Silver Heart
By TimeAndLife21
Nyx rubbed her the sides of her head for the 6th time today. Again, usually she would have the same mini-seizure feeling when she would black out, but her body wasn't reacting that way. Her body felt cold and she looked paler than usual. She was in Optimus riding back to the Hoover Dam Base. They left two weeks after she resigned from her teaching position and the School District was more than glad to let her go. She would miss her micro-students, but life goes on. She laid her head onto the window and wondered why her body wasn't warming up.
"Could be another side affect. Maybe I'm evolving…" She thought as her heart sped up in terror.
"I hope I'm not evolving. That actually sounds terrifying!"
Maybe she was being paranoid. That sounds like the most logical reason for her headaches and her cold as ice body. In all honestly, she was very nervous about meeting the scientists that experimented on her all those years ago.
It also brought up some unpleasant memories. But she knew that if she wanted to reverse the effects of the All Spark on her, it had to be done. If there was something positive that might come out of this, it was to be a normal human again. She could revert back to a normal life. Maybe take up dating again and find a husband, have kids and so on and so forth. She could grow old…she could die just one last time when she would reach 90 (160 but who's counting?). But then again… she wouldn't be around the NEST base…or the autobots. Since they came into her life, she never really thought that they would grow on her. She looked up to the Autobots because they are willing to keep the human race safe from the Decepticons.
She bit her lip as another sharp pain resonated through her skull. She sighed as she leaned back into the seat. They should be arriving anytime now. Hopefully she didn't pass out by the time she exited the vehicle. She closed her eyes and she saw symbols flashing across her vision. She was going to have Ratchet teach her Cybertronian one way or another. She leaned over and grabbed a small purse that she brought along with her and took out 8 pills of extra-strength Tylenol. The side effects would make her drowsy enough to have her fall asleep. She took out a bottle of water and washed down the 8 pills. After thirty minutes, she started to feel sleepy. She yawned a few times and rubbed her eyes.
"Hey, Optimus…wake me up when we get to base." She said sleepily. She didn't wait for a response. She was already knocked out.
Opening her eyes, she was in the Matrix again. But this time…she was falling at a high speed. Wisps of clouds were flying past her as she fell down and down. Was she afraid? No. In fact, she felt rather exhilarated. Closing her eyes, It reminded her of paratrooping in the 'Nam war. Then she was stopped. Opening her eyes again, she saw the multitude of sparks around her. Many of them were cuddling up to her and rubbing against her body, sending electrical tingles up and down. She giggled. Everything that she feared was gone. Going to see the scientists, worrying that she would be tested on again, it was gone. She floated around the sparks trying to see a familiar spark that would greet her; she found it.
"OUT OF MAH WAY!" the spark shouted as he crashed into a few of sparks, making them squeal as he did so. She laughed out loud as the surrounding sparks were piling up on the larger blue spark. She floated over to the pile and shooed away some the smaller sparks.
"Jazz, what did I tell you about picking on the other sparks?" She smiled.
"If an'thang, 'Dey are pick'en on MEH!" The spark wiggled out of the other sparks and floated near her head.
She smiled at the smaller sparks that were tittering at a high speed, obviously not happy with the fact that Jazz crashed into them.
"Well, have you seen All Spark lately? I want to talk to her about these damned head aches that have been killing me lately." She asked the spark of the saboteur.
"Don' know, shawty. The All Spark comes an' goes. Las' Ah saw 'er was a few cycles ago." Jazz said.
If he was in his autbot form, he would be shrugging. Nyx sighed. She was hoping to speak with All Spark about how to put his spark into his body. Racthet must've fixed his body by now.
"Why yo' askin'?" He asked.
Nyx floated through the sparks, shaking her head off from the question signaling that she wanted to drop the subject for the moment, some bumping into her while doing so, and another few rubbed against her face affectionately.
"So cute." She said as she let a few swirl around her fingers.
"Shawty, how are t'ings in da livin' world?" He asked.
Nyx leaned back into the cloud of sparks and looked up at the hazy skies.
"Well currently my body is with Optimus on the way to the NEST base." She said as his spark floated above her.
"We are going to be seeing the scientists that experimented on me. I still have mixed feelings about it." She said closing her eyes tightly.
Now she started to feel the weight of meeting the scientists again. She bit the inside of her cheek before opening her eyes again.
"I don't think I do want to meet with my tormentors…on the other hand I could be glad and say 'Thank you for making my life, excuse me, lives miserable. I'm now suffering from PTSD and I come back to life every time I'm killed, thank you.'" She said as and balled her fists and became angry with the men who experimented on her.
