The Chronicles of Heaven's War: Burning Phoenix by Ava D. Dohn

working on your girl for
weeks now, making her body just so, making it as perfect as we
possibly can. She is a marvel of engineering, one of our best
creations.” He grinned. “Notice I said one of our best.”
    He looked at Hanna, searching her form with his
eyes. “I was so proud when your flesh was delivered back to life.
You were already so beautiful by nature that it was an easy thing
to adjust the mathematics of the machines to finish you up just so.
And when you first awoke in that tiny room we had prepared for you,
and as I watched your eyes flutter awake… I seeing you through
secret windows in a hidden room… I fell in love with you at that
moment. It was such an easy thing to do.”
    Hanna blushed, unable to make reply.
    “So!” Drorli looked back at Symeon, “We have been
diligent at reinventing the flesh of your girl, but the returning
of her spirit and all that goes with the process has been
time-consuming. Her mind must learn to accept its new home, for the
flesh it remembers was not only imperfect, but was also made from
the elements borne of your universe. Though the elements here
appear to you to be the same, their nature is different, they
designed that way… or so the Ancients have said… permitting many
universes to exist together without interfering with the laws of
the others. Now that’s a different theorem study of scientific
thought…one that I will not attempt today.”
    “My friend!” Drorli patted Symeon on the shoulder,
“We put your little girl back together just so, making her one of
the most beautiful creatures we have delivered to this place.” He
paused, looking at Hanna.
    Hanna blushed again.
    “That!” He grinned, “The flesh was our creation! Now we have become the faithful workers for the
Caretakers of these worlds, carefully gathering the hidden elements
of their universes so that life can reawake again in the child’s
mind, and she can be returned safely to you. It is an arduous,
painstaking process, and one we dare not rush. It must be timed
perfectly or your girl might either linger in a coma, awaiting the
mind’s waking to its senses, or she may be traumatized and suffer
torrid dreams and unpleasant headaches for a long time. We must do
things just right.”
    The hiss! and clack! of a sealed door
opening suddenly fell upon the trio’s ears. A suited woman with
long, golden tresses done up tight about her head, carrying a clear
crystal helmet, passed through the doorway, quickly closing the
door behind her. She hurried over to Drorli, offering salutations
to the others as she neared.
    With a smile, the woman recommended, “I believe it’s
time for you three to suit up. We finished the thro-bissea-dashon process and are beginning the
blood flow. I believe the heart will begin pumping momentarily. If
you’ll all follow me, I’ll assist you with the preparations that
will permit you entry into the clean room.”
    In a short while the four had managed to suit up and
had exited the cleansing chambers. Now they stood before the
sealed, domed crystal sarcophagus that contained the body of
Symeon’s child. Murky fluid that had been used during the process
where inert elements in the genetic strands of DNA were replaced
with the actual Web particles of the girl’s mind was slowly
draining away, exposing the naked flesh of the girl reborn.
    Symeon fussed a little when the girl’s natural
beauty was revealed, but quickly forgot that when he witnessed her
lungs take their first gasp of air and heard, through special
listening devices inside the sarcophagus, the quiet thump,
thump, thump of the child’s beating heart.
    “She’s alive!” Symeon shouted through the speaking
tube inside his helmet, jumping up and down in excitement. “She’s alive! My little girl lives!”
    Hanna took Symeon’s hand, smiling, while Drorli
grinned, replying, “Well, she almost lives. Right now you
are watching the mechanics of her body coming to life, actually
much in the same way