For This Arm, He Paid The Iron Price [Req. Honnou]

[Shinrya Kitsune]

It was a lovely morning in Kumo, sun was shining, animals making a variety of noises, and Kitsune was hard at work in her laboratory. With her, she was carrying the scroll she obtained from the meeting with the council, so they could see how she worked and interacted with the populace of the town. The day before had been eventful. She got to see a genuine rarity in an arm that seemed completely dead, and yet hadn’t begun necrosis. She’d told the kid to give it a think and come back to her the day after because of policy, to make sure he understood the risks of getting an artificial arm.

Spurred on by the sudden need for a new arm, Kitsune had been working long hours on the prototype arm in her lab. ”Test 207: Nerve receptor functionality in an artificial arm, and reading the touch data in a way that a brain can interpret.” she spoke aloud for the dictation device on the table. Recording the experiment was key to understanding things later on. ”The arm has been hooked up to a display and the artificial nerve endings have been enabled in this configuration. Beginning test in 3… 2… 1…” she continued and then ran a finger over the smooth metal of the arm, at first seeing nothing on the display, but then… A barrage of touch data came flowing down the screen, only stopping when Kitsune removed her finger.

”Let the record show that upon touch, the arm sent sensory data to the display output as had been hoped for, and upon removing the touch, the data stopped. It would appear that this arm can feel, like a regular arm would be able to.” she said giving herself a mental pat on the back ”If this is not just a fluke, it could improve the lives of any shinobi to ever lose a limb of any kind, arm or leg. It would be great if people could get their life quality back despite losing a limb.” she finished, in a low tone, but loud enough for the dictation device to hear it. ”Ending test 207: Marking it as successful.” she ended, switching off the recording.

[OOC: Carrying a scroll that records interactions and conversations]

 

[Honnou]

To be fair, having an artificial body part could prove… dangerous. Would his life be the same again? It certainly wouldn’t, but what else did he have to rely on? And what about his duties as an ANBU? A lot of his life and work relied on cooperation between flesh and elements, and having an artificial arm could hinder his performance in Ninjutsu and even Taijutsu. He had trouble standing still or sitting down, and he couldn’t imagine how his dear parents felt. If this proved fatal, if this went wrong… then his clan could lose a valuable shinobi to such a handicap.

But he had no choice. His life was about to change, and he needed to meet it.

That was why he found himself in the Aesculapium once more, just like previously, at Karubin’s Wing. The entrance to the laboratory was near, and he had requested a permit to enter, upon which the doctor inside would be informed. As Hon entered, he spoke: “I’m ready… for whatever substitute that there is for my arm.”

 

[Shinrya Kitsune]

Kitsune looked up from her work on the prosthetic arm and saw Honnou enter the lab ”Ah, Honnou-kun, glad to see you’re back this soon. I take it you’ve made up your mind then?” she asked with a smile, still working with the rush of a successful test of experimental tech. When Honnou then said that he was ready for whatever substitute there might be for his quote unquote dead arm, she smiled ”It just so happens that I’ve got it right here. It’s still experimental so you’d be needing to come by regularly for maintenance, but… Unlike other prosthetics I could offer you, this one has a sensory input system.”

Figuring that the significance of this wouldn’t be immediately apparent, Kitsune decided she’d have to explain it ”You see, one big issue with prosthetics is that you can’t feel the limb once equipped, despite being able to move it around just fine. If something hits your arm, or something breaks, it won’t hurt, and at the same time, you won’t have a good feel for picking things up because you can’t tell if there’s actually something between your fingers.” she began, starting a longer explanation that necessitated some context before getting to the main part.

”This arm however, as I mentioned, has a sensory input system. It, along with the artificial nerves in the arm, would hook up to your natural nervous system, and you’d then be able to feel just like you would with a normal arm, but with the added benefit of it being made of something much stronger, meaning the pain receptors are adjusted accordingly. There are chakra coils running on the inside of it as well, so you’d be able to, if you know how, perform one-handed seals using the artificial arm. This is still very new technology, and I’m offering you the chance to be the test person for it. If it works out well for you, it could help a lot of other people who’ve lost limbs…” she said, finishing her explanation and also outlining her goals with this work, and how Honnou fit into it all.

 

[Honnou]

Yes, he had made up his mind, and he nodded acceptingly. He got information from the upper Mednin that the arm was ‘experimental’, so to say. Was he going to test it out? After having worried himself dry after the incident with his arm, he felt dangled up by the thought of becoming a test subject. The reason was that this prosthetic had a sensory input system, which meant that he would be able to feel things through his synthetic arm just like a normal one. His eyebrow rose in awe as he opened his mouth a little to try and think of a question to ask her about this system, because it sounded new and oddly revolutionary to him. IT was like giving inorganic objects life through other means than… say, transforming it into a Tsukumogami.

“It sounds just like a whole new, organic arm… wow,” he let out with a small pearl of sweat trickling down, “T-That’s pretty amazing, actually…” He guessed that he wouldn’t want to let any people down, so he nodded upon her request for him to become the test person. “Sure… I can be the test person, that’s alright with me.” He believed that it was time to exchange his ‘dead’ arm, in which he put a hand on it for a last time.

