Legends of the Halcyon Era

Episode 57 - The Avion Adventure: Medical Mysteries

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Previously, in Legends of the Halcyon Era...

Nytetrayn and Black Steel discovered some mysterious, ancient Avion ruins, and were met with surprising resistance from a dweller of the deep. Over the course of the battle, Steel was grievously injured... or so he thought, while Nytetrayn discovered some new abilities he now possessed.

After returning to Avion City and having coffee with Janine and Celeste while Nyte ate half the cafe's menu, the pair of intrepid Diggers returned to their quarters for rest, while Janine coerced Celeste into seeing what Avion shopping would be like.

All the while, Steel has pondered the mystery further...

Black Steel made his way back to the room he and Janine were sharing, casting the odd glance down at the bare portions of his legs along the way. Fortunately, he didn't run into too many people to also give him odd looks along the way.

Back in his room, he decompressed his armor and let it drop to the floor. With a groan, he looked down at his bruised legs... only to find they were no longer bruised. "What the hell?" he asked of no one in particular.

Steel shook his head. Maybe it was best if he didn't dwell on this. But he was going to need new equipment, clearly. And maybe something more. Perhaps he needed more than just better gear. Perhaps what he needed was a way to hone, to refine his skills. He settled on the bed with his arms behind his head, looking up at the ceiling while he considered what he just lived through, and the strange symbols they'd found. Maybe this evening, after he'd rested, a return trip would be in order... or, he thought, maybe a trip somewhere else?

Absent-mindedly, Steel rubbed at his legs, noticing that he felt no pain as he did so. Could something in those ruins have been the cause? But then it occurred to him that couldn't be it – he realized that the limp he'd gained from the recent battle with Sherman East had faded within hours, before they'd even left the planet.

Steel began theorizing, and reached for his utility knife. With great care, he drew the edge of the blade in a short line across the top of his hand, just enough to part the skin and cause a thin red line of fluid to swell up.

He looked at the room's clock, and over the course of the next half-hour, watched in awe as the red line disappeared, until nothing more than a scratch was left. And even that began to fade.

In shock, he whispered "holy shit" before standing up and making his way to Nyte's room.

About half an hour ago, Nytetrayn had successfully made it back to the room he was sharing with Celeste. There, he had changed out of his armor into a black tank top and shorts, plopped down into bed, grabbed a handful of covers, and went right to sleep.

It was a good sleep. Some of his best. Way better than the living room sofa, in fact.

It was, until the sound of knocking came at his door. Nyte groggily got up and answered the summons. As he opened the door, he responded to the sight before him with a simple, drawn-out "...yeeees?"

"I need you to look at something."

Nytetrayn wordlessly stared at Steel. Steel wordlessly stared back, until a lightbulb went off in his head. "Not that."

"...good.'

"This," Steel continued, as he pulled out his knife and clenched his fist around it, before quickly pulling the blade out, slicing his skin. Nyte's eyes went wide as Steel wrapped his hand in a cloth he brought along, just in case.

"...did Jan dump you or something, and I missed it?" the tired, but now more alert, Digger asked.

"Shut up, and give me about half an hour of your time."

"Alright, alright," Nyte conceded. "Anything that gets me back to bed faster.".

After a few more moments of awkward silence, punctuated by a cough, Steel asked "Got something we can do to pass time for a bit?"

Nyte thought for a moment. "Rock-Paper-Scissors?"

Steel looked at him, straight-faced.

"...oh, right. Your hand."

"I'll turn on the television," Steel said, as he looked around. "Assuming they have those here..."

"Yeah, they got 'em," Nyte confirmed. "Doesn't your room have one? Or was it kicked aside in a mad fit of passion?"

Steel looked unamused. "Just put something on," he said. "And no showtoons."

Nytetrayn shrugged, and turned on "The Simpsons."

"Nice selection," Steel mused. "Animated yellow people... with four fingers?"

"Hard to believe they have an entire network dedicated to one show," Nyte said, adding "With no reruns."

"Seriously?"

"Well, so far."

"Damn."

"Really popular, it seems."

After getting lost in the stream of social commentary that was "The Simpsons," Steel and Nyte lost track of time easily enough, before the former snapped out of his pseudo-conscious state as the episode ended, remembering the matter "at hand."

