Tolly: First off, let me just say that I am not, I repeat, NOT, copying KarinStarsen. We came up with this idea together. And if there are any errors, it's due to the fact that we haven't talked about it recently.
p.s. each paragraph is a separate entry.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
(Records recovered from lab)
Project Machina Fuse, Experiment M5
The subject, nicknamed "Metal" by the crew, is doing well. After attaching the leg pieces this morning, she awoke from the anesthetics and examined the iron coating on her legs, then got up and tested them. She seemed fine, although she panicked and had to be sedated when she realized they would not come off.
Since the last entry, Metal has gained chest, shoulder and forearm coverings. We are pleased to report that the specially treated iron is growing with her, and we hope it will continue, as she has a long time before she is fully grown. Soon, we will start on the more complicated fusing methods.
Metal has awakened from her latest operation and is testing her new elbow joints. It seems she is growing stronger, as she has been flexing her arms for the past hour.
She no longer cries in her sleep.
The fusing of her hand plates took up most of the day, due mainly to the fact that it was a very delicate process, and partly because she woke up halfway through. We must give her a larger dose of anesthetics next time.
I'm wondering if we should begin running extra psychological tests. In her cell today, she discovered how to use her claws, which extend from her hand plate and fasten around her fingers. She flexed them a few times, retracted them and sat down on her bed. She took up one of her dolls and stroked its hair gently. Then, extending her claws, she ripped the doll's head off.
Her feet have been successfully fused. An iron covering with spikes protruding from the soles make up this part. The spikes can, at will, slide together to form a single blade. She was unsteady on her feet for a while, but now can walk as well as, perhaps better than, she could before.
We made a startling discovery today. We had been rather concerned these past few days, because Metal's hair has been falling out. We ran some tests but could not figure out what was wrong. Today, Metal was crouching in a corner of her cell, her back to the camera, so we could not see what she was up to. One of her caregivers went in to check on her, whereupon she grabbed his hand with one of her own and, with the other, cut off his gold ring with one of her claws, and swallowed it. We later found out that she had dismantled a bit of machinery (picked up, apparently, from the operating room) and had been eating the pieces of copper wire. After running a quick test, we found that her hair was growing back and was now made of the finest gold and copper wire. We will be adding copper and gold to her regular diet in hopes of continuing this process.
Metal has been taking weekly lessons from a tutor lately. She looks forward to these lessons and can often be heard chatting to her caregivers about them. She will not, however, speak to any of the scientists.
It has been three years and we are now ready to install the head piece. This will consist of an iron plate fused to her skull, with five spikes in a row. This process may take a while.
Something strange has happened. Metal woke up after the head piece operation and complained of a mild headache, which was expected. Suddenly, she became tense, claws half extended, eyes wide. Slowly, her head spikes grew longer until they extended about a foot above her head. We did not add this feature. She appeared to be listening for something. She started shrieking "Kiki! Kiki!" at the top of her lungs, which, as her chest had been altered for the chest plate, was quite loud. She was immediately sedated. How she knew about experiment K3's release, we do not know.
One of the scientists would like to test whether or not Metal can absorb elements other than gold and copper. I'm surprised we hadn't thought of this sooner.
We have tested Metal's reaction to different elements, and have found a few things worth noting. She seems not to care about most elements, although silver attracted her. We found that when she eats silver, her eyesight is better. It seems that this experiment is getting to be quite costly, although the boss assures us that it will pay off if she is completely successful.
More tests with elements. Magnetic elements, such as iron, are only mildly interesting to her, whereas magnets themselves she tends to avoid. This aversion to magnets may have been started when one became stuck to her hand and she could not remove it due to the iron covering on her body. Magnets are a weakness to Metal. We are hoping that experiment L4 will be able to control her with it, for then we would be able to use this perfect fighting machine properly.
Metal is finally ready for presentation. We have added the finishing touches, such as an iron skirt. She has done excellent in the hand-to-hand combats we've placed her in against full machina. She does well on her own, but can be controlled by L4 if needed. Metal is indeed a success. We present her to the boss tonight.
(end of records)
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Tolly: And that's all for the first chapter. Before you read chapter 2, however, you may want to read KarinStarsen's latest installment to Project Machina Fuse: FAILED. It fills in the gap between chapters one and two, otherwise you'll be all "Wait, what? How did…?" Got it?
