Engineered Empress - The story of Bia

Engineered Empress Part 12

Chapter 12

When Marr noticed the bad state Bia was in, she directed Hunter to carry her to her bedroom, shortly after, she arrived with a bag of medical supplies. Accusing eyes landed on Hunter as she ordered

"Tell me what happened to her. And yes, I do know of Ceri so spare me any lies." He explained, that she wanted to safe him and then summarized that the absorption process and the following repair to her genome depleted her fat reservoirs and they forgot to bring any food with them. He then added that she primarily needs sugar and carbs and then fat. Her bodily protein levels were maintained. Expertly Marr placed an IV for fluids and went into the kitchen. When she came back, she brought a mush with her.

"Mister Hunter can you please ask Ceri if she can stop her breathing for a minute and stimulate her swallowing reflex? If yes, then please count down for me."

"Yes. I can. Stimulating now 60, 59, ..." Hunter repeated Ceri's comment and Marr hold Bias head back, opened her mouth and slowly filled it with the mush. She fed her to it in 40 seconds and watched, that her mouth was empty before the breathing started anew.

"Thank you, son. For now, we feed her every hour. Please knock her out for now. The feedings will be extremely unpleasant for her, so it is good if she stays asleep. We can bring her around tomorrow morning." Then she eyed Hunter who was still sitting there covered in grey dust.

"Well when she trusted you enough to bring you into the node, I have to accept that. Welcome to the family, boy." His surprise at being called a boy grew when she went to him, grabbed his ear and twisted it viciously.

"But when I hear, you betrayed her trust or hurt her in any capacity, I will hunt you down and get you acquainted with the cleansing agent I use in biosystems. And believe me, it dissolves any muck it encounters." With that she released a very startled and chastised Hunter who only managed to say.

"Yes, Mam." Marr then showed him to a bathroom and a guestroom, he could use and told him he will take over the feedings after 4 am and left him alone. He showered and afterwards he stared at his image in the mirror. Well he won't need a haircut anytime soon. His hair was just a fuzz as were his eyebrows. But the weird thing was he looked younger than before. All his wrinkles were gone and his skin too smooth.

"Ceri I guess you couldn't put me back together as I was?"

"If you mean your body hair, then yes it will be restored in 3 days. If you mean your skin, well... I aged it as far I thought it was right. But you lost all wear and tear from your synskin and I couldn't duplicate that. Why? Is there something wrong?" He thought about that a moment.

"Well not wrong per se, more I look like a son of mine would. You know, if I had kids. How old would you determine my body is now?"

"Hunter..." A little irritated that she still used his surname, he replied grumpy.

"Please, Ceri, call me Damon. I am only Hunter for my superiors or people who don't know me."

"Okay, Damon, your calculated average body age equates to the body of a 25-year-old."

"I'm in my twenties? Stars. Ceri how does that affect my aging from now on?" after a short pause Ceri replied to the shell shocked Damon.

"I calculated, that without further alterations you will have a maximum life span of 230 years. Whereas Zar and Bia have one of about 475 years. You just weren't upgraded enough. But if you wish I can reprogram my cells, so you slowly reach about the same lifespan. We just didn't have the time to do it for you all in the same sitting."

"Why are you able to extend our spans so long?"

"Basically, it comes down to regulation and cleaning. My cells regulate all body functions as perfect for you as possible, and my cells filter all residues and wastes out. Therefore, your brain will never experience slowing down and your cardiovascular system will never be clogged. That was why I wanted Bia to go through the process. A side effect of her illness would have begun damaging her nerves in about 5 years. Yes, I can rebuild those, but it is better to stay as true to the original as possible when regulating complex systems."

"What do you need to do to upgrade me the same as Bia? Is there a deadline to it?"

"I would need to rewrite some nerves that are damaged due to your cybernetics to remove the strain on your system. I'd also have to remove already hardened residues in your body and improve your heart muscle. The last would be the first to tackle, because it shows signs of fatigue. As a deadline the heart issue needs to be addressed in the next 10 years the rest in 30 to archive an approximately age of 475 years. Personally, I would start with your heart as soon as possible."

"Ceri would I need to stay asleep for that?"

"No, Damon. It's not a surgery. I simply insert my cells in between your muscle cells and let them slowly take the area over. It would take a year to replace the fatigued areas but then it would work like clockwork. If you decided to address all issues at once, you would need to go to sleep for 6 weeks. I can work fast or slow. That is up to you if you chose to initiate the procedures." Damon took his time thinking about it. He had felt old being a mercenary, but since he met Bia, he got served one surprise after another and to be fair he loved it. Not only that he really liked the girl, even though she no longer looked like the teenager he met a few days before. He decided, that he would like to accompany her on her journey; it reeked of adventure and she surely will need help. And may be, just maybe, he would feel okay exploring what emotions she generated in himself.

"Ceri, I would like for you to begin work on my heart. I have the feeling I'll need it in the future."

"Understood. I start the process." Damon went to sleep thinking of Bia and how a difference of 25 years are a drop in a bucket when you live for almost 500.