In The Orbit (Part I)

30. Strom

We follow Kesselhof towards the other end of the satellite. She brings us into a room, an office of sorts. Dipper and Kunley are in there. Karma closes the door behind her, and we all crowd around the desk Dipper is seated at. Harold and I look at each other as we stand, our arms barely touching.

"It's not fair," he whispers to me. "Why can Khan even look good in a dress?"

"He's buff," I respond. "It outlines his muscles."

Harold sighs and says, "Maybe after our strength training I'll look more like him."

Harold and I both inconspicuously look at Khan. His headlights are on and Harold and I look at each other and snicker.

Dipper shows us all of the plans. Karma and Fifi will be going into space and actually to the satellite. Karma is good with physical combat, and Fifi can fly a ship and is good at sniffing stuff out. Khan and I will be there for backup in a different ship. And I can probably figure out how to open the satellite. Harold and Azalea aren't really needed, but they are smart people so they will be back here, ordering commands with the officers.

The smell in the office is giving me a headache, so I press my thumbs to my temples. The cool metal soothes me. I open my eyes and Dipper is looking straight at me.

I give him a look that says, "Why are you looking at me?"

"Strom," says Dipper. "What are your thumbs made of?"

"Metal... and plastic maybe?"

"What kind of metal?" asks Dipper.

"It has a coating on it so it doesn't rust," I explain.

"We need to examine your thumbs," barks Kesselhof. "We don't know what they are made of. We should have done this before. Good catch, Dipper."

Dipper nods. "We are going to need you to remove your prosthetics so we can examine them. It's safety protocol."

"What?" I blurt. "I can't do anything without these! I have nerve attachments! I can't just take my thumbs off. They're like part of my body!"

"You have to. It's protocol."

"No. Not happening." I am surprised I am being so resistant.

Kesselhof grabs my wrist. Her nails dig into my skin and it hurts. She pulls me out of the office and down the hall. I try to wrench myself out of her grip. It doesn't work. Kesselhof may be only 5'5, but she is built like a tank.

We arrive into the hospital wing. A lady walks up to us.

"Doctor Wexlie here, how can I help you?"

"Illegal prosthetics," barks Kesselhof.

Wexlie grabs my hands. Her fingers are frigid. I don't know how it's humanly possible for her to be so cold.

"Mmmmh. That needs to be investigated. Let's go." Her tone matches Kesselhof's. My hatred for Kesselhof feeds into my growing dislike of Wexlie. We go into a room with an examination table and a sink. Kesselhof murmurs something about having Azalea or Harold take my place in the operation, and leaves.

Wexlie shoves a little plastic cup of water in my hands and tells me to "Drink up!"

I shake my head. "I'm not thirsty."

"Just drink it!" she yells as she digs around in a drawer. Her back is turned and I sniff the liquid. It looks like water but smells faintly of chemicals. I feel lucky that I have a sensitive sense of smell. Wexlie releases some tension in her shoulders and I can tell that she has found what she needs. I need to hurry.

I repeatedly dip my hand in the cup and pull water out. I soak my armpits and neck of my shirt. Wexlie swears and drops the thing. There is little bit of water left. I hope for the best and down the rest of it. Wexlie turns to me and asks how I am feeling.

I droop and let the cup fall. She looks confused for a second. Then I lie down on the examination table and pretend to sleep, hoping against all hope that that's what I am supposed to do.

Immediately, I hear a male voice in the vicinity. "Evening, Doctor. What have we got here?" He has a slight high class British accent.

"A program kid. He's out cold."

I struggle to keep my breathing shallow and even.

"He's a sweaty one, that's not pleasant," replies British male.

Wexlie laughs, and it sounds like a congested goose.

"Prosthetics?" asks the Brit.

"Yeah, we gotta get rid of 'em and replace 'em with ones without whatever contraptions he has in his current ones," answers Wexlie.

"I know the drill, Doc."

I restrain myself from physically tensing. My thumbs don't only serve as thumbs. My right one has little blades that can pop out like a pocket knife. The other one has stuff like a little chip to program the two thumbs for things like texting and also an ID chip and other important computer stuff. I can't let them take my thumbs away.

The wheels were turning in my head, but it had been a long day, and the small amount of sleep meds that I consumed must have been acting on me. I was feeling really drowsy, especially with my own shallow breathing.

It was silent, and then it hit me. Wexlie and British dude must have left. I open my eyes, slowly, and I have to fight to keep them open. I see that nobody is around, and I shoot up, and bolt out of the door.

Nobody is in the little waiting area. I look out into the hall and seeing that it was clear, I sprint away. I wonder where to go. The port is out of the question. I won't get access... or could I?

I run into a classroom and into a closet. I know I will be followed with the cameras, so I have to act fast. The elevators are nearby, and I can get easily cornered in an elevator. I hack into the system. It's my fastest hacking job yet, taking three minutes and 12 seconds. When I am in, I give elevator 2 access to the port. I run into the hall and to the elevators. Elevator 3 shows up. I send it up to the dorms, which will help me cover my tracks.

Elevator 2 shows up, and Kellina is inside. She is staring straight at me, but not taking me in. I run in and punch the port button. We enter the port and the lights automatically turn on.

"What are we dooooin' here?" slurs Kellina.

"Shut up, I'll send you back upstairs," I hiss.

Kellina sticks her foot in the door and growls.

"Ummm, what?" I ask her. The adrenaline is flowing and I feel a huge need to hurry. I hear the elevator next to ours arrive with the little elevator ding.

"Shit!" I yelp. I try to shove Kellina in the elevator but it doesn't work. "Ok, fine, come with me then!" I say. I don't know what else to do.

I drag Kellina to the nearest pod to the door. We hop in, and I don't look back as I speed out the door, bumping three other pods as I go.