Chapter 15: Chapter XIV – Jessica – It’s Not the Same

As Jess slowly rose from their sleep the next morning, they were met with a somewhat uplifting sight, their mother seemed to have returned home or elsewhere to change her clothes and shower. She no long looked like a ragged thread barely holding on and for that Jess was at least moderately happy. However, as soon as their eyes moved down to their arm, their spirits plummeted as far as they could. Despite the protective wrappings, they could still feel something off with their arm. There was a clear absence and a vague searing sensation that they couldn’t figure out whether they were still feeling or if the memory was simply being brought forth in vivid detail.

Their other hand moved towards the wrappings, almost about to tear them off, but as it got closer, they stopped, their hand freezing just inches from the wrappings. It fell down, lifeless as it lay in their lap. Jess clenched their fist, glaring at it before slamming it backwards, cracking the backboard of the bed. The sound rang out, catching the attention of Silvia who had previously been resting her head against the back of her chair.

Noticing that Jess was once again conscious, she quickly made her way over to them, taking their hand in hers, sighing softly. “Darling… please don’t injure yourself… I know it’s… difficult… but…”

Jess scowled and pulled their hand back, almost glaring at their mother. “Difficult?! I’m missing a part of myself and I will never be able to get it back!”

“Darling… We have the prosthetic arm all ready for you to try out…”

“That isn’t the same! That will never be the same… I don’t care how much it feels just like the real thing… I will always know the difference…”

Silvia sighed, unable to find the words to comfort her child. Deciding to instead try and comfort them with a reassuring presence and actions, Silvia made her way back to her chair, reaching in to a bag on the side of it, pulling out a hair brush and walking back over to Jess, pulling up a chair and sitting down beside Jess.

“Turn around, please,” she asked, holding up the hair brush.

Jess did as they were asked, turning their back to Silvia, their free hand resting on their lap. Silvia began to gently run her fingers through her child’s hair, examining the strands, seeing how the once vibrant green at the end of it was now a dull and faded blue. Silvia sighed, seeing her child like this brought her nothing but sadness. There was only one other time she had seen their hair turn such a color and even then, it was not quite as severe as now.

- - -

It was twelve years ago that Jessica had come home from their lessons for the day and asked the question that Silvia had hoped might never come.

“Mummy, where are the other people like me? Everyone else has other people like them, but I never see other people like me,” Jessica asked, their eyes wide.

Silvia was in the kitchen at the time, fixing dinner for the evening, but as the question rang through the air, she almost ruined the entire meal, her hand stopping mid air as she was pouring salt in to the dish. She caught herself and placed the salt down on the counter, taking a deep breath and turning around to face Jessica, a smile on her face. She took a seat at the table directly across from her child.

“Well… darling… You weren’t born like most people are… As you know, Aunt Avery and Grandma Strataros made you in a laboratory… You were created using parts of a ram and parts of a human…”

“I know! But if I was made, I thought they made more… Like they did with all the others?” Jessica asked, standing up a bit on their chair.

Silvia shook her head and sighed. “To make you… it took a lot of tries… Most of them failed… You were part of the last group and well… you were the only successful one… So… you are the only Rooden that exists…”

At hearing this, Silvia watched as Jessica’s hair changed to a color she had never seen before. The lower half now adopted a deep blue color. As it changed, tears began to fill Jessica’s eyes. Silvia knew that when she finally had this discussion, the response would not be positive, but she had also been hoping that she could tell them at a later age, one where they were maybe a little better equipped to handle such information. Jessica rushed off to their room, slamming the door behind them and falling back against it.

Silvia followed shortly behind, raising her hand up to knock on the door before shaking her head and resting back against the door. “Darling… I know it’s hard… being alone… But… it also means that you are special… There is no one else like you in the world and that is something to be proud of…”

Silvia received no response, but stood up, resting her forehead against the door and sighing softly. “Jessica… I’ll bring you up your dinner when it’s finished, alright?”

After a few moments of silence, Silvia was met with a quiet, “Okay…”

- - -

Looking on her child now, Silvia couldn’t help but remember that sad little child in that room, spending so many nights crying their eyes out, feeling like they would be alone forever. But it got better and eventually, Jess simply accepted it and moved on. For that, it only took a few months and Silvia hoped that they would not be stuck on this the rest of their life. However, she knew one thing for sure, just like when they were young, Silvia would be there for her child.

