by Harper Doyle
“What the hell happened to her?” Jack demanded to know, shooting glares all around. The doctors looked at one another and then turned to the infirmary staff and let them answer the question.
“We were checking up on the supplies in the back room when we heard James screaming. At first we thought something was wrong with him, but then he pointed to Nadia and asked us to help her. When we saw her she was swaying back and forth holding her head and whispering softly to herself. Fearing that she could turn violent at any moment we sedated her and called you.” Jack was pacing in front of Nadia’s bed glancing at her with uncertainty.
“Could it be the implants causing this?” Jack asked, looking to each of the doctors. The short, stubby doctor stepped forward and examined Nadia’s eyes and then ears, checking for any mechanical malfunction that could have caused it.
“It’s possible; none of the other mechanical parts are damaged or malfunctioning. Perhaps it is just her body’s way of adjusting to the new equipment. Let’s keep her sedated for a few more days while her body adjusts to the ears and implants in her brain.” He stepped away from Nadia and looked back at Jack. Jack too, seemed to concur with the plan and with the solution decided they left the room. The staff was informed to keep her sedated until further notice. Commenting that they would come back to check on her in a few days. The staff nodded and the doctors and Jack took their leave.
James continued to watch over Nadia’s unmoving body until he grew too tired to keep his eyes open any longer. Rebecca and Michael also kept a lengthy watch over their comrade and friend. A few days after the incident the three of them were cleared to turn their ears on. The doctors, along with Jack came around and sent the electric impulses needed to turn the mechanical parts in their head on. This time James was first since Nadia was still out of commission.
Once the shock was sent a ringing started in his head but cleared out after a few seconds. The sound was similar to how it was before but, it was like trading in your old T.V. for an HDTV. The sound quality was better, and from what they were told it could hear more frequencies and when concentrating they could hear from farther distances as well. With their sense of hearing back James, Rebecca and Michael could converse with each other once more. But before they could Jack and the doctors circled around Nadia, preparing to see the fruits of their labor pay off. The sedation drugs were wearing off, and if their hypothesis was right then they were going to see a drastic change from delusional madness to controlled intelligence.
Nadia was easing out of her sleep and when she opened her eyes she saw Jack and the doctors hovering all around her. Since her hearing had not yet been returned to her waking up in silence with a group of people standing all around her she was caught off guard and bolted upright. The whispers in her head were still their, but more audible now. They were telling her all sorts of things in all sorts of languages. The crazy thing was, she could understand each language. It freaked her out and with wide eyes she stared at the doctors around her. Their lips were moving but no sound was coming out. Then out of nowhere she heard their voice speaking to her in her head. They were talking about her, and how she still seemed to be getting used to the implants and it might take some time for her to adjust completely.
“What implants?” Nadia could tell that she was speaking even if she couldn’t hear it. This caught everyone in the room off guard and they all stared at her. The doctors were obviously not expecting her to be able to understand the scope of the implants as fast as she did. The doctor looked at her and had a puzzled look on his face.
“Can you understand what I am saying?” He looked at her with hopeful eyes and waited for her response. Nadia did not understand what the big deal was, she heard what he was saying, why wouldn’t she understand him?
“Of course, why? Tell me about the implants.” Nadia was getting impatient and wanted to know what was going on. The way they were looking at her was setting her on edge and the faster they could tell her what was going on the faster she could get rid of the pit in her stomach. The doctor glanced at the other doctors as well as Jack, whom was grinning like there was no tomorrow. Each of the other members of the group crowding around her nodded as if agreeing to some unspoken question. The main doctor turned back around to face Nadia and starting talking to her in German.
“What is your favorite color?” He asked the question in German and for a split second Nadia was confused by the language. But the implants in her brain processed the information and translated it to a language understood in her brain. A look of surprise crossed Nadia’s face and she replied in German.
“What does my favorite color have to do with the question I asked you?” All the doctors in the room smiled and laughed at the accomplishment they had discovered. Jack went up to Nadia and grabbed her hands in his and held them while grinning down at her. Without speaking he mouthed some words to her.
“The little something extra I did for you was have tiny cybernetic implants embedded into your brain. They allow you to translate any language and to speak any language you see or hear. There is also a tracking device hardwired into those implants so that we know where you are at all times. Remember that, and your welcome.” Nadia was confused but knew enough that she could tell that Jack had something up his sleeve and that his little escapade with her was not over yet, not by a long shot.
The doctors, having finished testing Nadia and turning her ears on, left for the day with promises of a return visit the next day. Once the ringing in her ears stopped and she looked around her she knew that she had some serious explaining to do, especially to James. Rebecca had known about the extra procedure and the newly disclosed information about Nadia’s brother but was unaware of the kind of procedure that was done to her. Nadia felt the eyes of all of them piercing her and she knew that she had to confess all the knowledge to her comrades and friends.
