"This looks rediculous, doctor."

"Yes it does. Now, shush." Finishing with the last strap, the slightly improved arm prototype really did look redicoulous dangling off of the service drone, which was akin to a trashcan on wheels with little metal pincers. One of which had now been removed, and replaced with a human-looking arm, coloured a metalic grey so it wouldn't be so... Off-putting.

"I know this is to facilitate the stress test and battery life optimising... But really now." Calibrating the connection through the drone, Alex flexed the arm and quickly got used to it again. IT was taking a shorter calibration each time, which was reassuring.

"Trust me, the more testing we do the better. And the more you get used to sensation feedback, while we are at it. You need to learn to ctonrol it convincingly to fool the experts, being competent yet not intuitively so." Plus, the doctor had a few pranks in mind in the meantime... If things calm down enough, that is.

"Gee, thank you doctor." Making an idle wave, the drone went off to do some sweeping. As amused as Dr Elune was, they still had to look away and supress a chill... That is just too creepy to watch.

Turning back to the desk, the doctor brought up the holographic interface for their new project. The mini HPB on their desk had been fine-tuned by Alex after the doctor finally gave up, and it made work so much easier. Movement based interfacing had been around for decades... But required looking at a screen with "hands" displayed on it for reference. Not quite the same as their new setup.

Shaking their head to snap out of it, they focused on the display. Alex's final blueprint was taking shape, and not just in the arm. A physique had been chosen, and an estimated "age". Some features were removed, like the navel, as refining the details around those elements would be more trouble than they were worth. Every facial feature was kept though, due to how much people would scrutinise the area. Overall, the form was average: Young, but not adolescent. Fit, but not to the point of an athelete. Tall, but not the tallest of the council. And attactive... But they wouldn't be asked to any hpotoshoots any time soon.

With all of the design choices well and trully worked out, it was down to the doctor to decide on function. The arm currently grew overheated and tense, showing reasonable muscle strain. This would be good for the humanised model... But those models would be refined by the experts. Alex would be the later kind, an enhanced build... But only slightly so.

Due to the practically unsleeping nature of Alex's operation, the doctor decided the best way around strain was constant self repair of some variety. This would help in recovery in case of injury, and mitigate fatigue. Problem was, nanites were ruled out as a scientific possibility years ago, and microscopic repairing would need something... Microscopic.

Jotting down a note to reseach molecular compounds that would stitch the muscles and skin back together, the next problem was put on the table: asthetics once again. For every human, barring a few, had hair. So far, Alex did not. Perhaps excess carbon intake can be routed to artificial follicles... The hair would be woven as fibres, and vome out black. This suited for now, so the doctor filed the idea for Alex to simulate later.

Power. A twin energy source would be best as proven by earlier tests, one electronic routed near the proccessing "brain", another hydrolic... Combining a "heart" and a "stomach". Alex would be able to run purely on one or the other, charging through a port at the base of the neck or eating as a human. Once they got the substances working for the hydrolic system, that is... The eletronic cells was functioning fine, and the "heart" should pump in accordance with the design. As this would be in line with the regular models, if slightly more efficient, the doctor shelved the idea for the experts.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

A small crash interrupted Dr Elune's thoughts, and they turned with a questioning smirk as the Buff-Drone stared at the shards of a glass in it's hand, before going to clean it up. "Perhaps a subconsious limiter would be a good idea?"

"Perhaps, doctor. I have minor cuts to the hand of the unit, however I have shut the hydrolic power in the hand, and switched to eletrical. This has mitigated the... Well, 'bleeding'."

"Interesting to note. The prosthetic variety will not have secondary power in most cases, so we need that repair mechanism sooner rahter tha later. Label it as a high priority."

"Yes, doctor." As the last of the poor vessel was swept into a small container for reforging, Dr Elune sighed, stumped for ideas. Nueral pathways were done. Power was done. Design was done. Growth and regrowth were all that was left... And chemistry was not the doctor's strong suit.

Conceding that they would need help, the doctor typed up a message to Judith requesting a meeting on the new AHOR project. They needed to discuss on hiding Alex's evolution anyway, and she would know much more in the field of chemistry. Might even have some short term concoctions to recommend.

Sending off the request, Dr Elune went back to thinking over the physical modifications to be made. Skeletal structure could be revised slightly, adding more protection to vital organs while becoming more lightweight. Some of these modifications might look a little odd though... So the doctor grinned, coming up with a few ideas.

Removing the ribcage, the doctor replaced the ceramic prongs with a solid sheet of a reenforced material, woven carbon beams reinforcing it. The beams ended up looking like a thinner ribcage anyway... But the overall result was smoother, and more sturdy.

The spine next, each vertebra was remodeled on a new design, as the nervous system would allow high flexability. While unnerving, Alex would be able to fully rotate as need be, muscle structure allowing of course. The other key joints in the body were similarly revised, giving an inhuman level of flexability.

Frowning, the doctor pondered over these modifications, and realised that should Alex collapse for whatever reason, the degree of flexability would be rather disturbing. So, they put limiters back in place... But ones that could be controlled, and moved out of the way through specific muscle movements.

Feeling a tap on their shoulder, the doctor practically umped out of their chair, and even slipped off in the process to stumble to the ground. The Buff-Drone backed away as Alex's projection flickered on, giggling at the doctor, "Having fun messing with my design?"

"... Not funny. And yes, thank you very much, tinkering around with your theoretical body has been pretty fun." Smirking, the doctor got up with a stretch, and saw Judith's reply come in. An early morning meeting.... "Aw, crud. Why do people always want to be up early here..."

"I do not know why you are so reluctant on that. Lighting here never changes, due to our fixed orbit around the giant..."

"I hate it on principal. Besides, currently I sleep through to noon. In a couple of weeks it would have been fine..." Grumbling, the doctor shut off their workstation, then blinked, "Oh, uh, reply with a confirmation for me."

"Yes, doctor."

"Thank you. Now, I should try and sleep... You have fun, don't handle fragiles while I'm sleeping. For many reasons... Not until we get you used to a full body. And get you the full body, for that matter."

"Yes, doctor. Sleep well."

"... You too."

And so the Buff-Drone went to a room with an assortment of simple puzzles collected by the docotr over the years, and got to idly fiddling with them, as once again Alex turned their attention to the stars.