The Vespidian Arc 3 All These Squares

Chapter 1

I sat on the floor of my empty room, contemplating all the recent events. My life had grown rather turbulent as of late, with the transformation, torture, escape, experiments, and a slight showdown that could have ended very poorly. Then, of course, the current predicament, sitting here locked behind a solid super proofed glass wall. Neon Nurse stood outside, observing me with a gentle, but some what plastic smile. She tapped a little speaker on the glass.

"How are you feeling, Vespidian?"

"Why am I locked up?"

"Well, you are still under Quarantine procedures. I should be able to release you in 3 days or so. We are just waiting for the results from your tests." Replied the nurse with glowing pink tubes in her fake skin.

Her face as always uncanny with how symmetrical and perfectly proportioned it was. I mean if one wasn’t paying too much attention the skin looked very real, but with my enhanced vision that synth flesh stuck out a bit it was unnaturally smooth.

"I thought we already did this song and dance?"

"Ring Master is worried about infections spreading."

"Infections? I have not even been sick since I changed." I scoffed looking away.

Neon Nurse wagged her finger at me in a little bit of a condescending way, "Sure you haven't, but that is not to say normal people won't get sick from something in you. Just need to check to be sure. Ever heard of typhoid Mary?"

I thought on it for a moment. “No?”

She explained, “Well it is very simple, you might be asymptomatic, but still carrying and spreading viruses.”

My finger drummed on chin as I considered it. She had a point. "Fair enough. I need stuff to entertain myself; otherwise, I might go crazy in here out of boredom."

Neon Nurse thought it over, "Sure, what would you like?"

"Eh, well- well, a good gaming computer. Some workout equipment for supers. A nice bed. A fully stocked fridge. I want meat, damn it! A pet I want a pet, something soft to cuddle. Other stuff too. I will think it up later."

Neon Nurse's eyes glowed brightly for a moment, "That is more reasonable than I was expecting. Very well. I shall procure your arrangement by the end of the day. As for pets, I can loan you Mittens?"

"No!" I vehemently refused the crazy cyborg cat. "I want a normal pet."

"We can try. But I have my concerns."

"Such as?"

She gazed at me, blinking a few times seemingly baffled by the question. "Vesper. Animals are terrified of you."

"Maybe they just need to get used to me?" I smiled hopefully.

"I wouldn't get my hopes up. But we can certainly try. Was there a species you had in mind?"

"A cat? I do like those."

"Any type in particular?"

What type would I want? I tapped at the glass separating us, I thought. My own pet. Hm. What would I want? "Siamese, maybe? Or maybe a big fluffy kitty."

"Very well. I will return soon. Be good."

"I am not a child."

Neon Nurse left. The automatic doors shut in her wake. Alone in the room, I sat tilting until I fell over. I am trapped in here, huh? I could hear the silence. A low buzzing noise. Was that silence? My antenna twitched. It was coming from a vent. The air circulation system seemed to have a fan in need of oiling. I poked at the cover lightly, feeling the filtered air flowing into the room. Not much else to do, I lay down and waited.

***

The low thud of the electric door sealing shut stirred me from my nap. Neon Nurse had returned. A group of roughly twenty or so robo scorpions carried in boxes. Neon Nurse had been busy, it seemed. More kept coming in, another group and another. Soon the tiny train of packages entered my room through the opened glass door. Neon Nurse started opening boxes as she sifted through them, laying out pieces. Getting to my feet, I could see it was a desk.

"Do you need help?" I asked.

"Sure, hold this." She handed me a metal leg to attach to the desk.

I held it in place as I lowered the surface top. It looked expensive. Black and white stone, polished and smoothed with intricate natural designs across the surface. The slab was about five feet across. In other words, it was substantial and fancy as fuck. I felt a little uncomfortable with how nice it was.

"What is this?"

"I believe it is a Quartz composite looks nice and is rather affordable. I got it to help ease your stress. Do you like it? Does it suit your taste?"

"Yes? I never really owned anything as high quality as this. Used to just store-bought stuff, not custom stuff."