As she closed her eyes again, flashes of being in the tank and dying multiple times over the years have haunted her mind.
"Least yo' still alive. 'Ah on da otha' hand, not so much." Jazz said as he floated in a circle.
Nyx shook her head.
"Well, I'm trying to figure out how to bring you back. I have a theory…but I'm not even sure if it might work or not." She said as sparks floated near her face and nudged against the paleness of her cheeks, as if sensing the worry from her being.
"Wha's the theory? C'mon, c'mon! Let's hear it!" Jazz asked excitedly, bumping into a few sparks as he did so. A few of the sparks bumped back into him unhappily.
"Well…there is a shard of the All Spark in custody with the 'bots. I if could study it for a little bit and if I could get Ratchet's permission... remember the pulses that I released when we were driving to Mission City? I think I could try something like that to being you back." She said as she felt the cold surge of the pulse then let it out through the tips of her fingers.
The pulse affected the sparks around her sending them in a frenzy. Not a crazed frenzy, but it was enough that they were squealing happily and they went off in different directions. Leaving Nyx with only a few sparks and Jazz left with her.
"Whoa girl! Careful of da pulses that yo' leak out. Wouldn't want a high-grade makin' ev'ry spark go haywire." Jazz warned.
"Whoops." She said being surprised at the pulse that she let out.
She then blushed a bit because she looked around at the sparks. They were behaving erratically then it wore off. The sparks then floated lazily like always.
"Interesting." She tilted her head curiously.
"Interesting enough." A disembodied voice spoke.
Nyx turned around and saw the All Spark.
She spoke again.
"Have care in how you use the pulses of power you now wield in yourself. You could easily harm yourself and others." She said as if she was a chiding mother.
Nyx looked down, her face turning red from embarrassment.
After she calmed down, she looked up at the All Spark. She was looking better, but the cracks that were on her were still visible.
"I was going to ask for your help." Nyx asked shyly as she had Jazz settle in her hands and poked the spark.
"Ah can feel dat!" Jazz grumbled.
"Oh?" All Spark tilted her head.
"Then what is it that you seek?" She asked gently as sparks surrounded her as if a mother had come home to her children.
"I was thinking about trying to bring Jazz back, I think with your help…" She was interrupted.
"I'm afraid that I can't help you." The All Spark said as she fixed her eyes on Nyx with a cold look.
"I don't have the power enough to even bring back a sparkling, much less a full grown Cybertronian. Remember, I'm shattered." She said as she gently held a spark in her long spindled fingers.
Nyx frowned… she thought that if the All Spark could help it would be easier on her to bring Jazz back.
"But that doesn't mean I can't offer advice. I will say for you is that be careful when bringing him back. It can be quite… shocking… bringing a cybertronian to life…" She smiled gently.
"Use one of my shards to do so, but the rest of up to you." She said as her eyes glowed softly at her.
Nyx looked down, embarrassed. She was a big girl. She could figure things out. She felt a bit selfish expecting the All Spark to help her. She has been on her own for a long time now…
As if reading her thoughts the All Spark spoke yet again, "It is understandable that since you have met the Autobots and myself, you are slowly being accustomed to ask for their help. I know how you feel." She said as she floated over to Nyx and placed a hand gently on her cheek.
"It has been many eons ago…when I was created by Primus." She smiled.
"Lets say that I asked for help many times, before I realized what I was supposed to do." She said as she flitted back and disappeared.
Nyx frowned as All Spark left her. It was as if the All Spark didn't want to answer any more questions.
"Damn her." She muttered.
"Now Shawty, don' get too mad. Maybe da All Spark wanted ya to figure things out for yourself. She gave ya advice…use it!" Jazz swirled around her head in emphasis.
He was right. But the words she left Nyx with rang in her ears.
"What does she mean by 'asked for help many times' before she realized what she was supposed to do?" Nyx wondered out loud.
"Shawty, da All Spark has been 'round for eons and eons. Ah t'ink the equiv'lent to da All Spark is yo' Adam and Eve story that yo' organics preach about." Jazz spoke as he hovered in front of her.
"Wait, so this God, Primus, he created the All Spark for life on Cybertron right? So…The All Spark is the First Cybertronian?" She asked.
