Armed And Dangerous

Posted on Sat Apr 25th, 2015 @ 10:08pm by Lieutenant Commander Ethan Chaparral MD

Mission: The New Sydney Fiasco
Location: SickBay
Timeline: After Date Night 2

Ethan, still feeling guilty about the previous night, but the excitement mixed with more than a little nervousness dominated his feelings. This was the day, he was going to be fitted with hi new arm. It would never of course compare to the one that he lost, even if it was superior, but it would be far better than the alternative and it would serve as a constant reminder of what he had lost and what he could have lost.

Whistling a tuneless song, he stepped into the sickbay, looking for his boss.

Cameron yawned as he reached a mug of coffee towards his lips when he heard the doors to sickbay open and close, announcing a new visitor. In his other hand was a small PaDD, and on it were the latest testing results from the new cybernetic arm he was about to fit his ACMO with.

Glancing up and to the left, he caught sight of Ethan. "Good morning," he said, standing up and crossing the table towards where Ethan's new arm waited. For the moment, it lacked the aesthetes of synthetic flesh; it was a shiny and metallic looking assemblage of components and nano-fiber tubing. "May I introduce to you your new arm. Once it's installed, I'll synthesize a skin coat so it looks as natural and as real as the one you had."

Ethan smiled at the prospect. "That sounds great Cameron, and will I be able too have any feeling in it? Will I be able to know I'm holding a laser scalpel, or a tooth brush? Or feel Dylan's face the surface of a rock as I'm climbing?"

Cameron nodded. "Past the matter of needing occasional maintenance and a recharge, it'll look and feel as close to the real thing as I can make it."

"Good, then let's get started."

Guiding Ethan into the main sickbay area, Cameron had him lay down on the surgical bed before readying a hypospray. Pressing it to Ethan's neck, Cameron hit the initiator and heard the audible hiss that told him anesthesia was now working its way into Ethan's blood stream. Once Ethan's eyes closed and the readouts on the table indicated he was unconscious, Cameron began working on building the cybernetic to organic connection nodes that the new arm would need to work with Ethan's nervous system.

The rest of the surgery would probably take another two or three hours, depending.

***

Ethan's eyelids fluttered open For a couple of seconds, the room seemed to spin on its axis and he felt nauseated, but then things settled down and he opened his eyes. He wasn't feeling any pain, though he'd feel some later, he was sure.

For the moment he took a deep breath and lifted his new arm, or tried to, but things felt wrong and he was having difficulty controlling it.

"Hey,"he called out, "what's wrong."

Cameron rounded the corner and found his assistant already trying to use the new limb. He flashed Ethan a wry smile. "You came out of anesthesia earlier than I expected you to," he chided, returning with a small PaDD a moment later. Thumbing at its controls, Cameron knew things were now working the way they were supposed to because he heard the audible whine of the arm's power cell rising, the releasing of magnetic locks, and a confirmation beep. "Try it now."

Ethan tried it a second time and this time it worked. It would take a bit of getting used to but it looked and felt like his real arm had. It could probably a lot more durable than his old one had been and could withstand more punishment.

"So, I'm assuming that if I can feel the things I want to feel, then I can feel pain too. What happens if it gets cut will I bleed? Can it get broken?"

"Pain sensory is determined by your custom options," Cameron indicated. "You can choose whether you feel pain and how much pain if you do. But it won't bleed." Cameron pointed to the arm. "That entire thing is made out of the same composites as Starship hulls, so I'd be surprised if anybody ever cut through it. The skin composition is molecular chameleon-skin designed to look and feel like the real thing, without any of the disadvantages."

Ethan had some very dark and candid thoughts about what he would do with his new arm if he ever saw Ian again, but he kept those to himself. "I was assuming that it wouldn't bleed, but I'm glad you confirmed that. As to being indestructible or virtually so, that I didn't know about. Thanks for all the good work.

Cameron nodded, providing a smart smile to accompany the nod. "Not a problem."

Ethan turned to go. "I'm going to celebrate, maybe a little workout. You'll have to stop by and have dinner sometime.