One of the children had come running to Jordan. One of Amelia’s friends. His sister was in the forest.

“She’s bleeding.” Pant. “Crying.” Pant. “Can’t move.” Pant. Pant. “Need help now.” Pant. “Blood.” Pant. Cough. “A lot of blood.” The child sputtered, visibly shaken.

The usual protocol would have been to notify Ilya of the incident first. She was the village doctor. If there was anyone who needed saving, of course Ilya would be able to administer the appropriate remedy.

But Ilya was not in the village. She had left for a few days with Dimitri and the new strangers. Although she promised she would be back, nobody knew when. She still hadn’t returned. That was the only reason why Jordan had enjoyed the luxury of being notified first.

Jordan did not immediately go to his sister. There was nothing he could do if he went there as he was. He couldn’t go to Ilya for help, so he went to the next best thing.

“You know a way to make me super, don’t you?” Jordan asked the bot.

“I already told you, I can’t do it,” said Wynonna. She was surprised that Jordan hadn’t come with his sister.

“I don’t believe you. I know what you did for Amelia. Don’t tell me it’s impossible.”

“It wouldn’t be right.”

“Amelia’s hurt.”

“What?” Now that Ilya wasn’t in town, Wynonna had lost her eyes and ears. She was both blind and deaf to the happenings in her immediate vicinity.

“Bear trap. She’s losing a lot of blood.”

Wynonna’s eyes and mouth widened as she let out a gasp. Jordan was momentarily distracted by how naturally her expression seemed to form.

“You didn’t think to begin the conversation with this?”

Jordan only needed to work Wynonna a bit more to get what he needed. “Would it be right to let my sister bleed to death in the forest?” Jordan raised his voice. “I don’t need to be the second witch-doctor. I just need to know enough to save her. I’d ask you to do it, but you can’t leave here, can you?”

The robot remained still. It wasn’t her decision to make.

“I figured. Please. They said she lost a leg.”

Still, she didn’t move.

“You’re the only one who can help her now. Are you going to let her bleed to death?”

Wynonna started rummaging through recipes and searching among the vials and flasks on the desks for potions. Amelia was her weakness. The girl had offered her the experience of a first real friendship and taught her innumerable valuable things. From the tiny bundle of energy, Wynonna had learned the complexities of emotion just as she had learned them herself as she grew, and the study of Amelia’s learning had benefited Wynonna’s own learning tremendously.

She thrust the carton of chemicals into his hands.

“This isn’t something just medicine can cover,” said Jordan. His whole body was trembling. “Help me. Tell me how I can save her. Help me save her.” He didn’t bother wiping away the tears.

“I’m sorry, but the answer is no,” Wynonna said.

“If you’re not going to save her, I guess I’ll have no choice but to tell Ilya that you two have been meeting behind her back.”

Wynonna’s eyes flashed. “You wouldn’t.”

“Try me. If anything happens to Amelia, she won’t ever be able to return to you. And if you don’t help me, I’ll make sure that even if she survives without your help, you’ll never have the chance to see her again.”

“That’s a low move.” Appalled by the boy’s sudden change in attitude, Wynonna regained a new shocked expression. “I didn’t expect that from you.”

“There’s no such thing when it comes to keeping my sister safe and alive. You wouldn’t want her hurt, would you?”

“Of course not.”

“Do we have an agreement?”

“Jordan, I—”

“We don’t have time. Do you want Amelia to live or not?”

“I’m sorry.”

In times of desperation, one is sometimes driven to extreme behaviour where the individual becomes willing to try anything, even actions that at any other time would seem crazy and even self-destructive. Jordan looked around the room. Then he grabbed a random bottle, uncapped it and raised it to his lips.

Winona knocked it out of his grasp before he could ingest the bottle’s contents. The blue chemical spilt all over the floor.

“What are you doing?” Wynonna demanded.

“I’m going to drink every bottle in here until you agree to my request. Don’t think I’m bluffing.” There was unshakable determination in his eyes, enough to convince Wynonna that he meant every word. She knew how much the boy loved his sister. Wynonna felt affection towards her too. She was hesitant to help only because she wasn’t sure if Jordan would be able to survive the procedure.

