A/N: Warning for body horror and some other weirdness
Monday, Feb. 14th
Taylor stood in her manufactorum, listening to sounds of industry and machinery bless her ears. It had taken weeks of hard work, her and a dozen dock workers clearing trash, disassembling old machinery, bringing in and installing new machines in their place, but her manufactorum was finally up and running.
Gone were the behemoths of rust and degradation, disassembled by the careful work of Taylor and her laborers, anything useful cleaned of rust and kept while the rest were set aside for scrap. Gone were the piles of trash and refuse, swept away and discarded, making room for Taylor's new purchases.
Along the left factory wall was a heavy metal lathe, used for a variety of machining processes from cutting and sanding to boring and shaping. It was a remarkably versatile tool that Taylor knew she would get much use out of. A few feet away stood a vertical band saw, useful for cutting both metal and wood, though for her she would focus far more on the former. And further down the wall was a drill press and a milling machine, both things Taylor would get much use out of when producing her Tinkertech. All in all this side of the factory had been converted into a rather robust metal shop.
On the opposite side, Taylor had spent money on a small metal reclamation pipeline. She had purchased a large metal shredder, as well as a pair of smaller, industrial furnaces the size of a kitchen oven. These allowed her to begin recycling the scrap metal she claimed from this factory, keeping her from having to continually purchase more and more metal. She had even begun sending small teams of workers escorted by a Guardsman to the Ship Graveyard, where they would strip raw materials off the abandoned sea vessels for her.
Meanwhile all of the tools Armsmaster gifted her were now sitting in her private laboratory underneath the manufactorum, in addition to a new arc welder she bought to replace the one cannibalized into her laspistol. After weeks of preparation, her manufactorum was now fully open, and she couldn't be happier.
"Girly." A gruff voice behind Taylor said, drawing her from her admiration of the machinery. Taylor turned and saw the scarred face of Sgt. Major Merrick, clutching his blocky lasgun with both his organic arm, and his new combat-ready cybernetic left arm. Unlike Taylor's more skeletal limb, this limb was made with heavy armor plating over its joints and wires, and could take a knife or bullet with ease.
Unlike before, where Merrick was dressed in his casual, everyday work clothing, Merrick was now dressed in a pseudo-military set of grey fatigues, on top of which he wore a set of gunmetal gray flak armor.
"Sergeant Major Merrick." Taylor greeted giving a slight nod of her head. "How goes things?"
Merrick shrugged. "Not bad, all things considered. Though Charlie saw some Merchant scouts sniffing around and chased them off, and my arm's starting to get a little twitchy." he said, lifting the prosthetic up.
Taylor stepped forward to examine the arm. "Ah yes, seems some of the servos require recalibrating. Come see me at the end of your shift when you drop off your weapons. I can perform the necessary maintenance then."
That was one thing Taylor found annoying. Arming half a dozen Guardsmen with cybernetics and Tinkertech weapons seemed like a good idea on paper, but she didn't take into account how much time she would have to spend maintaining them. At the start of every workday she would have to take some time to make sure the Guardsmen's weapons and augmetics wouldn't fail, taking up a full hour or two of work before she could move onto anything else. This was something she would need to come up with a solution for and fast if she wanted to expand her numbers beyond their current size.
"As for the Merchants… increase patrols in response. They may not be much of a threat, but I don't want anyone getting near this place who doesn't belong."
"Got it." Merrick nodded. "Also I got an email from your Dad. Printed it out for you." Merrick then pulled out a sheet of paper from his pocket and handed it to her.
Taylor's Father was still working his dayjob at the DWA, but in his spare time was also running the finances and HR tasks for the Manufactorum. Taylor unfolded the paper, and as her eye ran over it, she sighed. There went her happy mood.
"Everything alright?" Merrick asked.
Taylor began walking and she gestured for him to follow. As he fell behind her she said. "Not particularly. My Father has been going through our finances. Finding the property for the Manufactorum was a boon, cheap due to its location and derelict status, but it still cost me several hundred thousand dollars. Combine that with the money I've been spending on new tools, raw materials, paying the dock workers and the Guardsmen…" Taylor trailed off.
"Ah yeah, money problems." Merrick grunted. "I'm guessing we're in the red?"
"Not yet, but if I don't find a source of revenue soon, we'll be as red as my fucking robes." Taylor sighed in annoyance.
Merrick nodded his head. "Sounds like a pain. And I do like getting paid, so you have any ideas for how to make money?"