"If ya can put it dat way. Da story goes dat on da 7th orn, da All Spark created the first beings on Cybertron. Ah wasn't da religious type of bot back on Cybertron, but mah creators were. Dey believed dat Primus created da All Spark fo' many reasons. Da first reason was dat da All Spark created The First Primes an' da primes created their offspring and so on da cybertronian population increased and expanded. Da second reason is dat the All Spark was considered as what ya called a 'Goddess' of Life, so ta speak. Aft'r a few thousand eons, when da Cybertronian War went on, Optimus cam' across da All Spark cube an' sent it to who knows where. It was da only t'ing getting 'er out of da Decepticreeps claws." Jazz explained.
"So wait, She's a 'Goddess' in that respect? Then why the hell is she a CUBE…instead of having a body like you Cybertronians?" She frowned.
It didn't make sense…if 'Primus' created the All Spark…her mind was hurting her again. She remembered going to churches and heard a lot of things about how God created man in his image. Wouldn't Primus create that All Spark in his image?
"If Ah remember, da All Spark once had a protoform body like all other bots, but som'how over the eons she disappeared and da cube took place. If bein' in da matrix means you understand wha's goin' on, all Ah know is dat da All Spark is a keeper of secrets. She knows ev'rtyt'ing and not'ing. Maybe next time yo' can ask her about her origins." Jazz hovered near her left shoulder.
"I should…especially if she's putting all this crap on me…Jazz... I'll bring you back to life, okay? I just have to ask Ratchet if I can use the shard to do so." Nyx said as she put the All Spark to the back of her mind.
"Ah have faith in ya, Shawty. You'll figure t'ings out." Jazz said back.
Nyx smiled and leaned against the sparks that surrounded her and closed her eyes…dreaming about stepping onto a barren metal planet and bringing to life, beings of metal and energy.
It was nearly morning when Optimus and Phoenix made it to the Hoover Dam Base. After Nyx took those pain pills, she was knocked out for the day. When she woke up, she was freezing, even though Optimus had the heat on. What was up with her body? She was tired almost everyday since the Mission City Incident, then that disappeared and her body temperature would drop and migraines would rack at her brain with little gnomes with pick-axes chipping away at her skull nonstop. She still had a headache, but it was nothing but a small one in the back of her head. Her body on the other hand…
She reached down at her feet and pulled out a jacket and placed it on her and rubbed her arms.
"Optimus," She started to speak, "what are the temperatures today?" Her voice was rough from waking up.
She was sure that she sounded like a bear groaning.
"It should reach 98 degrees. Is it too warm for you Phoenix?" Optimus asked.
Nyx shook her head.
"No…I'm fine. I was just wondering." She said as she rubbed her eyes.
"No, I'm not. I'm freezing cold right now." She thought as she stared straight ahead.
"We will be arriving to the base soon." He said looking at her.
At that, Nyx had to bite her lip. It has been a long time since she saw the people that had experimented on her. She wanted to be calm in their presence…then again she wanted to scream bloody murder, running the other direction. She sighed deeply.
"Fun…can't wait to meet my makers…" She said sarcastically.
In a way it was true. She was just a small child at the time when Sector 7 took her. They literally made her into who she is right now. A thought came to her. And she became curious with that thought.
"Optimus…back on Cybertron, has there been any experimentation on bringing back the dead? Or just experiments in general?" She asked.
She felt Optimus tense and his hands gripped the wheel. It was silent for a few moments.
"There was…a Decepticon by the name of Shockwave. During the war, we lost many autobots to Shockwave. He was a scientist. But his methods were…extreme. Many brave Autobots lost their lives trying to get information from Shockwave to find out what he was doing for Megatron. One Solar Cycle, a team of Autobots left the base without any of our knowledge. It took us three delta-cyles to know where they went. The last signal from their ship was from the Sea of Rust." He said as he turned a curve.
"I heard Ironhide and Ratchet talk about it briefly, and you told me a little about it. You said that you sent Jazz and…who was it…?" She asked.
"Cliffjumper. When they got to the Sea of Rust, they found an old city. It was most likely the home of the Primes before the gasses and molecular matters there became too much. They had a limited amount of time trying to find Grimlock's crew." Optimus said.
"Grimlock?" She asked.
"Grimlock was the leader of a special strike team called Lighting Strike Coalition. They were the team that left us. At that time when Jazz and Cliffjumper left us to find Grimlock and his crew, we depleted our energon sources. They found a lake of energon in the Sea of Rust. Before they found it though, there were Shockwave's experiments and underlings everywhere. He created the Insecticons. Jazz and Cliffjumper found one of Grimlock's teammates, Sludge. It turned out that Shockwave has taken Grimlock's team away. For what, we never knew. Shockwave was a once a brilliant scientist on Cybertron, until the war started. He quickly turned to Megatron's side and did experiments on Autobots that even I can't repeat." Optimus said as he stared out the window.
