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Fragile Bindings ch. 2 pages 1-24

Written by happiest_in_shadows :: [Monday, 25 August 2014 14:52] Last updated by :: [Wednesday, 27 August 2014 21:33]

April 8th 347RS

Currently Sarah set in front of her high density building blocks pointing her right index finger at one of them. As she pulled her finger back the block came with it and the tower showed no sign of falling. As the block was moved from the tower though a sharp click startled her and she promptly dropped it. Fortunately the tower didn't fall with it and she quickly turned towards the display to see Cathy setting at her desk. “Good morning.”

“You were cheating. Your early morning exercise doesn't allow you to use any hands.” As she spoke Cathy was busy bringing up the results they'd gotten from testing some of Sarah's tissue samples. They had been left to cook through the night and she'd been so eager to see the results that she couldn't sleep much. Indeed Cathy had taken a stimulant to make sure she'd be fully awake during the day. She had also secured a depressant to make sure she went to sleep during the night. She wasn't going to set up letting her mind run wild all night again.

“Hey now. I'm the one that came up with the routine. There isn't anything saying I can't modify it at will.”

“Will you be happy with that though?”

“No.” A sigh escaped Sarah as she looked back towards the blocks. She was doing far better. The number of moves she could get in using her mind was on par with what she could do with her hands before the mizerious organs had been implanted. When she used her hands she could actually go far further then that though that was due to holding up the tower with her psionics. The less stable the structure became the more locations she had to support with her abilities. “So where is Jason he normally beats you in?”

“Only when the project involves you.” Cathy couldn't help but smile when she looked up and noticed Sarah blushing slightly. The implication was pretty clear. “He's working on a new training simulation for you. I'm pretty sure he mentioned it to you.”

“Well he said that it would get me outside.”

“That's it?”

“I didn't have the energy to ask much about it. You know I've been undergoing some changes lately.” As she spoke Sarah held up her hands and wiggled her fingers rapidly. They looked human at a glance but they were clearly longer then normal and the tip was far to fine to be part of a natural human finger. These were claws. Fortunately they weren't as sharp as Sarah feared they would be. At least they weren't so long as she didn't focus her psionics through them. Not only did they let her focus and control her psionics better but she could form a sort of psionic blade around them and even extend the blade beyond her fingers.

“Well darn. I don't know if I should tell you and spoil his surprise at this point or not tell you and make you wait.” Cathy gave a slight groan and lowered her head while rubbing her forehead. “I really hate these tough choices. Make you wait or spoil Jason's surprise.” A sharp snort actually brought a chuckle from Cathy as she looked up and saw I rather annoying expression on Sarah's face.

“I'd hit you if I wasn't worried I'd do serious damage.”

“Well fine if you feel that strongly about it I'll tell you. Later.” Cathy couldn't help but chuckle as she noticed a look of annoyance on Sarah's face. Rather then respond to it she looked at the incoming data. “The water content in your tissue samples has gone down a bit. The extra cellular fluid has a few compounds in it that are used for energy transfer. That makes sense. As well as a few we haven't seen before but they suspect are helping with energy transfer. The lab is trying to reproduce some of the new compounds so that we can test them and determine exactly what they do. Oh come on! They tested to see how much stronger your bone matrix had become. They could have found that from the data obtained by the microdrill. How much of the sample did they waste on that?”

The sound of annoyance in Cathy's voice actually made Sarah chuckle. She didn't like letting them drill into her hand but the microdril created a very small opening that could be easily healed. Unfortunately her changing body chemistry meant pain killers were less effective. She hadn't said anything but it had hurt. “So anything good?”

For a moment Cathy was silent. Sarah knew that she was moving beyond their ability to make determinations. At this point they were effectively trying to figure out what was going on. Figuring out what was going to happen wasn't even on the books anymore. At least for those that examined her cells. Things had effectively become put known products, such as training, into black box that was Sarah and see what she does with it. So far the products of training had been some changes to her body, improved control and power. It was believed that this would continue but this was simply due to observing the trend. “They're hoping that if they can figure out how these compounds work they can come up with a booster for other psionics. Well crap that isn't good news for you. Okay Sarah Jason is currently helping to set up a training ground for you outside. They're making some metal balls that are going to represent allied soldiers with different levels of armor. You're going to fight different enemies and perform different tasks around them. The goal is to not kill your allies.”

It didn't surprise Sarah when the lab didn't have any news for her condition. She'd spoken to Jason and Cathy enough to know that they were giving up on that. Their drugs were becoming less and less effective and with the way her biology was changing cybernetic implants would only work for so long. Not only that but apparently the higher ups had said no to anything that would diminish her power. They army was many millions strong and they had thousands of truly exceptional soldiers. Those who had achieved remarkable results with cybernetics, genetic engineering and psionics. They didn't want another exceptional soldier they wanted something that could threaten a militarized world but in a human sized package and well that could be her. “That sounds like fun! So what's the first level?”

“Jason wants to start you out as if you're fighting amongst nothing but heavy armored units. I mean siege walkers.”

“So they're big balls of pure krysteel?” 

“They're not pure some of them have an empty core. Oh get this. For your enemy unit they come up with an interesting idea. For your close up combat scenarios they've taken a few units with shield generators and pulled out their fuel cells and energy generator. They're just going to beam energy to them strait from the base itself. That way they can turn the shields and everything else about them up to full power.”

“They're not going to have anyone piloting them are they?”

“Sure they are.”

“What!” Sarah couldn't help the concern in her voice. Even with a shield generator there was no guarantee that whoever was fighting her would survive. Not only was her control still very limited but her power was increasing. There wasn't time for her to begin to worry about too much as she remembered Jason had come up with this idea. “The pilot isn't actually going to be in the combat unit.”

“Right. It shouldn't be a problem unless you use a signal blocker. You haven't learned to do that with your mind yet have you?”

“Not. My suit doesn't even have the needed parts to assist me.”

To this Cathy gave a nod. “Yeah but with all the other changes that have been happening to you the higher ups were hoping you'd learned to do so without mechanical assistance. After all. Normally you'd be having your combat suit assist you with your telekinetic skin but you do fine without it. Oh! I just got an update on your tissue sample. You know I'm going to learn to stop becoming excited eventually.”

Sarah was feeling a lot more relaxed now that she knew she wouldn't have to worry about killing someone while she was training. It allowed her to appreciate Cathy's last comment. “What's the problem?”

“They theorize that psionics may be required to make some of the compounds that have been appearing in your samples. They want to see if some other psionics can be used in an attempt to reproduce some of the compounds.”

“Hey that is interesting! Why are you talking about it like it's obvious? I've never heard about anything that can only be created by psionics.”

“I have. Normally you only find several psionics stationed together on a ship or a planetary fortress. They're both very clean environments so not much can happen. It was found though that when you station several psionics together amongst natural plant life they can influence it.”

“I know that. Strange things can happen such as flowers growing as if it was summer despite it being in the middle of winter. It can also lead to sickness spreading depending on the mood of the psionics. It normally takes a few dozen to reach a critical point though. That's not the same as producing something that can only grow in the presence of psionics though.”

“Hey! You do know your history. Nice.” Cathy smiled at her friend before lowering her screen. “You're right of course but what I'm talking about is a bit different. They've been a few times where new life forms, mostly plant, have been found in locations where psionics were present in large numbers for long time periods amongst naturally occurring flora. They don't get talked about too much as it's rare and well some fear that this could lead to a super virus. Never mind the fact that the moment the psionics began to leave the plants died. Now we have you though. The amount of psionic energy you're putting out is on par with an army of psionics Sarah. Those plants when in the presence of enough psionic energy learned to tap into it for an additional energy source. Naturally the bacteria inside of you is going to do the same. Oh! That's what we need some samples of!”

