TOUCH OF DEATH - Murder Drones x OC

18 - I've got you.

{R's POV}

I told B to sit outside the pod while I operated. I knew it would be a painful thing for her to witness and I didn't want any more stress. I can't put S under because it risks her systems going offline permanently since her solver's already offline so I have to do this while S is conscious with no sedatives. This is going to be fun. Cough, sarcasm.

I grabbed tools from my fanny pack. I always had some emergency tools on me. This would normally be an easy process, but this virus isn't normal. A normal virus makes every system shut off permanently in a matter of minutes but it just takes a wrench to extract it. These types of viruses need multiple injections for them to fully work and to get the systems working again. If only one injection is made, the victim's systems could shut down at one power-down cycle. And to make matters worse the victim's solver program is offline so they can't regenerate.

God this is going to be hard.

"Okay. S, this is going to hurt a lot so I'm going to put this rag in your mouth. If you need to scream then just scream into it. V's gonna be right by your side the entire time. I promise I'll try and extract it as quickly as possible. Are you ready?"

S nodded. "Ready as I'll ever be."

"Okay."

"V, be ready to hold her down if she starts to thrash and squirm. I know she has restraints but this can be a painful process so just in case, be ready." V looked nervous but nodded. "Alright let's get this over with."

{Trigger: The next part includes a surgery, not graphic whatsoever, just thought I'd let y'all know. Skip to the next bold trigger for the end of the surgery.}

I opened S's torso hatch where the virus was injected. I could tell it started to spread to her core, but not by much. There's still time. "Count back from 1000 for me, S." S nodded slightly and I could tell she was counting in her head. V shifted slightly in her seat beside S's body on the pod's counter. She watched me intently, but I couldn't care less.

I started with the wrench, gently attaching it to the virus. I tugged once, it didn't budge. Okay... I'll have to detach it manually first. I retracted my gloved hand out for a scalpel. "I'm detaching it manually first. The tugging won't do anything to it if it's just attaching itself more as I pull." S nodded. "Do what you must."

I slowly started cutting away at the virus's orange wires. They soon slithered back into the virus's main capsule each time I slit one. S was trying her best not to move as she occasionally grunted in pain. V held her hand the entire time, squeezing her fingers at each grunt.

I retracted my scalpel and brought my gloved hand back.

"You're doing great, S. Now I just have to pull this bitch off. You're almost done." S sighed in relief, her teeth biting down on the rag as she looked at me.

I gently tugged at the virus to test how deep it was, and man was it wedged into her. "This is going to be rough, brace yourself." I tugged on the virus with the wrench forcefully, trying my best not to move it around and just pull it straight out.

The process was lengthy and difficult, but within about 16 minutes, the virus was completely extracted from S's body. I watched as S's systems slowly returned to their normal speed compared to the fast-paced speed they had been from the virus. And probably from anxiety too.

{~-~-~-~-~-~ End of Trigger. ~-~-~-~-~-~}

I closed her torso hatch and wiped the back of my gloved hand across my forehead. "Okay, S. You're all done." I gently took the rag from S's mouth and watched as her jaw relaxed.

S and V both looked traumatized. "It's over. You did great." I grabbed a damp washcloth from the sink in the pod. "I'm just cleaning you off, I'm not doing anything else," I showed S the cloth and she nodded.

After cleaning off some excess oil, I gave S her shirt back. "You should rest for at least a day. I'm gonna go get some oil for you with B. You need to get something in your system. I'll be back." And with that, I left the landing pod.

{S's POV}

God, that hurt. I've never felt that much pain in my entire life. I sat up slowly and put on my shirt, adjusting the ruff carefully. V sat silently in the chair beside the bed table I was sitting on. We made eye contact. "Are you okay?" I asked.

"What do you mean, am I okay? I should be asking you that!" I smiled at V's worry. "I'm fine V, just a little tired. I haven't slept in a while and I'm slowly starting to overheat. I'll be fine though. Once R comes back with oil and I get some rest, I'll be fine." I slowly laid back on the counter once more and looked up at the ceiling.

"Okay." I grabbed V's hand and gently squeezed it. "Thank you for staying with me through the whole thing. I know it must've been tough watching... that."

V nodded, resting her head on my chest and closing her eyes. "Of course."

—

After about 20 minutes, R returned with the medicine. "I'm so glad you're okay!" B exclaimed, jumping up and down on the pod floor.

"Me too, B. Me too."

"You should get some rest. When we wake up we can go right back to the group." R spoke. B and R then left for the "sleeping quarters" which was really just an addition to the pod that had metal rods for hanging and pillows and blankets for sleeping on the floor. We call it our resting room.

"Hey, S. Can I talk to you?"

"What's wrong, V?"

V looked at the pod hatch. "When you were coughing earlier, you seemed really worried about something."

"Well, it's... when I was kidnapped... I was taken into the labs. A murder drone named D and a worker named Alice were the ones who created the virus. They hurt me. I don't want them hurting Uzi and N... and Tessa."

"Wait, that's where Tessa took them?"

"Yeah. That's where Doll ran, Tessa followed."

"We have to go after them!"

"Yeah I know, but we can't wait until tomorrow. They could already well be in danger. We have to go now."

"But, what about R and B?"

"They wouldn't want me to leave. We have to go without them. We can do this. Please, trust me. Look, V. I know you knew Tessa better than me back at the mansion, but... I don't think that's the Tessa you once knew. It might not even be here at all. She's... suspicious."

"No, no. I get it. She has been acting strange. And... S. I'm with you. Always."

"Thank you, V." I smiled and squeezed her hands before heading to the pod hatch. "Let's go!"