April Rosevolt
"We know already," responded the youth in human dialect. The sudden reveal was almost as surprising as the revelation that the therians were already aware of the hybrids. Aware and preparing for war. April mouthed a disheartened ‘oh’, facing the floor mat in guilt. This petty whim of a holiday had been far too selfish. How many more lives were lost because she chose not to assault the facility? If that was the case, why not be more cautious of her existence? Why could she, a former hybrid, so easily walk into a camp full of therians who had experienced such savage violence and be offered their aid?
“Naharita karana.”
In the midst of her gloom, it took sometime before April realized the elderly therian was addressing her. Shaking the thoughts from her system, she forced her gaze up sharply, showing mild embarrassment at having been caught brooding. Once he’d regained her attention, Grashath’s old hands swept over a table of sorts. Dumbfounded, April stared at him with a sort of blank expression until Touya articulated the words for her.
"He said lay down," he informed.
April did was she was ordered and sat her lithe form on the examination table before pulling her legs up and around. A rush of adrenaline shot through her system as she came in contact with the cold, featureless slab. One so like the dissection table of her nightmares. The backlash from past memories was excruciating, and she only just managed to resist the urge to scream and run. Apprehensively wriggling into position, she had to half squint as the lantern glimmered directly above her. Once she was rigid, the seasoned technician took to her side and spoke another intangible sentence. Experimentally, he prodded her arms beneath the metal.
“He asks if you can feel him?” Touya interpreted once more.
She nodded, wincing at the pain invoked by his poking. Whatever Victor had done to her, the results of their modifications still felt unpleasantly raw. When he was done, she scratched at the nexus of her arms, trading his touch for her own. Touya started to speak again; in the language she recognized as therian. Most of it came as gibberish. Nothing but incomprehensible jargon to her ears. Instead she relied on facial expressions and tones to recreate conversations, filtering babble for words of her own.
Their discussion was terribly long and grave in voice. By the end of it, Touya looked faint almost, and bowed his head in weariness. There were several moments of stuttering, in which the therian struggled to reform his composure, and finally the needle was inserted into her vein. April glared at the implement digging into the crook of her arm, engulfed by a growing sensation of numbness. She wasn’t quite sure why it distressed her. Maybe she was just being irrational.
From the corner of her vision she caught the shift of movement that indicated the youth was leaving. Touya started to follow, his long braid of silver hair swaying behind his shoulders. Her body sagged at his absence, and she wished he’d remained to keep watch, but the situation was grim indeed. Both of them knew the stakes and duty was more important then.
“Please, just make it quick,” she said, entirely certain that he wouldn’t understand her.
Waiting for Grashath to complete his operation, April lost track of time in the deeper hours of the night. She imagined the verdict was still out the window as far as successes went. They’d have to wait until the drugs wore off before deciding if the procedure was effective or not. Fear occupied her usually clear mentality with the prospect of further unwarranted modifications and it managed to stave off her exhaustion for a time. Grashath preferred working in silence for the most part, focusing entirely on the surgery. The only sounds that punctuated the air were often just the noises coming from outside. Eventually she succumbed to her growing weariness and fell into slumber.
When she awoke the next morning, April’s first instinct was to secure her wellbeing. Curious and suspicious, she lifted her arms into view, anxious to find what had changed. Her eyes scanned the technician’s intricate handiwork, oblivious to their alterations until finally she rested them and felt the cold sting of metal beneath her hands. For minutes, she remained frozen, wondering if she’d imagined the feeling. Then she brushed over her cheeks, trailing the sides with her fingers, and exhaled a belated sigh of relief. She could feel again.
Noticing her activity, Grashath appeared overhead. The technician was accompanied by Sharye, though the former made no motion to speak until gestured to do so by his superior.
“Are you well? How are your arms?” Sharye asked.
“Good,” April replied slowly, allowing Sharye a brief moment to convey the expression back to Grashath before speaking again, “Is Touya around?”
The youth nodded, but pressed on as Grashath continued to speak. “That’s excellent. Grashath wants to inform you on a few things before you proceed. First, he says he discovered your back has been reinforced to support the strength of your arms. Avoid water or you will drown. Secondly, your arms require regular maintenance to keep functioning,” Sharye said, “Lastly, avoid heat also as the metal can burn your flesh.”