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“For the last time. What happened to him?”
Reginald’s voice was so strained and tense that his question sounded more like a statement.
“I don't know. He collapsed.” Henry explained through sign language, shrugging a little at the end of his sentence to convey just how confused he was about the situation as well. There was a hint of concern underneath his mask of professionalism as his eyes flitted between Reginald and the Right Hand Man, who was lying concerningly still on the medbay cot they had all gathered around.
"He collapsed? Is that it? That's all you can tell me?" Reginald asked, his voice raising in pitch as he fought to keep it at a normal volume. He was on the verge of grabbing Henry and shaking him, yelling, and probably crying, but Henry was the leader and Reginald knew his place. So he remained where he stood, clenching and unclenching one fist periodically. He'd never been good at handling stress.
“Listen, that’s what happened, I don’t know what else to tell you,” Ellie snapped. “He was on the bridge when he froze up for a couple seconds and then out of nowhere he flopped to the side. Maybe he… fried a chip or something,” she suggested, waving her hand in a vague "I don't know" gesture like even she didn't think her suggestion had any merit.
“Fried a chip?!” Reginald cried incredulously, whipping his head around to give Ellie a look.
Ellie took a step back, caught off guard by Reginald’s sudden outburst, but quickly crossed her arms and took on a more defensive stance. “We don’t know how his brain works, it could have happened. His brain is robotic, right?”
“Right’s cybernetics do not make him a robot.”
A moment of uncomfortable silence fell upon the room, punctuated by the beeping of the life monitor and the occasional whirring from one of the machines in the medbay.
Reginald again looked down at his partner lying motionless on the mattress of the biobed and his stomach twisted a little. Right Hand Man wasn’t even breathing. He didn’t need to breathe anymore, after his cybernetic surgery. It was almost uncanny how corpse-like he looked, despite the incessant beeping of the life monitor proving he was still alive.
“Should we get that doctor back here?” Ellie asked. Her voice had lost its earlier edge like she was willing to drop her typical arguing with Reginald to fix the situation at hand.
Reginald shook his head, not taking his eyes off his Right Hand Man. “No. The doctor left me a…” he paused, trying to think of what to call it, “...a manual of sorts, that details how to care for his cybernetics.”
Henry and Ellie didn’t seem entirely thrilled at the idea of Reginald trying to fix Right Hand Man’s apparent malfunction himself, but it did save the clan from going through the work and chaos of staging another kidnapping of Dr. V. So the two of them stayed silent as Reginald searched around the meticulously organized medical bay for this book he spoke of.
It was as thick and heavy as a dictionary and its cover was bare of any images or words. Reginald set it down on a nearby table with a heavy thunk and the three of them just stared at it for a few moments, like they were too scared to actually open it.
Henry broke the stillness by reaching out and lifting the cover. A handwritten list was on the inside cover:
Name of patient: N/A
Augmentations:
Face- left eye, type D
Right arm, type G
Right leg, type F
Left leg, type F
Reginald swallowed thickly as he read over the words. Truthfully, Reginald hadn’t bothered to read this manual before. He’d pushed it away, telling himself that he'd only open it when it became necessary, and unfortunately, that time had come.
The rest of the manual didn't seem specific to Right Hand Man. The book was divided into sections about each part of the body that could have been replaced with cybernetics, the arms, the spine, the legs, and the face, and so much information about each that the text on the pages had to be incredibly tiny.
Reginald glanced at his lover on the table next to him, then turned back to the book and flipped to the first section, which was about his arm.
“Look,” Ellie muttered, pointing to a section near the top of the page, “there’s a whole sword in his arm.” There was a hint of admiration in her voice, but then again, Ellie was the type of person who would appreciate being able to turn her arm into a giant sword.
Reginald didn’t agree. Ever since the surgery, he’d tried hard to convince himself that Right Hand Man was still Right Hand Man, but he was so fundamentally changed. The manual wasn’t helping matters. Over half of his partner’s body wasn’t even human anymore. Tan skin had been replaced by smooth, reflective metal. One of his green eyes was replaced by a glowing red screen. His legs could now turn into a rocket and his hand could fire lasers. He was some sort of technological marvel, more of a weapon than a man.
