Second Wind

Chapter 5: Loss of Humanity

Everything was quiet. Everything was dark. It was hard to remember anything. The only thing which was prevalent was the silence and the unending void. It remained that way for a while...but then, a voice could be heard. It was calling out to someone. It kept...repeating itself as well.

"Wake up...wake up..."

Suddenly, a flash of light penetrated the darkness, with the light creating itself into a line. Then came another line. Then another. As they kept forming, it displayed some sort of image...an outline of sorts. It was hard to make out what and where this place was, but it was certainly the interior of some sort of room. As the outline was formed, it was easier to listen to everything that was going on now. There seemed to be more than one person speaking...it sounded like a conversation of sorts.

"What is her current state, Marina?"

"Well, all vitals look to be normal...her brain signals are optimal as well. Her senses look to be fully functional and operational...she should be able to see and hear everything that is going on right now."

"Well, her eyes are open, yes, but they still seem rather grey, don't you think?"

"To be fair, she still needs just a bit of time for her vision to adjust. Same thing with her hearing as well. It will eventually come round, there really isn't much to fear."

"Hmm...looks like what we've been working on is actually bearing fruit...very interesting."

Suddenly, grey began flooding the darkness that was initially all around as they began to fill in the blank spots that were within the outlines created by the lines of light - at last, it was a lot easier to see what this place was now. It looked rather advanced from a technological point of view...just what was this place? Who were these people? As soon as the question came to mind, color finally filled up the place, taking over the grey that was initially there. Conveniently enough, it was, at least, easy to hear everything clearly now. But something felt...off. Everything felt more...defined. Detailed. Focused. How was that possible? There was no way one could hear this clearly...to see this clearly.

A voice could now be heard from the surgical bed, and the voice itself sounded rather tired and strained...as if they had been sleeping for a long time.

"Where...am I...?"

Upon hearing the voice, some of the people immediately shift their attention towards the bed as they approached the person who had posed the question, but at the same time, they maintained a safe distance as one of the strangers, who was this dark-skinned woman attempted to communicate.

"Are you okay? How do you feel?"

"I feel...ugh...what am I...doing here?"

There was this pulsating headache that just refused to go away...it was rather irritating, honestly. However, from those memories...bits and pieces of memory were slowly coming back. It was easier to remember now...what was once a blank slate, it was now getting filled with some recollections of the past. It was easy to recall what had happened, and what was meant to happen. And sure enough, as soon as those memories came back like a flood, a realization had suddenly dawned.

Her eyes suddenly widened as he let out a loud gasp, and at that moment, she suddenly gripped onto the sides of the surgical bed that she was placed upon before pulling herself up so that she would be in a sitting position. Due to how sudden she moved in the heat of the moment, most of the them quickly took a few steps backward, wanting to keep themselves away from the person who was now, to them, seemingly unstable at the present time.

The woman looked around the room she was in while also taking a good look at the people who were now eyeing her - some were men, some were women, but all of them were wearing lab coats along with an identification card that was clipped on their upper coat pocket. This only left her with more questions than answers, really. Why did everything feel and look so high-tech? She then pointed towards a random person among the crowd - she ended up pointing towards this bald, pale-skinned man, and judging by his frenzied, desperate expression, it was clear that it was best to listen to her demands.

"Where am I?! Tell me everything I need to know, dammit!"

He was somewhat stunned by her angry tone of voice, but in his attempt to understand her perspective of the situation that was currently going on, he eventually calmed himself down as he let out a sigh before explaining himself.

"Before we tell you everything that happened, it is only fair that we tell you where you currently are. You are currently in the state of California - we had to bring your body to the Wayne County Metropolitan Airport so that you could be shipped here to Silicon Valley. I'm sure you know this, but just as a refresher course, California is one of the few states here in the United States that is protected by the government, and this place is fortified even more as well due to its importance. So you don't need to worry about your assailants - they will not be able to touch you."

"California...? Wait...wasn't I supposed to be at Warrendale...? My assailants...wait...the Pathfinder..."

At that moment, she suddenly recalled what had happened on the day she had died. She was on the M-8 highway, but she ended up getting caught in a scuffle with some Pathfinder gangsters which ended up getting her killed in the process...but that was all she could remember.

"W-Was I rescued on time? How am I still alive...? I should be dead! What did you do?!"

He could sense the desperation and fear in her voice, but he knew that he had to stay calm and continue answering her questions - sure, she would most likely be shocked if she found out what happened to her, but he knew that he had to tell her eventually, and so he did.

