Circuits and Synapses

by Harper Doyle

  “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 finishing 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 hitting 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 assistant, 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 muffled 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 passing 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 bloody murder rang out in the small room and reverberated down the halls of the white hospital, echoing in its dark corners. The pain associated with this part of the procedure was more than any of them could handle and Nadia, along with James, Michael and Rebecca, passed out because of it.

  What seemed like only a short time later Nadia could feel herself slowly shifting 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 associated with the act but Nadia was able to move her toes, so it was worth the brief episode of pain.

  “It works, thank god.” 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, god 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 asshole 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 institutionalized. Nadia did a mental shrug and continued on her quest for balance.