5545 Exp available, 21 cycles till next payment

  I don't know what a Jark looks like but I imagine that it is a four legged critter that needs to run into a lake and learn that it can't swim far too late to do anything more productive than die.

  +1 Int

  Int is now 15

  Zelda does not feel any smarter. Zelda wishes to smash things. Zelda waits on Pamulur returns for the okay to smash things. The bunny doctor enters the med bay. She starts her scans silently. Scrunches her nose at the information.

  “Your stress levels appear to be elevated.”

  “I haven't slept and I just had the entire Jark journey read to me.”

  “Ah I love that series growing up, it is just beautiful how it all rhymes.” The doctor waxes on nostalgia. Zelda's eye twitches. “Did you not enjoy its punchy cadence?”

  “Let me rephrase what I said, doctor. I just had the entire Jark journey read to me in English.”

  Pamulur frowns at that, “Doesn't translate?”

  “For eighty-three volumes.”

  “If you weren't enjoying it, why did you go through that many?” The doctor stares at the absurd woman.

  “Doctor…I don't sleep. I need something to pass the time.” There is a pause, Zelda's voice becomes hoarse, “Will this core ever finish? I'm so tired.” Another pause, “I've started to yearn for the nightmares, Doctor.”

  “Smith, calm down.”

  It comes out faster now, manic. “Does that make me a terrible person? I should be asking how to never sleep again but here I'm asking when I can get back to watching them die. Children, Doctor. Watching.”

  Zelda grasps her face. Tears stream down her hands. Pamulur starts punching in some codes. A screen pops up showing Dagnit doing stretches.

  “Pamulur?” Another impossible stretch.

  “I need you to disembark the ship with your crew and set it to go into orbit.”

  “My contract doesn't stipulate surrendering my ship. He is not paying me that much.”

  “You're more than welcome to come along. I'm going to give my patient a sedative in one hour whether I am in geosynchronous orbit or not. There is a good chance of her core going critical and the ship with it. I prefer not to take the dock. You know Red Deliverance will charge my family for the repairs plus loss of income.”

  Dagnit frowns. The screen closes. There is some clanking in the corridor as feet make a hasty retreat. Then the ship lifts off the dock. A new set of feet walks to the medbay. Pamulur frowns. The hatch opens showing Dagnit.

  “You should be in a safe orbit in five minutes. Were you not able to prevent her stress build up?”

  The bunny Doctor gives an annoyed look at Dagnit, “Not like there is much research on Arth humanoids. Clearly there is a bit of difference between them and other species. That's not even considering the Dragon Blight.”

  Zelda in a fetal position murmuring to herself, “Jark or Children.”

  “Jark? As in those rhyming starter books, I haven't thought of that in ages.” Dagnit asked.

  “Apparently Miss Smith wasn't a fan.”

  “Really?”

  “Apparently English has not been optimized for amusing reading to spur early development.”

  “Hmmm suppose without the rhyming it could get dull.”

  Zelda murmurs out the number eighty-three. Dagnit grows a bit shocked at the number. “Why did you read so many if you weren't enjoying it?”

  “The Jark climbed the frigit. What a frigit? I don't know. But the Jark climbed it.” Zelda rocks back and forth. Murmuring to herself.

  An eyebrow was raised from Dagnit. She looks to the side.

  “Three minutes.”

  The Doctor taps something on her pad. Then gets a syringe and pulls from a vial. A tap to the needle and then into Zelda arm. The eyes droop.

  “A bit early there.”

  Pamulur simply turns the semi lucid Zelda head. Pointing to the nape of her neck.

  “Ah.”

  -----

  4545 Exp available, 20 cycles till next payment

  Zelda opens her eyes. Seems I hadn't blown up the ship. The core hadn't changed. She looks to her left arm. The implant port was still there. Do they plan to continue injecting stimulants?

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  “How was your sleep?”

  Zelda sees Dagnit in the chair. No heart pinch this time. Must have run its course. She answers anyway.

  “Dreamless. Thankfully.”

  Dagnit nods. The hatch opens and Pamulur walks in. She starts doing scans. Zelda watches as she pulls out the hand scanner and starts sweeping her body. She studies, not allowing any emotion pass her face. It annoys Zelda.

  “How bad?”

  Pamulur looks at Dagnit. The cat lady sighs and leaves. After the hatch closes, the bunny doctor starts talking. “Your spine is covered in scales now. Your mammalian secondary sex traits are minimizing further. Your ears are smaller. Your pelvis is shifting. It might be easier to tilt forward as you walk, though without the counter balance of a tail that could be an issue. Temporary cybernetic enhancements are suggested.”

  “Such as?” Zelda says, eyes squeezed shut.

  “A retracting tail, a set of front arms. Lung mods. Heart replacement.”

  “Replacement?”

  She gave a sad look to Zelda, “It's slowing down, shrinking. Whatever dragons use, it is not changing your heart but simply discarding it. But your body still requires your blood to flow. We can set you up with a constant flow system. Or go more archaic with a pump."

  My biology is considered archaic.

  “I'm assuming Grant is paying.”

  “He will extend the debt.”

  Of course he will. Zelda looks to her shoulders. They have shifted backwards. She can bring them forward but it's awkward now. “Won't cybernetic arms get in the way? Like shouldn't there be forelimbs as well?”

