A Day in the Life

Coming off guard duty, Mus spoke for a few moments with Disco, who had the next watch.

"Good morning brother. Enjoy your night?" He asked, smiling as he handed his brother the status report from the night before.

"Of course," Disco replied with a grin Mus knew well, "Oh, the girls left an hour ago for the lioness’s casino. Angel said they were going to spend the day shopping and playing there, just taking the day off."

"Ahh, so that was why I saw her car leave this morning. Not a problem, I am sure they have their cellphones with them if they are needed. Oh, that reminds me, I was planning to work on that new equipment in the med lab. I need to modify the portable scanner to a new power source, and try to see if I can come up with some sort of EMP device. I want it to release short controlled bursts, enough to short out the circuits and chips in a Kai Borg."

"Good idea, I left the schematics of that new weapon in there too, see if you can add to it will you?"

"Sure thing. I will see you later then." Mus left the security room, heading first for his room to refill his protoblood before getting to work in the lab.

Once he was refilled, he popped into the library to see if the trio were with their tutors like they were supposed to be this morning.

"MUS!" Blue looked up from his easel, a broad grin spreading on his paint smeared face. "Guess what!"

"What Blue?" He couldn’t help smiling, the boys’ enthusiasm was contagious. Jewel was sitting in a chair, eyes closed, with headphones on. Mus could faintly hear classical music, Mozart from what he could make out, overlaid with the tutor’s voice talking about the piece.

He looked thoughtfully at Eagle, who was reading a book, while Blue set down his palette and brush. He wanted to do a scan on Eagle with the new scanner. Even if they couldn’t fix what was wrong in his brain, he wanted to ensure that it would not rob him of anymore of his mind or skills.

"Mus, my tutor say we gonna go to a ‘zeum and see lots and lots’a paintins. And Wady Wania says I’s gonna go to the new feeter and help make the sets!" He fairly bounced in place from his excitement at both prospects.

"That is very nice Blue. I am sure you will enjoy the museum," He gently corrected Blue as he spoke. "I am also certain the sets will be beautiful when you are done."

Blue’s head bobbed a yes in pride and joy at the compliment.

"For now though Blue, go finish your painting and maybe later we can go out back and play a game of baseball." Mus knew how much he had enjoyed that game since seeing it on the TV a while back.

With the bribe, Blue eagerly went back to work, even though for him painting wasn’t truly work.

Mus looked up from the piece of machinery in his hand as the phone sitting next to him rang. He answered it, recognizing instantly the voice of the woman he loved.

"Hello beautiful." He smiled, "What’s up? You girls having fun?"

"Mus, there’s a clone here that Mr. Smith rescued and brought to Ketana’s casino. He’s missing an eye. Do you think you and Disco could replace it?"

"Well Ari, Disco is on guard duty, he’s got the day shift today. Depending on how bad the nerve is, I think I might be able to, if not, then I can at least give him a glass eye to restore his appearance. I will be there as soon as I get off here." With that, he frowned lightly, and hung up the phone. He paged Disco, letting him know he was leaving for a bit.

He arrived at the casino/hotel within a few minutes, taking a route he knew the police did not monitor regularly, and sped there as fast as he could. EmeraldKai met him at the door and led him down to where the ladies and the injured clone waited. After a brief examination, he determined that it would be possible to replace the eye, and took everyone but the lioness back to the mansion. Arania offered to help him with the surgery, but he opted to have Sparrow help him this time, feeling his brother could use the experience.

Together they got him to the table and sedated, strapping him in securely so he could not overreact should the sedation wear off sooner than expected. Sparrow quickly gathered the tools as he was instructed, and they prepared to start the surgery.

Mus frowned slightly as he focused on the task at hand. The faint smell of rubber reached his sensitive nose as he snapped the sterile rubber gloves against his wrist when he put them on. He took the scalpel from the tool tray first, carefully slicing back the layers of flesh, frozen in place carefully, until he could see the bone underneath.

Examining the area carefully he spoke, knowing his voice was being recorded for later study by Ben or anyone else who was interested.

"I have made vertical and horizontal incisions in the 12, 6, 3, and 9 o’clock positions, revealing the cheekbone, nasal cartilage and upper eye socket. I was correct in my assessment of a fracture on the cheekbone. It is a clean break just to the left of center that has not been properly set and healed. The Lady Angel healed the surface damage to the musculature and the rest will heal fully once the eye is in place. I will first apply a small amount of protoblood to the torn and frayed optic nerve so it will be receptive to the new connection."

With that, Sparrow handed him an eyedropper wit the familiar yellow liquid. One drop at a time he added it, stopping when he saw the frays mend, the end of the nerve ready for the placement of the new eye.

