Nora-Ceph (Luna 3, Part 2)

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Due to popular request, this story has been turned into a series. Read Part 1 here

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The process had been … an experience.

Nora-Ceph looked down at her hand, opened and closed it slowly. Fingers were weird.

”How are you feeling?” In front of Nora-Ceph stood Quelz. Quelz was missing an arm. That arm had now replaced the brain of the human Nora.

An octopus’ arm had always been full of nerves and even somewhat independent of the main brain. All movement had been controlled by a huge mass of nerves. It had been a small step from there to a fully functional brain. Each Cephalopod was now able to remove an arm through a surgical procedure and … plant it in a human. Where it took over.

Of course, the procedure had its risk. Only half of all test subjects survived, the fusing of arm-nerves and the human’s spinal nerves didn’t always work. The chemical, polyethylene glycol, was able to combine the nerves, but there were other unwanted side effects too. And the immune response wasn’t light either because the process removed the blood-brain barrier.

Considering all that, it was a miracle so many procedures worked.

”Nora-Ceph?” Quelz sounded worried when Nora-Ceph didn’t answer his question.

”I’m fine, I’m fine”, Nora-Ceph hurried to say. ”I was just adjusting. This feels … weird. I’m not used to being … singular.”

”Your absence hurts me too”, Quelz said. ”It’s hard to let go of a part of yourself. But it is for the greater good. Can you stand?”

Nora-Ceph moved forward a bit on the bed she was lying on, so her feet could touch the ground. Slowly, she put her weight on them. She swayed. Quelz reached for her arm to stabilize her, which enabled Nora-Ceph to keep her balance._@suesa

”How can humans walk like this all their life?”, she wondered. ”Two legs! How did something primitive like this even evolve?”

Quelz made a sound that would have been a chuckle had he been human.

”Don’t be too hard on them, they managed to evolve a lot faster than we did. Sure, they destroyed the whole planet in the process but hey, at least they were able to found new planets to colonize and destroy!”

”Sarcasm doesn’t suit you, Quelz”, Nora-Ceph said. ”You’ve always been more optimistic than that.”

”You’re right, you’re right. It’s the stress, you know? While you were under anesthesia, some things happened.”

”How long have I been out? What happened?”

”Three days. Not longer than the others, but it was enough for people to notice your host vanished. Apparently, she was working in the governmental agency of Luna 3. People noticed her absence the same day.”

”Shit”, Nora-Ceph called out. ”Did they come looking for her?”

”Yes. Someone saw her leave with the child, so the police came looking for Lejdz. We were able to hide her, but … there were arrests. And we haven’t seen the three they’ve taken with them since.”

Nora-Ceph clenched her fist. An interesting sensation, unusual but welcome. She could get used to this. There was a certain strength in human muscles she hadn’t experienced before.

”Seems like I need to re-assimilate as soon as possible”, Nora-Ceph said. ”How are my vitals? Any immune reactions that might kill me soon?”

”Nothing so far, but I don’t like the thought of sending you back so early”, Quelz said. ”If something happens … if there’s a rejection of your tissue … they might put you in a hospital! And if they cut you open, they will notice something is wrong. We can’t guarantee you’ll be transferred to one of our doctors. The risk is just too high.”

”There’s always the chance of rejection, even years later. Just give me enough of the immunosuppressant drugs and I will be fine. As soon as I notice any damage to my nerves, I will report in with our trusted doctors. It will be fine.”

Quelz was clearly still not convinced. Nora-Ceph could almost feel his distress. But just almost. The lost connection between Quelz and the other arms had left her with a weird and painful feeling of isolation.

”We need to make sure the others go free”, she reminded him, while slowly letting go of his arms to try and stand on her own. ”They won’t survive long in that prison. The humans never give us enough water. Say it’s too expensive to meet our needs and it’s our own fault we got in that situation.”

Quelz’ color had turned into a deep, sorrowful blue. He moved away from Nora-Ceph, towards a table with several bottles of pills. He picked the largest one and handed it over to Nora-Ceph.

”Three a day”, he instructed her with a shaking voice, ”not less, our your tissue will surely be rejected. Not more, or you will leave yourself vulnerable to all kinds of infections. Three, you understand?”

He knew Nora-Ceph had the procedure memorized. But she wasn’t offended by him explaining it to her again. He was worried and she would have been worried too in his place. She was worried now. Worried for those in jail, worried for those she’d leave behind.

Worried about herself.

She grabbed the bottle and put it in her pocket. Then she hugged Quelz.

”It will be okay”, she said. ”I will tell them a good story about why I vanished and how the Cephalopods weren’t involved. They will let those they’ve taken go free. I will assume my role as the human Nora and continue with our mission to infiltrate humanity. It will all work out. And then we will be free.”

”Yes, that’s how it will be.” Quelz tried to sound hopeful, but his color didn’t change in the slightest. Nora-Ceph let him go.

”Well then”, she cleared her throat, ”time to be a human.”

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Sources:

Octopus Arms Found to Have "Minds" of Their Own

Polyethylene glycol rapidly restores physiological functions in damaged sciatic nerves of guinea pigs

The blood-brain barrier: an overview: structure, regulation, and clinical implications

Transplant rejection

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Picture taken from pixabay.com

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_{GIF was created for me by @saywha and @atopy , rest of the signature by @overkillcoin}