"Some. I've sent a few CAD designs to Armsmaster of combat-ready cybernetic limbs and enhancements, based on the same ones I gave to the Guardsmen. I was hoping that the PRT would be willing to outfit their troopers with it, though I have yet to hear back of any approvals. Armsmaster did reply though, complimenting the design, and even sending back his own modification which would incorporate a utility slot for weapons and tools within the arm." Taylor actually beamed a little with pride that Armsmaster was impressed by her work. He was one of her favorite heroes growing up, and with both their statuses as Tinkers, she felt closer to him than any other hero.
"Neat." Was all Merrick said. "Well you have any other ideas on how to get some dough? If there's anything I learned from both the Marines and the Union, is that government approvals take a long time."
Taylor shrugged. "I've put out some advertisements for cybernetic augmentations. Replacements or enhancements, but I've yet to receive any interested patients."
Merrick raised an eyebrow. "How much are you charging?"
"$50,000 per limb replacement. $100,000 for an organ replacement." She simply stated. "Then they would have to pay for any maintenance afterwards."
Merrick snorted. "Fitting right in with the American healthcare system there girly. You take insurance?"
Taylor looked at him like he was an idiot. "Insurance? Do I look like I have the infrastructure to take insurance?"
"S'pose not." Merrick shrugged. Business planning wasn't his job. "Well I'm sure you'll figure it out. You need me for anything else?"
"Yes actually. Do you have a cellphone, Sergeant Major?"
"Yep." Merrick dug into his pocket and fished out a flip phone. He tossed it to Taylor.
Taylor's mechanical hand deftly caught it, flipping it open. With her free hand, Taylor dug into her pocket and pulled out the handwritten phone number she received a few weeks ago. She began punching in numbers.
Amy was lounging at home, sitting on Vicky's bed as Vicky floated about, trying on different jackets.
"What do you think about this one?" Vicky asked as she put on a beige cardigan over her white tank top and tight jeans.
Amy ogled her sister for a moment under the guise of critical judgement, before she rolled her eyes. "Vicky, this is the 3rd jacket you've put on. Yes, they all look great. And yes, Dean is going to love them. You know exactly what he's going to say." Amy then dropped her voice down an octave to mirror a male. "Oh Vicky my love, you're so pretty. Kiss me."
Vicky threw a discarded sweater at Amy's face.
"Your impression of Dean is terrible." Vicky said through a laugh.
Well Dean is terrible for you. Amy thought to herself as she pulled the sweater off her face. Before she could say anything to retort, her phone started ringing.
Reaching for Vicky's desk where she it, Amy scowled as she didn't recognize the number. She answered it.
"Who is this?" Amy said, hoping to cut off either a salesman or a fan who had gotten her number. Amy also noticed a look of concern on Vicky's face when she answered.
"Amy Dallon?" the voice on the other side asked, the mechanical timbre and overlay immediately identifying the speaker as Taylor Hebert, who Amy gave her number to two weeks ago.
"Oh Taylor!" Amy said apologetically, relaxing a bit. "Sorry about that, I didn't recognize the number and thought it could've been a fan or patient or something. Is this your number?"
At the mention of Taylor's name, Amy saw that Vicky did not relax like she did. If anything, Vicky became more tense as she scowled at Amy's phone.
"No, this phone belongs to one of my employees. But that is irrelevant. Amy Dallon, I wish to invite you over to my Manufactorum today. I have a project I am working on that I both require your assistance on, and think you will find interesting." Taylor flatly said.
Despite the monotonous delivery of Taylor's words, Amy's eyes lit up. Taylor hadn't contacted her since she gave her that check up last time they met, and Amy was starting to lose hope she was interested in talking. Now, Amy had an excuse to go see whatever enhancement Taylor was creating first hand.
"Yes!" Amy squeaked a little too loudly, causing Vicky to wince at the sudden sounds. "I mean yes, sure I'd love to come over."
Vicky's eyes went wide at Amy's words.
Taylor then responded. "Very well. I will send you the address of my Manufactorum. Make your way here as soon as possible. Goodbye." Taylor then abruptly hung up.
Amy looked at her phone, a bit perplexed by the sudden disconnection, when Vicky said, "Okay, what the Hell was that?"
Vicky had her arms crossed over her chest and looked at Amy with a combination of worry and annoyance.
"That was Taylor. She said she needs my help with something and wants me to come over." Amy explained as her phone pinged with the address. Amy recognized it was probably somewhere in the docks, but she'd have to look it up.
"And you said yes." Vicky flatly said, affixing Amy with an equally flat stare.
Amy turned her head away from her step-sister. "I mean, yeah. Taylor's a friend, kinda, and she needs my help. What else am I going to do today?" She'd really rather not go to the hospital.
Vicky groaned. "I don't know. You could've gone out? I'm sure Dean wouldn't mind finding a nice guy for you to double date with for today."
