Twisted Steel

Chapter 2: corrupted

It was four days later when Jake got the idea. He was watching an old movie from the old world to help take his mind off the predicament his daughter was in. if he thought about it anymore he would get angry, and then he would do something drastic, and then he couldn't help Clarke. His favorite movie? Star Wars. Ironically it was one of the lower ones where the Skywalkers were still around. Episode 3 Revenge of the Sith. And he watched the scene play out where Anakin was dead and Darth Vader was born. He watched with great interest as they fixed the limbs that were lost on Darth Vader. It wasn't exactly fantastic, but he knew he could do it.

At the time the old movie was made, prosthetics and cybernetics were crude and often lacked the motor functions and movements that natural limbs had. But by the year 2045 there had been a massive breakthrough in the cybernetic field, which had been stalled for some time. The developer, a woman by the name of Rebecca Prem, had designed a cybernetic hand that could work in union with an implantable chip that attached at the base of the skull that would connect and send a signal near instantaneously to the new limb, the only problem was that they couldn't get the chip to connect correctly the brain, as the chip had a habit of overtaking the host. And so Rebecca went to her space station to develop the product. She never finished because the world ended several years later. And then she was blown out of the sky several months after that.

Miraculously, pieces of the Polaris space station had remained intact, and several trips had been made to gather the debris in order to expand the ark. Some of those pieces, computers and databanks that were very advanced for their time, were taken and used to upgrade the computer systems on the ark. However, one of them wasn't used. A locked hard drive that no matter what, the computer technicians could never seem to crack. And so, it was left in a storage compartment. Where Jake found himself, grabbing hold of the large hard drive, inscribed with the words "seek higher things"

Jake quickly went to an available terminal and plugged In the drive. The computer booted up and opened up to a screen that asked for a password. In his study of Rebecca's material, he found that the woman was a big fan of Latin, and often codenamed her experiments in the ancient language. He took a random guess, and plugged in the Latin version of her companies motto.

"A-S-C-E-N-D-E S-E-R-P-E-R-I-U-S"

"PASSWORD ACCEPTED, ACCESING FILES"

Jake breathed a sigh of relief because now there was a chance. He found what he was looking for under a number of other files. Some were weird, like nightblood, and what the hell was A.L.I.E 2.0? 'god this woman was a genius' he thought. But he wasn't here to admire a dead woman. So he dove into the cybernetics file and learned everything he could. He was dismayed that he had to have nightblood and ALIE in order for the cybernetics to work. Apparently, that was what was wrong with ALIE 2.0, it killed its hosts because they couldn't survive the implantation process. It was so traumatic to the brain that it simply killed them. The nightblood just helped them survive the process, an unintended side effect was that it enhanced the mind and made the body better with radiation. Jake read well into the night when Abby came home. She had banned him from the med bay, saying that it wasn't good for him to be there. And that he still had a job to do. He had to fix section four. And that wasn't going to be easy. Abby had decided that she would watch over Clarke whenever possible. And often spoke to her as well.

"hey." Abby greeted quietly. "what are you reading?" she looked over her husbands shoulder to see. Jake turned around to look at his wife.

"hear me out." He started. "I was watching Star Wars when I got the idea. Do you remembering when they added cybernetics to Anakins badly burned body?" he asked. Abby nodded, already putting the pieces together. "yeah I remember." She said hesitantly. She wasn't sure if this was going to be good for clarke. "I think we can build her new arms." He said seriously with a straight face. "This is a really good option and you know it. She can paint again at the very least. And besides, I've been studying these files. Its perfectly doable even with the materials from the ark we could easily do this. I'll need help…I need my wife for this." He looked pleadingly into her eyes. He needed her to understand.

She thought about for a good minute before she made up her mind.

"Okay." She said simply. "Lets do this." She said with tears in her eyes.

Before this he thought about what he was gonna do about materials, when an idea struck him .He found out about a flaw in the oxygen system while he was working to repair it for section four and discovered it was an ark wide issue, and bribed Thelonious for the materials he needed and in return he would keep his silence and also work on the problem.

