Chapter Text
Hatsume hit the surgical suite of the school's nurse's office as Maijima was raising the metal saw to begin cutting through Midoriya's armor. Maijima, nervous, jerked upwards, pulling the blade away from the armor.
"Step away." The short, curt command from the student had Shuzenji's back stiffening and a snarl beginning in her throat.
"What the hell are you doing in my operating room? Get out!" The nurses shuffled uneasily as they glanced between their patient and Hatsume.
"Oh yes, please allow me to have Powerloader electrocute himself and for you to make the damage worse." The snark in Hatsume's tone, thick with derision, nearly had Shuzenji calling for security, or rather, physically removing Hatsume from the room, herself.
"Let her be, Shuzenji. Hatsume, get to your point." Nedzu's voice came over the intercom from the observation room.
Tch, Hatsume clicked her tongue before pushing Maijima aside and glaring at him. Grabbing Midoriya's shoulder, she turned the man slightly before pulling two thin chips from her pocket. The chips slotted into a narrow port just below Midoriya's neckline. While she moved, Hatsume began to explain.
"Had you tried to cut into his armor with that saw, the only result would have been activating the automated defenses specifically implemented to prevent such a thing."
Maijima's eyes widened, his mouth forming a grimace. "That wasn't in the design specs, Hatsume."
Hatsume rolled her eyes, the pitch of her voice high and precise."Of course it wasn't. Why would I actually give you the full design specs on proprietary technology?" Turning back to Midoriya, Hatsume pulled an electronic bar from another of her multitude of pockets. "Armor connection established?"
A flash of lights crossed the bar before two small figures appeared, one green and the other red, projected onto the area directly before Hatsume. The green proceeded to sit down and begin thumbing through tiny information screens while the red peered up at Hatsume, nodding. "Armor connection is established."
"Purge the armor, Athena. Sprite, work with Recovery Girl and her team to piece Izuku back together." The red figure nodded before turning and stepping towards the armor and raising her hand. A hissing emanated from the suit as a series of pops dislodged the plates. Hatsume reached forward to begin pulling them off, only to have her hands smacked away by Shuzenji.
"That is quite enough, Hatsume. We'll take it from here." Again, Hatsume rolled her eyes.
"I'm sure that will go over great, since you don't even know half of what he's done to himself." Shuzenji felt her eye twitch.
"And what precisely has he done to himself that isn't in his files?" Hatsume glared at Shuzenji for a long moment before taking a deep breath.
"I'm taking my anger out on you. Izuku told me not to do that to other people. It hurts my chances with the clients." The last part was muttered. "It depends on who you ask. You ask me, he's done too much. You ask him, and he's not done enough. It's never enough for him." Again the muttered sigh of words. "Sprite, I authorize you and Phoenix to fill Recovery Girl and her nursing staff in on Midoriya Izuku's current medical status and needs."
A new figure, orange, appeared alongside the green and red. Her arms folded neatly into parade rest behind her back, and her features, despite the youth evident in them, seemed older than the other two. "I am afraid, Mother, that there are currently others here who are not members of medical staff."
Hatsume sighed. "Inform Maijima, as well. This is partially his technological territory. As for the rat in the observation room, he was going to hear this eventually, anyway." Hatsume took a step back to lean against the wall while Pheonix gave a nod to Sprite. Sprite appeared hesitant, faltering, before nodding herself.
"We don't have time for this. In case you have all forgotten, Midoriya is bleeding internally, and I need to get to work." Sprite tilted her head from where she sat before shaking it.
A young voice, almost childish, came from the bar, sounding far calmer in the situation than was natural or, several thought, human. The girl's eyes, nearly vacant, flicked from side to side, seeming to stare at nothing at all. "No, we have the time. Father is far sturdier than any of you believe." Her gaze continued its movement over the room.
