Chapter seven:
Roberta is soon enough laying on the medical stretcher that the medical wing of the school let us borrow. She is knocked out and everything is set up for the surgery.
Me, Toshi and Len are dressed up in surgery gear and are as ready as we will ever be to do this. I push away my nerves of this to focus as I play more of a supporting role.
Toshi will focus on the medical aspects to ensure that we do this right.
Len will be the lead on attaching the robotic parts onto our willing subject.
I get tools that they request and I also hold any parts that they need me to as they work. I manage to keep my heart from pounding in my ears as we work on getting the mechanical parts attached to where the removed doll like arm used to attach.
Len sets the metal disk into the nub of what remains of Robertas shoulder. He makes sure that it will stay in place without irritating Roberta's skin.
Toshi keeps a watchful eye over how it is going as I help to make sure that Roberta doesn't shift while Len does this. "Almost got it."
We all let out a breath once the thing is in. We are going to let the special glue, that can be used when stitches can't be used, dry first before attaching the arm to not let it possibly pull on anything.
I help with the clean up and by the time we are done is when the glue ends up being dry.
We all carefully shift the robotic arm into place with Len attaching it easily into the part that we had just attached. We set the robotic arm carefully down on the bed then all let out a collective breath of relief.
It is done and it went so smoothly.
"Lets not attach the fake skin until we know that it works as intended." Toshi suggests and the two of us nod in agreement.
We monitor Roberta as she comes out of the anesthetic that she was under.
Roberta carefully sits up after fully coming around.
"How are you feeling?" I inquire as Roberta turns to blink at me.
"Great." Roberta mentions then glances to her arm noticing the robotic arm there. She shifts it up with the three of us holding out breaths. Her new robotic arm moves and she is even able to wiggle the fingers like any normal arm and hand can.
We all let out breaths of relief that it worked.
I even feel pride swell in my chest. I don't think I have been more proud of anything in my entire life.
"I love it!" Roberta squeaks happily as she moves the arm around which responds like a normal one would.
"Amazing."
All four of us turn as Professor Jamie approaches to marvel at what we have done.
"You all have done amazing. This is going to make the lives of so many people so much better." Jamie smiles at us three as we smile as well.
"It's not quite done." Len's words get some confusion from Jamie and Roberta. He brings over the fake skin and applies it.
It is a shade lighter than Roberta's skin however it actually looks pretty good. Its shade is the only thing that makes it clear that something isn't right with that arm. If the shade was right on point it would look like she had never lost the arm to begin with. It fits perfectly like a sleeve as intended.
"We can make a new fake skin that will match your skin tone better." Toshi mentions as Roberta makes excited noises about her new arm.
Jamie looks so proud of us. "How would you three like to do a presentation to the top medical experts? You will get a chance to meet a patient that will volunteer for the surgery." He explains as the three of us blink at him. "That way you can make it the shade that is needed. I can arrange everything. I really think that they need to see this."
I glance to Len and Toshi to see if they would be willing to do this.
"I'm in." Toshi agrees looking to the two of us with excitement.
"Okay." Len agrees slightly glancing away though he does have a small smile.
"I'm in too." I smile at Jamie who smiles back.
"Great! I will keep you three in the loop about it." Jamie heads off to his office to start sorting that out.
"Lets get some rest." Toshi yawns as if tired from being nervous about the surgery.
I had already decided to sleep here at school today.
"The robotic arm is okay enough to be able to sleep with it on. Just don't shower or bathe with it. The part attached to your arm will be fine. I just would rather make sure it will be okay in water before you do any of that. Washing hands and doing dishes is fine. It is just things like swimming and showering that we need to be a little cautious on until we are sure it is okay." Len tells Roberta who nods softly.
"That is okay. I am used to taking off my arm for stuff like that."
With that we all head to bed.
I climb into the bed of the currently pretty empty, save for a dresser and a bed, bedroom that I can make into my own. I lay on the already made bed with sheets in the light blue and reddish orange that are the schools colors. I find that it is quite comfy and I fall asleep pretty quickly. My tension from earlier fully leaving me as I drift off into sleep for tonight. I know I will probably sleep in a little tomorrow considering that it is quite late into the night, not that it really matters.
….
While everyone is asleep a figure manages to sneak into the classroom walking right up to Kaoru's work station; Black cloak hiding this person's identity.
The person starts to go through what is in Kaoru's work station before pulling out some blueprints from a drawer. After looking through it the person takes it along with anything mentioned on that very blueprint. The person puts everything else back where it was before hurrying off disappearing into the night with the stolen items tucked away hidden in the cloak that the person is wearing.
No one knowing that anything had just happened in that classroom... Yet…
