Chapter 83

Boredom is my greatest problem.

They have been here lying-in bed with nothing to do. No distractions or ways of entertaining myself. They have purposely not allowed me any access to news feeds or entertainment. Even after much complaining.

So, when Dr Misra appeared, I was almost glad. Almost.

They were happy to see any psychologist. Let alone this government one. Always found it strange that the patient-psychologist relationship should be one of trust to foster openness to get to the source of problems. I do not have this relationship with her.

She was the one assigned to me by the government. I had opened up about my anger management issues and we have been trying to work through them. With some success, to be honest. But there was a lot I had not told her about my experiences in the zones for obvious reasons.

“Afternoon, John. I thought I’d come in and see how you’re doing now that you’re awake again.” And so, it starts.

“I’m not going back in.” I decide to get to the point, not bothering with any courtesies.

“Yes, they told me you’ve decided to stop being an operative. I can understand why, with the trauma that you went through….”

“Stop!” I cut her off before she could get into the pre-planned speech. “I’ve decided. I’m. Not. Going. Back. That’s it. I’ve had enough. I can’t do this anymore.”

The stops her for a few moments. She uses the time to collect herself by taking a chair, placing it next to my bed, and sitting on it. I am mentally ready for what comes next and know she will try to talk me back into being operative.

“You’ve been through a severe trauma.”

Here we go.

“We need to spend some time understanding this. Your last mission's physical and emotional injuries are still fresh in your head. Reluctance to return to doing what injured you is a perfectly natural response. Don’t worry. We are all here to help support you and your decisions.”

She let that sink in.

“Major Hawk is outside. He would like to do the debriefing if you feel up to it. We can talk about all the other issues later.”

She was not even bothering to hide it. They wanted me back in the field as soon as possible. But what none of them had planned on was that I had an ace up my sleeve.

And I was at the point now I needed a play it.

“Okay, bring him in.”

Hawk came in and quickly set up the necessary recording equipment. Making pleasantries and small talk as he did it. They both settled in and prepared to listen to my report on what happened during the mission. I had other plans.

“Right before we start, I need to say a few things.” They were humouring me as they knew they could edit this out of the report if required. But that was the ambush I set. There was no way they would then edit this out. If this didn’t get me out of being an operative, nothing would, even if I spent the rest of my life in a psych ward. I was going all in, scorched earth.

So, I told them…...

Everything.

## ## ## ## ##

Hamilton and Holsan had left their underground bunker and were once more in the admin offices meeting room. The change of scenery though not great, but a welcome change from the bunker rooms they had been in.

Dr Holland was with them and preparing to brief them on the physical changes that Operative Harrington had undergone. Now that he was awake and the changes to his body had stabilised, they could have a much clearer picture.

“The physical changes to Operative Harrington’s body have now stabilised and finished as far as we can tell. This has allowed him to wake up from his body’s self-induced coma that we initially began. We still do not fully understand the extent or nature of some of the alterations to his body. The following is what we do know.”

It took a moment and just brought up an outline image of a human body; the brain and the nervous system could be seen.

“For the first two months, especially the first three weeks of his recovery, we recorded stem cell levels on a completely unprecedented scale. They have been the driving force behind the changes in his body. We have successfully identified the nature of most of these mutations; several, however, still elude identification for the moment.”

He pauses for a few moments as he changes the image on the monitor highlighting the nervous system displayed.

“The neurotoxin did extensive damage to the nervous system. Operative Harrington would have suffered extensive paralysis from this toxin damaging the nerves in different parts of his body. All the damage, however, has been completely healed and we have detected substantial changes in his nerve fibre bundles. From the data we have gathered, I believe his reaction time has increased dramatically. I cannot confirm to what extent without actual tests measuring his reaction times now from the ones on record.”

The two men were not foolish enough to interrupt as they both knew this would be a long and extensive report. They both had extensive concerns about what happened to Harrington, but they are withholding judgment. The image on the screen changed to highlight the brain.

“We have detected several changes to the make-up of Operative Harrington’s brain. There is a clear difference now in its brainwaves and the amount of bioelectricity being produced in his brain. We cannot tell what the changes mean at the moment without extensive tests with him awake and interacting with different scenarios.”

“Do you think he has been compromised mentally?” Holsan asked.

“Unknown at this time, I’m afraid. We do not have enough data to give you a definitive answer.”

The image changed at Dr Holland’s command to now show the skeleton structure of the human male.