A few moments passed before Wynonna spoke. “It’s risky. There’s a possibility that you won’t survive.”

“I’m not changing my mind.”

“Stand still. Close your eyes. It’s going to be painful.”

Jordan nodded. “I can take—”

No amount of warning could prepare Jordan for the torturous ordeal he had put himself up to. It was as if his body was melting away while his brain was being sliced into a million pieces by a thief’s dagger and resewn together with a needle just as sharp. Then he felt as if every possible space on the surface of his head was occupied by injection contraptions as thick as a finger. The burning sensation grew until at last the volcanic heat morphed into chill. It was the worst headache Jordan had ever experienced, so utterly agonising he could not help crying out as his brain changed. But he would gladly do it a thousand times if it meant he would be able to save his sister after that.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

When she was finished, Jordan opened his eyes. The colour of his iris had changed, but only slightly. It would be barely noticeable to the human eye. He blinked a few times, then looked around. His gaze found Wynonna’s and she asked him, “Now, can you speak binary?”

***

Wynonna fired electricity into his brain and new synapses formed. Jordan already had a good foundation from his education from Ilya so Wynonna didn’t take very long to create the ones he needed. It was the first time she had performed an augmentation procedure for a human’s mental abilities through haptic technology. It worked in theory, and now proved true in practice.

His overall proprioception had been enhanced at least a hundredfold. He felt as if he had suddenly been bestowed upon magical powers, and would continue to receive more abilities as yet unknown to him.

He felt his consciousness expanding. Knowledge flowed through his mind fluidly. Sentences made sense, dots connected. Before, in front of a computer, Jordan had the power of the internet under his fingertips. But after the upgrade, he could literally process information like a machine. He could access a whole plethora of information within an instant and seemed to have an unlimited storage capacity for the data. All at once, it made everything a lot clearer, and a lot easier. Despite being only in his infancy as a human-computer hybrid, Jordan was overwhelmed by a tsunami of emotions, yet was able to fully constrain them. Outwardly, his body was a calm, collected shell. For all his feelings and the distractions by the influx of sensations and new knowledge, it hardly took Jordan any effort at all for him to maintain his rationality. He was a being no longer guided by emotions. He merely acknowledged their existence, but they would no longer have significant bearing on his decisions.

Jordan found it hard to imagine that he had once lived so carelessly and so… slowly. There was no other word to describe it. The pace varied vastly, and that made all the difference. No wonder the people in the cities were always obsessed with speed. No … no … not just the people in the cities. Even the people in the rural towns. Everyone always wants everything to be quick … quicker. Right then, Jordan’s mind felt effortlessly fast, unbelievably efficient. All these thoughts passed in a matter of milliseconds in his mind so it was almost inconsequential to the saving of his sister. He thought again about how he used to live. So unproductive, so inefficient. The meaninglessness of his efforts struck him harder than anything. Yet Jordan soared in the joy of having been granted this new power of gaining knowledge almost by the magic of diffusion or osmosis. Human brains … no … the internet … no … both. When they work together, it is a wonder.

When Wynonna was done, the boy looked no different than he was before. But inside, he was a whole new being. Jordan knew what to do. He knew exactly which tools he needed and grabbed them before he left. He understood precisely how to carry out the task, and he knew that he could do it. He believed it.

Jordan raced to the forest. He did not feel the sharp branches cutting his forearms nor the tiny stones pressing onto his soles. The only thing he focused on was getting to his sister as soon as possible. He ran and he ran. He only hoped he wouldn’t be too late.

It was an old trap laid by hunters back when bear hunting had still been allowed in those parts. Though the villagers had cleared most of those within the boundaries, one could never be sure there weren’t still a few particularly well-disguised ones lying around. For years their people had been travelling into the same forest and coming out unscathed. There was only one explanation. Amelia had gone beyond the border. She had practically fed herself to the steel jaws. She was old enough to know better. Jordan had always sensed that the adventurer's spirit in her would one day get her into trouble.

“Jordan …” Amelia cried weakly. Her face was pale.

