It's Always Darkest Before the Dawn

[Armand Temi]

As his first assignment as part of the Rebel Alliance, Armand would help provide medical care to one of the wounded members. Corruck Kazen was to be transported to his clinic on Hapes after a particularly heinous torture. The Hapan doctor did not know the extent of the human's injuries. Those were to be sent ahead of time but somehow the transmission was lost on his datapad. It seemed like there'd been some kind of computer virus affecting his network lately. But he could work around that and hopefully get the information from the transport crew.

Even though The Fountain of Youth Clinic had full surgical and state-of-the-art equipment for healing, Armand himself could not implant a cybernetic replacement if the Rebel needed one. So he had called upon his good friend and mentor, Dr. Beul, a surgeon and biomechanical engineer, to be on call in case she needed to support him in the treatment of Kazen his Fountain Palace offices. None of the cost would be passed through to the Rebels. Armand was new to the organization and wanted to establish good faith with the Alliance while he figured out how he would fit into their structure.

He would personally meet Kazen at the landing pad, his long arm shielding his eyes from the bright Hapan sun as he waited for the medical ship to arrive.

[member="Corruck Kazen"]

 

[Corruck Kazen]

Corruck had been back with the Rebels for only a short time, after his interrogation with Dredge, before he had been told of a particularly promising doctor that had recently joined the Rebel Alliance. He had been hesitant to even visit the medical droid on his ship the Recalcitrant because he believed that nothing had been severely damaged beyond what was lost. His right arm had been completely severed and the left side of his face burned quite badly. Corruck, in his tiny knowledge of the medical field, had assumed the damage that had been done was all. He had assumed, incorrectly, that he would be able to continue living and that there would be no effects that would appear over time.

It had taken much persuasion on the part of his crew and a few problems appearing, that at last Corruck conceded and agreed to visiting this doctor. Aside from a missing arm and half a face, he had noticed an increase in appetite. The medical droid aboard his ship had diagnosed that his metabolism had increased, along with his heart rate. There were a number of problems that had become apparent during the short time, probably only a few days, since the experience.

Corruck had decided to take a small leave of absence, during which he would visit the doctor and hopefully come to a decision on what he had plans wise for his future. With a mind that was split between the person he was now and the person he once was, making life decisions was one of the harder tasks. But that was beside the point, at this time he needed to focus and fill out a full report based on what the medical droid had told him. The droid had taken the liberty of sending ahead a basic report with the diagnosis and all the basic information, however Corruck had also been unsure whether the data had reached its destination.

It was only a few minutes from landfall and he had pretty much covered everything that he had been told. With a last few touches, his signature, and the droids stamp, he had it ready just in time. The Recalcitrant touched down and its loading ramp opened. He, medical droid right behind him, slowly walked down the ramp. He gave a weak smile as he hailed the doctor, who had been waiting for them.

"Hello there. You must be the doctor I was told of. Apologies, I was not told your name."

He held out his left hand to shake the doctors. He had taken the time, during his brief rest period, to adhere a rudimentary face cover for the left side of his head. He also had the right arm of his shirt attached to a clip near his lower chest. In his mind, it gave him something of a normal appearance. He felt a little more self-conscious now about his appearance after the event.

[member="Armand Temi"]

 

[Armand Temi]

"My name is Armand Temi," the Hapan doctor answered. Kazen would see that Temi was wearing a white lab coat and black rimmed spectacles. He shook his hand gently. To Armand, it was a good sign that the man was walking on his own accord. He wasn't sure what shape he would be in so in preparation Kazen would also see right behind Temi, the doctor had brought his 2-1B surgical droid who pushed forward a wheelchair.

"Would you rather sit?" asked Temi to Kazen, motioning to the chair. "I'm afraid my personal computer is having some issues and I was unable to receive your medical file but this will be quickly corrected in minutes."

Armand nodded to the 2-1B. His droid shuffled over to Kazen's medical droid and with a quick connection to the other's circuitry, downloaded the fellow Rebel's medical file. Armand bent over and pressed a few buttons on his droid's chest to look at the readout of the file. "Aside from the obvious injuries to your face and arm, it appears that your heart is slightly tachycardiac. And there are other things going on as well..." Armand trailed off, frowning. But then he looked up at Kazen and tried to give him a reassuring smile. Kazen seemed stoic but his medical readout told a different story. Armand wondered if in addition to Dr. Beul, he should call in a counselor as well. The man had been tortured after all. But he would leave that decision up to the wounded man before him.

