Discarded Metal
Chapter 3 - Recycling
"Never throw away, always recycle what you can!"
Martin slowly opens his eyes and tries to focus his vision.
He is in a room with light gray walls and a big window displays the background city. He feels dizzy and has a hard time to recall any memories.
His eyes scan the room, it's a very simple room with almost no furnitures except the bed he is lying on. He starts to understand that he is in a sort of hospital room.
He tries hard to lift himself up to get in a sitting position but it makes him feel dizzy. He notices a small light blinking over his bed and some panels that seem to display his vitals.
The door suddenly opens and a man accompanied by a kind of Droid on wheels enters the room.
He smiles at Martin and starts talking.
"How are you feeling?" he asks.
"I'm not in pain, but I have a hard time focusing and I feel dizzy." Martin answers.
"Do you recall what happened to you?" the doctor asks.
Martin tries to recall but nothing comes.
"No, I can't recall anything…" he says.
The doctor taps on the screen of the wheeled Droid that follows him. His face looks emotionless.
"It's normal, you suffered severe brain injuries," he says.
Martin takes a moment to let the information sink in. He tries to move again but his body feels like a lifeless rock.
The doctor notices his efforts.
"Take it easy, we had to turn off your Neural connections with your frame. That's why you feel like it's impossible to move. I have to proceed with several more tests before I can make sure it's safe for you." he explains.
Martin complies and stops trying.
"Can you tell me what happened?" he asks the doctor.
"No, I'm not allowed to tell you, but your squad leader Mr Haaris has the clearance and he asked me to inform him as soon as you are awake. Do you want me to contact him or do you need more rest?" the doctor says.
"I'm fine, you can contact him." Martin answers.
The doctor nods and heads out of the room, followed by the wheeled Droid.
Martin is left alone in the room, he tries his best to process the information given by the doctor. Nothing is making any sense, he can barely remember Haaris or even the squad.
He can't recall anything but blurry images of men equipped and armed, black SUV type vehicles. It goes nowhere.
After what seems like hours to him, the door of his room opens and a tall man with scars on his face enters.
Martin gets a violent flashback.
A powerful explosion sent him flying across a room. Blackout followed by another flash. The man with scars on his face, pulling Martin away. Another blackout and this time he is back in the hospital room with the man close to his bed.
"How do you feel, son?" He asks Martin.
"I'm not sure, but I think I am starting to remember." Martin answers.
"Take your time, you suffered a terrible brain injury," he says.
"Can you tell me what happened?" Martin asks.
"Of course, son. We were called for an intervention in one of NPPD evidence warehouses, supposedly for terrorist's activity with hostages. Upon arrival we encountered very little resistance, it was a trap to lure the team into the main vault where a bomb went off. We lost six agents that day and you were put in a coma." he explains.
Martin starts to recall bits and pieces as captain Haaris tells the story. More images flashes in his head.
"Coma? Why?" Martin asks.
"Martin… You took a huge blow, you flew through the room and crashed against a wall." he pauses for a moment.
"It took half your brain away and the docs had to rebuild a synthetic one."
This new information drops on Martin like a second bomb going off in his head. He looks confused and distressed.
"Martin… Calm down, son." he tries to reassure Martin.
"Your life is saved, you almost died out there." he continues.
Martin doesn't answer and gets lost in his own thoughts.
"Half of my brain is synthetic? How is it possible? Which part of my brain is thinking that right now?" his thoughts race in his mind.
"I can't feel any differences, but why can't I remember more? Who am I? What am I?" He keeps thinking to himself.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
"Martin!" Captain Haaris' voice brings him back to reality.
"I'm sorry… It's a lot to take in." Martin answers.
"Take your time son, you are under government care as long as you need." he says.
"Thanks, captain but will I ever be able to return to active duty?" Martin asks.
"Take some rest first, I will come back next week to check on you." he says while tapping his hand in a comforting way, but Martin can't feel anything.
Captain Haaris stands up and slowly leaves the room.