It was Amy's turn to groan. "You know I hate those double dates. What does it matter? Aren't you the one who says I need to go out more besides going to the hospital?"
Amy's words seemed to anger Vicky as she scowled deeper. "Yeah I do. But did you think about the fact that I'm the one who will either fly or drive you there when I have my Valentine's date with Dean tonight?"
Amy was about to snap back at Vicky when she processed what she said. Oh, today was Valentine's Day? And Taylor invited her to her place? Amy decided to not think too hard on that.
"Fine then. I can go to Taylor's workshop on my own. It should only be a few bus rides." Amy shrugged.
"Hell no." Vicky said indignantly. "I'm not letting you travel there by yourself or visit by yourself. Now hurry up and get dressed, we're leaving in 15."
Amy smiled and hugged Vicky before running to her room. Today was looking like a good day. She was going to go see Taylor, and she inadvertently stopped Vicky's and Dean's date. For the first time ever, Amy was excited for Valentine's Day.
Amy and Vicky touched down in front of the address that Taylor sent them. Vicky was not happy that they were flying right into the middle of the docks, and remained unhappy when she saw the factory Taylor was staying in.
"What a dump." Vicky said as she looked up and down the red brick building.
"It is. But it's our dump." A gruff voice said coming out of a steel side door on the side of the building.
The man was a bald, muscular middle-aged man wearing a gray jumpsuit and some body armor. He had what looked like a definite Tinkertech rifle in his hands, and a prosthetic left arm that identified him as one of Taylor's so-called employees.
For her part, Vicky had the decency to look embarrassed over the fact she was overheard. "Sorry about that." she muttered.
The man waved her off. "Why you apologizing when you're right? The Boss picked this place partly because it's a dump. Hiding in plain sight. Anyway, I'm assuming you're Victoria and Amy?"
Vicky nodded her head. "Vicky's fine, and yes we are."
"Hmm. Well the name's Sergeant Merrick. Pleasure. Boss wanted me to bring you two into her personal workshop." Sergeant Merrick then stepped to the side and gestured for the two Dallons to enter.
"Personal workshop?" Amy parroted as she walked into the door. "This isn't it?"
Sergeant Merrick chuckled. "This? Nah this is the Manufactorum. Taylor's got some of us dock workers doing odd jobs for her so she can make her Tinkertech faster."
Upon entering, Amy and Vicky saw several laborers currently working in the reclaimed factory. A few men were moving rusted metal into a scraper and putting them into a smelter. On the opposite side, machinists were shaping and cutting the metal in specified shapes. Some looked like they could be bodies for rifles, others shaped like body armor that the Sergeant wore. Others Amy had no idea what they could be.
The Sergeant took them to a side door which led to an underground passage. Vicky scowled and was distinctly not happy about that, so she went first as the Sergeant led them to the basement. There, he brought them to a heavy steel door that was slightly ajar. Pulling it open Sergeant Merrick gestured for them to enter.
Looking inside, Amy saw a rather disconcertingly familiar setting. This room, Taylor's personal workshop, looked like an amalgamation of a hospital operating room and a machine shop. Amy recognized several machines from a hospital, a vital signs monitor, hanging operating lights, an operating table, as well as an anesthesia machine and ventilator. Next to all of these were power tools like a circular saw, hand drill, and some kind of blow torch.
In the center of it was Taylor, or Tech-Priest, since she was in her red robes. She was standing next to the operating table, seemingly tinkering on a three-segment robotic arm with a claw and some other unidentifiable tools. The arm was connected to a heavy, cylindrical base and a power supply. On the far end of the cylindrical room, hanging from some kind of specialized rack was something that Amy recognized from her long career working with heroes like Armsmaster and Gallant. It was a set of power armor.
The Armor was rather bulky, appearing more like a set of pseudo-cyber knight armor similar to Gallant. The arms and legs had overlapping series of interlocked plates, while the breast plate looked like it was based on some kind of scale mail. Half the armor didn't have plating on it yet, and the inside was a mess of circuitry and plugs that made no sense to Amy.
"Ahem." Sergeant Merrick coughed into his hand, drawing Tech-Priests attention. "They're here Boss."
Pulling herself out of her work, Tech-Priest turned and finally saw Amy and Vicky. "Ah, apologies, didn't hear you. Thank you Sergeant Major, that will be all." Sergeant Merrick nodded and walked away, while Tech-Priest said to Amy, "Well come in, don't be shy. Glory Girl, Panacea, welcome to my humble workshop."
"Thanks for inviting us." Amy said as entered, Vicky trailing behind her. "And it's Amy and Vicky out of costume."
Tech-Priest nodded. "Ah apologies. Then you can call me Taylor. I care little for these costumed games, but unfortunately speaking without my mask is very difficult for me."
