Log // Alison, Hawksmoor ~ What comes next...

[x-dazzler.livejournal.com]

Earlier in the week. Just because the bulk of the operations are done doesn't mean things end there. Dr. Hawksmoor speaks with Alison now that they're not so rushed while trying to keep Haroun from dying on the spot anymore, to remind her of the changes that are still coming, some certain and some not.

Doctor Hawskmoor took a deep breath and nudged the pile of neatly-stacked manila file folders on the teacher's desk of the classroom he had borrowed for this meeting. He didn't want to be the one to have to tell her, did not want to be the one to show how one company could completely alter a man to be a living weapon, but he was the only one who truly understood the ramifications, so it fell to him. "Come in, Alison." he said as he heard the click of her heels on the floor by the door. "We have a lot to go over, and I would like to begin as soon as possible."

Closing the door after entering the room, Alison straightened her shoulders, nodding at his words. The lingering signs of weeks of fatigue and worry were obvious to see, despite the token attempts at hiding them. If the shadows under her eyes were barely visible, the look of tiredness in them was hard to conceal - and the tension surrounding her was near palpable, as was the sense of purpose. "You said you wanted to brief me as to some of the differences between the first 'ware and the one that's been implemented?"

"In a manner of speaking." he said briskly, killing most of the lights and starting the projector. "There are some things you have to understand before I get into the details of the new system." he said. "How much do you know about the time he spent in Morocco after he graduated from the Massachusetts Academy?" he asked. "It doesn't matter. Here, look at this." he said, pulling up his first chart. "This is normal human tolerances - adrenaline, neurotransmitters, metabolic performance." Click to a new slide, then he swallowed and continued to speak. "And this is Haroun from the same timeframe." The numbers told an interesting story - neurotransmitter levels were normal, or slightly low, but testosterone and adrenaline production jumped by an order of magnitude. "There's no easy way to say this, so I will just be blunt. He was designed as a combat machine. They wanted the subjects to be strong, fast, and to obey orders. They got two of the three."

"Aggressive. They wanted him to be aggressive," Alison murmured, remembering similar charts from when Haroun's hormone implant had malfunctioned. The realization which she had come to at one point followed, finally put into words. "That's why his implant malfunctioned the way it did, back then. Because it was already primed to deliver more testosterone into his system under certain conditions, than it would have had it been geared towards a normal production…" Frost Enterprises had contribute to the design of the software. Alison wondered, not for the first time, exactly how much Emma had known about this. Shaw's involvement she had no doubt about - not one bit. "They just used him as a guinea pig for the first generation of hardware and software, didn't they." It wasn't a question.

"That hardware was an alpha version. Proof-of-concept. It should have NEVER been implanted into anyone, least of all a trauma victim!" he said harshly, squeezing his hands into fists. "It was foolishly reckless. The number of things that could have gone wrong is ... boggling." he said. "And I also have to ask - I know that the adrenal and testes implant was redesigned. Have you noticed anything other changes in behavior since then? Because the core programming, the design function of the entire system, was left very much intact. Denied one form of expression, it will simply adjust and find another. Forgive me for saying this, Ms Blaire, but I believe that judging by the interviews and medical data that I have reviewed that a great deal of your ... relationship ... with Haroun may have been cybernetic in origin. Tell me, was he a passionate man? Intense, in the ways men and women are together?" he said, blushing with embarrassment. "That might be that imperative expressing itself. Or it might not. But you have to know that he might not be the same man you knew. He will think different, act different, walk different, all of it. We are almost literally remaking him."

"If you'll provide a list of all the items you specifically need to know about," was the reply, nary a blush in sight, "I'll fill it out with as much as I can recall over whatever time scale you need." Taking a few steps, Alison sat down, taking in a slow, deep breath. "And yes, he is." The present tense was insisted upon, slightly so. "I always thought the need was driven more by something psychological, though, to be honest. At least at first." Her lips quirked a bit, self-deprecatingly so. "I would have been more than willing to forego that, honestly - some stupid sense of balance I had at the time. It never came up due to… certain circumstances, though." Shaking her head a bit, she dismissed that as the past. "What are the possible changes?" Her voice was a near whisper as she asked the question, unfathomable fears roughly shoved to the back of her mind in favor of simple answers.

"It's almost impossible to say. I'm a cyberneticist, not a psychologist or a biochemist. But I can say this - the new design will provide strictly human levels of all the primary hormones - including testosterone and adrenaline. His power does not interfere in such things, as far as what data we have suggests. Expect him to be more passive, more gentle. Probably a better handle on his temper, and possibly some timidity. I'm just guessing here - it's really not my field. But, if you'd like, I have copies of the full workup done by Doctors MacTaggart and McCoy, plus an initial stab at a psych evaluation. A very initial stab. I'll also go over the new systems, what they will be capable of. Will that suffice?" he asked her.

Just as she was about to say yes, Alison paused, expression going remote. Haroun would, in many ways, be in fact returning to who he had been before the accident. The core of who he was - wouldn’t change. Reactions and ways of handling things and responses, though?

"…no. I don't actually." Blinking a bit at her response, though it felt like the right on, Alison let her breath go in a slow sigh. "It's only fair that we work through it together, after. I'll know to expect differences - that's what matters. The rest… we'll see it through together." She smiled at him tiredly at that, then shrugged. "Whatever I need to know in terms of the new systems, subsequent physical changes, or symptoms I need to look for that indicate a problem, psychological issues beyond a normal shift - that, yes. I want to know. But not the normal mental and emotional ones."

