Ziggy the Cyborg
Chapter 2: Resurrection
"Edith, he's waking," the woman warned the other. She was currently sitting next to the computers that analyzed his vitals. Just then, out of the clear blue, his life signs shot up.
"It's far too soon for that to happen, Lyn. I'm not even close to finishing my procedure. You know what to do."
"This isn't the first time, this has occurred. I've been adjusting and readjusting his fluids for the past hour, but if I keep going like this I'll wound up killing him."
"I see we have a stubborn one," Edith replied putting on a brave front.
In reality she was terrified, not of what she was doing, but her worst fears coming to light—a subject waking up in the middle of a procedure. It was unheard of in that day of age. However, it had always been a possibility when it came to cyborgs. Because cybernetics was still a fairly new form of recreating life, there was no automated machinery to do all the dirty work. Never had there been a case where such a thing occurred. Once dead, one of the most difficult parts of the procedure was the reawakening. Failures were commonplace, but that held little significance as they have plenty of subjects available after the Life Recycling Act was passed. A subject that was eager to wake again—that was one in a million and one that Edith hadn't bargained on seeing up close.
She and a selected few others were specialized surgeons in this field and she came highly recommended. Her hands were so precise and steady that she rivaled even the performance of an automated procedure. When one dealt with the human brain such precision was a must. She still held a scalpel in her hand at the moment bloodied already from the initial incision.
Jan Saur's case had been different from the start. It was unusual for their corporation to pick up a subject who had experienced such trauma, but then he came highly recommended as well. They were willing to overlook how he died by the way he had led his life and all that he had accomplished in such a short time. Edith had been dubious about their candidate—it would be costly simply repairing the damage he had already done to himself. Simply put, she felt that they would have to tinker with his brain far too much. In her eyes, the odds of success seemed abysmal yet here they were.
"What else can we do," Edith questioned Lyn at the computers. She hoped she had kept the wavering from her voice.
Edith looked at her other associates around the table, just two others who the corporation had sent to assist her. They shook their heads as well. So far their usefulness was nil. Aside from giving her the right implements when she asked for them, they were in excess of.
She watched his face carefully; even she could tell that Lyn was not simply pulling her leg. Perhaps she had known already but had not wanted to admit it.
"Lyn, do whatever you can to keep him under for thirty more minutes. That's all I need."
She decided she'd work faster—it was the only choice left.
"But, Edith…"
"Do it. I just need a little more time."
"Alright, but not a minute longer," Lyn finally acquiesced.
"Malek, sutures," Edith ordered the nurse.
So she began by reattaching what she had cut away to get to his brain. There was nothing left to do there if he was already alive again. She made quick work of this. Then she went down to his body. She would make a clean incision from his chest to his torso so that she could apply circuitry there. He was a cyborg, no longer human. His body had to be prepped for further mechanized additions. She was in her element now replacing certain blood vessels with wires that could fulfill the same purpose. These wires had been carefully measured well before the surgery had commenced. It was up to her to find exactly where they fit—a feat that a computer would have a hard time completing.
"Edith, I know you said you wanted thirty minutes, but the anesthesia doesn't seem to be working as well as I thought. His body is rejecting it. Much more and we'll wound up—"
"Yes, Lyn, you've told me this before."
"You only have minutes now."
"Damn it," Edith swore under her breath, "Just a little more time."
She paused for a moment and looked over at his face. There it was again, his eyes moving beneath his eyelids. Could he feel what she was doing to him? Did it disturb him? It seemed as if he hadn't been unconscious at all, but simply asleep and now he was awaking from some deep slumber. If he could feel what she was doing, then he would wake all on his own perhaps in a panic. She shuttered to think what rapid movement could do to all the precious work she had done thus far. There before her, his insides lied completely exposed to her, a beautiful tapestry of metal and wires, but she was not done, not by a long shot.
