Day 61

[from Cyborg Team Alpha]

The first thing Ichiko became aware of was a quiet, steady beeping. Her brain, newly-rebooted and still very groggy, was busy trying to slowly get her various bodily systems back up and running again, and so for a few minutes she simply lay there, unable to comprehend what the beeping sound was, where it was coming from, or where she currently was. A single cloudy thought began to drift into her mind: I'm awake. I'm alive.

Gradually, she began to recover her senses, and in turn, her thought process slowly returned to her. She now recognized the beeping: it was that of a heart monitor. She could now make out the gentle hum of machinery in the background, and the sound of her own shallow breathing. Mixed together, these sounds told her that she was in a hospital of some kind. As her nostrils awakened, a sterile smell hit her nose, confirming her suspicion.

Ichiko couldn't remember what had happened to put her in the hospital, but it dawned on her that whatever it was, it had to be serious. Her entire body felt numb; she couldn't feel her hands or feet, much less lift a finger. Not even her heavy eyelids would open, though the lack of light filtering through them made her think that they were swathed with bandages, a thought that merely increased her concern. If only she could speak, or even just make some kind of gesture to show that she were conscious… I can't stay like this forever, she thought. Once I recover just a little more strength, I'm sure I'll be able to move.

After a while - Ichiko didn't know how long exactly - she felt the feeling began to return to her body. She soon wished she hadn't. Aches and pains began to spread across her flesh until most of her body hurt. She still could not feel her hands and feet, though her knees and shoulder were in agony, as was her right eye, which she realized seemed to be open. She tried to close it against the pain, but found that she could not. Her discomfort, and her worry, continued to grow.

Perhaps her increased heart rate her betrayed her consciousness, for at last she heard a voice nearby. "Oh shit, she's waking up!" it said. There was a sound like someone getting up, then hurried footsteps. A door opened and closed somewhere, and then there was silence. Whoever was in the room had run to get help, perhaps.

Sure enough, a minute later the door opened again and more footsteps hurried into the room. The voices of the new arrivals mingled and mixed with each other as they drifted lazily into Ichiko's ear, making it hard to distinguish what each voice was saying.

"I'll go and up her pain relief-" "-wait to meet the newest member of the-" "Sit down and be quiet-" "-Jesus Christ, how extensive were her repairs? The professor-" "-50 milligrams of adrenaline-" "Not too much, or you'll put her right back to sleep again" "I know, I know… alright, done."

The voices stopped for a moment, as those gathered round her seemed to settle down. Ichiko could sense someone standing by her side, and a moment later she heard a soft female voice. "Hey there," it said. "Can you hear us? Can you move yet?"

Ichiko, still seemingly immobile, did not and could not respond. The painkillers had not yet kicked in, and she was still hurting all over, except, strangely, her lower legs, right arm and hands, all of which were still completely numb. She tried focusing on just her left arm, trying to get it to move, but it still hurt too much.

"I'll assume that's a no to the second question at least," said the female voice. "Well, if you can hear me, you probably have quite a lot of questions, like, "Where am I?" or "What happened to me?" I'll try and answer those for you, but I have to be honest with you, you might not like the answers to all of them. Okay?"

"What if she can't hear you?" asked another voice, this one male, and further away. "You'll think you've explained everything, then when she wakes up properly, she won't have a clue what's going on."

"Well, until she can speak, or at least move, I can't verify whether she can hear me or not," said the female voice. "But it's likely that she can, at this stage."

Another male voice, this one rather more authoritative, spoke up at this point. Ichiko couldn't exactly tell, but it sounded slightly muffled, perhaps. "Well, let's just wait until we know for sure, just to be on the safe side."

"So we just, what, sit here and wait for her to move?"

"Yes."

"And how long will that take?"

"As long as it takes," said the authoritative voice.

There was a sigh, and the silence once more. As her pain gradually subsided, Ichiko decided to try once again to move her arm. If that was what it would take to get her answers, she had to try. Slowly, she managed to shift her arm a little way along the bedsheets.

The movement did not go unnoticed. "Did you see that?" said the female voice. "Her arm just moved!"

"I saw," said the authoritative voice.

"If you can hear me," said the female voice gently, "move your arm again."

Ichiko mustered a little more strength, and did as she was told, shifting her arm back again. This time, she felt the palm of her hand brush against the fabric of the sheets as she did so. The feeling in the rest of her body was starting to return.

"Well, since I know you can hear me now," said the female voice, "I'm going to go ahead and explain your current situation. Like I said, you may not like some of what you're about to hear, but you need to hear it. Okay? Alright, then I'll start with where you are…"