Steel chuckled softly to himself at the wordplay, and Nyte gave him a curious look. "Never mind. "Alright, now," he said as he removed the cloth from his hand, revealing a white line where there had once been a large gash in his flesh. The rag was clearly stained with blood, and yet what remained on Steel's hand was dried, with no sign of any fresh to be found.

In stunned silence, Nyte looked at the once-bandaged hand, then back to the other to be sure, and then back to the first again. "What happened? Is that one of those trick knives?"

"Hell if I know," Steel answered. "Remember my legs?"

"Ew, yeah," Nyte replied. He didn't want to remember them, but he did anyway.

As Nyte wordlessly looked on, Steel pushed his pant leg up to reveal very normal, albeit slightly pale, skin. "I was thinking something in the atmosphere here might be causing some sort of acceleration in my blood cells or something," Steel told him.

"...I... guess that makes sense..." Nyte said. "This never happened on Terra?"

"Well, then I remembered how the battle with East caused me to limp for a day. When I met up with you guys that day I was having a hard time. Hours later, it was gone, and I never even noticed."

"Aha," Nyte said, as he nodded.

"There were several months I only remember bits and pieces of back on Terra, after I met you guys. You all said I 'woke up' or whatever that day I attacked Jan. So what the hell was I doing all those months? And does it have anything to do with this?" he said, as he gestured at his legs.

"I... have no idea," Nyte admitted. "You did have a real big thing for tea, though. Oh, and you thought Jan was your mother."

Steel cleared his throat. "She does inspire that sentiment in me, of course, but to believe her my mother..."

"If she reminds you of your mother, then why...?"

"Hard to explain, really. Jan has..." Steel paused to think for a moment, then continued. "...a certain gentleness to her. That gentleness is the only thing I remember about my mother." He shook his head. "I need to get you guys together at some point, and figure out what the hell happened."

"Maybe we can get together, and go over details at dinner?"

"That'd be nice. I have to know what's going on."

Nyte nodded. "Alright, so we'll get together and hopefully something can be figured out... Anyway, I need sleep, so seeya tonight?"

"Yeah, thanks for your time. In the meantime, I must use this new ability wisely... to scare the hell outta random people. Anyways, night Nyte!"

"G'nite!" Nyte said, as he smiled and nodded while Steel got a weird smile on his face as he headed out into the hall. Nyte closed the door behind him, and went back to bed, ignoring the sound of people screaming about excessive bleeding from out in the hallway, as well as the laughter that followed.

Steel considered using his new trick to freak Janine out, but then realized that she would probably hurt him beyond anything this freakish new healing ability could mend. Instead, he wisely chose to simply retire back to his room, leaving only the disturbed people in the hallway in his wake.

***

A few hours later, Nytetrayn woke up, refreshed, but drowsy. The timing was fortunate, as only shortly after, Celeste returned to the room the two shared.

"Hiya," Nyte said as his girlfriend entered.

"Hi," she replied. "Have a good sleep?"

Sleepily, Nyte replied "yeah" through a yawn. "S'what's new?"

"Not much," she said. "Jan and I just went to do some... 'shopping'. Didn't really get much of anything. I think she cleared out the lingerie shop, though."

"So then..." Nyte began. "What's with the bag?"

"Er... nothing," Celeste replied nervously. Nyte raised an eyebrow, and Celeste's head drooped before she dropped the bag on the bed. "Jan gave it to me. Said it wouldn't fit her," she said with a defeated expression.

Once it clicked, Nyte's eyes widened, and he peeked inside the bag. Then he closed it, as he felt the need to fight off a sudden nosebleed. "That... was nice... of her..." he said.

Celeste was some shade of scarlet by this point, and Nyte coughed. "Yeah," he said. "Anyway, we'll... er, save that. For later. I guess."

"Er, yeah... right," she replied bashfully.

At that moment, the pair received a beep on the watches they'd been given by Edge. Nyte responded on his, with Celeste looking over his shoulder. As it turned out, it seemed that the red Mechadrake had paged everyone in their group, as the holographic vid windows formed a grid emanating from the watch's face.

"Hey guys, come in... you there? Sound off if so," Edge said.

"I'm here," Nyte said. "Me, too," Celeste added.

Black Steel removed a knife from the group of seven in his arm, just some of the many sharp things he'd been using to puncture himself while out on his room's balcony. "Hmmm? What's this, then?" he said, before heeding the summon and answering Edge with a simple "Yep."

