Self-Healing

The next morning, May 2nd, 2074, Henry, as he promised himself, was up bright and early, and had almost immediately requested a nulgravity chair; a wheelchair that floats and is controlled by electricity. Easy to move and navigate about the world when walking isn't possible. 

The nurses brought him one without delay, but not without warning the doctor first while making sure Henry remained clueless. 

The patient thanked them kindly, before beginning his floating trek to the hangar his Buggie was in- one the more affordable ships for an average joe to purchase. Fits up to 10 people but has only a few days' worth of power if stranded compared to the higher end models that can last at least a couple of weeks. 

Aside from a very faint hum his chair was giving off as it traversed the metallic halls, Henry was quiet. Through the halls, talking to no one, in the elevators to go down to the affordable parking bays; he didn't make a peep. 

I need to get out of here, he told himself, I need to get back home to my family. I know they're missing me by now. I've been gone for far too long. 

After an hour, solely because he had to rely on machinery to carry him, he finally made it to the parking bay near the basement, where the ones that don't wish to spend extra could park; where it's been parked for the past couple weeks. 

He was only supposed to be there a few days longer to continue learning about robotics, taught by Jozette, but it had all gone haywire once the Matador was overrun, and she had to leave with her group, Elias, Kaori, and Jesse, effectively putting everything on a standstill. 

Then when it was nearly time for their training to start back up, he was attacked and put out for even longer. 

"It's not worth it," he said aloud, having finally reached his ship and was staring up at it; it was small in comparison to the others that can withstand weeks free floating in space compared to this potential death trap. "I can experiment back home with robots. Kit, please open my ship," he asked of his Sable, who responded only with unlocking it and opening up the special ramp for his nulgravity chair to go up; the stairs come down before the steps flatten into a ramp. "Thank you," he simply said as he went up it, closing the door behind him. 

But he felt off about something, and as he went to his little cockpit, big enough for him, his chair, and potentially 1 to 2 other people, he noticed an alert on the control panels. Intruder?  

Suddenly, he heard shifting about in one of the rooms the ship had- one of 3 separate bedrooms, and he immediately twisted his chair around to face the small hall of the ship, waiting for a door to open. 2 rooms were on the right-hand side, another on the left with a single bathroom next to it. 

"Hello?" He finally called out, hesitantly, but causing the shuffling to come to a sudden halt. "I can hear you, come out!" 

Then the shuffling started again, and out of one of the rooms walked Dr. Reuter, a very unpleasant look about his face. "If you weren't going to listen, I was prepared to travel with you and take a Stag back." 

"Get out." 

"I'm trying to reason with you, here," the Doctor started walking towards the mini cockpit where the newly crippled man sat, waiting to take off. "If you want to leave so badly, at least let me monitor you for the ride there. That way in case something does happen, you won't die right away." He was being harsher than needed to be. 

"I don't need your help anymore, doctor. I just want to get home to my family, and never come back." 

Elias grabbed a small letter from his coat pocket, before walking it over and giving it to the irritated man. "It's from Enzo." 

Upon opening it, it was a letter requesting Henry take the Doctor with him, otherwise he will order Henry be taken into custody and be mentally evaluated. "This is inhumane." 

"No, what's inhumane is thinking you can survive this journey with an invisible leg that can cause a blood clot at any moment. You really think your family wants to see a dead man?" 

Henry huffed, "fine," he snapped, finally realizing he wasn't going to win the argument. He turned himself around, before hastily beginning to flip a few switches, and press a couple buttons. In the midst of it all, the steering wheel popped out and take off procedures began. "Get your suit on, the ship has a slight leak on takeoff." 

"A slight leak?" Elias let out a weak chuckle, as if Henry told him some dark joke he was supposed to laugh at. 

"Yes, now hurry up, I have business to get to." Henry wasn't joking at all, and was being more straight forward and blunt, the complete opposite of his somewhat docile personality from only the night prior. 

