The low tone buzzing of a bright light beams down on Brian's face jolting him awake suddenly.
His vision's blurred... his hearing in a complete haze... the sounds of two muffled voices in conversation fade in and out. The ceiling slowly spins... he starts to regain his senses.. feeling the heavy effects of being put under for who knows how long.
He tries to raise his head slightly... feeling an intruding weight... a stiffness in his neck. The dramatic shift in his overall density takes hold as it settles in throughout his body... the heaviness almost to the point of feeling held down. Restrained?
The sounds of tight, new chrome creaks with every slow, ginger movement he makes... finally sitting up with head rested on the back of a padded chair.
A door slides closed grabbing his attention, looking over too late to see who left. Through his blurred vision, he sees tools... equipment laid around him covered in blood with gauze, rags and syringes.
The sheer amount of blood surrounding the area... makes it almost hard to believe there's no corpse nearby. The remnants of a frantic yet surgical overhaul lay to rest like a recent storm blew through and now rests silent.
"Mornin' love." A soft, feminine voice hes never heard before helps shake off the haze of his blurred vision.
The bright lights beaming down on him suddenly click off as he glances in her direction. A woman sat in a white, blood covered tank-top and black jeans sits an office chair by his side smoking a cigarette... his mind gets work.
She's petite... coated in tats... hell, they run down from her neck to her finger tips... a spattering of piercings complimenting her make-up and short white hair. The look certainly didn't match the hospital setting.
With a leg raised onto the desk, and her other foot rested on the bottom of Brian's chair, she takes another drag observing him closely as he comes too. He shifts his weight in his seat to face her, the chair squeaks and creaks under his new heavy weight. Still in a haze... he lays his head back to the seat... feeling restless and failing to get up. The woman finally speaks.
"Easy honey... its gonna take some time. Take it slow." She says calm... taking another drag of her smoke.
"Wh- what...?" He mumbles barely conscious... closing his eyes tightly with hands on his forehead. The weight of his hands press down on his face, catching him off guard as he quickly removes them... holding them up with a look to be sure they're still even his.
"Titanium vanadium bones." She says in response. "Got lucky. I don't just keep complete skeletal structures just lying around... especially none your size." She raises her eyebrows. "Afterward, i figured.. there's no way he's gonna be able to move around any good with that amount of added weight... so I went ahead and hooked you up with some Bionic Joints as well... definitely shouldn't have a problem carrying the load. Your chrome to ganic flesh ratios based on your history is... pretty stable... in a good place."
"N-..no no no.. you can't-" He stammers, straining to sit up in his seat. He feels the ganic flesh of his muscle tissue adjusting to the weight and denseness of his new and dramatically improved bone structure... the tissue gently squeezes and contracts around the chrome as metal and meat are forced into harmony.
"As for your... pokes and slashes, well... stitching was the best i could do around the mug... gotta say though, that's gonna make quite the badass scar there." She grins gesturing to the long slice from the mantis blade... going down from his jawline, past his neck, down to his chest now patched together with some high quality stitch work. "Blood Pump should take care of you from now on."
The woman finally pauses taking a deep breath... she rests her back up against her own chair.
"She must really care about you." Her tone shifts.
"N-no no... i'm not... i'm not taking any of this... reduce spec." He demands with no eye contact his tone exhausted.
She giggles with a smile. "What..? hahaha it doesn't work that way. You should know that by now. I saw the traces of work you've had done previously. Figured considering how conditioned your body already is to the process that the steep chip up wouldn't give your nervous system much of a problem."
With no energy to protest or bitch about it, he inhales deeply... plopping his head back onto the chair with an exhale. He shifts subject.
"I'm guessin' you chipped her Sandy huh."
She raises her eyebrows, shoulders and tool tipped ripperdoc hands at the same time.
"She ask ya to do that too or did she just wake up to it." He mocks.
She quickly sits up in her chair... aggressively leaning toward him. "Hey, this isn't a fucking arts and crafts project alright? You were half a flatline when she drug you in here. Didn't even have time to help her while i was working on your ass... she ended up having to take care of herself."
"Who are you...?" He asks... a first direct look in the eyes.
She rolls her eyes frustrated... standing up and walking over to one of her shelves.
Brian strains to finally sit up fully, hanging his legs off the edge of the chair as he stretches and glances around the place briefly. He glances down at his shirtless physique... beyond his brawn, the scars that once defined the life he's lived... the sacrifices made are now gone. Replaced with the more than thorough stitch work of a ripperdoc that's just put on a clinic.
It's as if the marks of the past have been painted over like a defaced mural.
She comes back over with a small brown paper bag handing it to him.
"Immuno blockers.. DO NOT start taking them right away... from what i could tell... your nerves took to the chrome... extremely well honestly. They're just in case... for now.." She walks back to other side of the room.
"Where's Zaunya." He demands.
"Outside... waiting for you."
She chuckles, crossing her arms and leaning up against a wall. "Hm... funny... she once told me she doesn't wait for anybody anymore."
She pauses... debating whether or not she should express something.
She leaves the wall... slowly walking toward him arms still crossed. "I don't know who you are... but... I honestly haven't seen her like this in well... quite a long time."
"Like what?"
She stops before him... looking deep in his eyes with raised eyebrows.
"Alive." She mutters barely audible... a serious expression on her face.
He breaks eye contact, looking the floor. She walks past him sitting down back at her desk.
"You were never here... I'm sure that's obvious enough." She says glancing up at him before looking back at her computer. "She's got deets for you." She gestures over to the exit.
Brian finally gets up off of the chair... the weight of his body thuds to the ground with a subtle but heavy impact. He feels the dense, heavy bones underneath his flesh struggle to catch up with the rest of the neurological responses firing off throughout his body. The bones lightly jostle around underneath his flesh as they softly settle and catch up with every movement... every step feeling like his body is trying to re-understand itself.
The new weight distribution catches him off guard... he stumbles... struggling to maintain balance. He gingerly walks over to an opened locker with his clothes and gear. He slowly puts it on... working his coordination and range of motion awkwardly.
Finally, making his way to the exit door, he hears the woman's soft, feminine voice a final time... making him glance back at her over his shoulder.
"And don't worry... I'll be seeing you again."
The door to the exit slides open... Brian walks out.