Transcended Part 3
The echo of footsteps and the roll of Nick's wheelchair acted as an ominous ambience as they navigated the maze of passageways. The walls covered in a faded blue metal tile, only to be interrupted by the spaces where long white lights illuminated the underground structure. Black doors with numbers and letters labeling the rooms behind them lined each corridor.
As they made their way to the medical sector lined with a red stripe going along the bottom half of the walls, Nick's eyes had begun to close and his body had become limp. The beat of the cardiac monitor had fallen flat.
"Nick? Nick!" Judy filled with fear and dumbfoundment at the sight of her partner on the verge of life and death.
"Quickly, bring him to lab 3. We're losing him." The well-dressed lynx had drawn fear into his sapphire eyes as he watched surgeons and guards take Nick away. As they did Judy tried to follow but was stopped by the larger mammal. She reached her arm out to the disappearing fox as he was taken into one of the rooms of the medical sector.
"Don't worry. He's in good care now." The lynx gently held her paw as he had spoken to her with a calming and reassuring voice.
"We have the best surgeons around. They're going to fix him…and improve him." Hearing the strange last three words had drawn her attention.
"What do you mean improve?" She could barely see through the left over tears still wading in her eyes. She looked over the fit body of the predator kneeling in front of her looking for something that she hadn't seen before.
The larger mammal gave a brief sigh and looked into her eyes.
"Your partner was chosen as a test subject for our new cybernetic program so that we may defend ourselves from an unknown object that has been traveling a course heading straight for Earth. Its inhabitants appear to be hostile." He paused for a moment as if trying to gather the correct words for what he was about to say next.
"The object has a multitude of what appears to be warships. We have been watching it for a few years now. Mr. Levmosky fears for the worst if we are unable to defend against this new menace."
She looked at with shock and confusement. She could not believe what she was hearing. A fleet of alien warships on a course for Earth and they haven't told anyone about it. A small flame of anger had shot through her body.
"Why haven't you told anyone that there is a massive alien fleet coming for us? So you mammals never wanted to help him in the first place. You just wanted him because he had no other choices!" The whole facility could have herd her yell as her voice traveled through the hallways.
"We couldn't tell the public because it would have caused mass hysteria. And no we didn't just want Nick as one of our subjects. Mr. Levmosky saw Nick's accident as a way to save him and possibly the entire globe."
She fell silent. Organizing the newfound information that she had just received. It seemed very sudden and unexpected. Her eyes wondered as the larger mammal led her to a large lounge area where glass monitors displayed propaganda ads for interesting devices and food items. Glass televisions hung mounted to the ceiling with common shows that mammals on the surface watch. The furnishings were made of high quality cloth dyed grey to match its surroundings. She crawled onto one of the large couches and placed her paws into her lap. She had finally registered the information by releasing a large exhale and releasing a slight shutter as a tear rolled down her cheek.
Voice Two: "The subject has stopped breathing on his way to the medical sector. He was immediately taken to lab 3 and stabilized."
Levmosky: "Don't call him that. He has a name."
Voice Two: "Sorry sir."
Levmosky: "Have they begun the operation yet?"
Voice Two: "Yes, they are in there as we speak."
Levmosky: "Good, let's hope that things go well."
Voice Two: "How long between operations should I tell them to wait?"
Levmosky: "Give his body enough time to rest. He's lucky to still be alive, so don't squander this opportunity."
She had begun to dose off after have been awake for several hours.
"Miss Hopps?" As she regained focus she could see the large black puma she had seen when they had arrived.
"Mr. Levmosky?" She struggled to keep her focus on him when he had spoken.
"You look tiresome. I'll have a room reserved for you." The puma pulled his left sleeve down on his white suit revealing a terrible scar on his forearm. He pressed his watch like the lynx had done in the van on their way here, emitting a holographic display.
"Mr. Mateo?"
"Yes sir?"
"Could you assign a room for Miss Hopps please?"
"Right away sir."
The puma had clicked his watch once more causing the blue image to disappear. He glanced at her with curiousness in her eyes as he slowly pulled up his sleeve. He looked back her with a small smile on his muzzle as if to try and look friendly to her.
"If you would just follow me please." The large predator lifted his paw directing her to come. She slowly slid off the large couch and walked towards the mammal holding her left arm as she went, making her feel smaller to the larger mammal. As they approached an elevator at the end of one of the hallways, the puma paused and opened his mouth trying to gather his words.
"Since you're here, and Agent Grayson has told you briefly as to whom we are and what we do here. I would like to show you what our unknown threat looks like… He did tell you about the incoming danger correct?" The puma's brows rose upward as he gazed at her waiting for an answer.
"Yes…he did." The thought of everything she had recently discovered made her look down at the floor in fear.
"I know this is a lot of information to process. I believe that if you saw what we are currently preparing for, it would help." He tapped one of the many buttons being displayed on the glass panel. The door of the elevator opened with the hiss of pressure being released. As they entered the small space together, the lynx waved his paw in a friendly gesture as the door began to close.