There was no need for Sarah to ask what Cathy was doing. She already knew. She was sending a request to take further tissue samples from her to the higher ups. “You know one of these days I'm going to pay you back for asking to cut me.”

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April 8th 347RS

Sarah couldn't resist reaching out and touching her ally. The metal orb didn't seem to mind as it set there. Had it truly been what it was representing the little orb would have been a seventeen and half meter tall mobile weapons platform with enough destructive ability to lay waist to a lightly defended base by itself. Typically you only saw large numbers of them on fully developed worlds or in major invasions. They were what you called upon whenever you needed a base that moved. She truly hoped that they would survive fighting alongside of her. This really was starting her on easy. In her previous test these units had been fine to fight alongside her of course and now she had even better control.

“Okay Miss Karsin we're preparing to begin the experiment. Are you certain that you don't want some time to look around?”

Sarah smiled as she heard Jason's voice. Naturally he was using her last name when speaking to her during an official test. “Yes however I would like some time after the experiment to explore my environment.”

Michel, “We can arrange that. I hope you like looking at rocks though lots and lots of rocks.”

“I was thinking about looking at the sky some!” Sarah gave an amused chuckle. She could actually hear the annoyance in Michel's voice. It wasn't targeted at her though. Michel came from a world that had chosen to keep a low population and maintain a heavily forested environment. To be on a planet that couldn't sustain life on its own was clearly upsetting to him. That was probably why he never left the base and made frequent use of simulators.

“As if this oxygen and nitrogen deprived haze could produce a proper sky. Okay we're preparing to begin the test and feel free to punish this rock.”

Once again Sarah couldn't help but giggle. Something was going on with Michel. Either he was playing around with her and trying to lighten the mood or something had happened to upset him. Perhaps some luxury supplies they'd requested hadn't arrived? She couldn't be certain with Michel. He was a good person but you couldn't be certain if he was upset or just messing with you without reading his mind. She wondered what Jason was going through. “One thing before we begin who is going to be trying to shoot me?”

“Trying!”

Sarah recognized the voice immediately and then felt a solid burst of five shots strike her face. The shells were krysteel tipped she could feel that with a back of cheaper but still high density metal to maintain inertia. They were meant to punch through energy shields like what most would create with psionics or use on planets were the atmosphere made energy weapons impractical. The bullets came too fast for Sarah to tell one from another but she felt the skin of her face pushed in for a moment as if a strong wind had just struck her. There was a warmth there due to the bullets glided off her face. Then she heard them impact with the ground. It wasn't a single solid thump but a harsh roar from how the bullets ripped through the rock. A loud ping struck her ears as one of them struck one of the metal orbs and bounced off. The accuracy, the anger and the sound of the voice told her who she was dealing with. “Cathy!”

The way Cathy had focused on Sarah's face had taken Jason aback for a moment. His gaze turned towards the readout for Sarah's vital signs and he was relieved to see that she was alright. That did bring up an issue though as he brought up an image of Sarah's face to examine it for any bruising. “Sir we're going to have to get a more powerful weapon out there if we're going to give Sarah something to train against.”

Michel, “There is no need to worry about that. This test is to determine if Sarah can fight while not killing near by allies now. Then if she can't let her practice until she can. Her allies will become more fragile and her opponent tougher as things move on. Hopefully. I'm not certain about the opponent. It depends on what we can make for her to fight against.”

The combat suit didn't feel right. It wasn't that she was using a simulator to control it either. The force of acceleration on her body felt all wrong. It reminded Cathy that she'd lost some of the strength she once had and while she'd been exercising with Sarah and Jason she wasn't nearly back to where she had been. A sigh escaped her as she turned off the acceleration simulator. This wasn't about reliving her time in the fighting forces but working with Sarah. The suit effectively had an unlimited energy source. As she pushed the suit to its top speed she just felt something was wrong when she couldn't feel the acceleration in her own bones.

How long had it been since she'd underwent any training like this. Her right hand lifted to defend the same side of her hair but the bullets had already struck her. She felt it as several of them passed through her hair and yet there was no pain. There was nothing to even make her believe that they might have ripped some of her hair out. In response to this she turned to the right only to find that Cathy had moved on. That was only natural. She couldn't rely on her ears to determine where the suit was. She knew that it was moving too fast for that. Another five round burst struck her this time from above. They didn't all connect with her head however. There was an odd tingling in Sarah's chest and her eyes immediately glanced towards it. Her jaw nearly fell open as she noted a bullet wresting on top of her breasts. The material of the suit had managed to catch the bullet and she instinctively flicked it off her.

It was impossible for Cathy to keep from chuckling. She had requested to pilot the suit but been worried that due to her time away from the combat zone she'd be denied. She was grateful that Michel had given her the okay saying she knew how to push Sarah. It was more like she knew how to push Sarah's buttons. She felt a rush of adrenaline whenever Sarah finally began to move rather then presenting a standing target. Cathy recognized Sarah's movement pattern immediately. It was meant to provide a moving target whenever you weren't certain where the enemy was and didn't have any true cover. How long would it take Sarah to get moving fast enough to catch her?

Sarah thought she'd been shot at again whenever she first began to run. The sound of the ground fracturing told her that she'd been fired at and missed but the feeling of the ground shattering beneath her foot told her it wasn't a bullet. It was the result of her foot pushing off the ground with explosive force. She knew that she wasn't moving fast enough to catch up to Cathy yet. She learned the basics of augmenting her body with psionics during what little training she'd been able to receive. Now she was trying to put that into play as she told her legs to move faster and her reflexes to become sharper. She felt her skin heating up and knew she was putting out more psionic energy. It was one of the reasons she was a danger to her allies. What was the energy like compared to what it'd been though?

It was clear to Cathy Sarah was having trouble warming up which was surprising given her performance before hand. That had been against static targets of course. At the moment Cathy was having an easy time staying out of Sarah's site and raining shots down on her. Yet she could also see Sarah's reaction time increasing with each attempt she made. In an attempt to make things a bit more difficult Cathy took a few shots at Sarah's feet. Her goal wasn't to damage Sarah's leg, she knew that wouldn't happen, but to disrupt the ground beneath her feet. She heard the sound of the earth being torn apart but then another slower rumble. As the ground had been taken out from Sarah's foot she'd fallen into a crouched position and regained her footing in doing so. This had resulted in her feet digging into the ground in such a way that it would have damaged a light combat suits armor.

Sarah felt her heart rate hasten as her foot dug into the ground. If it hadn't been for the remarkable strength of the limb she was rather certain she'd twisted her ankle or torn her foot clean off. Instead of her foot yielding to the ground though it had yielded to her. To make the situation better she had caught a glimpse of Cathy's suit. Rather then trying to destroy it with her psionics she quickly leaped towards the suit and attempted to drive an open palm strike into the armor. Instead she felt her hand meet with and then sink deeply into the ground. Dirt and tiny bits of stone erupted upward peppering her body and face and she could swear some of it had gotten into her mouth resulting in her rapidly spitting. The taste was far more bitter then anything she had experienced on a developed world likely due to the toxins in the ground.

That was sloppy on Sarah's part. Cathy would have to make her pay for that. She had managed to get behind Sarah and wasted no time taking aim at her rear and firing. The bullets wouldn't hurt Sarah's rump but it had the desired affect. The sound produced when Sarah leaped into the air was like someone detonated a cavern crasher. This brought an amused chuckle from Cathy though she didn't hold still. She had more then the suits sensors providing her information and she could see the expression on Sarah's face. That had upset her. Later she would have to tease her for being more upset over a smack to the rump then one to the boobs.

