Chapter 24 #2
"She did, did she?" Melgara's eyes narrowed playfully. "Pant leg up." She gestured, and I rolled up the edge neatly until she was satisfied.
Melgara hummed, running a scanner over my leg. Then she tapped a few buttons and did it again.
"Everything okay, doc? No one likes it when the doctor's quiet during an examination." I squinted at her, and she chuckled.
"Not exactly known for my bedside manner.
" We'd discussed before that most of her patients weren't usually conscious.
However, that was just par for the course when you worked at secret laboratories.
"But you're all fine. Just scrapes and bruises.
Exactly what I'd expect from you getting into a fight. "
"Really, Lily and Violet did most of the fighting," I admitted.
Melgara sniffed and glanced down at the screen in her hand. Even if she wore a cloth over her eyes, she could still see. "I expect nothing less.”
“Did you hear I got a new rifle?" I asked cheerfully.
"I hear it has an absolute wealth of aiming features built into it." Melgara smirked.
"You're not supposed to point those out." I playfully pouted at the doctor.
"Oh, sorry." She chuckled. "Did that wound your achievements?"
I could only shrug. "No, but I'd like to at least pretend I was a better part of the combat. Really, it's downright terrifying how dangerous Lily and Violet are individually. Together, they are a formidable force."
Melgara hummed and pulled out a tablet. "Does that make you feel lesser?" she asked.
"No," I said, more as a question, because it hadn't even occurred to me. "I just feel like I didn't contribute my fair share. You know, I am the captain, and I should do more," I said with a huff.
"Well, now that you mention a concern like this, I do need to bring up a conversation that Lily and I have had." She sounded like she’d been looking for an excuse to change to the new topic.
I narrowed my eyes, watching her. More than a few possible variants of that conversation bounced through my mind, and then I decided it was best not to let my imagination get ahead of me and create problems that didn't exist. "Please don't leave me in suspense," I said, doing my best to smile despite the little part of my mind that suddenly wanted to pipe up and say they were more qualified to lead the ship.
Until recently, I didn't even know what year we were in.
"Well, with Lily being a helivore, and her ability to modify genetics, she was at least marginally interested in making you a little more hearty," Melgara hedged carefully into the conversation.
I blinked. "Oh… oh!" I said, with more understanding. "That kind of conversation."
Now it was Melgara's turn to look curious.
"Don't mind me." I waved a hand. "But now that you've brought that up… what exactly defines 'more durable'?" I air-quoted.
"In this instance, I think our primary concern was healing factors. Perhaps some slight modification to your skin," Melgara said.
I nodded along. "Makes sense. Though I wasn't even aware it was a possibility." There must have been enough question in my gaze, because Melgara avoided eye contact.
"Well, it's not as if this would be a standard procedure," she hedged, which only made me more curious.
"So you would be experimenting on me," I clarified.
"That word seems a little crass, but... not…” She stumbled through her words.
“Inaccurate?" I pushed.
"No. Not inaccurate," she relented.
I had to give it a little more thought. I leaned back and rubbed my chin. "So, for clarification, you want to experiment on me to make me tougher. More able to take a few hits."
Melgara's head bobbed. "Our primary concern is your survivability. Not that you're fragile. But it would certainly alleviate some of our concerns."
I wanted to chuckle at how careful she was being with her words. It wasn't as if I was going to get terribly upset about any of this, but she hedged, nonetheless. "I would think something like this would be wonderful for everyone," I said. "Why not the rest of you?"
Melgara shook her head. "Lily and Violet certainly don't need it. As for myself—" she hesitated. "Well, let's say I'm not a good experimental subject. There are too many things already going on with me."
I couldn't help but narrow my eyes at her after a comment like that, but she seemed rather immune to my scrutiny.
"All right," I said, giving up a moment later, realizing I wasn't going to get anything useful from the woman. "I'm not against this proposal. But it also sounds like there might be other steps beyond what you're discussing."
"We'd most likely need Violet's support," Melgara explained.
I nodded slowly, a few pieces falling into place. If they were trying to make me tougher, of course, the kikai who was showing supernatural aptitudes would be a perfect model for Lily and Melgara to build from.
Though I wasn't entirely certain how I felt about that. After all, Violet was a kikai, and I was a human. While there were some similarities, the scientist in me had significant doubts.
"Don't worry, leave it to us. However, if you could have a word with Violet, I'm almost certain the conversation would go better." Melgara smiled. "In fact. Here's Violet now. I was going to do an exam on her right after you."
"What a coincidence," I said and rolled my eyes. Melgara gave me nothing, that placid smile fixed to her face.
"What was that about me?" Violet asked as she stepped into the room, her ears twitching.
"Oh, nothing. Just a conversation the captain and I were having." Melgara turned to her. "Given what Lily is, we were wondering if there was any chance you'd be willing to participate in making the captain more durable."