"Alright, let me get a few people and do this. He walked around the ark, looking for people he thought would help. By the end of the day he had gotten the chancellors permission to do this, sinclairs help as another mechanic, Kyle Wick(an engineer who was really good at bodily mechanics), Monty Green who was a computer prodigy, and he was walking to the last person he needed. He headed to lockup and hesitated outside the door before he nodded to the guard to open the door. On the floor in the corner with her head in her lap was seventeen year and eight-month-old Raven Reyes. One of the people responsible for his daughters condition. He stood there for a seconds before he spoke up.

"Raven Reyes." She looked up at him

"Are you here to put me out of my misery. To kill me for what I did….because I'd understand." She got to her feet, holding her injured hand where the fire had burned through her suits gloves.

"I'm not here to kill you, Raven. I'm here…I'm here because I need your help." He said tightly. Underneath his exterior he was seething mad. He didn't want to ask for her help. But he needed it. "you're one of the youngest people to have ever passed the preliminary Zero G mechanic certification exams in the arks history. I need that mind of yours. And so does Clarke." She looked sharply at him. Tears filling her eyes as she remembered what the chancellor had told her when they arrested her and Finn.

"Whatever you need. I'll do it. Whatever it is." She whispered. She needed to right this wrong. She had hurt a close friend. She blamed herself as much as she blamed Finn. All she had to do was be patient. Clarke had said as much when they were talking about her failed physical. But she was still bummed, and Finn had given her this amazing opportunity and she just couldn't say no…she should've said no.

And so here she was standing in a room with Sinclair, Wick, and Jake, and a young computer specialist named Monty. All five of them toiled over the project while Abby inputted with her medical expertise and measurements for Clarkes body every now and again. Sinclair and wick designed the arms, Monty helped program the AI to aid Clarkes body in adjusting to her new limbs as well as aiding movement. Jake and Abby and rave all worked on the nightblood issue. That was the hardest until raven cracked the coding for the nano tech that would go into the nightblood. She programmed it to help heal the damage to Clarkes body as well as enhance her senses. She would be able to hear and see better than anybody on the ark.

They were installing both of Clarkes arms while Jackson was implanting the chip. And jake was injecting the nightblood. The chip went in no problem and the nightblood immediately went to work healing the sutures that held the connector caps to the stumps of Clarkes shoulder and her right forearm, which had to be removed because they were going to go over the medication limit if they tried to save it. Overall the surgery was successful, and Abby and Jake were hopeful for Clarke. They were worried how she'd react to her new cybernetics.

Her cybernetics were a sleek design. They were both modular. The left had enough room for a storage compartment in the forearm. Neither were waterproof unfortunately as they didn't have the time come up with the design. For now, Clarke would just have to remove her cybernetics from the connector plates and have somebody help her wash herself. Both parents knew Clarke would hate that.

Raven had outdone herself. She was proud that she could at least help fix her wrongs, even if Clarke would hate her she was happy she could give Clarke her life back.

It wa another 3 days before Clarke woke up. Abby and Jake were both by her side, thankfully not holding her hands because she tensed up when she felt something was wrong, namely she couldn't feel her hands, and her body felt heavier then before. She raised her right arm to shield her eyes from the glaring lights of the med bay when she saw her new metal appendage. She panicked. Her heart reate spiked and her breathing was erratic. She looked at her other arms and found that it had also been replaced all the way up past her shoulder. It hurt like hell and she felt like her body was on fire.

"She's panicking!" She heard her mothers voice. She knew she was panicking but she didn't care. The last thing she remembered was the explosion and pain everywhere. She felt a pinch in her neck and she suddenly felt woozy, not enough for her to go unconscious, but she was calmer.

"Clarke" her father spoke. "you were in an accident, do you remember?" She nodded her head weakly.

"you were seriously injured and your mother did everything she could to fix you. But…you were in really bad shape kiddo…and they had to…they had to amputate your left arm, what was left of it…and your right arm was to badly damaged so they had to amputate that as well. Do you understand Clarke?"

She teared up as they told her the news but she nodded weakly again. She tried to ask them what happened and how the explosion happened but all that came out was weak gargling sounds because she had been unconscious for a week and hadn't spoken in that time.