"Don't worry about it. I owe you for the experiments. This is the least I can do to help you be more comfortable."

"Thanks," I said, a little shy.

Neon Nurse was, well, more than considerate. I mean, sure, there was the whole initial manic scientist bit to get past at the start. But she was downright a wholesome person. Thinking on it, her primary source of income is making replacement limbs for handicapped people, and her day job was taking care of injured patients. Am I in the care of a saint or something? Although there was the adult toy side hustle that had turned into a main source of her income.

"Shall we get to work?" asked Neon Nurse.

"Just tell me what to do. I never really made anything before."

"Of course. Now then, let's get some good vibes going and make this room a home, shall we?" She, as it turns out, was a portable music player. I mean, I really should have known, but one can never just assume even if the other person is a cyborg. You never know what sort of extras are installed after all.

The music had heavy bumps and was catchy with semi distorted orchestra instruments. Seemed a little old and yet new? "What kind of music is this?" I asked as Neon Nurse slightly nodded her head happily to the music.

"Electric Swing. More or less remixes of old swing music from the 1920s. I find it to be very enthusiastic. Did you not like it?"

"Damn that is some ancient music. It is kind of nice. I had you pegged as more of a New Tokyo Techno person."

"Depends on my mood. Music is mathematical repeating patterns. Sequenced structures are delightful to me."

"I suppose there is that as well. I just like the way it sounds."

I tapped my claws slowly to the beat. It was a good vibe. I smiled sincerely for the first time in who knows how long. "Thank you, Neon Nurse."

"Don't mention it." She smiled, unlike I had seen before that expression was genuine, tainted by emotions.

"No, no. I mean it. You are the only person that seems to care about me. Why are you so nice to me?"

"That is what friends are for." She replied rather matter of factually.

I sulked a little feeling very self conscious. "I feel like I haven't been a very good friend."

She gave me pat on the back that turned into a firm hug. "That is ok. You are opening up now, are you not? Take it slow. You have been through a lot. Trauma is not easily overcome."

That was really out of the blue, in a good sort of way. She was caring. I quivered a bit, almost crying. "You don't have to be this nice to me."

"Why not? I like you, and you are my friend. Why wouldn't I help my friend?"

"I have known you for a couple of days."

"That doesn't matter. You chose to stay with me over going with Molotov and the villains." She smiled vaguely, "You chose me, and that made me very happy."

"I thought you turned your emotions off?"

"Only while I am performing surgery or if the situation calls for it."

"I see. Well, let's get to it, shall we?"

"Affirmative." Replied Neon Nurse.

The desk was rather quickly coming together due to super strength and an excessive amount of robos dragging in the pieces as we needed them like an assembly line. The wood-clad metal legs and drawers were secured into place, and the desk stood on its own. I looked over the room, deciding where it would be best. For now, I moved it opposite where the shower was located.

Every desk needs a chair, and mine was no exception. A box was brought in; it was long and heavy, by human standards. We opened it to find an exciting thing. Well, I found it be interesting. It was a wheeled office chair with red and black leather. However, the back was open near the seat, and it had high up back support. It clicked together easily. Rolling it for a moment, I pushed on it, assessing how stable it was. Satisfied I sat down, feeling it dip due to my weight. My abdomen pushed out the back, hanging down behind the chair. It was… comfortable.

"I see you like it," Neon Nurse’s green eyes glowed with delight, "I had it custom-designed for your anatomy."

"That was very thoughtful of you." I grinned, wheeling about in my chair.

Next was the Bed. It was metal-framed with wood, a dark wood. Walnut, as it turned out. The initial rectangle was erected. I lowered the mattress into place, feeling how squishy it was. I think it was some sort of memory foam. Next, the tall spiral grooved posts were screwed into place at all four corners. I attached a dark blue fabric canopy over the top that descended, covering the mattress, and we stood back looking over the placement. Lifting it, I moved it into the corner of the room. The corner without glass where I had some semblance of privacy. A matching navy blue set of sheets, blankets, and pillows.