It felt like someone had rubbed her but. At least that's how it felt in Sarah's mind. The notion that someone had touched her but without permission had set Sarah off. It didn't help that she was still having trouble keeping track of Cathy. Yet as she glanced around she caught a glimpse of the suit and in the next moment she could track it. The experimental suit was a light armored modeled that had clearly been fitted with shield and flight units well beyond what it could normally use. This explained its speed and the fact that it wasn't simply melting while in her presence. That didn't really matter to Sarah as she lashed out at it.

Psionic soldiers were taught to use their psionics to augment their body. That included their speed. Due to the force they could generate with their psionics and their small masses they could move very quickly. Cathy couldn't remember a psionic moving that quickly before though as she shifted the suit to keep Sarah from ripping its armor clean off. Immediately she noticed a damage reading. Sarah hadn't actually touched the armor but her psionics had. Five claw like gashes had appeared on the suits armor. It was enough to tell Cathy she needed to put some distance between herself and Sarah. The site of the suit moving backwards just felt wrong as she couldn't feel it. Next time she wasn't turning the acceleration simulators off entirely.

Sarah could swear she felt her claws touching Cathy's armor but it didn't feel like her hands had. As if her claws went beyond that. She didn't stop to contemplate this though but used her psionics to drive herself down into the ground rather then relying on gravity to move her. She felt her feet sink deeply into the hard earth as she spun around. Her rapidly shortening reaction time allowed her to get her first real look at the suit as it moved behind a heavy wall. Training told her that she should go around the barrier but something more primal had taken hold. She didn't want to go around the barrier. After months and months of being so careful she didn't want to go around anything she wanted to break through.

He knew that he didn't really feel it. There was no way the sound could have even reached into the base if it wasn't for the speakers they wouldn't have even heardwhat was going on outside. Still Michel could swear that he felt it whenever Sarah struck the barrier. The barriers had been designed to provide cover from heavy siege units. It wouldn't stop them but it sure would delay them. When Sarah had struck it a massive cloud of material had exploded obscuring her from natural vision forcing him to look to other cameras to see what had happened. A massive opening had been torn in the barrier.

If Michel had been shocked Cathy had been horrified. In the moment she had forgotten that she wasn't actually inside the suit. The flight engines screamed to life attempting to lift her into the air. The sound of the engines was so overpowering that she couldn't even hear the sound of the suits armor being twisted and bent as Sarah caught hold of its right leg. She did notice it whenever the suit flashed a warning and then registered the right leg had been ripped off.

Sarah had felt such a rush as she had torn through the barrier and finally caught site of Cathy with nothing between the two of them. Reflexively she'd reached out and tried to take hold of her friends leg to prevent her from escaping. As she saw the suits leg break free of the armor and felt her grip loosen fear flooded into her mind. “Cathy are you alright!” The fear of ripping off her friends leg flooded Sarah's mind stopping her cold. She felt more then a little relief as she noted the armor hovering there.

“No. That little stunt did more then damage the leg.” As she spoke Cathy was having trouble keeping the suit flying strait. One of the flight units had been jerked out of position simply because she hadn't been able to break her leg free from Sarah's grip. It didn't take her long to realize something important though. “Thanks for worrying about me but remember I'm not actually in this thing. Thank goodness. That would have been unpleasant!”

For a moment Sarah was silent but then she couldn't help but chuckle. “So what should I do now? I take it I'm not suppose to scrap the suit for no reason.”

Michel, “No. Sarah if you don't mind bring in the leg while Cathy brings in the suit itself. After that you can feel free to roam a bit.”

For a moment Sarah was silent and took in a deep breath before looking around for the leg. The landscape wasn't what she would call beautiful but it would be nice to walk around without walls for a while. “So how many of my allies made it through?”

Jason grinned when Michel gave him a bit of a nudge and he opened up the communication channel. “Sarah they were all representing the heaviest of the heavy ground combat units.”

To this Sarah grinned and bent down to pick up the leg that had been removed from Cathy's suit. As she did so her eyes widened. “I don't believe I'm going to be bringing that leg in.” As she spoke Sarah dipped her fingers into the puddle of metal. Once it had been removed from the suit it had lost its shielding and while she'd calmed down at the moment of its removal she'd still been putting out a lot of energy.

Jason, “We see your point. So Sarah should I put on an environmental suit and come out to join you?”

“I believe I'd like that. Is that alright with you Michel?”

“Don't melt him and it's fine.” Michel wasn't worried about Jason. He had spent plenty of time around Sarah with no protection at all. He'd actually be safer in an environmental suit then he would be in her containment area. Unless he had to rapidly evacuate the area but that didn't seem likely. Michel grinned when he heard a door open and looked to see that Jason had already left to get suited up.”Cathy what do you think of the suit?”

“Either we're going to have to use something with stronger joints and armor or all melee attacks are out of the question. Once I get this thing back I'm going to take a look at the force exerted on its knees. Shouldn't the computers be compensating for the differences in flight output?” Cathy was actually having to compensate for the suits damage manually. She was able to do this by keeping the suit high in the air so she had plenty of time to adjust when she messed up. The only thing she feared was landing.

“I believe that's a quirk of using the higher yield engines.”

***********************************************************************************

As Sarah approached a small bump in her path she delivered a swift kick to the bit of rock. It sounded like a light grenade had detonated as the chunk of ground was ripped free and sent flying through the air. A sigh of relief escaped her. In her room she was constantly being so careful not to damage anything. Walking around outside she only had one thing to worry about not damaging and that was Jason.

Typically Jason was inside of the base or in a secure vehicle. He didn't typically need an environmental protection suit. It felt a little strange to be walking around inside of one. The current model he was using had been built with evacuations in mind. It included a powered framework that carried the majority of his weight and would make running easy. It was the lightest armored suit they had on the base apparently. “Don't you believe they should have a few civilian environmental suits for when you just need to go outside and do some work?”

“I don't know about that. The powered frame is useful no matter what you're doing. Sure the armored skin makes the suit a little harder to repair but it makes it harder to damage. Besides look at this rock.” Sarah came to a stop and took a moment to look around Jason was soon standing next to her and doing the same. “What toxicity readings are you getting?”

“Well in lab terms this is the type of environment I would place a bacteria sample if I wanted to kill it and I mean a resilient bacteria. How are you feeling by the way? You have some exposed skin you know.” Jason took a moment to look at Sarah. Upon doing so he couldn't hep but reach into her hair for a moment. She didn't show any sign of resisting and a moment later he pulled out a small rock that he flicked away. “You're going to have to wash your hair.” A huge smile formed on Jason's face as he saw Sarah grinning. It made him wish that he didn't need the suit on.

That was one of the most human things Sarah had felt in a long time. Jason spent a lot of time close to her but even he rarely touched her. It felt nice even if he had those gloves on. She didn't forget that she needed to keep her power under control but it didn't seem like such a struggle at the moment. It let her enjoy the situation more. “Jason how did I perform during the test?”

“You didn't kill any of your allies.”

Now Sarah gave Jason a large smile revealing her teeth. “I know that but now let's get into the details. How badly did I damage them and when?” A delighted chuckle escaped Sarah as Jason gave a long sigh. They both knew it was pointless from him to lie to her.

“Blast it. In the beginning everything was fine even your relaxed output. The energy readings inside of your body have increased but the output beyond that has gone down. Then Cathy managed to get you worked up. Being in your presence was like being saturated by anti-personnel fire. Naturally that's nothing to a heavy walker. You put some dints in their outer armor that a repair drone could clean up in an hour or so and then apply some fresh paint.” It was amazing how relieved Jason felt whenever Sarah continued to smile and indeed that smile grew.

“So I really didn't come close to killing any of my allies.”

“Nope.”

“That's a relief. I was worried I'd accepted this only to find a new problem.” As she spoke Sarah held up both of her hands for Jason to see.

