IRG|Lab006: First tests

[Hans von Goeben]

The foyer of The Ingenuus offers a warm welcome to every spacer's sore eye. At this time of the day, workers, scientists, visitors and secretaries roam the big hall, have rest at the fountain and on benches, or relax in the cafeteria.
Amongst them, two men are walking from the security checkpoint towards the main hallway. The one dressed in a flight suit is the mid-thirty Freelancer Noah Xonnel, brown hair, green eyes and seemingly a bit nervous.
His companion, Hans von Goeben, is a walking beanpole stuck in a white, long laboratory coat. Apparently, he is part of the station's research crew.

"So, Mister Xonnel, welcome onboard Ames.", Hans says cheerfully,"Would you like to have a refreshment before the business part? Or should we directly go to the lab?"

Unsure about what to really expect from the tests, Noah nod at Goeben's welcome, though waving his hand at the offer of a drink. "Thanks, I'm good. Let's get right to it, eh?" He says with a neutral expression, still thinking about the procedure that is gonna be run.

"Righto!", Hans smiles. With great steps, they approach the elevator at the other end of the foyer.

- Inside Lab 006, C&A Department -

The security camera focuses on the two visitors as soon as they have stepped inside the laboratory chamber. Noah Xonnel walks directly to a big, comfy chair in the middle of this room while Hans is preparing medical equipment on a roll table.

The camera is now fixed on Xonnel's position and starts recording.

"Okay, Mister, we have already talked about this procedure...you have nothing to worry about besides tousled hair from the neural cap which will be transmitting motoric signals from your brain and spinal cord to the cybernetic prosthesis...."
The doctor pushes the table next to the examination chair. "Anything else in mind before we start? Once we have started, aborting the procedure will be heavily contra productive."

He looks around the room for a while and eventually back at Goeben. Noah nodded at him, signaling that he's ready. "Let's start this. Quite curious myself..." The man in the black flight suit said, somewhat confident about completing the test without any incidents. "Whenever you're ready, doc."

"Great!" Goeben's mouth disappeared underneath a surgery mask. He lets his long rubber glove quickly flick and grabs a bizarre looking helmet. "I need you to wear this during the tests. It is similar to an EEG, but this one here also allows you to directly control cybernetics with your mind. Just like your natural limbs. Put it on like a normal hat, and make sure to adjust it tightly."

Noah nods as he looks at the helmet. "Alright. Anything else I need to be careful with?"

"Simply relax. Imagine you are in your cockpit on a casual flight or anything else which helps you staying calm." Noah would see another large smile behind Hans' mask. He seems pretty confident about the upcoming procedure. "And once you are connected to the augmentation, I would like you to perform controlled movements only. If your nose itches, tell me. Roger?"

"Got it." Noah says with another nod, his expression as neutral as before. Although, he would also feel a bit excited since he has never done a test like this, thus skipping with his leg in anticipation. Awaiting Goeben to hand him the hat, he'd keep eyes on him, seemingly wanting to get it over with.

The doctor hands over Noah's fashionable new accessory. Even though the helmet looks weird, Noah wouldn't feel anything eerie or different once it is placed and adjusted on his head. The cramped feel is also easily manageable since the whole face except the forehead stays uncovered.

On a long rolling table made of chromed steel, a row of various cybernetic limbs is rolled next to the patient. The first one is obviously a forearm with a hand. The device is already powered and online. Behind a blue, semi-transparent material which is formed like real muscles, white mass is hidden. The synthetic bone structure which harbors complicated electronic systems. All in all, this augmentation's concept is a strange looking copy of a natural arm."Alright, Mister Xonnel...I am good to go. Are you ready to get connected?"
Goeben can't hide his excitement and curiosity...

Noah would stare at the arm on the rolling table for a moment before blinking. He looks back at the doctor and slowly nods with hesitation at first but releases a sigh shortly after to get rid of the tension that was building up due to him not knowing how it would feel like. "I'm all set." He says bluntly while looking back at the synthetic arm.

"Wunderbar..."
The two connectors of the the helmet and the prosthesis are hot-wired now. Noah would notice a quick cold shiver running down his spine in the very moment the plugs are being put together. Control panels and monitors are activated one by one all around the examination chair.
While the room is becoming more and more illuminated by the screens, Hans turns towards his patient.
"We are completely online. How do you feel?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary." Says Noah in response as the room began to lit up, looking infront of him without much motion as he didn't know whether to move or not but managing to relax regardless.

