Chapter 10

            Clara was sure to get up promptly the next day. Today was going to be eventful to say the least. Professor Wyndstone would be arriving within a couple of hours. According to Dr. Gazz he had arrived at the Capital and was waiting on a train to take him to a station in the town next to Riverlark. Dr. Gazz also returned to Corvin to see his progress on his project where Lance informed him he was sleeping. Corvin had worked through the night to complete the pair of mechanical wings tasked to him and they were impressive to say the least. There was a complex system of thin cables and tiny pulleys connected to each moving part to simulate muscle and tendon. Each cable was meant to bond to Etho's own muscles. The ball-and-socket system was stainless steel and meant to connect directly to Etho's skeleton with use of a latex polymer designed to seal the bond between skin and metal. Even the mechanical tail was remarkable. It was designed to fasten to the last few vertebrae of his spine. It was segmented like a mechanical snake with cables threaded through each section so it would curl when Etho flexed particular muscles in his lower back. It would never match up to the function of a real tail, but it would nonetheless act as a rudder during flight.
            When Clara returned to the family room, she noticed something, or someone, was missing. Ulysses did not appear to be inside the house. Etho was sitting on the couch as he had before, looking at the book Jilly had left behind. When Clara enquired if he knew how to read he said he did, but he didn't like to because it hurt his eyes. He informed her that because Ulysses knew they were expecting a special guest, he wanted to “clean up”. He also stated the Kale had forgotten his combat knife in the house and Ulysses had taken it for an unknown reason. Sure enough, when Clara looked out her back window, she saw Ulysses sitting in the river. He had removed the bandages holding his splinted wing in place, but fortunately the medical tape on his other wing was waterproof.
            Clara knew that just water alone wouldn't do much to remove whatever grime had embedded itself in his skin over the months, so she asked her horse caretaker, Stray if she could borrow the scrub brush he used to groom the horses. As she approached the river, she discovered what Ulysses had borrowed Kale's knife for; he had cut his hair. Apparently when Southern Savannah Straith hair was short it stood nearly straight up. Unfortunately, a knife is a poor styling tool and it was a good thing Clara brought a pair of horse-hair shears on a hunch. He was surprisingly willing to allow her to put a sharp instrument right next to his face while she clipped and trimmed his thick hair into a somewhat stylish fauxhawk. Afterwards, Clara demonstrated the use of the scrub brush by scrubbing the scales on his back to a shine. She handed him the brush and left him to clean himself on his own while retrieving Kale's knife. As she returned to the house, she saw Stray leaving with a horse-drawn carriage. Dr. Gazz must have informed him Professor Wyndstone was nearing the train station and needed to be picked up. He must have also come to retrieve Etho as he was no longer in the family room.
            Clara went back outside about ten minutes later just as Ulysses was returning from the river. With the grime scrubbed clean from his skin, his sapphire scales practically glittered in the sunlight. She told him it was time to see Dr. Gazz and prepare for Professor Wyndstone's arrival. Gazz wasn't very happy when he saw Ulysses had removed his bandages and promptly replaced them before returning to the examination room where he was explaining the upcoming operation to Etho.
            Ulysses settled himself on the couch and several minutes later, he looked out the window to see Stray escorting a middle-aged gentleman with a beard, a tweed suit jacket and a black beret. He shook hands with Kale before he opened the door and led the visitor into the waitroom. Dr. Gazz quickly came out of the examination room and greeted Wyndstone. It didn't take long for him to see what he'd been most looking forward to.
            As Wyndstone approached Ulysses, his face lit up in awe. “My god,” he exclaimed. “You are magnificent!” Ulysses had the most dumbfounded look on his face. He wasn't familiar with the term, but Wyndstone's tone made it fairly clear he was impressed by Ulysses's appearance. Ulysses responded in the most appropriate way he could think of by mimicking what Kale had done a moment earlier and extended his empty hand towards him. Wyndstone looked as though he'd just been given a precious gift and enclosed Ulysses's hand between his own. “It's a pleasure to meet you, uh...” He quickly turned to Clara. “What did you call him?”