Amy opened her mouth to offer to fix her throat, but immediately shut it. She remembered Taylor's first reaction to Amy's healing, and didn't want to start anything in her lab. "Sure. So Taylor, what did you want me here for? Are you experiencing any issues with your prosthetics?"
Taylor shook her head. "My body is functioning within normal parameters, no issues so far. The reason I wanted you here was that I planned on installing a set of new bionics, and I wish for you to be here to ensure I do not kill myself in the process of augmenation."
That was more or less what Amy was expecting. And the idea did interest her. Watching basic surgery was both boring and unnecessary for her thanks to her powers, but watching Taylor enhance bodily systems through her Tinkertech? And then see how the biological components interact with them? That was something interesting that Amy felt like she could learn a lot from.
"I can definitely help with that." Amy said happily. "What kind of enhancements do you plan on installing? The auto-sanguination fluid you mentioned before? Or what about the cybernetic organs we talked about?" Amy had to stop as she realized she was getting too excited.
Taylor didn't seem to mind however. "There are three procedures I wish to go through today. You were right on the first, it was the Autosanguation fluid transfusion. The second will be the updating of my prosthetics." Taylor held up her robotic left hand. "These, while better than having a stump, are neither combat ready nor capable of any task a normal hand can not do. I have designed a few combat prosthetics which you may have seen on my Guardsmen, which are far more durable and functional."
Amy nodded her head. Those sounded like reasonable operations that would be easier for her to help with. She could ensure Taylor didn't go into shock during the Auto-sanguination procedure, and reattaching limbs was easy for her, so making sure there were no issues with a replacement should also be easy.
"The last procedure." Taylor continued. "Is the installing of serval cortex implants into my brain, cranial circuitry to enhance my mental facilities."
Amy froze. Taylor… Taylor wanted her help with brain surgery. The one line she promised she would never cross.
"I… can't do brains." Amy stuttered out.
Taylor looked at her strangely, tilting her head. "Pardon?"
"It's a limit of Amy's power set." Vicky immediately cut in. "Her powers don't let her affect the brain."
Amy looked at Vicky graciously. This was why she loved her sister so much. Vicky knew that Amy could affect brains, but wouldn't. It was even a point of contention between them, where Vicky thought that Amy should try and practice working on brains in case they ever ran into an emergency where brain surgery was needed, but Amy always adamantly refused. Even with all that, Vicky was still covering for her.
Taylor stared at the two sisters. Her countenance was unreadable, but Amy could tell her mind was running with ideas. What those ideas were, Amy had no idea.
"A strange limitation." Taylor finally said.
"But it's her limitation." Vicky responded. "Like how I have a hard limit on how much I can lift. Or Legend has a limit on how strong he can make his laser beams."
Taylor stared at Vicky for a moment more, before shrugging. "I suppose. Powers are, as they say, bullshit. Regardless, you do not have to directly affect my brain. I can handle the surgery myself, I just want you there to place my skull cap and sew me back up afterwards. Will your powers allow you to work on parts of the head that are not the brain?" Taylor asked as she looked back at Amy.
Amy swallowed. "Uh yeah. That's all just, bones and skin and such. My powers will work on them."
"Good." Taylor said, and Amy could tell she was smiling behind her mask.
"Whoa I don't know about this." Vicky said before turning to Taylor. "I mean, Amy can handle the first two, but the brain surgery sounds too risky. What happens if you accidentally kill yourself? Or give yourself brain damage? That blame would fall on Amy."
"I know what I am doing." Taylor said, now getting annoyed with Vicky.
"That's what a lot of people say right before they fuck up." Vicky countered.
"Vicky." Amy hissed out. Her sister looked at her with a bit of confusion. "It's fine. I can do this. I… I want to do this."
Vicky opened her mouth, going to say something, but no words came out. Her jaw shut with an audible click, and Amy could see thoughts running around her mind as Vicky's face scrunched up.
Eventually she said, "Okay fine. You can do what you think is best."
Amy nodded and smiled. She wanted to go up and hug Vicky, but that was a little bit too much of a public display of affection for her in front of Taylor.
"Okay then." Amy said, refocusing back on the Tinker. "How do we want to do this?"
"I'll need a moment for some pre-surgery prep, but once that is done we can begin working here." Taylor patted her operating table and the robotic arm. "I have a prototype servo-arm here I will control for most of the surgery." Taylor then pulled out a laptop which had a window open that connected to a camera on the servo-arm. "The rest can be performed by hand between the two of us."
Amy nodded her head, eager to begin. "Okay, let's get started then."
Vicky did not want to be where she was right now, in the underground lair of some strange Tinker in the middle of one of the more dangerous parts of town. She'd much rather be out with Dean on their planned date that she was more than likely going to miss now.