"I am tracking his injuries, and while they are terrible, he isn't in any danger yet. His natural systems are slowly repairing themselves as we speak. Although,if left alone, things will…," Sprite trailed off again, searching for the right words, " either catastrophically deteriorate or heal, but, incorrectly. I give it a sixty-four and thirty-six percent chance, respectively."
Most of the nursing staff had taken a step back from Midoriya, but Shuzenji had simply sighed at this new information. "Okay then. Sprite, I take it, what do we need to know?"
A ripple, a blink in her appearance, and she was standing alongside the orange figure now. Both waited at attention, prepared to relay relevant information. "Father already had numerous genetic alterations before he created us."
True artificial intelligence, both Shuzenji and Maijima mused. Both slotted the information away for a later discussion.
"Much of his genome has been very carefully built up to support the rest of it. Alterations and tweaks were made using his humanity as a base, so as to mostly maintain it while still conferring boosts to the functionality of his system. Alongside this, after our creation, Father and his employees in the biological suite of Moonlit Industries have performed numerous mechanical and genetic experiments on his own person."
Maijima visibly paled and twitched. "What? Why would he have them do that?"
Shuzenji's grimace told him that she knew the answer to that question already. "He was circumventing the old genetic experimentation laws. Untested treatments cannot be performed on anyone who is not a volunteer. That goes doubly so for genetics treatments. You cannot even begin volunteer testing until extensive red tape from the board globally governing genetics agrees."
Maijima's eyebrows pushed together. "Then how-"
Shuzenji grimaced further. "There are no restrictions on the scientist using the treatments on their own person. In fact, if successful, it would speed along the approval process, as it would have already been proven. The reason no one makes use of this loophole, however, is because there shouldn't be anyone crazy enough to do such a thing as perform untested medical procedures on themself."
Sprite nodded. "You are correct. In fact, much of the staff alongside us were adamant that Father should not go through with these tests. He did, however, disregard our objections and perform them, anyway, much to the horror of everyone when things went wrong. Father would simply have the offending organ removed and regrown before trying again."
Nedzu sat down hard on the ground, his paws coming up to rub almost compulsively across his muzzle. Too much, far, far too much of Midoryia reminded him of his own experiences. The one point that set them apart, it seemed to Nedzu, was that his own procedures had been unwilling. That Midoriya was instigating his own experimentation had a knot forming low in his throat, expanding into his chest.
"How much of his genetic structure is still human? What experiments are currently ongoing?" Shuzenji's cold tone had both Maijima and Nedzu's heads snapping up. Why exactly was she taking this so well?
Sprite tilted her head and her eyes, once focused, reclaimed that idle, far-away look. "After the recent incident involving All Might, repair work performed to restore Father's genome from backup showed a completion number higher than it was prior."
"What incident with All Might required genome repair?" Maijima's confused question was quickly cut off by Nedzu's voice over the intercom.
"Not important. What percentage did the mapping show, Sprite?"
"The new percentage places Father's genome at twenty-seven percent human with the seventy-three percent alteration containing the genome of both identifiable and unidentifiable origins."
Silence permeated, cold and heavy, as if a weight had settled over the room. Hatsume spoke after a moment, her voice low and carefully controlled
"This isn't a secret. He insists it isn't. According to Izuku, simply no one ever asks the right questions to get the right answers. But we don't go around advertising it. I'm sure you can see why."
"And what about my other question, Sprite? What of ongoing experiments?" A bark came across the intercom system, even as the medical staff grumbled.
"You want us to work on a monster?"
Very coolly, Shuzenji turned to the nurse who was openly, unabashedly, staring at the unconscious man in revulsion. "I expect you to work the patient, a student, but as you've clearly shown that you cannot do that, you can get out. We will discuss this later, along with a review of your performance."
Shuzenji turned back in time to see Phoenix rubbing the space between her eyes and realized that she had missed something said between Hatsume and the A.I.
"I will be the one to explain this, as it required the precise assistance of Hatsume's mechanical suite in order to perform. Currently, there are six active augmentation procedures with another four planned once their developments reach acceptable failure rates."
