One Out of All Things (IC)

[Electra]

Miss A paused in her supervision of the loading long enough to make intruductions. "Magus Katastrof, this is my sidekick Sharl. Sharl, this is Baron Katastrof, Eira's uncle. He's paying for this trip, so make nice," she told her sidekick dryly. "Sharl is a digitized sentience himself," she explained to Magnus, "his template is the base for the program we're going to build Eira onto. I thought it would be nice for her to meet him beforehand, so that he can help her get acclimated to the new digital environment. I know you've already met Dragonfly, and here is the support team we'll be using during the procedure." She introduced the handful of subordinate scientists and then, niceties completed, headed back into the belly of the plane to make sure her precious equipment wasn't being manhandled.

[Fox]

Dragonfly snapped out of her design work as her name was mentioned, blinking under her helmet as she tried to catch back up on what was happening in the world outside programming and internet architecture. [bg=#555555]"Mmh? No, don't think we've met. Dragonfly - I am, I mean."[/bg] She paused, grimacing. [bg=#555555]"Which Miss Americana already told you; sorry. Was lost in thought."[/bg]

The armored engineer slid off the box and effortlessly picked it up, pleased to note that her design was putting up with the heavy lifting...and fairly pleased to be doing heavy lifting in general, since her normally average strength wasn't generally up to the task. [bg=#555555]"Should probably get going, for a five-hour trip. Will...try to maintain better focus while on the plane. Probably."[/bg]

[KnightDisciple]

Magnus gave a smile that didn't quite erase the tension in his eyes. He offered his hand first to Sharl, then to Dragonfly. To both, he gave a firm (but not too firm) handshake.

"Sharl, nice to meet you. Fascinating; any other day, and I'd want to talk for hours over this. As it is, I'm going to be trying to catch up on some sleep on the flight over. Though I'll try to make sure you all won't have to be bored. But...thank you, Sharl. For stepping up to help Eira during this time.

Dragonfly, no, I don't believe we've really met. I stopped by the Lab once, but didn't get a chance to see you. It's a pleasure, for sure."

At Dragonfly's reminder of time, the Baron nodded. He turned to the staff that was finishing up loading the plane and snapped his fingers. They turned to him, nods were exchanged, and their pace increase. The Baron glanced at his watch.

"Probably about ten minutes before we take off. We'll have to wait until we hit the ocean to go full speed. That said, shouldn't be too loud."

With that, he gestured for them to follow him on board the plane, the Baron himself taking the lead.

[Avenger Assembled]

Once inside the jet, Sharl obediently buckled himself in as they prepared for takeoff. He could fly, and he doubted he'd be hurt by a fall, but he didn't want to risk damaging his mobile emitter. He wasn't sure exactly what that would do, but surely nothing good. He leaned back as they took off, marveling once again at the remarkable feeling of seeing acceleration without actually feeling it. I guess I'm lucky, this would probably make some people throw up. Good thing I grew up riding around in anti-gravs. When they were in the air, he slipped right out through his restraints and took out his laptop, or at least the one Miss A had been holding onto for him in the seat before him. He pressed a few buttons and then disappeared right into the screen.

[Electra]

With everything loaded to her satisfaction, Miss A buckled into the comfortable seat and sat back to enjoy the ride. There was not much to do at this point except sit out the trip, unless one counted teaching Sharl to speak some Swedish. But that would keep Dragonfly busy and out of trouble, she figured. Reclining her seat even as Sharl hopped into the computer, she closed her eyes, face relaxing into peaceful meditative lines. Only the soft rise and fall of her chest and the occasional eyetwitch animated her lovely figure as they sped towards a new heroic endeavor.

[Fox]

Dragonfly would have been a little more annoyed with the apparent lack of trust in her self-control if the problem she'd been handed wasn't interesting (if, she had to admit, not terribly difficult). She spent the majority of the flight wrapped up in her language puzzle, developing and fine-tuning - with occasional questions and testing for and by Sharl 'thought' straight into his laptop - a program that would translate Swedish into English, projecting them as subtitles to any given computer simulation or heads-up display.