            “Ulysses,” she answered.
            “Ulysses. Lovely name.” Wyndstone smiled, still aflutter at having fulled his dream of personally interacting with a Straithconian.
            Dr. Gazz called for Wyndstone's attention. “If you'll come this way, I'll introduce you to our patient.” He led Wyndstone into the examination room. Etho was perched on the medical table wearing only a pair of medical shorts and studying one of the diagrams for the mechanical contraptions that lay on the medical cart beside him. He had since removed the gauze that covered the patch of new skin that had been grafted over the gunshot wound. It was healing quite nicely and eventually his scales would grow back as well.
            Upon seeing him Wyndstone was again in awe. “Well, you're quite lovely yourself,” he said, despite what may be missing.
            Etho had a similar look on his face as Ulysses had. “Uhh... Thank you?” Wyndstone jumped back in shock at this. Apparently, no one had told him Etho could speak. Wyndstone stepped up to get a closer look at him, trying to discern if he was actually a human in disguise short of physically laying his hands on him. After a moment, he concluded that the scales, the v-shaped collarbone and the the raptor feet just looked too real.
            “How is that even possible?” He asked incredulously. “How did you learn to speak?”
            Etho leaned in towards him. “I'd rather not talk about it.”
            It was at the moment, Wyndstone remembered. Former Wraith prisoner. “Oh dear,” he said quietly, envisioning what might have been done to him beyond amputations.
            “Etho, this is Professor Wyndstone. He's visited your homeworld several times in secret to study your species. This is his first time directly interacting with your kind. He's here to assist me while I attempt to integrate these prostheses onto your body.” Etho gave Wyndstone a scrutinizing look. His memories of people who had 'studied' his kind were not exactly pleasant. However, Etho had been given the benefit of the doubt and thus he felt he should return the favour. However he could tell from Wyndstone's body language that there were many questions he wanted to ask Etho. Dr. Gazz picked up another one of the diagrams of the mechanical wings and handed it to Wyndstone. “Our engineer, Corvin studied your diagrams nearly as closely as I did. Each of these cables is to be matched to the muscles that have been disconnected from the original wing. Because of the disconnection, most of those muscles have receded from his back and into his chest. For example,” Dr. Gazz pointed to the left side of Etho's chest. “The pectoral wing muscle, which should extend from his breastbone to the trapezius has likely receded to just under his collarbone.” Dr. Gazz pressed his fingers gently on Etho's skin as he tried to detect the hidden muscle as he addressed him. “I'd rather not have to make more incisions than necessary, so I'll be using a pincer on a wire to pull the muscle from under the skin. In addition to the general anaesthesia, I'll need to inject a muscle paralytic to prevent your muscles from spasming while we're trying to connect them to cables. We'll need to work quickly. I examined your blood and discovered your body will eventually adapt to the anaesthesia and if we're not fast enough, you could wake up during the surgery.”
            Etho winced at the thought. “That would be bad and probably painful,” he said flatly.
            “Indeed,” Gazz replied. “So, I recommend we begin without further delay.”
            Dr. Gazz pulled the transparent curtain around the examination table and gave Professor Wyndstone a set of medical scrubs to change into while Gazz prepared the anaesthesia. Normally he would insert a tube into his patient's windpipe, however he didn't want to risk damaging Etho's complex vocal system which was unique to the Straithconian race. Instead, he instructed him to place a rubber wedge between his teeth that would keep is mouth open while Gazz strapped an airtight mask to his face.
            When he attached a heart monitor electrode to his chest, it became very clear that Etho wasn't nearly as calm as he appeared to be; his heart was racing. He looked embarrassed, but Dr. Gazz wasn't surprised. Etho was literally placing his own life in Gazz's hands, despite being terrified of anyone in the medical field. Dr. Gazz stated emphatically that he would “do his very best” to take care of him and that he felt honoured that Etho would even give him a chance. Etho then laid down on his stomach with a cushion supporting his head. Wyndstone returned now wearing the medical clothes and Gazz proceeded to spray him down with an antibacterial cleanser. He then placed several isolation sheets over Etho's body, leaving only his back exposed. As he activated the anaesthesia he gave Etho a reassuring look as he breathed deeply, both to calm himself and to allow the anaesthesia to fill his lungs. Slowly, he closed his eyes, his pulse slowed to a normal pace and his body relaxed; and the timer began.