Jason knew that problems could still develop. It seemed like her psionics were easier for her to control but would that continue? Right now it was their best hope. He did worry. He knew that Sarah wasn't entirely comfortable with the changes to her hands. That she referred to her hands as this rather then a part of her body and frequently worried him. She was becoming a stranger inside of her own flesh.“I am to and don't worry about your hands. I believe they look elegant.”

Sarah gave a slight chuckle and bent at her knees so that she could reach the ground. She then extended her right index finger and pressed it into the hard stone. Rather then slicing through the stone she used her psionics to hold herself down and pressed her finger firmly into the ground. A sharp crack registered with her ears before her sense of touch could register a real increase in the force she was using. A harsh grinding was heard moments later as she drove her finger more deeply into the stone. As she forced her finger in up to her knuckle she relaxed the force she was using to hold her body down and instead lifted her body using her finger.

At first Jason had no idea what Sarah was doing whenever she'd bent down. When she first pressed her finger into the ground he thought perhaps she was just enjoying being somewhere that she didn't have to worry about destroying everything around her. Indeed it seemed like she was enjoying breaking things. Then she had suddenly turned herself upside down using her right index finger as her only means of support. Jason couldn't help but chuckle as he took a step backwards. “What are you doing!”

“I don't know!” A delighted giggle escaped Sarah as she suddenly swung her legs downwards and hooked her finger. Her psionics pressed down on the back of her hills while a massive crack resounded through the area as Sarah's finger tore through the stone. A second explosion was heard while the first still resounded through the air as her feet slammed solidly into the ground and sunk several centimeters into it spraying the area with bits of rock.

Jason could have sworn that he felt it when Sarah shattered the stone. The ground seemed to vibrate when her feet impacted with it. As the vibrations moved throughout his body though he noticed a line of stone just in front of him. It was some of the material Sarah had sent flying whenever her feet had struck the ground. It had been stopped before it reached him. “Sarah are you shielding me?”

“Mmhmm.” Sarah gave Jason a grin and nod of her head. She couldn't hold her energy in for long though. “It just feels so good to not worry about breaking anything! Well other then you. That's easier though. Carrying about you I mean is easy. I've never gotten fed up with you but I swear there have been times when I've been so angry with my furniture I just wanted to shred It all and set on the floor. It's so frustrating at times!”

“Have things been better sense the change?”

“Yes. Oh gosh yes! For one thing I haven't spilled my drink all over me in a week. For a while I couldn't even risk filling up my cup more then halfway so that if I squeezed it the contents wouldn't get all over me. Lately I've been risking feeling it up three fourths of the way and I might actually be able to pore myself a full cup soon or I may risk it.” Reaching down Sarah picked up a chunk of the earth and held it between her hands. Slowly she began to increase the pressure feeling it shatter between them. “Then maybe I can ask for something that isn't made of construction grade metal for my living accommodations. You know what I really miss? Pillows made from organic materials. I'd even take pillows made from inorganic materials that simulate organic materials.”

“Ah well. The ones you have do feel a bit off. I was hoping you'd adjusted to them by now.” 

For a moment Sarah was silent as her smile became a bit more sheepish. “I can't believe I'm complaining this much. It just feels so good to be out I suppose. How about you?”

“I'm actually a bit uncomfortable but I'm glad to see you feeling more relaxed.”

“Why are you uncomfortable?”

In response Jason placed a hand against his suit. “I'm a little uncomfortable having this little material between me and death.” When Jason glanced back at Sarah he was quite surprised to see a look of shock on her face. “What!”

“Jason. You're constantly coming into my inclosure despite knowing full well that I could kill you in an emotional outburst despite my intentions with absolutely no protection. Now you're saying that relying on the life support systems of an environmental suit to keep you safe makes you uncomfortable.” Sarah couldn't help but grin as she looked back at Jason. It just seemed ridiculous.

“Yes. Well I trust you a lot more then I trust that rock.” As Jason spoke he pointed towards one of many small rocks that littered the landscape. Likely having been torn free by Sarah's display of strength. “It clearly has it in for me.”

There was a moment when Sarah didn't know what to do. She could feel the muscles pulling at the sides of her mouth and then the answer became clear. Her lunges convulsed and a sputtering chuckle burst forth before growing into a laughing fit. She wanted to respond but each time she tried to speak only more laughter came as she soon found herself struggling just to breath properly. Jason the man who was so comfortable with her a living weapon of mass destruction that he readily teased her was not only uncomfortable trusting in an environmental suit but accused a rock of being out to get him.

“What! Can't you see it's murderous intent! Just look at how pointed it's edge is.” Jason was grinning himself as he listened to Sarah laughing. He was glad that he had decided to join her on this little walk. Yet he also found himself looking at his suits reading. Before any emotional outburst on Sarah's part would pump a massive amount of energy into the environment. Even now he noted the temperature was going up. Fortunately they were outside which meant the energy had plenty of room to radiate outward and more importantly she was putting out less energy. Was this due to her improved control or was it because her body was using more of that energy now? He would want to look at the readings her suit picked up when they got back.

It took several minutes but at last Sarah regained control of her laughter enough to talk. “Yeah. Okay then let's get rid of it now.” Sarah felt like her face was going to break in half as she picked up the rock and held it in her right hand. Holding it out in front of her so Jason could see it she gave the rock a gentle flick with her left hand. A burst of powder erupted on her hand as a good chunk of the stone was shattered while the rest was sent flying. She didn't bother looking to see where it had gone but turned to see a look of horror on Jason's face. “What?”

“It's escaping!” Jason felt himself convulse though unlike Sarah he was able to contain his laughter. The moment the words left his mouth she had burst into another fit of laughter and this time actually dropped to one of her knees. His own smile was beginning to hurt even as he wondered what kind of readings Sarah was giving now. He couldn't remember a time when he'd seen her laugh this freely.

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“Welcome back!” Michel had a grin on his face as Jason walked into the lab. Sarah was currently inside her confinement room cleaning up. She and her suit had picked up a lot of dust during her training and during her walk. “How are you feeling.”

“My feet are killing me.”

“That is impressive considering your environmental suit was powered. I was beginning to wonder if you'd spend all night walking around. Did you stop and get yourself something to eat.”

To this Jason shook his head no. His first thoughts had been getting back to the lab. “Not yet.”

“Take something out of Cathy's desk then come over here.”

“Are you sure she won't mind?”

“If she does I ordered you to. Now hurry up.” Michel was currently looking at the readout they'd received while Sarah had been walking around with Jason. As excited as he had been from the combat data he had been even more excited by their walk. He had already showed it to Cathy and talked to her about it as well as most of the research team. Yet he wasn't finished yet. He needed to reveal their findings to at least one more person before he could relax. Then again perhaps three more would be better. Given Jason's roll in collecting the data he also felt it was important that he see it.

“Did you know she has emergency rations in her desk?” As he spoke Jason walked over to Michel while taking a bit of a ration bar. It wasn't the best tasting thing he ever ate but it was good and was effectively a hand sized meal.

“I'm not surprised. She was born rather unique. Did you know that Cathy effectively has eleven biological parents?”

Jason froze for a moment and considered what Michel had just said. He knew that Cathy had an exceptional mind and body but he also knew she'd received heavy enhancements. Apparently that wasn't the only reason she was so well developed. “Wow so she really is a designer baby.”

“Her parents fully embraced the believe that it was better to give their child the best start possible rather then worry about how similar to them she was genetically. Okay now look at this.” As Michel spoke he brought up two images. Each one was roughly humanoid shape and one indicated a very powerful psionic shield. The shield extended out from it and narrowed into a thin tunnel before widening and engulfing the second image. The second shield was far weaker then the first and unlike the other wasn't a psionic skin.

