Chapter Four: In The Name of Science
"Science never solves a problem without creating ten more." -George Barnard Shaw.
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"I'm not sure this is safe, ma'am."
"Of course it is! We've already tested to proven it is safe."
"Safe when it comes to dropping hammer on your toes, this is a fifty-pound sack of cylinder blocks."
"Lucis, remember what the test result was?" I remind him as I hold the sack over my foot.
"Yes, your bones do appear to be indestructible," Lucis agrees, "But may I remind you that your skin and other organs are vulnerable?"
"Three," I ignore Lucis and begin the countdown, "Two, one."
I drop the heavy bag onto my foot. I feel the weight hit my foot. It aches only for a minute before it feels normal. I probably bruised my foot, but nothing too painful. I pick up the bag off of my foot and wiggle my toes. The average human would most likely have a fractured bone where I do not even feel a slight ache after a minute. I mark that as a passed test.
"Ready for the final test?" I ask as I need Lucis's help.
"I really don't want to take a part in this..." Lucis voices his trepidations.
"Do it for the name of science!" I try to encourage him.
"Ma'am..."
"You don't have to actually drop it on me. Just set it gently."
I smile in response as I see Lucis's robotic arm come over and pick up the 200 pound anvil. "Is it safe to say that you may be losing your mind?"
"You can't lose your mind if it's in the name of science!" I rejoinder.
"Just because you claim something 'in the name of science' doesn't always justify your experiments."
"Lucis, buddy, if this experience proves my bones to be completely abiding, do you realize what a breakthrough this would be in the science community? What if we could replicate the drug? Imagine if no American soldier could ever break a bone again."
"Sometimes I hate that you are right," Lucis replies.
"That's the spirit! Is it easier for me to lie down on the ground or on the table?" I ask him.
"On the table," Lucis answers. I get up on the large table and lay down on my side. I position a foam block in between my head and the metal of the table top.
All morning I've been testing my newfound bones that the Doctor fortified me with. After Black Dwarf, I have been working hard to forget everything of that week, including how I was injected with a mysterious serum to strengthen my bones. I really had forgotten about that until one week ago when I slammed my fingers in my car door. The force of the door should have easily broken my bones, but not even so much as a fracture. That got me thinking that maybe instead of muting what happened, I should be embracing it. Not necessarily screaming about the forced experiment to the world, but use what has happened to me for good.
I feel the cool metal of the anvil against the upturned side of my face. I grunt softly as I begin to feel the weight it rest on my skull. Lucis slowly lowers the anvil until he is no longer supporting the weight. I do not feel as if my head is about to give into the weight at all, which is reassuring; it would be a deadly mistake to find that my bones are breakable. The two hundred pounds of the anvil should be at least fracturing my skull, but nothing even becomes bruised. I only feel the pressure of the weight, no pain.
"They dedicate their lives to running all of his," I hear someone humming as they enter the lab, "He tries to ple- what the fuck?!"
"Hi, Tony," I wave from where I lay on the table with an anvil sitting on my skull, "Lucis, you got everything you need?"
"I do, ma'am, the test is complete," Lucis begins to raise the anvil off of me.
"What on earth? What are you doing?!" Tony's eyes are as wide as his entire face.
"Experimenting."
"Experimenting for what?! How much did that weigh?"
"Two hundred pounds."
"That should have split your skull! Why- what- w-w-what?" Tony is flabbergasted as he sputters.
"Uh, well," I chuckle awkwardly, "There might be a few things I haven't told you about when I was in captivity..."
"Which is...?" Tony is a mix of being furious and curious.
"I was injected with a serum that makes my bones indestructible," I flash a cheesy smile trying to not make it sound awful.
"And you're just now telling me?"
"Well, I didn't have much of a choice right now. Either I told you or you checked me into a mental asylum."
"Touché, but I mean why didn't you tell me about this months ago?"
"Because I was trying to forget about the experience. Then I realized what an advantage that would, so I should begin to test it, which I have begun and nearly finished doing so."
Tony sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose, "So, your bones are indestructible now? Jarvis, are Lucis's diagnosis correct?"
"Yes, sir. Monica's bones are reinforced with-"
"Spare me the details, J. I'll read them later," Tony runs his fingers through his hair. "You just wanted to keep this a secret?"
"No, I just wanted to forget about it," I clarify the difference.
"Great, now I can put anvils on your head whenever I want to," Tony shrugs.
"You're not mad at me, are you?" I inquire.
"Yes, I'm horribly mad," Tony replies sarcastically as he pulls out Mark LIX, "Go to your room and no TV for a week."
"Yes, father," I roll my eyes.
"Don't use that tone with me," Tony snaps jokingly.
"And before you ask, no, I won't eat my vegetables," I retort.