  Pamulur pushes some buttons on her tablet. A video pops up. They show discs on the side and metal arms floating next to them. Connected only by energy. Electricity? The arms had full range of motion. “There would be a spinal tap to connect you to the disc you see here. The discs themselves are not actually embedded into your skin. They instead are adhesives. They require regular reattachment. It's a temporary solution. Much like the tail is.” More button pushes, a large mechanical tail is shown flowing out the back of a lizard man. “This is actually designed to retract as your tail comes in. It's made for species with regenerative capabilities.”

  “Don't I have an ass in the way of that doctor.”

  “That area has already started to reshape itself. Hence the pelvis recontouring. There will need to be a colostomy bag until that part closes off.”

  How the hell am I supposed to fight dragons or level with a colostomy bag. “Exactly how much of this has to be done now?”

  “Right now, your heart and tail should be done. Those are your major death vectors at the moment. Obviously because your heart is breaking down but your digestive system is closing off before you are ready. I fear you will go septic if your colon has nowhere to go.”

  “So it's not so much the tail but the need for a colostomy bag.”

  The left ear comes down. Why can't she just nod? “I also suggest the lung mods, they will take over after the lungs disappear. But that has been going slower than the heart. I suspect they are present in Dragons but less of a function than in the rest of us. So pump or constant flow.”

  “Fine…to survive…flow. How long till they are here?”

  +200000 Exp Debt Update: 888839 Exp current Debt for Various medical mods

  Zelda squints her eyes at Pamulur. She answers, “Grant had already purchased them a few days ago. I assume you only want the discs attached when you are heading out, correct?”

  “Yes.”

  She injects something into the implant port on her arm. “Very well then.”

  Zelda begins to lose consciousness again, but not before Pamulur tells her one last thing.

  -----

  4545 Exp available, 18 cycles till next payment

  Zelda eyes flutter open again. Pamulur is over her looking at her tablet. She starts to lift herself.

  “Slowly now, you have a new appendage to account for.”

  Zelda looks behind herself, sees the mechanical tail. “That will take some getting used to.”

  “Try not to think too much about it and you will be fine. Just watch how you sit. Don't use it in combat. I prefer you not fight at all but I understand you have goals. Will you be heading out today?”

  Zelda nods, the doctor continues her inquisitive look not understanding the gesture, “That meant yes, doctor.”

  “Of course, you lack proper ears after all.” The doctor steps forward and undoes the medical gown's neck ribbon. It falls off Zelda, revealing brown black scales going down her sternum. Her nipples are gone and her chest is flat. There are two scars, one on each side of her side chest. She can only assume the heart scar is behind the scales. At her waist is a bag attached to her skin. Attached to her colon she assumes. Zelda's eyes squeezes tight at the sight. She feels a beat as her stress grows.

  “Calm yourself please, I understand this is a lot.”

  “Why does it feel like my heart is still there?”

  “Grant suggested leaving it. I simply bypassed the valves to install the flow implant. It still receives blood but it no longer is in charge of maintaining the flow.”

  Science experiment.

  The bunny slathers something onto both Zelda's sides below her shoulder and the ovals. What happened to it being a disc? It's cold and gets colder when the oval is pushed to the skin. Conforming to her body. The Doctor goes to her tablet again and pushes more buttons. There is a thrum. The doctor brings one arm over and it connects with electrical energy. Then the other.

  “The arms have about a twenty hour charge. Depending on everyday use. They may drain faster should you exert them.” Zelda flexes them. Strangely her actual arms feel locked the moment the cybernetic ones came on. She looks at them curious. The doctor notices, “Your mental input is being redirected. It should make adjusting easier. Though conversely it will make your real arms feel more foreign as you will stop adjusting to their changes.”

  So the more I use these the less I can use my … soon to be wings. “Why not just remove them then.” The doctor just looks at Zelda. “Stupid question, same reason the heart is still there.” The doctor's left ear comes down again.

  She brings out a chain mail apron. Zelda gives a raised eyebrow. “Gift from Dagnit, seeing how you're not going to be able to wear typical armor, this will at least protect your front. Be careful Zelda.”

  Zelda takes the gift and loops it over her head. The sides are exposed but what can she do? She gets off the table and finds herself standing slightly forward.

  “I don't feel like my core is complete, Doctor.”

  “I don't know when it will. Seeing that it is stable, you can use regular mana for now and when you have down time, like before you sleep, you can condense.”

  Zelda nods to that. She heads out the hatch after putting her greaves on. All that exp spent and I'm only wearing the legs. As she walks, her body naturally pivots her forward. The tail is trailing on the floor. It's not going to scratch it, is it? She feels more stable. At least blocking will have more push back. She headed to the front of the ship.

  “Looking good, Zelda.” Frankie coos.

  She looks at the short lizardman. Guess the further I change the more similar we are. “Its still a lot to get used to Frankie.”

  “Do not worry, I will guide you through proper tail edict.”

  “Oh?”

  “Yes, first thing is first, no scraping your tail on the ground as you walk, bad for the tail, and bad for the floor. Second stools are for you, baring that, sit in chairs sideways. Putting a tail through an open back is only to be done if alone or with one partner. While sitting sideways, curl the tail around the chair.”

  “What about couches?”

  “Avoid them, if your host is not accommodating you with a stool, stand with your arms crossed to look imposing.” Frankie says while crossing his arms to demonstrate.

  “Oooo poor lizards and their inflexibles, lounging is just fine for me.” Dagnit purrs next to him. He claws at her which elicits a laugh.

  “Yes well, she doesn't have your limp tail but a strong thick tail…or will.” He brays at the cat, arms regaining their crossed emplacement.

  Or will. Zelda thinks to herself.