Upgrade

[Shelco]

The H+ Clinic, a place where humans become superhumans, where they split from the norm in whatever way they choose. The complex was shining in Nauru's bright sun, its highly advanced looks already giving you a feel of being somewhere out of the norm. Lucina wasn't quite sure if she wanted to be there, which could be easily observed, judging from her foot tapping constantly on the ground, her arms crossed and the look on her face, highly doubtful, as she kept looking at the sign of the H+ Clinic, which decorated its entrance. She couldn't help but think only about the negative, losing everything that made her the way she was, was her biggest fear, no power could convince her from willingly losing herself. But it was her job, and the job of a Core soldier demanded dedication, more than any other, as it seemed. They wanted you to become legendary, to become stronger and more efficient at what you were doing. If you would pay the price of not being yourself anymore, that was unclear. The more she thought about it and stood in the bright sun outside, the more she started to feel uncomfortable, a light film of sweat started to build up on her forehead. One deep breath and she walked the few steps towards the entrance, still rather hesitating, but she did not stop now.

The inside of the clinic was as impressive as she imagined it, everything looked like you stepped into another dimension, most of the walls were designed in a bright shining white color, which did not feel good to look at for too long. The big reception, which was practically placed in the middle of the entrance hall, was the first place she had to go to. A large monitor was hanging from the ceiling, which displayed an animation about how the different H+ procedures would be used on your body, followed by a little list of all the improvements that it caused. It was undeniable, even for her, that the thought of having such advantages would be delightful. "Good day, Miss, can I help you?" A nice and friendly voice said. Lucina didn't even realize she was already standing in front of one of the secretaries, while her eyes were still focused at the monitor. She had to catch herself before she was able to speak, shaking her head a little until she even noticed the woman, who smiled at her while she was busy looking at her as if she had no idea what's going on. "Hello, I am here because of the uhm... She paused for a second, forming circles with her hand as she thought about how to explain it professionally so she wouldn't sound like an idiot. "Physical and psychological improvements." She nodded a little, not a single emotional reaction on her face shown, she wanted to keep the cool, despite being pretty nervous already. The woman, however, did show a reaction, it was another smile, almost unrealistic. "Ah, I understand, you are aware of the guideline, that you have to be a member of the Core, right?" She asked and placed her hands on the keyboard, ready to type something, but waiting for Lucina's response. "Yes, indeed, uh, Ferguson, Lucina, Knight." She said, with a little stutter, leaning a little bit over the desk. "Let's see..." The woman said and started to type something. Lucina tried to catch a glance through the reflection of the woman's eyes about what was going on on that screen but figured that it simply had to be a database of all the personal files. After a few seconds, the woman had a slight smirk on the right side of her lips. "Ah, yes, there we go, Miss Ferguson, alright, your papers are all in order, if you wish to conduct one of the upgrading medical processes, you have to sign that the H+ Clinic does not hold any responsibility in case the process fails and or if you have any medical disproportions after it, should it fail." These horrifying words were followed by a cute grin on her face, obviously, she was used to say such sentences without the smallest remark. Lucina had to gulp, although this was probably normal, it just sounded wrong if one would think about what could actually go wrong with all they could do with a human there. She gave her a nod and a half-swallowed "Of course." came from her. "Perfect." The woman said and gave a paper to Lucina, as well as an old-fashioned pen to sign it. "You just have to sign here and here." She pointed at the exact places to sign, without even having to look at them, while typing with one hand on the keyboard, focusing on the screen. Lucina sighed quietly and placed the tip of the pen at the two spots she had to sign, just as she wanted to write her name down, a feel of doubt and fear drove through her body like a shock. Her mind was suddenly polluted from all the negative side effects it could have, but she did her best to resist. Her left hand, which was just positioned next to the paper, formed into a fist and she bit her teeth together. Finally, she just signed the paper and put the pen next to it aggressively, taking even a step back. It felt like she just signed a contract with the devil. The secretary woman looked up at her for a moment, her eyes wide opened, as if she was worried about Lucina, and then taking the paper. "To the right, into the waiting room, your number is four, you have to decide on a medical program you want to have on the tablet that is laying next to the chair with your number on it." Her eyes went back to focusing on the screen while speaking, expecting Lucina to find the way herself.