Martin wonders why he keeps thinking about serving, it seems to be something important for him but he can't recall why.
More fragmented memories come back to him, his life with the other agents, before that day happened. It's blurry and he can't really recall them in chronological order.
Time also feels elusive to him, when he stays in his thoughts, it seems time is different in the real world. Sometimes it feels slower and sometimes it feels faster, Martin feels disoriented.
A nurse comes to his room, he focuses on her.
She helps him take some pills, feeds him. Time goes extremely slow, he hates being dependent.
The nurse is cute, his mind plays tricks on him, she disappears. Martin falls asleep, and the next day repeats itself.
Nurse, medicine, food, sleep, nurse, medicine…
The doctor comes in, that's new…
"Martin, how do you feel?" he asks.
"I'm not sure… I feel spaced out, confused." Martin answers.
"It's normal, do you suffer from some sort of time distortion?" he asks.
Martin looks straight at the doctor.
"Yeah! Time distortion… What's happening to me?" he asks the doctor.
"It's normal, your synthetic brain is trying to adapt to your brain, but it can be difficult to sync due to the fact that you are only staying in bed." the doctor says.
It makes sense to him suddenly, repeating the same day, everyday.
The doctor starts examining Martin's neck.
"How about we go for a walk? Would you like that?" he asks.
Before Martin can answer, he feels his body again, it starts with his toes and very quickly the sensation spreads all over.
"There, go slowly." the doctor says as he brings a clutch for him.
Martin grabs the clutch and slowly raises his body, he feels a bit dizzy but his body answers to him perfectly.
He uses the clutch to help himself out of the bed and stands up straight.
"Not bad. How do you feel?" the doctor asks.
Martin takes a few hesitant steps but after a moment his balance seems to adjust itself and he starts taking faster steps.
"I feel… Good …" he says as he slowly puts the clutch against the wall and stands by himself.
"Great, your synthetic brain is better at connecting with your frame, but don't overdo it. Your natural brain might lag the processes sometimes." the doctor says.
Martin smiles as he keeps walking normally without clutches.
"So you mean my original brain is worse than a synthetic one?" Martin asks.
The doctor scoffs a bit.
"Well… Your frame is an advanced exoskeleton and going through a brain interface to convert the signals to a natural brain is less effective than having a synthetic brain processing them directly." he explains.
Martin nods and realizes that trusting his new synthetic brain is somehow challenging.
It seems to be very efficient if he doesn't try to think about walking and just trusts his new brain can take care of it.
"It feels strange, as soon as I think about walking, I feel like it's harder to do…" he says.
The doctor keeps observing.
"You will get the hang of it, you will quickly realize the benefits of your new brain. Being more mobile will also help with the time distortions." the doctor says as he opens the door and invites Martin to walk outside of the room.
Martin takes steps outside the room and quickly realizes that it's not a regular hospital. The main corridor is extremely clean and he can notice cameras at every angle.
He walks with the doctor along the corridor until they reach a double door with a keypad. The doctor presses his finger on the keypad and the doors open.
They enter a big room surrounded with glass walls, behind the glass walls Martin can see some sort of labs and assembly lines with technicians working on cybernetics.
Martin turns to the doctor with a puzzled look on his face.
"Oh… You thought you were in a regular hospital?" the doctor asks.
Martin nods.
"Well, we had to build a synthetic brain, they don't really do that in regular hospitals." the doctor says.
Martin checks around and he notices Meditech's logo. He knows that logo, he can recall some memories about Meditech.
Meditech is a big international corporation specialized in cybernetics and drugs. They are a huge actor in the world of business and they have strong deals with a lot of governments in the western world.
"Meditech…" Martin says out loud.
"Yes, we have excellent relations with the French government. We provide cybernetics to every soldier." the doctor says.
Martin starts to remember his first surgery when he joined CTIG1, the installation of "the frame", his exoskeleton.
They continue walking until they arrive at a door without a lock pad that leads to a cafeteria. They both sit at a table.
Martin feels a bit better after walking, like his new brain needed to process information in order to feel less out of place.
