Two Halves: chapter 6

chapter 6 of two halves

Ten minutes later Nicolas was standing on a cold metal floor wearing nothing but a medical gown. He was standing in front of a large tank full of an orange viscous liquid. Every so often a bubble would break the surface, but otherwise it was calm. It was Re-growth solution, and it would be what was going to change him. It was filled with billions of nano-bots, which were going to live inside him for a few week in order to maintain the body change.

 

“So, I am just about down with your specifications.” Said Kyle from a console at the foot of the tank. He was frantically imputing data into the machine. He was excited, not many people got full body changes and he was obviously having fun with it. The airlock doors leading to the inside of the tank opened in front of Nicolas. Nicolas entered the small compartment and looked towards Kyle.

 

“You can input your specific choices on the touch pad near the wall. Pictures will appear for you to reference.” His voice was muffled through the thick glass, but his huge smile wasn’t.

 

Nicolas scanned the different body type and facial features and flashed by on the display. He eventually chose some more combat ready features. He added around two inches onto his height, and told it to increase his muscle mass considerably. Ernie was paying for the expenses so he added on some of the more price items. A cardiovascular upgrade, and several cosmetic changes to the bone structure of his face and coloring. He was favoring an overall darker appearance. His brown hair to black, and his hazel eyes to a deep brown. He raised his cheekbones slightly, making them more prominent. A cardiovascular upgrade was going to come in handy, especially if they were going to have to make a run for it.

 

He finally finished his selection and finalized his appearance. He then took off his medical gown and dropped it in the small receptacle in the chamber. Then the doors leading to the Re-growth gel chamber opened. The orange substance flooded in and curled around his body. The gel undulated around him and pulled him into the main chamber. It left him to rest about three feet off the floor in the muck. He realized he was holding his breath, they told you not to do that for safety reasons. He opened his mouth and allowed the sludge to invade his lungs. It slunk down his throat and filled his chest cavity.

 

There were hundreds of thousands of tiny machines in the goo. They would piggyback along his red blood cells in order to get to his entire body. Still it would be a slow process, around seven to eights hours. Mechanical arms unfurled from the walls and began to attach to him. He would not have to wait the entire time though, one of the arms had injected a sedative, and he was going to be fast asleep soon enou…

 

He awoke as the tank began to drain out. He hurt all over, but mostly his femurs. That’s where they must have added the height onto. He lay naked on the floor of the tank rubbing his shins. They ached, but the machine would not have left them unusable. He took several wobbly steps to the airlock door. It opened gratefully and allowed him entrance.

 

There was a table in here now, and a towel lay on it. He rubbed himself with it trying to remove the still clinging globs of solution. There was also a change of clothes on the table; they looked to be from his house. He picked them up and looked at them; they were from his house. He hadn’t brought a change of clothing. Ernie and him were going to have to have a serious talk about personal boundaries.

 

He walked out of the chamber straightening his tie; it was the blood red one. Ernie sure did know how to push his buttons. Kyle was standing outside of the chamber carrying a small bio-scanner.

 

“Well, I just gotta look you over to see that everything is in order.” He ran the probe along Nicolas’s body, and as he glanced at the readout pad he smiled.

 

“You seem just fine, oh and I added something. Free of charge. I gave you the HAMMER upgrade on your left fist. Just ball it up and punch something. You should be able to break through steel now.” He grinned at Nicolas. Nicolas glanced down at his hand; there were several round semi-organic touch sensors on his palm. If he was to make a fist he would be pressing them, and presumably activate the upgrade.

 

He was slightly annoyed at the surgeon, but an upgrade was an upgrade, and it might prove to be useful. He probably meant well anyway, and being angry wouldn’t fix his arm. He had heard of HAMMER before. His arm would now contain threads of carbon microfiber and several adrenaline pumps ready t flood his arm when it was needed.

 

“Nicolas! I see you are finally out of that tube!” bellowed Ernie. He had just walked in from the door to Kyle’s office. Bestalel was standing behind him holding a suitcase, his face was expressionless as normal.

 

“Well it is time to get you two moving. There is a load of cargo being taken to non-dimensional space within the hour. Both you and Bestalel are to sneak aboard it. There should be minimal guards, mostly hired security, and possibly a drone or two lurking around the facility.” Ernie led Nicolas into the office and sat him down in a comfortable leather sofa.

 

“The items you requested are in that case. It is a Demon’s sack, so you’ll have room for more things if necessary. I had Bestalel go to your apartment and pick up enough clothes to last you a week. Oh, and I bound the shadow fiends to your flute as per request.” Said Ernie as he nodded to Bestalel. He opened the case revealing the flute and binding reagents. Then he closed and opened it again revealing Nicolas’s clothes.

 

“I have a car waiting outside to take you to the transportation center. There will be false papers and passports in the car along with a mini-bar to commemorate the beginning of our hopefully successful rebellion.” Ernie got up and walked to through the waiting room to the elevator. Bestalel closed the case and followed him, and Nicolas taking the queue got up and walked towards the door.

Author's Note

sorry it is out so late, but I have a policy. No matter what I will write every day, no excuses. Because if I allow myself to have a good excuse. It leaves the doors open for bad ones.

Reviews

[Domenic Luciani]

eighth paragraph, watch the repeat.
some more personality and description for kyle would be nice.
add something between "his face" and "expressionless as normal"
some of the items in your world could use a short, sentance-long, narrative about what they do/what they look like.
other than that, good job.

[Deaths Cold Kiss]

goin to the next chapter!:) cant stop reading!

[James Watts]

As the story moves along it gets better, as does the writing. With each new chapter you writing is cleaner and more fleshed out. I agree with Domenic on a little more character depth of Kyle, but other than that, nice work.

[Ferg]

I am enjoying the book so far........i'll comment further when i have a bit more time..

[Dutch Jr.]

This is good, but you can't fall off with your description of the mood, atmosphere, to put the reader in your setting. Other than that, I really like the story and plan on reading more.

[Manda]

wow. this was awesome! another wonderful write! nicely done

[deeps]

This is a wonderful write here. I enjoyed this.

[Miss Coral]

Very good, once again. I don't think that I noticed any grammar mistakes, but I wasn't look too hard. Caught up in the story. :)

I think that I, personally, would write about the differences he must feel in his body after the change... the height, build.. at least a mention. Of course, that's just me. Very well done