Circuits and Synapses

by Harper Doyle

  “What’s with all the moaning? It sounds kind of weird.” Rebecca smiled and moaned again as if to get on Nadia’s nerves. Nadia threw another pillow at her and this time Rebecca caught it and threw it back at Nadia. She was caught off guard and the pillow landed smack in the middle of her face. Pretty soon there was a pillow fight and for a while Nadia could forget about the trials and tribulations that she had endured. That night Nadia slept well, aided by the energy burned in the pillow fight.

  The next morning was like any other morning, wake up, breakfast, schooling, lunch, training, dinner, and some free time before bed. The same routine, the same everything, Nadia felt like all she was doing was running in circles, never getting anywhere. After several weeks like this Nadia was at the end of her rope. Doing the same thing everyday was boring, not to mention the food always being the same. It was as if summer camp had collided with summer school infused with a pinch of concentration camp. Nadia was a person of spontaneous actions, fueled by the passion of life. Since coming to the company’s form of prison nothing has been like it was before, not in the family sense, not in the daily life sense, not anyway or anyhow. The futile lifestyle at the company was just about more than Nadia could handle.

  Chapter 7

  A few weeks later, after much of the hype about the implants and ears had died down; Nadia was lying on her bed talking with Rebecca. They were going on about the horrible dinner they had just eaten. It had been meatloaf of an unknown meat and Nadia was sure that it was making her sick. She was feeling lightheaded and so she had decided to lay down for a bit, to see if it would go away. But after lying there for nearly an hour Nadia still was feeling under the weather so she sat up and was about to alert the warden when Rebecca let out a scream. She was looking straight at Nadia and Nadia was perplexed at her alarm.

  “Nadia, your eyes, their bleeding!” Nadia lifted her fingers to her eyes and sure enough they were bleeding. She brought her fingers away and saw the red. Rebecca’s screams had alerted the warden as well as a security staff and they came rushing in ready to break up a fight or something.

  “What’s going here? Who screamed?” The warden was looking around to see where the scream had originated to see what the problem was.

  “It was me warden, and it’s because Nadia’s eyes are bleeding. I think she has to see a doctor about that.” Rebecca rushed to Nadia’s side and helped her get out of the bed. The warden grabbed her from Rebecca and walked her to the fence. There he called Jack and within minutes Jack was at the gate ready to take Nadia. Rebecca was screaming in the background and Nadia started to freak out. There was such a panic that Nadia began to thrash around wanting to break free, get out of the constraints and run.

  “Calm down there missy, something is wrong with you. All we want to do is fix whatever has malfunctioned, to do that you need to calm down.” With that said Jack called for a sedative, which only made Nadia more anxious and skittish. Rebecca was pushing her way forward and right up next to Nadia.

  “Take me with her. She needs me.” Rebecca was pleading with Jack but he would hear none of that. He pushed her aside and grabbed the needle offered to him.

  “Go away you; this is no time to get in our way. Scram if you know what’s best for you!” Rebecca was thrown back and Jack used the sedative to knock Nadia out. Within a few seconds of injecting her Nadia went completely limp. At that time Jack called Daniel forward.

  “Daniel, take Nadia to the infirmary and tell them to find out what the hell is going on with her. Tell them that they had better have answer when I get there or heads will roll.” Daniel lifted Nadia over his shoulder and walked through the gate in the fence than down the hall to the infirmary. Jack looked from the warden to Rebecca, but said not a word. He too then turned and headed out the hallway. Jack had the unfortunate duty to report what had happened to the head honcho and boy would he be mad.

  From around the corner came Elizabeth, she had walked very briskly. Jack stopped her from entering the housing development telling her where to find Nadia. Then Elizabeth went down the hall to keep a watch over her. Bleeding from the eyes had never happened before at the company so it warranted some concern and observation. Jack marched down the hall to the stairs that led above ground. Once at the top of the stairs Jack ran to the door at the end of the hallway where he paused and gained his composure before entering the room. He was going to get an earful today.

  At the infirmary Elizabeth arrived ten minutes after Daniel did and the doctors had already stated an IV. She walked over to where Daniel was standing and leaned up against the wall as he did.

  “So you got any idea what the hell went on?” Elizabeth started to question Daniel, hoping to discover every detail.

  “No, I just arrived to carry her to the infirmary. When I got there her eyes were bleeding and then she started to freak out. No one knows why and the doctors are just starting a non-invasive procedure to determine the cause of the bleeding.” Elizabeth nodded as Daniel spoke. She then turned to the doctors present and started to question them as they started the procedure.

  “So, doctors what can you tell me? Please explain everything as it is happening.” The doctors nodded but did not say anything right away. After a few minutes of prep the doctors were ready to begin.

  “Our first objective is to determine the source of the bleeding, once we know that we can work to determine the how and the why, but for now you will just have to step back and let us work. Now we are inserting this small camera up her nose and hopefully we can use it to discover the source.” Elizabeth said nothing as the doctors proceeded with the camera and their investigation of where the bleed was coming from. After nearly ten minutes of silence the doctor in charge said an ‘Aha!’

