Tom's Perspective
My head filled with flashes of images and memories, reliving a past that I felt completely disconnected from. Something in my brain snapped, and my panic set in. I shot up in the unfamiliar place that I had been laying, wincing in pain at my muscles burning from not being used. I looked around and wondered why everything was completely dark, attempting to look at my hands. I could feel them, but not see them. I attempted to speak, only for my ears to hear nothing. It was as if I had lost both my sight and hearing at the same time, which was hard to believe. I paused my movements when a hand gently rubbed mine, and I was guided into laying back down. The hand felt familiar, but I was much too stressed to bother recognizing it.
I attempted to relax as the hand comfortingly rubbed my thumb with its own, making me feel at ease. Another similar feeling hand gently stroked my cheek, moving up my face slowly to my right ear. I tensed as a finger trailed over some sort of technology that was attached to it, not knowing what it could be at all. As the fingers adjusted what seemed like a dial or button of some kind, I heard a high-pitched humming from the technology. I could vaguely hear some sort of voice, or a hum of one. I couldn't quite make out any of the words. The hand continued adjusting the small piece of technology before I could hear the voice clearly enough that I could hear English. "Can you hear me? Hello? Does it need to be tuned?" The voice repeated with the same low hum behind it.
"Yeah- I-I can hear you- it sounds weird-." I responded unsurely, feeling the fingers slowly turn the dial before stopping. "Is this better Thomas?" A familiar voice asked, and I fell silent. Fear crept under my skin and filled my head, keeping a terrible hold on me. So many bad things could be going on right now. "Tom? Can you hear me?" He repeated and I nodded slowly. "Is it better now?" He asked and I nodded once more. "I can hear you better." I said quietly and felt his hand pull away from my ear. He moved on to my still deaf ear and pressed the button in what I assumed by now was a better version of a hearing aid, slowly turning the dial around the button until I could hear clear and even noises from both sides. "Is that good for now? You can hear me speak in both ears?" He asked and I sighed.
"Yes Tord, I can." I responded slightly annoyed and flinched my only source of stability left my tense hand. Now I couldn't feel anybody at all. "Good. I'll help you put on your goggles as well, hold very still." He instructed, and I kept my head as still as possible. I was afraid, but more afraid of what would happen if I didn't listen to him. "Please open your eyes Thomas, even though you can't see." He requested and I slowly opened my eyes. Sure enough, my eyes were working just as much as my ears could on their own. Not at all. I felt a strange frame gently press down against my face, tensing more when something lightly pushed on my eyes. I felt both of Tord's hands firmly grasp the sides of my head to keep me still as what I could only describe as getting needles forced into my skull.
I screamed out in pain and tried with every fiber of my being to get it off, but Tord forced me to push through until a familiar thick liquid trickled out from under my new "goggles" or whatever they are. The pain began to subside as what I assumed was my pain medication from my IV was, because I felt incredibly tired and calm all of the sudden. I attempted to blink, but didn't feel the same sensation of blinking like I did before. Instead, I couldn't even feel my eyes anymore. My eyelids and everything felt numb, lost to whatever had ruthlessly torn up my voids. I felt Tord press a button of some kind on the side of my new "goggles", and my vision was restored to me. It was even better than my original vision. I stared at Tord who was bent over me, making direct eye contact if you could call it that.
"I'm sorry that I couldn't find a less destructive solution, but there's no need to worry about nerve damaging or infections of some kind. Just hold still for a moment longer." He told me and reached over to the nightstand beside me. "Yeah fuck no- I'm not holding still again-." I said angrily and virtually glared at the Commie. Tord snickered and gently lifted one side of my goggles, pouring in a liquid of some kind into my sockets. Seeming as I was afraid of my life and couldn't really do anything right now, I allowed it. I felt a bit of a sting at first, before it subsided. "It's a very mild acidic disinfectant for situations like these. Here, I'll help you drain it out." Tord said and helped me to sit up before leaning over a bowl, watching as the now blood-colored liquid slid out of my eye. He repeated this for my other eye before carefully securing the visor on my head.
"What happened?" I asked and sat up, still getting used to my new senses. I felt disabled, but my senses also seemed much better than before. Sure I could already hear better than a human, but now I could probably hear a pin drop from a hundred yards away. I could hear everything. "Well, once we sort of.. Neutralized you, we had to quickly evacuate due to you setting off our store of grenades. That's why your deaf by the way, not my fault." He said and I sighed. "Fuck- well what about my eyes? What the fuck happened? I know eye cancer isn't that sudden-." "You were conscious a little longer than you think Thomas, conscious long enough to get twenty flash-bangs in the face. You were very stunned after that though, which was good news for my soldier death rate." He remarked before sitting down in the chair next to my medical bed.
