Maya's Half-Life
Episode 29 – The Substance
This time the suicide attempt has succeeded and there are consequences – Maya's left leg has been eviscerated. The substance begins to take a hold on Maya but she banishes it. As a consequence Maya can't sleep.
The infirmary room was hot and dry and that was unusual. Maya had been drilled on the various types of rooms, what their purpose was, and how to find them in a pinch. Only this one was so unfamiliar that a slight sense of emergency rose up in Maya. But she was smart enough to keep it hidden, make sure it didn't alert whoever had taken her that she was awake.
Maya tugged lightly at her arm and discovered what she had expected, an IV tube stuck into her arm. Fluttering her eyes Maya tried to catch a brief glimpse of her surroundings. A few figures crowded around the infirmary bed came into blurry focus and Maya stilled her eyelids relaxing almost completely and continued to breathe evenly.
"Is she awake? I saw her eyelids move. Maya?"
"Stop. There's no use, can't you see her leg? Even if she was awake the shock would be too much for her speak."
'My leg? What's wrong with it?' Maya thought to herself, not sure if she shouldn't speak or that she couldn't. The voice that had spoken second continued, its deep rich tone somehow familiar to Maya.
"She's obviously injured," He leaned closer to Maya, the Siren instantly recognized him as her commander in chief.
'Richfield? What the hell is he doing here, I'm only a sophomore!' Maya's thoughts came again to the surface but they didn't raise any alarms that she was awake. Maya would have to be careful if she wanted truthful info on what had happened. It was Maya's knowledge that unless a doctor was present people seemed to sugarcoat your injuries. Maya wanted the truth on what had happened to her with the automated kitchen knives … and what the suicide had accomplished, and she knew she would have to listen carefully but make it seem like she was asleep in order for that to happen.
"Can she hear us?" The voice that had spoken first since Maya had blacked out. Its tone was much higher pitched but still somehow had the same richness that of Richfield.
Richfield answered saying, "Of course she can! I notice almost as soon as it happened. When I leaned in close I could see those intense eyes staring back at me …" Richfield's voice trailed off and got kind of misty.
Maya was shocked, did her commander in chief have a crush on her? If so Maya didn't know what to think of that. The Siren decided to hell with it and opened her eyes and fully took in the scene in front of her.
Maya sat up and said rather pleasantly, "Hello. Nice to see you haven't been bored while I was … asleep. Have a good chat?"
"We weren't talking about what happened, we wanted to wait until you awoke to start discussion," Richfield said in response – to Maya's disappointment the mistiness in his voice had gone and now there was an unremarkable yet still unsteadying hard edge to his voice.
"Alright, start from the beginning. Who found me?"
"I did," Richfield responded immediately, even though a younger cadet shifted uncomfortably in the corner. Maya instantly knew who had really found her first, but she decided to play along.
"Alright, what about an injury report? What's wrong with my leg?"
"Well," Richfield began … he held his breath then puffed it out in a long breath. Maya tried not to think about what his smell was doing to her, she banished those thoughts and focused as Richfield continued, "One of your friends back home on Pandora is here, and she helped you immensely."
"Really?" Maya asked, "And who would that be?"
Someone walked out from behind Maya and placed a robotic left arm on the rail of Maya's infirmary bed. Gaige said in a hard authoritative voice, "Now that she knows you care so much for her, I suggest Richfield that you leave and take your entourage with you."
"Why can't I stay?" Richfield said, and again Maya was shocked.
'Why the hell does he want to stay … with me? This is unusual, even for a commander.' Maya thought.
Gaige said this time a much harder edge crept into her tone, "Listen buddy, you can't stay because at the moment I have more authority than you. Know why? Because I'm currently the mechanic working on her, oh also the Vault Hunter who personally lead the charge that ended in Handsome Jack's death and the salvation of Pandora. So tell me, Richfield why the fuck would I not be able to order you around?"
"Because I am the commander in chief!" Richfield retorted, his face flushed and Maya – embarrassingly – could tell that he wasn't used to being angry. How she instinctively knew this Maya didn't want to know.
Gaige ripped the sheets off from Maya's legs and piled them on the floor. The only thing Maya wore was her bra under a wife beater and a pair of pure red panties. Everyone averted their eyes and Maya leaned forward not noticing that everyone had left the room – and that it was several hours later.
Maya's find finally caught up to what she was seeing and as soon as Maya realized it she was in a shock. Maya's entire left leg was made up of such complicated machinery that Maya wasn't sure it was even scientific. It seemed like her normal leg – even had a faint resemblance – but it was definitely robotic.
Maya coughed turning her head to the floor on the right side of her bed Maya upchucked and out came a stream of the substance. Maya was bewildered for a second until she retched so hard and long that the Siren couldn't feel anything but pain. After it was over Maya saw that there was a lot of the substance on the floor.
Gaige stood at the foot of Maya's bed, clipboard in hand taking notes. The Mechromancer looked really, really tired. Suddenly Maya realized that she hadn't slept since awaking from her black out session. "What's happening to me?" Maya asked.
"You can't sleep, but since all the substance is out of your system … I can't figure out why. Good to see you again Maya, but I'm leaving. In an hour or two you probably won't see me again unless you come to Pandora. Bye."