"Actually...you WERE dead. And for quite some time, too. When you were taken by our security agents off the highway once the coast was clear, you displayed virtually zero signs of life - no functioning vitals, no heartbeat, no pulse...nothing. It was the same situation when you were brought here. I think you were essentially pronounced technically dead for a full week before we managed to bring you back. It took a bit of time to do so as well, since we had to work under strict time constraints, and what we used to bring you back was somewhat experimental as well...but revolutionary, too."

"Experimental...? Revolutionary...? What the hell are you talking about?"

It was safe to say that, despite getting her answers, there were now be more questions plaguing her mind? Just what exactly did they do to bring her back to life?

"How was I brought back? Being dead for that long...surely it's impossible for me to be revived! And all those injuries that I had sustained...just what did you do to me?!"

Once that specific question came to mind, he closed his eyes, letting out a sigh as he displayed a momentary sign of hesitance. However, given how she might go absolutely berserk for sure if she didn't get the answers that she wanted, he opened his eyes once more, with him bearing a somewhat gloomy expression as he explained further.

"Well...your entire physical structure had to be changed. Now, don't get me wrong - you still look exactly the same as you were when you were still alive...but some major alterations had to be made. We had to take a risk, and so, we used our experimental piece of technology known as the Medical Defense Robot, or MedDef for short. It is essentially a piece of nanotechnology that uses an advanced, self-learning artificial intelligence in order to detect injuries and anomalies throughout the entire body, and once these issues are detected, they work to resolve them. They also function as a form of health optimization tool. In fact, it's still within you right now, continually functional and sort of fused to your bones so that they possess greater durability than normal. Should you injure yourself, the nanobots will react to it and will work to help you recover at a much faster rate compared to a normal human being. While it was able to heal most of your injuries, particularly on your shoulders and thighs, it was unable to deal with the near-irreparable damage dealt to your heart, lungs, and brain. This was where we had to take more...extreme measures."

"...what did you do?"

It was already hard to believe that she now had some sort of technology infused within her, but the fact that there was more had already left her completely lost and confused...if not utterly mortified.

"So...we had to remove your heart, lungs and brain entirely."

Well, that was a total shocker. The woman was absolutely stunned by this reveal.

"You...you what?! But...how am I even...how do I even remember everything?! No...wait..."

It then dawned on her that there were a few things that she couldn't remember. She tried her hardest to recall her past memories, and while she still remembered who she was, what she had mostly experienced and what she wanted to do in the near future, there were still...certain memories that refused to return to her, despite her desperate efforts.

"My name...what the hell is my name..."

She looked to be genuinely terrified over the fact that she couldn't even remember her name, but instead of completely losing it, she tried to keep herself together as she placed her hands to her face, covering it completely as she spoke to the man once more.

"...continue."

"We tried to transfer the memories that you had from your brain onto a positronic brain that we had made from our robotics wing. However, because some of your synapses were badly damaged, some memories were...corrupted. Nevertheless, we had essentially moved everything from your organic brain to a robotic brain...the same brain that you are using right now. It might take some time for you to recall certain memories, but I'm hopeful that all of your memories will certainly come back."

"I already know most of them...but there's just bits and pieces which I'm trying hard to recall...but I can't even remember what I've forgotten..."

She ruffled her hair in a wild fury before letting out a huff as she threw her hands onto the surgical bed, shaking her head side to side with disbelief in her eyes.

"...and that was just my brain. What about everything else."

At this point, he really didn't know if he wanted to say more. It looked like she couldn't cope with the answers that were given to her. Despite his reservations, he steeled himself and continued explaining the changes that were brought upon her, much to his reluctance.

"...your heart was replaced with an artificial heart that we had built. And as for your lungs, similar steps were made as well. To ensure that your heart could start beating, we had to use an intense amount of blood substitutes - enough to fill your entire circulatory system. Since the nanobots will continue to clean your blood on a daily basis, and given how your crafted lungs, heart and brain have no clear expiration date compared to their organic variants...you technically cannot perish. At least from old age anyway."

"What...no..."

This was a lot to take in. They essentially told her that they had turned her into a robot. Well, more cyborg than robot, but the fact that she had basically become semi-artificial had given her a great deal of stress on her mind. How is anyone supposed to take this lightly, let alone her?

"...why did you do this? Why me? You could have just left me to die, dammit...!"

"I'm sorry...but we had to see if the next step in medical technology was viable. The fact that we were able to bring you back from the clasp of death is nothing short of a calculated miracle. The fact that the results of our efforts have paid off means that many others can hope to benefit...they could finally be cured of diseases once uncurable. They can finally put the fear of an early death aside, and live life as they should. And for that to happen, we had to question our ethics and try it on someone who we knew could not resist. And that person happened to be you..."'

The vigilante honestly had no words to say. What could she say? All she could do was let out a sigh as she pulled her hands away from her face, though she continued to stare at the bed.

"...how long will I be here?"

