Before activating the nanites, Erik asked a nurse to stay on stand-by with sedatives. He had no idea what to expect in terms of reactions from the patient, this being the first trial with a new technology. He looked at Valders, she nodded, and then all the tension started rising as he pressed one last button on the main console.
The first few moments after this felt like time was frozen... Erik was looking at the man's left arm - what was left of it, that is - expectantly, Come on... he thought to himself. Then, extremely thin layers of green started to appear in the holo-projection from the console. Erik's mind started racing as he turned to look at it and then he checked the numbers. YES. The nanites were working. He turned towards the patient again and there it was... visible progress. Slow, indeed, but you could see - with the naked eye - that tissue was starting to "grow" out of the nub. In the middle, grey-ish bones were taking shape... and just after muscles would start engulfing them.
As minutes passed, the upper arm started coming into shape, slow and steady. Frederick would occasionally moan from pain, to which Valders commented "It's most likely the new nerve cells that are forming that send him pain responses. It's like he has an open wound right now." One of the nurses agreed and applied a moderate sedative. Still, there was no blood coming out of the newly appearing veins, since some of the nanites had temporarily blocked any blood entry points.
After 81 minutes, the nanites had managed to completely reform the man's arm, just beyond his elbow. Everything seemed to be working fine up to this point, even if slower than anticipated, but the main console started flashing. Erik quickly checked it and spoke with a worried tone "Oh my. Apparently the stem-cell cloning process is degrading due to the long usage of the same base samples. If we let it continue like this, there's a chance the rest of his arm might be distorted and nonfunctional." - he tapped a few keys - "Hold on... I'll try to slow the nanites down. Might at least buy us some time."
Obviously, Frederick started to worry, growing slightly agitated, which in turn made some of the others tense as well. Valders looked at Doreen and voiced "Doctor, we'll need another bone-marrow sample to set up a new set of nanites. The quicker the better."
Corvin Estate, New Thessalonica, Planet Yuma, Coronado
5 Aug. 824 A.S.
"So, what are my Mom and your Dad doing? It's been.....forever." "No idea." - Peter replied, with a confused look as well. Only now did he realise it was already noon and he hadn't seen his father since last night. "Uhm, dad's always woLking on something to help people... and your mom is a doctor. Maybe they're helping people togetheL?"
After a few moments of thought, staring at Ben, Peter rose from the couch and asked "Wanna call 'em? Dad says I can always call."