Tony chuckles in response. I leave him to work on his own creation as I begin the researching of whatever I was injected with. I unprofessionally prick myself on the arm to get a blood sample. I smear some of my blood onto a glass slide so I can examine it under a microscope.
I watch the red blood cells bounce off of each other underneath the microscope. I see no unusual substances in my blood. I decide to run a few more tests on my blood just to make sure that I am not missing anything. All of those tests come out to be negative. Whatever the serum has done to my bones, it is not in my bloodstream.
I am groaning in frustration when I get an alert on my phone. I have a text message from Natasha saying that she is heading to the gym. I decide now is a good time to take a break from testing. Exercise and training is a good way to clear my head, too.
"Gym?" Tony doesn't look up from his project when I walk towards the elevator.
"Yep," I answer. I head up to my room to change into athletic clothes.
Natasha will text me whenever she will be training in the gym welcoming me to come and join her. Of course I want to train with her. She is the most experienced woman when it comes to doing everything. She is a master at nearly every skill. I can only pray that I will become skilled in half of the fields that Black Widow is.
Even though I'm not a perfect gymnast, I am getting better on being graceful and nimble. I find myself being able to do more advanced moves with my body. I can now jump farther and I am lighter on my feet. I am much more flexible now too. I have become more or less become skilled at the gruff hand-to-hand soldier combat; now it is my turn to master the secretiveness of a spy and a master assassin.
"You need time to warm up?" Natasha asks as I enter the gymnasium now dressed in leggings and a muscle tank-top.
"Yeah," I plop down on the ground to stretch. Natasha rubs powdered chalk on her hands as I loosen my muscles. She does a few pull ups before I'm finally stretched out. I take a bit of chalk in my hand and clap my hands together.
I start out of the hanging bars. They are a group of metal bars varying in thickness and in distance apart that are mounted to the ceiling. They are designed to improve one's grip strength, agility, upper arm strength, and control. Since they are only hanging a few yards from the high ceiling, I have to climb a ladder to reach them. I scurry up the ladder on the wall. I reach out for the first bar. I look down briefly to see Natasha at home on the parallel bars.
I take a deep breath before I begin swinging. I fly through the air from bar to bar. A few are spaced close enough together where I only have to reach out, others I have to make a daunting leap where I am holding onto nothing. Some bars are higher up where I have to use my upper arm strength to propel myself upwards; some are lower where I have to make sure I do not painfully jerk and sprain my elbow when I make the transition down. Even though I've done this a multiple times before, it is still a big relief when I clear a gap.
"Fall! Fall! Fall! Fall! Fall!" I hear someone chanting below me.
I look down to see that Bucky and Steve have entered the gym. "I'm not going to fall!" I shout back down at Bucky.
"Do a flip on the way down," Bucky taunts.
"Shut up," I laugh as I continue my routine.
"Come on, Buck," Steve laughs as he pulls his friend into the locker room.
Natasha mutters something as the two men leave, but I can't comprehend it.
After doing my routine for a solid fifteen minutes, my arms give out. My hands slip from a bar as I prepare to make a jump. A small cry of surprise escapes my lips as I find myself in freefall. I am once again reminded how much I absolutely hate freefalling. I land bottom first into a pit of foam cubes. I lay there for a minute or two enjoying the break. I climb out of the pit only a moment later.
"Woo," I shake my arms in an attempt to lose the lactic acid that has built up in my muscles. They burn in exertion.
"Fifteen minutes, you're improving," Natasha comments from where she begins the ascent up to the bars.
"I'd like to think so," I grab my water bottle.
I chug down the water as Natasha starts her routine on the bars. I take a minute break before I begin my work out on the balance beam. I feel my muscles tighten as I work on my balance. Since I'm not a professional gymnast, when I flip on the beam, it is everything but the graceful, elegant kind you see on television during the Olympics. I can flip and land back on the beam but with a more powerful edge. I look more like a combat fighter than a gymnast, full of power and strength not delicacy and grace. I'm working on the poise, though.
I am about to practice a spin on the narrow beam when I hear a loud splash from the pool. I peer through the window in to the pool. I see Steve completely dry standing by the edge of the pool and Bucky in the water.
"You punk!" Bucky coughs as he splashes Steve who is laughing unusually hard. I hear Natasha laughing from up above me. After I few seconds, Bucky notices that he has caught our attention, "The bastard pushed me in!"
"I did not, you slipped and fell in," Steve holds his side.
Now it is my turn to laugh. My laughter is causing me not to pay attention to my balance. My metal foot slides off of the leather and I fall off to the side. I hit the mat with a soft thud. It was not a big fall in any means, but of course Bucky had to see the whole thing.
"I told you that you would fall!" He shouts from the pool.
"Shut up!" I stand up and dust myself off.
As the four of ours laughter begins to die out, I cannot help but think how much I love living here with everyone. Little did I know, the exact thought is in Bucky, Steve, and Natasha's minds too.
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