"Rudy, why am I being kept here like a prisoner? Why? For heaven's sakes, you've got a guard outside my room!"

"Steve, we must maintain security on this project. You've worked on classified projects for NASA. Surely you can understand that?"

"Yeah, but this time it's different!" Steve paused as he stared out the window from his wheelchair. "This time the project is me."

Rudy glanced at Carla who was standing by the door. Sympathy was written all over her face. Rudy sighed. "Look, I know this can't be easy, but you've been through NASA isolation numerous times. Think of it as just another isolation exercise."

Steve raised his eyebrow. "It's not the same thing."

"I know. But you've just got to hang on for a couple of weeks more until the next round of surgery starts."

"Yeah, that's something to look forward to," Steve replied sarcastically.

"Look, there's someone you need to meet. His name is Oscar Goldman and he is…"

"…the head of the OSI," Steve interrupted. "So I finally get to meet the big boss, the guy pulling all the strings."

"He is looking forward to meeting you. He'll be here this evening. Try to get some rest."

Rudy walked out of the room with Carla. Once they were out in the corridor, Rudy turned to Carla. "It's obvious that this giving-him-space strategy isn't working. I want you to spend more time with him. Talk to him. Keep him occupied. He needs to get his mind off of his isolation."

"Yes, Sir."

Steve was lying in his bed when Oscar walked into his room. He had a broad smile on his face as he stretched out his right hand for a shake. "Colonel Austin, I am pleased to finally meet you. I'm Oscar Goldman."

Steve didn't say anything. He just looked at the hand that he was unable to shake.

It took Oscar a moment to realize his mistake. "Oh, umm, I'm so sorry," he stumbled over the words as he withdrew his hand. "Please forgive my insensitivity."

That got a small smile from Steve. "Come to check up on your project?"

"Well, of course, I've been keeping tabs on your progress and I'm pleased with how well you're doing. But I thought it was time we talked."

"I've got a question for you first. Why me?"

"Why you?"

"Yes, you could have picked a volunteer. Why did you pick me?"

Oscar took his glasses off. "Well, asking a volunteer to risk healthy limbs for this procedure is, frankly…immoral. It made more sense to find a candidate that already had limb loss."

"So, then, why me? I'm not the only guy in the world with missing limbs."

"Because you had the qualifications and circumstances we were looking for. I'm not going to give six million dollars worth of top secret equipment to just anyone."

"Six million dollars?" Steve couldn't hide his surprise.

"Yes," nodded Oscar. "And it will take another half a million to a million per year afterward for repairs and maintenance. So you can see, Steve, we're making quite an investment in you."

Steve was speechless.

"Well, unless there are any other questions, we have some business to attend to," Oscar said as he pulled some paperwork out of his briefcase. He reached inside his jacket and pulled out a pen, and then he put the paperwork and pen on the overbed table and rolled it over to Steve. "Now, I'll need you to initial here, here, and here," he said as he pointed to the lines. "And you'll sign your full name here," he pointed to the signature line on the last page of the five page document.

"What's this?"

"Feel free to read it, but it basically says that you give us your consent to perform bionic surgery on your person. You agree to follow medical instructions with regard to your recovery and rehabilitation from said surgery. You understand that this surgery is experimental in nature and that there are risks involved and you agree to hold us harmless of legal liability for any injuries or damage that may result from said surgery. You understand that there will be no monetary charge to you for these medical procedures and that the United States government will cover all the costs, including subsequent maintenance and repairs. In return, you agree to pay back your government and the tax payers who funded this by working as an employee of the Office of Scientific Intelligence."

Steve just stared at the agreement. "You've got to me kidding me," he finally said. "I'm not signing this." He threw the agreement on the overbed table and pushed the table away.

Oscar was puzzled. "Steve, we can't go forward with the surgery without your signature on that agreement. The Oversight Office requires it."

