"His receptiveness is surprisingly amazing! It's beyond anything I've seen before." Freya continued to fret over the data she had collected when she was interacting with Maximiler. Every parameter followed the standard of a normal human. Whenever he thought of a response, the various parts of his brain that were supposed to support that action would react. As a researcher, she reveled in the opportunity to study such a subject up close.
Of course she had studied the human brain several times, but being able to study the brain and body of a clone that gained sentience was a whole new experience. It was like watching a baby grow, only that this baby was already grown.
"Jacob. Would you like a new assignment?" Freya turned to the armed guard that had been following her with a toying smile.
.....
Several hours passed in relative silence after the departure of Freya and Jacob from Maximiler's private medical ward. He spent most of his time planning his future moves and sorting his thoughts. His mind often drifted to the last moments of his past life. He could remember Abis's maniacal laughter as the hull of the Nova Krakov was bombarded by particle beams, gauss rounds and many more types of weapon discharges.
The cries of his crew members still rang through his head. Even in the face of death, they stayed true to the way of the Nova Krakov's ideals. They stood by his side in their last moments, loyal to the core. Even the soldiers from the escorting fleet were worthy of praise. Not one deserter emerged from their ranks. They fought to the bitter end.
At the very least, he managed to preserve his life and the lives of some core crew members of the Nova Krakov. Although he had no idea where they were right now, the fact that they might have been Rebooted was enough to calm his mind. At the last moment, just before the Nova Krakov was set to implode, he had activated the Reboot Protocol, selecting the life signatures of each of the core crew members on the bridge that were still alive, transporting their consciousness into the Higher Dimensional planes where their minds would be Rebooted. If it all worked out as planned, then either there were more sentient clones being found this moment, or they were just Rebooted in a different manner.
Maximiler raised his hand, examining it slowly in the bright light of the room. His skin was pale in an almost ghostly manner. He turned his hand, running his eyes down his slender but firm fingers, before his eyes topped on the only mark he bore. He had noticed it before, an odd marking that adorned the back of his hand. It depicted the shape of an ancient hourglass. It's black edges seemed to fade away whenever he focused on it. If he didn't know what it was, then he would have freaked out when he first laid eyes on it.
'The Reboot Protocol...' His mind thought back to the large metallic alien contraption that once rested within the most guarded vault of the Nova Krakov. Even with the highly advanced scanners that the Confederation operated, their specialists weren't able to find out what materials made up the Reboot Protocol.
The door to the room slid open with a low chime, waking Maximiler from his drifting thoughts. He turned, only to face the generic guard that followed Freya around. With a bit of struggling, he managed to get himself into a sitting posture. Although he had managed to get used to his upper body's functions, he still had some issues getting his legs to work right. After all, he had been confined to a bed ever since he woke up.
He locked eyes with the guard for a few moments. He could feel the tense atmosphere hanging in the room, as though someone spread a dense fog through the room.
"Is there something I can help you with?" Maximiler quirked a brow. Although it might be weird for a new born clone to exhibit such a fast mental growth, he thought it wouldn't really matter as the guard most likely hadn't seen such before. If he wanted to achieve his goals of standing out to obtain opportunities, he had to make sure he stood out in order to attract varying degrees of investment.
The more support he got, the faster he would be able to achieve his goals, plus there was no need to worry about drawing unwanted attention as there was no way the upper echelons of the Hawk Faction that had issued his death would pay attention to a lowly sentient clone.
"Great. Your vocabulary is getting better." The guard raised a palm to his face, letting out an audible sigh. His action cut off their gazes, lessening the building tension. "Can you walk?" He approached the side of the bed.
"No. I haven't tried to yet." Maximiler replied, pushing the covers aside. For the first time since he gained proper awareness, he finally laid his eyes on his own two legs. The same pale skin that covered the rest of his body adorned his legs. Usually clones are pumped with a lot of data that make sure they are able to learn how to walk and do other normal functions within a week at most.
Unlike other clones, the facility he was birthed in prioritized his health. They were most likely going to study him some more in the nearest future. If he failed to amount to anything, he would most likely just be done away with, sent to the main facility where clones are processed for the various labor works they would carry out until they broke down and were deemed useless, fated to be recycled.
"Alright. Give me your hand." The guard held out a hand, waving it at Maximiler in a bid to hurry him up.
"What shall I refer to you as?" He ignored the impatient hand, instead choosing to make himself acquainted.
"God... Clones. The name's Jacob, I'll be your personal trainer, bodyguard and companion for the foreseeable future."
"Oh. I see. You can refer to me as Maximiler. I'll be in your care." Maximiler finally took Jacob's open hand. Giving it a firm shake. Well, as firm as he could.
"Max. I'll call you Max. Now, let's get back to the matter at hand. Let's try to get you on your feet." He pulled Max to his feet, immediately supporting him when his legs almost gave out beneath him.
Although he almost got a face-full of the solid tiled ground, Max's mind wasn't in the present. The moment Jacob had referred to him as Max, his mind was brutally pulled into his darker past. The past where his best friend referred to him with the same name. His best friend, Abis Finete. The same friend who had taken up the mission to kill him and the crew of the Nova Krakov.
"Max?" Jacob's concerned voice pulled him out from his swampy memories. "Don't drift off on me. If you suddenly die, I'll lose my job." Jacob shook him slightly.
"Mhm..." Max nodded absent mindedly.
"C'mon. We'll just start with some easy exercises first to get you used to walking." Jacob slung one of Max's arms over his shoulder, leading him out of the small medical ward. He led them down a brightly lit corridor to the next room. Because of Max's importance to their facility, he was placed in an isolated room that was far away from other wards, but still heavily guarded. After all, no one would want to lose an asset as valuable as a sentient clone.
"We should really get you a wheelchair. I can't carry you everywhere. I'll ask Doctor Freya for one after we're done with this session." Jacob spoke quietly to himself, nodding slightly at the guards that were stationed in the corridor to guard Max's ward.
"Doctor Freya? Is she the woman who came to see me earlier?" Max's curiosity was piqued. As an intellectual himself, he found it refreshing to exchange views with people who were on his level. Although it would be quite odd to classify a new born clone as an intellectual.
"We're here." Jacob came to a stop before a wide metal door. He fished out a small metal card that hung from a chain around his neck, flashing it in front of the scanner that locked the door. The door gave way for the scene of a wide expanse of white. A variety of training equipment was sprawled around the room, easily meant to be used for a variety of exercises.
"Hope you're ready, because this won't be easy."