EAGLE

4: HOMESICK

JAN WAS NOW A KILLING MACHINE.

It always seemed that, at the worst of times, life laughed at Sari in the face. 

"Fuck all of you!" Sari's voice boomed in the laboratory. "What the hell did you do to my husband?" Haley rolled her eyes.

"I told you, Xeno, this was a bad idea. That woman is a nutcase." Haley said, fiddling with her rings.

"A nutcase?" Sari faced her. "A nutcase? Don't play with me right now, Riot scum. You killed my husband! As if you haven't fucked up more things in your life!" Haley started to move towards her.

"Enough!" Canta shouted. "This is not a fucking reunion or some shit." He pointed to Jan's pathetic form. "What you're going to do is you're going to talk to him like a good fucking wife and tell him to let us continue with the surgery. You get that, you Saber cunt?" Everyone was silent.

Sari's knee shook. Rage was clouding her emotions. Canta's outburst reminded her of what she went here for in the first place. She had to think, fast. At the back part of the room, the machine supporting Jan's new body whirred and pulsed with color. It seemed like Jan was responding to the voices. He now looked like one of those failed prototype robots she'd always seen thrown at the junkyard. All of his body was replaced with steel parts, certain organs now gone. He was a living machine. 

"What is the last phase?" Nobody answered Sari. Suddenly, Xeno laughed behind her. It was a horrible sound, a malicious amalgamation of notes only suitable for a man like him. He smiled.

"A Crania implant." He smiled. "The Eagle becomes the EAGLE." He laughed once again, as if the whole idea was so amusing to him. Sari's throat dropped to her stomach. A lot of stories were told about the Crania, each one worse than the last. During the Jolston skirmish, a month long battle in which several gangs and groups fought each other for dominance and territory over Crest, Riot devised a controlling mechanism that bought them tremendous advantage. It was sleek metal and rectangular in shape, the size of a thumb. Once it went inside your head, you were a goner. They planted it to each of the gang's Stands and made them kill their own members one by one. That kind of precise, cold bloodshed was probably what they intended Jan to do. And with his enhanced form, who knows what plan Riot had in mind.

"Hello?" The tense air was cut by Jan's voice. His eyes were still closed. "Who's there?"

Quickly, Sari made her way over to him. Xeno held up a hand in the air, and all the other Stands lowered their guns.

"My Eagle." Sari whispered. Jan opened his eyes immediately. He looked at her, some sign of recognition lighting in his face. The machine behind him whirred louder.

"He's recovering data. " Nobile said. A huge bang went through the room, then another. Jan was trying to break free from his shackles.

"Sari!" He exclaimed. "We have to go. Don't trust them. Take our baby and get out of Florida, hurry!" He was frantic, looking at the Stands with wide eyes. Sari couldn't understand what was happening. She looked at Nobile for help. He cleared his throat.

"After his body underwent steel surgery, we let him live inside computer simulations to derive data that we needed - processing speed, reaction time..." He swallowed. "A few weeks into testing, Jan's processor encountered problems. We thought it was malware, but before I could run more tests, he woke up." Nobile stepped aside, revealing a massive upright cylindrical tube. It was shattered at the bottom.

"This was his cell tube. It's fiber glass." And he broke it.

Pity filled Sari's chest. Living in perfect simulations for three months, the truth would be a huge devastation to Jan. A few years ago, Sari brought him to the Sabers, the family she built. They hated him at first, but eventually grew accustomed to his presence. Sari and Jan married each other and wanted to have children. Unfortunately, their doctor announced that Sari was unable to bear a child. In grief, Jan transferred his sights to another cause: leading the gang. He earned everyone's respect and rose his way up the ranks, becoming First Stand only a year later. It turned out to be short-lived, for only at his second year of being the Stand, he was brought here. Contained, modified, and enslaved. Rage built up within Sari.