            Dr. Gazz injected the muscle paralytic into Etho's shoulder before quickly spraying himself and Etho's back with the cleanser. He then picked up a laser scalpel and, under Wyndstone's watchful eye, he carefully made an incision through the snakeskin-like scales down Etho's spine, stopping just below the bottom of his ribcage. He made a few more around his shoulderblades before setting the scalpel back on the cart and then very gently, Dr. Gazz peeled back the skin. Professor Wyndstone stared in fascination as he had never before seen the exposed muscle structure of a living Straith.
            Before Dr. Gazz did anything to the muscles, he picked up a long pair of pointed tweezers. He then counted a few ribs and inserted the tweezers about an inch into Etho's chest cavity. Wyndstone was confused until Gazz withdrew them, now holding a shotgun pellet. “Long story,” he muttered before he repeated the process just under his shoulderblade.
            From here on in, Wyndstone directed Dr. Gazz's hand when using the extended pincers to grab the receded muscles and pin them with clamps until they were ready to connect them to the prosthesis’s cables. Once all the muscles had been prepared, Dr. Gazz attached the steel sockets that would hold the ball joint on the wing onto the existing bone sockets as a reinforcement. Then he picked up the tightly folded prostheses and inserted the ball joint into the socket. After that, Wyndstone helped him match each muscle to the corresponding cable that would operate a specific moving part. Each cable had a clamp on the end that gripped the muscle as a simulated tendon and Dr. Gazz used a special epoxy that coated the clamp and muscle and over a few minutes a chemical reaction would cause the muscle and metal to fuse resulting in a permanent bond. It took about an hour to get both wings connected, after which Dr. Gazz attached some metal sheathes that contained a special silicone that would seal the skin over the cables blocking outside contaminants.
            Once all the cables were connected to each pinned muscle, they double-checked their work before Dr. Gazz used the epoxy to fuse Etho's skin to the metal base of each wing. He then used a series of metal clips to attach the leather membrane to Etho's back. He could see the scar from where his original wings were severed and used it as a guide for the clips. Finally, the incisions were stitched back together and any remaining gaps in the skin were sealed.
            Dr. Gazz and Wyndstone stepped back for a moment to look over results of their work. Clara came in from the wait room to look through the transparent curtain at the newly attached mechanical wings. She gave some words of encouragement before returning to the waitroom to inform Ulysses and Kale that Etho was doing well.
            Attaching the tail was a slightly simpler task. A Straith's tail is mainly used for balance and steering during flight, so there were fewer muscles to connect. Dr. Gazz made a small incision at the base of Etho's spine and isolated three sets of muscles to be connected to the three cables on the mechanical tail. The first segment of the tail was to be bolted to the last couple of vertebrae the remained after the original tail was severed. Even Etho's Straithconian healing abilities couldn't cover the amount of scarring left behind.
            Dr. Gazz attached the sets of muscles to the cables as he did with the wings. A Straith's tail is nearly solid muscle and was a good indicator of the creature's mood. Etho's use of it would be limited since the best Corvin could do without electrical servos was a long cable down each side and the top of the tail. When Etho flexed a set of muscles in his lower back, the tail would bend in that direction. Dr. Gazz knew Corvin was always looking for ways to improve his work, so Etho would likely get a new model in the future... if he chose to stay. Once the cables were secured and covered by metal sheathes, Dr. Gazz sealed the skin around the metal base.
            At last, the bond between Corvin's mechanical creations and Etho's muscle-skeletal systems was complete. Etho would have be diligent in learning to use his new limbs just as a human would need to learn to walk again after losing his legs. His chest would also feel a bit tighter when he woke up, now that the previously disconnected muscles were stretched around his ribs.