Maijima felt sick, understanding perfectly well that they were now talking about mechanical augmentations on top of the genetic alterations. "Are you telling me that Midoriya didn't feel like his genetic work was enough?"
"What are they?" Shuzenji reached over and began removing armor pieces. Calm and collected, without a hint of emotion, she ordered a nurse to begin reordering their equipment.
"We began with catalytic thyroid implants, a platinum pellet in his left thyroid gland containing HGH."
"To boost his skeletal and muscle tissues?"
"Correct. There was a minor chance, two percent, of elephantiasis in the subjects. Father did not present, and so we continued on to overwrite the GDF-8 protein via muscular injections."
"Wait." Both women turned to look at Maijima's pale face. "I thought you said there weren't any other subjects. That Midoriya was experimenting on himself."
Phoenix gave him a long look before nodding. "That is correct. Father was performing these experiments on himself and not a single other sentient being."
The smile and tone made Maijima want to hyperventilate, something not at all aided by the dawning look of realization on Shuzenji's face or the gagging choke over the intercom.
"So the Myostatin was overwritten using Follistatin. But that combined with the HGH…"
"Yes." Phoenix affected a somber, almost mournful, quality as she continued.. "An extremely painful process. Approximately five percent of subjects couldn't handle the combination and experienced a fatal cardiac volume increase."
Phoenix stepped up, hovering above Midoriya's chest. "To support these two augmentations and the sudden increase in the blood needed to support the muscles, an upgrade to the cardiovascular system was necessary. This was accomplished in part via his genetic alterations, as well as mechanically. An electroactive polymer weave was implanted into the muscles of his heart. EAPs deform when an electrical field is applied to them, and they are fully biocompatible, as well as extremely sensitive to the electrochemical potential created by the sinoatrial node to regulate the heartbeat."
"And with the increased oxygenated blood flow, the body adapts to higher physical stresses. The arteries to and from the heart?"
"Reinforced using a high tensile synthetic collagen weave."
"Fascinating." The tone was still cold but as intrigued as a scientist might be. Shuzenji shook her head. Not the time for professional curiosity.
Finally, moving to hover above Midoriya's face, Phoenix pointed down. "Stay below the neck, and you will not encounter the remaining augmentations."
"What are they?"
"Occipital capillary reversal with bionic lens upgrades and extensive alterations to his entire nervous system. Nerves, while extremely good at transmitting messages, still have limitations due to the resistance present in all materials. The signals have a limit on how fast they can travel between the brain and muscles. Reaction in as little as a quarter of a second. We've infused his dendrites with superconducting nano-materials and aligned them with resonant electromagnetic fields before sculpting back dendrite protoplasmic materials. We've effectively rewired his entire nervous system while promoting the growth of myelin sheaths via the oligodendrocytes and schwann cells, further accelerating the conduction rate. There was, unfortunately, a twelve percent risk of Parkinson's disease or Fletcher's syndrome. The three hundred percent increase to reaction time was worth the risk, however."
Phoenix shifted above Midoriya's forehead, looking down. "Finally, a neural interface has been implanted within his brain tissue in order to passively monitor him, as well as directly interface with the cerebral core."
Maijima jerked, full body, away from the wall he had been leaning against. "You didn't," he said hoarsely. "No, tell me you didn't. The chips in the back of the armor. The upgrade to his nervous system?"
It wasn't truly a question but a statement, and Nedzu, queasy, echoed the query.
In one part reverence, two parts horror, Maijima responded. "Artificial intelligence directly interfacing in a biological amalgam. What the hell-"
"Both experimental and confidential." Phoenix cut him off, her projected form tense and glowering. "And maybe if Athena or I had been with him today, this would not have happened. I suggest you drop the issue."
Shuzenji glanced between the synthetic being and her very real, living and breathing patient. Deliberately ignoring the implications of the conversation, she returned her attention fully to the student who lay stretched out on her operating table. "You're able to tell me exactly what is going on inside of his body right now?"