Nyx closed her eyes and images assaulted her mind. She could hear the tortured screams of autobot and decepticon. A Decepticon, its body was twisted metal and she could practically feel it's evil, with one optic was grinning maliciously as he ripped out wires and parts of an innocent bot. She opened her eyes and took a deep breath.
"This Shockwave sounds like a madman." She said as her face paled, it made her time at Sector Seven seem like a child's playground compared to what Optimus described.
She wanted to change the topic. Not because she was feeling uncomfortable, but she could tell that Optimus was starting to frown. Most likely at memories that he must've had on Cybertron. She decided to switch the subject and smile.
"I wonder how Ratchet is holding up. He's probably gone a little nutty since we left him at Base with only humans around. Maybe even throwing wrenches at the poor souls who dare enter his med bay." She smirked.
She felt the cab rumble a little, and turned to see Optimus smiling.
She turned back to see the front and the Hoover Dam was in sight. She felt her body temperature go lower as she shook a little. She closed her eyes and took a deep cleansing breath. She won't let the scientists intimidate her. They stopped by a checkpoint and a soldier went up to the window and asked for ID. Nyx showed hers to the man and they went through. She could feel her heartbeat increase. The pounding echoed in her ears. After pulling into the docking bay, Nyx, grabbed her purse, and threw a small smile his way, and got out.
"If it ain't Grandma Nyx." She heard the mocking voice of Epps.
"I swear if you call me Grandma one more time, I dare you, I will kick your ass and I will pull out your permanent teeth." Nyx deadpanned.
Inside she was a little relived that Epps took her edge off. She needed some sort of humor to keep her a little relaxed.
Epps laughed. "What can I say? I missed seeing you irritated at the name. Besides…the old men are starting to piss me off." Epps frowned at her.
Nyx cocked her head curiously.
"Old men?…you mean…" She tried to clarify.
"Yeah…the guys that…you know." Epps rubbed his neck nervously. Nyx sighed.
"Lets get this done and over with." She said as she walked past him.
"Good luck, Nyx." Epps said as she walked farther away.
"You'll need it." He said as his good friend walked into the lion's den.
As she was walking down the concrete walls of the Hoover Dam base, she felt like she was being watched. She stopped for a second and looked back.
"May I help you?" She asked.
"Excuse me, Miss. Are you lost?" A soldier went up to her with a look on his face that she did not like.
He carried himself cockily, almost like he own the place. He was wearing specialized military gear and he was tall and somewhat good-looking, the typical jock at a high school, muscular, blue eyed, crooked smirk, blond hair... If it weren't for the fact that he was scanning her body like a piece of raw meat, she might've giving the guy a chance and gone out on a date with him. Sadly, she wanted nothing to do with him; in fact, she wanted nothing to do with people at all at the moment.
"I'm not. I'm just heading to the med bay to start working." She stated.
She wanted to get away from the guy. She was in no mood to even deal with him.
"I can take you down there, what do you say you and I get to know each other?" He said as he placed his arm around her shoulders. She looked up and he was smiling his stupid smile; it wasn't a pretty one at all.
"I can find my own way…" She shrugged him off and started walking toward the med bay. She could hear him following her. Her patience was wearing thin; if the man kept following her, he was in for a world of hurt.
He kept up with her and talked with her. Asking why such a pretty girl like her is here in a military base like this, and the likely questions. He didn't bring up the autobots which meant one thing.
"New Recruit." She thought with a scowl.
Every soldier knows about the Autobots. But for the new recruits, they have to go through a deep process before the bots can even be introduced to them. It would take about a 12 week period of hard-core trainings, on the training field and physically, psychological evaluations, health, and so on and so forth. The trainings were a make it or break it. If you fail a training exercise, you were kicked out. If your psyche test was off, you were kicked out. If you even breath a word about the Autobots outside of work (Save for a couple of exceptions), you were silenced and effectively fired. This guy looked like he was fresh off the plane.
"So, you a nurse? How about you come back to my room and play doctor?" He grinned. She stopped walking and closed her eyes.
Oh…this man had picked the wrong day to flirt with her.
The man was lucky though, to not see her glowing blue eyes and her fury of tongue-lashing that she would've given him and quite possibly a beat down, if Ironhide, in his holoform, wasn't there to stop what's going on.
"Winston!" He barked and he came over to the two.
