A New Addition.
06 Sep 2016Hersilia
A white light shined vividly high in the center of the room. A cone shape enclosed it, directing the light downwards to a surgical table placed in the middle of a grey tiled floor. An oxygen pump attached to a ventilator worked quietly away in the corner. Clear bags with strange coloured liquids hung from polished steel poles. A plastic tube protruded from each bag and snaked its way downwards, these tubes ended in sharp needles which punctured into the pale skin of the figure on the table. More tables circled the center table, strewn with different types of medical equipment from heart monitors to a plasma bone saw. A shower of sparks skipped into the air as a large surgical droid busied itself with it's patient. It's crisp white exterior matched the interior of the walls of the room but was ruined by a large splattering of dark blood. It's six mechanical limbs moved with accuracy. One held a small welding torch which spat a thin torrent of flame that crackled violently in the air. It moved slowly across a seam in a metallic surface, casting a blinding orange glow as it sealed the two parts together. Three other arms moved at lightning speed. Each arm held a sharp cutting tool, slicing here and there at flesh and muscle as it's remaining two arms pinched at pieces of sinew and veins, then connecting them to the corresponding wires within the metallic surface. The air was pungent and thick with the smell of burnt flesh and hot metal. Along with the medical equipment there was a large heap of mechanical parts. Every so often the droid would stop what it was doing to extend a limb, pluck a piece from the heap and delicately put it into place. Without warning the rest of its appendages would spring back into life, slicing, sewing and welding. --- A Week Later ---
Hersilia was on fire. She could feel it running through her veins like scorching lava. She could feel everything, hear everything.
"Setting the parameters now, sir" an unknown female voice.
"Move." she thought to herself.
"Good, let's get this over and done with, I've had enough for today." Another voice, male this time.
"MOVE!" every nerve in her body flared up at once and a screech forced its way into her skull. She was blind, dumb and worst of all. Paralyzed, but there was something else wrong. She could feel every one of her cells undulating, teasing her with her paralysis. It started in her feet and rolled up her legs, through her pelvis and up into her ribs. She wanted to be sick, to exile this feeling, to be rid of it! Only it got stronger. As it raced through her body it heightened her senses even more. An internal scream rippled through her as the sensation passed over her shoulders and neck then finally her head.
Her long dark hair flicked up above her as if she was under water. At first when she opened her eyes she filled with panic. There was nothing. Only darkness. She flailed for a moment until her own hand caught her eye. It was paler than before, a near sheet white, she looked down at her body. Something was missing. She glanced over to her left and saw it, or the lack of. Her left fore-arm and hand were gone, a bloody, malformed stump was all that was left. Panic struck her once again and she looked down at the rest of her body. Naked and cold, she seemed to be suspended in absolute nothingness.
She screamed.
"All systems are nominal, sir. She should be coming round."
Bright blue eyes flickered open for a moment, struggling against the light. A pinky white blur stood above, staring back down.
"You need to rest Commander, you've had quite a rough time." the nurse smiled gently and fiddled with a drip which fed into Hersilias right arm. The light was still too bright, Hersilia could only see rough shapes of what was going on around her. The noise too was dulled.
"Where am I?" Hersilia spoke through gritted teeth underneath a oxygen mask.
"You're in Daedalus medical ward. You were in a serious accident." the nurse replied, Hersilia recognized the voice. Could it be the voice of the woman from before? She turned her head to face the woman. A glint caught her eye as she moved her head, catching her attention and taking it away form the nurse. Looking down to her left side she filled up with a over bearing feeling of fear and rage.
"What have you done to me?!" she snapped and sat up in the hospital bed grabbing the nurse by the throat. A mechanical hand punctured straight through her soft flesh and snapped her neck as soon as Hersilia had got a hold of her. She stopped instantly, staring at the dead woman in her new hand in disbelief.
"What did you do....."