This was surprisingly relaxing. Even a little fun. However, it might be because Neon Nurse was here helping me. It didn't feel like work at all.

Next, a more enclosed shower was brought in, layer by layer. It formed a metallic tube that seemed relatively private as it was not solid and not transparent. It opened and closed by pulling it up or down. Easy enough. Neon Nurse's robos put most of it together. Since, well, I had no idea how to. Starting to realize I don’t have much practical knowledge.

After a short wait Chief arrived in his suit. This one was bright reflective yellow with black highlights, it seemed a little construction vibey. Like the others, it was themed as a firefighter helmet, mask with glowing blue lenses, heavily armored body in plates. A water cannon sat on his shoulder and a scissor-like claw on the arm to tear up crashed vehicles like tissue paper. I assume he needed the suit for the extra power. It certainly stood out. He lugged in several heavy boxes. He was setting them by the entrance to my enclosure.

"I brought those weights you wanted, Neon Nurse. Where do you want them?" Asked Chief as the door opened up.

"Good of you to come. We were just getting ready for those. Right over here." Neon Nurse pointed out a nice spot near the shower. He brought the boxes one by one to the far side of the room.

After setting down the last box with a heavy thud, he stretched and looked at me or in my direction since I couldn't see his face. "How you holding up, kid?"

"Kid?" I frowned slightly before realizing he was just messing with me. "Doing fine old man."

"Good to hear. Not that old yet, though. Medavac, now he is old."

"Who is Medavac?"

"You will meet him soon enough. Old dog, that guy." He chuckled a little, "I gotta get going but enjoy. Hope you get some good use out of these."

"Thanks, see you around," I smirked, waving as he stepped out and left.

He gave a little wave in return before the doors closed behind him.

Neon Nurse and I looked through the boxes. Some adjustable barbells and a curl bar with plate weights were the heavy parts. The last box had a treadmill that, after a bit of tinkering, was put together. I shifted it to the wall, setting all the weights beside it nice and orderly.

That was most of what I wanted though I was still missing the all-important computer. "Any idea when the computer will be arriving?"

"Shortly. In the meantime, shall we see about pets?"

I rubbed my hands together in glee, "Yes. Pets. What did you get me?"

Neon Nurse stepped outside for a moment before returning with several animal carriers. She set them on the floor. I could hear the hissing from here. "These appear to be agitated. Shall I sedate them?"

"No, let me see if they will get used to me."

I lowered my hand to the edge of the barred carrier. The animal within shifted, hitting the back gutturally growling and clawing at the cage. Well, that doesn't seem good. I creaked open the little door and reached in. I expected it, but it still surprised me. Teeth and claws attempted to tear into my hard hand. Gently I pet at the ferocious beast as it tried desperately to tear my hand off. The animal grew very violent, thrashing, and the whole kennel moved about bouncing as the poor thing was scared out of its mind.

It might hurt itself like this. Reluctantly I pulled my hand back out minor little scrapes marred the dark carapace. "Perhaps mammals are no good. I feel bad for them. Take them back. Let's try a different type of animal."

Neon Nurse tilted her head, "What sort?"

"Maybe a fish or a lizard or something."

She seemed thoughtful. "I will think of something."

“Did someone say pets?” asked that voice that slither up my spine. My head jerk to the door and there was Dr. Arbor. She wiggled her fingers with glee. She was being dramatic, as usual, “Vesper, Neon Nurse now why would you think that some ordinary creature would possibly do? I have such wonderful creatures and if somehow I don’t have what you desire, well, I simply have to make it.”

I gave her a long side eye, “I think I will take my chances with normal critters.”

She acted hurt, betrayed, as she looked over the assorted cats that were in the cages next to her, scoffing at them like they were inferior things, “Vesper, my child. I could make you anything, think of it as my gift, a proper apology. You just have to tell me what you want and I can cook it up in my lab in short order, assuming it is nothing too exotic. If so I will need to special order from my main facility where I have a gene bank with dna from most living creatures available.”