The jock, as she decided to dub Winnie next time she saw him, went into soldier mode and stood ram-rod straight, looking ahead.
"Sir, yes, Sir!" He said as Ironhide towered over the young soldier.
She couldn't help be smirk at the fear that was in Winston's eyes as Ironhide went over and observed the young man.
"I could have sworn that I left you in the training facilities with the other recruits. Why are you out here?" Ironhide growled. Nyx probably should still be walking to the Medbay, but she didn't want to miss this.
"Sir, we finished training at 0200 hours, Sir! We were released to go around as we pleased, Sir!" He responded.
Ironhide looked at Nyx before frowning.
"And you decided to harass an agent, Winston?" Ironhide sneered.
The fear became evident on his face.
"Sir, no, Sir! I was trying to tour the base when I saw her, Sir! She was lost, Sir!" He said.
Nyx stepped in.
"Ironhide…is he a new recruit?" She asked him coyly as she stood beside him.
Winston looked at her in horror, finally realizing his mistake.
Ironhide couldn't help but grin at the fleshbag that was a two-week-old recruit. Thomas Winston was a pain in his aft when he was not around. He would flirt with the military female personal, argue with some of the superiors, and disrespected some people on a daily basis. But when Winston is even in the same room with Ironhide, he shut up and did as he was told. Good Soldier, but bad morals. He would be kicked out by the end of the third week if his attitude doesn't change. He wasn't pleased when Winston followed Pheonix as a cyber-dog hopped up on overload. So he intervened. But the wording of Pheonix's phrase was priceless.
"Yeah, he's a new recruit. Has he been bothering you, Agent Lazarus?" Ironhide said using her codename that was famous around the base.
Winston lost it. "You're Agent Lazarus? THE Agent Lazarus?" He lost his composure.
"I am." She said as she felt like her old self.
The confident and smiling Phoenix was in place. Winston blubbered and shook his head.
"You can't be him! I heard Agent Lazarus was a guy! Not some chick with a pretty face!" His face contorted into anger.
"There's the insubordination that I was looking for." Ironhide thought. He was ready to toss this guy out.
"Yes, I'm Agent Lazarus. Now, what was that about playing doctor?" She said cruelly.
Ironhide caught that.
"Doctor…what does she…?" Then he caught on.
"Oh, that little glitch." Ironhide's face became stone cold.
"Winston…you are going to have a private training session…starting tomorrow at 0300 hours." Ironhide said as his blue eyes glared at the human in front of him.
Winston paled. "What?! But tomorrow is a day off!" He shouted in anger.
Red replaced the pale real fast.
"Ironhide, don't bother…" Nyx said to him.
"Lazarus…" He looked down at her.
"Forget it." She said to him as she turned to the soldier who was giving her a look of relief.
"Next time I see you, if you approach me with the intent of flirting, dating, sex, or all of the above, I will end you. Make no mistake about that. Understand…maggot?" She bit out the words with such poison even Ironhide got the shivers…it reminded him of his superior training officer in when he was a youngling in a training camp.
Her eyes were burning with such intensity he couldn't help but laugh.
"Run off, while you still have the chance." Ironhide said as Winston took off the other direction, no doubt telling his fellow recruits about meeting the Agent Lazarus.
"The Agent Lazarus? What am I? Elvis Presley?" She frowned at Ironhide.
He chuckled. "Come on Nyx, I think Hatchet's been waiting for you long enough." Ironhide said as he walked along side of her.
"Recruits…I hope to high hell that he won't get through. I was just about to punch him in the face too. If it weren't for a mech that got in my way." She playfully glared at Ironhide.
He smiled back at her. "Ha! Slagger may have deserved it…but let's not break his pride just yet." Ironhide grinned.
Nyx put on a face of mock surprise and gasped.
"Ironhide…are you going…" Another pause. "Soft? I thought I'd never see the day when our favorite trigger happy mech would go soft on a human." She jested.
Ironhide gave a snort. "I said pride. Not his soul. Besides, When Lennox got the letter two weeks ago about the new recruits that were coming in, it turned out that they needed us back. Honestly, it wasn't too bad being with Major Lennox. But the rodents they have…" He growled off.
"You mean dogs? I pretty sure last time I spoke with Sarah, she got a Border collie for the house. At least it wasn't a…Chihuahua." She giggled the word.
Which only made Ironhide scowl more. "At least this rodent wasn't lubricating itself on my foot…it left hair all over my insides." He muttered as if that made a difference.