The door to the waiting room opened, Lucina gave a quick smile and a nod to the three other waiting people, two men, one of which looked like a mountain of muscles with a lot of facial tattoos, and one who looked rather ordinary, he was also the only man who brought his glance away from the magazine he was reading to greet Lucina with a smile. A woman was sitting in the room as well, but she didn't pay attention to her, she was leaning against the window, that showed downtown Athena City, one leg over the other, while she seemed to try getting something out of her teeth columns. Lucina sat down at chair number 4, she was glad that nobody seemed to be eager for a conversation. It was just as the woman said, a tablet was laying next to the chair, Lucina could already see her name on it, as she took it and sat down. A welcome message, that took about five seconds, appeared on the screen, Lucina didn't even read it, more interesting were the 4 options she was able to choose from now.

• ARES-class external visual augmentations - Enhanced eyesight, visual-based reflexes.
• ATLAS-class cybernetic arm(s) - Enhanced arm strength.
• HERMES-class spinal regulators - Enhanced overall reflexes and speed.
• DIONYSUS-class fluid regulators - Sleep less, eat less... drink more.

She stared at the screen for a moment, thinking about any possible scenario where any of those abilities would come to use. Something she instantly sorted out was the DIONYSUS upgrade, she wouldn't have a need for this, she thought, it was probably for soldiers that had other responsibilities than her, the same went for the ATLAS cybernetic arms, it would make her look inhumane and she wasn't really weak anyway, her sportive body provided enough strength. She was trapped now, unsure of either the ARES-class upgrade or the HERMES one. Both looked promising, but again, the negative side effects came into mind. If they would fuck up at the ARES-class, she would surely be blind forever, meaning she can never work again, never enjoy the beauty of space again and live a life full of darkness and depression. However... if they would conduct surgery at her spine, she could become disabled, being unable to walk would ruin her life just as much but even worse things can happen with her, like- no! She shook her head a little and blinked fast with her eyes."Enough of those thoughts..." She said to herself in her head, it was enough, she would only become scared enough to flee from the building. The positive effects should be what is in her mind, after all, those were written on the tablet. She already regretted not reading the contract which she signed, although she wished to know what could happen, she really didn't want to know at the same time, the fear won, this time. A few more seconds of mere thinking and she pressed on the ARES-class upgrade, without any respect for consequences. The question, if she was really sure about it was answered with a yes in a matter of seconds as well. She could read how the information has been sent to the laboratories and that she only had to wait until her number was mentioned now. Happy, that she finally took this step, she laid the tablet away and tried to get a bit more comfortable on the chair, as she looked out of the window, waiting.

The longer it took, the emptier the room became, approximately every hour, a new patient was called into the labs, 3 hours later, Lucina sat there alone, as the sun already started to hide again, which lit the normally white room into a beautiful orange. "Ferguson." Said a manly voice over the speakers in the room, that had announced the surnames of the other patients before already. Lucina was still kind of dreaming, not even hearing the voice at first. "Ferguson." The voice said again after a few seconds of no reaction. This time, Lucina was like thrown out of her daydreaming and quickly stood up and left the waiting room. A man was waiting outside with a tablet of his own in his hands and smiled at her. "Good day, Miss, I am Doctor Irwin Houser, I will conduct the surgery for you, I see you decided for the ARES-class upgrade, excellent, just follow me and will start, yes?" He said and looked at her, expecting an answer. "Of course." Lucina said and sounded more confident than she did earlier, but it was a farce, she was scared as hell, and her steps were irregular when she followed the doctor into a nearby laboratory.