“Now, I am going to ask you what the hell just happened here and also about before but I am in a state of shock right now so give me a second to wrap my head around it.” James was commenting from next to her and Michael could only nod in agreement. Rebecca held Nadia’s gaze for a moment, giving her a silent request for understanding. Nadia looked down, giving the boys a chance to let what had happen sink in before she went into the previous events and how she had gotten to where she was. James took a few minutes to breathe deeply and think to himself. After those few minutes were up he looked back to Nadia and nodded for her to start explaining.
“When Jack was leading us here he started to try and make conversation with me, but I brushed him off. He got ticked and said that he knew information about my brother—”
“How does Jack know about your brother?” James interrupted, unsure of how the two things connected. Nadia gazed over at James tears threatening to fall down her cheeks.
“When I was brought here so were my sibling, my little sister Sonya and my big brother Dmitri.” Nadia took a minute to swallow the lump in her throat and Rebecca had a puzzled look on her face.
“If you had a younger sister, shouldn’t she be with us in the community housing development?” Rebecca was trying to make sense of what Nadia was saying but the comments were not matching up with reality for her. Nadia moved her eyes to look at Rebecca and she could hold back her tears no longer and a pair of tears fell down her cheeks in near perfect symmetry.
“Before I was brought to the housing development my sister and I underwent some tests. By then they had taken my brother as from us. We had tried to escape once before so they thought by removing my brother that my sister and I would not go against them anymore. Little did they know that I was the one who orchestrated the plan and lead the way out of our cell. When I went off for my testing my sister tried to escape again and without a single thought they shot her and dragged her body back into the cell where she bleed to death. I came back from my tests drugged and barely able to mov
e. Then I saw my dead sister lying in the center of a pool of blood and went off the deep end. Next thing I knew I was unconscious.” Rebecca had moved her hands to her mouth in horror at what Nadia was relaying. James and Michael were awestruck and almost disbelieving.
“So, let me get this straight you were brought here with your siblings, all three of you?” James questioned, unable to grasp that concept. Nadia could only nod, tears filling her eyes and the lump in her throat blocking any words from coming out. James shook his head as if he did not believe, or refused to believe it. Nadia forced the tears back once more to finish telling James about her conversation with Jack about her brother.
“When Jack brought up my brother I agreed to his proposition. I wanted to know so badly about how my brother was doing, if he was still alive, anything. Jack said that if I agreed to do an extra procedure he would tell me whether my brother was alive or not. I thought about it and decided to agree to his terms. I really, really wanted to know, more than that I needed to know. He told me that my brother was alive and I was so full of happiness and relief that I let my emotions slip for a split second and a single tear found its way to the surface and down my cheek.” Nadia had relayed all the information concerning her brother. “He is all that I have left, I just couldn’t bear to lose him too.” James frowned at her statement and cocked his head.
“What do you mean, what about your parents?” That was too much to ask of Nadia at the moment, and all the work she had done to compose this wall of stone around her emotions crumbled at the inquiry to her parents. Perhaps the wall had never been sturdy, but it had held up during more physically torturous events. This emotional onslaught was tearing this wall down brick by brick. Her tears at that point could have been related to a waterfall, gushing from her tear ducts at an alarming rate. James felt a pang in his chest as he internally scolded himself for being so dumb. Her statement should have been enough for him but he had insisted about knowing more, and now that cost Nadia to feel so much emotional pain. Had they not been restrained to their individual beds James would have comforted Nadia. The best he could do was call out her name and reassure her that she was fine.
“It’s all right Nadia; you don’t have to answer the question. I was just being a dumb ass, ignore what I said. It’s alright, you don’t’ need to cry. Please, Nadia, I’m sorry.” James tried as best he could but there was nothing for him to do but sit and wait for Nadia to finish. By letting all the built up tension, stress and sadness out Nadia would feel better. With all the things happening in her life at the moment she had a lot to release. For having her parents killed, by getting kidnapped, her brother being taken away, her sister killed, her eyes and ears replaced, and now having to face all the painful memories again and all at once. After Nadia had cried away all the built up tension and pain she wiped her eyes and looked James right in the eyes.
“My parents were killed right before I was kidnapped with my siblings. They were torn apart and left as little more than shreds of flesh in a pool of blood.” Nadia wiped her eyes and nose with her sleeve and James just gazed at Nadia.
“I am sorry for making you cry. I feel like such a ass hole.”
“No, it’s fine, I needed to get it all out. It was going to happen one way or another I knew that. Every day that I suppressed my emotions I knew would eventually end badly. It was my decision to continue to do so despite the knowledge of the doomed end.” James let out a breath, as if relieved of feeling responsible for her emotional break down. That is not to say that he did not still feel bad, just that he knew it was not his fault for her crying. Rebecca had not yet said a word since Nadia had started to talk about her family and now she too was crying. She felt a connection with Nadia and Nadia with her, so when Nadia was sad so was Rebecca and vise versa.
“I had no idea that you had lost most of your family. I feel guilty now, I don’t know why, I just do. All that I can say is that I am sorry.” Rebecca was bawling now and Nadia glanced at her and smiled.