It was as if time slowed as she watched his eyes open. Perhaps time had not slowed down at all, perhaps the action alone had seemed that way. She couldn't help the feeling of terror that seemed to trap her there. Her eyes grew big. For all her struggle she could not find a way to remain calm. He didn't speak, but it was the way that he looked at her with eyes full question. He hadn't the slightest idea the butchering which she was responsible. His eyebrows began to furrow. Did he feel any sort of pain? She hadn't made any movement or further cuts since he had woken perhaps he felt nothing at all, perhaps he had missed the sensation of pain.
"Please, remain calm, Jan," Edith said with a strong, clear voice; it belied the condition of her hands which had already begun to shake.
"What…is happening," he managed though with a slurred voice.
She was glad that he did not try to move or else he would have realized that he was quite securely attached to the cot with metal bands around his arms and legs. If she played her cards, perhaps she could avoid a catastrophe, he did still appear to be out of it. Just then his eyes began to pick up on the reddened scalpel in her hand that she had been too absent-minded to hide from view. His confusion became panic in a snap. By some sixth sense, he decided to look down upon himself and his eyes grew wide as well.
"What…what is this…" he said with all the effort in the world yet it had come out even more slurred than the last.
He didn't have the strength to even try to move about and he could hardly form words. Edith was in luck. She was still the one in control. Quickly, she placed the scalpel on the small metal table near her where he could no longer see it and came closer to him. It wasn't too hard to garner his attention.
"Jan, do not be alarmed. You have simply woken up at the wrong time. Do me a favor and go back to sleep."
"But…what…"
"All will be explained soon enough when you're ready, alright."
"Sharon…?"
"No," Edith said with cringed eyebrows, "I'm Edith."
"Edith…"
"Yes. Now just let the drugs take effect."
His eyes seemed unfocused now; good. Edith looked back up to Lyn with questioning eyes.
"Whatever you're doing, it seems to be working," Lyn said quietly.
Edith waited until she got the okay again from Lyn before she continued this time with a sense urgency. There was no telling when he would wake again unannounced. She was grateful now to have assistance. She had already ordered one of them to begin sewing him up again as she finished placing in the last few circuits. It took her all of twenty minutes to do and the whole time she hadn't realized how long she was holding her breath.
She was simply glad to be done, glad when they finally rolled the bed out of the room to return him to his quarters. She let out a sigh of relief.
"Well, Lyn, that's enough activity for the day."
"I'll say. We have to go out for drinks after this."
Lyn and Edith had been in the business of cybernetics for a long time now and formed a formidable team. They enjoyed being part of budding technology, they dreamed of being pioneers to a new era. The lure of discovering something that could change the course of humanity as they knew it was near intoxicating.
The day's surgery had taken it out of her like no other. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop her mind from going back to the look he had given her. "What have you done to me?" he had seemed to say to her. They were just corpses on the operating table, Edith would constantly remind herself. Their life was forfeit already; she was the one in control. But those eyes. Never had she spoken to a subject before they had gone through mental reconditioning. In fact, she had never given a second thought to what kind of mental trauma a person, no, a subject, would go through after initially waking. She simply wasn't concerned with that. All she was responsible for was reanimating what was already dead. She performed necromancy on a regular basis and she was well sought for.
"You going to actually drink that or stare a hole through the glass?" Lyn asked after taking a sip from her martini.
"Oh, sorry, I was just thinking."
"I wouldn't advise doing that," she replied as she stirred the contents of the glass a little.
"Oh? And why's that?"
"Well, too much thinking could give you a headache," Lyn said with a grin. "And," she continued in a more serious tone, "It leads to more harm than good."
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that morally, we're in the wrong here, Edith."
Edith looked at the other in surprise. She hadn't expected the other to openly admit to such things.
"Don't be so surprised. The way I see it, someone has to do the dirty work. How can we as a human race ever hope to evolve if we shy away from things just because it hurts our precious sensitivities? We are on the cusp of something great, can't you see that?"
"Sounds like you're trying to convince yourself of something."
Lyn laughed softly, "Perhaps. I've just…always wanted to be part of something bigger than myself."
"I think I need another glass."
"By all means. What we do, Edith, is not for the faint of heart."