“She was shielding me the entire time?”

“Yes! I know you noticed it once while you were out walking with her however did you know she maintained this shield sixty five percent of the time? The only time the shield vanished is whenever she wasn't making use of her psionics.”

For a moment Jason was silent. “I knew that she shielded me for a little while yeah but I didn't know she was doing it most the time. She seemed to be behaving so naturally.”

“I don't believe she was having to put much conscious effort into it. Look at these brain activities.” As Michel spoke he brought up another display showing Sarah's brain activity while at wrest and then showing it while she'd been walking with Jason.

“Sir the second one is far more active then the first. I mean.”

“Whoops my mistake. Let me apply the right filters.”

As Michel worked Jason found that the second display wasn't much more active then the first. At a quick glance they even seemed to be the same. There was still a problem though. “What are you filtering out though? Right now it looks like you're just manipulating the data to show what you want.”

“The filter I applied is basically filtering the activity from the pleasure centers of the brain. You really had those sections of her brain going. We've been trying to keep her brain mapped and record regions of the brain do what. It's well. It's not exactly like a humans anymore. Still I'm quite certain that this is correct. The difference between her brain activity when she's relaxed and when she's shielding you is less then three percent. She knew that she was shielding you but it was like a thought in the back of her mind almost like when walking down a crowded street and stepping around a tree.”

For a moment Jason was silent as he glanced towards Sarah's containment chamber. She was still showering so they couldn't see her. “So she can protect allies from not just her psionics but from other threats as well?”

“I don't know about her allies. She is quite fond of you after all and we don't know how many people she can extend this to. Still, I'd like to see if this behavior continues and what develops.”

Jason was quiet as he looked at the image. He could remember the way Sarah responded whenever he mentioned her shielding him. It seemed out of place how relaxed she was when she'd said that. “Sir are these changes in Sarah's brain possibly changing her behavior? Normally she was so careful around me. Suddenly she's wrapping me in a psionic shield without even mentioning it to me. If she had made a mistake with that barrier she could have crushed me before I knew what was happening.”

“You believe her judgment might have been compromised?”

“I worry.”

Michel gave a nod and took a moment to rub his chin. “Okay I want you to ask her about it. Ask her when she learned to shield others and what kind of practice she has. I believe I already know the answer.”

When had Sarah practiced shielding others? For a moment Jason didn't say anything but took a moment to look at the shield again. He remembered the rock shards from before. The shield gave him a lot of space which meant it was more spread out. This made the shield weaker but it made it safer in some ways at will. It was less likely that the person inside of the shield would hit it or in the event of mistake it was less likely that it would end up crushing them. Barriers didn't tend to implode in a nice even fashion. “When she was holding up her blocks! That's when she's been practicing.”

“I believe that you're correct. Plus you have the suit on. If she had waited until you were back in her room you would have refused to even put it on.”

“Well I feel like a bastard for doubting her now. She was actually being really careful. Wow.” Jason took in a deep breath as he looked at the data for another moment. “So you believe that little outburst was just due to her being outside and wondering around a bit?”

“No. I wouldn't be surprised if the change in her brain chemistry and even its shape was influencing her behavior. Given the changes we've seen I'm surprised that she is as much her as she still is. The problem is that her situation is changing along with her body and her brain. That's three major variables each one of which could influence her behavior.”

***********************************************************************************

Sarah took in a deep breath. She was back in her cage. Back to being so careful not to destroy everything she touched or was in her presence. As she looked around at her furniture she could see signs of past mistakes. Yet she didn't feel as trapped as she had before. The walk had done wonders for her mood as had the success during the day. How long would that success continue though? She didn't want to think too much about how her allies were going to become more and more delicate as she continued her training. Today she had done well and that was wonderful. “You can come in.” Sarah grinned as she watched the door open and Jason stepped into her inclosure.

“Were you watching me?”

“Not with the monitor. I just felt something warm at the door. It was like well I'm not sure how to put it. Like a hot air vent had approached the door and somehow I knew that it was you. I know I'm not suppose to be feeling these things in my body like that but I swear. I just can't help but feel good after today. Ah! I felt something cold. You're worried about something.”

Jason was quiet for a moment. He could remember how worried Sarah had been just a few short weeks ago. He didn't want to bring that back but he wondered where this was coming from. Was this due to a change in her brain chemistry or had she managed to stop worrying about what she couldn't control? “I've heard other psionics say they feel things but not like you're talking about. Your psionics are clearly more closely tied to your body then any other so I suppose we shouldn't be surprised. I'm glad that you're doing better.”

“Naturally it makes you look good.”

“Hey that's not.” Jason didn't get to finish as Sarah took a step forward and wrapped her arms around him pulling him into a hug. She had hugged him and even given him a kiss before but this was rare.

“I know. I'm glad that you're hear with me. I'm not sure if I could work up the nerve to continue down this path if you weren't here for me.” Sarah gave a sigh as she felt Jason's arms wrap around her. It would be nice when she didn't have her suit between him and her. Sure she felt his touch but she knew he wasn't actually touching her skin. “You know I examine myself under my suit everyday now right?”

“I did not know that. I don't watch you in the bath.”

“Really? I could sworn you did and everyone was just liaing to me so I wouldn't be uncomfortable while bathing.”

“Woman if you don't stop making these attacks upon my character I will have to retaliate!” Jason did his best to force anger into his voice as he took a step back from Sarah.

“Oh? It's woman now is it.” After a moment sternly staring at Jason Sarah broke into another smile. “Well then perhaps the next time I'm bathing you should leave your monitor on and I'll see if I can make up for all the insults.”

Okay Jason liked that idea far more then he believed he would have. He knew that his body language said as much and could only imagine what Sarah felt in that moment. The little wink she gave him and the expression on her face told him that she had either seen or felt plenty. Apparently she was done telling him that he should leave her inclosure for his own safety and had found another way of being mean to him. He didn't know if she was being serious or not. He didn't know which one he really wanted it to be either. “I'm glad that you're feeling better. I was really worried about you when you were suffering those headaches.”

A slight groan came from Sarah as she rubbed her head. “Yeah I'm hoping that doesn't happen again but well then again. If my control improves like the last time I'd gladly suffer through some more headaches.”

“I'm glad it was worth it. So do you think you'd feel up for going on another walk tomorrow?”

“Are you serious? I sure didn't expect you to ask that after how long I kept you out today.”

“Well I'm not saying I'd like to be out that long again!”

It was impossible for Sarah to keep from laughing. She had actually felt very guilty whenever she and Jason had returned to the base. She didn't feel fatigued but he was clearly suffering from so much walking missing his lunch and most of his dinner. She could still clearly see that he was tired and didn't know if he had eaten yet or not. “Perhaps some other time I missed out on a lot of practice today. I would like it if you stopped by again in the morning and I mean early in the morning.”

It was impossible for Jason not to grin. He had an idea of what Sarah had in mind but he didn't want to say anything. “I believe I would like that.” Even as he spoke though Jason had to think about Sarah's condition. She hadn't just been walking around. She'd been making generous use of her psionics yet she didn't show any signs of fatigue. Was she simply too excited at the moment to feel her hunger or was there more to it? He needed to take a look at her biological readings throughout the day or ask one of the team. As he felt his own fatigue setting in and had to rub one of his eyes just to keep it open speaking with the team about it seemed like a good idea. A slight laugh escaped him moments later.

“What's so funny?”

“Sorry. I was just thinking about the team and how I'm thinking about them as the team. Before it was the researchers and I just wasn't part of that group. I'm probably still the least experience amongst us with the least qualifications but I suppose now I'm just about as knowledgeable about the project as any of them. At least as knowledgeable about the important part.”

“Oh? And what part is that?”

“You.”