Doctor Hawksmoor blinked. "As you wish." he said. "First off, we'll go over the legs, since they're the largest change. We saved a significant amount of space in the legs by going to a new neural routing system, and streamlining a great deal of the coolant systems. Strength and flexibility will be as they were before, if not slightly better. He'll have full sensitivity - I understand that's a new feature in this year's model." he said drolly. Perking up, he continued to go through his presentation. "We've intalled an editor, triggerable via mental command. He'll be able to chop it back to the old model of strictly gross motor input and balance data, or bring it up to full human sensitivities with a thought. Primary thrust will be directed using the legs as a form of nozzle, although flight data is sketchy and will need to be empirically tested once he's ready."

"So he'll have control on the sensation input in his legs," Alison smiled a bit at that, the realization that 'toe stub' proofing their suite noted and set aside as something to do later when she was going stir crazy from the waiting. "That's good. He'll need the editor while he adapts to the new flight systems. Wait a minute - if you're redirecting the thrust through his legs, that means you're junking the jet pack entirely?"

Dr Hawksmoor nodded. "Just so. We've installed small nozzles in the bones of his shoulders, tie them - with appropriate filtering - straight to the lungs. Should solve the breathing-at-high-speeds issues. He will, unfortunately, have to relearn how to fly. He won't have the computerized maneuvering system that he had before. The MMI will hold the reflexes and the kinesthetic data from the old system - I think - but he'll need to put some significant work into his flight skills. We'll also need to rework a good number of the muscles in his back - he's got quite the impressive musculature, by the by, and we did our best to keep that - to place them in more normal positions. Some degree of therapy will be required, particularly in flexibility."

Alison managed not to give him an evil look to go the mental 'What? You think?' going on in her head and instead focused on what he was saying. "Therapy we can do. I'll have to relearn his muscle structure but that's not a problem - did it once, can do it again." She bit her lip though, frowning just a bit as she shook her head. "How long will he be grounded?" Trying to estimate the time to relearn flying would be useless, considering Haroun would likely bring every iota of his attention to it - she'd have to watch him to make sure he didn't overdo it, there.

Jonathan shrugged at that. "Too many variables to be able to give you any sort of a meaningful timeframe. Assuming no bugs in the hardware or the software, maybe a month, Maybe longer. It's hard to say." he added. "MMI you've been fully in the loop on, so I won't bore you there. There was minor reconstruction in the back - we reinforced the ribcage, installed the ducting and the filters, and rebuilt and relocated the muscles along his back. Throat-mike is back in with only minor changes - a scrambler, I think, and it should provide clearer reception to longer distances. Maybe a mile or so under ideal conditions."

Nodding, which she'd been getting very very good at lately, Alison remained silent for a moment, clearing her mind to absorb the new information and match to what she'd already been told, or had read from some of the briefs Hawksmoor had prepared. "This… is all a very significant upgrade. You'd said the 'ware he had previously was first generation, testing equipment only… was there already more advanced 'ware in the works when he received…" she trailed off, looking at him wonderingly. And then shook her head. "I'm sorry. Just… go on. There's a lot we have to cover yet."

"There were at least two more generations that I was personally aware of." he said quietly. "Significant improvements in the MMI, the muscle fiber, neural conductivity, all of it." he elaborated. "But anyway. The rest of this is just more detail on the depth of the changes we're making here. This system will be robust, stable, and efficient. It will be impossible to have a repeat of this incident with this design. Impossible." he stated baldly. "We've also improved the efficiency of the power-tap and made it truly variable-pull, which will provide him with a little extra oomph." he said with a smile.

She clenched her teeth a bit at that revelation, anger flaring through bright and strong. She set it aside though, carefully and meticulously so. "It's all… going to be a huge change for him. Huge levels of adaptation." And while she had no doubt he would be able to make it through, brilliantly so in an insanely focused way, Alison worried. "He doesn't use the MMI for regular flight. Plane type flying, I mean. He shouldn't be grounded from that once the regular medical convalescence is done, right?" It would be one way to afford him an escape and some respite from things, she hoped.

"There's no reason why he couldn't fly like us normals do." he said after a moment's thought. "Assuming that his recovery from the surgeries goes well and that the ductwork doesn't impede his lung function, he should be OK to fly. Check with your Medical team before making any plans, though." he said. "Let's see here..." he said, flipping pages in his presentation. "That pretty much covers the basics. Any questions?" he asked, suddenly fighting off a wave of fatigue.

"I'll check with them…" She trailed off at that, mouth opening to ask something else, anything of the myriad of questions she had. And then finally closed it, shaking her head a bit - noticing the fatigue and deciding that for all she had questions, she knew what was essential and he needed his rest. Needed to be fit and sharp, for Haroun. "I have too many, but none that need to be answered right away. You should get some rest, now. You look exhausted."

"It's been rough." he agreed. "I'll leave you the hardcopies here - they go into more details, and may answer or help refine your questions. For what it's worth, I think he stands an excellent chance of adapting to all of this very well, now the new hardware is in place. We've got an excellent team, and I want to hire all those kids and put them to work immediately." he grinned. "Even if they are all maniacs with bizarre food and drink requests and no respect for their elders."

"You've got a few of our respectful ones, actually." Smiling just a bit, the expression strained and weary, Alison gathered all of the documents, stacking them neatly before standing up, hugging the papers to herself. "I'll go over these tonight and we can talk more tomorrow." She had a few - several - other things to do, as well, that were starting to demand her attention. "Thank you." She tried another smile, which resulted in a mostly anxious expression.

Jonathan waved that one off. "What was done to him was a crime. A fucking crime. I am just happy that I can help erase that crime." he told her before departing from the classroom.