Goeben appears satisfied. He walks over to the largest terminal. Analytics and protocols are running rapidly over the screen. All seems okay.
He comes back and sits down on a chair placed between Noah and his new additional limb. "So far, so good. Now, please close your eyes, concentrate on your breath and slowly turn your arm around its own axis..."

Noah would nod and close his eyes shortly after. Feeling somewhat relaxed still it would pose no problem for him to breath on a regular basis with relatively low frequency. He would then do as Goeben said, turning his arm slowly around its axis until it wasn't possible anymore.

A filigree thrum can be heard, followed by a suppressed glee of joy. "Keep moving like this, Noah, and open your eyes!", Hans whispers excited. Xonnel would see the arm in front of him moving simultaneously with the real one. It's magical; no concentration, no surgeries; no whatnot is needed to operate the machine, not even a directed thought.
Fascinated, Goeben stares in awe. Happiness is written all over his face. After all the hard work, the result is working in front of their eyes.

Noah would blink after he opened his eyes, blinking as he saw the artificial arm move like his. He would clench a fist a couple of times to see if the fingers would move the same as well and how it would handle slight amounts of pressure. Doing all sorts of movements with his hand and arm, Noah would still move slowly and careful since he wouldn't want to break anything. "Interesting..." He mumbles as he kept on moving the hand, although not feeling anything in particular.

"Indeed, Noah...even more than interesting, heheee..."
Hans rubs his hands. "Now, please do some more rapid movements. Draw circles with the index finger, snap your finger, or move quickly. While moving with your other arm or leg. I have to see if the augmentation reacts only to the specific motoric cluster assigned to your right arm."

Noah nods again and would start snapping with his fingers, basically doing what the doctor told him to do, generally moving his arm around faster while also dropping his tension on the rest of his body to move more freely. After a couple of different movements, Noah would clench his hand to a fist again and, with a faster pace, would let it hit the palm of his other hand.

"Now that...", a wolfish smile shows on Hans' lips,"...is exactly what I wanted to see. You seem to have a talent for this. Or at least your somatic nervous system, heh."
He stands up and reaches for the artificial hand. "Now for fine motor skills, Noah. Let's shake hands...gently, please. I do not want to be the first one in need for a new hand."

"Right..." Noah would carefully do as Goeben said, watching closely as he opens the hand back up to receive the doctor's one. Knowing that he could probably crush his hand with the artificial one he was controlling, he would be extra careful to not move his hand uncontrolled.

Shaking hands feels like grabbing tough gelatin when its creator is welcomed softly by his own product. Noah has done a great job so far. Control, transmission and motoric stimulation have never been better thanks to his qualities and improvement of the prototype.
Hans quips. "Heh, glad to meet you, Noah. Now...", the doctor grabs a bouncy ball and places it inside the artificial hand,"...squeeze as hard as you can. With the gloves off, literally."

As the doctor removes his hand again, Noah would briefly glance at his own hand, feeling a bit weird that he just shook hands with someone via a neural connections but also thinking that it was positive progress at some point. Looking back at the artificial hand as soon as Goeben would place a bouncy ball in it, Noah would nod and starts closing his hand rather firmly, wondering what would happen and if the machine had strength beyond that of humans.

Xonnel already clenched the hand to a fist before, but as soon as he has surpassed a certain degree of pressure, the muscular mass suddenly turns grey. The bouncing ball's material starts to ooze from the top and bottom like melted gum. A second later, the arm has turned completely black...and Noah holds pieces of what once was an indestructible toy for children.
Hans frowns. "Hmmm...this still happens too quick...the boost should start later than that..." He rubs his stubble-bearded chin.

Watching the ball slowly give in to the pressure of the artificial hand, he would frown as well, thinking it would be lethal to anything it could squeeze with muscle power like this. He opens the hand back up and looks at the doctor, nodding. "That's...quite the pressure indeed.." He says, wondering if the boost he mentioned was the inhuman strength displayed by the artificial hand.

"Well! That's all what we need for the arm.", Goeben looks at the monitors,"...that is more data and practical insight we had in these few minutes than we had in days of theoretical approach. I am pretty optimistic about your role as a tester. You should thank your mom and dad for such an adaptable nervous system!"
The following procedures for the other limbs are similar: Connection, routine movements and special tasks. Noah had to run on spot when hotwired with the artificial leg, make weird strains for the spine replacement and last but not least, was connected to a full set of arms and legs...

Disregarding Goeben's comment on his parents, Noah would shrug, not really seeming like he would want to talk about that. The following procedures proved to be handled quite easily by Noah as well, requiring little amounts of energy from his part as he was mentally and physically trained to begin with. When he got connected to the full set he would equally try to watch what he was doing, not wanting to damage anything or make too sudden movements.