Nyx laughed out loud. "Well at least it didn't lubricate on your foot. Right?" She reasoned.
"I hate earth dogs." He stated. Which only made Nyx laugh again.
Her laughing almost made her forget why she was here. Almost. When they came to the medical bay doors, she froze. Flashes of testing and being dunked in foul and bitter tasting water came to the forefront of her mind. Ironhide had a rare look on his face as he looked at the young woman by him. Like Ratchet, he thought of the girl as a youngling trying to get used to a new life of being a soldier. Trying to keep its grasp on it's creators, or in this case, guardian's servos. He placed a hand on her shoulders and she looked at him sharply. He saw her eyes glowing a little, probably from stress.
"Don't worry Phoenix. You'll be fine. Hatch-er- Ratchet will look after you." Ironhide said uncomfortably.
He was never really good at comforting femmes. She gave him an unsettling smile.
"I know…" She sighed.
"Let's just get this over with." She said as she opened the door to the medical bay, only hoping that good things will come out of it.
When she entered she saw Ratchet first in the large room. His holoform was hunched over a microscope and he was writing things down at a lightning speed after he was observing what ever was on the slide. She wasn't paying attention to her surroundings as she quickly walked up to the autobot medic.
"Hey Ratchet." She said softly, as not to distract him too much from his work. Ratchet looked up and smiled at her.
"If it isn't Phoenix. Have you been sleeping better lately?" He said as he finished up whatever he was writing down. Nyx rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, although I keep seeing symbols every time I close my eyes…" She paused remembering the cybertronian symbols that she saw before she took a nap in Optimus.
"Ratchet, could you teach me Cybertronian?" She asked politely.
Ratchet put away his slides and placed the papers that he had written down into a file that was beside him.
"I'll think about it. I've been busy working with your tests results since you have left. It's fascinating." He said as he sat down on a chair as he opened a drawer and took out a vial of when looked like a glowing light blue liquid.
Nyx's brow furrowed as she looked closely at the vial.
"Ratchet…what is that?" She asked. Ratchet looked at her with a blank look, but his eyes were holding a great fascination.
"This, Phoenix, is your blood." He said point-blank.
If it was possible, Nyx felt like her body was suddenly place in artic waters.
"What?" she said as she shakily took the vial from Ratchet and looked at it.
"This isn't my blood, Ratchet. I accidently cut my hand open a couple days ago when I was making dinner, my blood is still purple." She said shakily as she looked at the vial a little closer.
It definitely had the consistency of blood as she moved the vial around a few times.
"How…?" She trailed off.
"It has come to my conclusion that the blood that I have sampled from you, after you left, it didn't take too long for the 'purple' color to disappear and it started to turn blue. It is the color of energon now. Though I have tested it several times now. It is blood. But as I have studied a bit more…" He trailed off as he saw Nyx's face turn pale and the light in her eyes was dull and desperate.
"Ratchet…can you reverse this?" She asked softly.
Ratchet sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"It is a possibility…but at this stage, I'm not so sure." He said reluctantly.
"If Wheeljack was here, he might be able to go into more depth." He thought as he was taken out of his thoughts when Nyx leaned against the table and put the vial down.
"Don't worry Nyx, I'm sure there is a way to reverse the process…it'll take time." He assured her.
Nyx nodded hesitantly.
"I understand." She sighed.
"Oh, Ratchet, before I forget…" She was going to say, but she was cut off by an older voice.
"Great Scott!" She heard.
Nyx turned around and saw General Morshower with three older, much older, men wearing lab coats. They were staring at her with such fascination and such horror, that it shocked Nyx. Morshower walked over to Nyx in a few strides.
"Phoenix…come with me. It's time to meet your doctors." He said with authority.
She nodded as she walked alongside Morshower, giving a last look to Ratchet who nodded at her, reassuring her that he will be in hearing distance.
Morshower took her over to a table on the far side of the med bay and she had a closer look at the three men who were sitting there. They were older than her, most likely in their late eighties to early nineties. As she got closer, one of them stood up and took a walker and shuffled over to her. His hair was gone and his blue eyes were hidden behind glasses on his round face. He was wearing a lab coat over his normal clothing. She stopped in front of the elderly man, somewhat worried that he might topple over any second, and he spoke.
"Subject 27…how is this possible?" He spoke in wonder and awe.
She twitched and shuddered away as the mention of her old test name.
"You were supposed to be dead…we believed that Project Aindrias was a failure." He observed her up and down. Then he shook his head.
