First of her Kind Part 10

Trigger warning. SA and physical violence.

It wasn’t long until the drama Adam created settled down and the house got back to normal. Adam continued to do low impact workouts for long hours to build her muscle, oftentimes alongside Evander who still rarely had much to say, but seemed to not only tolerate, but welcome her company. The three of them also spent a great deal of time on the new VR games. Evander spent a little time in games that interacted with normal society, but he was particularly fond of outdoor programs, spending a great deal of time on hiking paths in deserts and mountains. Lucian spent almost all of his time in virtual malls and amusement parks. Adam tried several programs and found herself not particularly favoring any one. From the rec room, she could join Evander and Lucian in whatever simulation they were playing.

As she had promised, she submitted to tests so Dr. Sheridan could figure out how her reproductive system regenerated. To her surprise, it seemed he was completely stumped by the matter. According to him and Jessie both, her nanites appeared too “crude” to have figured out she was even missing the organs, much less rebuild a whole functioning uterus.

“I don’t get it,” Dr. Sheridan muttered for probably the hundredth time as he looked at the samples under a microscope.

“I don’t mean to over step,” Adam said cautiously. “But, you’ve taken at least a dozen samples. Do you really expect to find something different?”

Dr. Sheridan took of his glasses and tossed them on the desk, rubbing his forehead. “No, I suppose you’re right.” He groaned. “I wonder if you would permit me to try something different.”

“What are you thinking?” Adam asked.

“You have heightened healing factors,” Dr. Sheridan stated. “I want to watch them in action. A small harmless incision, made under a microscope to see how the nanites work to make the repairs.”

Adam thought about it and nodded, honestly feeling curious herself. Dr Sheridan reached into a drawer and took out a device that looked like a detached scope from a microscope. Using a small clamp, he secured the scope to the side of the x-ray device mounted to the wall and maneuvered it over to the exam table.

He helped Adam lay back and placed her arm under the scope. Going into his drawers once again, he pulled out a fresh, steri-wrapped scalpel. He turned a monitor on, showing the skin under the microscope, each crevice and hair follicle clear as day on the screen.

Dr. Sheridan rolled his chair over and unwrapped the blade. “Hold as still as possible.”

Slowly, carefully, he placed the scalpel against her skin under the lens and pressed ever so slightly. At first only a pink line appeared then red dotted by little silver puck shaped nanites. Hurriedly, Dr. Sheridan wiped the blood away exposing the torn tissue underneath. Across the crevice in the muscle tissue, red tendrils stretched out, pulling the sides together like threads pulling pieces of fabric together.

“That’s not… what… I don’t…” Dr. Sheridan stuttered watching wound close and new, healthy pink flesh fill in the line left behind.

“Um…” Adam stared at the screen. “The nanites didn’t fix me.”

“No kidding,” Dr. Sheridan said.

“Did I…”

“You fixed you,” Dr. Sheridan said. “Organic, spontaneous healing.”

“That’s not…”

“No it’s not.”

The two sat in silence for a long moment before Adam ventured a suggestion.

“Jessie said the nanites are programmed to my DNA, right?”

Dr. Sheridan turned to her and nodded.

“Well,” Adam continued, “isn’t DNA also programmable? What if the nanites aren’t as crude as you thought, they just figured out how to make my body do the work for them?”

“I don’t think that’s quite it,” Dr. Sheridan mused. “But… you might be onto something with the DNA idea. ”

All of a sudden, he seemed a million miles away. To Adams surprise, he suddenly stood up and removed an SD card from the scope.

“I think it’s prudent of you and I keep this to ourselves,” he bent the SD card against the desk, snapping it in half. “I’d like to take a few more samples.”

Adam nodded, consenting silently. Dr. Sheridan took out several syringes and swabs, drawing several vials worth of blood, swabbing the inside of her cheek and taking a few strands of hair. He peeled the labels off each of the samples and placed them inside a small white container.

“I don’t know if this trait is caused by something we did to you or something else you came in with, or a combination of the two,” he shook his head. “Let’s just keep it between ourselves until I figure it out.”

“I think that’s a good idea,” Adam agreed as she slid off the exam table.

She dismissed herself with a nod and started down the hall. More secrets.

