Chapter Seven
The medic looked at Fox and Ash. They looked back, huddled on one of the Great Fox's med beds together, shivering. The minute they had stepped on board, the other team members had hauled them to Sick Bay, wrapping their hands and arms in bandages, plugging in IVs. They hadn't reacted the entire time, the fury gone, feeling numb and empty.
"Do you know what Andross gave you?" The Medic asked.
"Not everything, but the last thing he gave us was Seplacon." Fox said, looking at the IV plugged into his hand.
"Seplacon?" Peppy asked, eyes wide. "That… that explains so much…" He stepped forward, leaning on the med bed and looking Fox in the eyes. Fox blinked, looking back, then glanced away. "How much did Andross give you?"
"Lost track." Ash said. "But it's doubly bad for us. We've been part of one of Andross' experiments practically since birth… we're linked. I know it sounds stupid, but we are. That's why the wounds inflicted on me appeared on Fox. That's why those…" She pointed to the vital signs monitors. "Match perfectly."
Peppy started, looking at them, and saw it was true. He shared a look with the medic, who spread his hands helplessly then turned back to his patients.
"Are they stable?" Asked a husky voice from the door. Fara entered, looking at her boyfriend, seeing little of what he used to be. The girl, Ash, was huddled down next to him, blinking back at Fara.
"As I can get them… but the drug that Andross gave them…" The Medic stood, shaking his head. "I'm going to see about having a specialist brought in. I've done all I can do." With that, he left the Sick Bay.
Fara looked at Fox. Fox looked back. She sighed. "Are you going to get better?" She finally asked softly.
He looked away. "Andross changed me, Fara. He twisted my mind and warped my body. I'm not sure if I can."
"Suppose that goes for you too?" She looked at Ash, who nodded. "May I ask a favor of you… what's your name again?"
"Ash. Ash Hartford. Go ahead."
"Can I talk to Fox alone?"
She bit her lip, then nodded, very slowly standing, releasing Fox's hand and leaving the room. Green and silver trickled through her mind, reassuring her. She knew that Fara was Fox's girlfriend. She wasn't sure what that made her.
Fara leaned on the med bed, looking at Fox, who looked back. "I have to ask this question and you know it."
"Yes."
"What is that girl to you?"
"My… my other… not other girlfriend, no… just my other…" He fidgeted, running his hands through the fur on his scalp. "Like… like a twin without being born twins. We kinda… kinda share minds."
"And this is a recent thing?"
He looked at her. "For all my childhood years, Ash was there in my mind, Fara. Not long before my preteenage years we lost contact. It became too hard to talk to each other. Sometimes by some freak thing we'd accidentally get through, but…" He sighed. "So, Andross decided he wanted to finish the experiment and captured me, then had Ash brought in too. Fara… some of the things Andross did locked Ash's and I's minds together like this…" He held up two crossed fingers. "Remember my paintings?"
"Yeah of course."
"I can't paint. I in fact have no artistic talent whatsoever. But Ash does. Ash is a professional artist. You know I'm a sharpshooter. Ash is in all reality a conscientious objector, but she can shoot almost as well as I can, if not as well." He dropped his head to his chest. "So many times we almost died."
Fara hopped up on the med bed and pulled Fox into a hug, rubbing his back. He went limp for a moment, then pulled away and shook his head. "You just hugged me, but you just hugged Ash too."
She looked at him, then crossed his arms. "So. That kind of puts a damper on this relationship."
"Just until I figure out what's going on…" He looked at her shirt, and sighed. "Of course, this all depends on whether or not I stop bleeding…"
She looked at her shirt, and saw the blood marks. The bandages on Fox's arms were soaked clean through.
"Seplacon is a very powerful, dangerous stimulant that causes the subject's brain to become overactive in some areas. Unfortunately, its demands are so great it causes the body to go almost cannibalistic." The Medic that had newly arrived, some sort of neurospecialist, was speaking as he gave Fox and Ash once-overs. "That's why you both lost so much weight so fast. Unfortunately, it also destroys the body's ability to heal over time, though that's thought to recover." He held up one of Fox's arms, where the fresh bandages were being soaked. Ash was in similar trouble. "And that isn't all. While it may stimulate some parts of the brain, it, well, royally screws up other parts."
"How honest of you." Fox said.
"Yes, but it's the cold, hard truth." The Medic sighed. "And since you're both estimating a dozen shots, I'm surprised that you're both functioning as well as you are. Frankly, you should be dead."
"We nearly were." Ash said softly.
"But you live now, and the point is to keep you that way… we'll be able to stimulate your bodies enough so they can seal the wounds, and we'll do scans to see the damage done to your brains, but you'll have to do the rest on your own." He sighed. "Seplacon has been outlawed since three months after it was first made."
"Which was when?"
"About nineteen, twenty years ago. Some crackpot scientist started a secret lab and started to experiment on kids. The government's official title for it is the Lilith Project." He sighed again, standing, then his face changed, looking down at Fox and Ash. "And you… you said you've been linked since just past birth… oh god…"
"I know, doc." Fox looked away. "I know."
"They'll live." Peppy sighed, arms crossed, looking out at the stars. "According to the glut of doctors, they'll more then live. They'll recover fully and be able to go about their lives within a year."
"That's a relief, sure, but will they ever be the same again?" Slippy asked, sipping coffee, also staring out at the stars.
"Who's to know?"
"Fox?" Falco knocked on the doorframe, leaning into the den. Fox was sitting on the couch, reading a book. Ash, who had been adopted onto the Star Fox team, was already in bed.
"Come on in." Fox glanced up, reaching out and grabbing another handful of carrot sticks. Since he and Ash had been eating nonstop since rescue, the others had been sure to leave healthy food laying around and also made sure to hide the potato chips.
He slowly entered the room, sitting down across from Fox, pressing his fingertips together. "How do you feel?"
"Great, all things considered…" He smiled a bit.
"Can I ask you a question?"
"Shoot."
"Are you… still going to have…" Falco tapped his temple and rose an eyebrow.
"Hmm. Well…" Fox closed his book and set it aside, returning the carrot sticks to their bowl then picking up the bowl, holding it cupped in one palm. He considered it for a moment, and it lifted out of his hand, hovering about three inches above his skin. "What do you think?"