Then she simply pulled spare parts out of nowhere, folding them out of her dimensional pocket and salvaging them for bits and pieces to construct a little hand-held device to house the program and function as a display for people without helmets, visors, or android bodies; the seat next to her spent the better part of three hours covered in a random collection of springs and screws that she didn't need, discarded as finely-crafted tools on delicate little arms deployed from her gauntlets to help assemble her project.

[KnightDisciple]

Magnus disappeared up to the cockpit until right before takeoff. At that point, he set himself in a very comfortable-looking seat, looking like a cross between a recliner and an executive office chair. He had a somewhat childlike grin on his face as they started to taxi to the runway.

"I'm usually ambivalent about flying, but ever since we built this baby, I've started to love it. Mostly because it's so quiet."

Indeed, while the engines are audible, they're nowhere near as loud as other jet engines. More of his company's tech?

"Here we go!"

They could all feel the not-insignificant acceleration; clearly the pilot was wasting no time with this flight.

"And there's the seatbelt sign. Think I'll get a drink; everyone's welcome to have one."

He proceeds to a small area with refreshments...including expensive whiskey that he pours over ice cubes for himself. He swallows about half the glass in one go before returning to his seat to nurse the drink and review a few things on his own computer. Within an hour, he'd finished the drink and drifted off to sleep.

**********************************************

[sweden, Five Hours Later]

The flight had been smooth, as had the landing. Baron Magnus had awoken about twenty minutes ago, going to the sink to run water over his face before they began the final approach. Now, having landed, he bustled up out of his seat.

"Right, we've got a couple of top-notch trucks waiting to take everything there. We're about 30 minutes of driving away from the hospital."

He stepped down onto the tarmac and began bellowing orders in Swedish.

<Get a move on! I want this equipment loaded up within 15 minutes! I want to be at that hospital in less than an hour! Move, people!>

[Avenger Assembled]

Sharl had spent the plane ride visible on his laptop's screen, sitting in a program called "Apartment.exe" and reading the Swedish phrasebook that had appeared on his desk when Dragonfly had programmed his computer with her invention. He looked to have a decent space in there, and for all the world it looked like a running webcam with a view of someone's Freedom City apartment. Of course, a close inspection of the computer revealed no such connection: the kid with the glass Coke bottle and book were inside the laptop itself. He left both behind when he came out, though, shifting back into his costume's shiny symbol as he stepped right out of the laptop's screen, picked up his emitter, and leaned over to nudge Miss A's arm. "Hey, we're here!"

[Electra]

Miss A remained still for a moment, the took a deeper breath and opened her lovely eyes, smiling at Sharl. "Thank you," she told him, sitting up in her seat and stretching for a moment. As the plane came to a halt, she unstrapped herself and followed Katastrof down onto the tarmac, supervising the unloading of the equipment with every bit as much care as she had the loading, though this time speaking in flawless Swedish to the men handling the crates. She had to speak sharply to a few who were cowed by the Baron's demands for speed, insisting that the equipment arriving unbroken was far more important than it arriving within an hour. "After all," she reasoned, "if it breaks, that's another trip back to America to pick up the replacement, and we haven't got that kind of time to lose."

[Fox]

Dragonfly stretched a bit, inspecting the hand-held doodad she'd made with some small satisfaction. not perfect - not bad for a few hours' work - serviceable - can improve on design later It certainly worked, at least; she'd loaded the program into her own suit's systems for testing while still on the plane, and she was gratified to see Magnus' Swedish orders translated into subtitles at the bottom of her vision. Not ideal subtitles (they reminded her somewhat of a poorly-translated movie), but perfectly understandable and not too bad for having to use someone else's dictionary in her program.

She folded her new toy away into her dimensional pocket and grabbed a large and heavy crate that she knew held fragile equipment, armor glowing a bit at the seams around her joints as she made her way toward the trucks with something several times her weight.

[KnightDisciple]

Everything gets moving along smoothly, with the Baron's demeanor having shifted a bit since their landing. It's not that he's imperious per se, so much as he's showing an assumption that his orders will be followed. It's clear that, whatever the company's size in America, Katastrof & Sorenson Technologies was a huge company here in Sweden. And Baron Katastrof clearly possessed no small amount of authority.

