18 Years (WORK IN PROGRESS)

Chapter 4

         My eyes shot open, taking in the scene that had kept going around me, even after I had long since blacked out and stopped going with it.
         It was the same damn hospital room from before. Computer banks on one wall, observation room on over watch, and that same surgical light just off from my field of vision. I had been a bit panicked at first, having not become used to it just yet, and my brain still wanting to think it was just a dream. Slowly, as I took my surroundings in and realized it was real, I calmed down, my expression moving from confusion and partly fear to just a scowl.
         I was laying on the bed again, but I was most definitely strapped down in all the places that would give me any movement. It wasn't so bad, I guess. Not like I'd know where to go even if I did manage to get out of here. The only thing that'd make this worse would-...damn it. My nose started itching me, and it grew quickly, as if it knew it was safe from my fingers being able to scratch it. This wasn't exactly a decent place anymore.
         I began to think back to the events that had landed me in this place. Getting kicked into the tree and the falling pods, looking at the panicked faces of people around me before I had blacked out and winded up in here.
         I began to try and think a bit further back, but I couldn't bring anything up. It was like thinking of something and forgetting it after a bit, then retracing your steps. You knew exactly where to go, but you could never get to the next step that you took. What the hell had I done the past few weeks? I couldn't remember. It was like memories had been taken away from me, stolen like a dream after being awake for a few hours.
         The sound of the door sliding open broke me out of my thought processes. I strained to turn my head, but the straps holding me were also over my forehead, keeping me from moving almost at all. I groaned inwardly at this new finding.
         It was only a moment before Adler stepped into my field of view. “Adler? Why the hell am I strapped in here?” I asked, my voice coming out deeper than people had heard it for 18 years now. It was gravelly and had more of a baritone than I remembered. The feeling was new to me once again after so many years of a different body...but at the moment, I couldn't remember the other body.
         The Admiral sat down at the same spot as before, a water bottle in hand. He didn't answer immediately, but instead reached over to undo the straps over my left wrist and bicep. “There...that's a bit better, yes?”
         He smiled a bit as he saw me immediately move to attack the itch on my nose, spending a few moments working at it before I was satisfied. When I looked back at him, he handed me the water bottle. “You've just come out of your vacation, General. Before the operation had completed itself, you underwent a mental overload and your body took over, forcing your mind out of control. The best way to describe it simply would be like an enemy in one of the video games you've been so fond of over the course of the project going into a 'blood lust' or 'blood rage'. You had to be sedated to complete the project without injury to the surgeons or yourself.”
         I held the water bottle in one hand, my index finger managing to slowly unscrew the cap before I was forced to almost shove it into my mouth to prevent too much spillage from the full-to-the-brim bottle. I spent a moment savoring the taste of the water, or lack thereof, and feeling the satisfaction that such small pleasures gave.
         When I had my fill, I held it by my side, looking back to the Admiral next to me. “Project Vacation is over...I knew there was something wrong with my voice.” I said, referring to how I had noticed changes between my memories and now. “What caused the mental overload?”
         “During the memory transfer, you were bringing memories back over from the Beta entity – your body that's been in use for the duration of the project – and the amnesiac coding broke apart in Beta's mind.”
         “Did you know that this type of thing could happen when we first transferred over?” I asked, cocking an eye at Adler.
         “Yes sir, but it was an extremely low chance. We wanted to keep you as close to...well, you, as we could. So we cloned your mind's footprint and transferred it over. We did tests where we copied the footprint without certain things, and if anything like memories, personality traits, or any other significant portion was removed, the clone would go insane. They were always written off as failures. The coding, which we've dubbed “Amnesiac”, had the highest chance of success.
         “What are the side effects of this?” I asked, watching Adler's expression become a bit hesitant as I asked the question. “Go ahead, John. Tell me what I need to know.”