Adam had been out and about, exploring the shining metropolis on foot. Despite his Digger armor and large sword, he didn't seem to garther many, if any, of the strange looks he expected to be confronted with. As he wandered down one street and took in the sights, he seemingly shrugged to himself and whispered "No, I'm not finding them. Not right now, anyway. Maybe later. Look, let's just enjoy the city for now, okay, Blade?"

As the beep came through his watch, he responded to Edge's query with "Yeah? Go ahead."

Elsewhere in the hotel, Janine answered from under the pile of shopping bags she was carrying. "I'm here."

Finally, in one of the city's bars, a pair of beeps came across the watches belonging to Fenix and MegaMan Magnus. "Ooh, I'm being paged," mused the latter, waggling his finger in anticipation before accepting the call.

"Technology sucks," Fenix said, answering it. "WAAAZZZAAAAP?!" the two bellowed in chorus.

"Cripes, do they still do that back there?" Edge asked in a mix of bewilderment and amazement.

"Unfortunately," Steel said.

"Much to the dismay of everyone," Adam added.

"I think it's cute!" Janine offered cheerfully, earning an awkward silence from her boyfriend.

Clearing his throat, Edge continued. "Erm, yeah. Anyway, hope you guys don't have plans tonight. The Commander was interested in all of us getting together for dinner. Something nice, mostly a chance to eat well and maybe get to know each other's' respective camps a little better, y'know?"

"What time?" asked Adam.

"About half past 20. That good for you guys?"

Checking the time to see that it was about 14:00, Adam told him "That's fine."

"Works for me," Janine said.

"Sounds good to us," Nytetrayn replied.

"I'll be there," Steel said, as he removed another knife.

"That'll be long enough for us to pee, right?" Fenix asked his new drinking buddy.

"I sure hope so."

"We're good."

"Alright then, I guess we'll see you guys there. Edge, over and – oh, I almost forgot. Tonight's a rare event: a double full moon, when both moons are fully visible in the sky. Hopefully you'll get to catch it, it's quite a sight."

"Now then, Edge, over and out," he said, exiting the call.

As Nyte exited the call, Celeste sensed something was amiss. "Nervous?"

"A little..."

"Don't worry, it'll be alright," she assured him, putting her hand on his.

"Yeah, sure. Bet 'dad' will love hearing more about all I've done with myself. 'So what do you do now?' 'I dig up big, shiny rocks!'" he said with a big, sarcastic smile, before dropping the expression. "Yegh..."

Celeste gave him a stern look. "Come on, you do more than that. And those 'big, shiny rocks' are important," she said, adding "Back on Terra, anyway."

"Yeah, I guess so," Nyte said. "I dunno. Here, he's been exploring the galaxy, founding new worlds, and leading his people in wars across space and time. And all that time, I've just been... rotting."

Celeste hugged Nyte. "Don't worry," she said. "Things will be fine."

***

Adam ended the communication, and began walking again. However, he didn't get very far before being bowled over by a Reploid who seemed to be in a bit of a hurry.

"Oh!" she said as she stopped in her tracks and turned to help Adam to his feet. "I'm sorry!"

"Ow," Adam said as he got to his feet. "Did anyone get the number of that truck?"

Once he was steady, he looked over – and up at – his assailant/savior. She was like nothing he'd ever seen before, not even aboard the Avions' base ship. She stood well over six feet, and looked like... well, like a lot of things. She had feathered wings of red and yellow hues, and birdlike talons on her feet, but with catlike ears that poked up through her wild, long black hair, and a tail that seemed more catlike, at least until it reached the tip, where it flared out. Despite all these animalistic features, she otherwise seemed humanlike – well, mostly. The features of her face, right down to her yellow eyes, felt like a subtle blend of human and feline.

"Are you sure you're alright?" she asked. "I was moving pretty fast, and–"

"I'm fine," Adam said, cutting her off. "So, what's the rush?"

"Oh, I was on my way to the gym to get in some training..."

"Training?"

"Yeah, I do it a couple of times a week. Have to stay in peak fighting form. After all, you can never be too careful, right?"

"I... guess?"

The Reploid lady looked Adam up and down, and noticed the sword he was carrying across his back. "Hmm... say, you wouldn't be interested in coming along, would you?"

"What? Why?"

"Well, for starters, you have that huge sword strapped to your back, so..."

"Oh, him? He's just along for the ride," Adam said right before wincing, as he realized he might have said too much.

