Legal Assassin

• Courtney Joynt, Grade 12
• Short Story
• 2018

Entering the room, I hummed to myself as I walked over to the table, on which sat the tools for the implantation.
“Good morning,” I tested, and for a second, I swore I saw her eyes flicker slightly. Tense, I waited for another couple minutes. The implantation has to go successfully, or else the whole ‘surgery’ would be a failure… The light flickered and I began calming down. Was it slightly colder? I hope I’m hallucinating… I told myself. Taking a deep breath, I scratched my wrist, and the little mark where I had been injected with nanites tingled. Mine helped keep my tachycardia in check – when it hits, I used to more often than not pass out. Now, my nanites regulate my heart – help to, anyway.
Deciding on what type this vessel would be, I adjusted what I was going to do accordingly. Since the speed type will be built on less of a vessel, I had to mark out accordingly, didn’t I?
Lifting her shirt up to expose her navel, I drew the points where I needed to insert the rods to act as bases for the Speed equipment. The speed equipment replaces everything below the waist, essentially, I reminded myself, drawing the approximate shape for where the lower half of the apparatus would attach. Relocating to the table, I pulled out and did the same with one of the rods. The nanites, although looking the same, were programmed differently. Each kind of nanite was programmed differently, as each apparatus set had a different type, and mixing nanites with wrong apparatus or vice versa wouldn’t function. The nanites wouldn’t respond to it, understood?
Removing the shoulder fabric, I pushed the rod into her joint and the nanites began to curve it around the bones. The nanites stopped and pushed back. They readjusted their course before continuing. The rest of the shoulder insertion went smoothly. Thank pizza, I sighed to myself, moving onto the other. Once the other was also in place, I trimmed each to size, glancing to the machines hanging from the ceiling. When the time comes, they’ll paint the walls red… I felt a smile cut my face in half at the thought. These people get whatever’s coming for them!
Kneeling to work in the lower torso rods, I prepped several of them and lay them in front of me. Picking one up, I shoved it into her gut, just over the line I drew. The nanites began to weave through the organs and muscle and tissue layers, navigating so they pulled it through so it didn’t pierce anything major (arteries and organs). Exiting out the other side, I moved around the other side to trim it. As I did so, she moved.
Looking up at her, I watched her mutter and roll her head slightly. Still asleep. Good. Returning to her front, I did the same until there were seven rods in her gut, arranged so the speed gear will fit.