Vic opened his eyes…
A blurry, white haze of background mixed with a darkened smudge in its centre. Muffled sounds seemingly permeating in from just below the surface of open water. Disorientation and confusion with a dull, throbbing headache. The meds were wearing off slowly. Out of the darkness comes the light. The world slowly re-emerged back into focus through a thick blanket of fog. The noise churning away in the background now transforming into a distinguishable sound. A recognisable one even.
“Vic?” His mind was sucked away from the dim vortex he dwelled within back to reality. “Vic? Can you hear me?” He squinted at the dark masses in the room until the shapes all took on their original form. Joe was standing right next to him, looking as bewildered and confused as ever. He could have chuckled if he had the strength. Joe came in closer and looked him square in the eyes. “VIC!” he screamed excitedly. To his ears, it sounded like a thousand claps of thunder all at once. Victor grimaced in pain. Almost immediately, Joe was taken aside and a softer, gentler figure approached and sat beside him on the bed.
“Vic. This is Neil. Can you hear me OK?” He gave a sleepy, half-hearted nod, still reeling from the thunderous explosion he received a few seconds ago. “Great, Vic.” Dr. Yarwood continued in a hushed tone. “Everything is done. You’re still going to be quite groggy for a while until the anaesthetic completely wears off. But I am happy to inform you that the operation seems to have been a complete success.”
Adrenaline filled his veins in an instant. In his state of delirium, he had forgotten exactly why he was lying in this bed surrounded by all these people. He craned his neck to look up but quickly noticed that his entire body was tied down to the bed. “Drotror.” he slurred. The doctor gently held his shoulder. “Just rest, Vic. You’re still recovering from the anaesthetic like I said so don’t try to speak too fast. Hope you are not feeling cold or anything?” The doctor smiled and touched his forehead. “I’m… fi…fine. Why…am…I…tied…down, Doctor?” He mumbled. The doctor leaned forward. “I keep on telling you, refer to me as Neil. We are friends, are we not?”
Suddenly, Vic became all too aware of a sensation from, could it be, his fingers? Or was this just another case of “phantom limb” syndrome. He wasn’t quite sure at this point. The doctor looked down and held back a laugh “Ah, trying to test out your new equipment, I see. Good, good. Don’t worry, we have many days ahead of us for you getting fully accustomed to your new suit.” With that, he got up and left, only to be replaced a few seconds later by his kid brother, Joe.
“Oh man, I’m so glad to see you! I told you everything would be OK, see? I’m sorry about being so noisy before.” He gave a sorrowful pout. “I was just so happy you were awake, man. How do you feel? Are you in any pain?” Vic was half listening to Joe, half concentrating on the fascinating new world of senses he was experiencing. “Joe, listen. I want to thank you for letting you be the first person I saw when I opened my eyes. In fact, it was the sight of you gawking at me with your mouth open like that that brought me back so quickly!” They both giggled, though Vic was still just about getting his bearings right.
He tried again in vein to lift his head up, this time losing his patience somewhat. “Joe, what’s the deal? Why am I tied down like this?” Joe put on the best warm, comforting face he could produce at that moment. “Vic, the doctor told me that you just need lots of rest for now, that’s all. Your new limbs need a certain level of time to acclimatize to your body. Shouldn’t take more than a couple of days. After that, it’s training time!” Joe couldn’t help but regress into the role of little brother again, his favourite role of all.
“OK, Joe. I guess that’s understandable. I mean, this was one of the biggest operations of all time and I’m probably a superstar in the media by now, right? I’m so happy you’re here, hope you know that?” Joe smiled down at him and caressed his forehead. Vic continued. “I realize I’ve been a real piece of shit the last few years. I cut everyone off, even mother. I refused to speak to her, wouldn’t even answer any phone calls. I left you to clean up all the crap after me. I’m so sorry. You’ll never know how much.” Regret and guilt filled his heart, but before Joe could utter any kind of a response, the doctor loomed back into view.
“Sorry to break up the party, gentlemen, but I really feel you ought to get some more rest. We have a sedative all ready and prepped to give you just that.” He swiftly moved a needle just into view. “This won’t hurt a bit. Just relax.” Vic had a million questions whirling around in his head, but before he could latch onto one to speak out aloud, he was out.
Vic returned to consciousness in a semi-upright position. His bed was now on an incline where he could now actually see the shapes of his limbs over the bedsheet. This time he was sure though. This time he could definitely feel “something”. He was much more alert this time around, almost as if just waking up from the daily pattern of routine sleep. He was greeted by the faces of Joe, Neil and about six other strangers. Four of them were dressed in the same attire as the good doctor himself, while the other two could only have been the nurses. They all stood around him in a sort of semi-circle.