It did not go unnoticed, as the lady asked "Did you just say 'him'?" with widened eyes.

"Er, yeah," Adam said, as he rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Long story, that..."

"Uh... huh," she said, as she continued eyeing him with curiosity and intrigue. "Well, you've got my attention, now. Why don't you come with me, and we can talk about it on the way there? I'm Katrina, by the way."

For a moment, Adam wasn't sure what to do, but soon shrugged and decided to go along with it. With a nod, he told her "My name is Adam, Adam Powers. And this," he said as he pointed to the sword on his back, "is MegaMan Blade."

"MegaMan?" Katrina asked, to which Adam nodded. After considering this for a moment, Katrina shook it off and said "Well, let's get going," and led the way to the gym.

***

Back at the hotel, Steel looked at the time. "Guess I'll go meet up with the others, and see if any of 'em have plans."

Soon, Nytetrayn responded to a knocking at his room's door. "Yeeeeees...?" he said as he opened it, whereupon he was met with the sight of an angsty Digger with five different knives sticking out of him.

The two looked at each other for a moment, before Nyte turned behind himself and shouted "CEL! COME QUICK! IT'S SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG!"

Turning back, the younger Digger continued. "Mr. Hedgehog, sir, I'm a big fan, and I..."

As Steel's expression deflated, Celeste walked over to the doorway, and said with a disturbed expression of her own, "Eww, Steel... what have you done to yourself?"

"Still testing some things Cel."

"Some things? Like what?"

"Like the wounds here being gone in approximately half an hour."

"Huh? Are you kidding me?"

"Nope, he's serious," Nyte said. "We were going to save it for dinner, but..."

Celeste gave Nyte an odd look.

Steel shook his head, and gestured to the mark left by the first knife he had removed ten minutes ago. It was already well on its way to healing. Celeste wasn't sure how else to react to that but with a wince.

"This could be very beneficial to me," he said. "Providing there's not some catch to this that doesn't kill me."

Nyte nodded. "Yeah, that'd kinda suck."

"The more I think about it, the more I think that maybe I should see a doctor," Steel said. "I'd like to at least know what's going on here. I should go get Jan..."

"Maybe," Celeste said, semi-confirming his notion.

And with that, he sought out his girlfriend.

After a bit of searching, he finally found her, still somehow making her way back to their room as she struggled with the load she'd burdened herself with. Steel casually stepped in and lifted the bulk of them, hanging a few from the knives in his arm.

"Eep! Oh, hi, hon–oh my word, what is going on with your arm?!"

"Oh that? New body piercing. You like?"

"You stabbed yourself in the frickin' arm."

"Multiple times!" he cheerfully pointed out. "However, there is a method to this insanity."

"Oh, do tell," Janine said, resting her chin in her hand, with her arm resting in her elbow.

"You'll note that I have only a scratch towards the top portion of my arm, and a smaller marking above it. That's where the first knife went about twenty minutes ago."

Surprise and bewilderment crept over Janine's face. "You've got accelerated healing?!"

"Somehow, yes."

"But... that... I mean, it oughta... you..." She took a breath. "I've only known techno-organics and nanite-enhanced people to be able to do something like that."

"I've never known anyone to do this," Steel said. "Which is why it's starting to worry the hell out of me. I'm going to see a doctor soon, figure out if this is good or bad. If there are no side effects, then my digging days will become much more interesting..."

Janine nodded, though she was still worried. "Hmmm... maybe I should have a checkup while I'm here too," she pondered out loud. "I've been feeling... well..."

"Not so fresh? Don't worry, I get it..."

Janine raised an eyebrow at him. "I mean I think there's... something not working right. Inside of me."

"Oh! Of course... wait, something's wrong inside of you?!" Steel looked worried now. "Yes... I think we should both go. That worries me... a lot. Maybe here, with the advanced sciences, you'll find an answer."

Janine nodded silently.

"C'mon, I don't think we should wait much longer," he said, all but forgetting his own reasons for wanting to go. "The more I think about this, the more it upsets me..."

"Right," Janine said. "I'll just put these in our room... and you go and get those things out of your arm!"

"Hells no," Steel said, as he opened the door to their suite and carefully set the bags down on the bed. "If it turns out this could be threatening, the least I can do is enjoy it at the expense of others."

"Okay," Janine said, resigned.