"Why haven't you killed me yet? Seriously? Giving me all this technology and shit must have costed you a fuck-ton of money- why are you doing this?" I asked with much pent up anger. I was pissed, very pissed. He should just let me die already so I don't have to deal with him any longer. "Why does it matter to you? I saved you, what else do you want? Want me to take away your other senses?" He shot back with just as much ferocity. I growled and narrowed my virtual eyes at him. "Where are Edd and Matt?" I asked sternly and sat up, quickly reminded that I shouldn't be using my right arm to sit up. I put my weight off of it and hissed at the pain from the IV. "They are perfectly safe, they're in my private property in Norway." He informed me and carefully removed the IV that had gotten loose due to my movements. "By the way, seeming as you've had two surgeries in the last three days while you were unconscious, I suggest not moving a lot." He said and I stared at him. "The fuck did you do to me- neuter me-?" I hissed and crossed my arms.
Tord laughed at the thought and shook his head. "No, we had to safely remove that spear I shot at you and reconstruct your damaged organs. Congratulations, you're a cyborg." He told me and held out his robotic arm for me to view. "Just like me, except your parts aren't visible. You also got the benefit of having those organs specifically designed to help you, while mine was just a spare robot arm. Lucky you." He said with a bit of spite before setting his hand on mine, like he had it the first moment I woke up. I laid back down and gave a heavy sigh, feeling the effects of that pain medication still. I was drowsy, but at least I'm alive I suppose. "Hey Tord, I had a really weird dream." I told the Norsk man and pulled my hand away from his. It felt weird and cold like my headset. Lifeless.
"Oh yeah? What was it about?" He asked curiously and leaned forward, propping his head up on his hands on my bed. "Well, I don't really remember it all. I just remember being back in Edd's old house like when I was younger. And you cooked by the way, which I doubt you can do in real life." I recalled in a short summary. Tord chuckled when I weakly ruffled his hair, messing it up. "Maybe it wasn't exactly a dream, y'know? Maybe your brain just receded back to your older memories or something, and you just dreamt after that." He theorized and sat up once he heard footsteps coming in. I turned to see a soldier I didn't recognize, but Tord seemed to. "Flyet ditt er klart sir." The soldier spoke in rough Norwegian and stood at attention.
"Say that in English, for the poor soul over here." Tord ordered and the soldier glanced over at me before speaking once more. "Your flight is ready sir." He repeated and I blinked in confusion. Since when did Tord care if I was included in whatever he knew? "Then take Thomas to get safely boarded after getting the doctor's okay." He ordered the soldier and walked out of the room without turning back. Oh great, a plane flight right after being on anesthesia. What could possibly go wrong or make me uncomfortable. "Sir, please wait here until the doctor arrives." The soldier ordered sternly and stood at guard in front of the door. It's not as though I'll go anywhere, my legs work worth shit seeming as I haven't used them for seemingly a week.
"Can you at least get me a glass of water? My throat hurts like hell." I requested and the soldier blinked at me with conflicting orders in his head. "... Yes sir. Do not leave, I will return shortly." He informed me before leaving the room. God, I had so many thoughts in my head. What were those memories? Where are we going? Where am I? Did he really tell the truth about how I lost my hearing and sight? Are Edd and Matt okay? What was with that fever dream I had while I was unconscious? I can't answer any of them right now, but at least I'll get a glass of water to soothe my dry throat. The soldier came back shortly with a glass mostly full of water, insisting that I let him help me drink it. My hands were weak, but I hate being helped.
Once it was empty, the soldier set it down on my nightstand and helped me get comfortable in the strange bed I was confined to. "Where are we?" I asked as I was slowly covered up in a thin but warm blanket. "We are in the Northernmost section of the base sir, you destroyed the Southern section quite effectively." He informed me and turned down the lights a bit for me. I liked it, even if it didn't make a difference to my visor vision. It still calmed me. "I used to work as a nursing assistant until my wife died, so please tell me if you feel anything strange." He told me in an attempt to be helpful. "Well, it's not really a big deal, but I think this visor is giving me a headache." I told him and sat up enough that my head was propped against the fluffed pillows. "Well, I'm not really sure if I can fix that, but I can get you some Ibuprofen." He offered and I slowly nodded.
"I'd like to check your vitals as well if it's alright sir, to save the doctor some time once she gets here." He requested and I sighed. "Okay- just get me that Advil stuff-." I tiredly said and attempted to close my digital eyes. It didn't give the same satisfying feeling as closing my eyelids, but it helped me feel at rest. I reached up and turned down my new specially made hearing aids so that I wouldn't be bothered by hearing all the noises. Honestly, I was hoping that by the time that soldier came back, I would be fast asleep. I started to drift peacefully in silence for a few minutes, and I could feel sleep enticing me more and more. I felt a hand gently return my hearing aids to their original volume. Well, look who's back. I sighed tiredly and opened my eyes to see the soldier looking at me like a disappointed mother. Oh boy.