“It’s not your fault but I thank you, Rebecca. For the entire time that I have been here you have been like a sister to me and I don’t feel so alone anymore. I have you and I know that if there ever comes a time when you need me I am always here for you, know that.” If the two of them could have hugged they would have, it was just that kind of moment.
“Would you be up to telling us what was up with the extra procedure they did and why you were speaking a different language?” James inquired, feeling a bit intrusive into the girl’s special moment, but he wanted to know and he was sure that the rest of them wanted to as well. Nadia nodded to him and set about explaining everything that Jack had mouthed to her as well as the little experiment with the short doctor. They seemed to understand and were quite impressed that Nadia could do those things, but also felt that she was forced into the deal involving her brother. The rest of the day passed in a sort of whirlwind, nearly all the questions that James, Michael and Rebecca had were answered and by the time they were done it was lights out in the infirmary.
The next few days were all about recovery and learning the limits of their new ears. From the outside they looked the same, but they were nothing like regular ears. As the doctors had explained they could hear things from far away and a lot more frequencies. Nadia and Rebecca tested the long distance improvement by having one of them whisper something and the other have to hone in on the quiet comment trying to ‘zoom in’ their hearing range. Rebecca would whisper something like, ‘pickles are purple’ and Nadia would hone in and repeat what she said.
It took a few practice rounds before they could get the hang of it. James and Michael mimicked the girls and did the same exact exercises. Within a few days they had that down pat. During the free time that they were not practicing James and Nadia would talk about their life before they had been ‘acquired’ by the company. James used to play baseball in a little league and Nadia told him about how she had loved to play the piano. They made promises to each other that when they got out James would show Nadia his game winning pitch and that Nadia would play a song for him. These sorts of promises were made between them all the time. After they got out they would go to the movies, and eat cheeseburgers and many, many other promises.
“Tell me about your mother.” James asked one day. Nadia was staring at the ceiling daydreaming, but she pulled herself out of it and smiled.
“She was a Russian immigrant from Moscow. Her name was Anastasya and she loved to cook. My favorite dish of hers was this soup that was passed down for generations. She had promised to teach me how to make it for the next holiday, but I never got the chance to learn how to make it. Anyway, she had light brown hair and warm honey brown eyes. When she smiled her cheeks would blush slightly and her eyes would squint. Every time I wanted to go out with friends she would always tell me to be safe and I would always get mad at her for being so overprotective. It seems so silly now.” Nadia remembered her mother and how much she missed her. James was smiling.
“She sounds like a typical mother, wanting to protect her young ones. I wish that I could have met her, she seems like a great person.” Lately James had been asking about Nadia’s family, and Nadia had learned to talk about them without tearing up. Perhaps this was why James asked, to prepare her for other times when she would be asked and could not give away emotion. He was always helping Nadia even when she didn’t know it.
Though the two of them had been thrown together at near random, they could not have been more perfect for each other. It was as if they were fated to be together, they had become such good friends in such a short time. Perchance it was because they sought companionship with each other due to dire situations, but their bond seemed stronger and more real than that. Rebecca and Michael were a mirror to James and Nadia in every sense, the four of them were close and would guard each others backs at any cost.
It was odd, being that James and Nadia had nev
er before touched skin to skin. Through all their time together they had been held down to the hospital beds by restraints and in the waiting room they were never permitted to sit to close to each other. Contact of the opposite sex was an unspoken rule set down for the subjects of the company. They feared that two people of different sexes coming together would somehow spell the end for the company.
None of the children in the housing development knew the root of this rule, but it was not exactly hard to follow. Divided by an unknown amount of distance the females were kept in one housing development and the males in another. The only time that they met up was for procedures, and later when they were complete they would become a team that would carry out missions.
As Nadia’s time for recovery came to an end and the staff prepared them for departure back to the housing development James and Nadia gazed at each other and sent a silent farewell to each other. Rebecca and Nadia stood next to each other and were handcuffed to each other. James and Michael were handcuffed to each other and directed out of the doors opposite of Nadia and Rebecca. Till next time. Nadia thought, sending James her telepathic message and he too, was sending his to her. Both of them seemed to sense each others meaning and gave a nod, signifying goodbye. On the walk back to the housing Rebecca and Nadia were silent, unable to talk, due to the fact that there were guards all around them as well as escorting them. When they did arrive at the development the warden was waiting for them and opened the gate in the fence.
“Welcome backs girls, I am sure that you must have had a wondrous time. Glad to see you back so soon.” The warden was all smiles and rainbows, sickening to Rebecca and Nadia whom just wanted to leave. The guards un-cuffed the two of them and then went back to the infirmary as silent as they had come. Rebecca led the way back to the beds and Nadia followed behind her. As soon as she reached her bed Rebecca collapsed on it and let out a moan. Nadia stood beside the bed and smirked a bit. Rebecca rolled over and let out another moan. Nadia eyed her and threw a pillow at her face.