She passed the evening away researching the topic of spontaneous healing and the rabbit holes it led her down. She hadn’t even noticed that dinner time had come and gone. The clock on her computer was showing ten-thirty by the time she noticed her stomach was growling.

Assuming the rest of the house was asleep, she slipped out of her room and down the hall. In the kitchen, she found some leftovers and began warming herself a plate.

“Adam.”

Evander’s voice startled her. She turned around to find him standing near the breakfast bar.

“I got sucked into a project,” Adam said. “I missed dinner.”

“It was good,” Evander said. “Lucian cooked.”

He stepped further into the kitchen, his eyes fixed on her in a strange way. The microwave signaled that her food was ready and Adam crossed to retrieve her plate, as she moved to get silverware, she found herself uncomfortably close to him. She avoided eye contact, opening the drawer and grabbing a fork. She heard Evander draw a sharp breath in through his nose. Did he just smell me?

“What has you up so late?” Adam asked, retreating to the other side of the breakfast bar.

“I was watching one of my movies,” Evander said. “Lost track of time. Came out here for a snack.”

“Snack?”

Evander went to the fridge and took out a covered dish. “Lucian makes this a lot. Tres leches is what he calls it. Apparently, it has something to do with his recovered memories.”

He opened the dish to reveal a thin cake with white frosting and cut and served a large square slice. “Whatever the case may be. It is delicious.”

With a fork, he excised one quarter of the slice and held it towards Adam’s mouth. Again, Adam couldn’t help but notice the intensity of his gaze. She leaned forward and allowed him to feed her the bite.

“It is good,” she agreed.

Evander nodded and continued to eat the cake himself while Adam continued with her dinner. She noticed that he continued to cast strange looks at her.

“Evander,” Adam asked, dying to break the silence. “Have you seen your nanites in action?”

Evander thought for a moment and shook his head. “Why?”

“I got a look under the proverbial hood today,” Adam said. “It was interesting. I wish I understood the science better.”

“You’re very smart,” Evander said. “I’m sure you could figure it out.”

Adam felt herself feeling strange all of a sudden. His usually intense gaze seemed to hold something else, something she couldn’t quite describe. Was he feeling something? Did he know something he wasn’t telling her?

“I think I’m going to turn in,” Adam said, scraping her plate in the garbage can.

She skirted around Evander and quickly made her way back to her room. As she closed the door behind her and turned the lock, she rested against the frame, questioning the feelings inside her own chest. She could not tell if it was good or bad, only that it felt as if her heart might rise right out of her chest and into her throat. She sighed heavily and collapsed into her bed, her mind fixated on Evander until the moment sleep took her.

The next day, she sat with Lucian in the rec room. She asked him about his meeting with Dr. Sheridan and it sounded much the same as hers. They showed him his own nanites, which were apparently spherical in shape and had maintained the shape throughout the years. They had produced different sized nanites for functions that required smaller tissues and larger ones that seemed to aid the immune system.

“Apparently,” he said. “Dr. Sheridan has noticed that there’s an increase of large nanites right before my leg rejects again, like a large white blood cell increase when there’s an infection.”

“So, your nanites are rejecting the artificial leg that they are programmed to work with?” Adam mused.

“Now I know why it’s such a mystery to the doc,” Lucian shrugged. “I should be glad that it’s only my leg that malfunctions considering….” He trailed off.

“Considering?” Adam asked after waiting a moment.

“My body was sent here because it was so busted up it wasn’t good for much else,” Lucian said. “My leg was gone, most of my right side, well, Jessica described it as ‘ground chuck’, tons of internal damage.”

“What happened to you?” Adam asked.

“Anti tank mine, and I was hanging off the back of the APC,” Lucain said. His eyes glazed over as he seemed to get lost in memory. “I lived just long enough to get a good look at my own leg lying about ten feet in front of me. I must have been in shock or something. Didn’t feel a thing. The only reason I knew it was my leg, I had my daughter’s name, Hope, spelled out in candy hearts tattooed on the back of my calf. I couldn’t figure out what it was doing all the way over there.”

Adam couldn’t find words. She reached across the table and took his hand. His eyes seemed to snap back into the present moment and he shook his head.

“That just kind of jumped out there,” he said with a soft smile. “I…”

He stopped short, his eyes fixed on Adam’s. His brow furrowed a bit and he tipped his head to the side a little.

