Between a Bear and a Hard Place(83)

His sudden speech surprised both Jill and Claire, and even got Jacques’s attention.

“It worked?” the voice was a little stronger that time. “Do I have lips?”

Claire just nodded, blinking away tears. It wasn’t pretty – that much was certain, but the other thing that was certain is that he’d heal. The cuts and the holes had all been kept clean for however long he’d been behind the mask. None of it was scarred over, none of it permanent. Well, none of it except for the eye.

“There aren’t any lines in my vision,” he said. “I’m seeing... what I remember seeing.”

Jill put a hand on the side of his face. “Just like you said,” she whispered, much better at containing her emotions than was Claire. “It all went just like you said. We were able to save everything except your left eye, which—”

“Wasn’t there in the first place,” he finished for her. “I don’t remember ever having it. I think I lost it in an accident when I was young. Which means that I’m also starting to remember,” he trailed off, drawing a quick breath through his nose. “You smell nice. All of you, even Jacques.”

“Jeez,” Jacques said with a grin as he pulled his mask off. “I don’t remember the last time someone paid me a compliment like that.”

“Is he awake?” Draven asked.

Before an answer came, a gloved hand pulled back the curtain and five faces peered into the room. “He’s awake!”

Stone glared briefly at the Clod which had taken control of him for a brief time. He pulled his lips back in a brief snarl before a clammy hand landed on his wrist. “That thing is the only reason I’m alive,” Eighty-Three whispered. “Thank you for... for carrying it, and for letting us use it.”

The two men exchanged a long look.

Under the obnoxiously bright florescent lights, the ghostly pale man glistened with sweat. His head was shaved bald, though there was the dark shape of a widow’s peak and a full head of black hair. His good eye was watery and hazel, the other had been covered with an eyepatch. His lips were blue, but quickly gaining color. His cheeks hollow, gaunt and so pale the veins in them were barely visible. With each passing second spent disconnected from the respirator and the machines and the GlasCorp control mechanisms, he seemed to be gaining weight and color.

“Thank you,” Stone said. “The only reason we’re alive is because you helped us in the first place.”

Eighty-Three moved his hands up in front of his face, flexing his fingers and wincing slightly. “It was the right thing to do,” he said. “I have to admit I didn’t think my hands would ache this badly.”

“The wires went all the way to your fingertips. You’re probably just getting used to moving without the machines,” Claire said, finally pulling her mask away. “You won’t be as strong as you were.”

The patient laughed, and pushed himself into a sitting position using his elbows for leverage. As soon as he was up, he looked around the room, staring at each of his friends in turn. “Seeing you all for... for the first time is strange. I feel like I’ve known you for my whole life, but I hardly recognize the way you look. My human eyes are,” he paused for a second, moisture welling up in his one eye. “Not human eyes. My eye, I’m not used to the colors and the clarity. I’m used to scan-lines and an interface that never went away. It was like looking at the world through a computer.”

Everyone was just watching him, waiting for him to say something else. He didn’t disappoint.

“Oh,” he grunted as he turned and touched his bare feet to the cold stone. “I forgot what cold felt like. I forgot what sounds felt like, the way they resonate in your ears, the way everyone sounds different. Can you all say your names for me? It sounds odd, but just so I can hear the way they’re supposed to sound?”

He pushed himself to his feet, immediately his knees buckled. Stone grabbed one elbow, and King the other, both men supporting him. They looped his elbows around their necks and went to sit again. “No,” he said, with a small laugh. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to get my legs under me. I think the atrophy will go away quickly, but only if I take the pain.”

The two bears exchanged a glance and then both bent their knees, letting him support himself more and more.

“Tingles,” he said with a laugh. “Tickles. Feels like blood is surging through my muscles. Feels like... I think I can stand now, thank you.”

Tentatively, the two giant bears stepped away, gingerly releasing their hold on him. His knees did wobble a bit, but Eighty-Three was standing on his own. Only minutes after having his entire body altered, he was standing on his own strength.