After testing the full set for a while, Noah would slow down a bit and turn his head towards Goeben, wondering if this was actually something related to his increased activity due to the cardamine addiction or just a result of a capable mind. "So, once these tests are over, I suppose you will conduct additional ones? It's not like I'm in need of these limbs, so what'd be in for me in the end? I didn't agree to this just because of science, you know..."

While he is scribbling notes on a paper, he answers without looking up. "Oh, of course you do it for science, Mister Xonnel. Afterall, you will be paid by science in return.", Hans looks to Noah now, "...you see, the test we are doing right now are...hmmm...let's say, a side-product of your presence here on our station. You are, due to your anatomy, the perfect tester for the cybernetics. But worry not, another cell will repay you for your effort. From what I've heard, the Advanced Systems Department needs a sample of your mutated myelin sheath for producing a new generation of biochip. I guess this will help you, or your ship.", the doctor suddenly gestures wildly, "Faster reaction time, real-time combat analysis, a highly effective ship AI...I don't know what they are up to, but I guess this is how you will get rewarded. I thought you had already talked about that with the boss, McCool?"

Noah sighs and slightly shakes his head. "It was vague at best. What I originally wondered about was if there is a way to use my mutation to help against the Nomads. Fight fire with water, sort of. Increasing my reaction time and other biological changes are not something I asked for, nor am I in need of. It's about the bigger picture, doc. That's why I agreed with this to begin with..." Noah says as he lifts his hand to look at it, closing it and opening it a couple of times before looking back at the doctor. "The cardamine already did enough to me personally... and I still wanna rely on myself without technology."

Hans shows a smile. "Oh, with this technology here...", he nods towards the tested limbs,"...you still rely on yourself. Because those can part of yourself. But I know what you mean. We also have more...less self-changing models. But about your mutation..."

Goeben shrugs. "It made you physically better, yes, but I really do not know how to use it directly...without use of technology, that is. Besides, I am not the expert on Nomad-related research on this station, Mister Xonnel."

"Right, that's fine." Noah says with a sigh as he looks at the cybernetics near him. "If it's not something major like artificial limbs, like the biochip you mentioned, I could see myself trying that out. Increased reflexes and combat analysis could come in handy in the future... a better ship AI would indeed be nice as well. Whatever's in the realm of possibilities... as long as it's nothing that'll ultimately distract me or weaken my own senses that is..." He looks back at Goeben as he speaks, wondering how much of a difference the augmentations would make should they get implanted.

"The whole concept of my technology bases on the idea to replace natural organs, limbs and functions with artificial ones. What sense would be in doing so if the user doesn't feel comfortable when using them? The whole point of the replacement, and even improvement, would be failed. So do not worry, Noah, I guarantee that minor augmentations won't make a difference to your own well-being and fitness."

"I guess. Technology tends to be intimidating for me most of the times. So, apologies about that. If what you said is true I'm up for trying those slight enhancements. I guess they'd have to get fabricated first though, right?"

"Indeed." While speaking, Hans switches off the last cybernetics. The test seems to be over for now. "We first have to craft those...and adapt them to your systems. Afterall, your cardamine-mutated nerves are more sensitive. Some calibration are needed. But this should all be possible within a few days."

Noah nods and releases a quiet sigh as he sees the cybernetics getting shut down. "Hm, alright. I guess it'd include simple scans this way around, eh?"

"Again, correct. Though the preparation and surgery has to be done by the medical department. And the software by the A.S. department. We should talk to McCool about this."

"Indeed. So, can I take off the cap, since we're done?" He asks, looking around him as there is nothing else left to test.

After having left the equipment in the laboratory, Noah walks out through the door they came from together with the doctor. All of this went more smoothly than Noah anticipated, resulting in him releasing a relieved sigh when they walked out. Still thinking about what kind of augmentation would be offered to him exactly after a couple of days, he turned his head towards Goeben who was walking next to him. "So, I guess there'll be a new appointment then, huh?"

Hans cleans his oily hand with a white handkerchief. "Most likely, Mister Xonnel. I still have to adjust the finer motoric movements. If you are willed to continue testing in the near future, I will let you know over the NeuralNet."

Noah nods. "Right, sounds good. I'll be seeing you, then." Noah would shake hands with Goeben after he was done cleaning himself up. With another nod, Noah then proceeds to the docking bay where his Eagle rested, getting into the cockpit and eventually flying back into space. While all of this was somewhat tiring, he also felt accomplished in a slight way, hoping it wouldn't be long until they next meet and eventually work in the augmentations.