"Where are my manners? Forgive me…I'm Dr. Robert Jones. I was the Head of the Project Aindrias after…the previous head had died of a heart attack." He reached out a shaky hand for a handshake.
She couldn't deny him. She held his hand in a firm grip.
"So the project was a success…I never thought that it would work, even after the war was over." He said as he shuffled back to his seat.
She followed closely and saw the other two scientists.
As Dr. Jones sat down, he introduced her to the two other men.
"The man who is sitting next to me is Dr. Richard Larson."
He gestured to the taller, spindly man by his side. He had only a cane by his side and he still had his hair, as it was shockingly white. He had very angular features and cold, dark, brown eyes. He had a pair of glasses hanging from his neck.
"And Dr. Douglas Schneider."
Dr. Jones pointed to the smaller man at the end of the table. He was in a wheelchair with large thick spectacles and currently hunched over trying to get a closer look at her. He had a halo of hair but a bright shiny bald spot on top of his head. She nodded to the two other men. She wasn't sure how to respond. They looked very harmless to her.
"Subject 27. Never thought I'd see the day that the past would come to haunt us." Schneider spoke with a thick German accent as he took off his glasses to clean them.
"You haven't changed a bit…save for your eyes. I never forgot that you have had black eyes." Schneider said wistfully as if he was remembering a few things.
"It was a side effect from dunking me in the waters. I researched the notes. It was another doctor that wrote down that the waters were slowing down my growth. By the time I hit 21, I stopped growing altogether." She supplied.
"Ah, that was Dr. Hal Fredrick. Shame he died four years ago. He would have loved to see you today…what did you say your name was?" Schneider asked.
"Phoenix. Phoenix Cassandra Sparks." She said her name.
"Sounds fitting for a Super Soldier. What I'm actually curious about is how in blue hells, are you even alive? Much less still the same as you are…save for the eyes." Larson sneered as he fixed his eyes on her.
"It's impossible. I saw your body and I checked it over myself. You had no pulse. So how do we know if it's really you, Subject 27?" Larson sniffed.
Nyx furrowed her brows. They don't believe her.
"If I recall correctly, you subjected 26 other people to suffer the same fate after every test." She balled her fists together.
"I was left with my friend, Benny, or as you called him, Subject 26. Of course, after 5 months of testing, he started to deteriorate." She said as she stepped closer to the table and stared at the men in front of her.
"You condemned him to a short life of pain. I always cleaned up after him, made sure he was eating well while he was a drooling slobbering mess." She felt herself get mad, and then she slammed both her fists into the metal table putting enough power to dent the table and proving a point.
"After all those tests, you would think to stop. But no, you turned to me and subjected me to near drowning and pushing my limits to where I would get electrocuted if I went under a certain speed in an obstacle course." She snarled.
She saw Schneider and Jones pale a little at her words.
Larson was staring at her as if she was just dirt under his shoes.
"What a proud little man." She thought.
A beat of silence went past the doctors and Nyx. Schneider cleared his throat and spoke.
"At that point of time, Miss Sparks, we were desperate to have Project: Aindrias a success. You apparently are the only success that we had. We truly thought that the project ended with you. Everything about the project was burned and tossed away." He said trying to soothe the woman in front of him.
"If that was true Douglas. All of the files should have been destroyed. But they were not. If they were, we wouldn't be here." Larson glared at Jones. Jones merely looked at Larson coolly.
"I was hoping that the future generations would succeed, whereas we failed." He said as he fiddled with his lab coat.
"WE COULD HAVE BEEN COURT MARSHALLED! All because you didn't destroy the files." Larson bellowed.
Nyx was surprised at the outburst that the elderly man created. Larson then shook his head and took a deep breath, calming himself.
"We are lucky. At least we're reaching the ends of our lives. No prison would take us in." Larson said as he frowned.
"Wait, you hid the files just to that they would be found again? What if it wasn't me that found the files? We'd have another repeat of deaths of the subjects that you went through. Are you crazy! Look what happened to me!" Nyx growled at the three men.
At this, the scientists looked down in shame, save for Larson, who looked to the side of the room, avoiding eye contact. She shook her head, trying to get back on track.
"I want to reverse this process. I have lived and died over and over again. Do you have any idea what it's like!? I have seen comrades, brothers in arms, good soldiers, died in front of me, and I died with them, for what…only to wake up in the battle field surrounded by blood and corpses." She said as she stood up again.
She became silent. Untill Jones decided to break the silence.
"We never thought about reversing the process, even if we knew that the project would be a success." He said softly as he looked up at Nyx.
