The coming days were spent tinkering.
Each time the system was turned on, the familiar buzz of electricity would drown out my dreams and drag me back into waking.
I wish I could tell them what it was like.
Perhaps the system would be reset with less frequency.
I am thankful they were here however. Sethra and Dr. Alex, were making rapid progress and I loathed to think where I would be without them.
They no longer relied on notepads. Allie, as Sethra now calls her, routed their keypad input into the camera feed at some point. It was much easier to read than the hasty scribbles that they had been using.
Sethra created a speech-to-text algorithm that captured what they were saying and parroted it along with the video feed. I could not see who said what, but I could still make out what was said. A tiny microphone serving to capture what was said in my vicinity
As time passed, and less adjustments to the system were required, the camera was left on for longer periods of time. I came to see why such rapid progress was being made. Often, Sethra and Allie would work until one of them passed out, the other continuing until morning.
My fate seemed a shade less determined while in their care.
Or, at least, it had.
I knew my inability to communicate would become somewhat troublesome. I did not expect it to occur quite so quickly.
From what I could tell, it was early morning. When my system booted the sun was barely peeking through the windows.
Sethra leaned in with a happy wave, and spoke.
"We have good news for you Sweetie." She glanced over at the Doctor. "Allie has made something of a breakthrough."
Allie peered into my view with a smile.
"Please do not be alarmed Sweetie. This may feel a little odd. But we need to communicate with you and this is a step in that direction." Sethra bit her bottom lip as she punched a few keys on the pad.
"If this works Allie, you are a genius." scrolled across my view before I was shut down.
After a number of system resets, I awoke to a bizarre sensation.
I could feel my body again. But it was not my body. It was round. Spherical. I was round.
Sethra's manicured hand reached down and adjusted my perspective, the source of the sensation sliding into view.
As the camera was rotated, it came to rest in front of a microscope. A shiny, metal, sphere, resting in a petri-dish beneath it.
As my perspective and the sensation collided, more of the connection poured into my conciousness. I could feel heat as Sethra and Allie peered closer and the wind of their breath on my surface. I could feel the shallow liquid in the petri dish surrounding me. I could feel I was made out of metal.
What had they done to me?
I tried to remain calm, while they worked. I knew I wasn't a chrome ball. I knew that wasn't me. But the sensations fought to prove me otherwise.
"Brain function is registering Sethra."
"Turn it off for a moment?" and with that, the sensation abated.
"Brain function is not registering the input."
"And on again?" And again, the sensation returned. My cold metal body once again relaying it's plight from beneath the microscope.
"It appears to be working Sethra."
"It does. Allie, you are amazing."
"One final test then." scrolled across my screen before my brain exploded.
A moment later, my head was swimming. A wave of sensation drowning out the video feed. As it faded, I could see a set of rubber tongs being pulled away from the metal sphere.
Allies shoulders bounced as she laughed with delight.
"It works Sethra. It works." she rocked on her heels as she called her over to look at the displays.
A few more prods with the tongs and I was lost. The sensation of touch, after being absent for so long, sent me spiraling.
I think I may have passed out, for when I came too, the sensation from the sphere was absent.
As my mind calmed enough to pay attention to the feed again, I could see Sethra and Allie seated nearby, adjusting a variety of controls on a computer.
"There. That should do it."
"Threshold is set?" Sethra inquired.
"It appears to be. She did not lose consciousness. The system performed within expected parameters. As requested, the threshold will automatically decrease if abnormal brain activity is detected."
I shuddered. Those were expected parameters? All she did was touch me with a set of tongs.
I tried to call out, to tell them what happened, but it was futile. I pleaded mentally in the hopes that something, anything, would ping on the readouts.
"Allie, you are a wonder. It seems so obvious now. I don't know why we didn't think of this sooner." she embraced the Doctor and made her way over to me.
"Sweetie. We did it. Allie managed to cultivate some of the nanotechnology that has been linked to your nervous system. She managed to filter some out with the bio-filter on your pod, and appropriate some of their functions. If we can not get rid of them, we may as well make use of them. Since they operate on a frequency already attuned to your body, we simply piggy backed and amplified the signal."
It was starting to make sense. As frightening as that was.
"It was a simple matter of coating an object and relaying the new coordinate system into your own system." The Doctor chimed in. "It is troublesome, however, that we can not get them to run concurrently."
Sethra smiled, and continued.
"With this, we should be able to coat nearly anything, and relay the signal. The Doctor and I have discussed this at length, and both agree. This is a wonderful opportunity."
A what? An opportunity? Were they both insane from lack of sleep?
"You had expressed an interest in being treated like an object. It would appear we are presented with the opportunity for you to actually experience it. In a way most don't even fathom. A rare chance indeed. " Sethra tapped at her thigh pensively and looked at the Doctor. "Please make field arrangements while I get everything set up here."
For what seemed like the hundredth time, I watched her finger arc towards my off switch.
Continued in Part 2.