But there was no way in Hell Vicky was going to leave Amy here alone. Even if Taylor wasn't hostile, she was still a relatively unknown Parahuman to the two of them, and she had yet to prove to Vicky she could be trusted.
Vicky watched as Amy moved forward to help Taylor with the surgery prep. The first thing Taylor did was get out a hair clipper and hand it to Amy. Strangely enough, Taylor seemed hesitant to do this.
"I will need you to shave my head as well. Can't have my hair getting in the way of the brain surgery." Taylor said as she sat down.
Vicky frowned. That was actually rather sad. Taylor had a beautiful set of black hair and it was a shame to see it all thrown away. Amy seemed to share Vicky's opinion as she solemnly nodded and took the clipper out Taylor's hand. Turning it on, Amy slowly began shaving Taylor's head until she was completely bald.
Once that was done, Taylor sighed sadly before sweeping up the hair and disposing of it. She then moved to the back of the room, where more of her Tinkertech was stored, and brought over a small cart. On the cart were a series of blood bags, half empty, and half filled with a strange white fluid Vicky had never seen before, as well as a sealed plastic container.
"These." Taylor said, patting the bags of white fluid, "Are the Autosanguination fluids I mentioned. And this." Taylor then opened the container and grabbed a small piece of Tinkertech, a half-cylinder perhaps only 1 or 2 inches tall and ½ inch in radius. On the flat side of the cylinder was a series of needles and spikes. "This is the bionic organ which will produce more Autosanguination fluid as needed."
Vicky had no idea how such a small thing was going to make all that fake blood, but trying to understand Tinkertech was an exercise in futility.
"Where are we going to install it?" Amy asked.
Taylor pointed directly to her chest. "Directly on to the aorta." When Amy nodded her head, Taylor continued. "After which we will then exsanguinate my body, drawing blood from my left arm while the autosanguination fluid will be injected through my right."
"Alright sounds good to me." Amy nodded, seemingly eager to begin.
With that Taylor nodded her head, and to both Vicky's and Amy's surprise, dropped her robe to the floor then and there. Taylor, Vicky had learned, was in fact wearing nothing but a pair of underwear beneath her robe, and was now standing in front of the two Dallons almost completely naked. Taylor was thin under her robes, and not in a way that made Vicky jealous. Calling her scrawny was generous. Vicky could see her ribs beneath her barely developed chest. Vicky wouldn't say it to her face, but Taylor almost had a boyish figure with how tall and non-curvy she was.
Vicky averted her eyes. While she didn't consider herself a prude, and had seen more than her fair share of nudity both in the mirror and from her time on Arcadia's girls basketball team, she at least thought it would be polite to not look. Even if Taylor didn't seem to care at all about the nudity. She instead decided to focus on Amy, who… what the fuck?
While Vicky had chosen to look away from Taylor, Amy's eyes practically bored into the younger teen, running her up and down. Amy's eyes were scalpels, fucking Tinkertech laser scalpels as she took in Taylor with this… intensity that Vicky couldn't describe. It was more than just focused, or clinical, it was… lustful.
…
Yeah, no, Vicky wasn't going to touch that with a 10-foot pole and her forcefield. Although it did explain a few things in retrospect, like why Amy hated all of the double-dates she went on with Vicky. Filing that information away in the vaults of her memory, Vicky watched as Taylor laid down on the operating table.
"Amy, I have some iodine on the counter next to you. Will you please get it to disinfect me before the procedure?"
Amy looked at it, then back at Taylor. "Actually, I can wipe out all the bacteria on the surface of your skin with just a touch. All of the bacteria in the air as well. Part of my power."
Taylor looked at Amy strangely, then nodded. "An effective usage of your powers. Do so. You have my permission for that and all other required healing for today's enhancements."
Amy then laid her hands on Taylor's torso and presumably wiped out all bacteria on her skin from existence. Vicky actually let out a sigh of relief that Amy was being professional about it and not using the chance to feel up Taylor.
"Done." Amy said with a grin. "I'll also make sure to sterilize any bacteria that comes anywhere near us."
"Good, now move, I can control the servo-arm to cut open my chest cavity and begin the implantation procedure." Taylor said as her robot prosthetic began controlling the servo-arm through the laptop set on her side.
A scalpel extended out of the servo-arm and the machine oriented itself above Taylor's chest. Okay, now this was officially getting too insane for Vicky. Hearing Taylor say she was going to perform surgery on herself with a robot factory arm was one thing, but to watch her do it? What the Hell was going on today?
"Taylor, wait!" Amy called out, and the Tinker stopped dead in her tracks.