"Here now, let's get you going to the clinic. There's time for all of this when I do a full diagnostic. You will be tired of my talking and asking questions I'm sure and when you do get annoyed, please say so. I'm here to help you even if it means giving you some alone time to sleep and heal. May I also ask are you in any current pain? I can continue your pain management regiment immediately if so."

[member="Corruck Kazen"]

 

[Corruck Kazen]

Corruck listened quietly to the explanation, giving an appropriate nod at the times it seemed right. He was no doctor, if only because he hardly had any knowledge in the medical field. The term tachycardiac baffled him for a moment, he let the less active side of his mind work through that word. It gave him something to do as he waited and then responded.

"I'm not in any pain. My missing right arm though is prickling quite a bit. Is that normal?"

That was it at the moment, he knew of the occasional tingling that had plagued his left face, but that had been steadily disappearing. Aside from that and the symptoms that the droid had shown, Corruck felt as if he were in a fine condition.

Corruck was a little surprised at how quickly things might change, he had up until now not been willing to accept that the life he had prepared would be changed to much. He had known that such a hope was slim at best. The time he had spent in the interrogation had changed him. He looked forward to this visit, it would give him a chance to see where he was going in this life.

[member="Armand Temi"]

 

[Armand Temi]

"Very typical," said Armand about the human's lost limb. "You can feel all kinds of sensations both at the amputation site and where the limb once was - tingling, pain, and of course the phantom limb phenomena." Armand decide to let Kazen walk if he preferred but the B-12 droid trailed behind them with the wheelchair just in case. Luckily they were only a few steps away from a medical transport speeder. Armand opened the door for Kazen to let him sit in the front seat if he preferred. Both Hapan and human waited for the B-12 to load up the wheelchair and enter the speeder.

Once they cruised through the city, Armand began to speak again. "I'm not sure if you've ever been to Hapes before, but there's the Fountain Palace," the doctor said pointing to an ancient-looking fortress that rose up from the crags of the surrounding landscape. It appeared to be in excellent condition though the style of the palace was certainly outdated. "That's where our Queen Mother resides."

Otherwise Kazen would see unparalleled beauty and brightness. Everything about Hapes, the streets, the topiary, the crystal blue rivers which ran around the city surrounding Fountain Palace were clean and filled with grandeur. He would also notice that the residents on the street were mostly female and that any males seen appeared to be in servile positions to the females. "You can think of the Palace as the wheel hub around the city," Temi explained. "My clinic is located on one of the spokes radiating from that wheel hub as it were."

They rode in silence for a few more minutes until Armand said: "Here we are. We will meet my colleague [member="Anan Crimson"] who is a burn specialist and then we can get down to discussing what you'd like for your limb replacement." From the outside the clinic was small but architecturally attractive like the rest of Hapes. The clinic was however more modern looking than the Palace and some of the older style buildings around the city.

[member="Corruck Kazen"] [member="Anan Crimson"]

 

[Corruck Kazen]

Corruck was surprised at the beauty of the planet. It was so serene! He had never seen a planet like this and it was a pleasant experience to hear something about the city and simply watching as it passed him by. The castle was so pleasing to the eye, it didn't even occur to him that it might be a dated design. He was gladly sitting in the front seat listening, watching, and letting the peace that he felt on this planet envelop him. He was at awe of this planet, never before had he seen such magnificence in real life on the planet. He had seen images of worlds many centuries ago, but it was nothing compared to actually being there and seeing it.

He spoke after [member="Armand Temi"] pointed out his clinic, "The Hapan, your people if I am not mistaken, have kept their designs of buildings very aesthetically pleasing. Is that the intent behind the designs?"

Corruck had thought through a possible idea based on whether or not that fact was correct. If the Hapan designed their buildings to appear pleasing, then they may have a tendency to want what they make to appear beautiful. This meant that they tried, possibly, to create things that were both practical and appealing to the senses. That would be interesting, he could learn much from them.

