Covered in Blood
"Of all that is written, I love only what a person has written with their own blood."
- Friedrich Nietzsche
"That settles it," Mayotte announced, turning away from the microscope.
"Aside from being a disease-infested mess, our guest is also an addict."
She adjusted the brace on her nose tenderly and blinked as her eyes began to water.
"So, he's in withdrawal," Barbuda stated, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. He was remotely observing her work from his office in the Southside Gateway. Her visor was displaying his face in the upper left corner of her field of view.
"That explains the elevated heart rate. What is our troglodyte's poison of choice?"
"It's a primitive form of opioid," Mayotte answered, turning back to the microscope.
"I'm actually quite impressed. This hair sample would probably drip morphine if squeezed tightly enough. It's like he's been drinking the stuff from a bottle."
"Well, I can't say that I blame him for looking for a little pain relief," Barbuda said, a note of sympathy sneaking into his voice.
"The cavities and abscesses in his teeth alone must have been pure agony. Let's give him what he craves. I know you can handle him, but I would prefer him calm and docile while he is being socialized."
The Overseer pulled up a body scan of the southlander on his console. The scan was labeled 'subject alpha'. Though shorter than the average Northlander by almost a foot, his muscle tone and skeletal density were impressive.
"Acts of random aggression aside, do you think you can win him over?"
Mayotte looked at the little image of her father hovering in the corner of her view. Was that a hint of concern she detected?
"I am certain of it," she replied, "He has wandering eyes. I'm not exactly sure how to interpret his signals, but he has certainly responded to mine. He has... an impressive erection."
"Stimulating a man in his sleep is one thing," Barbuda said, "but I do have faith in your charms. Give him plenty of morphine and continue working on getting him to like you. Might I suggest a light dose of MDMA to help speed things along? I doubt very much that he has ever had the pleasure and it will probably help him get over his anxiety. I need you to work quickly, I have to know what's out there and this man is our only solid lead until the Rangers report in."
Mayotte nodded in response.
"Oh, and go get cleaned up. You're covered in blood again."
Mayotte put her hand to her face in surprise. Her nose had begun bleeding again. The bandage leaking blood down her face and on to her chest.
"Fuck."
She quickly scanned her work surface to make sure she hadn't contaminated any of the samples. Fortunately, it looked like all the blood had been caught by the front of her medical blouse. With a sigh, she left the room and headed for her quarters to shower and change. When she was finished, she presented herself to one of the medibooths that were dotted around the center. She had the device scan her nose. The scan revealed that she had, in fact, got a broken nose. She slammed a fist angrily into the transparent wall and the device beeped a reprimand in response. This injury was going to require costly re-constructive work. She resolved to have the surgery billed to her father. If he was going to whore his daughter out he was going to have to pay for the maintenance and upkeep.
With her mind made up, she flicked the privacy switch on the booth door. Once the previously transparent wall had clouded over she shucked off her clothes and initiated a full body scan. She stood facing the booth display output, feet slightly apart and her hands held loosely at her sides. When the scan was complete the booth posted a high-resolution three-dimensional representation of her. With a couple of adjustments, she synced up the display output so that the virtual figure in front of her mirrored her own actions. The effect was like standing in front of a mirror but having the ability to manipulate your reflection so that you could see yourself from every angle without having to turn around. She spent a few minutes idly examining herself and applying various types of nose shapes to her face. She eventually settled on a style of nose that the pod's database referred to as 'celestial'. It was small and simple, with the barest hint of an upturn at the tip. Having settled on her new nose, she was about to initiate the surgical process when something she had recently read popped into her head. It was a research paper on sexuality and the human body that had been sent to her by a colleague.
The paper had gone into some detail about the way human sexuality had a major influence on the shape and size of various parts of the anatomy. It occurred to her that her patient came from a line of people that, for around twenty-five thousand years, had been completely separated in evolutionary terms from hers. It was highly probable that there were going to be features of her anatomy that would be somewhat different from the norm that he would have been familiar with. This presented her with a conundrum. She knew that she was an attractive woman, but it was possible that he might not think so. For the briefest moment, she contemplated upgrading the surgery to change her appearance more significantly, but then she came to her senses and realized that this was an incredibly bad idea. Rhinoplasty was one thing; major reconstructive surgery was an entirely different proposition and would entail a long convalescence. She had a job to do and could not afford to be out of commission. He was going to have to be seduced by the charms she currently possessed. Besides, she had absolutely no idea what his taste in women was. She engaged the rhinoplasty program with a flourish and climbed onto the nested bed that was fitted against the booth wall. The robotic systems kicked into life, strapping her in and administering anesthetics. She took a couple of deep breaths before consciousness faded.