Vicky internally cheered. Amy must've come to her senses and was stopping this insanity before it got started.
"Yes?" Taylor questioned.
"Are you about to cut yourself open without anesthesia?" Taylor nodded, causing Amy to sigh. "Here, let me turn off the pain receptors in your body. That should keep you from accidentally nicking anything important because you twitched from pain."
Vicky put her head in her hands as Taylor nodded again. With that done, Taylor clicked a button on the laptop and stabbed herself in the chest with her servo arm. The surgery was on the way.
Amy was having fun. Unlike the days at the hospital, or when she's called in to patch up some of the local heroes, where she was resentful, exhausted, and all around bored, she was having fun! A person could only cure cancer, mend broken bones, and clear out high blood pressure so many times before it became boring and redundant.
Sure wasn't actually doing anything interesting right now, just closing up the entry cut Taylor put into her own chest cavity to install the autosanguination organ, but her ability to read biology was going wild. Taylor already had an IV drip filled with the autosanguination fluid going to her right arm while blood was being drained out of her left. And Amy could watch Taylor's bodily systems light up as soon as the fluid touched them.
While Amy couldn't read the fluid itself as it was synthetic, she could watch how it interacted with Taylor's organic body parts. Oxygen was flowing into them at a far faster rate than normally possible, and cellular waste was being removed at almost triple the speed. She watched as microtears in Taylor's muscles rapidly knit themselves, only taking minutes where it would normally take a day or two. With this, muscle injuries that would take years to heal, or perhaps even never heal could rebuild themselves in a period of weeks to months.
Amy couldn't help but once more try and think about how to do this biologically rather than cybernetically. She liked Taylor's idea of installing the enhancement onto a major blood vessel, so she would definitely steal that. Maybe she could create her own organ that produces blood cells with altered hemoglobin to carry oxygen and waste more efficiently. Or maybe that organ could be more of a filter, modifying blood cells as they moved through, so she could take advantage of the body's natural blood producing mechanisms unlike Taylor. Although at that point why wouldn't she just adjust the bone marrow to produce these enhanced blood cells from the get go? She thought back to the crocodile marrow idea she had when she first met Taylor. Combine that with enhanced white blood cells and boom, you have someone who heals fast and is immune to infectious diseases.
This is what Amy came here for. To see. To be inspired. It was like she had been walking through a fucking desert, dying of thirst, and Taylor just shoved a hose down her throat. Amy swallowed as she realized she was salivating. Was this what it was like when Taylor worked on everyone? God she wanted to be here for every operation. To watch and learn and do.
Amy's powers itched for it. Like a subconscious prodding to put these ideas she's been having to the test. It was the first time she ever experienced something like this. It was a craving, a hunger, a… lust. Not a sexual lust, though Amy would admit that having a half naked girl her own age beneath her was nice, but a drive more powerful than a need for sex. It was a base need and desire to experiment that Amy never knew was there, that she had been repressing, and working with Taylor was the perfect release.
It was a desire superseded any other psychological need of her's, like her need to prove to Carol that she was a good person and a hero, or her need to try and save as many people as she could in the hospital. God, was this what addicts felt like?
These thoughts swirled through the mind of Amy while the procedure went on. The second part of the operation was less interesting to Amy, as it was more physical than anything. Taylor's current bionics were very crudely sutured into her limbs, and were both obsolete and in the way. Taylor never created anchor points or sockets on her limbs for easy upgrades, so these were attached directly into her limbs. Together, Amy and Taylor had to detach her limbs from the prosthetics, with Amy actually having to regress some of the flesh that had grown around the cybernetics. Once they were done, the ends of Taylor's limbs were crudely mashed stumps of meat and bone. Amy was pretty sure she heard gagging noises from Vicky, but ignored them.
Taylor then had Amy use her powers to heal the limbs to a surgically perfect cross-sectional cut at a specific point. A base plate attachment point cybernetic was capped over her limbs, which then connected to her nervous system. New, combat-ready prosthetics were then installed onto these attachment points. If what Taylor said about their power was true, she now had a light Brute rating in addition to her Tinker one. If Taylor wanted to upgrade later, she only needed to remove the current arm and attach a new one to the baseplate rather than going through a full surgery again.
Amy found the way the cybernetics almost automatically connected to Taylor's nerve-endings interesting, but outside of that found this part similar to what Amy normally did.
Next was the most dangerous part of the operation though, the one Amy wouldn't be helping on, the brain surgery. Taylor had Vicky bring out another cart that had a tray of 3 different cybernetics, two small ones that looked like oblong CPUs, and the third which was obviously some kind of external spinal attachment.
"What will these do?" Amy asked as she looked at the cortex implants over.