 

[Shinrya Kitsune]

”Well, not organic, that’d require much more advanced work than we’re currently capable of, but it is probably the most advanced piece of technology in the village, maybe asides from the artificial human puppet I created with a perpetually generating chakra energy core.” Kitsune said and scratched her head. If this went well, many villagers with artificial limbs could have more functional lives, despite currently having limbs they could move around just fine. ”Do keep in mind, Honnou-kun, that it’s experimental, and that you’ll therefore need a monthly checkup to see if it keeps working as it’s meant to.” she added, reminding him of that stipulation.

If the arm didn’t exhibit any problems during Honnous usage of it she’d begin production of a slightly more advanced variant based upon a crystalline matrix of metals to improve durability and reduce cost, as the current one was built using molds and casts. Essentially, with the right tools, she could grow the arms in bits and assemble them. ”Now then, the operation is a simple one. Your arm will be amputated here” she started, and gestured to Honnous shoulder, as the entire arm was dead, ”Afterwards, a mounting mechanism will be implanted and will cover a small bit of your shoulder itself.”

”From there, I’ll attach the arm to the mounting plate and mechanism and hook up the nerves and chakra coils. Bear in mind, it’ll hurt like hell because it’s brand new nerves connecting to your body and brain, but once the pain wears off, you’ll be able to move your arm around. It won’t be with as much precision at first, as your body has to adjust to it, but with a series of re-training exercises, you’ll be able to use it just as well, if not better, as your old arm pre-accident.”

 

[Honnou]

He nodded to the note about having to meet up once every month to maintain and check the artificial arm that, as firmly pointed out, was an experiment. As weird as it sounded to call himself an experiment… uh, experimentalist, was it? Or was he a lab rat? Didn’t they have some other, less ‘I’m a rat’ like term for it? Upon deeply thinking of any synonyms, Hon came out with ‘test subject’ and decided to just call himself that. A test subject, yes. That was the proper term in this case.

The operation felt scary… and given that nerves were in play, she warned him of the level of pain that the re-adjustment of the nerval cells would be. “I-I can do this…” he spoke to himself and lifted up his functioning arm and hand with a clenched fist, “L-Let’s just get this over with. I d-don’t want to panic or anything…”

 

[Shinrya Kitsune]

Kitsune nodded at Honnou’s words ”Please lie down, and I’ll sedate you until the time comes to connect your nerves. You’ll have to be awake for that part, I’m afraid. But don’t worry, I’ll ensure it’ll be as painless as I can make it.” she said and gestured for Hon to lie down on the operating table after removing his garments from the waist and up. Once that was done she’d put Honnou under with an anesthetic infusion and begin the procedure with marking up where the cut would have to be placed, as well as having every single bit of the socket ready for installation.

It was a long procedure, removing the arm surgically, installing the socket plating, hooking it up to his nerves but not connecting it to the new arm just yet, basically performing the whole surgery, tuning the chakra coils, ensuring the servos and the like were performing as they were supposed to. Eventually, she’d gotten to the point where everything had been screwed in, everything had been connected asides from the passthrough connection of the nerves, and lastly, the chakra coils had been aligned to match the existing ones in Honnou’s body. All that was remaining now was to wake Honnou up and finally connect the nerves in the arm.

Giving Honnou’s body an hour to prepare itself, Kitsune prepared tools that would be needed to do the final connection of nerves while waiting for him to wake up. And once he was indeed awake, she’d ask ”The operation was a success so far. Are you ready for the nerve connection, Honnou kun? It’s the last thing we need to do before I get to detail your rehabilitation, and training program to get you back to full operational capacity again. If you’re ready just nod or something in case you’re having trouble finding your tongue.”

 

[Honnou]

Heh. Breathing in deeply, Hon mentally prepared himself for a change in his entire life from this point on. Due to the worry in his heart, however, he misheard words but caught the message sent by the doctor. Just lay down, and she would seduc- sedate him, in which the toughest part would come. Very well, a sort of nap was necessary right now, since he hadn’t gotten enough sleep already. He put his faith in her and her medical skills, and he put his trust in the mechanical marvel that was about to imprint onto his body.

Was removing his shirt really that necessary, though- argh, he was overthinking! Just get on with it, you fool, she was the professional one right now…

He could’ve sworn that he could almost feel the tinkering on his arm despite the sedation. He was blacked out for a while, but deep in his unconsciousness, he found himself looking around. He was dreaming, wasn’t he… well, time felt different in dreams, and the long while it took to ready up the arm and cut off his dead one was passed in a second here…

His eyes slowly opened up and wished that it was all over, but now was the time. Slowly rlling his eyeballs, so that the irises pointed at the doctor’s face, Hon listened and heard that the operation so far was a success, and that he was going to have the nerves connected to the sub-arm. He nodded tiredly and clenched the bite force of his teeth to prepare for whatever surge of pain that was going to travel across his nerval system during this. To be aware of it before it even happens made it a lot worse, really…

 

[Shinrya Kitsune]

Kitsune cracked her knuckles when Honnou nodded and she turned the little dial in the arm socket to connect the nerves fully, then braced herself, as well as kept Honnou in place where he was as it’d undoubtedly be a lot of pain to suddenly have fresh nerves connected to your old ones, your body suddenly having to establish that “oh shit, there’s a working arm there” which would inevitably lead to the sensation of lots of prickling like your blood had been unable to circulate to your arm and it suddenly came rushing to it, hurting like all seven hells. But in this case it’d be worse because there was literally nowhere for the blood to rush, so it was all a phantom prickling.