“You seem really… approachable lately,” he said. “Has something changed.”

“No,” Adam shrugged, a little taken aback by the sudden change in topic.

Lucian stared at her for a moment longer before shaking his head. “Anyway, I came-to here, regained most of my memories in the first few weeks. Realized pretty quickly I was in a military funded science facility and kept my damn mouth shut until I knew what their goals were.”

“What’s military funding have to do with it?” Adam asked.

“Nobody funds anything that doesn’t benefit them somehow,” Lucian said. “They have some plan for the Doc’s technology.”

“Maybe they’re hoping it will help wounded soldiers?” Adam said optimistically.

Lucian chuckled dryly, “never dealt with the VA have you?”

“Wouldn’t know if I had,” Adam shrugged.

“Right,” Lucian looked down.

The two talked for a while longer. Adam couldn’t help but notice that he would pause once in a while and look at her strangely. Evander came in to do his usual work out and Lucian’s demeanor shift. He became rigid and repeatedly, his gaze shifted towards Evander. Adam tried to brush it off, but, as Lucian stood up to go cook dinner, he locked eyes with her intently.

“Be careful,” he said in a hushed tone.

Adam tried to brush it off as she returned to her room until dinner. Later that night, Lucian was preoccupied in the Livingroom with the VR and the staff were winding down together around the kitchen table. Adam put on some work out clothes and headed back to the rec room.

She was lost in thought running on the treadmill when Evander appeared in the doorway. As per usual, he didn’t say a word, but went to the weights and pulled his shirt off. That definitely wasn’t usual for him. Adam couldn’t help but stare as she watched his muscles flex and relax and flex again as he secured weight plates to the bench press bar. He looked over his shoulder, meeting her gaze. Adam thought about leaving. Something about him seemed off. She was used to him joining her to work out. He seemed to enjoy her company, but today, it seemed he had a purpose for joining her. Maybe he wanted to talk.

“Did Dr. Sheridan go over your procedures with you?” Adam asked.

“Yeah,” Evander answered, still rhythmically lifting the bar and lowering it down.

“Any surprises?” Adam asked.

“Nope,” Evander answered.

Adam continued jogging, searching for something else to say.

“I guess, I never knew that most of the bones on my left side are metal,” Evander said after a few moments.

“How’d you…”

“Motorcycle crash,” Evander said bluntly.

They were silent for a few more moments before Evander set the bar back up in its rack and sat up on the bench.

“You were in a skateboarding accident, right?”

“Yeah,” Adam nodded. “They said my trucks snapped at the top of a high ramp.”

“Do you remember?” Evander asked.

Adam shook her head as she pressed the power button on the treadmill and the belt slowed to a stop. “You?”

Evander stood up and walked towards her as she stepped off the machine.

“I remember feeling like I was on fire,” he said. “Right here.” He pressed a large hand against Adam’s upper ribs, just beneath her breast.

Adam’s breath caught a little. His bare chest was so close she could feel the warmth coming off of him. She started to take a step back when he grabbed her wrist.

“What are you doing?” Adam hissed.

Evander leaned in, pressing his lips hard against hers. Adam shoved against him. He stepped back for a second. His blue eyes were fixed hard on her. He stepped forward, grabbing her waist. Some how, Adam knew exactly what was about to happen. Her heart pounded inside her chest as she fought against him. Her head collided with his nose and he jumped back. As he gingerly touched the stream of red coming from his nostril and looked at his finger, his expression deepened into one of determination. Adam turned to run but she wasn’t fast enough. She felt the sting of her hair being pulled and suddenly found herself on the floor looking up at him. She lashed out with a foot kicking his knee. As he came down, she rolled out of the way. He again grabbed her waist. They struggled on the floor. Adam managed to break away and pulled herself to her feet at one of the weight machines. A sharp pain shot through her arm as Evander slammed his full body into her and a piece of metal sticking out of the machine impaled her forearm. The shock of the pain stunned her for a moment, and he pressed his body against hers. His hands held her arms hard against the machine . She could feel his hardened member pressing into her hip. Desperation and adrenaline overtook her. With a yell, she pushed as hard as she could against his hands. He seemed surprised by her strength as she forced her arms forward. She took advantage of his shock and dove to the side. Evander slammed into the machine face first. He turned around, blood running from a cut on his forehead. Adam swung. Her closed fist connected with him a few times before he was able to retaliate and tackle her. Once again, they were on the floor, struggling for the upper hand.

