Neurosurgery Room
Cyclops Intelligence Main Laboratory
Mazsea District 13
24 January 2157
01.00 NPM
The door that separated the operating room from the patient preparation room opened. Rachel appeared in a knee-length light green hospital gown. Her long hair, which was originally flowing long, was no longer visible, leaving her bald head ready to be dissected.
Lars, who saw his new appearance, just smiled. "You're even still beautiful without hair like that," he praised with a sincere compliment that didn't touch Rachel at all.
"It's still a good thing you didn't strip me, Lars." Rachel spreads her arms as the medical robot lifts her onto the operating table. They are locking her there before Lars administers a dose of total anesthesia.
Lars smirked, while he checked Rachel's vital signs on the hologram screen in front of him, "You seem to have rested well last night, Rachel. Your vital signs are normal. Usually, your blood pressure and blood sugar levels are always problematic before surgery."
"Of course. I'm also improving my lifestyle for long life."
Lars straightened the back of the operating table, straightening Rachel by a hundred and eighty degrees. As Rachel recalled, it wasn't one of the eighteen procedures that had to be done. In the next few minutes, she would be unconscious and Lars would have to operate on her. It got even weirder when Lars propped himself up on the operating table and leaned closer to Rachel. "I wouldn't have started this surgery if you were still a little scared, Rachel Richmann..."
Rachel fell silent, Lars's gaze locked on hers.
"You trust me, don't you?"
"Yes, why do you keep asking?"
Lars shook his head, "No, I'm just making sure that I won't hesitate or fear if you just trust me completely as your doctor."
"Once this surgery is completed, you may be the one to change the world. Everything will change, but don't forget that your opponents are currently waiting for the failure of today's experiment behind their supportive faces."
Rachel sighed, "I know. So do your best and don't fail, Lars."
Lars smirked, "You too, do your best, manage your consciousness, and don't give up if something happens. I will always be here waiting for you," he said.
Rachel took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and hugged the man who was her special close friend. Oh, the warmth of Lars' body always managed to calm her at times like this, "We will succeed. You and I... we don't like failure. Let's try our best, for the sake of a more livable human earth."
"I don't think about anyone else. Let alone the earth, I only think about you as a priority. It's always been like that."
****
Expert Research Room
Cohlin University
24 January 2157
02.01 NPM
Niels tapped his hand on the table, his eyes catching a link and a line of code on his thin monitor. Since Rachel sent an e-mail with exclusive access to watch the experiment remotely half an hour ago, the man had been a little nervous amidst his unfinished deliberations.
Niels didn't understand why Rachel would send him such high-privacy access. Who is he, though? He didn't know her. He never even had time to find out what Rachel Richmann, the famous scientist, businessman, and fashion activist, looked like.
Was Rachel thanking him for that much, because Niels helped her out of her panic disorder last night? That was all, as Niels remembered what he did, and Rachel's response to this kind of attitude invited a new question mark.
But after a while, Niels thought that he probably didn't appreciate Rachel's kindness if he hadn't opened the exclusive access link. So he firmly opened it. The monitor quickly displayed a surgical procession that seemed to have run almost half of the entire process. Niels, who doesn't care about technology, was amazed by how intuitive the infographics and AI systems in Cyclops Intelligence worked, allowing him to understand in one fell swoop what Rachel was doing on the operating table.
Rachel, in a thin green cloth, was positioned on her stomach; her face was invisible. Rachel's bald head appeared to have been slashed longitudinally from ear-to-ear down, intersecting with another cross-section along the nape of the neck. Hand-shaped robots with heating solder the size of a fine needle were there, neatly working at the intersection point of the incision.
The gene and microchip insertion started, then the visualization was made clearer for Niels, who was watching the surgical procedure with a frown on his face. The man felt sick. What he was witnessing at this time was very unusual, at least for him, who mostly deals with inanimate objects and manual tools.
DRING!
[Notification System]
[The number 87 peripheral nerve cell synapse has been connected to the microchip 88 circuit]
[The genetic protein ICNG-257 has reacted with nerve cells in microchip circuits 1-34]
[Oxygen saturation: 96. Blood pressure: 120/100 mmHg. Patient's vital condition: normal]
A pop-up notification appeared on the screen of Niels' laptop, providing information on the process the computerized surgical and engineering system had completed. Niels didn't understand that the number codes had to be specially made by Rachel.
"You saw it, Niels. Sorry for not greeting you."
Lars' voice suddenly sounded; the man spoke from the control room and made Niels gasp. "Ah, yes. I didn't even know you were there."
"Yeah, no problem. But I wonder why Rachel allowed you to watch it when Lore was banned. What did you say to her that night?"
"Why are you asking that when your patient is being operated on between life and death, Lars?" Niels asked sarcastically back.
"Don't worry, the robot will work to completion and I just need to monitor it. That's a bit of tedious work. That's why I asked you who happened to come today."
Niels sighed, "Yeah, it's up to you. I don't know why Rachel let me in. I didn't say anything that night," he said, answering all of Lars' questions. Niels doesn't like small talk.
"Are you sure you didn't say anything?"
"Of course. We don't know each other. Isn't it weird to suddenly talk a lot?"
Lars chuckled softly, "I know, you told her about Lore Hasenclever, didn't you?"
Niels was silent, and he was wrong. Lars' mouth is like a woman's; he knows a lot of the latest information, even the latest gossip.
"You asked Rachel to stay away from her during the experiment, didn't you?"
Niels finally sighed. "Yeah, I forbade it. Because I can't take the Prime Minister's plans for her for granted. No one knows what Philips ordered Lore to do. What if it's something that threatens her life?"
"You care a lot about her, Niels. You're right, I worry about her too.'
"Then just do your job. I'll be back to work too."
"Wait, Niels."
"What else?"
"Are you sure you're not going to watch this experiment to the end? I think Rachel would be disappointed if her special guest... didn't get to see it properly."
"Special? Seriously." Niels snorted, "Just give her my regards, and ask her to let me know when this experiment is a success."
"I want to talk to her about a lot of things."