***********************************************************************************

April 9th 347RS Early morning

At times a time difference could be a good thing. It was late at night at the base but it was early morning at her sister in laws. Rather then just having her synthetic body stand up Sarah took a moment to look around and see what she'd been doing. Currently her synthetic body was laying in the guest room bed. The room was perfectly clean. The body was registering as being well fed and hydrated. Glancing down towards her stomach she was glad she'd taken her time getting up. Currently Moo was laying on her stomach. The cat was contentedly sleeping and she hated to wake him but she needed to speak with Helen. Rather then simply picking Moo up though she gently rubbed him under the chin. At first the cat gave no indicators of waking up but after a few moments he stretched his legs and gave a soft meow. “Hey there baby. Mommy needs to get up and speak with aunt Helen. Are you okay with that?”

Another meow came from Moo before he looked up and began to pure before curling himself up into a tight ball on her stomach. Clearly the cat had no intentions of moving or allowing Sarah to get up. For a moment she did nothing but look around the room. Unfortunately the room was as clean as ever and nothing really struck Sarah as a suitable cat toy. After a moment she gave a sigh and lifted Moo up a meow of protest meeting her ears. “Now now Mister Moo this is what happens when you go to sleep on someone else. At times they need to get up.” Sarah chuckled as she lay the plump cat across her shoulder. “Helen, Jeff, Tammy I'm in the body. No bossing me around at the moment.”

Helen, “The other two aren't here but you're welcome to come out Sis.”

Sarah heard one more meow of protest before she walked out of the guest room and headed towards her sister in laws kitchen. Moo had by now settled in against her shoulder and was beginning to switch from fussing at her to purring. “Well I'm glad that you're here. Where are the other two. Shouldn't they be home?”

“Jeff took Tammy out for a bit. She likes to shops in an actual store rather then order things. I see you brought the fluffy tyrant with you.”

“Tyrant? He's just being affectionate. Yes he is.” Sarah couldn't help but chuckle when Helen gave a slight shake of her head. “Helen there is something I need you to help with. I want to fix a friend breakfast when he wakes up and I want it to be something special. I was hoping that you could show me a few things. It's been a while since the last time I tried to cook a thank you meal.”

“Huh? You're a great cook though.”

“Thanks but I'm cooking for a guy friend and I want to show him I appreciate him. So what do you fix for my brother when you want to say thanks?”

“Typically when I really want to make him something that he'll enjoy I get some honey and let him lick it off me.”

Sarah gave Helen a grin but shook her head. “I'm still way too dangerous for that. Plus I'm not sure if we're to that point.”

“During our last call didn't you say you're doing better.”

“Doing better as in I believe that I could fix him something nice. I'm not ready to take my suit off just yet. I still need the extra support to maintain control.” While she was speaking Sarah was also looking around for a place to set Moo. She wouldn't be able to cook and hold her furry friend at the same time. Fortunately he had already began to fall asleep. Now she would just need to slip him off her shoulder without waking him up and he wouldn't spend the entire time fussing at her.

“I understand. I think. Well I'm not sure what you have to work with but if we're talking breakfast here salty, savory and sweet tend to be the way to go. Do you have any bacon?”

“I can get some. Well really I can get pretty much anything you can think of.”

“Are you talking synthesized food or naturally produced? Whenever I really want to make something nice for Jeff I go all natural.”

“Oh! No. That I can't do. Well I might be able to if I put in a request for some luxury items but I'm not sure what they have on hand.”

“Yevhon is rather out of the way. Okay now are you certain you want to actually cook this? I bet your food synthesizer could make complete meals if you programmed them into it.”

“The larger ones on the base can but they just taste so processed. The way every bite is just the same as the last with no variation at all. I just don't get the warm feeling when eating that stuff that I do with the hand cooked stuff and besides making it yourself shows more care in my opinion.”

Helen gave a nod. “I can understand that. Variety is the spice or life or so it's been said. So is this for that Jason fellow you've told me about?”

“Yes. He really helped me a lot today.” As she was speaking Sarah had moved over to the window and began to gently remove Moo from her shoulder. The cat stirred for a moment and seemed like he might awaken with a soft meow but he settled down as she placed him in the warm sun light. Rather then leave him she continued petting him giving him time to settle in. “I was just going to call you. Actually.  Do you have time to guide me through the process?”

“Well I do now but are you cooking already?”

“Ah crap no.”

“Come on over here and I'll show you a few nice dishes. We'll just make a serving for two.”

“Thanks but that would be a waste of food.”

For a moment Helen was silent but then gave a nod. “Oh yeah. You don't actually taste your food with that body. That's probably why it was eating Moo's cat food.”

Sarah froze up for a moment. Even if it wasn't her true body the idea of her synthetic body eating cat food was more then a little unpleasant. After a moment of consideration though she gave her head a shake. “Haha very funny. You had better not be feeding me cat food.”

“It cuts down on the cost.” Helen was fighting back a huge grin as she looked at Sarah. Naturally her synthetic body hadn't been eating cat food. In truth it ate far more cheaply then that. Shortly after Sarah's body had arrived they'd also received some deliveries of nutrient paste from the military. It was safe to eat and had everything someone would need in it but taste and texture wasn't a consideration when it was made. It wasn't made for humans to eat but rather synthetic beings that had no concept of taste. It could serve as an emergency food source if someone became that desperate.

“Sarah please tell me that you haven't been letting this body eat cat food.” As she spoke Sarah took a step towards Helen. Her emergency lights went off moments later and it felt like her hand had slid through something. “Ah crap!”

Helen gave a slight jump at Sarah's outburst but took a step towards her friend thinking to help her. “What's wrong?”

“I just used my psionic claws to cut through my suits right hand. Blast it. Helen would you mind if I called you back in a moment? I'll get the recipes from you over the communicator.”

“Are you certain? I mean if it's just a few cuts.”

“No. I'm trying to work the right hand now and it's not responding. I must have done more then just put a few cuts into it.”

***********************************************************************************

So she still needed to be careful. She had made a mistake with her suit but it wasn't a big one and it could be repaired quickly. Sarah bit down on her lower lip even as she worked on folding her fried eggs properly. Jason had constantly been calling her down whenever she'd used her synthetic skin suit before. This time she'd only made one mistake. It was just that one mistake had resulted in her damaging a part of the suit while before she'd always been able to avoid doing any real damage. Had she changed one type of mistake for the other with the changes in her body? Perhaps she wouldn't make little mistakes anymore but where she once made several little mistakes she would make one moderate mistake. For a moment Sarah didn't focus on the food but took in a deep breath as she tried to steady herself.

She had made a mistake. One mistake. The damage to her suit had already been repaired and no one had raised a fuss over it. They even seemed amused that the damage had been so light. Not only that but she hadn't been focusing on operating her true body at the time. That made it easier to make a mistake. She also knew that everyone around her was safe at the moment. This meant she needed to continue training it didn't mean she needed to start chasing Jason and Cathy out of her inclosure again. The smell of burning eggs brought her back to the world and she quickly worked to flip them. “Okay that is one mistake I can live with. Let's just keep our mistakes down to burnt food and everything will be alright.”

Jason had woken up earlier then expected. Sarah's offer had been the only thing going through his mind during the night. He'd even tried to get to sleep early so that he could see what she had planned sooner. As he stepped into the lab and saw no one working in it he felt a little strange. With as important of a project as Sarah was shouldn't they have a night time crew working with her? Then again. This was the observation room. It was likely that there was a night time crew that examined the samples taken from her and ran additional experiments. He didn't need to think about that though as he approached the door to the inclosure and turned on the communicator. “Good morning Sarah.”

“Good morning Jason. You can come on in but I'm going to warn you I have had a few accidents since yesterday.”