Elias slipped back into the room he was originally hiding in, before putting on a spare suit, the helmet under his arm, and coming back out to the cockpit to sit with the healing man that was preparing to depart. 

"Won't you need one?" Elias asked him curiously as he sat in one of the spare chairs next to Henry. "Or is the leak not in here?" 

"It is. I just don't need one." 

Elias shifted about in his chair, uncomfortably, "what do you mean?" 

"Give me your arm, and I'll show you. I've found a neat thing about us humans." 

Thinking he was finally getting somewhere with his patient, but also that the pain meds were making him a bit loopy, he complied. 

Elias put the helmet down next to his feet, before he rolled up his sleeve and a bit of his bodysuit's sleeve. "Is this enough?" He inquired; the bodysuit is always hard to roll up. For good reason- it was made as emergency wear in case a ship's gravity control went out. If it does, the suit kicks in, giving more weight to the user to keep them on their feet comfortably. 

Short sleeve ones take a bit of balance to control. 

"Perfect," Henry said, grabbing the doctor's arm to look at. "You see this spot?" He asked the doctor, pointing to a random mole near his wrist. 

"Yes?" 

"This is what makes you not need a spacesuit anymore." 

Elias was confused- if it was based on moles, then no one would need a suit. Henry has gone mad. He has an infection! "Before we go, can we go back to the medbay to be sure you're completely fine?" 

"I AM fine!" Henry shouted out, before biting down onto Elias's right wrist, hard, taking a chunk out with it. "But you aren't." He smirked as he chewed and swallowed his cannibalistic bite of Dr. Reuter's wrist, his face covered in blood. 

Elias, his wrist now spurting blood like a fountain, didn't know what to do. His body wasn't even feeling pain yet everything had gone by so fast. His wide eyes stared down at his wound, then back at the patient, "What?" he questioned, managing to pull his arm from Henry's grasp. 

"Now get the fuck off my ship. Otherwise, I'll introduce you to my family. They're dying to meet you, but I'll give you a chance to live." 

Elias quickly stood up, forcing himself back into his suit as he started his desperate escape. "You're not Henry, are you?" 

The man smiled, evilly. "Technically, yes. But my real name is Wim, and you have 2 options now. You can try to stop me, but it'll mean your death from either bleeding out, or simply being turned, or you can get off of my motherfucking ship and use your own tools on yourself." 

Elias knew his only real option was to escape, and without giving Henry...Wim... another moment to try and kill him, he rushed off the ship while his sleeve and glove was filling up with blood. 

He ran, and ran, and ran, until he was out of the hangar, before falling to the ground just outside of it, safe from being sucked out as the ship departed. 

Collapsing against the wall, with no one else up yet; the guards having just passed moments before, the doctor was alone. 

"Henry's the terrorist?" He asked himself, pulling his arm out of his suit once more, watching as the missing part of his wrist was gushing bright red, warm liquid all over him and the floor around him. 

Without a second more of hesitation, feeling he was going to pass out soon from blood loss, which nearly guaranteed his death, he acted quickly by taking his creations out of his pocket; The quicksaw and the syngerit. 

He twisted his body around until he could place his hand against the wall, the quicksaw only cuts through flesh. He lined up the small bar just below his elbow, and with a few deep breaths, triggered it, causing his lower arm to fall to the ground with a loud, hollow thud. 

Elias screamed out in pain. It wasn't as painless as he thought. Even with the bit of numbing cream for the initial hit. 

Now his arm was gone, but his knub was about to burst into bleeding once more from being removed. 

Time for the Syngerit; and he had barely any to spare. 

He quickly, but nauseously, triggered his invention to come out, before placing the cover over his own wound. 

First it squeezed him as a tourniquet, before instantly cauterizing it, stopping the bleeding, and turning itself off as he slumped over to the side, nearly unconscious. 

Using the last bit of his energy, he told Mia to call for Jozette; the only one on his mind before passing out in a pool of blood with his arm lying next to him, detached.