Taylor pointed to one of the small chips. "This will be implanted in my frontal lobe and will act as an intelligence modifier. It will boost my mind's processing power, multi-tasking, even my reaction time by magnitudes." She then pointed to the second chip. "This will be placed in my temporal lobe, and contains about a hundred petabytes worth of data storage. It will enhance my memory banks so I can store and access even more knowledge, as well as granting me an eidetic memory."
She then lightly touched the mechanical spine. "This is called a cyber-mantle. Besides reinforcing my spine, it will allow me to anchor more external prosthetics to my body, as well as interface my technology directly with my central nervous system. This will allow me to control my Tinkertech mentally through a neural network, rather than have to do it by hand."
Amy didn't talk for 10 seconds after Taylor explained what her Tinkertech did. She wouldn't touch the brain enhancements. At least not yet. But… could she create something similar to the cyber-mantle? Some kind of like, organic techno-weave that would connect a central nervous system to technology? Maybe she could use connection ports spread out across the body, rather than just at the spine. But the nerve bundles would have to be hardened so as not to cause pain when interacting with… well anything. Like some kind of chitinous carapace material or something.
"Amy?" Taylor's voice broke Amy out of her fugue.
"Huh?" Amy shook her head, drawn back to the real world.
"Are you ready to proceed?" Taylor asked, a bit of annoyance coloring her voice.
Amy blinked. "Oh yeah. Sorry. Just… mentally preparing myself. I'm ready."
Ignoring the concerned looks Vicky was sending her, Amy helped adjust the operating table so it turned into a chair with Taylor sitting up. With a new blade replaced on the servo-arm, the machine made a quick incision across Taylor's head, separating the top of her skull from the rest of her head.
Amy kept her hand on Taylor's shoulder to monitor her brain functions as the servo arm began attaching the cybernetics. She wouldn't be able to help if Taylor accidentally lobotomized herself, but at least she could stop Taylor from doing more damage and walk her through fixing it. But if she couldn't… could Amy break her rule if Taylor hurt herself? Taylor's mind was too valuable to waste on a surgical accident. Amy needed Taylor to stay healthy and keep creating things. Luckily, this internal debate stayed theoretical as the implants were successful. Like with the autosanguination fluid, Taylor's grey matter lit up like a Christmas tree when the cortex implants were installed. The implants flared to life and Amy watched as Neurons fired information to and from it like it was natural. Amy didn't miss the fact that Taylor gave herself a Thinker rating in addition to her Tinker and Brute ratings.
With that done, Amy picked up the top of Taylor's skull and replaced it on her head. A quick flick of her powers, and the bone, flesh, and skin all reknit itself as if Taylor had no operation. Amy then lowered the operating table back down and grabbed Taylor's hand and helped the girl rotate so she was lying face down. Amy helped the servo-arm position the cyber-mantle over Taylor spine, thin needles protruding that would go directly into the nerves between vertebrae. The largest needle was just beneath the base of the skull, and would connect directly into Taylor's brain stem.
Amy watched as the needles dug themselves through Taylor's skin and flesh, connecting directly to the nerves. The cyber-mantle began to glow a dull red, indicating it was working. There were no immediate biological signs that stuck out to Amy, no damage or interesting reactions, indicating it worked as intended.
"And there we go." Amy said, helping Taylor off her chest and sit on the operating table. As she did, she turned back on the nerve endings she disconnected, allowing Taylor her full sense of touch once more.
Vicky went ahead and picked up Taylor's robe and handed it to the Tinker. Taylor wrapped it around herself.
"How are you feeling?" Amy made sure to vocally ask. She saw no issues of rejection from the procedure, but she could only see half of what made up Taylor.
Taylor was silent as she flexed her prosthetics, her one organic eye narrowing as she experienced all of her new enhancements at once.
"Amazing." Taylor breathed out. It was all she could say.
After a few seconds of awkward silence, Amy then said, "If you want, I could regrow your hair for you?"
For the first time tonight, Taylor was nonplussed. She blinked at Amy, as if what the healer had said was some kind of strange, foreign language.
After a few more seconds of silence, Taylor said, "You can do that?"
This time Amy scowled at Taylor like she was an idiot. "Taylor I just reattached your skull like a lego piece. I can cure cancer with a touch and bacteria is my bitch. Growing hair is easy for me."
Taylor continued to stare at Amy in wonder until Amy started getting uncomfortable. Eventually Taylor said, "Yes if you would please. My hair is… something similar to my late Mother's. I had resigned myself to a life of short hair for a while, but if you could regrow it, I would be grateful."
Amy's glare softened at Taylor's words. Now she just felt like a bitch. Stepping forward, Amy placed a hand on Taylor's shoulder again, and immediately her long, curly black hair regrew to its original length.
