From One Cyborg To Another

[Errreembuhr]

The day had come for the appointment, and Errreembuhr was determined to make sure that his promises to [member="Helly Reyne"] were kept. The medical droids he'd procured for the process were programmed to accept commands from only him for the time being, and he planned to transfer the data they'd acquired to a separate storage device afterwards before wiping it from their memory banks. Mind wipes weren't something he enjoyed doing to the droids under his command, but in this case, it was better to be safe than let her secrets be put at risk.

He inspected the room personally, making sure that the stations were clean and sterile, as well as comfortable. It couldn't be easy for her to open up about something so personal as being partially mechanical, especially as unlike him with his blatantly obvious chest control rig, her parts were well concealed under an otherwise perfectly human appearance. And if the things he read on the holonet were true, there would be quite a few out there who'd love any sort of dirt on the woman.

Once he was satisfied with the state of the room he prepared the spider droids for their tasks, leaving to them the finer work that would be done. Wookiee hands after all were of little good for intricate tasks, especially on a being much smaller than he was. When finished he moved out of the room to the wide hall, one away from those used by the local Nosaurian workers, and accessible only via a private elevator. With Talus at his side, only an EO-1 on his hip, the pair made their way up the glasteel-encased elevator to the Wookiee's office, the sight of deep brown earth flashing down as they raced up.

Before long the lift slowed, the metal cap in the center of his office popping open to allow it room to station itself in the chamber. The glasteel door slide aside, allowing them to exit, before closing once more and sliding down below the cap which clamped back down atop it. He moved to look out through the window, his view a perfect one of the exterior landing pads and the shipyards in the canyon below. An EF40 looked like it was just about finished, and right on schedule. Perhaps Miss Reyne would want something made for herself, he thought, though for now his focus would be on her request. All he needed to do was wait for her arrival.

[member="Helly Reyne"]

 

[Helly Reyne]

Helly had worn a simple skirt and blouse for the occasion without bothering with makeup, hair, or accessories beyond a pair of black sunglasses. As the elevator rose, so too did her anxiety. It wasn't every day that she would be opened up, and the experience never failed to fill her with an existential dread that few other things could. Although she had to admit, she had never been to such a well-established factory, especially not for her own needs. Before being imprisoned, her last guy for the job worked in Coruscant's underground. Deep underground.

Having taken a droid-operated shuttle, nobody was there with her for the trek. It was something that needed to be done alone, just her and [member="Errreembuhr"] with nobody else privy.

As the doors opened up, Helly walked out into the room, feeling as vulnerable as ever, wanting more than anything to jump back into the lift where she was alone.

She had met the Wookiee at a carnival and she had met him again at her show, but this time she was meeting him in his element, his domain. It was more than a little daunting.

"Embuhr," she greeted him, her eyes trailing off to the side behind her sunglasses. "It's... good to see you again."

 

[Errreembuhr]

"Good to see you again as well," the Wookiee said, his translator on and pre-adjusted for clarity. She would likely be nervous enough even being here in the first place, the last thing he wanted was to scare the woman further with a voice that was too robotic and garbled. "I hope your flight in wasn't too troubling, I know there have been some troubles lately around Alliance space."

He moved from behind his desk as he spoke to greet her, arms held close to make himself appear smaller. It was a trick he'd picked up in his dealings in the past with humans, as Wookiees were already large creatures, and making themselves appear larger often led to fear. But [member="Helly Reyne"] was at the very least a friendly acquaintance, someone who trusted him, and he wanted to keep that trust.

 

[Helly Reyne]

"You manage to get around when you've got fame on your side," she answered, still looking away from the figure standing before her. She wondered the entire way there if what she was doing was a mistake, but an even worse mistake would be to do nothing and merely waste away. Decisions weren't created to be easy.

"Just so you know... almost all of me is cybernetic. It may not look like it, but just about everything you see was recreated from when I was a child. I still have organic tissue that grows with me, but everything keeping me functioning and alive is bionic. Even my brain isn't fully organic, and lately it's been working against me... I've always battled with depression, there's no way to avoid that for someone like me, but I feel like I can barely even function anymore even when I'm in a good mood. I don't know if it's my heart that isn't pumping blood efficiently enough, my brain that isn't receiving information properly, or just a bug in my programming, but I want it dealt with before it gets any worse. My internal batteries are already draining faster than they ever have..."

---

[member="Errreembuhr"]

 

[Errreembuhr]

The Wookiee listens intently as she explains, his expression turning to one of concern and worry as she does so. He hadn't considered that she was more than half cybernetics, as whoever had done the work made quite an effort to conceal that fact. "The depression being so debilitating is definitely a concern, Helly. It isn't uncommon to have it, but to have it that bad definitely isn't good. I have a room set up already for the procedure, if you'll step with me onto the center of the room."