Adam heard a noise. It didn’t quite seem human. Evander barely looked up before a foot connected with his head. Adam took the upper hand that was handed to her. In a second, he was on top of Evander. He closed fist connecting with his face in rapid succession.

“Adam!”

Adam looked up to see the staff all standing at the door and Lucian standing over her and Evander.

The whole room seemed to freeze for a moment. Lucian rushed forward and grabbed Adam and pulled her off Evanader.

“She was defending herself,” Lucian said. “I heard a noise and came in here and found Evander on top of her.”

A look of horror washed over Jessie and Emily’s faces as they realized what was happening.

“Get him out of here, now!” Emily barked at Benjamin.

Benjamin rushed forward and pulled a groaning Evander to his feet. Adam’s heart was still racing as she locked eyes with him. Despite his face being almost unrecognizable through a mask of blood, he seemed bewildered by what was happening. Benjamin walked him out and down the hall while the rest of the room glared at him. Adam looked down at her hands, also covered with blood, his and hers. She was barely aware that Lucian was still gently holding her arms until he ran his hand down one and lifted it to inspect the wound from the weight machine. Already, the skin had begun to grow back together and the bleeding had nearly stopped despite the depth of it.

“I want to go to my room,” Adam said, surprised to hear her own voice crack.

“I’ll take her,” Emily said.

Some instinct brought Adam to grab Lucian’s hand.

“He can come if you want,” Emily said softly.

Adam nodded softly. Lucian wrapped his arm around her and walked slowly with her back to her bedroom with Emily close behind.

“I told you I didn’t trust him,” she heard Emily mutter to Jessie as they left.

Once in her room, Adam went right to the bathroom, eager to wash the blood off her. She finished up and walked back out to the bedroom, sitting down on the bed next to Lucian. She stared down at her hands for a long moment, replaying the events back in her head. She realised that it had been Lucian that delivered the kick that debilitated Evander.

“Thank you,” she said softly, looking up at him.

“Don’t worry about it,” Lucian said. “Are you okay?”

“I don’t know,” Adam said.

All of a sudden, Dr. Sherridan burst through the door, his face pale and green eyes wide with worry.

“Adam,” he sighed, moving forward and wrapping her in a hug.

Adam sat stiffly in his embrace. After the evening's events, she wasn’t happy to find herself being smothered. He stepped back and looked down at her for a long second before spinning around to Emily.

“What happened?” he demanded.

“I haven’t gotten quite that far yet,” Emily said. “It seems Evander attacked her with… well… the intent to rape her.”

“Why would he do that?” Dr. Sheridan asked.

“I have a theory actually,” Lucian raised his hand a little.

Dr. Sheridan turned around as if surprised to see him there. His brow furrowed a little and he crossed his arms.

“I think…” Lucian cleared his throat. “I think Adam’s cycle is… she’s… you know… fertile right now.”

“Ovulating, Dude, the word you're looking for is ovulating,” Emily rolled her eyes. “Why do you think that?”

“This is going to sound weird,” Lucian said. “And, I’m totally in control of myself, not like Evander. But, I noticed a difference in her starting yesterday and today…” he looked sheepishly from Dr. Sheridan to Adam, “we can smell a change in you and it’s… tempting.”

“You boys have been around female staff for years and never once…” Dr. Sheridan began.

“We can smell it,” Lucian said.

Emily squirmed uncomfortably in the corner.

“But,” Lucian continued. “With the staff, it’s like they may as well be wearing a different perfume. This,” he nodded at Adam, “it’s different.”

“Pheromones specific to… to you guys?” Emily’s brow furrowed.

“Evander doesn’t have emotional intelligence,” Adam said. “He has no memory of the laws or rules of the world. He wouldn’t know…”

“You’re worried about him?” Emily looked at her. “You realize what almost happened to you, don’t you?”

“I- I do,” Adam said. “It was terrifying, but…” she felt the familiar ache of her muscles beginning to mend. Until now, she hadn’t thought about the toll the ordeal would have taken on her body.