“We'll talk about this in person.” Jason didn't hesitate to respond. He had happily went into Sarah's inclosure whenever she'd been at her worst. After such drastic improvements he wasn't going to stay out now. Besides. When he'd first began entering her inclosure he could see how badly she needed the contact even if she tried to decline it. He wanted to help her so badly that it was nearly impossible for him to keep himself out. The more time he spent with her the more he wanted to spend time with her because he needed to be with her as well. As the first door opened he stepped in and eagerly waited for the second to open before entering the living area. He knew what Sarah had been up to the moment the air hit him. “Someone has been cooking.”

“Yes she has. Helen gave me some help.” Sarah grinned and glanced towards the entrance she knew Jason could be coming through soon. He was a bit earlier then she expected but that was fine. “You'll need to give me ten more minutes then everything will be ready.”

“I don't know if I can wait that long. It smells amazing.” As Jason spoke he moved from the living to the dining area and noted Sarah at her stove. He was glad that the military had seen fit to include one in her inclosure. They had put some resources into accommodating her. Given what they'd learned from her he believed it was worth it. His eyes didn't stay on the stove for long though as he noted something much hotter. Sarah currently had her back turned towards him and he took this moment to get a good look at her rear. Her organs might have been changing but her overall form was still very human and beautiful.

“Don't make me send you back to the living area.” While she was speaking Sarah could feel Jason moving closer. She heard the sound of a chair being pulled out immediately disliking the sound of metal against metal. How wonderful would it be to have wooden furniture again? She pushed this from her mind as she heard him setting down. “I played those virtual games you shared with me a little bit during the night.”

“What one did you try?”

“I spent about two hours on crystals and mystics. You know. The one set in the fantasy world that you need special crystals in order to use magic. So far I haven't made it very hard. Now was I suppose to find the crystal in the woods?”

For a moment Jason went silent as he tried to remember what Sarah was talking about. After a moment he had to shrug. “It depends on what crystal you're talking about. What forest are you talking about?”

“The one surrounding your home village. I've been stashing it in the old hunting cabin whenever I have to go into town for supplies sense the town guard will take it from you if they notice it. I've got to say I'm worried about how they're gathering up all the crystals from those except the people with special licenses. I get that they can be dangerous but it seems a bit extreme.”

“Woe. Hold on. You mean you haven't even been to Brecks?”

“No. I've mostly been exploring the forest and gathering reagents to work on my alchemy. Plus I've been improving my magic and fighting skills. My characters regeneration is getting to the point that I might not need to go back into the town for healing supplies soon.” Sarah actually felt a little awkward whenever she noticed Jason chuckling lightly. “What?”

“I can't believe you found that crystal. Okay so you know that they're man made crystals and those that occur in nature right?”

“Yes. Well that's part of the learning tutorial. Right before the guards show up and confiscate your family's crystals. I remember the father is really worried that they won't be able to hunt anymore without their magic to help. I've got to admit it was really tough in the beginning.”

“That's because you weren't suppose to be exploring that deep in the forest yet. I'm surprised you could even beat the monsters of the forest without a crystal. The one you found was actually put there for a later return trip. How did you even beat them?”

For a moment Sarah turned away from her stove and looked over at Jason. “I used the counter attack mechanic. You know it makes the enemies kind of easy when a perfect counter not only negates all damage in most cases but sets you up for a counter attack.”

“So says the woman with an augmented reaction time. Still. How many perfect counters do you need to even down one of those monsters that early on?”

“Well it was twelve in the beginning but now it's more like three. The crystal really boosted my critical strike damage.”

“That you needed so many perfect counters didn't strike you as a little strange?”

“I didn't really think about it.” Sarah was actually beginning to feel a bit silly. Apparently she hadn't been playing the game properly but she had been having fun. “I'm just glad that I can't destroy a holoterminal like I can the gloves on my suit.”

Now Jason perked up. “What?”

“When I was speaking with Helen I got a little worked up and ended up cutting right through my gloves. It was pretty embarrassing.”

It was impossible for Jason not to feel a bit alarmed as he listened to Sarah. He didn't want to upset her but he couldn't just ignore this either. “How? Did this happen when you were taking the gloves off?”

“No. It. Darn.” Sarah gave a slight sigh as she shook her head. The suit she used to control her synthetic body and her standard operations suit had the same features whenever it came to her psionics. Her claws should have formed around the suit as if it was her own skin instead of cutting through it. She had been so shocked that she hadn't thought of that. “I wonder why I didn't cut my regular suit open.”

“Do you believe it could be due to your perception of your body? Whenever you were using your synthetic body perhaps in your subconscious you were in the room with Helen so the synthetic skin of the suit wasn't your skin on a subconscious level. Now that you're back in your suit though that disconnect is no longer there.”

Sarah knew that she should be worried. She knew that Brian was just trying to help her by proposing some theories. They even sounded possible. Despite that she couldn't help but smile. “I'm not sure. I believe I'll speak to a researcher about it though. Jason should be coming in pretty soon.” As she finished speaking a positively wicked grin formed on Sarah's face as she glanced back at Jason. A lopsided grin was currently on his face which brought a burst of laughter from her.

“Okay. I deserved that I suppose. Well then perhaps I should go look.”

“No! You set down.” As she spoke Sarah finally removed the last of the food from the stove and began to plate it. “You're going to eat with me first then you can worry about the issue with my suit and why I cut the glove open.”

“So is that all you did cut the glove open?”

“Well no. Whatever I did to cut it open also made it completely none functional.” The groan that came from Jason was enough to make Sarah chuckle despite the situation. She didn't mean to upset him but part of her couldn't help but laugh at the situation. After what she'd gone through whenever she's first learned of her condition this didn't seem like anything. It was more of the same of her life for several months now.

“Yeah a clean cut shouldn't have done that unless we're talking about a massive gash here.”

“Nope. It was pretty much just through the tip of the fingers.”

For a moment Jason was silent. He sure wished he knew more in that moment. He had been a technician not too long ago though. Sure he had aspired to becoming a researcher and was working towards it but then Michel had fast tracked him and now he felt like a fish out of water. At times he felt so confident and in control that he forgot about that. Other times he began to hate Michel for leaving him feeling stranded. “I'm guessing they already repaired the glove.”

“Yes. It didn't even seem to surprise anyone.”

“I see. Well I hope they at least kept it. Give me a moment let me send a message then I promise I'll set down to eat. One thing though. Did you sleep last night? You said you played crystals and mystics for two hours, spoke to Helen and fixed this.”

“I haven't been able to sleep much lately and I don't mean I'm exhausted. I mean I can't sleep for very long.”

***********************************************************************************

Andrew and Jacklyn both looked at the image of the damaged glove. They had been the first ones into the observation room and they had been the first ones that Jason had spoken to. He had told them about the damaged glove and even brought up the readout on the internal damage. As Jason looked at them though his hopes for a quick answer was quickly fading. At least Andrew spoke up. “I believe that this is vibration damage. It might be that the psionic energy in her claws was fluctuating in the path that it was taking creating vibrations.”

He didn't want to be rude but Jason couldn't help but give a sigh of relief. He was so glad to get something of an answer. “Has there been any test done to determine the nature of the cuts she leaves?”

Andrew, “Not to my knowledge. Let's take a closer look here.”

Jacklyn, “Oh yeah. Just look at the edges. Sure it seems like it was a clean cut to us but on the microscopic level. I don't understand how the cut appears so precise though. To damage the electronics in the glove the vibrations would have to incredibly high energy and that should have torn the opening apart.”

Andrew, “Perhaps she was holding the exterior of the gloves together and we're looking at the pulverized insides.”

Jason, “So do you know how this happened?”