The room they entered didn't really fill her with a lot of relief, the machinery looked frightening and way too large and rough to help them operate on a human's eye. The doctor stood next to a board which seemed to control the machines. He pressed around on it and with a loud sound, they started to move a bit out of the way. "Don't worry, it won't sound scary later on, promised, these machines are only there to assist me, the surgery is way easier than you would expect it to be but for the sake of your nervosity, I won't tell you what exactly will be done." He said and laughed a bit, but it wasn't a surprise that he noticed Lucina's nervosity, it was painful to watch her trying to keep calm, even when she stood in the room, she tapped around with her foot. "It's okay, I am just not used to such... surgery's." Her voice had a little shudder in it, as she looked over to the machines again, daring to step a bit closer to have a look on them. "Alright, everything setup, since I only have to operate on your eyes, you don't need any special clothes, just lay down on this table for now." He walked next to her and gestured with his hand at the table she had to lay down on. Lucina nodded and swallowed again, her arms and knees were shuddering but she eventually managed to lay down and breathe out as her chest got a little bit more space. The lights were blinding her, barely believable that this would be any good for an eye surgery, she thought, but that was just another thought of her, which she would have preferred not to have. The man stepped closer to her and attached several thin tubes to her arms that connected to her veins. "I will inject a fluid into your bloodstream that will make you fall unconscious, you won't feel anything during the surgery and will wake up later with the upgrade." He said while walking back to his table where he started to type around again. Still nervous from the thought, Lucina let out a single. "O-okay." and laid down her head, another heavy breath so she would remain calm. Ten seconds later, she could hear the fluid flowing through the tubes, her head slightly tilted to the left, she saw it reaching her arms, the doctor walked up to her again. "Now relax, it won't hurt at all." He said and gently took her head and put it straight again, but the words only reached her very muzzled, her vision already became blurry. She tried to fight the feeling by blinking a few times, but it only was possible twice. These words were the last thing she heard until she finally passed out.

Feeling like she had a horrible nap, she could open her eyes again after what felt like an eternity. Her eyes barely wanted to open, she tried to form her hands to a fist but was unable to, it took her several seconds. Finally, she could open her eyes again, looking straight up into the light, to her surprise, it wasn't blinding her anymore, the opposite, it felt warm and calming, way darker than before. She moaned a little as she tried to move. "Ah, finally, you're awake." a voice said, it was the doctor, who walked up to her with a little flashlight. A chair was already standing next to Lucina's table, she managed to rack herself up on her elbows and turned a little to the side. "Easy, easy, the injection does not loose its effect instantly, it takes a few minutes." He said and helped her laying down again. She wanted to say something but no words would come out of her mouth. "Okay, let's see." He said and blinded with the flashlight into her eyes. For her, it wasn't blinding, though, the same with the light from the ceiling, it went darker, dark enough so she could see the little lightbulb in it, every little detail she wanted. "Perfect." The doctor said and stood up again, walking back to his table once more. "You can try to sit now, do you need water?" He asked and turned around to her. She, however, didn't give an answer and just shook her head. She managed to sit up, rather slowly, though, the vision was still blurry and the headache she had was painful. Her head was lowered and she looked at the ground, her neck didn't feel strong enough to support her head fully yet. The longer she looked at the ground, the more she could notice every detail on it, the floor was smooth, not out of wood, but the could see a tiny dead insect laying on it, every little of its small legs that have been crushed. "You probably notice the effects right now, you will see how you can freely zoom in and out with your eyes, as well as making light unharmful to you, there are plenty of other things which you will discover during the day." He told her, proud of his own work, as it seemed, he sat down on a chair and leaned backwards, staring at her, as she started to become more and more conscious. "Y-Yes... I can see everything." her voice was quiet, she couldn't believe it herself. The doctor just had a smile on his face, he was used to such reactions already. "That is normal, feel free to leave as soon as you are capable of walking again, I will leave you alone now, your papers have all been worked on already." He got up again and opened the exit, before he left, he turned around one last time and nodded friendly in her direction. Lucina still felt a bit numb, the feel in her limbs and fingers returned more and more with every second and she managed to stand up. She looked like a child that had to learn how to walk again, as she tried to sit down at the place the doctor was, in front of the table she was laying on. Her eyes wandered around and grasped every little detail of the room. It was a fascinating experience, all the fears she had built up earlier vanished at once as she stood up again and looked out of the window. She could see the people walking in the town far away, able to notice them individually, instead of only a bunch of moving bodies. She looked at her own hands, able to see the single lines that formed a fingerprint. "Wow..." she whispered to herself. Her energy returned quickly as she stood for a while, her circulation worked again and she felt better, a LOT better. Happily, she turned around and left the room.

The woman at the entrance noticed her walking confidently in direction of the exit. "Everything alright?" She said with a giggle, Lucina turned to the side with a bright smile. "Better than okay!" She said and laughed a bit. The door to the clinic opened and for the first time, she saw the open world with her eyes, it felt incredible, every ship that was decorating the skies was easily identifyable by her from a far distance. All bad feelings that emerged inside of her were completely gone now and she knew, she had a bright future in the Core ahead.

---