He felt a twinge in the back of his mind, nothing to do with the physical injuries he had sustained. It was just a reminder of the older version of himself who once more roamed his mind. When Corruck had first been released, it was during the long trip on the X-wing that he came to a very important realization. He had remembered what the old crime lord had done. Once he had been that man, but he had run away from that locking away the memories and the character that was prevalent at the time. He had found that the worst of his injuries was the release of that mind from its mental cell. The physical he could deal with, the mental was much more dangerous and difficult. He hoped that by having the physical taken care of he could work with the mental easier.

 

[Armand Temi]

"Yes the Hapans believe in form and function as a blended aesthetic. But for years the planet was under isolationist rule so it took awhile for Hapes to modernize." Armand smiled warmly at Kazen. "Lucky for you my clinic is very modern. And what it has in advancement, more than makes up for it's small size."

As the human followed the doctor inside he would see that indeed The Fountain of Youth Clinic was small but was open plan with skylights that made it seem fresh and calming. Tall potted plants sat next to large windows which overlooked the street. The front of the clinic featured a waiting room with had a few rows of comfortable seats and a large front desk which was manned by a pretty brown-haired Hapan administrative assistant. "This is Aerona," Armand said motioning to the female. She will be getting you set up in our database. He nodded to Aerona who went with the B-12 droid to retrieve Kazen's medical records.

"I cancelled all other appointments so we won't be disturbed," said the Hapan doctor. "Let's go to an examination room, shall we?" Armand ushered Kazen inside a small room off to the side of the waiting room. It looked for all intensive purposes to be a typical doctor's office with an examination table, cabinets with medical supplies and small anatomical models, especially of the Hapan face.

Armand sat down in a chair and pulled out his datapad. "First we should treat the larger issues which may be affecting your quality of life. What were you thinking for limb replacement? Are you looking for a bio-implant with synthflesh or a cybernetic limb?"

[member="Corruck Kazen"] [member="Anan Crimson"]

 

[Corruck Kazen]

Corruck found these people truly inspiring. He had always found that the mixture of form and function had fantastic results, if accomplished correctly. These people seemed to have made it to such a degree that there was no better way that he could see such beauty. Then the doctor told him about the fact that the facility was advanced yet small. It reminded him of his own company headquarters on Praesitlyn. It was small, insignificant but was far more advanced than would be precedented by such a facility's size.

The beauty of the building continued in the others' pleasing designs. Its size was of no concern, though he was thankful that they would not be disturbed. He didn't know how long any operation may take, so he just hoped that it would be alright with [member="Armand Temi"] . He followed the doctor to the office, which turned out to be quite standard in appearance. It seemed that no matter where one went in the galaxy, the doctor's office would be one of the only things that didn't change too much.

Corruck had thought of an answer to the question awhile ago, so he simply said, "I would prefer a simply cybernetic limb. If that is possible."

 

[Anan Crimson]

[member="Armand Temi"]
[member="Corruck Kazen"]

A knock on the door and Anan walked in, "Sorry for interrupting doctor, I was... held up" she said, she looked to the second person "Hello you must be Mr. Kazen, I am Anan Crimson, I am not sure whether Doctor Temi said who I was or not". The Nautolan continued trying her best to be polite.

She didn't waste any time walking over next to the other doctor.

 

[Armand Temi]

"Hello Dr. Crimson," said Armand, glad the burn specialist had arrived. "I didn't really go into details but we're both glad you can lend your expertise to Mr. Kazen." It was the first time he had met the fellow doctor in person, only knowing her from her well-respected research on burn treatments. He first noticed how pretty she was. He had always thought the Nautolan species was attractive as a whole. Her eyes in particular were not the normal large, round black orbs of the species. They were human which made her look quite exotic indeed.

"While I call on my colleague Dr. Buel for the options on cybernetic limbs, can you begin your diagnosis of Mr. Kazen's burns? They are on the left side of his face both on the upper and lower quadrant. When you're ready for treatment, the clinic should have everything you need but let me know if we need to order something special."

With that Dr. Temi nodded to the both of them and exited the room.