"I will speak as I finish the procedure. I am carefully joining the eye stem with the optic nerve before placing the eye into the socket. The ends have joined perfectly and I have ensured the mend is total. I am carefully setting the cheekbone, and as expected it is also repairing itself, no sign of the fracture can be seen now. Finally the flesh and muscles are placed back into position. The shape of the soft tissue has returned to normal with this, and I believe that even if the eye does not function, it should be left in place for cosmetic reasons. I will finish this by giving him his brace as I promised."

He performed that simple and familiar procedure within only a couple minutes. Before placing the brace itself onto the cable, he grabbed the handheld scanner and with Sparrow’s aid turned the Kai onto his stomach. Placing his head into a specially designed restraint, he was strapped back into place. Drawing the scanner over the back of his head, the room was deathly silent. The quiet was broken by a loud blip sound coming from the base of his skull.

"This is not good." Mus said with a deep frown.

Sparrow ran from the room to prepare the other scanner, to scan more deeply. MusiKai in the meanwhile injected StarburstKai with another hypo of the sedative, ensuring another length of time to work with.

Placed carefully under the larger, more thorough scanner, MusiKai could see the blip was not a chip, or anything similar, it was the wrong size or shape. Still, it was quite obviously something that did not belong where it was. He thought for a moment, then radioed Disco to inform him of what was going on.

"I believe it is shrapnel from the attack by the Kaiborg that caused him to lose the eye in the first place. In the lack of proper protoblood, and not being treated, it got shoved further into his head. Thankfully it is not to deep in there, but it will still require time to remove it."

"I see, use the diagram I put up on the wall down there, it tells what part of the brain can be cut through inside us and leave us unaffected, and heal quickly. If you need me, I am monitoring the surgery from here." Disco replied, then signed off, going back to his job.

Mus sighed, and prepped the equipment he would need. After an hour the surgery was complete, and he held the offending object in the palm of his hand. StarburstKai lay on the table, once more on his back, fully healed, but not awake yet. Mus held the claw of his new brace in his other hand. He was wrong, and being wrong this time made him angry.

The thing inside his brother’s skull was not shrapnel from a fight the shape and size was too perfect. It had been placed there deliberately, either to provide pain from the other wounds he had received, or as an experiment to find another way to torture their kind.

A stirring on the table roused him from his thoughts and he stood back a little, giving Starburst time to become fully aware of where he was. A scream burst from him and he tried to fight against the bonds that held him down. Slowly he regained his senses, his eyelid still closed out of habit. Mus stepped forward and unstrapped him, giving him a chance to dress before showing him what had changed.

Starburst, once he saw where he was, regained his wary persona, trying to make himself as small as he could on the bed as he pulled on the jumpsuit.

"It’s all right brother," MusiKai’s voice was calm and soothing as he spoke. "The surgery was successful. Try to open your eye."

He nodded slowly, doing as he was told, and tried to open the lid. It was difficult at first, his mind still trying to tell him that it wasn’t there. Once it was opened, a slow smile spread over his face as he looked around, once more seeing things as they should be, taking in everything around him as a man who crossed a desert takes in water.

Mus spent the next length of time testing the eye, making sure it had full range, depth perception, and range of motion that it was supposed to have. Taking down a few notes, Mus was satisfied with the results.

"It works perfectly. You need to work on strengthening the muscles controlling the eyelid, and overriding your mind, but with time you will manage that just fine I am sure." Mus held up the piece of metal that every Kai cherished and respected. "Now, let’s hook this up and take you outside to practice a little.

After showing his brother how to use the brace and giving him time to himself on the practice range, Mus returned to study the small ball of metal he had pulled from his brother’s skull. A perfect sphere, it was made of starmetal, a pure piece at that. Whoever had done this had great resources at hand as untainted starmetal was quite valuable. He placed it carefully into an envelope and checked the time.

It was dinnertime, and he left to help his beloved to dress, and prepare himself for dinner. True he didn’t have to eat, but he enjoyed the time conversing, and there were some excellent dishes prepared by his brother for the family. Besides, there was no way he was going to miss out on any of those delicious deserts.

He watched the introduction of his newest brother silently, feeding his lady some bites of a chocolate mousse prepared that night as hey all went around introducing themselves for his benefits. His head turned at the tap on his shoulder.

"Mus, I have the watch tonight." Sparrow informed him. "I will be out till dawn. I hope to have breakfast with Ari when she awakens, I hope it’s okay with you?"

Mus nodded slowly and a grin spread inside himself as he plotted the night ahead