Her mother was able to get her some water and she drank like a man who had walked through the desert. When she was finally able to form words everyone looked to her right and Raven stepped forward sheepishly, her head down and tears running down her face

"I'm…I'm so sorry Clarke." The older girl sobbed "Its all my fault and I am so sorry and I…I'll understand if you never forgive me. I caused the explosion. Its all my fault. But I want you to know that I am so sorry!" she sobbed into her hands as she laid it all at Clarkes feet. Her guilt, shame, and sadness.

Clarke looked away as her father explained what had happened and what they had discovered in the investigation of the accident. He explained how it had been Finn who used the emergency prying jaws to force the door open that had caused the spark that caused the fire in the oxygen delivery systems. Raven stood stock still the entire time and she cried when Jake got to the part where the investigation led them to the control room, where they found an unconscious Raven in the partially open hatchway and Finn desperately trying to get the door open. They were both arrested easily and taken into custody where Thelonious yelled and screamed at them for their idiocy.

Clarke was silent for a few minutes while she processed the entire story. Guards came in were prepared to take raven back to the skybox when Clarkes voice stopped them.

"wait" it came out quietly, but loud enough that one could hear it in the med bay. "I invoke the right of article two subsection six of the arks law and justice system." Everyone held their breath. It was a little used law on the ark, as all crimes were capital, and many decided not to use it. But not many were like Clarke. Article two subsection six was a forgiveness clause, but it required a lot of work for It to be used. The forgiven had to face a specific punishment, usually of the forgiver's choice. Most of the time people were petty enough to just let the offender float, and most of the time, since crimes were committed against the council of the ark, there was no forgiveness. But because Clarke had been personally hurt, as had Wells, it was against them, and not the ark, therefore, Clarke had the right to use the clause.

"Clarke," came Ravens shocked whisper "why." She was shocked, she hadn't expected to be forgiven, much less given this kind of chance.

"I cant lose the only female friend of have…especially not one as smart as yourself. I need you Rae…will you help me. That'll be the condition that I have….that you help me get through this for as long as I need it." Clarke went quiet after that, it hurt to talk to much for such a long time but she knew she needed Raven. Raven nodded with tears in her eyes. She would help Clarke until the end of her days. She owed her that. Condition or no, and she was gonna make sure that she earned this chance, even if it took forever.

Clarke was in the med bay for another week after that, learning all about what they had done to her, her nightblood, the AI in the base of her skull that would help her control her arms, and the new arms themselves. Her mother did a good job connecting the right arm, it was a practically seamless connection between the connector plate and the cybernetic itself. The left arm was a bit more difficult apparently. They had to remove a significant portion of the area around her shoulder in order to accommodate the nerve connections. Her entire upper left shoulder was made of a titanium allow that extended about two inches below where her armpit was. On the Brightside she would save half on deodorant so that was a plus. All in all her arms had ninety-eight percent of the movement that her flesh arms had. They didn't have any give like flesh does so once metal met metal when she brought her left arm together, there was no more possible movement.

Both arms were strong, incredibly strong, she could bend steel with them easily. She discovered she could when she got angry that they weren't working quite like she would prefer and she slammed her fists down on a metal table. The table collapsed and she stood there shocked, her mom and dad backed away. They were scared.

Through it all though, Raven and Wells were there for her. she had to be careful with them though because she had already hurt Raven by breaking two of her ribs when she had a particularly bad day. The other kids her age and above were not as nice. They mocked her, and kept there distance from her, calling her a monster and a freak. She grew bitter and angry, but she never showed that to Raven or Wells. It went like that for over a year before she wound up in the skybox.

It was a week after her sixteenth birthday when Dax, a boy who was constantly a trouble maker, made fun of her arms to her face. She snapped and punched him in the chest, breaking two of his ribs and sending him the med bay with a cracked jaw. Unfortunately a guard had seen it, and came to break it up when she had slugged him in the jaw with her right metal fist, knocking out three teeth. She was arrested and taken to the skybox and put into solitary, because it was the only cell that could hold her. She was there for another year, with visits from her mom and dad and Raven, but her best friend Wells stayed away, she didn't know he wasn't allowed to see her, and she grew bitter and angry with him, alone for most of the time in her cell with nothing but her arms and some charcoal to occupy her, she drew the earth, or what she thought the earth was like, and she drew the demons that haunted her nightmares. Long corridors on fire, her covered in shadows as a monster with metal arms.