He made his way there, accessing the elevator to bring it up from the floor before he even made it. He stood within the glasteel chamber, waiting for Helly to join him. "It's very likely that there are some issues with your brain mechanics not properly processing the right chemicals, so I'll be taking a look at that. If you'd like me to inspect your other internals as well for defects I can. As I've said before I'm not an expert on cybernetics, but because of my own replacements, I have some experience with them."

[member="Helly Reyne"]

 

[Helly Reyne]

Hesitantly stepping into the lift with the towering figure, she nodded along with what he said as if she was shy, which she most certainly wasn't, but in this case... "I still have depression without all this, but..." She twiddled her thumbs against the sides of her legs in a rhythmic pattern. "This isn't really a normal kind of depression, you know? The last thing I need is an artificial version to go along with the psychological..."

She was still looking off in random directions, her eyes darting all around the inside of the lift, everywhere except for where [member="Errreembuhr"] himself stood.

 

[Errreembuhr]

"Of course not," he replied, thinking back on the weeks, the months that followed his revival. "I understand from experience, to an extent. After the incident that left me like... this, I was not myself. Not for a long time. My arm and leg were not mine, this thing on my chest was unnatural, even my face did not feel right. I believed I was the reason that many good people were dead, and yet here I was, alive in an unnatural state. Maybe it's different for you, but for a Wookiee, it changed who I believed I was for years."

The lift began to slow as Errreembuhr looked towards [member="Helly Reyne"] , motioning for her to exit after him once it came to a halt. "This way. This hall isn't used for anything other than my own personal use, so you don't have to worry about prying eyes or interruptions. I've set up a room over here for the procedure."

 

[Helly Reyne]

Following the fellow cyborg out of the lift, she said, "I've been this way for as long as I can remember. My father changed my memories after fixing me up so that I wouldn't have to deal with the trauma of what happened, but that didn't do a lot of good once I learned anyway. Just... thinking about it. Thinking about how I was nothing more than an incoherent twist of flesh, blood, and bones..." Her voice trailed off as she shuddered with a gasp of air filling her lungs. "On second thought, I'm not gonna bring that up anymore..."

She held her left arm with her right hand, trying to focus on something else instead. "Do you know how long this'll take? It can take as long as it needs, I'm just... curious, I guess."

---

[member="Errreembuhr"]

 

[Errreembuhr]

"It shouldn't take very long," the Wookiee replied, leading her through an automatic door into the prepared room. "Have a seat in the chair there. This is mostly just an examination and to repair anything I can find that's wrong with your current cybernetics, so it will depend on how long that takes. For more complex issues I'll have to take note and make some orders to get replacements, if you'd be open for scheduling a future meeting to get those taken care of."

With the door closed behind them Errreembuhr's droids turned to acknowledge them, preparing their tools and instruments for the operation about to proceed. "Welcome Miss Reyne," one of the medical droids said in a soothing tone. "Please do not be afraid, you are in good hands."

[member="Helly Reyne"]

 

[Helly Reyne]

Helly felt the need to awkwardly smile at the droid, then realized it probably didn't matter what mannerisms she used around it...

She tentatively took a seat and awaited whatever came next, leaving her faith in [member="Errreembuhr"] and his droids. "Should I be afraid...?" she asked quietly, noticeably shaking a bit. She didn't know this person or his company. She had met him a few times, but she didn't know him. Although she tried to remain as calm as possible, she couldn't help but feel thoughts coursing through her head as she sat there. There was no turning back then, unfortunately.

 

[Errreembuhr]

The Wookiee shrugged, unsure of how she'd take everything. "I'd imagine most people would be afraid when they're about to be opened up and examined. Every adjustment and replacement to my cybernetic parts definitely didn't feel enjoyable to me. So if you were afraid I wouldn't blame you."

Once she was in the chair he looked over her quickly, summoning over the medical droid. "I assume this flesh is synthetic? How much of it? Where is the opening so I may access your internal cybernetics?"

[member="Helly Reyne"]

 

[Helly Reyne]

"All... of it..." Helly replied, hesitantly removing her outer layer of clothing, followed by the inner layer, knowing full well that it would be required at some point. All of it looked entirely real, modeled perfectly after the skin she once had. It used to be her real skin before more and more of it was replaced for the more reliable synthetic material. "The uh... navel is where you'll find your opening, though I first told my last guy that it was his mother's ass... I was a teenager. Oh, and..." She flicked at her navel piercing and the chain leading down from it that led to an orange charm of no significant shape. "You can take this out for now. I can't imagine it would make anything easier."

