That Was Quite a Shock

Posted on Sun Jun 23rd, 2019 @ 11:39am by Lieutenant Commander Mara Ricci & Stephen Spires & The Narrator

Mission: S0E0: What Came Before
Location: Sick Bay

At some point as the Holodoc had worked on attaching a connector to the end of her arm, Mara had dozed off from exhaustion, both mental and physical. The tremors has also stopped, which meant they were probably caused by shock and nothing more. She now rested with her eyes closed. She was mostly awake, but she was avoiding looking at her ruined arm.

She knew it was unavoidable. The thing that had taken hold of her arm was going to kill her quickly- much more quickly than it had killed Varken, she was sure of that. The only choice was amputation. Perhaps if she had had some time to consider it, she would have handled it better.

With a deep breath, she finally opened her eyes and hazarded a glance at her arm. The connector- a device that fused her nerve endings to electronic relays which could then be easily connected to a number of different prosthetics- was in place, but that is where her arm ended; nothing had been attached to it, yet. It looked like the holodoc had removed her arm just above the elbow.

Surprisingly, she didn’t really feel anything about it. A simple resignation was all that crossed her mind. Oh well. What else was there for it? Best to just accept it and move on.

"Mornin', sunshine." After hours of watchful vigil, the sing-song inflection fell flat. The best Spires could supplement was a tired smile below pained, sympathetic eyes. "Welcome back to the land of the living."

With a frown of confusion, Mara’s head swiveled the other direction to take in Spires, sitting on a stool next to her bio bed. “What- what are you still doing here?” It sounded much more rude than she meant it, probably owing to the fact that she was still a bit dazed by recent events. “I mean...” she trailed off. “I didn’t mean it like it sounded. How long have I been out?”

"Not long," Spires said, laughing at her cantankerous disposition. "An hour. Maybe two? Long enough for Sparky to stub your nub there." He nodded at the connector piece at the end of her amputated arm. "I'm sorry I couldn't stop him. Gastarox, I mean."

“It’s not your fault,” she insisted, shifting slightly. “He probably would have killed you.”

Spires shrugged. "No one lives forever." The quip hung in a languid stillness. "It's been a crazy ride," he said at length. His eyes shimmered with conflicting feelings. "I'll be here till it ends."

She nodded. She understood; he would stick with her until they got back to the station. Why she didn’t know, but it didn’t matter. “Thanks,” she said softly. She knew he didn’t want anything long-term, but the fact that he was willing to sit here with her meant more than she would ever admit.

"I got word they found the others," Stephen said. "Well, located at least. It's going to be a trick getting them out. Ritter won't say much else." His old sly grin returned in sprout form. "Guy doesn't seem to trust journalists."

“Can’t say I blame him,” she joked with a slight grin. “Those journalists; always getting in the way.”

"Always sticking their noses where they don't belong," Stephen added. "Can't trust'em an inch."

That gave Mara a laugh. It felt good to laugh. It felt like it had been years, though she knew it was really only a matter of days. "You'd know, I guess," she said. "Thanks. I needed that." With a sigh, she glanced at her arm again. "I can't wait to get something on here," she said. "It feels weird. I keep trying to scratch my nose only to find I'm missing my scratching arm." She scratched her arm with her right hand. "It's always the dominant hand, isn't it?"

"I wouldn't know." Stephen held up his arms and performed Jazz Hands. "Ambidextrous."

“Oh great,” replied Mara with a roll of her eyes. “Doubly sneaky. We’ll really have to watch you.”

"We?" he asked, eyebrows raised. "Surely not you and that sassy cousin of yours that you never told me about. I had to run into her with no warning whatsoever."

“Oh, you met Francie?” she replied with a grin. “That must have been a shock. She’s... well, you know. Did she mess with you too much?” she asked with a poorly suppressed smirk.

Stephen shrugged. "Maybe a little. I gave as good as I got."

She laughed softly. "Oh, I'd love to see the video footage," she said, attempting to sit up, but finding it difficult with only one arm. "Or a reenactment. Maybe I'll have to get the two of you together sometime."

"Heh. I wouldn't want to tempt fate." He smiled wryly, happy to see her happy but still saddened for her. "A cat's only got nine lives, ya know."

"Which one of you is the cat?" she asked, finally managing to get herself into a half seated position.

"Uh... good question." Stephen had no idea what to think. "I might have to throw that one back to you, seeing as you're more familiar with the both of us."

Mara could only laugh and shake her head. “This conversation has taken a very strange turn,” she said. “Thanks. It’s keeping my mind off things.”