“Good afternoon.” Neil proclaimed. Joe gave a sideways grin gingerly, his traditional gesture of reassurance. “Afternoon, man” he said coyly. Just the image of seeing them all lined up in front of him like that put him at ease immediately. He felt a little more rested and talkative now. “Afternoon, everybody. Wow, how long have I been asleep? Neil, you could have given me an advanced warning that you were gonna put me under again.” Vic still had a small grin on his face as he said that. The excitement was building rapidly as to what was to be revealed under this one, thin sheet of linen. The doctor replied, “Please accept my sincerest apologies, Vic. I had an important visitor I was attending to just outside the room so if I came across as a little brash, I am duly sorry.”
As the doctor finished his apology, he began to make his way to an array of monitors just to his left that Vic had previously missed. An array of lights blinked and twinkled upon the reflection of the doctor’s glasses. “OK, let’s begin.” Two of the nurses made their way to either side of the bed and looked at him for further instructions. “I can’t wait, guys! I can actually “feel” the straps pressing against me.” Vic exclaimed. It was like a picture being revealed one area at a time. His left arm, his right arm, all his fingers moving in unison. Then his left leg, his right leg, now his toes. It was like a feeling of reuniting with an oldest and dearest friend not seen for almost a lifetime. The missing parts of his memory being restored to a familiar recollection of normality as the seconds ticked by.
The doctor nodded approval and the two nurses quickly pulled off the sheet. Vic’s eyes lit up with sheer amazement and disbelief. Arms and legs as he had formerly proudly owned were once again laid bare for him to see in their rightful place. Tears welled up in his eyes as he bore witness to a new path to his future taking shape. He carefully attempted to move his index finger. Small, sudden twitches gave way to more fluid motions. Vic felt he could get used to his beautiful new suit sooner than he thought.
“So what do you think?” the doctor asked, smiling broadly with pride. Vic took a second to snap out of his trance. “This is amazing, Neil. I’m really almost speechless! How did you manage to create this incredible technology? It looks so real! Please, undo these straps. I can’t take this anymore!” The doctor approached him. “Yes, we are about to loosen the straps right now, but I must warn you, no sudden movements. Take your time to get accustomed to your new body. The nurses are here to assist so if you experience any problems, tell us immediately. Pressure sensitivity and coordination may be a little off to begin with.”
Vic bobbed his head rapidly up and down, impatient with all the pearls of wisdom being imparted by the doctor at this late hour. The two nurse proceeded to cautiously undo the straps. At first, he was afraid to move. “Just take your time, Vic. Easy does it, remember.” Joe was biting his fingers down to the skin, watching expectantly. The other four men in white coats were scribbling various notes on a clipboard. Vic tried to move his left arm.
It sparked a huge swing that smashed into the iron bedframe behind him, ripping through it like paper. “Whoa there!” the doctor shouted. The nurses had already backed well away by this point, looking at one another nervously. Vic’s face was a picture of both unmitigated shock and unparalleled jubilation all at once. He glanced over at Joe. The look of sheer fear and horror on his face said it all. The silence was deafening.
A deep inhale and exhale later and Vic was back to his semi-calm state. “Neil, this is unbelievable. I tore through that steel frame like it was nothing. I mean, I understand that my limbs were due to have significant enhancements but I never in my wildest dreams could have envisaged anything to this degree.” The doctor looked Vic over, arm stuck in the wall behind him, the bedframe a crumpled mess.
“Well, Vic, I did say I will make your wildest dreams a reality. I believe I couldn’t have been more right. It is now imperative that you begin your rehabilitation. After that, we start focusing on honing the powers of your new body’s abilities.” Vic contemplated those words attentively. Powers. Abilities. This was the talk of comic books, of science fiction movies. Simple old disabled Vic, incapacitated by a freak accident and left a worthless hunk of living flesh. Now, a superhuman. A superhero even. He was the next upgraded specimen in the sequence of the evolutionary chart.
He shut his eyes to concentrate. With the most delicate and subtlest of movements, he managed to bring his left arm out of the newly formed wall crevice and place it gently beside him. A look of determination emanated throughout his face. He was whole again, but with a brand new existence to look forward to. Joe quietly called out. “Vic, you’re more powerful than I ever thought you would be. You’re a real life superhero, just like I said you’d be.”
To which Vic simply stated.
“I know.”