”You’re doing great Honnou-kun. Keep it up.” Kitsune said as she put the final touches on the connections, also engaging the chakra coils and ensuring the mechanisms within the arm got the juice they needed even in the event that something were to cut off Honnou’s chakra. Once the pain had subsided, Kitsune patted Honnou on the head ”You did so great, Honnou-kun. I’m impressed.” she said, smiling to try and calm him down.

Once the initial pain had gone away, she’d run a series of tests on the arm via the diagnostics tool she’d built for the purpose. It hooked up to the arm through a wire coming from the wrist, and so far, it seemed as if everything was functioning as intended, a great success so far! ”Looks like everything is hooked up right, I’m reading chakra and nervous activity in your new arm on par with what I’d expect to see from a regular person. Can you try moving your arm for me? It doesn’t have to be a major thing, even just moving your fingers would do in this case.” she requested, hoping that it’d work from the beginning.

 

[Honnou]

Shock. Several veins grew on his forehead, his teeth grinded against each other like tectonic plates, his eyes lost their pupils, his face reddened up, and for a brief moment right after the nerves began connecting and causing this phantom prickling, his ‘unicorn hair bang’ flared up and blinked a dim, red light for a few seconds like a siren. Although, everything that came out of his mouth was grunts that he was desperately trying to hold back… m-maybe he should let out one in case if he needed to ease the tension and blow off some steam-

“A-ARG-!!!”

His mouth closed itself immediately. It was too loud, and his body was shaking comically. This was annoyance gaining a huge power boost from the seventh layer of Hell while opening the Gate of Closing at the same time. It felt so surreal and, obviously, painful that he thought that he fainted for a few moments… but he held on. The pain was over quicker than he thought, and all that was left was a sweating teen Hyuuga slowly letting his bright, bluish pearl eyes roll down to gaze upon the metal arm that had been attached to him.

The pat on his head did make him feel childish, but he couldn’t appreciate it any more than now. A young shinobi like himself often needed instances of courage, and this sure calmed down his nerves. “… O-Ouch… Thanks…” he spoke with a pained smile, “Felt worse than electrocution.”

The arm appeared to have no issues for now. While holding some device, the doctor kindly asked Hon to move his new arm. He decided to lift up his hand first, just letting the hand elevate a little. It felt so… weird at first. It felt right, but it looked so strange to see a metal hand lift up where your ordinary, fleshy hand was supposed to be. His fingers were next as he let them wave up and down a little as if he was typing. The pain was gone, and his eyes shone.

“T-This is awesome…!”

 

[Shinrya Kitsune]

Kitsune tried her best to make it as painless as possible for Honnou to have the nerves in the arm be reattached. Sadly, that was literally impossible, because if she sedated him, the nerves might not reconnect properly. Luckily though it seemed to be over in a flash. The arm had been connected, and the nerves looked to be working. When Honnou proceeded to move his fingers in a typing motion, Kitsune kept an eye on the tool in her hand and it showed no abnormal readings. In fact, it showed everything to be running at optimal levels.

”Well, it would appear that it works as well as I had hoped it would.” she said, internally cheering for the successful procedure being done while disconnecting the diagnostics tool from the arm and putting it aside ”Now then, like I explained earlier on, you’ll have to come in regularly for checkups just so we make sure your arm keeps on functioning as it’s meant to.” she explained and lifted it up so she could check on the ‘armpit’ of the artificial arm where some of the tubes and wiring could be seen if the protective cover was moved aside. It was mainly to check if the cover was sitting as it should, and indeed it was.

She put the arm back down and grinned ”Perfect. Everything’s where it’s supposed to be. Looks like you’re good to go with your new arm, Honnou-kun~” she said, smiling ”I’d take it easy the first few weeks and slowly ease into using it. Like I explained, it’s pretty experimental, but if it ends up working flawlessly for you, others could benefit from the same technology utilized in this one…” she added, trailing off at the end as she imagined a day where nobody would have to go without a limb they could feel.

”I’ll pen you in for a new appointment in a month and send a notification to your residence.” she said and grinned ”You’re welcome back anytime if you feel something’s off about the arm, even outside your appointments.” she added and then handed him a piece of paper detailing a list of exercises he should be doing. ”Make sure to perform these at least once a day to ease your recovery.” she finally said before sitting back down to analyze the dead arm on the table so she might be able to develop a cure against whatever caused it to die in the first place.

[MFT; WC: 414; Topic Left]