“I just think I need some rest,” she said.

“I think we need to talk,” Emily insisted.

Adam felt the pain growing in her arms.

“This was a traumatic event, you should handle it…”

“I really don’t want to right now,” Adam insisted.

She looked to Lucian hoping he’d take the hint. To her dismay he didn’t seem to connect the dots.

“What almost happened to you is one of the most horrible things one human being can do to another,” Emily said. “I just want to make sure you're handling it.”

The increasing pain in Adam’s arms was shortening her temper.

“I swear, I’m okay,” she said. “Shaken up, yes. But, fine.”

“I’d like to run some tests…” Dr. Sheridan began.

“Can we not?” Adam snapped.

Lucian’s brow furrowed and he met her gaze.

“I’m really sore and really tired right now,” she said, meeting his gaze intently.

A look of realization dawned on his face but it was too little too late. Adam gasped as sharp pain shot through her muscles and the wound in her arm began to burn.

“What’s wrong?” Dr. Sheridan moved towards her again.

“Nothing,” Adam said through gritted teeth.

Emily stood up and grabbed Adam’s arm, looking at the wound as the last of the surface tissue healed before her eyes.

“She’s mending,” Emily said. “Like Evander.”

“She can only do that with injury,” Dr. Sheridan said.

“Look,” Emily stretched Adam’s arm out.

The musculature under her skin flexed, shifted and grew under her skin.

“You knew about this?” Dr. Sheridan looked into Adam’s eyes.

“Yes,” Adam sighed, and breathed deep against the pain.

“Why hide this?” Dr. Sheridan asked. “Why… Adam? Adam are you okay?”

Adam shook her head and closed her eyes against the pain. She felt a wave of dizziness wash over her and suddenly the doctor's voice faded out.

****A woman sat at a desk, her features shadowed by the poor lighting in a green cement room. Long black hair draped over the padded shoulders of her military style top.

“If you’re seeing me, you are being activated. I’m sorry for what ever trauma caused your nanite to activate this message, but it was necessary to bury it deep enough that only a certain neurological response, a powerful fight or flight reaction would trigger it.”

The woman looked up. Her face was so familiar. So, warm despite the cold, sterile feeling of the room.

“It’s time you knew the truth. You were told I’m dead. I am not. I am very much alive. I used my nanite technology to save your father. It wasn’t approved for human trials. Not even close. But, he was dying. A very aggressive cancer. The technology was so much more than I could have ever predicted. It made what your father has done over the past fifteen years look primitive. This technology permeates even the rawest forms of DNA in the body. Including the reproductive system. Your father passed the nanite technology I injected into him on to you but better. The technology worked in utero to take the most ideal combination of his and my genetic material to create the best possible combination of us. You are quite literally the best of both of us.”

She smiled softly, her brown eyes glistening a little.

“I had just only started to realize what you were when military men started coming around showing interest in my projects. At first I was excited. But, their questions started getting strange. They wanted to weaponize my technology. I thought if I told them I didn’t want their funding, they’d just leave. But, that’s not how they work. They started making threats. All my other funding suddenly vanished. I found listening devices in my office, my car, sewn into my purse. I loved your father, but he didn’t get what my objection was to their offer. They must have heard him, found out that he was my assistant. They didn’t know that he didn’t quite grasp my tech. They tried to kill me.”

A sly smile krept upon her red lips.

“They also didn’t know that you had passed the technology on to me when you were in utero. Fun fact, babies will pass stem cells along to the mother if she suffers an internal injury during pregnancy to help her recover, it doesn't even have to be a major injury. When they stabbed me in the chest with a piece of debris from my own car and left me for dead on the side of the road, they had no idea, hell, I had no idea of what this technology is capable of.”

Her face grew serious again.

“Adam, you are the first of a whole new species of human. You were made and born naturally with this technology in your bloodstream, in your DNA. The military would do anything to have it if they knew it existed. You must protect it at all costs. Your father will bend to them when the time comes. I’ve left behind some red herrings to keep him going down the wrong path, but even that can be manipulated. Find out what he’s doing and how the military is planning to use it. Once you are activated, I will receive a signal and you will have a month before I come for you. And, Adam, you’re my baby girl, you better believe I’m coming in force. Be ready. I love you.” ***