The door banged open and a guards voiced boomed in the tiny metal room

"Prisoner 319, disconnect your arms and turn to face the wall!" he shouted

"Like hell I will! I'm seventeen and three months, you cant float me!" she cried out as they got closer trying to box her in.

"Prisoner 319 disconnect your arms and turn to face the wall! Now!" the guard said more forcefully.

When they got closer Clarke grabbed both of them by their necks and through them to the wall where they hit their heads and were unconscious easily. She ran out the door, right into her mother, her father, and Raven who held out her arms to grab hold of Clarke.

"Easy Clarkey!" she breathed in the shorter girls ear "You're not being floated I swear." She promised the blonde.

"Clarke its okay." Her mother said, "you're being sent to the ground." Her mother said with a small smile. Clarke felt a small sting in her neck and reached up to get whatever it was. It was a small tranq dart which she crushed in her metal death grip.

"seriously! You tried to tranq me!" She shouted at her parents. "you didn't even wanna talk to me you just wanted to knock me out and put me on a metal deathtrap to earth!" she seethed at them. The nightblood had prevented the sedative from taking effect.

"hey!" her current best friend joked "That's my metal death trap thank you very much!" Raven said with a smile. "It's safe clarke, I promise. We don't know if the earth is one hundred percent safe but the dropship I helped design will hold up easily." It was easy to see the pride on the young Latinas face as she spoke about something she helped design. She hadn't become a Zero G mechanic, her time keeping Clarkes arms updated and maintained took up most of her time, but it was worth it. She had come to see the blonde as a sister….a sister that could crush your chest with a single punch if she was angry enough…but who cared.

"speaking of design!" she started off enthusiastically, "I designed you two new arms for the journey to on earth. I'm coming with you to help maintain them, but resources might be limited so I made these while I still had time." She said with a huge grin

"alright," Clarke said "show me whatcha got." Raven pulled out the new arms from the bag she carried behind her

"these are the same titanium steel alloy that Jake and I made, so they're roughly the same weight. Go ahead back into the cell and detach your old ones for me." Raven said, knowing Clarke could be self-conscious about people seeing her arms. She walked into her soon to be old cell and took off the old leather gloves and jacket that her father had given to her to help cover up her arms. Pulling the switch on her left shoulder coupling she was able to detach the arm from her shoulder socket with a simple twist and pull. The right arm, she sat on her bed and put her right arm in between her knees and gave a push and twist and pulled the right arm off just above her elbow. Standing up she hesitantly turned around towards Raven. Raven pulled her friend close into a tight hug and whispered into Clarkes ear.

"keep your head up Clarkey, and smile, I put a cool little secret into your left arm so…shhh." Raven giggled into her friends neck as Clarke awkwardly laughed into the Latinas shoulder.

"okay…lets get these new arms on." They started with the right arm, which Raven twisted on and then pushed into the socket with a small hiss and grimace of pain from Clarke. Clarke then turned a little to the left to allow Raven to put on her other arm. Raven was the only one she allowed to do this. She was the only one Clarke ever let see without her arms off, not even her parents. And that made Raven feel special. Clarke was the only one that made her feel that way, as she had broken up with Finn shorty after her release was certified by the council.

"alright Clarkey, lets do the standard range of motion tests to see where these are at. Remember, the left arm has a surprise so its gonna be a bit heavier." Raven said. an analytical look on her face as she watched Clarke go through her ROM tests. After everything checked out, raven told Clarke to eject the object that she had hidden in her left arm. Clarke let out a surprised squeak when a small hidden blade popped out of her wrist and then slid back in with just a thought.

"yeah yeah you can thank me when we get to the ground, but I thought it best to be prepared for anything on the ground, and I got to work on these as soon as I overheard they were sending me with you." The Latina said with a grin. "so," after a moment of silence "you ready to go or what." Raven asked the blonde

Clarke gave a small nod. "lets get this over with."