Efferent

Chapter 2

Noise filtered through my head like light shining into a dusty room. I could not move, or open my eyes, or say anything, but I could hear. I could hear the monitors and the doctors moving from table to table muttering about vitals.

A soft pressure was building behind my eyes, bottled up and ready to burst. With each passing second I felt it swell, and with each passing second I thought that my skull would split from the pressure. I could not even open my mouth to groan in pain or call for help, and I tensed my brow in defense against the pounding.

"What is the subject's name?" A feminine called me out of my painful haze, and it sharpened the silence that followed, almost in an echo. They were close, whoever they were. Very close. Far too close.

"Ardyn. Ardyn Danvers. She took the percentage test recently at one of the facilities. Her test scores came in at a historically low percentage, a minuscule scale really, but..." Another, deeper voice, trailed off, and it reverberated around my skull.

I ground my teeth, wishing they would go away, the sound gripping at my temples.

"But now?" The words and the volume of the doctor's voice ripped through my consciousness, and ire built up in a wave, ready to cascade and spread it's mass through the air.

"Even comatose, the cerebral activity has significantly increased." Shuffling papers could be heard through the thick silence that followed. I could almost here the pain in my head dully throbbing and increasing its pace. "The statistics are off of the charts. We have never seen results this high."

"So the serum worked? Why are you not more happy about that, doctor?"

"Of course I am happy. I had no doubt that it would work." The voice scoffed. "I developed it myself. I am only saying that Ardyn Danvers's brain is reacting differently than the others."

"An outlier." Their conversation trailed off. The feminine voice moved closer, and I felt a flat touch against my temple, and I jolted off of the table. I felt as if they had tried to revive me, only with far too much electricity. Warmth spread across my body, and my skin grew tighter. I let out a whimper. "Did I just see it move?"

"Hyper-activity..." The male doctor muttered, scratching a pen across paper. "I have only seen that kind of jump once before, back in medical school."

"When? The Serum had not even been developed back then." Each spoken word grated on my senses, and I felt my chest heave as I labored for breath.

"We had tied two jumper cables to a cadaver's brain, to see what would happen when we introduced outside electricity. We set the influx to 200 Amperes, and the brain itself jolted. Similar-."

"To what just happened." She interrupted, and moved her hand to the side. Incredulously, she asked, "Are you saying that her brain has 200 Amperes of electrical current running through it?"

I could not understand what they were saying, no matter how much I wanted to. The dull throbbing had erupted into a dense weight that settled at the base of my neck and slowly spread up. I felt as though I was being torn apart, too full for anymore, and yet my body consumed the pain as if it was an empty chasm.

"And your touch created the perfect ground for that built up energy to be channeled." He confirmed.

"My, god." She whispered in awe. "Were there any variables that could have offset such a reaction?"

"None listed. Her vitals and blood work before the injection were perfect, and yet her reaction was instantaneous. She remained conscious for the first six minutes of gestation."

"No kidding?" The woman whistled. "Six minutes, at that level of pain, oh the poor dear. No wonder her screams could be heard throughout the corridor."

I growl was ripped from my body, and involuntarily I arched my back.

"It is already starting. I do not understand," the male doctor stated. "I gave her enough anesthetic to keep her under until next week at the earliest and yet not even two hours later, she is regaining consciousness."

"How would increased cerebral activity effect drugs that are meant to slow it down?" The woman asked. "Are you saying that in all actuality, her mind is going slower than it would off of the medication."

"By at least thirty percent."

"Ardyn Danvers is at forty already! The repercussions of that level are already unknown to the modern sciences. What would a thirty percent increase do?"

"Theoretically, she wouldn't be able to function. Her brain would fire off communications too quickly for her body to catch up."

"So when she wakes up-."

"If she wakes up," He interjected.

"- She'll just sit there? Unable to do anything?" Her voice wavered.

"She would seize up." He confirmed. "Unable to do anything. Unless," He trailed off.

"Unless?"

"Only certain parts of the brain were enhanced. We do not know the capabilities of the neurological member when all access is granted to all parts."

"So what now? How is she even alive?" Footsteps began pacing around the table, echoing against the floor. Each step felt like nail on hammer. The woman sighed, and I heard more rustling, as if she was smoothing over her clothes and hair. "How can we be sure that her brain's circuitry was not shorted?"

"We monitor vitals, and based on her comatose activity we can gauge a final estimate of percentage. The next twenty-four hours are important: If we see an increase in activity, we may have created a genius."

"And if we see a decrease?" Her tone sounded worried.

"We can assume that she lost her sensory perception faculties and it would be a logical conclusion that Ardyn Danvers will cease." He ended solemnly. "And if she keeps using up the anesthesia as quickly as she is, she will likely wake up before gestation is finished."

"So?" The woman's pitch raised, and she inhaled sharply. "We can give her more, can we not?"

"No, we can not." The taping of a pen echoed about the room, filtering through the beeping monitors and the soft breaths from the other occupants of the room in an irritatingly rhythmic beat. "We can not afford to give her anymore, for fear of offsetting cardiac arrest."

"No," The other voice whispered out, "The poor thing. She is going to experience such immense pain. Is there anything that we can do?"

"No. Nothing." He sighed, and I heard the creaking of a chair. "At this point, all we can do is wait and watch. The rest is left to her."