"We could try…but let me warn you…it will take TIME." Jones said as he gave a gentle smile to Nyx.
"Are you crazy? Ha! What hubris." Larson condescended.
"Time is what we don't have. You, 27, give us a reason why we should help you. If you ask me, you are a success of a project and therefore, we have no reason for being here." Larson leaned back against his chair.
Nyx shook her head. "Look, you owe me. I served my country many times already. The Cold War, Vietnam, I could have served in Afghanistan if possible but I decided not to take that route. Not only that, I've survived a lot more than what you three have in your entire lives. You have no idea what it's like out there on the battlefield. And quite frankly, I want out. The least you can do for me is reverse the process so I can have a normal, well-lived life. I want to grow old. You may think being young all the time is all sunshine and rainbows, but when people you love around you die and you can't die with them, it's all you can think of." Nyx said as her voice became stronger.
"You three worked on me. You know me best through all the tests that you have performed on me." She said. "Think of it this way, I don't like it, but think of what science has done to me. And if I know what's running through your minds, if anyone can reverse this process its you…please…help me." She said looking into their eyes.
The three scientists were quiet. Jones had a kind smile on his face. Larson frowned but in his eyes, the challenge was there. Schnieder nodded as he smiled.
"Miss Sparks…you are a revolutionary. We are but old men, if you want our help, we need your help as well." Schneider said. Larson heaved a great sigh.
"Very well then, consider this a challenge, 27, we will help you, but don't expect any sympathy from me. I may be an old codger, but I can't resist a challenge. Especially when it's an old project that I haven't finished." Larson said with an air of pride.
"There you have it, Miss Sparks. We will help you. We'll start tomorrow. General…" Jones said as he looked over to Morshower.
"We need a few things if we are to help Miss Sparks with her condition. Can you supply them?" He asked. Morshower nodded.
"Whatever you need, we'll get them." Morshower said smiling to Nyx.
Nyx felt like crying, but she wouldn't show it. She could be cured! She could finally have that life of normalcy that she had always wanted. No more dying, no more headaches, no more seizures... it may take a little while longer; she had waited almost 60 years, what's a couple years more? But in the back of her mind, she couldn't hear the soft whispers of doubt; the doubt that may grow to devastate her hopes and dreams of ever becoming mortal again.
TAL21: AND SHE FINALLY PUTS UP A NEW CHAPTER! THE CROWD GOES WILD! Okay, freaking out much, yes, but i'm finally glad that i put up the chapter! It took me a while to fix everything, but it worked! :D I'm pretty sure that you guys are happy too! So now that we have met our scientists, i hope that they met your standards a bit. And why is Nyx's blood turning into a glowing blue? The scientists will be helping her, but just how will they help her? WHY DOES ALL SPARK KEEP LEAVING NYX HANGING? (Well you will never know that until the time comes. Bwahaha!) Anyways, the next chapter will be getting a little more in depth of how Nyx came to be and we will have some conflict. In two weeks, you will have your chapter. :D Now...ON TO THE SHOUT-OUTS!:
Bee4ever: Oh she gave them and earful alright, and they deserved it!
Keepingthematbay: OH GOSH! I missed hearing from people and hearing from you too KTAB! Well Emerald didn't show up in this chapter, but she will in the next! And LOVE THE FAN ART! I love it a lot! :D Hope to see more coming from you!
SilverZelenia: Oh that's my little secret! You will never know what the pairing will be! I can't spoil it just yet. XD
ProwlHawthorne: Oh this story will keep going, i assure you that! As for Phoenix being paired up with a bot...She will be...but i'm not telling who he is. XD
That's it for the SHOUT-OUTS! Again. sorry for taking too long. With the virus and everything else that has been going on, life has taken me away! As well as me reading X-men fanfiction that deals with Rogue and Gambit. Seriously, Rogue and Gambit are my OTP. They deserve each other! :D Anyways, Thank you again for supporting me and i hope to hear from you guys soon! DETAILED REVIEWS AND OPINIONS ARE WELCOME! I'd love to hear from you!
PS: I have a youtube account on my homepage if you want to hear from me! I will be doing teasers, updates, reviews on certain stories, and a bunch of other stuff sometimes weekly if that! I can't wait to hear from you! :D
QUESTION TIME!:
1) Did this chapter meet your long last expectations? If so, what did you like about it?
2) If you were to give a theme song for Silver Heart, What song would you use? If Nyx had a theme song, what song would you use?
REMEMBER TO KEEP ON READING AND WRITING! :D