"Me too. I've had a lot of time to think... about things." Stephen pressed his hands together and leaned forward.

"Things?" replied Mara with a grin. "How very cryptic of you. All right, I'll bite: what things?"

Stephen shook his head. "We can talk about that later. Have you given any thought to what you want in a prosthetic? I've seen some biological regrowths that are plum amazing."

She considered pressing the issue, but decided against it. "Being an engineer, I want one of those real touch things," she replied. "The ones that you can change the sensitivity on. And are heat resistant up to something insane like 5000 degrees or something. Imagine what I can do with that. Oh, sure it's a sacrifice on Dexterity and precision, but I can learn to use my right hand a bit more."

"Heh." Stephen traced a circle on the floor with the toe of his boot. "I was a fan of the original article myself..."

Despite how angry she was with him just a few days ago, Mara laughed. "I'm sure," she said. "Apparently, you can't even tell the difference with these new ones. They feel natural. I wonder if they can put my freckles on it."

"If they can send us through the galactic barrier, then I don't see why not?" Stephen smiled wanly.

Surprisingly- even to Mara- her smile faded. “It won’t be the same,” she said a bit sadly. “I mean, it’s as good as, but....” She sighed. “Well, what’s done is done. I shouldn’t dwell on it. Right?” She looked up at Spires with a pleading in her eyes. She needed someone to affirm that she was right, that regret and resentment would do absolutely no good. She wanted to know that even if it wasn’t the same, she would be absolutely okay and nobody would think less of her.

"Oh, you'll have to dwell on it sooner or later," Stephen countered. "Ignoring shit is a surefire way to have it come back to haunt you." He bit his lip, then sighed and scanned the room for writing on the wall or any other inspiration to avoid saying what was in his heart to say. "Ask me how I know..."

“Experience, I’d wager,” replied Mara softly. She looked down at the blanket still covering her lap as she felt tears welling in her eyes.

"Exactly." Stephen squeezed Mara's only remaining hand, then cupped her face. "I'll be forever haunted by this day. It may have been the last I ever looked on this face. Before... my career, my life's work, who I am... I was afraid to lose it. I was scared that if I stayed with you, I wouldn't want to leave. Now, after watching you nearly die, I know that ship has sailed. Now I know I don't want to live a day without you."

And he kissed her. When his lips first touched hers, they were soft, as if testing the waters. Soon after contact, the gentle waters grew turgid and roiling with passion. Not a passion born of lust for pleasure as he had kissed her before, but a passionate combination of grief and gratitude -- grief for what was nearly lost for good and gratitude for what remained.

Mara kissed back. Not because she believed him particularly, but because it was comforting. Oh, she wanted to believe him, but didn't really know if she could. Finally, after several long moments, she pulled away. "Spires," she gasped. "If you're messing with me again, so help me, I'll... I'll..." But she didn't really know what it was she would do. Cry, probably, if she was perfectly honest, but beyond that, probably nothing.

"Never." He stilled her tongue with a firm press of his own. Their lips meshed once more. After parting, Steven stared at her with an intensity normally spared for hardline interviews. "You make me better. When you're around, life has a different meaning. All I want to do now is hold you and never let you go."

His eyes were sincere, that was true. She tried to remember if she’s ever noticed that look in his eyes before, but she had never paid that much attention. Screw it, Mara, she told herself. You’ve gotten nowhere being suspicious. Maybe it’s time to take a chance. Go on. Give him a shot. He could be sincere. Don’t you want to find out? Isn’t finding out a sort of adventure? You like adventure; let’s go on one!

“And I- I want to let you,” she replied haltingly, almost as if frightened of the very words themselves. She reached up with her left hand, forgetting that it wasn’t there, then gave an agitated sigh. “I really need something over here,” she muttered, then reached with her right hand to brush his cheek gently. “I will let you,” she finished. “And I’ll hold you, too.” She leaned forward and kissed him once more, very gently.

Stephen ran his hand along her left shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. From there, it was almost like her arm wasn't missing. "You'll make an honest man out of me yet," he chuckled.

"Am I interrupting?" Sparky said, appearing out of the ether unbidden. "Sorry to intrude, but I have to check on the tissue grafts to the coupler. Wouldn't want an infection to start and all that."

Mara nearly jumped clear out of her skin. “I mean, technically, but it’s okay,” she replied after a deep breath. “It’s all tingly. Is that normal?”