            They had about an hour before Etho's body started to metabolize the anaesthesia and Dr. Gazz had one last operation to perform. With Wyndstone's help, Dr. Gazz secured the new wings to Etho's back by wrapping his torso in gauze. They then carefully turned Etho over onto his back after placing several cushions under him to reduce the pressure on the wing joints. Dr. Gazz then picked up a small wooden box that had been sitting on the medical cart. He opened it to reveal something he had asked Lance for while he was removing Ulysses's shackles; it was a set of four stainless steel fangs. Etho's teeth had been filed down to the point they didn't look like a Straith's anymore. Once Dr. Gazz changed his gloves, he removed the mask on Etho's face. He only had about a half-hour before the gas started to wear off, so he moved quickly. He injected a concentrated anaesthetic into the gums around each of his canines. He used pliers to loosen the filed teeth before pulling them out. He used a small cauterizing tool before he applied another tool designed to install a tiny metal post into the upper jaw to which the metal tooth would be attached with an epoxy. He repeated the process three more times, after which Etho's steel teeth resembled those of a big cat. Finally, Etho's surgery was complete. Dr. Gazz and Wyndstone turned him over onto his front again where he would remain until he work up. They then left Etho to recover while they retreated to the waitroom with Clara, Kale and Ulysses.
            About 20 minutes later there was a crash from the operating room. Upon entering, Dr. Gazz found Etho clinging to the sides of the table after knocking over a medical cart. He was still a bit disoriented from the anaesthesia and slightly off-balance with the new prostheses, but he recovered himself surprisingly quick. Dr. Gazz insisted he stay still, but Etho ignored him and slid himself off the table. He managed to stay standing, but he was still hunched over the table, supporting himself with his elbows. Dr. Gazz noticed his claws were digging into the padded table and he was shaking while he appeared to be struggling to breathe. Gazz didn't think the muscles would have been stretched that tightly, but suddenly he realized what was wrong.
            The tightening around his chest and the pain in his wing joints was reminding Etho of what it felt like shortly after he had been imprisoned and he was starting to panic. Dr. Gazz tried calling his name, but he didn't seem to hear. The only thing Gazz could think of to do was something he had done for Ulysses and that was to place his hand on the back of Etho's neck and rub it. At first Etho stiffened and Gazz instantly worried he would attack him, but instead Etho took a deep breath and bent down to rest his forehead on the table. He stopped shaking and seemed to come to his senses.
            Etho looked up after a minute. The skin around his eyes was reddened, but he seemed to be okay. He gently rubbed his left pectoral muscle which was now stretched along his collarbone. “It worked then?” He said hoarsely.
            Dr. Gazz nodded. “Surprisingly well,” he said. “Wyndstone is a very good instructor.”
            Etho's brow furrowed in confusion as he ran his tongue over his teeth and discovered the new steel fangs. “You gave me new teeth?” Etho said in surprise. He quickly walked over to the mirror on the wall near the sink to look at the silver-coloured fangs. He turned around to look at his own back in the mirror. He couldn't really see much under the bandages, but he seemed impressed by Dr. Gazz's handywork. He almost did a pirouette whilst trying to get a good look at the mechanical tail now attached to his hindquarters. Gazz had to cut and pin the medical shorts so they would fit properly. Etho looked at the floor momentarily. “Why?” he said softly. “Why would you do this for me? You went out of your way to put me back together, when I've done nothing to deserve it.”
            Dr. Gazz smiled. “I'm a doctor,” he said plainly. “I do what a doctor is meant to do. What was done to you was not done by a doctor, but a madman who happened to have experience in medical field.”
            Etho sighed as if his chest hurt. “Sorry about the door,” he whispered. Dr. Gazz laughed a bit, but suddenly they heard loud bark-like sounds coming from the waitroom. When they came out, they saw Ulysses near the window growling nervously. He wasn't actually looking at anything, but he had his head tilted and appeared to be listening. Etho stepped towards where Ulysses was standing, but suddenly froze and tilted his head in a similar fashion.
            “What's going on?” Clara asked slightly panicked.
            “It's an airship. A big one.” Etho's eyes became wide with fear. “He's here.”