Huh, come to think of it she was pretty adept with gene manipulation. But did I really want her to spawn some sort of abomination in an attempt to please me? I mean, what would I even do with it if I didn’t like it?

“What are your thoughts Neon Nurse?” I deflected to the more sane mad scientist in the room.

She seemed thoughtful on it, “Well, she does make a good point, from our shared research I doubt that most creatures would tolerate you. After all your pheromones incite fear in most animals, the exception being other insects. So at minimum you would probably need a modified cat that is attracted to your smell rather than fearful of it.”

Dr. Arbor sighed in disappointment, “So basic, so normal. Wouldn’t you rather have a super powered pet?”

I balked at the thought, “That sounds like a lot of responsibility. I mean what if it gets loose and attacks people? Hell what if it attacks me?”

She just wagged her hand, “Oh that is easy I can manipulate its behavior so that it is utterly loyal to you. That is simple, besides I could chip it so that if it needed to be disciplined it could be shocked into obedience.”

“That sounds fucked up.”

“It is just a safety precaution in case it goes rogue.”

“Or I just get a normal, non super freak pet and that is a non issue.”

Dr. Arbor got close tapping a tablet against my chest, “Observe my dear. The options are almost limitless. Any critter you dream up I can make it. Even if you don’t want super powers in it. Something soft, something fluffy, something playful, that doesn’t reject you, fear you, that loves and adores you.”

She scrolled down on the tablet through a catalog, apparently creatures she had made or could make an assortment of odd looking beasts. Sure enough there were some fluffy critters that did look rather cute. There was something off about most of them. I couldn’t put my claw quite on it, but my instincts rejected them.

“I appreciate the offer but no.” I shot her down.

“Vesper please, at least give them a chance. Tell me what is wrong with them, I can make them better.”

“Look if I don’t vibe with it and it don’t vibe with me then it not going to work. Just seeing picture of these things doesn’t tell me much.”

Dr. Arbor nodded and for a moment I thought that she was finally being reasonable, oh how mistaken I was.

“Very well my dear, I shall return with them for your review, only the cutetest, only the fluffiest!”

Before I could even voice my complaints let alone concerns she took off bolting away. I rubbed my face, I should probably be really worried about what abomination she would bring back. With her gone the stillness of the room was broken only by the yowls of angry felines bouncing about in their crates.

Neon Nurse removed the animal crates from my room, and with them, the howling and screaming silenced. Animals despise me. Is it my smell? Or how I look? Probably both. It feels bad; I just want something to love and cuddle. My eyes rest on Neon Nurse at that thought.

People can be pets, right?

That is an odd thought Sub.

While I contemplated this conundrum, more boxes arrived. I recognized a monitor, and sure enough, a nice curved screen lay in the box. It looks like the computer stuff had arrived. I set it on the desk, pushing it about to find the best spot in the middle. I set the second monitor to the right side of the first. Excellent shiny new mouse and keyboard were pulled out and placed neatly on the desk. Oh, they were glowy.

Neon Nurse had even gotten me a nice- mousepad? It was an ergonomic mouse pad, the lumpy kind. I stared at it. It was one of those with a woman printed on it ass up, face down. She looked familiar. I know I have seen that ass somewhere before. It… it was Neon Nurse. Sure enough, the blond hair, sexy nurse outfit, and glowing green eyes. She is not subtle, is she?

"What is this?" I asked, holding up the mousepad.

"I thought you would like it." She replied, not even batting an eye.

"This is you, right?"

"It is. That is made with my patented synthetic flesh. It is extremely durable and dishwasher safe."

"So this is made of the same stuff you are?"

"Yes, my outer body."

"Huh," I said, vaguely poking it. It was soft. Skeptical, I set it on the desk and rest my wrist on it. My god, it was a butt pillow for my hands. I glanced at Neon Nurse's ass as she rummaged about in a box facing away from me. So it feels like this. Hmmm…. My fingers wiggled, enjoying the supple yet firm softness. I suppose I could get used to this.