Steel paused. "...alright, I'll take them out if they bother you." He proceeded to pull the knives out, and bandaged the wounds with cloth for the time being, though knew he wouldn't need it for very long.

"Thanks," Janine said appreciatively.

***

Elsewhere in the city, Katrina led the way as Adam trailed behind her, the two chatting idly as they went. Upon reaching the training gym, the pair entered an empty sparring room.

"You... want to spar with me?" Adam said as his eyes widened behind his shades, wondering what he'd gotten himself into.

"Yeah, that's basically why I wanted to bring you here," Katrina told him. "I want to see how you handle a sword that size."

Adam rolled his neck and made a show of limbering up, even though his mechanical limbs didn't really benefit from that so much. "Alright," he said, "if that's what you want." He took a glance at his watch. "I can spar with you for a bit, but I still want to see more of the city. And I've got this dinner thing I need to be at in around six hours."

"Tell you what," Katrina said, doing a little warming up of her own. "You spar with me, and I'll give you a personal guided tour of the city. How's that grab you?"

Adam smirked. "Sounds fun," he said, before reaching behind him and drawing the sword housing the spirit of his partner, MegaMan Blade.

As he did this, Katrina grinned and drew from her wings a long pair of feathers, though upon closer observation, they appeared to be weapons, bladed near the tip. "Ready?"

Adam nodded, and with that, she wasted no time dashing at the Digger, blades leading, ready to strike. Adam grinned as he side-stepped Katrina's advance, and smacked her with the flat of his blade as she passed, throwing her off-balance with a grunt. "Maybe this won't be so bad," he thought to himself.

Katrina managed to catch herself, and leaped at the wall in order to rebound back at Adam once again, this time from the air. Adam caught her blades with his own, locking up and testing each other's strength.

"You... you're stronger than you look," she said.

"Back atcha," he said. "But then again, you are a Reploid, yeah? So that's not much of a surprise."

Katrina quietly pondered her next move, before breaking the lock and delivering a somersaulting axe kick from above, which sent Adam flying into the far wall with a grunt before falling to the floor.

As he picked himself up off the ground, Katrina looked on, amused. "That was fun," she said, looking like she'd had enough to satisfy her curiosity.

However, Adam wasn't quite ready to move on just yet. "Sure was... how 'bout another round?" he asked, as he suddenly whipped his left arm up and let off a round from his blaster.

Eyes widened, Katrina was caught off-guard by this, but not so much that she was unable to deftly evade the attack, while Adam rushed at her in the hopes of delivering a follow-up.

"If you want to play that way," she said, whipping an arm at Adam and releasing a fireball from it.

Adam's eyes widened in turn, as he hit the brakes and held up his sword, deflecting the flaming sphere at the ceiling instead. Katrina followed up by flying in and locking her weapons with Adam's yet again. He grit his teeth and pushed his blade against hers, bracing his legs as internal motors whirred, and gradually pushed her back a bit.

Katrina allowed this to go on for a moment before putting a stop to it, and pushed him back the other way, then gave a further shove with her blades, sending the Digger stumbling backwards.

As Adam regained his balance, he noted Katrina was now just watching him, and he frowned. "Why didn't you follow up?"

"Your strength is surprising, but we're just sparring. And, well, if I did, I might have killed you..."

"Oh, I don't know about–"

"Trust me."

Adam shrugged. "Fine. So let's kick this up a notch."

"Yeah, you do that."

Adam activated the flight mechanism in his legs, and blasted off over Katrina to the other side of the room, where he hovered with his sword at the ready and a cocky smirk across his face.

"Didn't think those were for show," Katrina said, as she returned to the air and sped towards Adam, weapons at the ready.

Adam sped toward Katrina, and slashed at her midsection, though she was able to catch the attempt and push the blade away with a midair spin. Adam came back on the rebound in a tight curve, going after her with a mad grin.

Katrina smiled as she flipped over this attempt, and delivered a kick to his back before speeding away. She was clearly enjoying herself.

The kick sent Adam spiraling down to the floor, but he caught himself before impact, and gave chase. The pair continued to fly around, sometimes laughing as they exchanged offense and defense for the next hour or so.

Eventually, the pair landed, stowing away their weapons.

Adam was panting, but sported a huge grin. "That was great."

"A fine workout. And now, I believe I owe you a tour," the Reploid said, as she led the way out of the facility.

***

Meanwhile, elsewhere again, Nytetrayn and Celeste were getting ready for the night ahead by just resting and relaxing together by watching TV on the sofa, occasionally locking lips during the commercials.