"Perfectly normal," Sparky said, pulling over a stool so that he might sit more comfortably and examine the device. "The coupler is the data entry point for the prosthetic limb, so it is constantly pinging your nerves to keep them alive and well. We've found in the past that inactive nerves tend to begin the apoptosis process, so the tingling is a way of keeping them active whilst not in direct use. Busy work, in a way."

He used a light pen to examine the stump, the bright blue light oddly warm as it brushed over her skin.

"Good...yes the P-cell's have bounded well with your bodies biochemistry. We'll need to monitor that, as cellular rejection is something you'll have to deal with for the rest of your life. Its one of the small con's when it comes to prosthetic limbs I'm sorry to say, the body prefers flesh and blood over chrome," Sparky leaned back, running a hand over his finger to pull away some of his hair. "If you are feeling well enough, we might try a simple test limb to make sure the connectors are working. Nothing fancy compared to what the fabricators on Canopus can put out, but enough for you to begin training."

“I suppose the sooner I start practicing, the sooner I can get back to work,” she replied with a glance at Spires.

Spires caught her glance and winked back. His muted smirk indicated the sort of work he had in mind.

"Well let's not get ahead of ourselves," Sparky said as another iteration of the EMH brought over an antiseptic white coloured limb. It looked like a normal human arm that had been dipped in white paint. It was only when you looked the at the joint of the fingers, the wrists, that seams and connection points were more on show. The Original Sparky took the arm, and settled in into place just close enough to the connector stump that he could see between it.

"Now there might be a few random sensations as the arm connects like I said we're not expecting you to be writing cursive right off the bat," he explained. The stump of the false arm made a fizzing sound as small cilia-like connectors wormed out, reaching out to mate with the connectors on the stump. With a click the arm slid back a quarter inch, connecting to the stump of her arm. The panels along the limb fluttered gently like disturbed feathers, and the limb began to shrink slightly to match her other whole arm.

"There we go...now for a while it'll feel like a dead weight, but you'll adjust to it over time," Sparky said. "Just...try to close your fingers for me. Focus on the idea of it, imagine in your mind's eye that you are performing the action."

Mara winced at a grating feeling like bone against bone in the elbow, but didn't say anything as she supposed this was one of those random sensations about which the Holodoc had spoken. She then followed his instructions, concentrating hard on curling her fingers in. All at once, the entire hand contracted into a tight fist and Mara jumped, startled. "Maybe," she said slowly, "I don't have to think quite that hard about it."

"No...no you didn't did you?" Sparky said in a curious tone. He swivelled on his stool and returned with a rubber ball and a tricorder. "I want you to squeeze this. It's a force feedback device, the strong you squeeze it the more it will resist. It’s a way of measuring your level of control."

He then tossed it lightly towards her.

And she exactly failed to catch it. It hit her shoulder and bounced to the ground, rolling to a stop a few feet away. "Don't even say it," she warned Spires with an irritated glance.

"I'll leave that out of my next article," he teased.

With only a slight hesitation as she reminded herself to use her right arm, she punched Spires’s shoulder lightly. “You’d better,” she replied. “Okay, I got this.” She carefully pulled herself off the biobed, crossed to where the ball lay on the floor and bent to pick it up, using the new arm. This time, everything worked the way it should. With a satisfied grin, she returned to the biobed and gave the ball a squeeze as she Climbed back onto the biobed.

"That's amazing," Stephen said with no small amount of awe. "Took to it just like that, like a fish to water."

"I think everyone picks up on it that easy," Mara replied with a glance to the holodoc. "I can't be the only one."

"There are varying levels of aptitude toward prosthetic adaptation. Some take to it easily, others struggle their entire lives. Consider yourself fortunate," Sparky said, eyeing the tricorders readings. "All readings are according to spec as far as I can see. The limb itself is a very basic model, and Canopus Station will be a much better place to make something more permanent and personalised."

Experimentally, Mara tossed the ball in the air and caught it a bit clumsily. She had never considered the possibility that this might not be easy as pie. And perhaps that is exactly why it was easy for her. Perhaps worrying only messed with your head and made it more difficult. "I guess I am pretty remarkable," she said. "You can put that in your next article," she added to Spires with a wink.

Thoughts of the future turned Stephen pensive. Assuming the Resolute made it back to Canopus more or less intact, what then? What if either of them got reassigned now that the phase accelerator was two-way functional? As he smiled on at Mara's exceptional acclamation to prosthetics, Stephen had no answers, only the certainty that they would meet those challenges as they did this one. Together.