Free Mega 3: When Giants Collide (Mega Series) by Jake Bible Page B

Morganton said.
    “That sentence brings up so many more questions,” Gunnar said as he turned and leaned back against the counter, his arms folded across his chest. “First being, so have you tried it on a non-living person?”
    “Yes, of course,” Dr. Morganton replied. “Ballantine has been very forthcoming in procuring cadavers as I need them when we have been in port.”
    “Right,” Gunnar laughed, “of course he has.”
    “We have cadavers on board?” Mike asked. “Where?”
    “My lab,” Dr. Morganton said, “or the less than adequate space Ballantine has given me to use as my lab.”
    “I told you we can share,” Gunnar shrugged, “but Ballantine wants you working alone.”
    “Yes, I am painfully aware of that,” Dr. Morganton said then smiled at Mike. “Ready?”
    Before Mike could answer, she activated the taser and the synthetic skin on Mike’s leg began to contract. In seconds, the skin had fitted itself around the prosthetic and looked completely real. Except that, it was a different shade than Mike’s true skin color.
    “Yes, I can see the issue,” Dr. Morganton said before either Mike or Gunnar could point out the color discrepancy. “I’ll have to incorporate a skin tone matching element.”
    “Hey, that actually looks like skin,” Mike grinned. “Gun? Look at this!”
    “I see it, Mike,” Gunnar said. “You are almost a real boy.”
    “You are already a real asshole,” Mike said. Then he frowned. “Hey, Doc? Should my leg hurt?”
    “How do you mean hurt?” Dr. Morganton asked.
    “Like with pain,” Mike replied as he winced. “That kind of hurt. Ow. It burns. Ow! Hey! Shit!”
    The leg started to twitch and then kicked out uncontrollably. Mike’s foot hit Dr. Morganton in the hip, causing her to bend over, then nailed her in the forehead, sending her falling backwards onto the floor.
    “Shit,” Gunnar snapped as he rushed over.
    He grabbed a screwdriver from Dr. Morganton’s cart, and jammed it into Mike’s knee while also dodging the flailing leg. He ripped the skin free, inserted the screwdriver into a small slot on the inside of the knee, gave it a couple twists, and then slammed the end of it with his hand. Mike’s leg froze in mid-kick.
    “Thanks,” Mike said, sweat dotting his brow. “That fucking hurt like hell.”
    “You alright?” Gunnar asked as he knelt next to Dr. Morganton.
    “I’m fine,” she said. “The electrical charge must have shorted something in his prosthetic. I’ll need to work on the insulation levels in the skin so that doesn’t happen again.”
    “Good idea,” Gunnar said as he helped her to her feet.
    “Everything okay in here?” Kinsey asked as she walked into the lab. She gave Gunnar and Dr. Morganton a concerned look. “What happened?”
    “My rubber broke,” Mike said.
    “Never mind,” Kinsey said, “I don’t want to know.”
    “What’s up, Kins?” Gunnar asked as he assisted Dr. Morganton with stripping the rest of the synthetic skin off Mike’s leg.
    “Ballantine is calling a briefing,” Kinsey said. “I was sent to fetch you.” She nodded to Dr. Morganton and Mike. “All of you, actually, so it’s a good thing you’re all right here.”
    “We’ll be up in a minute,” Dr. Morganton said. “Just let me recalibrate Michael’s prosthetic.”
    “Don’t take too long,” Kinsey said. “We’ve already kept Ballantine waiting while we played with the elves’ new toy.”
    “They hate it when they’re called that,” Gunnar said.
    “Carlos hates it,” Kinsey replied, “and fuck him.”
    “Can’t argue with that,” Gunnar smiled. “We won’t be longer than five minutes.”
    “Cool,” Kinsey smiled. “I’ll let big bossman know.”
    As soon as she was gone, Dr. Morganton looked at Mike. “So much for the leg rubber,” she sighed. “You’ll just have to promise me you’ll make sure your compression suit is sealed before you get in the water, and then dry before you get out of it,