“Operative painting bone structure had gone through a previous mutation cycle and had been catalogued. This has been added to again by the second mutation cycle, increasing bone strength once more. We believe his bones are now 50% stronger than before the first wave of mutations. We have also discovered that his bone marrow produces blood cells at a vastly improved rate.

This mutation has proven to be the most interesting we have discovered. Several of the research team believe that we can learn a great deal from it which can help develop new treatments for diseases that affect or are affected by the bone marrow. We took several samples while he was asleep and are currently studying them in several labs. His blood again has signs of becoming much more efficient at transporting oxygen around the body again. This will add to his overall stamina and strength.”

Both men nodded to this information; it was not the first time Harrington’s body had produced something that had helped the medical establishment improve medical care. The image changed again to show the muscles of a human male body.

“Operative Harrington’s muscle structure has again gone through a mutation cycle. We discovered that his muscles are mutated again to become more efficient and denser. This means that he will be able to keep up periods of high activity for longer and is much stronger. To what extent, we do not know yet without actually testing against his baseline. We hope to get an idea through his physical therapy sessions before moving on to a full battery of tests.”

Dr Holland manipulates the image again on screen using his pad to display the internal organs of the human male.

“Operative Harrington’s left lung was destroyed during his last mission. It was shredded entirely shredded by the claws that also damaged his heart. This injury delivered most of the neurotoxin that entered his body. We have been able to do some tests here, but he was unconscious. It is here that we have detected the greatest alteration through mutation to the baseline human. His left lung has been completely regenerated and both lungs have gone through extensive mutation. Not to get too technical, but both lungs now are absorbing oxygen at a dramatically increased rate. Our initial findings show that these lungs are now 40% more efficient. We have also discovered that his lungs are slightly more robust and resilient. The cells that make up his lungs are now around 20% tougher than they were.

From a medical standpoint, Operative Harrington was in excellent physical condition before his last mission and those parts of his body not mutated have been restored to that condition. This heart has also been fully healed, with no sign of the damage caused in his last mission. We have not detected any other alterations of mutations to the heart muscle seems to be as it was.

The only other alteration we have discovered regarding his internal organs are his kidneys and liver. These organs are operating at a much higher efficiency than they once were. They are both gone through extensive mutations making them more efficient. We believe it is in response to the number of toxins that his body was forced to fight off during the last mission.”

Again, Dr Holland pauses as he alters the image on the screen zooming in on the head and displaying a pair of eyes. Both men do not say anything as they are getting bombarded with a great deal of information, even with Dr Holland just giving them the basic rundown of the changes to Harrington’s body. The pad in front of them displays the extensive reports generated on all the different mutations identified and recorded.

“Operative Harrington’s eyes have been altered and so is his hearing, we believe. From the evidence we have gathered, we believe that his eyes are far more sensitive to light changes because his brain receives more information through the optic nerve than the average human. We believe this gives him greater sight in lowlight conditions. As to his hearing, we noted a lot of stem cell activity around his auditory nerves and his eardrums. We cannot tell at the moment what, if any, changes have taken place. We are now making a weekly contrast against his baseline to see if his hearing has altered in any way. Initial interactions with him strongly suggest it has.”

The image on the screen changed to that of a generic white human male.

“Operative Harrington’s regenerated abilities have also increased. He is producing more stem cells than he was in the past and they are being used to heal any or all injuries at a much-accelerated rate. How his body generates stem cells is still a mystery, but we believe it is to do with his bone marrow. We would like more extensive samples of his bone marrow for further testing. If we are correct and it is his bone marrow, is that what produced the stem cells as you both are aware, the possibilities for medical advancement are incredible.”

Dr Holland ends his report on this note. Both men are not unaware of the possibilities that discovering how Harrington’s body was producing stem cells could have on the medical field in the future of mankind in general. They had been made extensively aware of even the most limited amount of stem cells produced by the human body and how they could heal or treat countless injuries and diseases. Unfortunately, nothing had come from that research for the moment, but with the recent mutations in Harrington’s body, this might have changed.

“Thank you, Dr Holland. We will read through your full report and recommendations and get back to you as soon as possible.” Hamilton said.

Recognising that tone of dismissal in Hamilton’s voice, Dr Holland nodded to him, got up and left the room. The image of the human male, however, stayed on the screen as yet chosen not to remove it.

“While this is a bit of a quandary.” Holsan mused.

“Yes, a bit of the old damned if we do and damned if we don’t situation.” Hamilton agreed. “We hand him over for extensive medical research or getting back into the field.”

“Let’s be honest, Roger, we need him in the field as soon as possible.”

“I know, Robert, I know.”