         The Admiral remained silent before pressing a button on the side of the bed, a call button, most likely. A few moments later, a doctor entered. She looked familiar. I could remember her face from other memories where I had been in this room, but other than that, she was a stranger to me.
         “General?” she said, looking from the Admiral to me. “How are you feeling? Is there anything wrong?”
         Adler gestured at me, standing up. “Tell him all of the possible side effects of the procedure and what happened during the operation. I'll be back soon.”
         Adler left my field of vision, but the doctor kept watching him until I heard the door shut. An instant passed before she turned her attention back to me. She spent a moment gathering her thoughts before she spoke. She gestured towards the computer banks, likely where the footage of the incident was stored. “During the initial phase of the operation, while we were transferring your mind and the memories back over, you lost control. There was a lot being transferred in a small amount of time. I originally wanted to try and take it slow, keep both bodies in stasis and let your mind flow slowly and calmly. However, the higher ups wanted to move fast, and although I've got all authority over the project, even I have bosses. They told us to do it without the stasis, despite my objections.” She powered on one of the monitors for the bank of computers, all the others remaining dormant.
         A desktop like screen came up, showing files and folders all over it. She opened one, diving a few layers into it before she selected a video file. “This is the footage of the procedure we took.”
         She began to angle my bed up, the screen showing the video while I was moved. On the video, I saw the procedure begin. It was normal, and for the first few minutes, nothing happened. Soon, however, I saw myself start to panic, the doctor coming over to me. Only a few moments passed before I saw my body go limp, the eyes remaining open as my mind began the transfer. Several moments passed before my body started to spasm about, bringing to mind the out of body experience that had permeated my memories during the switch. Then, it went limp again. Almost immediately, my larger body, the one I was currently in, came to life. It snapped out of the restraints it was held by, hauling itself off the bed it was in.
         The larger body – termed Alpha by the surgeons that had been in the room – leaned against the wall, as if it was exhausted. This was where I had rejoined my body. I saw surgeons begin to flee, the main doctor falling back towards the netting device she had used to subdue me. After I saw myself black out in the netting, I watched as they got two large men in military uniforms enter to lift my body back into the bed, strapping it down with more restraints this time. I noted that they were the same as what held me now.
         The video continued on without incident, eventually ending with all of the surgeons leaving, the doctor that was in the room with me now shutting off the camera that was recording me. Now, the screen went dark as the video ended. The doctor turned to me. “When you overloaded, your conscious mind was shoved to the back, and your instincts took over. The only reason you weren't able to wipe out every body in that room and go on a rampage is because both your conscious mind and your subconscious mind are used to being in a smaller, lighter body. During that operation, your brain took on the motions of a body over a hundred pounds heavier and a foot of height. It's why you slumped against the wall and I got a chance to bring you down.”
         I scrunched up my eyebrows, thinking. After a few moments, I asked her again. “You transferred some of my memories to an external storage bay, correct? What happened to them? What were they?” I asked.
         The doctor nodded, as if she was confirming something. “They were put back into you after we succeeded. However, the side effects may happen at any time. They could be in a few minutes, or they could happen when you're about to die. Technically, you have all of your memories, completely intact...but now that you're holding the thoughts and past experiences of both your original life, and the one you fabricated, it's possible that some of them could be 'corrupt', for lack of a better term.”
         “What do you mean, 'corrupt'?” I asked, eying the doctor. Is that why it felt like portions of my life were gone?
         “They're there, and they're complete, but your mind doesn't know how to access them just yet. If something were to happen to jog those memories, it could cause another cascade and overload you...but you most likely won't be in a high tech hospital when it happens. As long as you take everything slow for a while, they should come back to you on your own, but we're not sure. You're the first person that we know of to have gotten this type of procedure. Our people have never done it before, and the humans that live on Earth most definitely haven't done it yet.”