After a bit of that, Celeste decided that maybe a quick nap was in order before they got ready for the dinner. Nytetrayn was happy to join her in that.

***

Somewhere else entirely, Fenix took a whiz on the foot of a statue erected in honor of Mega Man X, with MegaMan Magnus encouraging his companion to do what he could not. "He's too ugly to be of any relation to me," the Annihilator model declared.

Shortly thereafter, a chase involving the local police ensued.

***

Another elsewhere altogether, Steel and Janine arrived at a building which sported a sign that read "Medical Facilities."

Steel looked at the sign, and said "Damn, I see subtlety is not a respected art here."

"Indeed," Janine said.

The two entered the lobby of the building, and Steel made his way to the receptionist, with Janine hanging on to him, somewhat apprehensive. "I have stab wounds," he said, "and she's got something wrong inside of her."

Janine smacked herself in the forehead.

The receptionist winced. "E... excuse me?"

Steel sighed. "We'd like to see a doctor, please."

"Al... right," the receptionist said. "But you'll have to wait; there are many others already in line before you."

Steel looked at Jan, his concern gnawing at him. Then, inspiration struck. He took out the ID card Edge had given him, and pointed out that the two of them were honored guests.

"Ah, I see..." she said. 'Well, I suppose we can find someone to spare."

As Janine squeezed Steel's arm, he added "Look... I'm not trying to put myself above the rest of these people, or play off some superiority complex, but I'm worried sick here about her. And if I don't know something soon... I'm just not gonna be able to take it. So please, help us out."

"I understand, sir. Alright, we'll get one of the doctors ASAP. Please step back into Waiting Room B-12."

"Thank you, ma'am," Steel said, as Janine denoted her own gratitude before the pair went to where they were instructed.

Inside the denoted waiting room, the pair took in the stark, bland whiteness of it all. While it was enough to make him sweat a bit, Janine felt oddly at home here.

"Ugh," Steel grunted. "It's like everything is tissue in here."

"Look on the bright side," Janine offered. "At least it's hygienic."

Steel looked over at several instruments. Not that he could tell which ones were alien and which ones were not, but he felt like several were designed for removing internal organs.

"This is more like what I'm used to, rather than the hospitals back home," Janine said. "Well, as much as I can be used to anything after being stuck in that oversized Jack-in-the-box for centuries, that is."

"Oh?"

"Yeah," she said. "I don't know which was more advanced, but I wasn't expecting nanite injectors or hypsosprays on a planet populated by Reploids."

"Nor I. But they did mention that they have organics here as well, and some combination of the two."

At that point, the doctor entered the room, and Janine breathed a sigh of relief as she said "Oh, thank God, this one's wearing pants."

Both Steel and the doctor gave her baffled and bemused looks as she turned red and smiled sheepishly as she tried to shrink away and out of existence.

Steel quickly turned his attention back to the doctor, and the matter at hand, as the medical practitioner introduced himself "Hello there, and sorry to keep you waiting. I'm Doctor Freid, and I understand you two are officials of the government. I'll see what I can do for you."

"Thank you for seeing us," Steel said.

"Not a problem," the Freid assured him. "So, which of you wants to be examined first? I'd call in an assistant, but I'm afraid we're a bit short handed."

"Look at him first," Janine said, as she pointed a Steel. "His condition is more serious than mine."

"Not true," Steel said, as a drop of blood dripped off his arm onto the white surface.

"You're bleeding, dumbass."

The doctor raised an eyebrow at this. "Accident?"

"Something of that nature," Steel said, before explaining the situation.

"Hmmmm," the doctor said, pondering this as he examined Steel's arm. That's... something I've never heard of. Without artificial assistance, I mean. Do you have any cyber enhancements, or such?"

"Ha!" Steel laughed. "Cyber enhancements? No, not to my knowledge."

"Hmmm, then I'd like to run some prelim tests," Freid said as he poked away at the screen of a handheld device "Go down to the X-ray department. Tell them Freid sent you, and requires results ASAP."

"Very well," Steel said, as he took the paper and looked back at Janine, apprehensive about leaving her. Or being alone in this white Hell, for that matter.

Noting this, Janine asked "Can I go with him?"

"I'm sorry," the doctor said, "but I really think it would save us some time if I went ahead with your examination. I know it must concern you, but we really do have quite a few patients waiting."

