January 29, 2035
10:15 Central European Time
Avenger, French Countryside
Pulling on a simple jumpsuit shouldn't have been so difficult or exhausting. She had to sit down halfway through to catch her breath. It also took two more of those vile protein shakes to help get her going since it seemed that her stomach had been replaced by a bottomless pit. Though the third one didn't taste that bad, which meant she was getting used to the taste of those things. Double ugh.
Washing up a bit and brushing her teeth in the small attached bathroom was an adventure Van had no desire to repeat.
Once vaguely presentable, Van studied the small tablet she'd found while hunting down her clothing. The interface wasn't one she was used to, but it seemed simple enough to use. Even better it had a map of the base and internal GPS that told her where she was. Which was good because no one seemed to remember that she didn't know where she was. Or how to find anyone else.
There seemed to be something off about the shape of the place. After sliding the image around a bit she realized that it wasn't a building. It was… a ship of some sort? It must be based off alien tech since she didn't think humanity would've had the means to make something like this without it. Some more poking around at the screen revealed a relatively easy path from her quarters to the research division.
Van really hoped she was up to the task and didn't fall down face first somewhere public.
More than a little nervous, she opened the door to see a young woman standing nearby. She was dressed in fatigues and ballcap with what looked to be a sword hilt poking up over one shoulder. The soldier seemed a little surprised to see her judging by the way she snapped to attention and said, "Commander!"
That voice sounded familiar so she decided to hazard a guess and hoped she didn't offend the woman by not using a specific rank since she didn't see any tabs to go by, "Operative Kelly?"
"Yes, ma'am?"
Well, bully for her, it looked like she hadn't offended the other woman and got the name right. "I vaguely recall hearing Central addressing you and I thought I recognized your voice."
Kelly seemed to straighten up even more and her eyes seemed to brighten a bit. "Thank you, ma'am. Is there something I can help you with, Commander?"
Damn, she'd underestimated Bradford. Again. He had arranged for a replacement babysitter. "First of all, you can, er rest or whatever the term is. I'm afraid I never did have a chance to learn the proper nomenclature."
That earned her a small smile as the soldier did relax. "I can't help it I'm afraid. It's the way Da trained me. We're not really a military force like what you'd be familiar with."
Well, she was far more familiar with older militaries rather than modern units. What had been modern for what she still considered current day. Now it was past history.
God, this was rough.
"If I won't be taking you from guard duty, I wouldn't mind a guide. I think I figured out how to get to Dr. Tygan's research area, but having someone who knows the way would be best."
Kelly brightened. "Yes, ma'am. That's why I'm here, in case you needed any kind of help. If you'll pardon me, are you sure you should be up and moving? From what I saw, you probably should still be on bedrest."
And go even more insane from being alone with her own thoughts circling about? Oh hell no. "I'm sure I'll survive if we take it easy."
The soldier eyeballed her, then gave a faint shrug, "If you say so, Commander. C'mon, I'll show the easiest way down that shouldn't be too hard on you."
While they strolled along, Van tried to figure out what was nagging her about her companion. Besides being part of the rescue party, there seemed something else familiar about the woman. "I hope you don't mind if I say this, but for some reason you remind me of someone I know, but I can't place who."
That earned her a warm smile. "Probably my Da, Commander. Adam Kelly."
It felt good to find another link to what she considered her proper life since Adam had been one of her best troopers. Yet it was weird to have the daughter of one of her former troopers working with her. One that didn't look much younger than her. "If I may, how is your father doing?"
"Well enough, still doing what he can to help with the Resistance. It'll give him a lot of heart to know that you're back."
God, what have they been telling people about her?
Not wanting to encounter any further conversational pitfalls, she just nodded and kept quiet.
Which proved to be wise because she was trying not to pant from the effort of walking by the time they arrived at the science section. Pure stubborn pride was all that was keeping her on her feet.
Kelly took a good long look at her as she lightly chewed on her lower lip, but kept her comment limited to, "I'll be out here when you need me, Commander."
"Thank you."
The first thing she saw was a massive green structure containing a brilliant yellow light that was pulsating in an oddly pleasing way. A tall, lanky, bald dark skinned man dressed in a white and green lab coat stood before the structure with his hands clasped behind his back. Not surprisingly it dwarfed him. Without turning towards her, he commented, "Impressive, isn't it? Capable of generating immense power, yet completely harmless to human life."
He turned to her and she recognized him as the spectacled man who had worked on her when Central brought her in. "If only the same could be said for the rest of their technology, Commander."
Resisting the urge to rub at the suddenly itching incision on the back of her head, Van nodded. He walked over and held out his hand, "Dr. Richard Tygan. Chief Science Officer. Welcome to my lab, such as it is."
She clasped his warm dry hand and hoped hers didn't feel like a dead fish to him. "Nice to meet you, Doctor. And thank you for all of your hard work a few days ago."
The solemn looking man nodded, then gestured over to what appeared to be his work space. Of course one of the screens would have images of her skull and that damn chip. "Take a seat, Commander. I want to see how you're doing."
Unlike other exams she'd had in the past, this was brisk, efficient and not humiliating since he kept it limited to her head. Van was somewhat fascinated by the device he used to scan her head since it was a small hand item completely unlike the massive MRI and CT Scan machines she remembered. She considered the image that came up before them as Tygan thoughtfully manipulated it so he could view the image of her brain from all angles.