         The doctor sighed as she took a seat. “the Admiral must have told you that this was the lowest risk option, and honestly, it was...but it was uncharted territory.  We did tests on others that went short periods under the same amnesiac type coding, but it couldn't truly replicate the process. All it did was leave them confused or vegetables for a few days. After it was removed, they returned to normal. On you, however, the process was meant for an extended period of time, and we closely monitored you throughout your new life, looking for possible failures in the coding and anything else that could go wrong.”
         I stopped her at that. “Wait, before we get too much further. I know you, don't I? You were talking about possible 'corruptions', and how I wouldn't have access to certain memories for a while, right? Well, I don't know you. Does this mean the side effects have already begun?”
         She nodded, holding up an ID card attached to the lapel of her lab coat. “I'm Dr. Lauren Woods, I was the head surgeon over the project during the operation, which you saw, and I've been in the position for the last five years.”
         I nodded to her, my mind's eye returning to the last few times I had been awake. I saw flashes of memories, seeing her stand in front of the computer bank, explaining to me when I first woke up what had happened, seeing her during the operation, and back to now.
         “I'm remembering now...You came in when I first woke up, didn't you?” I asked, receiving a nod from Dr. Woods.
         “Yes, and you're already getting some of your memories back, I see. Let's try to keep the flow small for now.” She said, smiling a bit. Coming over to me, she began to undo the straps that were still holding me down. “Let's see how you handle yourself up and about for the first time since you've been here, hm?” She said, the smile never faltering.
         I returned the smile, feeling the straps fall off of me. I raised an arm, looking at my hand and clenching it into a fist. I heard the joints in my hand pop as they were used for the first time in many years. The other hand got the same treatment. When I swung my legs off of the bed, I was surprised at their weight, and they dropped like a sack of rocks. I sat up, feeling all of the extra weight this body had over my younger one. “Great...I have to get used to a new body.”
         The doctor only laughed, but she offered me a cane that was sitting in a corner of the room, as well as some clothes. That's when I realized I was only wearing a hospital gown. I looked down and noticed it for the first time, feeling my face warm a bit. “...oh.”
         Doctor Woods laughed again, louder this time. I gave her a half-glare, rolling my eyes. “Some privacy, please?” I asked, the laughing woman nodding a bit and waving me off as she walked to the door, slipping out of it.
         “I'll be just outside whenever you're finished, General.” She called. I didn't respond, only standing up and barely managing to catch myself. My muscles hadn't atrophied, at least, due to the stasis the body had been in. The only problem was that everything was different. Limbs were longer and heavier, there was more general weight, I was taller than before, and there were no defects in this body like there had been in my other body. I took a few moments of standing still to try and get my bearings on how to work this body.
         I began to walk after I felt comfortable, walking almost mechanically, no grace in the steps I took, and the soft thud of my feet dropping to the floor, rather than landing as a step. I was more waddling than walking, my knees feeling stiff as I tried to move.
         It took a few moments to get across the room at my current speed. When I reached the clothes and the cane, I set the cane off to the side and stripped out of the hospital gown.
         I wasn't really surprised with the body, now that I could see it. I saw the lines in my skin that muscle made. I was a soldier, apparently, why wouldn't I be fit as all hell? I figured that an older man, a general at least, wouldn't be this fit, but I wasn't complaining. It was nice being muscular for once.
         I sorted through the clothes, looking at what had been provided. A pair of boxers were the first thing I slipped on, followed by the large pair of jeans that had been provided. During the project, my father had been about 6'4”, and I had sometimes been able to wear jeans that he wore if mine weren't clean at the moment, but then again, I had been nothing but legs, and the only reason he had been so much taller than me was because he had about as much torso as he had legs. The jeans they had provided me fit comfortable at least, but I thought back to my parents, the two being some of the few memories I had retained without problem. I'd ask about them after I met back up with Woods. Finally, I saw a black tshirt. No designs or anything on it, but it fit whenever I put it on, providing a comfortable fit, not too snug and not too loose.