"Right. You want to make this appear all proper and legal to everyone else. Look you may be able to fool them but don't think for a minute that you've fooled me. You know you don't need my signature. Just do what you're going to do anyway!"

That outburst from Steve surprised Oscar and then it dawned on him what had been bothering Steve all this time. "Wait, you think you don't have a choice in this?"

"Oh, c'mon! Don't play coy with me! I know Rudy's already started to reinforce my bones with cirosium. You gonna deny that?"

"That was a medical decision Rudy made that made sense to him at the time because he already had you open in that area. But I can assure you that no further bionic surgery will be performed on you without your permission. I'm not here to force anything on you. The last thing I want is to give millions of dollars worth of equipment to someone who doesn't want it. Steve, this has always been your choice."

"My choice? It wasn't my choice to come to Colorado! It wasn't my choice to be locked up in this room without any contact with the outside world! I'm not even allowed to call my folks! None of this has been my choice!"

"And I'm sorry about that. But we couldn't let the outside world, and even your family, know what really happened to you. Because of security reasons, the more people that know about your current condition, the more danger it is to you and the project. But now you're at a crossroads, Steve. You can choose to move forward with the surgery and give yourself the opportunity to be whole again or you can refuse and we'll ship you off to a VA hospital where you'll finish your rehabilitation and you can live on disability and the pensions that you'll get from the Air Force and NASA; and I'll tell you 'have a nice life.'"

The room was silent for a few moments as Steve struggled with this new realization, then, "I get a choice?"

"Yes, Pal, it's your choice."

"What if I agree and it doesn't work?"

"Then you'll be no worse off than you are now. But in addition to disability and pensions from the Air Force and NASA, you'll also get a pension from the OSI. I think that would keep you pretty comfortable for the rest of your life."

"And if it does work, you want to use me as a weapon? I don't want to kill people."

"We're not asking you to kill people."

"Oh, c'mon."

"I think maybe you're confusing us with the CIA or NSA. They're the ones who do assassinations. No, you would work as an agent for the OSI doing missions that require your unique abilities. Because we are a scientific agency, you would also be assigned to work on various scientific projects from time to time. And because of your NASA background, you would be our liaison with NASA. And, in fact, your cover would be as an astronaut with NASA on loan to the OSI as a consultant and you would maintain your status as an Air Force Colonel on reserve duty."

"I'm a pilot. I don't know anything about being an agent and all that cloak and dagger stuff."

"We would train you."

There was silence as Steve processed all this information.

"Steve, there is another option I want to offer you. This project is very important to me and there are very few people I would trust it with. You are one of them. I want you to consider helping me show proof of concept."

"What do you mean?"

"What that means is that you would agree to the bionic surgery and give us a year of your time to do the testing and work out the bugs. At the end of the year, you would be free to go live your life. There are certain restrictions that come along with this, however. Your bionics would be turned down to normal strength and once that is done, it cannot be reversed. Also, you would be required to resign from NASA and the Air Force."

"Why?"

"Because they both require regular physical exams and your bionics would need to be kept top secret. But you would be free to take any other kind of employment that doesn't require physical exams."

"But you said that if I come to work for the OSI that I would still be working with NASA and the Air Force. I'd still have to take their annual physicals."

"No, as an employee of the OSI, you would be under my jurisdiction and I have the authority to substitute an OSI physical exam for a NASA and Air Force one."

"I see. So unless I work for you, I have to completely give up a career I love."

"There's another way of looking at it. Unless you come to work for me, you'll never have that career again."

Steve looked at Oscar but didn't say anything.

"Look, I know this is a lot to think about and I don't expect you to give me an answer right this minute. I'll give you forty-eight hours and then I'll be back for your answer. In the meantime, here's the proof of concept agreement for you to read also." Oscar reached into his briefcase, pulled out another agreement, and placed it next to the other agreement on the overbed table. "I'll see you later." Oscar then walked out the door.

Steve was left alone in his room staring at the two documents.