Wiping some tears from her eyes, Silvia began running the brush through Jess’s hair. Even without the coma, Jess’s hair was often a bit of a mess. They said that they liked it that way and found attending to it to be too much work, but when Silvia suggested that they cut it, Jess had gotten upset and said that there was nothing wrong with the way their hair looked. Now, as she brushed their hair, she was met with no opposition whatsoever. Even as she roughly brushed through the more tangled sections, Jess simply stayed silent.

“Your hair really has gotten quite messy… I know this won’t be perfect, but it should help a bit… When you’re feeling a little better, why don’t we get you a shower and I can brush your hair again…?” Silvia offered.

Jess said nothing for a long time, so Silvia simply continued to brush. However, eventually Jess uttered, “That’s fine…”

After about forty-five minutes, Silvia was finally finished with brushing their hair. She set down the brush and admired her handiwork, enjoying seeing Jess’s hair not be a complete mess for once. “There we go…”

Silvia tapped Jess to get them to turn around, to which they obliged. Their face was no more joyous than when they started, but they were at least looking at Silvia, so that was good.

“The medics and the technician will be here with your new prosthetic arm in about an hour. Why don’t I get you some food before then? What would you like?” Silvia asked, hopefully.

“Anything is fine…” Jess replied after some deliberation.

Silvia sighed softly and nodded, heading off to the food storage next to the tent and returning a few minutes later with a plate of some nice lettuce, carrots, and sticks. She placed the plate on to a tray over Jess’s lap and stepped back. Jess met her with a confused look before realizing.

“Thank you, mum…”

Silvia nodded and returned to her chair, watching as Jess began to eat their meal. Unlike their usual expedient voracity with food, they were taking it rather slowly and had yet to touch the lettuce or carrots, opting instead to simply gnaw on the sticks. Despite their slow pace, at least they were eating, Silvia thought to herself as she returned to simply enjoying having her child awake again.

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The next hour paced in an instant. Jess didn’t eat much, but they had at least eaten something and that was all that mattered. The same medics from the night entered and greeted Jess, but they were mostly unresponsive, acknowledging they were there, but not saying much else. However, they were joined by an individual that Jess had seen before. They worked in south village and he was the main person that would be consulted on the creation of prosthetics. Their work had always fascinated Jess, but they would have never thought that they would need their help.

As they saw Jess, they smiled, but Jess didn’t say anything. They could see that the technician, Cutler, if they remembered correctly, was carrying something wrapped in cloth as well as a bag that seemed to be full of tools.

“Jessica, this is Cutler Rox, they are a technician from the south village. They make a lot of the prosthetics for us here. They’re here to help with you connecting with your new arm as well as ensuring that everything fits comfortably and works properly,” the medic explained.

Jess nodded. “We’ve met…”

“Ah, well then I suppose such an introduction was unnecessary… Anyway, we’re just going to check your vitals before we get on with the fitting and connection.”

Jess sat up straight and nodded once more. The medics got to work checking all of their vitals, finding that they were all still in the ranges that could be hoped for. “Alright, Jessica, everything looks good, so we’re going to pass this off to Mx. Rox.”

Cutler stepped forward, meeting Jess’s eyes. Jess was surprised to find the level of compassion that was present in them. “Jessica… I am so sorry that something like this had to happen to someone as good as you… I know there are no words to comfort you, but… I also know you will recover. You are one of the strongest individuals I have ever had the pleasure of meeting.”

Despite the fact that most of it was simple fluff, Jess found an odd amount of comfort in the words. That comfort quickly faded as Cutler removed the object they had brought from the cloth. Inside, there was a wooden arm. It was made of about a dozen separate branches that were smoothly twisted around each other, forming a very solid arm that seemed to be almost identical in shape and size to Jess’s other arm. Along the branches, there were small green glowing spots and around the wrist, there was a vine that looked almost like a bracelet. The upper section of the arm where it would connect was comprised of the ends of around six or seven branches. The ends of the branches glowed and as Jess looked to the hand, they found that the tips of the fingers were the same, but with an added glowing green ring.

“Now, we did have measurements taken while you were out and logically, this should fit, but I also find that things are often a little too snug for people, even with the adjustments I usually make to compensate for tightness, so please let me know if you feel discomfort of any kind,” Cutler informed Jess.