There was no immediate answer from Andrew or Jacklyn. The two of them looked at one another and if Jason could see himself he'd realize they all three had the same look of confusion. The suit should have tricked Sarah's body into believing that it was her skin so she would naturally protect it. Typically psionics trying to damage their synthetic skin had an incredibly hard time doing so if they relied only on their psionics.

Jacklyn, “Well maybe and I'm not saying this for certain but maybe due to the biological changes in her body the synthetic skin is no longer able to manipulate her tissue the way it could previously.”

Andrew, “No. The interface for the suit is the same across several species. She's still far too human for that to be the case.”

Jacklyn couldn't help but shoot Andrew an annoyed look. “Well then what solution do you propose?”

“I'm not certain.”

“Then unless you have something to test don't put down my proposal.”

Cathy had arrived to work with a minute to spare. It was a bit unusual for her. She was normally earlier then that but the sedative she'd taken to help herself sleep hadn't worn off as cleanly as she expected it to. That she could see a clear disagreement of some type upon walking into the observation room made her shake her head. It seemed Jason was trying to work something out with Jacklyn and Andrew. She didn't really care about the details and set down at her desk opening up a communication channel with Sarah. “Hey Sarah what happened?”

“I had an accident last night. While I was speaking with my sister I somehow cut through my suits gloves and destroyed the electronics in the fingers as well. They're wondering how that happened given that I should have been treating the suit like it was my own skin. Oh. I was using the suit meant to control my synthetic body at the time not my actual combat suit.”

“Wow. Yeah. That should not happen. Did the check the suit to make sure it didn't glitch up? They're not perfect you know at times something gives out and with the kind of energy you're putting out even a little mistake could end up destroying a section of the suit or the entire suit.”

“Uh well. I haven't heard them talk about that theory.”

Cathy ran her tongue over her teeth for a moment. They felt dirty. She would have to take care of that later. “I'll check the suits readout just before the glove was fried and see if anything shows up.”

***********************************************************************************

It was nice to be working with machines again. Not that it had been a long time since he last worked with them but it felt like that. It was a little unusual to have Cathy in the room with him. Currently they were working on the room that held Sarah's synthetic skin suit. It had been Cathy's idea to place additional detection equipment in the room. She didn't have any ideas as to how Sarah could have cut through the gloves after determining there hadn't been any system errors. So her advice had been to add additional sensory equipment and see if they could get the same results again. There was one thing that was very unusual at the moment. Sarah was in the room helping.

Cathy didn't bother looking at Sarah as she spoke. “So you weren't angry or even all that excited whenever this happened?”

“I don't believe so. Helen and I were having a nice talk and then all of a sudden whoops there goes my right glove.”

“Well I'm pretty sure the suit didn't mess up so it was probably something on your end. It would be something if your psionics were trying to reach out to your body on another world and they overwhelmed the glove.”

That idea just seemed silly. Sarah knew of some psionics that had a very impressive range. They could focus their energies in a narrow beam and cover an absolutely massive distance. There was nothing like a planet to planet connection though. They could use their psionics to power communication equipment that could reach into deep space or even other worlds but not choke someone or shatter their mind. “I believe you're overestimating my abilities.”

For a moment Cathy was silent though she did hum a bit. “Hey have you done any test to see exactly what kind of cut you do with your claws? When you were talking about the glove with the others you were talking about how Sarah's claws vibrated but have you actually tested to make sure they vibrate?”

Now it was Jason's turn to feel a bit awkward. “No. That is really something we should test isn't it?”

Cathy, “Yes. Come on Jason! You're one of my fellow researchers and I actually respect you! Don't start being stupid to.”

Jason, “Huh? What do you mean actually respect me? You mean you don't respect the others.”

“You're one of the few that would enter in here and one of three that would do so without a suit on. Well one of three amongst the researchers. As for the others. Well it's their fault.”

Jason glanced at Cathy and then to Sarah hoping for something of a response. Sarah just gave him a confused shrug. “Thanks?”

“You're welcome. Okay I'm done with this corner. Come on you two we need to make sure that two atoms couldn't bump together in here without us knowing about it. Then we're going to cut some things with Sarah's claws and see exactly what kind of cut they leave.”

***********************************************************************************

Did her inclosure feel this homey before? Sarah was pretty darn sure it didn't. Currently Jason, Cathy and even Michel had joined her in her inclosure all without protective suits. It actually made her a little nervous. A thin bar of construction grade ceramic had been set before. “So just cut in half?”

Michel, “Half, quarters, thirds it doesn't really matter. Let's just get some samples.”

Sarah gave her head a nod and placed her right index finger on top of the ceramic. She felt her claw slide into the material and then she easily drew it along. Her finger hadn't actually passed inside of the ceramic but it sure felt like it had. Yet it didn't seem to slow her arm down in the least. “How's that?”

Cathy, “That looks good. You know while we're at this we should find out if there is any force exerted on your finger. That or how closely your claw follows the movement of your finger.”

Michel wasted no time picking up the cut ceramic and placing it on his examination table. “That would be interesting. I don't know if any of it would help us understanding what's happening to you Sarah but it could tell us some other things. Okay let's take a look at the edge at forty times magnification. Okay that's looks smooth. Let's jump up to one hundred times. That looks right. Moving on up to two hundred times.” As he spoke Michel continued to work the controls on the examination table. A three dimensional image of the cut region was being projected above the table for everyone inside the room to see.

For a moment Cathy said nothing but looked at the display. “Well that's strange. Normally when a blade cuts through something material builds up in front of the blade that it has to continue pushing out of the way. A vibrating blade would help move this out of the way but I don't see any sign of vibrations or where the blade might have struck the edge of the material. It looks clean.”

Jason, “But the gloves showed signs of vibration damage.”

Sarah felt a little embarrassed as if she'd done something wrong. One material indicated that her psionic claws were vibrating while the other didn't. It wasn't as if she had any control over this or did she? “How about we try that again then? This time I'll try to completely relax like I was while speaking to Helen. It might be that because I was thinking of making a clean cut by claws accommodated.”

Michel, “That is possible but give us a moment.” As Michel spoke he brought up another display this time of the actual cutting process. He hoped to gain some additional information with a detailed close up of the actual act. He was actually regretting that they hadn't used a clear cutting material so they could see what was happening inside of it. It took a few moments of adjusting the image but soon he could see what he was looking for. Sarah's claws were fluctuating in strength by section. “Look at that. It's just. Neat. Sarah did you know the edge of your claws move? As material builds up in the front it becomes permeable just for a moment. This lets the build up slip behind the front which becomes the cutting edge once again. That explains the build up. You're pulling the blade out, letting the material fall free then putting the blade back in.”

Now Sarah was surprised. She sure hadn't meant to be doing that. She hadn't even been thinking about it. “That is neat. I just wish I knew how I was doing it. I was just thinking of making a clean cut.”

Jason, “Well don't worry we brought lots of things for you to cut open so we could examine the results. I'm just glad I had a big breakfast as this could take a while.”

Sarah gave Jason a large grin as he placed another cutting bar on the testing table. “I'm glad that you liked it. Okay are there any instructions that you want me to follow?”

Michel, “Try thinking about doing as much damage as you can to that bar. I want to see if that changes the nature of the cut.”

***********************************************************************************

Where had that come from? As the experiment had continued Sarah had began using more and more fingers to cut the material. She hadn't even been thinking about it. At first it had just been the one claw. Then she's started using two saying that they might give different readings. Before she'd realized it she was using all five claws and had stopped thinking about the experiment. It was just fun to feel her claws slide through the bars and watch them fall to bits. The others had kept quiet about it until they had gathered several samples then Cathy had asked a simple question. Why had she suddenly started using all five claws? It was a reasonable question but what bothered Sarah was that she didn't even realize what she was doing until the question was asked.

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