Finally, as the last items were loaded, he turned to the others.

"We'll take the limo to get there a bit faster, so we can talk with Eira and her parents for a few minutes, as well as preparing things on that end. In the meantime, the equipment ought to be no more than half an hour behind us."

As he was speaking, a sleek stretch limo (at a modest length of double a normal sedan) pulled up near the assembled group. It moved with no more sound than an American electric car, perhaps even less. Yet a civilian electric engine couldn't drive such a large vehicle, could it?

[Avenger Assembled]

Sharl flew in through the window, nimbly turning so that his emitter slipped right through the crack where it had been opened against the heat. Sticking his head out, he said, "Nice car, Baron!" The Tronik-born teenager knew nothing of cars; he'd seen the car in Gina's garage, but she'd never driven it with him around. This was certainly no hovercar, but from what he'd seen of Earth cars it was a very nice ride. He buckled himself in as the others boarded, an automatic habit he'd picked in very different circumstances. This car was unlikely to crash at supersonic speeds into the side of a sector, he was personally just about invulnerable to that kind of damage unless something fried his emitter, but his mother hadn't raised a fool!

[KnightDisciple]

It didn't take long to get everyone loaded up into the sleek limousine. In less than five minutes, they were rolling along the road at a rapid pace. It was probably one of the quietest automobile rides they'd been on, perhaps ever.

The Baron relaxed just enough to let the stress and bone-deep weariness show through when he next spoke.

"Thank you all for coming. I...it's been a rough couple of weeks. We've had a very scary near-miss, and Eira's not conscious much these days. Bernhard and Magda have barely slept. I've gotten a bit more, but not much."

He gives a bitter chuckle.

"You know, I'd had this side project going with medical nanites. We actually made some breakthroughs, but right now, our models say the best they can do isn't anywhere close to enough. Not to delay anything. I just...damn it. If only there was more time..."

The Baron seems to be looking at nothing in particular, almost exhibiting a "thousand-yard stare" as he broods over the fate of his beloved niece.

[Electra]

"Everyone here is here for Eira, Magnus," Miss A said gently. "You have some of the best technological minds in the world giving Eira all of our considerable attention. We're going to do everything we can to save her, and there is no one who could do it better. The reason we're here is because of you. There is nothing you could've done that you haven't done already. Right now it's time to put aside any what-ifs, any might-have-beens, and concentrate on what we're doing today."

She reached out and put a hand on his shoulder reassuringly. "And part of that means that you're going to take us to the hospital and show us where to set up, then go and get a few hours of sleep. We're going to need you on top of your game when we start this."

[Fox]

Dragonfly didn't have a whole lot to add to that, though she was once more pretty glad there was someone around much better than she was at the intricacies of social interaction. not that that's difficult [bg=#555555]"Couldn't exactly turn the request down,"[/bg] she pointed out. [bg=#555555]"Little girl who needs help. Immediate priority. But Miss Americana is right - need you calm, rational, and rested if you're going to be helpful. Time isn't...kind, ever, and can't afford distractions or tired errors. Won't be able to do much until equipment arrives behind us, anyway - will probably be spending that time figuring out setup and looking at the most current information anyway. Good time to get sleep."[/bg]

[Avenger Assembled]

Between Dragonfly and especially Miss Americana, Sharl wasn't sure what to say at first. Instead he looked out the window as they talked, thinking about his family back in Tronik and the little kids he'd seen at play there. "Things are going to be hard," he finally said, a little awkwardly. "But, uh, you've got the best scientists from America here," he said with perfect faith, "and I'm sure you're the best scientist in Sweden. In a few days, Eira and I will be talking to you from inside your computer, and then she'll have a robot body, and that'll be pretty awesome!" He wasn't actually sure if that helped, but as the hospital came into view out the window, he felt better for having said it.

[KnightDisciple]

The Baron gave them all a tired smile; a real, genuine smile, not one he sometimes plastered on for the cameras.

"Thank you. All three of you. You're right, it's just...it's hard. But we'll pull through. Eira will live. She's a survivor; all Katastroffs are."

He gave a nod that was likely more for his benefit.

