The Rise of the Cyborgs

Chapter 52/Shower

Later I stepped out of the shower. The water wasn't that warm, And now I was cold. I wrapped the towel around myself and watched the professor come down the staircase. I had checked the exits. There was an old service lift but this was the only real way in or out. I found my self-holding my breath for a second. If that was a trick he would bring security with him. He was alone. The professor carried some clothes and a couple of bento boxes. 

"I thought you might be hungry," he said putting them down. He handed me a hoodie with a GovSys Academy logo. He also gave me a pair of jogging bottoms.

"I need to feed the lab rats and check on the stability of some compounds while you get dressed," Professor said as went to a doorway I hadn't really noticed before. "I have some very toxic and dangerous chemicals in there. Plus more ways to get cancer than you coubelieveive," The professor disappeared inside the room for five minutes then emerged locking the doo. with a physical key.

I pulled jogging bottoms on, I felt warm against my damp skin.

"Can I see your back?" The professor said from the store room. He wanted to see my birth mark.

"You can if I can contact some friends. Let them know I'm all right." I shouted. I eyed the food.

"You don't need to bargain for that." The professor said emerging holding a hand over his eyes. He locked the door behind him, "You can leave when you want. Contacting your friends and family from campus would leave a trail on the firewall. The campus administrators would notice that. We are a huge target for cyber intrusion. I could get you off campus. I would personally wait a bit more. Wait for the dust to settle a little. I can send a message for you"

"You know what it's fine. O,kay you can turnaround." I said holding the towel against my chest and turning around.

The professor put some glasses on began to stair at my back.

"I never thought to see this ag,ain" The professor said studying my back. "Can I touch?"

Felt very exposed showing my self to him. Not even my step mom had see all of my birthmark.

"Sure. You saw before ? When I wa as baby?" I said and waited while the professor's fingers touched my back.

"Saw it? I helped design it. Well with your mother and dad."

There was something in the words in the very syllabus which made me shiver. The notion of being made. If that was true I handn't been made very well.

"You made me?" I said "you didn't do a good job. I couldn't read or write. I was dyslexic"

"Me made you no? You were... well the product of your mother and father. Everyone carries around what we call mitochondrial DNA. It's passed mother to child. It's not in the nucleolus. You just have more. Far more..... Hmmm I not reading neurological differences that would affect the cybernetic mesh...that might explain... " he lifted up my hair to discover the USB connection. "Wow it worked. If you mom was here she would be so proud well envious."

The professor twitched like he had woken up after sleep. I saw his arm as he reached for a magnify glass. He had rolled his sleeves up and I could see the same kind of dark lines beneath his skin.

"What are these?" I said pointing at the lines in my arm.

"Alice called them the lines of obsidian or the veins of obsidian, I forget. They're part of your enhanced neural system. It's part of the wetware interface to your cybernetics and your flesh. Signals can travel down them 10,000 times faster than your biological nerves. I don't get to use mine much these days except when I'm typing. Okay, I'm done. You can put the hoodie on."