  “What, what is it? Did you find the cause, is it serious? Answers people, answers!” Elizabeth was getting frustrated at the lack of information. The doctor stepped back and another one took over the exam.

  “I found the cause of the bleed. Some of the implants we placed in her brain were not accepted by the brain tissue and the brain was trying to reject them. Problem was, there was no where for them to go and so they pressed against other areas of the brain causing bleeding which came out of her eyes. To fix it we move the implants to a more receptive area of the brain.” Elizabeth let out a sigh of relief. So much time and energy had been placed into this girl. She was the hope for the future, both for the company but also for the next step for humankind. Many of the new procedures were used on her and if the scientists and owner of the company were right she was going to be the next super agent. Should anything have happened to her more than just Jack would be in trouble. Elizabeth drew in a deep breath and patted the doctor on the back.

  “You don’t know how many lives you just saved with that. I thank you doctors and now I must take my leave of you so as to inform Jack.” Elizabeth shook their hands and went out the door and down the hallway. Elizabeth’s heels struck the linoleum and made a sharp sound as she strode down the hallway to the staircase. Next to the staircase, however, was an elevator which Elizabeth much preferred. Clicking the button Elizabeth waited a few minutes for the elevator to reach the bottom floor. Once inside she pushed the button that would take her to the ground level. Waiting for her just outside the elevator doors was Jack.

  “Everything is going to be fine, just a slight case of rejection, nothing that the doctors can’t fix. They said she will be fine. I came right away to tell you so you could tell the boss.” Jack nodded to her and let out a sigh of relief. That done Jack turned about face and strode back the boss’s office where he explained the new details.

  Nadia heard sounds in the back of her mind and when she opened her eyes there was the sound of a heart monitor. Her eyes were heavy but she managed to open them wide enough to see that she was in the hospital. For a spilt second Nadia forgot what had happened and thought that sh
e was here with her family and that maybe there had been a car crash. But, then the memories came flooding back and Nadia closed her eyes again. She must have dozed off because the next time Nadia opened her eyes a doctor was hovering over her, checking her over.

  “Oh, so you are awake. That was quite a scare you put us through, but don’t worry you are going to be just fine.” The doctor smiled and Nadia felt odd. This must have been a new or different doctor, because Nadia didn’t remember seeing him before.

  “Who are you? I don’t remember you at all.” The words were slow to leave her lips but they did come out, if only at a whisper. The doctor heard her and bent down to her ear.

  “I am new. Try not to talk too much, you are still recovering. I am going to go get you some Jell-O, be right back.” And with that the doctor was gone, but he returned a moment later with orange Jell-O. Nadia tried to smile as a form of thank you but her facial muscles were still waking up and so Nadia just accepted the bowl without saying anything. Nadia entreated her arm to lift up and grab hold of the spoon in front of her. Somehow this time the anesthesia had gotten to her and her mind was fuzzy and her muscles not wanting to work with her. After a few attempts Nadia got the Jell-O from the bowl to her mouth. The next thing to do was swallow it, which Nadia did without even chewing it.

  “There you go; I knew you could do it.” The doctor took away the empty bowl and then came back to sit next to Nadia.

  “Why are you still here? Don’t you have somewhere else you need to be? Why take interest in me?” Nadia was confused by the new doctor, why did he care so much. Certainly he was not like the rest of the employees here at the company. The doctor smiled once more and just looked at Nadia.

  “I am here because you had a problem, the other doctors fixed you and I want to make sure that you recover well. It is so odd that I care?”

  “At this place, yes.” Nadia closed her eyes again and sleep overtook her and she went out like a light. The doctor got up from his chair and pulled the covers up on Nadia so as to keep her warm.

  The following three days passed by with Nadia in and out of consciousness, and each time she opened her eyes the doctor would be standing there watching over her. Within a few days of the incident Nadia was released back the housing development and had to say goodbye to the friendly doctor she had come to like.

  “I guess it is time for you to be heading back to wherever it is you come from.” The doctor got up as the staff came in to prep Nadia for moving.

  “Yeah, back to the routine, not very exciting. By the way, in all this time I have yet to learn your name. Is it not unfair for you to know my name but for me not to know your name?” The doctor mockingly flinched and then laughed it off.

  “My name is Dr. Turner. I hope that you have an alright time when you get back and try not to bleed form your eyes again.” Nadia waved goodbye and was handcuffed. She walked out the door and then down the hallway, back to her routine, back to Rebecca, but most of all, back to her hell.

  As Nadia turned the corner and saw the housing development once more a sense of depression filled her. At that moment Nadia realized how futile her life was in this place. Within a moment of reaching the fence Rebecca came running up. She looked so happy and Nadia felt that she should have been too but was unable to muster that much emotion. The handcuffs were taken off but the mental constraints were still present and Nadia knew that they would always remain, until the day she left this place, whether that meant walking out of the building with her brother or with her in a body bag.