She was no medical doctor, but she'd seen her share similar scans. As far as she could see her brain seemed intact. Which was good. Yet on the other hand, there should've been some sort of damage from the removal of that damned chip. "So I guess I'll live for now, doctor?"
"Absolutely, Commander. It's amazing really. There seems to be no harm done in removing the chip."
"How is that even possible? I remember hearing you say something about the implants being designed not to be removed. Shouldn't that have done some of damage?"
He hesitated. Sinking into the back of the chair, she sighed a bit. "It's all right, Doctor. I need to know what they did to me."
"At this point, I'm not entirely sure. While I do pride myself on my skills, I'll confess to being somewhat baffled at your swift recovery. I expected you to remain bedbound for quite some time."
Her stomach clenched with dread. "Doctor. What did they do to me? Am I even still…"
As much as she needed to know the information, she couldn't bring herself to finish the question about her humanity. The images of some of the abductees her people had found still haunted her.
"Still human?"
Van nodded numbly.
He gave her an oddly gentle smile and even patted her shoulder, "In that case, Commander, you can rest assured that you are still one hundred percent human. Though there are signs of gene therapy. Nothing harmful, completely the opposite in fact. They repaired, or removed, any genes that may cause disease or other bodily impairments. And apparently improved recuperative ability."
Christ, if they made her superhuman why did she feel like she was distinctly subhuman at the moment?
That feeling must have shown when Tygan frowned at her. "Commander, how much has Central told you?"
"That you dug a chip out of my head that was buried halfway into my brain. So that's why I'm worried about what else they may have done. I'm well aware that I should be more like a stroke victim than feeling like I'm recovering from, say, a week long bender."
He stared at her for a moment. "That's certainly one way of putting it."
"Do you have any idea of what it's meant for?"
"Not yet. I don't have the lab setup I had during my tenure with ADVENT so I can't get an analysis right away. But I think I can give you some preliminary information within a few days."
The way he said it made her smile slightly. Pulling out her tablet to make a note to herself she idly commented. "Sounds good to me. So, you need research assistants and a budget?"
"I…wouldn't have said it in that manner, Commander, but yes. Right now I'm but one man. I'm doing what I can, but it is somewhat difficult."
"I'll have to meet with Central to see what we have to work with and see what I can do."
The way he peered at her over his glasses made her give him a crooked grin. "First, sit down, you're making me get a crick in my neck looking up at you, and I'm not feeling up to standing for very long right at this moment."
He tapped at the screen he was standing at to turn it off before sitting down. She nodded slightly in approval. "Thank you. When it comes to research, I'm aware of how valuable a good team is, not just doing my own research, but recent experience in XCOM."
Shit, she mentally berated herself as an awkward silence between them, because XCOM wasn't so recent anymore. So she changed the subject. "If I may, Doctor, how did you end up joining XCOM?"
"I was a biochemist doing research for a very lucrative pharmaceutical company. Once the ADVENT administration took over I didn't have anywhere else to use my knowledge and skills. At first it was fantastic. The aliens provided so much knowledge about gene manipulation that so many conditions that would normally be terminal became treatable. It was…humbling to see the good that was being done." He looked away and his shoulders slumped slightly, "Then seeing the way they were twisting my work, and the increasing iron fist that was being exerted on the people… I sought a way out. I soon came into touch with the growing resistance. I eventually ended up here."
Well, that was interesting. Maybe he really was able to run the tests to see that the aliens hadn't exerted some sort of control over her. "Thank you, doctor, I really do appreciate you telling me that."
"If I may ask the same about you, Commander. Central has been quick to talk about the time you were running the original XCOM, but always evaded your own history."
Right. As soon as she finished seeing what was going on with Shen, she was definitely having a chat with Central about how he was presenting her. "That's only fair. I'm a historian that specialized in the clash of cultures when one technological superior people encountered one less advanced. "
Tygan's eyes widened, but he didn't say anything, so she kept going. "I decided to base my thesis on what would happen if a technologically advanced alien species made contact with us. Including a range of attitudes from vaguely friendly to outright malice. That got someone's attention because I ended up in a privately owned think tank that came up with military scenarios in the incredibly unlikely case of an alien invasion. I did that for about five years. One evening at the start of the invasion, a couple of very nice soldiers showed up at my apartment door. After a long series of plane fights, I found myself getting sworn in as XCOM's commander."
"I will confess, I did not expect that. Though that does explain some things I had wondered about." Then he fixed a stern gaze on her. "But that is enough for now, Commander. Since I'm your only physician at this time, I'm going to very strongly advise that you go back to bed and rest."
She levered herself to her feet somehow and used her mule headed stubbornness to stay that way. "I will later, Doctor, but I apparently spent twenty years doing that and it's time I got on with my job."
Tygan shook his head. "No wonder Central goes on about you the way he does. The two of you are the kind of patients that every doctor dreads and why I wanted to go into research into the first place."
Vanessa laughed a little. "I'll talk to you later, Doctor and let you get on with your work."
Kelly was already waiting for her in the corridor when she came out of science division. The young woman considered her for a long moment, then asked, "Where to, ma'am?"
"Engineering. I need to speak with Dr. Shen. I'm not quite sure why he's been avoiding me."
The soldier's expression told her that something was wrong, but all Kelly said was, "You know that's on the other side of the ship, ma'am?"
"I do. If we take it slow again, I'll be fine."
This time Kelly didn't even try to hide her doubt as she replied. "Yes, ma'am."