Reginald heaved a loud sigh and shook his head to clear that last thought. If Henry and Ellie could tell what thoughts were swirling around in his head they chose not to comment.
His brain is still the same. That’s what matters, his brain is still the same. He’s the same on the inside.
As Reginald turned the pages of the book, that sentiment became less and less true with each new page of information. Quite a bit of Right Hand Man’s insides were not the same, especially not his brain; to allow Right Hand Man to move his cybernetic limbs, there was tech implanted in his brain to simulate neurological connections. The section detailing this part of his cybernetics was by far the lengthiest. Hidden among colorful diagrams and paragraphs explaining the science behind the machinery keeping Right Hand Man alive was the following paragraph:
Compromising the cybernetic nervous system can have crucial repercussions on a patient's health, leading to significant alterations in their personality, loss of memory or altered memory, loss of consciousness, and impaired mobility in the patient's limbs.
"Compromising?" Ellie asked, thinking out loud, "like, someone opening his head and messing around in there?"
“Or a head injury,” Henry suggested, and Ellie hummed in acknowledgment at the less extreme possibility. Reginald shook his head, his eyes still scanning the page.
Cybernetic surgery can significantly increase the electrical activity in a patient's brain, raising the likelihood of seizures and involuntary movements, sensations, emotions, and behaviors.
From the way Henry sucked in a sudden breath and held it, Reginald didn’t need to look up to know that Henry had just reached the same section he did. Ellie followed a few moments later. “Do you think he…”
Reginald nodded, his eyes locked on the text.
"He should have woken up by now, though, don't you think?" Ellie mumbled, running her hands through her hair.
“He should have,” Henry agreed, “but we can’t help him here. We don’t have the resources.”
“We get the doctor back here, then,” Reginald said, his voice wavering slightly as he spoke. “And we don’t let her leave until—” his words were cut short by the sound of loud static coming from Right Hand Man. Their attention turned to the figure on the bed, who they watched in silent apprehension. A faint glow was beginning to emit from his cybernetic eye.
“Right?” Reginald mumbled, eyes wide as he stepped closer to the biobed. He grabbed Right Hand Man’s hand— his cybernetic hand, but that didn’t matter as long as Reginald could hold onto some part of him— and waited for him to regain consciousness. Ellie took a hesitant step forward to get a better look over Reginald’s shoulder at what was happening, but Henry didn’t move from where he stood.
Right Hand Man’s eye moved rapidly beneath its lid as his hand flexed, his fingers twitching a little in Reginald's grip. Finally, with a quiet groan in the back of his throat, Right Hand Man opened his eyes.
For a moment, Reginald, Henry, and Ellie just stared at him with wide eyes, waiting for him to say something.
Right Hand Man's unsettlingly empty stare slowly grew focused. His lips moved silently for a moment, parting slightly before he closed his mouth again seconds later. His gaze shifted between Henry, Ellie, and Reginald, but he made no attempt to speak, and Reginald felt a creeping discomfort at the awkward silence. Right Hand Man’s lips moved again, twisting into a pensive frown as his eyebrows furrowed.
Reginald was the first to lose his patience. “Right,” he repeated, his voice a whisper, “please say something.”
“Reginald,” Right Hand Man said, sounding awkward as he spoke, and Reginald felt his heart sink at the sound of his voice. His voice was weary and thin, making the slight mechanical undertone of his voice more prominent. Even the way Right Hand Man formed his words sounded as if it required effort. He began to stretch his limbs out a little, lifting his organic hand to press his fingers against his forehead. “The hell ‘appened? I don’t…”
“That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” Reginald replied, running his thumb over the back of Right Hand Man’s palm. “Ellie says you collapsed out of nowhere on the bridge.” Just behind Reginald, Ellie nodded, deciding to let Reginald do all the talking to Right Hand Man. After all, Reginald was the only person in the room Right Hand Man trusted.
"Yeah, I 'member bein' on the bridge," Right Hand Man said, “but nothin’ after… an’ now I’m ‘ere.” His eyes fell to Reginald's hand holding his own, and the tiniest hint of a smile formed on his face as he stared at their intertwined hands like he was almost fascinated by them.
“We should get Dr. V back here,” Ellie said, lowering her voice as she turned to speak to Henry. "Especially if he really had a seizure."