  “Nadia I was so worried about you. Are you okay?” Rebecca had been worried, that was to be expected. Nadia looked at Rebecca, her beaming face, her spunky personality; it was such a contrast to Nadia.

  “Yeah, I’ll be fine, just a little scare, that’s all. You shouldn’t worry so much.” Nadia smiled at Rebecca, even if she wasn’t so optimistic she could always lend some from Rebecca.

  “Come on, it’s almost time for dinner.” Rebecca pulled Nadia’s arm and the two of them were off.

  About two weeks later, during the schooling part of the day a small headache formed itself in the back of Nadia’s head. It throbbed for a bit then went away, every so often it would flare up and it could be quite painful. But Nadia never let it show on her face, a mask was in place and no one would be the wiser that she was experiencing excruciating migraines. The headaches persisted but Nadia never did anything about them and never told anyone either.

  Another week after the headaches started lo and behold Jack showed up. He claimed it was just to check up on group seven but Nadia knew he was here to see her. He gathered all the girls together and led them to a secluded room where they could ‘talk.’ Nadia felt that something was going to happen, but was not sure if it would be good or bad.

  “So girls, we are heading into a new stage of the experiment and our meeting here today will go over a few things we are going to do as well as map out the next few months as far as procedures go.” At that moment the door opened and Elizabeth walked in. She sat down next to Jack but remained silent.

  “This is Elizabeth for those of you whom have yet to meet her. She is going to help me explain what we are going to do. Let’s start with the next procedure planned, it is a very invasive surgery and will perhaps change your life in a different way than what we have been doing thus far.” The girls in the room were puzzled, what could they do that was different from replacing their human parts for machines. Elizabeth cleared her throat at that moment and opened her mouth to speak.

  “We plan to remove your uteruses, making it impossible for you to have children, this will cease your menstrual cycle and allow you to cope better in missions and in the future we have planned for you. Does that make sense? Are there any questions concerning that procedure?” Elizabeth paused for a moment to answer any question but most of the girls were still getting their heads around what she had said. One of the other girls in the group must have processed faster than the rest and eyed Elizabeth.

  “So we won’t be able to have kids, ever?”

  “Never ever, that does not fit in with the lifestyle of your job, nor does it make any sense to leave the possibility that one day you might. With nearly all your body made of machines you will be a different sort of human. Interaction will be different and thus reproduction is out of the question. Does that answer your question?” The girl nodded but was no happier about the situation than before. A few other questions were asked, mostly dealing with the pain and length of recovery time. Elizabeth answered that the pain would be minimal the recovery time a few days. All that the surgeons were going to do was remove the female organ and close them back up.

  “Which leads us into the next procedure, which will directly follow the one we just explained.” Jack brought out a suitcase and set it on the table. He opened it up and pulled out several files. Each file had a girl’s name on it and all of them eyed Jack suspiciously.

  “These files here are going to be a key factor in your first limb replacement procedure. Depending on what we decide here we can map out the remainder of your time here at the company. We will start with Rebecca.” Jack pulled out the file with Rebecca’s name on it and flipped through the pages until coming to a diagram of her body.

  “For you we can either start with the right leg or left arm. For you and Michael we feel that either of these limbs would be a good starting point. We will let you each pick out which one to do first, recovery time is about the same for both. So which one will you pick?” Elizabeth and Jack were staring at Rebecca and she seemed to shrink under the sudden pressure placed on her. This was what Nadia had feared would happen. She had wanted to be out of this place before they got to this point, but now they were here. What to do, what to do? Rebecca looked flushed and the prospect of losing an entire limb to be replaced with machine was overwhelming her. Jack and Elizabeth
noticed the hesitation and leaned back in their chairs.

  “Would you like us to pick it for you?” Rebecca shook her head; she knew that she had to do this by herself. After a few minutes of staring at the diagram Rebecca pointed to the left arm before crumpling and leaning back in her chair. Jack took the file and made some notes near the left arm before looking back up at Rebecca.

  “By choosing to do your left arm first the plan for you will go as follows. First, the left arm, second, the right leg, this will be followed by the right arm and finished up with the left leg. Once those procedures are completed we will start with the organ replacement and finish up your procedures with a reinforced armor plating underneath most of your skin. After that you will be trained for the field and then sent on your first mission. This plan will probably take until you turn twenty years old. Enough waiting time will be put between surgeries in which you will continue your schooling and hand to hand training. That is all for you.” Jack closed up Rebecca’s file and set it aside. Jack then ushered Daniel into the room.

  “Daniel, will you please escort this young lady here to the prep room, we are going to do the female organ removing surgery today. As you finish up here Daniel will escort you to the surgery room where the procedure will take place. Afterwards you will be placed in the infirmary just like usual. You may go Rebecca.” Rebecca got up from the seat and Daniel grabbed her arms and placed them behind her. Walking out of the room Rebecca looked over her shoulder at Nadia. She was trying to catch her eye but Nadia was just looking at Jack, waiting to hear who the next person was going to be. Rebecca was escorted out of the room and Jack reached for the next file. This process continued until Nadia was the last one in the room.