"Thanks." Taylor mumbled as Amy let go.
"No problem." Amy quietly said back.
A few more moments of awkward silence passed until a loud CLAP caused both her and Taylor to flinch. They both looked and saw Vicky had clapped her hands to get their attention.
"That's all well and good, but now that the body horror show is over, are we done here?" Vicky asked.
Taylor blinked at Vicky, before nodding her head. She stood off the operating table, adjusted her robes, and walked to one of the counters where she kept her tools. Opening up a drawer, she pulled out a white envelope and handed it to Amy.
"For services rendered." Taylor said, her voice monotone.
Amy raised a brow and looked inside, shocked to see a stack of cash. She counted it quickly, ten $100 dollar bills. Taylor just gave her a thousand bucks.
"I can't accept this." Amy sputtered out.
Taylor shrugged. "You did a service to me and I gave payment in return. That is all. But with this, I have all I need from you today. Come, I will walk you two out."
As Taylor began to walk towards the exit of her workshop, Amy put a hand on her shoulder. "Taylor, wait!"
Stopping in place, Taylor spun around and raised an eyebrow at Amy. "Yes?"
Amy let go of her and stepped back. "Well, it's just that since we're here, I was hoping we could use this chance to, you know, talk?"
"What about?"
Amy shrugged. "About things." Amy cursed her ineptitude at social interactions. "Just to get to know each other."
Amy then turned her head to Vicky eyes wide, pleading for help.
Vicky saw this expression and scowled a bit, her head moving back and lips curling slightly, while she moved her hand slightly in a small "What?" gesture. Amy recognized the action as non-verbal sister talk for, What do you want me to do?
Amy's eyes focused intensely on her sister as she subtly gestured her head towards Vicky, sister talk for, You're the social one, help me!
"What are you two doing?" Taylor finally asked as she looked at them strangely.
"Oh nothing!" Vicky said, floating towards them with a fake smile on her face. The same one she used at events she didn't want to be at, or with the paparazzi. "Soooo... Taylor, what are your plans for school? Are you going to be transferring to Arcadia? Me and Amy go there."
"Amy and I." Taylor corrected. She then shook her head. "And no. I have already withdrawn from school. I feel I will not be safe there and I can learn far more on my own, especially with these implants." Taylor tapped the side of her head. She didn't seem to care to elaborate anymore, and the silence returned.
"Okay, well that's a dead topic." Vicky muttered as her smile almost cracked. "Alright then! Well if you're not going to school are you working then?"
"Yes. I registered as a rogue, and used a substantial amount of capital from the court case I was able to invest here to get me started. Though I will admit, I have burned through more of the money faster than I thought, and business prospects aren't looking good."
"What are you trying to sell?" Amy asked, forcing herself back into the conversation.
"I have sent several designs for prosthetics to the PRT to see if they were interested in purchasing them. I also put out some advertisements to see if people want bionics on an individual basis. But PRT approval is slow and I have yet to hear from any customers."
"Well that makes sense." Vicky said as she crossed her arms. "All your inventions are horrifying."
Both Amy and Taylor looked at Vicky like she was crazy.
"What do you mean?" Taylor asked, genuinely confused.
"Yeah, Taylor prosthetics are amazing!" Amy defended. How could Vicky not understand how beautiful Taylor's Tinkertech was?
Vicky blinked at them. "Oh my God you both actually don't see it." She muttered, shaking her head. "Okay Taylor, it's clear that you understand absolutely nothing about PR. Right now, the PRT, or anyone really, barely has a reason to trust you in general, let alone trusting you with cutting people open. You have no reputation, and your inventions are scary as Hell. Don't you have anything you could try and sell that would get people used to you first? Something big and public that could help a lot of people?"
Amy saw where Vicky was going with this. "She has a point. Parian, another Brockton rogue, does puppet shows on the boardwalk to advertise and show her off as a family friendly, nonthreatening cape. If you could do something like that, that would help drive business your way."
"Particularly something without cybernetics!" Vicky hastily added on.
Taylor seemed deep in thought as she mulled over the Dallons' words. Eventually, her organic eye widened as she said, "Thank you, Amy, Vicky. This has been enlightening. I think I may have an idea. Tell me, have either of you two ever ridden the ferry?"
A/N, 11/14/21: And another new chapter! I was actually surprised I was able to get this out this month, but this was a fun chapter I was excited to write. Taylor continues to establish herself while Amy continues to get more ideas! Fun times ahead for all. I did have to take some liberties with the cybernetic upgrades of the Tech Priest since I couldn't find as much detail on them as there are on Space Marine upgrades.
Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, stay safe out there, and I'll see you in the next one!