Superhero by Victor Methos Page B

In fact, you may find them superior to your own legs in many ways.”
    “I…” He felt the world spin, and then saw the cement from the floor barreling toward him as he fainted and fell off the chair.
     

 
    CHAPTER 19
     
     
    Jack felt softness on his back. A strong, pleasant fragrance mingled with the air. He lay quietly a long time and inhaled before opening his eyes.
    A doctor in a white coat sat at a computer, filling in some documents on a program.
    “I had a weird dream,” Jack said. “That I’d left the hospital and was at a military installation.”
    The doctor turned around and was the woman he had seen before. “I’m afraid you’re still in that installation, Jack.”
    Jack shook his head. “My legs?”
    She nodded.
    “What do you people want from me? Where is my sister?”
    “No one knows you’re here. For the time being, we have to keep it that way. You know, you don’t have to lie down. Your muscles atrophied. You should get up and use them.”
    He sat up in bed and noticed for the first time the muscles that bulged on his legs and arms. Even his chest and forearms were massive; much larger than he remembered. He looked to the woman.
    “What the hell did you do to me?”
    “I’ll show you.”
     
     
    They walked out into a corridor, which appeared like it could belong to any hospital in the country. But the elevator was something you’d see in a large factory, one meant for hauling massive weight. They stepped on and the elevator dropped like a brick. Jack felt his stomach flutter and had to grab a handrail.
    “You’ll have nausea for quite some time I’m afraid,” the doctor said.
    The elevator stopped and they stepped off, back into the laboratory he had been in before. Jack forgot about his legs until he felt the cold cement and it didn’t feel like it should have. He looked down to the metal jutting out of his thighs. They were silent as he moved and smooth. None of the squeaking or jerking one would expect from mechanical legs.
    The pain of loss was powerful and he sat down on a chair near the large monitors. One hand was up to his forehead, shielding his eyes from the overhead lights though they weren’t that bright.
    “Mr. Kane?” the doctor said softly. “Jack?” She pulled up a chair and sat next to him. “I’m sorry, Jack. I wish…I wish there was more I could do. But what I said before was true. Once you grow accustomed to them, you won’t miss your legs at all.”
    “How the hell would you know?”
    The doctor was silent a moment and then pulled up her sleeve. She grabbed a small slit on her bicep and pulled, the skin coming down to her forearm and revealing a mass of steel and circuitry. “And I was still able to perform minute surgery on you. I promise you that you will not miss them.” She stood up and held out her hand. “Come on.”
    Jack took a deep breath and grabbed her hand. He lifted himself and followed her. The effort he put into standing was only psychological. In reality, he had bounced up with a momentum that he had to control. It was like he was in a new body.
    “I feel different,” he said.
    “You have been enhanced, Jack. May I show you something?”
    He nodded.
    She swung her fist at him with a speed he had never seen. He thought she’d struck him but then noticed that his arm had come up and caught her hand. She swung again and kicked and tried to headbutt with the ferocity of a pit-fighter. Jack was able to parry every blow.
    “You see?” she said. “When were you ever able to do something like that?” She adjusted her glasses. “Let’s start from the beginning, though.”
    They walked to the end of the laboratory and through a steel door that closed behind them. This new room looked like the control room of a submarine. In the center, behind thick glass, was a glowing green tube, no bigger than a hot dog.
    “What is that?” he said.
    “Ultimately, we don’t really know. It has properties similar to a protein but is much more