Jess nodded slightly, watching as the wrappings were removed from their arm. Once they were off, the new wooden arm was slowly and carefully moved to the point of contact. Jess winced slightly as the wood made contact with the scarring on their arm, but they motioned for them to continue. Eventually, their arm was fit snuggly in to the cavity inside of the arm.

“How does that feel, Jessica?” Cutler asked.

“The very bottom near the scar is a little tight on the sides…” they offered.

Cutler nodded, a seal forming on their hand which they pressed to the arm, shifting the material just a bit and looking to Jess. “Better?”

Jess nodded and Cutler smiled broadly. “I have to admit, I’m pretty surprised. I usually have to make way more adjustments than that during the fitting stage, but I’m quite happy to know it fits properly. Now, are you ready to move on to connection?”

“Yes…”

Cutler stepped aside a bit, allowing the main medic to take their place. “So, Jessica, the way that connection works is that we are going to essentially have to reintegrate this arm in to your body’s essence network. Due to the circumstances of the arm’s injury and the type of loss, this stage will be much more difficult than for most. What we need from you is to allow the prosthetic to become part of you, allowing it to integrate. Do you understand?”

Jess was a little unsure of how exactly to accept the arm, but they nodded nonetheless, assuming it might become clear once the process was started. The medic motioned for Cutler to begin and they immediately got to work. The branches at the upper part of the arm began to glow brighter and Cutler started to move them, moving the first branch to the first contact. The instant it touched Jess’s body, they felt a jolt and a sudden pull on their physical arm. They took a deep breath, allowing their body to give in to the pull.

Seeing that Jess was doing well, Cutler continued, attaching each of the branches, one by one. Each time a new branch was attached, Jess felt a stronger and stronger pull, but each time, they simply gave in to the feeling, slowly allowing the arm to become part of them. As the final branch was attached, Jess felt an odd sensation, their right arm. Looking down at the arm, they began to move it slightly, finding that it was actually articulating and they were able to feel it moving and even feel the air around it. Their eyes widened as they began to move their fingers, flexing and grasping.

“Can I assume that the connection was successful?” the medic asked.

Jess didn’t respond, continuing to move their new arm around, examining every inch of it. However, after only a few moments, they felt it go numb. They could still move it around, but all feeling ceased. They scowled at the arm and then turned to the medics and Cutler. “I can’t feel anything…”

“It will likely take time before the arm is fully accepted by your body and you regain full feeling. Can we lead you through some exercises?”

Jess nodded and the medic began to lead them through various exercises, moving their arm, touching and interacting with objects. Everything was incredibly difficult and Jess began to get frustrated.

“Now, can you perhaps try to form a seal with each arm?” the medic asked.

Jess’s eyes widened at the question, their mind flashing to the third chamber and the image of Beth’s body being torn apart. The monitor on the side began to beep erratically, Jess’s heartbeat skyrocketing. Silvia placed her hand on their shoulder. Jess ignored it, clenching their first and allowing themself to calm down slightly.

Opening their left hand, they were able to create a small seal, but when they moved to the prosthetic arm, they found it much more difficult. After a few minutes of trying, they were able to form a seal, but it quickly sputtered out.

“It will come to you in time, Jessica. You just have to be patient. Now, we want to try one more thing. While we were monitoring your condition after the incident, we noticed that you are able to properly access primal essence in a form that will not injure you.”

Jess gave the medic a confused look. When they had last used primal essence, they were not a master of them yet. They had assumed that with a bit more training they would finally be able to fully control it, but they weren’t there. Opening their left hand, Jess concentrated on the primal essence inside of them, allowing it to spring to life. Green flames ignited all over their arm, dancing and casting soft green light all across their body. The flames caused no damage and seemed to be perfectly harmless to Jess.

Jess allowed the flames to die and then moved to their other arm, focusing on the primal essence in them, but they couldn’t find any. Within the arm, all that they could feel was a very loose connection to their normal essence pathways, but there was no primal essence whatsoever.

“I can’t do it… Please get this thing off of me…” Jess said, discouraged.

After a moment’s hesitation, Cutler tapped the arm once and all of the branches receded. They removed the arm and wrapped it up once more. Jess dropped to the bed, rolling over and away from everyone, tears beginning to well up in their eyes as they silently cursed.

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