Circuits and Synapses

by Harper Doyle

  “Nadia, the last one left. Do you know why we put you last, my little lovely?” Jack was using his buttery 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 passed differently here, she was unable to keep Mondays apart from Tuesday, let alone keep track of the weeks or months that passed. 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 shield her eyes. There were soft sounds all around her and she assumed 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 assume 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 snatched 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 bloody 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 passed 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 passed 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.