[member="Anan Crimson"] [member="Corruck Kazen"]

 

[Corruck Kazen]

Corruck smiled politely at [member="Anan Crimson"] . He let the two doctors speak for a moment, as [member="Armand Temi"] spoke about the injuries, Corruck removed the cloth. The entire left side of the face had be burned by a blow torch that Dredge had used as a torture method. It had been quite painful for a single moment at the time, but then it had become quite painless. What was left was mostly the signs of a third degree burn, with areas where there was a forth degree. Bacta had been administered to prevent infection however he hadn't had enough to treat the area properly. The eye was nonfunctional and burned, due to the eyelid being burned away the eye was left unprotected. It was not a pretty picture and one of the first things that Corruck had covered immediately after his escape. He had avoided letting any of the crew see it, except the droid.

Nothing had been spared on that side of his face, aside from underneath the chin. Dredge had been more brutal than efficient. The side and back of Corruck's head were saved from any damage, but from the ear to the left side of the nose and from the hairline to the edge of the chin was the entire affected area.

Corruck spoke to Anan, "Thank you for taking the time to come and help with these injuries, I do appreciate it."

 

[Armand Temi]

After Corruck was with Dr. Crimson for awhile, Armand came back into the examination room. He took a seat nearby but not close enough to disturb whatever the Nautolan burn expert needed to do to treat the Rebel's scars. He pulled out a holounit and displayed holopics of various types of cybernetic limbs.

"Take your time in looking at these models, Corruck. Dr. Beul will do perform the limb attachment surgery and I'll assist her. There are all fairly standard arm replacements. But if you are looking for anything in particular or anything custom, please let me know. And of course if you have any questions."

[member="Corruck Kazen"] [member="Anan Crimson"]

 

[Corruck Kazen]

Corruck turned his attention back to [member="Armand Temi"] . He felt a strange sense of enjoyment at looking through the possible replacements. It was interesting, there were so many designs to decide from. A few immediately popped out and seemed to keep his attention. This Dr. Beul must be quite a surgeon to be called in for a single replacement. He wondered what the procedure would be like, what it would be like to have his arm back. He had only been a relatively short time without it and already it seemed odd that it would be replaced. Funny how a single event can change your thought process so quickly.

He found one design that he liked that seemed to keep coming back whenever he looked at another. He started comparing those that he viewed to the one that he had seen. It took him a bit to realize that he had already decided which one he liked. On self examination he would have found the reasons to be purely personal taste rather than any true usable advantage. He brought the image back up and said, "I think that one is quite suitable."

Spoiler

 

[Armand Temi]

"Great. I can tell you are a decisive man, Corruck. That cybernetic limb is very no-nonsense. It will feel and act for the most part, just like your normal flesh and blood arm. Again Dr. Beul is better at the surgery than I am but I've assisted her often and sometimes people go a little overboard with the add-ons."

Dr. Temi stood. "Are you ready for surgery? We can do this quickly without much preparation. If so, I'll have Dr. Beul come in so you can meet her. We still have a personal touch here on Hapes with our medical practices. Although the B-12 droid will help with the surgery you will at least have a name and a face to the person who is going to do this delicate work of repairing your body." He smiled warmly and waited patiently for Kazen's response.

[member="Corruck Kazen"]

 

[Corruck Kazen]

Corruck smiled a little at the thought of what other people probably came up with. He could imagine quite well some of the possibilities. He was sure that at one point, before joining the Rebel Alliance he may have decided to go for a more versatile replacement, though now he saw the best thing to do was to stay simple. Simplicity required him to not rely heavily on the machine, compared to making a highly complex device that was capable of accomplishing acts that this could not but would make him more reliant and therefore weaker when it failed.

He had to keep his pride in check when [member="Armand Temi"] said he was decisive. While it was nice to hear, he had to beware of those pitfalls. It was too easy to slip and become ignorant of what passed simply because one is flattering you. He doubted that that was the intent behind the compliment but it was better to accept yet not let it make him proud.

"I am ready. Thank you." He replied, it was quite different to him to have actual people alongside droids working in a surgery. He looked forward to it.

 

[Armand Temi]

"Great! Aerona will prep you for surgery and I'll get Dr. Beul." Once Dr. Temi left he came back with both Aerona and the cybernetic limb surgeon. Dr. Beul was an older woman but had the trademark classic beauty that marked them all as Hapan. She ran through how long the surgery would take, how they would manage his pain and how long the recovery would be. Aerona led Kazen to the surgery room and motioned for him to climb slowly onto the surgery table. She began to administer the anesthetic and said, "Now just count down backwards, 5, 4, 3, 2..."