"If you would like, on account of your training in the ZPD, I could set up a few sessions for you in learning our equipment. If we are unable to defeat whatever they are, it would greatly benefit you so that you could defend yourself. And when we're done saving your partner, I can set up special type of communication device so that if you two are to ever lose each other, you can find him."
Knowing that she may not see Nick for a while, the thought of getting to use some of their vast gadgets and machines were intriguing.
"What exactly is your plan for Nick anyways?" After have known that he was chosen for one of their projects raised a great deal of attention and worriedness.
"Well, you see Nick was chosen for our latest projects dealing with the binding of machine and mammal. We call it Total Body Mechanization or T.B.M. for short. He will fit with the highest quality alloys and top of the line devices. He will become stronger, being able to lift 30x his body weight, his senses will be greatly increased including his hearing and smell. Our technicians have designed a neural implant for every possible mammal that would be part of this program."
"Is that going to harm his memory or personality at all?" The worst thing she could ever think to happen to him is to not know who he is. Or who she is for that matter. She looked at puma with worry and suspicion radiating from her eyes.
"Every mammal is different. He could come out of the operation without any affect or his memory would be temporarily wiped as he becomes used to the implant."
The elevator had come to a sudden stop causing her to lose balance. The door opened revealing a large room with computers and a variety of mammals operating them. There were six large screens on the far side of the room displaying a timer counting down and multiple images of a large black object with smaller objects floating around it. She had fallen behind as she looked at the large grey and black room.
Everyone around the globe is being watched by these mammals. Images of mammals and places flashed across computer screens as she walked on the wide blue metal catwalk. At the end of it was a large control panel with multiple screens and a large mic high enough for him speak into.
"What you see here is what we've been preparing for." Seeing this with her own eyes did help her understand it better. She lost her breath as she could see the many large objects as ships surrounding the much larger one in the center.
"The smaller ones appear to be carriers. Loaded with hundreds, maybe thousands of them ready for battle. They're approximately five miles long and three miles wide." He paused a moment and set his paws on the control panel arching his shoulders back, releasing a large sigh he spoke again.
"The large one, its seventy-five miles long and fifty-nine miles wide. Its surface is covered in what appears to be a type of plasma projectile launcher." He lifted his paws of the panel and raised one up to his chin.
"We've dabbled with that type of technology but it was always too unstable, and took a shit ton of energy to power it. We've managed to create a shield. Nick is going to have the only operational one implanted in him." He looked back at the large monitors and lowered his head and looked back at her with a little smirk.
"Your room should be ready now. I'll have Agent Grayson take you it."
She stood there looking at the monitors and thinking of what her partner will look like when they have finished. What would the world look like after the ships arrive? What is going to happen to all those innocent mammals when the ships begin to attack? It had been a long day as she had begun to notice how week she had become.
"What's going to happen to all those mammals when those ships touch down?"
"We have already made plans. They will be safe in specialized vaults that have been setup outside of every city town and village."
A black badger walked towards them carrying a tablet the size of a clipboard. He was dressed in a white lab coat and sleek black pair of glasses.
"Sir, Wilde has just gotten out of stage four. He is resting at the moment. They have given him nanites to speed up his recovery."
"It sounds like things are going according as planned."
She looked at him with a curious grin. Who is this mammal, and what do the stages mean? The badger looked at her with surprised joy. He erected a smile as he briefly observed her.
"You must be Miss Hopps I presume? Hi, I'm Professor Jeremy Mateo. Glad to make your acquaintance." He shook her hand in a sign of respect.
"I told her earlier that I would set up sessions so that she could familiarize herself with some of our equipment if shit hits the fan." The large puma nodded his head toward her as he told the badger.
"Oh, I'll set up some session's right away sir."
The badger quickly left the room through one of the side areas that lay at opposite ends of the control panel. She had not noticed the lynx standing behind them waiting for the conversation to be over.
"Agent Grayson will take you to your room now. I have order them to put clean clothing in your wardrobe so that you won't have to wear that for your remainder here."
Mateo: "They've completed installing the exoframe to Wilde's body. Along with the SRD and the NEM."
Levmosky: "His partner seems very concerned about what we're doing to him. I want the MLC installed in the next operation."
Mateo: "But sir, we still need to install the compensators."
Levmosky: "Very well then, install the MLC chip soon after. And get our technicians working on her device."
Mateo: "I'll tell them as soon as stage five is complete."
Levmosky: "Mr. Mateo?"
Mateo: "Yes, sir?"
Levmosky: "When they install the neural implant, I don't want you in there."
Mateo: "Why is that so?"
Levmosky: "It's nothing, just a precaution."
Mateo: "Does this have something to do with, Her?"
Levmosky: "I would rather you not mention her."
Mateo: "Very well then, sir."
