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Substitution - Chapter 6

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Another update in this commission for Nex_Canis - hope you enjoy the read, and I look forward to your comments!

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"...and next we have here, subject 3045-C, Roman Kyle."

The small entourage consisted of several furs, each of them clad in a full-body protective suit in perfect white, gloves and transparent face masks with ventilation holes on the front for the filters to draw air in and out. The speaker was a Doctor Shutt, a young, bright fox, the junior of the Recombination Department and in charge of the rounds on that day. His audience today included the chief of the Department, Doctor Cordon, the chief neuroscientist, Dr Joliot, and several others, listening attentively as the presentation began.

"Carry on," told Doctor Cordon.

The fox began to read out of his pad.

"Day F plus 119 of total recombination procedure. 50 days since primary recombination," the fox spoke, "patient was a 46-year-old male who suffered catastrophic soft tissue injuries and a traumatic brain injury, resulting in persistent vegetative state. Patient was brought to the Institute in septic shock and procedures were immediately commenced," the fox went on, "fertilization of recipient eggs took place on Day 1, after which four most promising zygotes were selected for further development. At the same time, neuroelectric and neurochemical scans were performed at the quantum level by our Doctor Joliot."

There was some agreeable nodding, after which the ball was back to the fox's court.

"On day F plus 6 the embryo 3045-C was deemed most viable and selected for further development. 3045-C was then moved into a class 1 growth medium and proceeded normally. All genetic testing performed at this point screened out any possible inconsistencies in genetic makeup. Development continued normally until the end of the embryotic phase, after which normal B-5, D-12 and K and P series of developmental sequence activators were implemented to accelerate growth accordingly. On day 70, recombination of the biological and the neuropsychological elements was performed with presumed success. Neofetal phase has since continued successfully. Subject is currently 187 centimeters long and weights 66.5 kilograms, and is developing up to 500 grams of muscle mass each day thanks to the K series acceleration. Development of musculature seems to be proceeding exceptionally well. Current status is stable, and on the normal development curve for total recombination. Organ maturation is at acceptable levels, as is the molecular tissue cohesion. Bio-metabolic assay is positive."

"And the neurological status?" one of the junior doctors among the crowd asked.

"Yes..." the fox said, "that is a good question."

The fox turned about to face the transparent tank. Inside, the pale-furred wolf floated in the somewhat murky artificial amniotic fluid that assisted in his development. Despite being the size of an adult male, the creature had curled itself into the classic fetal position, which only added to the otherworldly quality of the sight. Sensors had been attached to the body with wireless pads, and umbilical tubes curled away from his body and over to extensive machinery surrounding the actual tank. A tap onto a computer screen from the fox's glowed paw activated it and brought up a display, showing the rotating image of a central nervous system. It's vague three-dimensional shape was repeatedly washed out by flashes of light emerging from several points at once.

"This is Mister Kyle's functional scan," the fox said, "as you can see, the synaptic activation patterns are somewhat unusual for a brain of this type at this point of development."

"He is dreaming," said Ivy Joliot in her drawl, "he has been for several hours each day since the elemental recombination. We are seeing widespread activation characteristic of rapid eye movement phase of sleep. Reticular activation scan implies that the patient is deeply unconscious and unaware, yet the brain activity is consistent with high activity levels."

"How about the metabolic levels?" one of the junior doctors accompanying the tour questioned.

"126% of the baseline," the fox replied. "His brain is very active, more active than usually at this point. The primary phase of synaptic imprintation was completed, yet the axonal growth continues at an accelerated rate. The brain is reorganizing itself even after we imprinted the original neuropsychological pattern."

"It is one of our borderline cases," Doctor Cordon noted. His comment drew eyes to the Rottweiler.

"Yes, sir?" the same junior doctor questioned.

"The original neocortex was severely injured in the original traumatic event. Diffuse axonal damage, metabolic disturbances brought on by septic shock, necrotic tissue changes...pre-upload neurological status was very poor. Cognitive status was entirely unknown but presumed to be severely impaired due to the tissue damage. His moribund condition meant that extensive functional testing could not be performed."

"Is it possible that we have integrated a severely damaged component into the recombinant?" another of the juniors inquired.

"I believe it is not the case," Doctor Joliot commented. "The increased activity post-integration could imply that the neuropsychological element is re-constituting and re-establishment itself after the trauma of the suspension in the growth medium and the transfer itself."

"Not to mention the original trauma," Doctor Cordon cut in.

"So we don't know what is going to emerge once the subject wakes up?"

"If it wakes up," Cordon said.

"There is no reason why patient Kyle should not emerge," Doctor Joliot said. "The functional parts of his brain have established themselves. His neo-body is perfectly within our expected parameters. It is entirely reasonable to believe that the increased neocortical activity suggests that his synaptic pathways are still regrowing."

"Or it's endless global epileptic activity caused by every synapse firing at random through malformed axons," Cordon commented.

"It is not an epileptic pattern, sir," Doctor Shutt cut in. "As Doctor Joliot says, it is more akin to REM sleep."

"But he should not be able to sleep," Doctor Cordon said. "They don't sleep."

"But it's doing something alright," Doctor Shutt said.

The entourage looked collectively at the tank, where the mysterious wolf still resided, seemingly unconscious, inactive, yet the display monitor told its own story.

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Thank you for reading! I hope you had a good time, and I look forward to your comments!