence alone didn't bode well for the four test subjects in the room.

"Alright, now that you have had some time to recover from the connection and stimulation process we are going to move onto the next part, rehabilitation. Each pair will be taken to a separate room to work on regaining functionality of the limb in addition to practicing the upgrades that the new limb provides." Elizabeth was the one talking today and as she finished she motioned for wheelchairs to be brought in to take the subjects out of the hospital room and into their respective rehab rooms.

Nadia and James were lead to a white room located midway down the hallway. Everything in the room was white. Nadia felt as though she was going to get something dirty even though she was clothed in white and there was nothing that would make the room dirty. Jack waved his arms around and seemed filled with joy. Everything that Jack did appeared as though he were a child, he certainly acted like one, and at least he acted that way most of the time. The rest of the time he acted like a soulless a.s.shole that Nadia wanted to personally throttle if she ever got the chance.

"Oh, we are going to have so much fun. I just know it. All right let's start by getting you two out of those wheelchairs and onto the ground." Jack motioned for Daniel to do as he said and Daniel followed his orders and lifted Nadia first then James out of their wheelchairs and placed them on the ground.

"Now that it has mostly healed we are going to make sure that you two can use what we have given to you. The adjustment to the new leg should not take more than a few weeks, as you can see it looks nearly identical to your natural leg and if all goes well your bodies will accept the machine as part of you." Nadia and James had absorbed all that Jack had said and attempted to stand up. It was sure different feeling, not something that would normally happen. There was still a lingering sensation of the pain from the connection process, but Nadia and James were going to have to work through that, not wanting to find out what happens should they disobey.

Nadia felt unbalanced and nearly fell over, but Jack caught her and lifted her back up. She pushed him away and tried to find her balance while trying not to fall again, not wanting to have Jack touch her again. James fell over several times but Jack never caught him, he merely let him fall to the ground and watched him push himself up. Nadia tried her best to stay standing but there were time that she tilted, and Jack had always been there to help her stand back up. It got to the point that Nadia was getting annoyed at Jack's repeated 'helping.'

"You don't have to help me every time I wobble. Part of learning how to do something is learning from the pain resulting from mistakes and accidents. Trial and error is a way of learning and I don't appreciate you getting in the way of my learning." Jack backed up when she said that, but instead of looking guilty, or even ashamed, Jack looked pleased. This made the anger inside Nadia build up even more. James seemed to get the hate vibe form Nadia and mirrored her feelings within himself. Together they were able to find their balance and hold it for a minute or so, this was certainly going to be a learning experience. Jack stood back from the both of them and Nadia was left to fall on the ground just as James had done. Nadia was happy to claim her independence from the controlling hands of Jack and to break free from his suffocating annoyances.

"You two are doing a fine job learning how to balance, that is the first step in learning the new ways of using your new leg. It is like when you were babies, taking your first steps. Hee hee." There went Jack entertaining himself once again. Nadia and James just sighed and ignored him as best they could. Jack went on talking to himself in a crazy manner and Nadia thought to herself, how did he ever come to work for this company? Anyone can see that he is a maniac and needs to be inst.i.tutionalized. Nadia did a mental shrug and continued on her quest for balance.

Jack, Nadia and James met everyday for several days and in that time Nadia had learned how to balance and was working on walking with her new leg. James was not far behind; he had already tried to take a few steps, but most of the time he fell over due to unequal balance distribution. Nadia would tell him to slow down and work on standing first to get that down but he would always reply that he wanted to stay in line with her progress and she would have nothing to say back to him.

It was nearly three weeks into the rehabilitation and both Nadia and James had made it to the walking stage and mastered it. Jack was impressed with the both of them and had them start trying to run. It was quiet different to walk than it was to run. Walking was all fine and dandy but running was the main thing that Jack needed to teach them before starting them on combat training with the new leg. The room was long and provided a sold surface to practice running. Nadia grasped the concept easily and flew through the exercises while James was having a bit of trouble getting his legs to run at the same pace.