---

[member="Errreembuhr"]

 

[Errreembuhr]

Errreembuhr followed her instructions, removing the piercing after she laid back into the seat. He examined the flesh, thick and furry fingers pressing at it gently before moving to open her up, revealing mechanical operations where her stomach and intestines would be otherwise. "Hmm. This synthetic flesh is very good. Sturdy, at least as far as flesh goes. You could have ended up with worse for this."

As the medical droid opened up more of her skin, he began to see a bit of corrosion further up. The synthetic ribs to protect what would have replaced her vital organs were off in color, something that he made a mental note of as the 'skin' was split up to her collarbone. The Wookiee reached in to feel the ribs, finding a clip that allowed him to lift them up and examine what was beneath.

His concerns were confirmed. Errreembuhr found discoloration around the synthetic heart, a strange substance almost like rust that came off when he rubbed it even gently. Whatever it was it was indeed making her 'heart' work slower, something that could be the source of untold issues with standard bodily functions internally. As his eyes followed it, searching for more, he found some of it stretching up through her neck towards her head.

"There it is. There is some corrosion here that seems to extend into your neck. Right here, around your heart, these organs seem to be working much slower because of this. I don't believe it would be fatal anytime soon, but it can cause all sorts of problems for you. What I'm concerned about is the depression you told me about. Do you mind if I open up your head? I'll need to get a better look there. If the corrosion has spread into your brain, it could certainly be the cause for it."


[member="Helly Reyne"]

 

[Helly Reyne]

Helly couldn't help but shake ever so gently for as long as her skin had been pulled back. She was human, not droid... and yet she knew that she was far more droid than human on a biological standpoint. It didn't make it any less creepy and uncomfortable to know that she could come apart in that way so easily and painlessly.

"You would have to put me under for that..." she told the Wookiee. "My brain still has original parts to it. Original human parts. You can perform surgery, right...? On an organic being, that is. That's the only way you're fixing anything in my head."

---

[member="Errreembuhr"]

 

[Errreembuhr]

"I see," he replied, raising a furred hand to his chin in thought. "I don't exactly have the facilities for something like that, but perhaps..." He looked to the droid, wondering. "Are you equipped with bioscan technology?"

The droid nodded, replying, "You will be able to get an accurate image of the contents of Miss Reyne's brain without harming her. It isn't as good as getting a direct visual but you should be able to see enough."

Errreembuhr looked back to [member="Helly Reyne"] as his arms dropped into a folding position. "Would you allow us that? It will be much easier on you and far less invasive."

 

[Helly Reyne]

"Sure, yeah, fine," she said as she tried staying as still as possible with her innards on display. "Just uh... next time you open me up, give me something to take the edge off, yeah? Little bit nerve-wracking..."

It was bad enough to be disrobed in front of a man, even a trusted man, but she vastly preferred being closed up, because at least then she could pretend in her mind that she was still normal.

---

[member="Errreembuhr"]

 

[Errreembuhr]

"Don't worry, you won't be opened up much longer," the Wookiee replied as he gave a nod to one of his droids. The medical droid moved near her head, opening a compartment in its arm to reveal a small device that gave off a quiet beeping sound. With the press of a button it emitted a faint blue light, whirring as the droid's repulsors moved it along to the other side of her head in order to obtain a full scan. Meanwhile the Wookiee had begun to close her up, recognizing her discomfort and hoping to ease it as much as possible.

After a few seconds the droid stopped, the light fading away, before it moved over to a terminal at the wall. Errreembuhr finished closing up [member="Helly Reyne"] as it plugged the device in, giving her leave to dress herself again. Within moments the scans were dimmed just enough to see a holoprojection just off the center of the room, made up of the scans that allowed the Wookiee a look at not only the exterior but the ability to open it up and see, to an extent, the internal structure of her brain.

Just as he'd worried, it was quickly that he saw corrosion in some of the processes on her brain.

"There," he said, glancing back to his guest as he pointed to a section of her brain. "The amygdala seems to be corroding quickly. And here, it looks like your dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine production is much lower than it should be. Much lower. Hmm."

 

[Helly Reyne]

"Is there something you can do about it?" she asked. "It's not all synthetic, but do you have a droid that can deal with that? I want this fixed ASAP; I don't know how much longer I can stand it. I just started dating a girl... I wanna give her a good impression of who I really am, not whatever I am now..."

Thinking back to [member="Cynthia Solus"] she breathed in quickly, remembering that she needed to let her know she was all right. "Could you hand me my clothes? I have a communicator in the pocket of my skirt. Sorry, I'm just... I'm kind of a mess, in case you couldn't tell."

---

[member="Errreembuhr"]