"I need to talk to you about your new brain, Martin." the doctor says to Martin.
"Of course, I want to know more too." Martin says.
"Your new brain also acts as a very advanced cyber deck." the doctor explains.
"After you have adjusted to the basic functions, we will have to go through a protocol to let you get familiar with netrunning. Have you followed the regular training in CTIG?" the doctor asks.
"Yes, the basics about breaking into networks, but that's about it. I specialized in firearms and assault, not netrunning." Martin answers.
"We know, we had your file from the government. Things will be a bit different for you now but captain Haaris will brief you." the doctor says with a soft smile.
Martin nods and tries to process all the information he just heard from the doctor. He would have never expected that his life would take such a drastic turn.
But again, he can't remember much of his life.
Images from the assault on NPPD's evidence warehouse keep jumping in his mind. They are chaotic and bloody.
He shakes his head and they vanish.
Martin and the doctor continue their stroll. The doctor shows him other sections and Martin figures out that it's a very advanced research center.
Finally the doctor brings him back to his room and leaves.
The next few days will be the beginning of new routines for him now that he finally has control of his body.
He gets up in the morning to walk to the cafeteria, where he eats breakfast. He then gets back to his room to wait for the nurse to bring him his meds. He finds ways to occupy himself.
The routines make the time distortions happen less frequently, as if doing things and moving his body, really occupies his mind. He even starts to make sense of the fragmented memories he has.
A week passes, and captain Haaris comes back to find Martin in a way better shape than he left him.
He shows a smile while he enters Martin's room as he sees him standing.
"Already recovering your motor skills, son?" he asks.
"Yeah, it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be." Martin replies.
"That's great, let's walk." he says as he holds the door for Martin.
They get out and Martin follows captain Haaris, who seems to know exactly where he is going. They pass the cafeteria and go straight to a door that leads to a corridor with an elevator at the end.
Haaris puts his hand on the panel and the doors open. They get in and Martin notices very few available floors. It looks as if most of the floors aren't accessed from this elevator.
"How big is this place?" Martin thinks to himself.
The elevator stops and the doors open to another corridor with a door at the end. Haaris walks ahead and Martin follows him.
The door opens to a circular room with a reception desk in the middle. Men in corporate suits with Meditech's logo are behind the desk.
Haaris keeps walking past the desk to a door that opens to another corridor, but this time several doors are along the walls.
Haaris seems to pick a random one and opens it. They both enter what seems to be a meeting room with a huge table surrounded with chairs.
"Have a seat, son." Haaris commands.
Martin scans the room quickly, but nothing seems to stand out, it's just a regular corporate meeting room.
Martin picks a random seat and Haaris sits as well before he starts talking.
"The doctor told you more about your synthetic brain, right?" he asks Martin.
"Vaguely, something about having an advantage in netrunning." Martin answers.
"Good, you will be reintegrated in CTIG1 as a netrunner after you finish your training here." Haaris says.
"That's great, I can't wait to leave this place and be back on the field." Martin says with excitement.
"Your enthusiasm is good to see, but you need to understand something. From now on, you are the most expensive asset of CTIG, so you won't be allowed on dangerous missions." Haaris explains.
Martin nods, "Better than being retired." he says.
"That's the spirit, and you will have plenty of action cracking networks anyway. What you have in your head, only a handful have similar capabilities." Haaris says.
Martin doesn't answer, but he isn't displeased with the opportunity, returning to duty is a blessing.
Haaris finishes to go over a few details with Martin about his reintegration. After a few minutes they return to Martin's room and Haaris leaves him alone.
Martin can't wait to be out of the research center but he will have to finish the protocol mentioned by the doctor first.
That night the anticipation kept him from falling asleep, his mind couldn't shut up, forcing him to call the nurse.
She brought him sleeping pills that he quickly swallowed. The effect wasn't long, his mind started to feel blurry, more relaxed.
His eyes got heavier, the chaotic images from his memory gave space to total darkness and he drifted away.