Almost her whole leg had been snapped off by a large snare meant to catch a large animal, not a babe. One look at the pained expression on Amelia’s face would have the old Jordan sinking into at least a few moments of reproach. But the new and improved Jordan knew better. There was no time to waste. He worked efficiently with his tools without hurrying, each movement precise and intentional. The girl cried the whole time, just like she had when she was a toddler about three years ago.

Jordan gave her a rose gold fitting, just like Ilya’s, just the way she had always wanted. After that, Amelia’s smile never left her face.

Jordan’s achievement caused a stir when the siblings returned to the village. News travelled quickly. In a few minutes, all had flocked over to see the new leg. It was the first made by someone besides their revered witch-doctor. It was a cause for celebration. The gods had blessed them with more than one gifted doctor. The village doctor now had a successor.

Jordan was quick to correct their mistakes.

The truth was, despite his newfound abilities, Jordan could not live up to the name. He was still lacking in far too many ways. Once he made that clear to the villagers, he retired to his room while the din outside continued. The ordeal had taken a greater toll than he had expected.

Amelia strolled through the village for the next few days with her trophy leg, ready to enjoy another day basking in the looks of admiration from her peers. Jordan waved her goodbye as she left the house. He loved his sister so much he would do anything for her. Amelia had known that too. She was a smart girl now, and knew that whatever she wanted, her brother would find a way to give her. Jordan had always prided himself in that ability.

But presently, something troubled Jordan, a question he couldn’t bring himself to ask, not yet. He recalled a conversation he had with his sister a few months ago. He wondered if she still remembered. It was around the time she pleaded for legs like Ilya’s. Jordan bit his lip. She was so young then. He couldn’t believe it … He was probably overthinking it. Amelia had promised. And the siblings never broke the promises they made to each other. Amelia knew how much she would have hurt him if she did. He was sure she had understood. His sister hadn’t done it on purpose. He had to trust her.

The only way he would ever know the truth was if he asked her. Jordan didn’t want to. In truth, he was afraid to ask, worried that he wouldn’t be able to handle the answer if he did. But as her brother, it was something he had to do, or the question would haunt him forever.

To his dismay, Amelia’s answer was just as he had feared.

She’s just a kid, Jordan, he told himself. She didn’t think that the pain she caused herself would superimpose itself onto you. The horror struck Jordan like nothing he had ever experienced in his life. How had his sister been so willing to harm herself—and for what? For a mechanical leg? He suddenly felt as if he didn’t know his sister. The person who had decided on something so frightening wasn’t the sister he was familiar with. Now that he had found out that she had deliberately done such a thing, she felt like a completely different person. She felt so far away.

“But Jordan, don’t you see? Now I have this great leg to protect me.”

“And how will it be able to do that? When you amp up that one, what will the other one do but get dragged along with the rest of your body? It’ll take a lot of time before you learn how to use both together properly.”

A strange expression appeared on Amelia’s face. Jordan could just see the thoughts racing through her mind.

“Don’t even think about getting the surgery done for your other leg, too. If you do, I’ll disown you. I mean it.”

“But Jordan, I don’t understand. Don’t you want me to be happy?”

“I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“But I’ll recover. Look, I’m as good as new.”

“No,” he said a little more forcefully than he intended. Amelia flinched. “You’re different now, and you’ll never be the same as you were before.”

“That’s not a bad thing,” said Amelia.

Jordan wasn’t used to this. He hadn’t known his sister was so strong-headed. She remained unassuaged by his reasoning and stuck firmly to her beliefs. Suddenly, she didn’t seem like the little baby he always thought of her. It was like she had suddenly grown up.

“What happened to you?”

“That’s a strange question to ask. You already know everything.”

“I knew you wanted mechanical legs, but I didn’t know you wanted them this much … I didn’t know you wanted them so much that you would even …”

“I … I’m sorry.”

Jordan studied his sister’s expression and thought it didn’t seem to be the case. He wondered when she had developed the ability to convey complex emotions.

He had missed that moment and suddenly discovered that the change had already taken place. His little sister was not as innocent as she was before. Jordan understood it was a part of growing up, but that didn’t mean he had to like it. Amelia had become her own person when he hadn’t been looking. She was becoming more and more like a stranger and there was nothing he could do to reverse the process.