"I understand, Doc. Jan, I'll be right back..."

Janine nodded, slowly. "Alright..."

***

Not far from two elsewheres ago, Katrina led the way as she showed Adam all the best places in the city, from both the ground and in the air. Eventually, the pair found themselves in front of a statue of none other than Mega Man X.

"This is a statue of Mega Man X, the very first Reploid," she told him with a faraway look in her eyes. "He was the one who ensured our escape from Sigma when we left Earth..."

As Adam stared at the statue, she continued "I... I wonder what ever happened to him." Katrina turned towards him. "That sword you carry... you called it 'MegaMan Blade'. Is it... he... of any relation?"

Adam paused for a moment, then told her "No... I mean, I don't think so."

"Oh," Katrina said, as she looked down for a moment, a little forlorn. Then, just as suddenly, she looked back up. "So, where's this dinner you said you're supposed to be at tonight?"

"Eh? Oh, um, it's at the capitol."

"Oh, really? Must be pretty important. Hmm... I think I'll go with you. I need to check in and see how MoonRazor is doing, anyway."

With that, Adam and Katrina took off in the direction of the capitol building, but not before Adam took one last look at the statue of X, pondering.

***

Back at the hospital, Janine followed Dr. Freid into another room, where he scanned her arm with some sort of, from what she could tell, analyzer.

"Hmm, interesting..." the doctor said.

"What is?"

"Have you suffered any trauma to this appendage recently?"

"Well, there was the time I got the skin ripped off my arm by a power-mad would-be dictator ex-boyfriend... does that count?"

The doctor looked up at her, before resuming his study. "I'd say so. Hmm..." After another moment of study, he looked up again. "The skin has grown back well, and integrated itself with the rest nicely. There are telltale signs on a microscopic level that it's newer skin, but otherwise, everything seems to check out."

"So you don't see anything wrong with me?"

"Well, not on a biological surface level, no. We would need to do further analysis on your internal structure to delve deeper into the matter."

"Okay," Janine said. "Let's do that. I've got some other questions, too..."

From there, Janine went on to take a battery of tests and scans, which were surprisingly brisk. Before long, she and Dr. Freid were in front of a readout screen, studying the results.

"I'll be honest with you," he told her. "I've never seen a design quite like yours before, so I'm not sure whether or not these readouts are normal."

"They aren't," Janine said with grim confidence. "At least, they aren't for me. These levels..." she said as she pointed at one part of the chart, "they should be higher."

"Do your power levels tend to drop following a battle?"

"Not like this. Not this much, this long. I... I should have recovered by now."

"Hmm. Going by the fluctuations in the readings here, it looks like your generators... I don't think they've been damaged, per se, but they don't quite seem to be working correctly."

"I bet it's rapid deterioration of the fuel cells. Dammit! That asshole didn't just drain my energy, he got my reserves, too!"

"It looks like it was only for your weapons systems, so I don't think it will put your health in jeopardy, and you still have some degree of superhuman strength due to your enhanced musculature, for handling your endoskeleton." Freid turned to Janine. "Is it possible to recharge the drained cells?"

"I... I don't know," Janine said as she hung her head and sighed. "I've never actually needed to before."

Lifting her head back up, she continued. "Thanks anyway, Dr. Freid. I appreciate the help."

Freid offered her his condolences, and then the two went off to find Steel. As they neared the room where he was being checked on, they could hear shouting from the hallway.

"I don't give a damn what that paper says! There is no freaking way that needle is going anywhere near my freaking skin!"

Janine raised an eyebrow, as she and the doctor hurried to their destination. There, they found Steel rebuking violent threats at the rather annoyed-looking nurses, who were standing by, poised with needles at the ready.

"Oh, I can tell this is going to be good," Janine said.

"Sir," said one nurse, "if we don't get a blood sample, then we can't finish the tests!"

"Screw tests!" Steel shouted. "That's what school was for! Just use your laser-thingies to... zap out... something!"

"Oh-kay, this I gotta hear," Janine said. "Why is someone who has spent all day sticking knives into his arm so afraid of getting stuck with a little needle?"

"Because they hurt. A lot."

Janine stared at Steel awkwardly, and he stared back, before breaking the silence. "What?!"

Janine started to open her mouth to say something, but then shut it before trying – and failing – again, before eventually stammering. "I... what... how..."

