Project Orion

"Are you sure this is a good idea, young Whitley?" Klein Sieben asked, his eyes roaming across the makeshift OR that Whitley had transformed his room into. He stared at the young boy's back as he continued to type with purpose on his computer. The young man had been all but trapped in his room the past couple months, confined to a simple wheelchair and all but ignored by his father.

"Positive Klein, Positive. Father's been rather hands-off with me since the incident, which has been good for me but not for..." Whitley paused, hesitating. "So long as you did the work, and I know you got that License now, it should be fine." He pushed himself from his desk and glided over to the operating table they set up. Plastic sheets all around them and on the floor to make clean-up easy. "I don't just have perks anymore, I've been slowly gaining the company back from... From that asshole, I've been funnelling them all to be under-"

Klein rested a hand on his shoulder, allowing Whitley to finally see the man all dressed up and ready for a massively invasive surgery. "Are you absolutely sure about this? Are you prepared for this mentally, Whitley?" The older man asked, a kind smile under his mask as he helped the naked boy up onto the table.

"Chip me." Whitley looked at him with nothing but determination, a grim look on his youthful face. "*Sigh* Alright." He looked away for a second before turning back to him. "Would you like to start us off?" Whitley finally laid face down, his hand having already started the nearby audio recorder. "This is Whitley Schnee, I am undergoing Project Orion... Today is July 8th Year 104, all of the technology used in today's procedure is proprietary technology that I have created... The Doctor overseeing this invasive surgery to restore my legs and more is Klein Sieben." A face mask extended up, sealing firmly in place. The hiss of the gases was the last thing he heard before falling semi-unconscious.

"This is Klein Sieben, the doctor overseeing the Orion Project. My patient is-"

0-0-0

"HWAAA!" Whitley gasped as the world came into view, he shot up from laying down and started clawing at his chest while hyperventilating, his eyes roaming the room as texted started to scroll across the upper left of his vision. "Klein!" He gasped out, searching for his only friend in this broken home.

CONFIGURING SYSTEM... 1%

CONNECTING TO BASE.PORT_88965

CHECKING NEURAL NETWORK DATA

DOWNLOADING HOST DATA

CONFIGURING SYSTEM... 5%

CONNECTED TO BASE.PORT_88965

NEURAL NETWORK DATA VERIFIED

DOWNLOADING HOST DATA

"Calm down, Whitley, I'm right here." The older man gently pushed him back down, the beeping of devices starting to fade in as he takes a deep breath and lets it out.

CONFIGURING SYSTEM... 15%

CONNECTING TO BASE.PORT_56854

CHECKING NEURAL NETWORK DATA

DOWNLOADING HOST DATA

CONFIGURING SYSTEM... 25%

CONNECTED TO BASE.PORT_56854

NEURAL NETWORK DATA VERIFIED

DOWNLOADING HOST DATA

"In. Out. Follow my breathing." Klein tried to get Whitley to focus on him, but the young man's eyes continued to roam around the room. "Blurred vision, low contrast and glitches are to be expected! Now focus on me." Still hyperventilating, Whitley tried to roll off his soft bed, only to be stopped by a firm hand grabbing his jaw.

CONFIGURING SYSTEM... 37%

CONNECTING TO BASE.PORT_75689

CHECKING NEURAL NETWORK DATA

DOWNLOADING HOST DATA

CONFIGURING SYSTEM... 49%

CONNECTED TO BASE.PORT_75689

NEURAL NETWORK DATA VERIFIED

DOWNLOADING HOST DATA

"Look at me. Look. At. Me" Finally, Whitley met Klein's eyes, "In." Klein waited a moment, "IN." He said more forcefully, getting Whitley to take a gulp of air and keep it in his lungs. "Out." It was more of a shuddering breath than an exhale. "Tell what you feel, with your hands, what you can see, what you can hear, what you taste and smell?"

CONFIGURING SYSTEM... 61%

CONNECTED TO BASE.PORT_75689

NEURAL NETWORK DATA VERIFIED

DOWNLOADED HOST DATA

CONFIGURING SYSTEM... 77%

INSTALLING TRANSMISSION CONTROLLER

WRITING VERSION 0001.7859.3

"I-I-I, I see you, I f-f-feel my sheets." Whitley started his breathing getting slower and steady.

CONFIGURING SYSTEM... 99%

INSTALLED TRANSMISSION CONTROLLER

WRITING VERSION 0001.7859.3

DEBUGGING EMBEDDED SYSTEM

SYNCHRONIZING SCAN TECH_PORT.8867R

CONFIGURING SYSTEM... 100%

INITIALIZING...

SETUP COMPLETE.

"I hear the EKG, I can taste something bitter, and I can smell antiseptic." Whitley finally laid back down, his entire body felt sore, even as his aura covered him and tried to soothe the small bit of pain he felt. "Your legs, try moving them." Klein instructed, grabbing the nearby clipboard and waiting for Whitley to do just that.

NEW USER FOUND

Whitley looked down to his toes, feeling returned to his legs, and with a smile he wriggled them. "Well done, now try moving your leg." Whitley obeyed and lifted his legs, a feeling of happiness start to well up from deep in his chest.

FIRST NAME: WHITLEY

LAST NAME: SCHNEE

SERIAL NUMBER: 337291586

BLOOD TYPE: O-

BIRTH DATE: 12.30.89

COMBAT UNIT [Null]

"It worked Klein! It worked!" Whitley all but laughed out loud as he swung his now working legs over the edge of his bed. He stumbled as he took his first step, but Klein was right there with him, smiling as he helped him back up.

RANK: SRS COMMANDER

"You leave tomorrow, yes?" Klein suddenly asked. Whitley who had been celebrating stopped, his back facing the man who was more of a father continued to stare at him, and he felt his gaze. "If I want to make it in time... Yeah, I leave to meet up with my SRS tomorrow."

INITIALIZING PILOT COMBAT SYSTEMS

TACTICAL - [Null]

ORDNANCE - [Null]

BOOST - [Null]

FIREARMS - [Null]

Klein sighed, "I wish you would take the time to recover from this... But I suppose that's just how you are, innovating and moving forward." The door closed firmly with a quiet click.

The air in the cold room was quiet, Whitley just staring at his hands as his new eyes changed rapidly through different presets before settling on his natural Light Blue. "I'm sorry, Ruby, but I'm going to be late. I don't think the SRS will be able to reach Vale before the Fall." He turned to his dresser, pulling out his outfit with a smile.

"A deep blue suit Ala John Wick style, state of the art flexible but thin Armour!" Whitley wasted no time to put on his custom-made outfit; A deep Navy Blue 3-peice suit, a white under-shirt with black sleeves that covered his wrists, shiny black dress shoes and to top it all off a nice light blue tie that match his arms. "Now, where did I put the...?" He muttered as he rummaged around his accessories' drawer, throwing ties and handkerchiefs and bow ties around be hind him searching.

"There you fuckers are!" He yelled as he pulled out a pair of black semi-palm gloves.

"Now, it's time to fly."