Bionica: Origins

Chapter Two

My team meets me outside the arena afterwards and starts congratulating me. It's not exactly the red carpet, but when your team loves you for beating up that one cocky teammate, what can go wrong?

"How'd the scythe work for you?" Crescent asks. She's built like Siren: short and thin, with sparkling light blue eyes.

"Well, how do you think it worked?" I throw it over my shoulder. "I beat him, didn't I?" I laugh with my team as Ratchet walks out of the arena, looking a bit dejected. I pat him on the shoulder. "Hey, your time will come. It always does."

"Sooner for some than for others," he replies, grabbing my forearm. It's a sort of salute we have down here. I grab his, too. "I'll beat you someday, Snow Angel."

Before he knows it he's on his stomach, my foot on his upper back. "Don't flirt with me and maybe you'd be in a state of health to do that." I lift my foot and he bolts off the ground.

"I can't help it!" He smolders at me like he's done something wrong. "It's in my nature to fight! It's almost as if..." here he puts his hand dramatically over his forehead, "it's my destiny."

I punch him on the shoulder. Lightly, of course, but it still sends him into the wall. I motion for Crescent to come here. She walks over to me. "You need something?"

"Yeah," I say. "Did you say something about an upgrade about a week ago?"

Crescent's eyes light up. "Yeah, I did! You want to do it now?"

"Well, whenever you and Siren have the time," I say, trying not to let her get too excited.

"Hey, Siren!" Crescent calls. Siren walks over with Sprocket on her tail. Go figure. "Are you free to help me give Gayge the upgrade?"

"Oh... um..." Siren starts, twisting her hair. She's got something else going on. Sprocket puts his hand on her shoulder and smiles.

"We can do that afterward," he says. "Our team has to be the first priority... after all, if we get in trouble, she's the one that has to save you. How can she do that if her arm malfunctions?"

Now, I know what you all must be thinking. Malfunctions? Yes, Sprocket said it right. I have a bionic left arm. How I got it is a story for another time. The point is, since Crescent's the one who builds them and Siren's her doctor twin, they're pretty much the bionic team. They study what happened to Siren's leg when she was captured by Steele and use it to help others who are injured. Of all the people I owe my life to, they're the first in line.

I follow them to a room with a simple black sign over the door. The glowing blue letters read Med Room #2. Siren pulls a sheet of paper over the examination table and gestures for me to sit.

Crescent walks over to me. "Okay, so you have two options right now. We can upgrade the robotics while they're still attached to you, or we can take it off and you're free for an hour and a half. I get the feeling I know what you want."

I nod. "You can go ahead and take it off." Crescent turns her back to me and says something to Siren, who pivots back with a syringe full of some clear liquid I can't place. The bottle in Crescent's hand says Warning: Powerful Narcotic. Use Only In Operations. Sounds like my kind of label.

"I'm going to give you a little of this while we take the arm off," says Siren. "It's just going to numb the muscles while we take out all the crap that attaches you to it." I nod and she plunges the needle into my shoulder. Crescent unties the black bandanna around the transition area and they go to work.

It takes about twenty minutes to clear out all the pins, needles, and clamps in what's left of my arm. And even after that it's not a pretty sight. I mean, it's always a little weird having to get used to the fact that my left arm doesn't exist every time I upgrade it. That's kind of to be expected. I take a roll of bandages Siren holds out to me and wrap it around the stump, which feels naked and weightless without the hunk of metal on the other end. "Am I free to go train now?" I ask.