"Oh alright," he said as he held out his arm. "Just take the damn blood."

"Would it be more to your liking if they knifed you, and got their sample that way?"

Steel drew his arm back as he pondered this for a moment. "Yes, actually."

Janine stared slack-jawed. "But... but it's bigger!"

While Steel was distracted, one of the nurses grabbed him around the neck, and the other quickly jabbed his arm and extracted the blood before he knew what was going on.

"Yeah, bu-- SONOFA!" Steel would have continued with his thought, but he was too busy clenching his tiny needle wound. "Ow, dammit." After composing himself, he stood up, tugged the sides of his shirt as he would a jacket, in a self-assured way, and said "Ahem. I want a damn soda."

He then marched out of the room, now that the "blood-suckers" had gotten what they wanted from him, leaving Janine standing there, completely stupefied.

Out in the lobby past the waiting rooms, Steel sucked down a weird beverage he discovered called "Dracoke".

"...the hell?" he thought, as he looked at the beverage container. "Military government or not, this has gone too far..." He took another sip. "Still tasty, though."

The doctor returned shortly after a quick wait, followed by Janine and a little frazzled as he passed through the nurse's station. "Mister... Steel?" he called out.

"Yeah?"

"First, allow me to say that you have... quite an interesting companion there."

"Yeah, I hear that a lot," Steel said, as he took another swig of his refreshment. "Cut to the chase, doctor: What the hell's up with this mess?"

"Well, I'm certain you know what nanites are, correct?"

"Yeah?"

"Then you should also know that your blood cells are sharing space with them."

Steel spat out his drink. "Wha?!"

Janine looked on, surprised, though she'd felt this wasn't completely unexpected.

The doctor continued. "A large number of them, in fact. Oddly enough, they appear to be able to self-replicate. From my initial tests, I gather that they sustain a particular number, necessary to interact with your body and... repair your bodily tissue when it is harmed."

Steel looked on in quiet bewilderment, before once again uttering a lower "...wha?"

"Basically, you're ripping off any number of comic book heroes just by living," the doctor told him.

Steel's expression deflated, while Janine couldn't help but smirk. "Uh, you wanna stop messing around, and explain to me exactly how I've got these things?" he asked.

"Well, now, that I can't answer," the doctor said. "Perhaps you had enhancements, and don't remember them after a drunken binge? Perhaps a party gone too far?"

"...are you a doc, or a comedian?"

"I think it should be obvious that I am both."

"...I'm in Hell," Steel said as he tilted his head back to look to the sky, as if for answers, only for his gaze to be met with ceiling tiles. Janine covered her smile with her hand.

"Seriously, though, Mr. Steel, you have nothing to worry about. The nanites have obviously been with you for a long time. At this point, they're likely an accepted element in your body, and grow with you – evolving, as it were. It's more likely you never even noticed their activity. Tell me, when was the last time something like sickness hit you?"

"Alright, good point," Steel said. "Although, there was one time..." He shook his head. "Never mind. Thanks for your help, doc."

"My pleasure. Now if you'll excuse me, I have several patients waiting for me. I'm sure you'd like to discuss your partner's results," Dr. Freid said before departing back into the depths of the medical facility.

Steel wandered outside, prodded by the staff, along with Janine.

"So," he said. "Are you alright?"

Janine nodded.

"What did they tell you?"

"I'm perfectly fine!" she said. "The doctor gave me a clean bill of health!"

"Thank God," Steel said, as he took her by the hands, pulled her in close, and held her in his arms. "I'm sorry, but I was really worried. I mean, to suddenly think that you could have something wrong..."

While enjoying the attention, Janine tightly hugged him. "I'm just glad that you're okay. Heck, better than okay! You have a healing factor! That kicks ass!" With a smirk, she added "I wondered why that bite mark on your shoulder healed so fast..."

Steel perked up. "Hey, yeah!" Then he raised an eyebrow at her with a worried expression. "Wait a minute... does this mean you're gonna bite me more?!"

"No," she chuckled.

"Ah, good," he said, relieved. "Not that it'd be a problem or anything," he said, as he remembered the pain of that moment.

"Same amount," she grinned.

Steel paled slightly.

"I already told you, I didn't mean to bite down that hard," she said, flustered. "You were just so... so..."

"Aaaaack, not in public," Steel said, looking around to see who might be listening.

Janine giggled, and the pair made their way back to the hotel to prepare for the night ahead.

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