         I looked around for some shoes, but found none other than a pair of slippers. I hated slippers. I would much rather have just worn socks, but whatever. They would do for now. I just hoped it wasn't cold in this hospital, like it would be in any other I had ever been in. As I walked out of the room, cane in hand, I thought over the memories that I still retained. It seemed that I remembered all of the little things, like what type of clothes I preferred from my time as a teenager, and they didn't feel like they conflicted with my older self's interests. Maybe that was a side effect of sharing an almost exact personality across the board. Yet another question that arose from this whole endeavor. I was beginning to wonder whether all of these questions were worth the extra years I had been given.
         Stepping out of the room and into a hallway, I saw Lauren to my left, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. She smiled as she pushed off the wall. “Everything fit alright, General?” she asked.
         I nodded. “Next time, can I get socks instead? Less possibility of them slipping off.” I said. I looked around the hallway. It was barren, with nobody in sight at either end of the hallway. The walls were an off white color, and the floor was tiled with gray squares. I guessed it was shaped like an H, since at either side I could see hallways to the left and right. I smelled a strong antiseptic smell, but what did I expect? It was a hospital. I walked over to the doctor, catching a hint of the same perfume she had been wearing the day I first woke up. Another memory of her. It felt almost like I knew a lot more than I actually did. I knew her name now, her face, her smell, her voice and even the way she carried herself. It felt weird, knowing so much about a woman I met less than 10 minutes ago...or whatever. My brain was starting to hurt from all of this.
         She put a hand on the back of my shoulder, having a bit of trouble, being that I was at least a foot taller than her. I cocked an eyebrow, the woman abandoning her attempts to guide me and instead putting her hand on my bicep, which was roughly at head height with her. She smiled as she found a good way to guide me along.
         “Come on, I'll show you around, and you'll probably get to meet some of the people that worked on the project as well.” She said. I nodded to her, my cane setting into motion to help me along, a click sounding every time it touched down on the tiled floor.
         We headed down the hallway, taking a left and coming to a door. As it slid open when we approached, I guessed most of the doors would be automatic in places like this. Stepping through the door, we entered a large room, almost like an atrium. There was a stretched out oval in the center of the room, plants growing form within. Blue chairs that were built into the oval garden lined the side, and if I looked to the left, I could see a large gray surface, different form the walls. It took a few moments to realize it was a window, and the view I was getting was a bunch of craters. I looked back to Woods, an eyebrow raised once again.
         “We're on the dark side of Earth's Moon. Our fleet is hidden away here. It's a pretty good thing Earth's humans haven't decided to send any more space missions...at least for us. Right now, you're on the hospital ship CSV Scalpel.” She said.
         I nodded as I moved closer to the window, looking out at the cratered surface of the moon. It's not like it was too impressive, as anybody with a decent telescope or access to the internet could see the surface of the moon with ease from Earth's surface, but it was different when one was seeing it from less than ten miles up.
         I turned back to the doctor, nodding. “Alright. Let's move on. I wanna see more than just the surface of something I've seen almost every night for the last two decades.”
         Woods laughed and nodded. “Understood, General.” She said, once again taking me by the bicep and leading me out of the atrium. We entered into another hallway, just a barren as the last.
         I looked down to the doctor next to me. “You said our fleet, right? How big is this fleet?” I asked, the woman looking back up to meet my eyes.
         “Our fleet, The 118th Special Tactics Fleet, is one of the larger special fleets, but it's nowhere near the size of a full on battle group. We've got about thirty ships in the fleet, most of them for support and whatnot. We've only got three military ships, with the rest being civilian ships for roles such as hydroponics for food, production ships that make the necessities, recycling ships with facilities to let us stay self sufficient, science vessels for surveying humanity on Earth's surface, and of course, you've got the Scalpel, the fleet's hospital. Our flagship, the CSV Albatross, is a cruiser type vessel, but it's mainly there to lead the rest of the fleet. Its supporting vessels are two destroyers, one for recon and long range interception in case anybody attacks, and the other is meant for launching ground troops to the surface. They're highly specialized, and they lack any other aptitude for other roles.” She explained.
