Warpath Read Free

the pup’s head and neck. There was no doubt that he was using
his own hand to pet the youngster, but it didn’t feel like his own,
it didn’t look like it either. The fingers were thicker, they
looked stronger, and that arm was bulkier, more muscular than the one
he’d had before.
    Zoe cooed and closed
her eyes, fidgeting for a moment before flattening out once again.
“Wonder who left you here to watch over me?” he asked in a
croaking whisper. It was almost his voice, but the difference was
unmistakeable. He looked around while stroking the young nafalli’s
back. He wasn’t in Haven Shore, that was for certain. The light he
initially mistook for morning rays were reflecting across the
atmosphere of Tamber. None of the construction or finishing looked
like the Triton, but the sounds of a mid-sized ship were absent, so
he was most likely aboard a station.
    The door opened
soundlessly, letting in light his eyes weren’t ready for. Doctor
Messana with Alice close behind. Zoe and Jake both groaned at the
sudden light, to the amusement of Alice, who sat down on the edge of
the bed and took Jake’s free hand. She was beaming, grinning from
ear to ear.
    Doctor Messana smiled
as well, taking a seat in a bedside chair. “How do you feel, Jake?”
    He was about to answer,
but was interrupted by Zoe, who stood, stretched, then said; “Better
now.” She kissed him on the nose and ran from the room. He smiled
at the toddler before responding. “Good, different, but good.”
    “There are going to
be differences,” Doctor Messana said, nodding. “Some big
differences, just like we discussed before you agreed to go into the
development tank, but physical therapy will be easier, and your
physical strength will be closer to what you’re used to. Not nearly
as impressive as it was when you had the framework system, but your
muscle mass is sixty percent higher than the average healthy human.”
    “I don’t remember
that discussion,” Jake said, still not alarmed. “Can you refresh
my memory?”
    “It was the first day
of physical therapy, and you noticed there were still a few scars
left, and you were having a lot of difficulty with the basics. I
offered to put you in a maturation tank for a few weeks so we could
program your muscle memory, heal some deep scars that would take
months to disappear otherwise, and build your muscle mass. The six
weeks you were in there saved you nine months, most likely much more
time.”
    “Okay, that seems
familiar, but six weeks? I wouldn’t agree to that long,” Jake
said. His whole body felt different, but he wasn’t uncomfortable.
What surprised him was how unburdened his mind felt. His head was
clearer and less troubled than he could ever recall it being before.
“Oh, and am I on something?”
    “No, nothing at all,”
Doctor Messana said. “I’m afraid you’re right, you didn’t
agree to six weeks, Jake, you agreed to two. After the two weeks
passed, I didn’t see the kind of progress you would expect, so I
gave it more time. Now I know you’ll be pleased with the level of
development your body has accomplished.”
    “I didn’t get a
say, dad,” Alice said quietly.
    “Next time,” Jake
said, “You listen to her, but I’ll let you off the hook this
time. Seriously though, I feel like a weight has been lifted off my
mind, it’s hard to describe.”
    “The framework has
been interacting with your brain throughout your entire life,”
Doctor Messana said, “It was one of the discoveries I made while
researching your unique circumstances, so I knew there was a chance
you’d feel different mentally as well. Part of that extended time
in the maturation chamber was spent making sure that you could
identify with your new body. It was essential that your mind did not
reject your body, as it happens to clone transfers often enough.”
    Jake couldn’t help
but notice Alice, who watched his every reaction to what Doctor
Messana was saying. “All right, did it work?”