-1CHAPTER 8: Two Weeks Later
"How is the patient?" Doctor Alhib asked the nurse on duty. They stood in a quiet hall of the large, bustling metropolitan hospital's trauma ward. Doctor Alhib, or 'Al' as his patients and the nurses called him, scanned over a clipboard. The nurse looked around nervously.
"The Jane Doe is doing remarkably well." She said with disbelief in her voice. "To have been passed through a metal shredder…frankly, it's a miracle she survived at all."
"I agree." Dr. Alhib said, sounding a bit detached. He looked again at the chart on the clipboard. "And…her injuries are nearly healed? How is that?"
"I don't know, doctor, but…" The nurse paused, and leaned in close as if worried that the nearby IV drip cart might overhear. "You know that backpack that we thought had somehow become fused to her back during the accident?"
"Yes. What of it?"
"Well…" The nurse began. "Doctor Keegan arrived today…" Dr. Alhib' eyes grew wide.
"Dr. Keegan…here? What did he say?"
"Well…" The nurse sighed, as if trying to decide how to continue. "It…the pack…seems to be some sort of life support supercomputer. We had to leave it on in case removing it would kill her. Whoever built it was an…an engineering genius."
"And you've kept this quiet?"
"Yes doctor. The only people who know are you, Dr. Keegan, and the nurses that have been attending to her. No one's going to talk." The nurse lowered her voice again. "But doctor, that's not all." Alhib glanced up from the chart. "Her blood is like nothing I have ever seen. Dr. Keegan is baffled as well. The blood cells replicate at an alarming rate, and the serum itself turns a dark green upon leaving the body. An X-Ray shows that the body cavity only contains a single, multi-compartmental organ, almost as if the heart, lungs, Hell, the whole circulatory, respiratory and digestive system were one organ."
"Is she awake?" Dr. Alhib asked.
"Barely." The nurse replied.
"Excuse me." Alhib said curtly. He pushed past the nurse, and began walking briskly down the hall. "Tell no one!" He called.
Doctor Alhib entered the private ward with an air of authority. An older balding man with a white beard, wearing a lab coat over his tweed suit sat beside the hospital bed.
"Doctor Keegan." Dr. Alhib said cordially.
"Doctor Alhib." Keegan replied respectfully.
"Doctor," Alhib said. "You're the expert on theoretical biology here. What is your opinion?"
"Well…" Keegan began. "Given the bio-support system, the anomalies in her physiology…I can only conclude that she is at least partially…a cybornetic organism, possibly outfitted with all of this gear in secret, possibly at an early age." Keegan looked at the sleeping patient, then back to Alhib. "She's been drifting in and out all morning. Last time she was awake, I was able to discern a possible name." Alhib's eyebrows raised. "Tak."
"Just marvelous!" Alhib exclaimed, throwing his arms up in frustration. "We have a cyborg girl in our hospital named Tak, who survived being put through a metal shredder. What if the media gets wind of this? The government?" He looked at the patient. She looked to be a young girl, fourteen or fifteen at the oldest, but with all of the bio-mechanical alterations, she could be much older.
"Mid to late twenties." Keegan said, as if reading Alhib's mind. "This based on skeletal structure, muscle development, and the condition of the teeth. She looks much younger though, no doubt due to being so much machine, you understand. This must be the case, or else…"
"What, Doctor?" Alhib asked."
"Well, one of the nurses had a theory that perhaps she's not even human, but an extraterrestrial life form."
"We have enough to worry about." Alhib said. "Let's stay with the most logical conclusions until we can talk to her."
"Look." Keegan said in a hushed voice. "She's waking up." The blue-haired girl stirred in the bed. Her eyes slowly opened, and she blinked, looking from one of the doctors to the other.
"Where…where am I?" She asked.
"Relax my dear." Dr. Keegan said softly. "You're safe. You're in a hospital." Tak looked around the room, taking in her surroundings. Doctor Alhib approached, pulling a small penlight from his pocket. Tak flinched.
"No. No. It's okay." Alhib stated. "I'm just checking your eyes." Tak relaxed, and Alhib leaned in, observing Tak's pupils. Underneath the sheet, Tak slowly pulled a long IV needle from her arm. She smiled sweetly at Dr. Alhib.
"You have something on your neck." She whispered.
"Really?" Dr. Alhib asked, unconcerned. "And what is that, now?"
"This." Tak said. She stabbed the needle into Alhib's throat, and pulled, opening his neck and severing his vocal cords. She leapt from the bed, tearing loose the rest of the IV's. She looped an IV tube around Keegan's neck before he could react, and twisted it tight. He fell to his knees as Alhib collapsed. "Die already!" Tak sighed. She grabbed Keegan's head and twisted, breaking his neck. She walked casually up to Dr. Alhib, who lay convulsing on the floor in a pool of blood. She fished through his pockets, retrieving a set of keys, which she jingled playfully.
"Thanks for the help." Tak said with an evil grin. "Couldn't have done it without you."
Well there it is, FINALLY FINISHED. Sorry for the delay in posting this chapter. I've been quite busy of late, and haven't had the time to work on the fic. Well, Time is wasting, and I must begin work on my next fic, so until then…cheerio.