         I listened as she explained, the only thing that interrupted her being the tap of the cane on the tiled floor. “It seems like you know everything about the fleet. Are you military as well, or civilian?” I asked.
         Woods shook her head. “No sir. I did a stint in the Navy back before I got my doctorate degree. I was fresh out of high school and figured the military was the best way into a fast track career. The earliest positions I got were all the type where I sit at a station for hours on end. I didn't wanna do that for years, so I chose to be a corpsman, and I worked pretty close with Marines for a long time. I spent a few years back on Candran and went to school while I had the time. Because we haven't been in any wars since a while before you went under, it was pretty laid back.”
         “After I got my degree, they put me in an officer's position. I made it a few ranks in, I'm guessing the equivalent to something you know would be a United States Navy Commander. Almost as soon as I got out, a civilian contractor working with the military on this project grabbed a hold of me and sent me to the Scalpel. There've been staff rotations every two years since the fleet stationed itself here, and I've stayed on simply because it allows me to observe the humans on Earth, and it's a prestigious position, to say the least.”
         I nodded again, listening to how she got here. “So you've got the best of both worlds then. You've go the leadership qualities of a military member, and you've got the freedom of a civilian.” I smiled down at her, the doctor laughing.
         “Yes sir, I guess you could say that.” she responded, leading us through another door. After a few moments of silence, she looked back to me. “How are you coming along with your new body?” she asked.
         I shrugged a bit. “There are no problems. Still having a bit of trouble getting used to it, but there's no pain or anything. It's taking a bit of getting used to, all the same.” I said.
         Woods nodded, probably making a mental note. “Understood. The brass has been thinking of sending you back down to the surface soon, making you our envoy to Earth, but seeing as how you outrank them, it's your decision in the end.”
         “An envoy?” I asked, confused. “Because I've been the only one on the ground so far and for so long?” I asked.
         She shook her head. “Sort of, but you weren't the only Candran on the surface for the duration of the project. Your family on the ground were all members of the military. We implanted them here with you and your new infant body. Your father was a Naval Captain, and your mother was an Air Force Lieutenant Colonel. Neither had been able to have children, and they were both prestigious names. Neither had any service record problems, never any bad notes, nothing like that. They had worked together at times throughout their careers, and when they were chosen for the position, they decided to get married and make it all official. Go all the way, so to speak. Other than that, your brother and sister were also members of the military, but they were both enlisted. You'll eventually have time to talk to all of them again when we get all of this sorted out. They're still planet side, going about their lives as normal, despite you being gone. They know, and they've been settling everything properly.”
         “The people at your school have been under intense surveillance since the incident. All of them have been sworn to silence, and records of the drop have been erased and returned to normal. The pods are hidden away, the squad is embedded in the school for now, keeping an eye on all the witnesses. After you've been made the envoy and have been publicly revealed to the Earth's population, we'll release the witnesses to go about their lives normally, and we'll start cooperation with Earth if possible. I doubt they'll do anything opposite, but you know how things are with humanity. They have their radicals, just like any other race.”
         “When do they plan on sending me to the surface?” I asked, slowly feeling myself getting used to my new body. It still felt awkward and lanky, but it was ebbing away bit by bit. Eventually, I'd be able to walk without the cane.
         “Within the next few days. We'll run tests on you, see how your body is holding up, fill you with a bunch of vaccinations that your old body had, but this one doesn't, the whole shebang.”
         “What about the recovery time?” I asked, knowing that vaccinations usually made you sick and let your body deal with it on its own.
         “Modern medicine has changed all that. Look at us, we've got interstellar travel capabilities!” She replied, looking almost too happy about it.
         I only nodded in return. This was going to take a lot of getting used to.