A.I.: Orphans of Terra (HTTYD)

28

Chapter 28

"You can't be serious......." Hiccup mumbled as he and the gang stood in the Infirmary. The twins seemed to have come up with a plan to smuggle Toothless out but he wasn't the only one thinking it was ludicrous.

"No.... I am Tuffnut," Tuffnut joked as he held open a very large burlap sack while Ruffnut gestured to it. Ellie raised a brow as Tuffnut said "All Nightfury needs to do is get in the sack. My sis and Snotlout will take care of the rest."

"I am not getting in the sack! It stinks!" Toothless scrunched up his nose.

"Of course it stinks. Do you really want to know what we had to dip it in?!" Tuffnut shot back as Toothless made a gagging noise. "It's a solid plan! No one ever checks the stinky sacks."

"I don't want any of his wounds to get infected." Ellie muttered.

"My sis and I are professionals at chaos. We wouldn't put someone's health at risk." Tuffnut argued.

"And Gobber agreed?" Hiccup asked.

"We promised Gobber we wouldn't blow up stuff to create a distraction." Tuffnut admitted. "That scrapped like nine plans."

"Okay...... say that I do get in the sack...... What about my equipment? There's no room for all of it."

"We'll keep those under the passenger's seat until we're clear of Arcadia's defenses." Tuffnut told him. "We have enough supplies in the car we could loan you and also a compass."

Toothless' brow twitched. "I know my way back to the Dragon's camp."

"Uhm..... you didn't the first time." Hiccup mumbled.

"That's because I had a head injury and was disoriented." Toothless grumbled as his cheeks turned pink. "But fine...... I'll agree with the plan. The sooner I can get back to the others the better."

"Whooohooo...... We'll go get things set up!" Tuffnut exclaimed.

"Guys can I talk to Toothless for a moment?" Hiccup asked. "Alone?"

Ellie shrugged and the twins thought nothing of it as they left the duo alone in the Infirmary. Hiccup stared at the man that was languidly lounging on the hospital bed. "Uhm....... So......." Hiccup mumbled.

"So......." Toothless raised a brow.

"Let's say...... hypothetically..... If someone needed to hide. There would be safe houses that the Dragons own?" Hiccup asked.

"Hypothetically?" Toothless asked. "Probably...... depends really."

"On?" Hiccup asked as Astrid mumbled in his earpiece "What are you doing Hiccup?"

"On who we're trying to hide." Toothless stated before leaning forward. "How about we not talk so hypothetically now. What are you planning?"

"Nothing much as of yet." Hiccup said. "But I have a feeling things might go south pretty soon. Having a safe place outside would be preferred."

Toothless looked Hiccup straight in the eye, green meeting green. Both were still for a moment before a sigh escaped his lips. "Stormfly is going to kill me." The man muttered before he tells Hiccup "This goes no further than you, me and your lady friend." Hiccup quickly nodded and started listening.

Once outside the Infirmary he took a deep breath. "Hiccup what was that all about?" Astrid asked genuinely curious.

"Astrid we can't be doing what were are already doing and what we are about to do without the possibility of everything going pear-shaped." Hiccup whispered as he walked down the empty corridor. "When we restore your body things are going to get a whole lot more complicated. It's better to have allies on the outside than enemies."

"If Hiccup." Astrid told him rather solemnly.

"What?" Hiccup asked with furrowed brows.

"Not when we can restore my body but if." Astrid stated. "I've been reading through the files I have on cryogenics and it is not looking very good."

"What's your reasoning?" Hiccup mumbled. "Maybe you're overthinking it."

"Well the first problem is the transferring method." Astrid explained. "I don't have the records to see if the Hofferson's improved the technique but from their experiments it is safe to say that the person's brain is left scarred and may not be able to work properly once a consciousness is implanted in a body again. If going by this reasoning alone then my human body might suffer brain damage and will be unable to function."

"You said that was the first problem." Hiccup listened to her with a frown.

"The second would be the cryogenic process." Astrid sighed.

"What do you mean?" Hiccup asked. "I thought that it was for preserving your human body."

"In the past, cryogenics was usually used to preserve thin samples of genetic material. Preserving an organ as large as a liver was already seen as impractical. So freezing an entire human would be even more troublesome." Astrid explained. "The human body is mostly made up of water. The most damaging phenomenon during the cryogenic process would be extracellular and intracellular ice formation as well as the toxicity of the cryoprotectants."

"Woah woah woah Astrid slow down." Hiccup stopped her for a moment. "I have no clue what you're talking about."

"Uhm......." Hiccup heard Astrid mumble for a moment. "Okay then how about this. The cryoprotectants are used to minimize the damage done when freezing something. But they are also toxic. So the bigger the mass you want to freeze, the more protectants you have to use, so the more toxic environment you create."

"Okay. I get that part." Hiccup nodded and then nearly whacked himself. If people were in the corridor they would have surely looked at him funny because he seemed to be talking to himself. "So what are the other two things?"

"It's as it says. Extracellular ice formation is ice that can form on the outside of cells and cause damage. Intracellular ice formation forms within the cells and can be fatal. Especially if that happens in the brain." Astrid explained rather clinically. "No subject undergoing cryogenics in the past has lived longer than a week at best. The process is only used to preserve the genetic material of animal species within Arcadia's DNA databanks for cloning use. But even that is finite."

Hiccup had a confused look on his face and Astrid tried to explain it as best she could. "Nothing can stay frozen forever. Genetic tissue samples that are being kept in the databank only have a shelf life of 1000 years. After that they are truly gone."

"Okay, you make some valid points." Hiccup muttered. "We actually don't know what state your human body is in right now. But that doesn't mean you have to give up. We can find a way."

"Ever the optimist." Astrid chuckled.

"Well we still have one avenue to check." Hiccup said and then looked at the door he was standing before. The doors of the Genetics laboratory opened automatically and Hiccup stepped through.

"What do you want boy?" Came the gruff question from the man that was bent over a microscope.

"Just some of your time." Hiccup said as he stood near the entrance of the lab still.

Drago looked up from his work, mildly annoyed. "Well..... Spit it out."

"Astrid, the Hoffersons, and Subject J." Hiccup said as he watched the man stiffen slightly. He might as well cut to the chase. "Ring any bells?"

AN: The 21st is a National Holiday here in my country! (waves at everybody) It's Holi Phagwa so I wish you all a Subh Holi. May you all have happiness and joy!! Stay tuned at the end of the month for something special!