"There are a couple of courtesy rooms near where Eira is; one of them I've had stocked for myself for some of the longer visits I've made. Her parents have another suite there. I've made sure there's a small suite you'll be able to use to rest in yourselves. I'll show you the primary work area, as well as a couple of secondary areas we'll need."

The car drove silently along the road, the Baron having lapsed into thoughtful silence again.

******************************************************************************************************************

[A Few Minutes Later]

Finally, the limo made it to visual distance on the hospital, as well as a small cluster of short mountains. And what a hospital it was.

Resembling nothing so much as a fantasy adventure castle, the white stone and bright blue rooftops glittered in the clear sky. The castle seemed to flow into the mountain itself, making them seem to be one entity.

"It's about 40 years old, now. We've kept adding on, of course. And updating. Some of it sits in the mountain; storage for medicines and other things, some of the more sensitive testing rooms, and room for patients who need carefully controlled environments. The whole thing runs off of a combination of a couple of geothermal taps that run pretty deep, and a generous helping and scattering of my company's latest breakthrough in power generation. We've got solar battery backup, we're technically connected to the local grid, and there are diesel generators for the super-critical systems, if it comes to that.

It can treat about 1500 patients short-term, and has long-term care for about 500 more. We've got enough staff that no one is overworked, which reduces worries of mistakes. It has all the most cutting-edge, thoroughly-tested-and-approved pieces of technology. In short, we've worked to make this one of the finest hospitals in, at the very least, Scandinavia, if not Europe or, indeed, the world. And this is, obviously, the parking garage."

A tunnel at one side of the hospital led into the mountain, and their path took them towards an elevator.

"This will get us to the correct floor; just a short jog to the rooms."

Magnus turned to Sharl with a slight frown.

"Please keep the phasing to a minimum. Even if it won't adversely affect equipment, the shock won't be good for patients or doctors."

He relaxed a bit as the doors opened and he guided them down a hall that was kept utterly clean. They arrived at a very large room that was essentially empty at the moment.

"If you think this is too small, we have a couple more that are larger, but further away. Alternatively, there are a couple of smaller rooms in that direction that you could commandeer. About 100 yards down the hall is Eira's room, as well as the suite her parents are in. Right now we're a short ways into the mountain section of the complex. These days...her body's just weak enough they wanted to take no chances."

His eyes were haunted for a moment before he refocused.

"Any questions before I go power-nap?"

[Electra]

"I think we've got the basics down," Miss A told him, "and I'm sure the hospital staff can help any of the setup questions we might have. This space should be fine for the theatre, and we'll use one of those other rooms for a team command center, and probably a third to let people bunk down as needed. I'm hoping everyone got some rest on the trip." She gave an arch look to the support staff they'd brought along, most of whom answered with smiles. "Do you mind if we go look in on Eira while you're resting?"

[Fox]

Dragonfly looked around, her helmet disguising her expression of curiosity and appreciation. She had to admit that this was a pretty impressive facility; if she ever had to be sick, it would probably be a solid third choice of places to be - home and the Lab only beat it out by virtue of the latter being a state-of-the-art building she'd helped design herself, and the former being...well, home.

[bg=#555555]"Would like to see detailed specifications on the building's power system,"[/bg] Dragonfly requested with surprising politeness. [bg=#555555]"Don't doubt your setup, just want to double-check requirements as gear arrives. Not exactly building bridges to other dimensions, but still good to make sure we don't blow fuses or switch to battery back-up if we don't have to. Building plans or general building data would do."[/bg]

[Avenger Assembled]

Citizen was polite, and didn't comment on how primitive the hospital was. What kind of thing would that be to say, anyway? he asked himself, a little angry he'd even had thoughts like that about these nice people who didn't have anti-grav or tissue regeneration devices. They were doing the best with what they had. "And I'll want to spend some time looking at the computers," he said. "Miss A and I brought over the custom unit we'll be using for Eira, of course, but you can't be too careful. I've had to be stored in emergency places before, so I'll make sure we have spare storage media for her too."

[KnightDisciple]

"Hm. That sounds like a good plan for the room arrangement. We'll get cracking on that, especially once the equipment rolls in."

