Chapter 1.2.17 — Clara 3

Clara stormed out of the mechanical hub and through the halls. Now that she was alone, frustration positively boiled inside her.

Both TINA and Dad had no right to suggest those things to Emmett. TINA shouldn’t be going against her programming, and Dad should know better. He was allowing his robot assistant to run amok, and now he was helping to fill Emmett’s head with crazy ideas.

Hadn’t Dad just told her a few months ago to be patient with her own powers? That if Clara grew in power and notoriety too quickly, she might get noticed and targeted? What was so different about Emmett? Why did he get special treatment?

Clara’s hands were balled up into white-knuckled fists as she walked.

By the time she stopped, Clara had walked into a completely different wing of the lab. She stood alone in the hub of section 00;, the wing dedicated to all things fusion research.

Clara groaned. Of course she’d come there. She stared at the wall of powered down monitors—not so much at the screens as through them to the fusion testing chambers beyond. She could picture them as clearly as if she could see through walls.

The smooth, spherical rooms that were empty except for a single bulbous outcropping in the center of the floor. It was there that energy from the fusion reactor beneath the lab could be shunted up for testing heat sinks and power conversion for Clara’s exosuit armor.

So much of her life had been wrapped up in this section and that damn suit.

TINA’s voice came through the hub intercom. “Is everything alright, Clara?”

She scoffed. “Of course it is. Did Dad want you to check on me?”

“No. He doesn’t know that I’m contacting you.”

“You need to stop doing that.”

“I apologize if I offended you, but your Dr. Venture and I are worried about you.”

And Emmett wasn’t… She muttered, “Emmett’s probably too busy choosing his new modifications.”

“Emmett doesn’t know the extent of your condition.”

Clara glared upward. “And he won’t find out. Not until I choose to tell him. Do you understand?” Even though there wasn’t a speaker or a screen to address TINA directly, hopefully the robot got the point.

“I understand.”

“Don’t go making decisions for people, TINA. It’s not right when Dad does it, and it’s not right when you do it.”

“I understand.”

Clara had half a mind to say more, but focused on controlling her breathing. It wouldn’t do any good arguing with TINA. It’s not like the robot really understood. Clara doubted her dad even understood what was going on in TINA’s programming.

Instead, Clara changed the subject.

“What did Emmett decide?”

“Emmett has elected to begin skeletal modifications according to mine and Dr. Venture’s recommendations.”

Clara shook her head. It didn’t matter what she thought; the whole thing was out of her hands.

“I assume it will take a while to prep. Did they schedule it yet?”

“Dr. Venture is currently prepping the surgical suite.”

“What?! Right now?”

“Yes. We have all the necessary materials and performing the procedure this evening would allow Emmett ample recovery time without interfering with his classes.”

“No, I understand that—It’s just…” Clara’s frustration returned in full. She groaned as she stormed back out of section 003 and toward the biolab.

~

Clara stormed into the hub of section 006, the biolab. Her father stood in front of the holographic table, flipping through holograms. He didn’t acknowledge Clara until she walked over.

“Where’s Emmett?”

“He’s in the first surgical suite. TINA is prepping the submersion tank.” Venture kept his eyes on the holograms as he worked.

Clara studied the holograms. Her father flipped through them so quickly that Clara could barely see what he was doing.

“Are you going to tell me what you’re doing, or should I just read the logs?” Clara hadn’t meant for it to come out so harshly, but she was tired of her father’s secrets.

Venture slowed down and explained as he went.

“We’re going to create a latticework of titanium alloy around and inside Emmett’s bones. If he were to get an x-ray when we’re done, the metal will look something like porous coral or tiny links of chainmail. The process itself isn’t complicated, but there are several things all happening at the same time:

“First, Emmett will be put under and injected with a medium of saline, nanomachines, and microscopic bits of the titanium alloy. Then the nanomachines will disperse the particles of titanium into the lattice structure and cold weld them together. This whole process is designed to minimally impact Emmett’s bone marrow and structure, at least until he had permanent nanomachines in his system.”