"Given how everything seems to be stable, we should be able to let you go by tomorrow. But before you are allowed to leave, you'll have to sign a confidentiality agreement with us to make sure that no one hears about this. I don't think much of the country is ready to hear about what we have done yet, and if the gangs beyond the protected states hear about this, they will want to get the info and resources that we have by any means necessary. And when that happens...well, God bless us all if it does."

"I'll be able to leave by tomorrow, you say...fine then. I need some time to think about everything that happened anyway..."

She sounded utterly defeated, but she personally saw the good in staying here for just a bit longer - all she could do was just hope that she was able to cope with the drastic changes that were brought upon her against her will. But then again, she wasn't even alive to feel what they had done to her, anyway. The only emotion she could feel now was just a great deal of distress...at least for now. Before the rest of the scientists (presumably) returned to their own work, the man would ask her one last thing:

"Are there any other questions you want to ask? Or perhaps any requests, maybe?"

She remained quiet for a few moments, but she eventually responded to him with a question of her own. She sounded more...curious this time round, though it was still very much laced with sadness.

"...was there anything that you people identified me as, when you were doing all those things to me?"

"Well...we had created a file for your case, which we called B1AC3, which is short for Body 1: Artificial Construction Number 3. You were the first organic body that we had worked on and this was our third attempt at refining our robotic crafts, so hey, safe to say that me and many others here were surprised at the outcome that had occurred, that being your revival, I mean. Why do you ask?"

"...I think I'll make my own name. For now. Just call me...Blake."

"Blake...very well then, as you wish. We'll have that be your permanent identity when you leave this place. I'll make some contacts and have a print of a new form of identification for you, since I'm very certain that your old self is just classified as 'dead' to most people now. Just let me know if you have managed to remember your name over the course of your 24 hour stay here."

With that, the scientists returned to doing science and tech stuff, while Blake just sat there on her surgical bed, letting out a sigh as she looked up towards the lit up ceiling.

"Hmph...not even Death wants to get involved with me..."

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A day would pass. A good amount of things had happened over those 24 hours, with the scientists making sure that Blake was able to function normally - they had kept her on a relatively balanced diet while also exposing her to various kinds of foods so that she can be adjusted to eating normally. She also had some quick physiotherapy so that she could be able to walk and move her hands properly along with being able to perform other body-related movements. Once she was back to an optimal state, she was now ready to leave the building and head out into the outside world. Just before she was escorted out of the room, however, she was given her clothes to change into, which were the same ones she had worn on the time of her murder.

However, upon noticing the lack of her signature jacket, she stared at her T-shirt and slacks as she tilted her head to the side, looking towards the female scientist who had given her the set of clothes.

"The jacket...I remember wearing one. Where is it..."

"Uhm...unfortunately your jacket was...taken away. There was someone who had taken it from your corpse and left with it, according to what I had heard from the agents we had hired to secure your body."

Blake looked down on the ground upon hearing her response, letting out a huff before giving her a somewhat pained nod.

"Yeah...I understand. I think I should start clothes hunting or something once I'm out of here. Know any good spots around here which I could look into?"

"I believe there should be a general store nearby that sells some decently priced clothes."

"Thanks for the heads up."

With that, she gave her a thumbs-up before finally leaving the room along with her escort. As they approached the elevator and went inside, there were a lot of things going through Blake's mind. Silicon Valley...this was her first time being here. She wanted to be here on her own terms, but it seems that destiny and fate had other plans for her. The fact that she was given a second chance at life was something she viewed as a curse...but that was just her pessimistic thinking messing with her conscience. All she could do was hope that she could have the persistence to shake the negativity off.

Once they were at the ground floor, she walked towards a counter, and after the escort had handed a file towards the attendant on the other side of the counter, she read through it carefully before putting it aside and walking off towards a door that was behind her. After about a minute or two, she returned with a moderately-sized box in her hands as she handed it to the escort. Just as the escort was handed the box, he handed the box over to Blake.

"These are your belongings. Your wallet and your shotgun is in here. Also, I and a few other scientists ran a background check on you while you were still in recovery - whatever you do, don't give up in your fight."

He advised her before giving her a wave goodbye as he left back to the elevator. Blake looked at her box of belongings before cracking a smile and mumbling to herself:

"Thanks..."

With that, she took out whatever was in the box before shifting her attention back to the attendant in the counter, who had called for her just moments after the escort had left so that she could sign the confidentiality agreement that was mentioned yesterday. With that out of the way, she finally headed for the entrance doors - as soon as she stepped before them, they automatically slid backward, letting her pass as she saw nothing but a bright environment before her with a lit up afternoon sky. She stepped out of the building, with her momentarily flinching when she felt the rays of sunlight shine down on her. This was it.

"Silicon Valley..."