Sprite spoke up for the first time in a while, the distant look leaving her face as she focused on the older doctor. "Yes, and you'll need me to deal with the remaining Siva nanites from the drug cocktail he took."
"Fine then. Let's get started."
…
Shimura hit the ground with a loud, wet smack. A noise she was almost too disoriented to hear. She had kept tabs on her son while she was alive. She had given him up, and that had been a hard enough decision. But still, she had kept tabs on her boy. She shouldn't have, she didn't have that right. She still did it.
Shigaraki had looked just like him. Just like her Kotaro when he was a kid. Same eyes, same mouth. That same anger. Mind, the anger hadn't been directed at her, but he had looked so familiar. If it hadn't been for Midoriya's files, she wouldn't have even thought about it. All for One had found a young boy in an unidentifiable family home. All information about them, the family, the child, was missing. All that was left of them was dust and decomposed meat. All for One had taken in a child, had named that child after him.
It had suddenly clicked for her. What had she had that none of the other users had? A family. What would All for One have done if he had found her son? She couldn't let Midoriya kill Tomura. Not when it was possible, not when-
The rat running across Shimura's hand had her screeching and reeling back with her rear landing solidly in a puddle of mud thick with grime and blood. The sound of gunfire came to her next, the explosion of rounds far too large to be firearms. Her lungs burned as she searched through the fog for where she was. Some kind of trench, she realized. Half rotten wooden boards stretched futilely across gulfs of water and mud, while sodden timbers barely held back the torrent of soaked earth pressing on them as the sky poured down rain.
Bodies of men ranging from as young as Midoriya to as old as the professor pressed against the wall, as if hiding from the sight of what was on the other side. Someone had filled bags with the cursed material from beneath their feet, packing the bags on top of the wall or into it. Others still reinforced it with sticks and barbed wire in places.
Their faces were covered, she realized. Gas masks, old, old design, but gas masks still. Stumbling to her feet, she approached one of the men, tried to grab on instinctively before her hand simply passed through him and his rifle.
A rifle. Shimura jerked back, whipping her head around. They all had rifles. And they were… firing over the trench? Standing up fully, Shimura poked her head over the lip of the trench before ducking back down and sucking in air. What she had seen even through the fog. Her ears popped, and she could hear it then. The cacophonous screams underpinning the sounds of war. The braying of dying horses and the screaming of injured men. The desperate cries for help and the gurgling last moments as dying men drew their last breaths.
Where… where was she?! What kind of… An explosion went off in the trench beside her. She felt the debris pass through her, and the screams began again, closer. Warm blood and viscera thrown against the wall through her left her with almost a sticky feeling, and the yelling in… what language is that?
Shimura stumbled to her feet and down the divet in the ground, searching for something recognizable. Men going over the lip, following the whistle. More screams. Men warming liquid of some kind over a small makeshift fireplace. A filthy underground hole where the cries of the injured echoed from within. The fog was gone, and still, she recognized nothing. The cratered landscape of gray skies. Mud thick with the insides of the dead. The booming sound of weaponry and the cacophony of gunfire.
The men weren't wearing their masks now. The threat had passed, and she could feel the searing in her lungs abating, though her breath wouldn't come back to her. The men weren't Asian, maybe European of some kind? She couldn't tell. She would think of one ethnicity, and then it would be another. It struck Shimura as she passed a dugout of men with pointed ears. Where were the mutant quirks? All of these people and she hadn't seen a single one yet. A statistical anomaly. No, a statistical improbability. Shimura stumbled out into a larger area, with tents and artillery. Trucks pulling into depots to unload boxes and there, carrying a box deeper into the maze, was Midoriya.
Notes:
Bonus internet points for those who know what famous series coined and originally used many of these augmentations. It should also be noted that we are scientifically speaking very close to achieving most of these augmentations in real life. Application wise ehh. But science wise, yeah!
Again! If you want to support me, you can find that Here! But aside from that I'll see you everyone in the comments and next week!