Clara nodded along. “Okay, so what’s the catch?”

“So long as Emmett survives the integration—which he will—his recovery should be quicker, thanks to the Mutagen-A already in his body. His bones grow into the lattice, making a solid anchor between the two. He might even be fully recuperated by the end of the weekend.”

“The catch, Dad…?”

Venture’s face wrinkled. “When Emmett wakes up, he will likely be in the worst pain of his life. And medicine will do little more than take the edge off. It should lessen in a day or so, but it’s still a concern.”

Clara’s heart sank. Emmett was tough and he seemed like he was ready to do just about anything to be a superhero, but…

“He knows, right?” Clara asked. “You told him the truth?”

Venture winced at the accusation, but he nodded. “I told him what to expect. He was adamant about going through with it.”

Clara sighed. “Can I see him?”

Venture thought for a second before answering, “Yes.”

Clara walked past her father and down the short hall to the series of surgical suites. She knocked on the first one and then entered a few moments later.

For a moment, Clara’s mouth hung open and she had to force herself to close it.

In the center of the white room, more than a dozen long spider-like robotic limbs hung motionless from the ceiling. Below them sat a coffin-like cylinder that her dad called a submersion tank. The outside of the tank was filled with ports that needles and tools would pass through, like a giant pincushion. The hatch was open and Emmett was already inside, sitting up like a corpse that had woken up in the middle of a funeral. His arms and chest were bare.

He stared back, surprised.

Clara was in the middle of walking over, when Emmett shifted in the tank, crossing his arms over himself and sloshing water. His face was bright red despite his tan skin.

Suddenly, Clara realized why—that Emmett was naked in the tank. Thankfully, the walls were opaque, but if she had walked all the way over she probably would’ve seen too much.

“Sorry,” she stammered.

Emmett chuckled awkwardly. “No… I’m glad that you came back. Just, uh, stand over there.”

“Deal.” Clara chuckled.

She glanced at him, realizing just how much he’d filled out in the last few weeks. She’d seen him briefly in the surgical wing after his… accident on Champion street, and Clara still couldn’t shake the image of Emmett on life support. It hadn’t just been the blood or his missing arm, but also how frail he had looked.

Now, his shoulders and arms were defined and he had the lean build of an athlete. The Mutagen-A had clearly done him some good.

“How are you feeling?” Clara asked, realizing she’d been standing there in silence for too long.

“Nervous,” Emmett said, rubbing his dark hair and smiling awkwardly. “But ready, I think.”

Clara was still apprehensive of the operation, and seeing the inhuman design of the surgical room hadn’t helped either. But seeing Emmett put on a strong front did make her feel better.

Dr. Venture’s voice came through the intercom. “Five minutes.”

Emmett breathed deep. “I guess this is it.”

Clara nodded and turned to go. “I’ll be here when you wake up.”

“Wait…. Will you stay? At least until I’m out?”

Clara nodded. She could do that, at least.

~

Clara stayed.

Dr. Venture entered the surgical suite. Then he and TINA sedated Emmett, intubated him, and closed him inside the submersion tank. From there, the saline solution inside the tank would equalize to Emmett’s body temperature to keep him comfortable, then cool or warm him, depending on what he needed during surgery.

Clara walked out of the room as the first of TINA’s arms extended down to begin Emmett’s many injections. Dr. Venture stayed to monitor the mostly automated process and override things if necessary.

Clara walked back to section 001 and laid down on the couch in the living room. She stared out at the Belport skyline on the wall screens and tried to shake the image of the surgical room from her mind. She failed.

Clara had to trust her friend to TINA’s many hands.

Eventually, Clara dozed off and dreamed about the surgical room. Dreamed about a giant robot spider operating on Emmett. It opened him up like a doll, pulled out his stuffing, and climbed inside him. Clara had been inching closer to the side of Emmett’s tank, her dread building with every step because she knew that he was about to wake up.

~ ~ ~