Right Hand Man's eyes snapped back up to look at her and his eyebrows furrowed, displeased to be reminded that she and Henry were still there. “Nah. I’m jus’ havin’ a headache. Give me a couple minutes an’ I’ll be fine. Don't need a doctor."
Henry nodded to Ellie before looking at Reginald with a neutral expression. "I'll have the doctor aboard the Airship within 24 hours to look at him." He straightened up a little, his hand movements stiff and swift as he thought to add, "Right Hand Man will allow her examination. That is an order." Reginald felt a twinge of annoyance at Henry once again mentioning the position of power he'd stolen from Reginald-- and Reginald had a feeling he would never get used to Henry doing that-- but it was difficult to be too upset because he actually agreed with Henry's orders this time around.
With his final order, Henry turned to exit. It was clear he didn't want to stay inside the room with Right Hand Man any longer than he had to after he saw him wake up. There would always be a lingering tension between them, understandably so, but they had at least gotten to a point where they could professionally interact with each other. Ellie followed suit, hurrying a bit to walk next to Henry down the corridor.
"I dunno enough sign language to know for sure," Right Hand Man grumbled, staring at the now-empty doorframe. "But I think I saw 'im sign 'doctor'." Right Hand Man sighed, closing his eyes against the glare of the room's bright lights. He tilted his head back against the bed, his breathing slow and even as he continued to massage his forehead in a circular motion. "'m not havin' seizures. 'm fine."
"Right," Reginald started softly, "you aren't fine. I agree with Henry and Ellie." Reginald cringed slightly at that sentence coming out of his mouth. "We need to get Dr. V back here. That book she left us about your cybernetics says it's very possible that the augmentations can make you more prone to unusual brain activity."
"My instruction manual?" Right Hand Man asked dryly, opening his eye halfway. Reginald's stomach dropped hearing those words come out of his partner's mouth, and he realized that bringing up the book was the wrong move. "Hate that damn thing. Makes me feel like 'm just some piece a' tech."
"You're not. You're still you," Reginald muttered. He lifted his other hand so that he could clasp Right Hand Man's cybernetic hand in both of his own, then went silent with the realization that he really had nothing else to say. He could feel the stress and grief from earlier making a resurgence and building up behind his eyes, threatening to spill out, and he kept his head lowered.
Right Hand Man let out a heavy sigh, his breath shaking slightly as he exhaled. "Reg?" He asked, his tone slightly pleading, and his voice drew Reginald's gaze up slightly. There was so much pain behind his partner's eyes that Reginald's stomach tightened into a knot, and he felt his control over his emotions slipping. "I'm sorry," Right Hand Man said, pulling his cybernetic hand out of Reginald's grasp to bring it up to the side of Reginald's face. Reginald could feel his throat closing up at the feeling of the smooth metal against his cheek, and his vision became blurred. All he could do was shake his head in response to Right Hand Man's apology.
"Don't be," he finally choked out after a few seconds, his voice pitifully high and quivering, "you don't have to be."
"'ere." Right Hand Man raised his arm, a nonverbal invitation for Reginald to curl up next to him and rest his head on his chest, which is exactly what Reginald did the moment the opportunity was given to him. Right Hand Man wrapped his arm snugly around Reginald's shoulder, pulling him close as Reginald pressed his face firmly against Right Hand Man's chest.
As Reginald lay still in Right Hand Man's arms, he could feel the cool metallic plates beneath his shirt against his cheek. He once would have felt warm skin and firm muscle, rising and falling slightly. He would have heard the slow, soft sound of breath and the beat of his heart.
Reginald closed his eyes as guilt began to turn his stomach.
The day it happened— the day he’d found Right Hand Man on the floor of his airship, so thoroughly shredded into gore he was barely recognizable— all Reginald had wished for was to have him back. And now he dared to wish for more? To wish that Right Hand Man was exactly the way he was before?
It was some miracle of science that Right Hand Man was still alive. It was some further miracle that he still remembered Reginald. Still swore his loyalty to him. Still loved him.
Still had a heartbeat, Reginald realized. The longer he laid still and listened the louder it became— a steady, familiar thumping beneath his ear.
He held onto that faint noise until it guided him into unconsciousness.