"How much would this cost if somebody wanted to buy it?"

Neon Nurse tilted her head thinking, "Ten thousand or so. That is from the latest formula, so it is extra supple."

I kneaded it, watching the fake booty move. "You know. I am not even mad. This thing is fucking nice."

"Oh? Do you like it?"

"Yes, I do."

Neon Nurse set to work piecing together the monster of a computer. It was large, intimidating, lit up, and I saw some sort of intricate motherboard go in there. It had glowing tubes and things. Definitely not something I would have access to normally. That thing looked high-tech as fuck.

"For Normy specs, this model will be more than sufficient." She said, turning it on.

It booted almost instantly, updating in a matter of moments. It booted up with Doors version 20. I set about downloading all the games I had been playing before. It was logging in and getting them all setup. It would take a little bit, but I would be entertained for the foreseeable future with this. Neon Nurse even logged me into my Hero League account to see the money that had been deposited. I currently had about fifty thousand in the bank. That was significantly more than I had accumulated before. That is a lot of pizza I could get with that.

After a bit, Neon Nurse's eyes lit up, and she left, saying, "One moment."

She returned, carrying more boxes. She set them gently down, lifting out a clear aquarium. It wasn't too big, a thirty-gallon tank. She washed it out as I hovered, peering over her shoulder, wondering what would go in it. It was set on my desk to the left side against the back. It filled with water, and a piece of driftwood was lowered in.

"What sort of critter did you get me?" I asked, finally getting impatient waiting for the unveiling.

"Since you desired a normal pet, I got something that I feel you will have a connection with."

"What is it? A fish?"

She lifted out a thoroughly packed cage. The small container was about halfway filled with water and in it was an odd creature. It looked like a slimy lizard with tentacles coming out the side of the neck. It was white with black spots on the body but turned yellow with red tips on the tail. The tendrils were bright red and almost feathery.

"What the hell is that?" I asked, looking at it from all angles.

"This is an Axolotl. They have gills on the outside. Like you, it can regenerate. For instance, this one had its tail removed, and another's tail switched onto it while it was an embryo."

She handed me the little cage, and I looked in closely to the strange critter. It blew a bubble puffing up at me. The gills were wiggling about as it yawned. It is kinda cute.

"What does it eat?"

"Pellets, worms, small fish, though fish might nibble the gills."

I opened the top, letting my fingers submerge in the water. The little salamander-looking thing approached my claw and bit onto it. It didn't hurt. As far as I can tell, it doesn't have teeth, at least none that can hurt me. While it bit at me, I pet it with another finger. It wiggled about, not letting go. Neon Nurse handed me a container of pellets, and I pinched one out lowering it into the water. The Axolotl let go after a moment and pushed up to where the pellet was nibbling at my fingers to get at it. Opening my claws slightly, it nommed the rounded food with a loud plop sound accompanied by bubbles.

"I shall name it Mr. Bubbles."

"Interesting name. What made you decide on that?" asked Neon Nurse fiddling with the filter as she attached it to the tank.

"He makes bubbles, and I think it is cute."

"A good enough reason as any. The water needs to stay on the lower side; 68 degrees should be sufficient."

"Can I hold it?"

"They should not be removed from the water more than necessary though you can hold it in the water."

I pet it a few more times before setting the cage to the side. I looked through the boxes finding a little castle for the fish tank. It smelled a little plastic, so I turned the water on in the shower, letting it get as hot as possible, and scrubbed it down. Neon Nurse brought me a few more hides for the little guy, and I washed down a tree log, mini, of course, and a cave. They slipped into the tank filling it up nicely. Fake plants spruced up the background, and the sides were insulated to help regulate the temperature. Everything was ready, and I released Mr. Bubbles into his new home. He floated then swam and disappeared in the depths of the castle, like some sort of amphibious dragon retreating to its lair.

With all that done, I was more or less settled in. Day one of quarantine had been rather eventful and flew by. I hope the rest goes by just as quickly.