Very soon Kazen would be asleep and once he awoke he would feel groggy but in no pain whatsoever. His new cybernetic arm was wrapped in a bandage and held in position on a small cushioned table near him. Dr. Temi let him fully awaken but eventually came over, checked his vital signs and smiled down at him. "Everything went extremely well. Your body took the replacement without a fight. Dr. Beul did a fantastic job. And the synthflesh looks very realistic if I don't say so myself."

Unknown to Corruck Kazen it was awhile since Dr. Temi felt this proud of his work. The Fountain of Youth Clinic was known for making his clients look younger and more attractive. Armand missed actually making this kind of difference in someone's life. And it reinforced his decision that the Rebel Alliance was where he needed to be.

"But I'll stop fussing over you. You need to rest. And Aerona is close by in case you need anything." He motioned to the nurse call button. Dr. Temi left Kazen's recovery room to continue the business of the clinic for the day.

[member="Corruck Kazen"]

 

[Corruck Kazen]

Corruck listened and mentally prepared himself for the surgery. He doubted that he would be conscious for it, but he felt that it would be better to be safe rather than sorry. He was quiet as he watched the older doctor come in. As with all Hapan, or at least the few he had met, they were very graceful and beautiful. Their physical beauty though was not enough to capture Corruck's mid completely, but it was tempting. A part of him, probably the vain portion, wished that he possessed the Hapan's unique traits. However, he would not let that beauty or physical appeal to let slip his wit.

He nodded in greeting as the doctor walked in. As she administered the anesthetic, he mentally counted with her. As one passed he lost track of time. He couldn't think, he couldn't feel, he assumed that this meant he was unconscious. There were no thoughts after that.

Until at last he awoke, the surgery had finished and he hardly noticed the change in time, in fact he did not notice at all. When he first awoke his groggy mind told him that he had just awoken from the most vivid and painful dream, if it could be called that. He pushed himself up until he was sitting rather than lying down. It was after [member="Armand Temi"] began to speak that Corruck began to recall the dream and knew that it was not so. Part of him wished it had been, but most of him took heart in the fact that he had grown. He had learned and now he had a new ally. If nothing else, that was something to be glad of.

Corruck couldn't tell if Armand was proud of his work, for all Corruck knew the man could be doing these kind of operations on a fairly regular basis. What he did know was that he was very appreciative of the doctor's work. He had almost completely forgotten that the arm was not real, until he looked at it of course. The way it worked was smooth and practically perfect. It would take a little getting used to but then he had gotten used to no arm fairly quickly.

"Thank you doctor." He said. After the man left, for a number of minutes all he did was stare at the new arm. It felt natural. Almost too natural. As usual he was pulling it apart within his mind to understand it better. The technology was amazing. He could see it used for other purposes.

That led him to a thought. What if similar technology was used directly on the brain? What if it were used to simulate feeling, sight, smell, taste, and every sense? Forget about holograms, if that technology worked as he guessed, it would allow communication in a more real fashion than most. Physical training for the military could be followed by mental training that seemed to be real work. Have this technology report directly the brain, cutting off the rest of the body temporarily. In that way a person could believe they were in any situation and be in no danger.

As a thought it seemed amazing, however he was willing to bet that in the real world it would not be quite as useful. He would ask the doctor his thoughts about it. Being in the medical field, he might know more about the side-effects of such technology on the human mind and body. He would wait until the end of the day or when the doctor finished most of his business.

He didn't call on the nurse, instead contenting himself to moving the new arm around and testing it. He went through a number of movements seeing how well it was synchronized to his nervous system. He didn't know much about the mechanics behind the cybernetic addition, but it showed itself to be quite capable of keeping up with him.

 

[Armand Temi]

Corruck was checked on often by Dr. Temi's assistant Aerona to make sure was comfortable and the arm was healing as it was supposed to. Under the instructions of Dr. Crimson, the young mecial resident began treating his burns with a topical solution. "This will speed the healing," she said.

Eventually Dr. Temi came back in to check on Kazen. "How are you feeling?" he asked. It was late in the day but Armand still appeared to be working. He hadn't removed his lab coat or his spectacles and was carrying some flimsi films but they didn't appear to be related to the fellow Rebel. Plus it was odd to see flimsi films at all in such a modern clinic where everything else besides medicine was electronic.