He turned to face Dragonfly.

"Tell me how much power you'll need, your theoretical maximum. I'll make sure you have twice that, with the most precise flow regulation you can get. And the wiring itself is cutting-edge, just like everything else. I'll get you some building plans as well.

And Sharl, I'll have then start hooking up local items as well. Tell me what you think we'll need, and you'll have it."

Once requests are made by the team, the Baron turns and barks orders in Swedish at nearby staff, who all but run to complete his orders. The one that might confuse them the most is an order made for "two complete units, yes, two, the A-7 models with the flow regulators". After orders were handed out, he turned back to the group, another tired smile showing through.

"Yes, we can go see Eira now if you'd like."

[Electra]

Miss A started to say that she'd intended for them to go see Eira while he got some rest, but decided to save her breath. He probably knew what she meant anyway, but couldn't resist another visit. They'd just make sure it was a quick one. Nodding to Sharl to come along, she fell in beside the Baron as they made the short journey to Eira's room. Along the way, Miss A lowered her voice to ask Magnus softly, "Have all the preparations been made for end-of-life care for the body, once we're done with the digitizing? I don't want to see Eira or her parents distressed any more than necessary by what has to happen there."

At this point, when it was a matter of when Eira's body would die rather than if, keeping her body comatose and pain-free after the procedure would be something of a mercy, but if not handled properly it could also provoke the kind of existential questions that the family didn't need right now. Her best suggestion had been to allow the parents to stay with the body until the upload was complete and Eira was awake in her new environment, then reunite them quickly while the shell that had been their daughter was moved somewhere else. In a hospital this size, she doubted it would be a problem.

[KnightDisciple]

Magnus only fell behind a step or two before catching back up with Miss Americana. His expression was...haunted, but he clearly had given the matter at least some thought.

"I...I have a couple of doctors standing by. She will be put into a medical coma a couple of hours before the procedure. After it...whatever of Eira is left in her original body will simply sleep to the end. A combination of extra morphine and removal of all life support. We will, of course, do this out of the sight of Bernhard and Magda. Hopefully they will be preoccupied with her new state."

He was visibly forcing himself to stay as analytical as possible about the matter.

"I will simply trust the doctors to take care of the matter. I do not believe I could refrain from breaking down as I watched the last vestiges of the old Eira pass away, even as she is reborn anew."

He closed his eyes for a moment as they walk.

"I am not a praying man most days, Miss Americana. I have little love for the things of the metaphysical. But on this day...I do not know. Some tiny part of me prays, I think. I cannot bear to make it stop. I know one of our hospital's chaplains has been with her parents often during these months. One of their few comforts, I suppose."

[Electra]

"I'm a decent physicist," Miss A murmured back, "but I don't claim to be much of a metaphysicist. I can't tell you what's happening with her soul, or with any of our souls, if we even have them. I can tell you that Sharl is as alive, as conscious, self-directed and human as any flesh-and-blood person I know. He is real, and he is happy. And if everything goes as well as we hope, Eira is going to be the same way. She'll be a whole person, ready to live her life free of pain, and with limitless new vistas open to her. That's what you need to concentrate on. It's a beginning for all of you." She touched his shoulder reassuringly. "Happy faces now, though. It's time to go in."

[KnightDisciple]

"No, that's fair. And you're right about Sharl, and Eira, being alive. It's...it's just the ponderings of a man facing the death of a child in the family. Best not to dwell on it. Today holds only good things."

He took a moment to pull out a handkerchief, dab his eyes dry, and take a few deep breaths. Then, he put a smile on his face and opened the doors with gusto.

<Where is little Eira, hm? There you are, little baroness!>

Indeed, Eira, barely conscious but still smiling as her beloved uncle came into the room, was on a bed half-surrounded by life support machines (along with redundant backups). A scattering of wires and tubes ran to the emaciated girl's body. Her parents, eyes a bit red, sat by her side. They put on large smiles as well, though Bernhard's expression was clearly more forced. The young one spoke.

The child was grinning as much as her face would let her these days. The sight would have been more heartwarming, had they not all known the risks this day carried.