Still worthwhile and shows some interesting things about Sisters in human form. I know I probably could have made more about the virgin Freya and what personality would develop there, but that really wasn't planning on making that a focus of this story and I basically wanted to just get through it. That scenario can really become a whole story concept in and of itself
I should be able to whip Chapter 11 out by tomorrow night.
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Chapter 10
A middle aged man in a white lab coat walked down the clean hallways of the Rosemont State Hospital and tapped on the shoulder of another wearing a white lab coat.
"Hello, might you be Doctor Taylor? I was told to look for him in this wing."
"Ah yes and am I to assume that you are my consultation?"
"Yes, Charles Cranford, so, is this your Jane Doe?" he asked, looking in to a private room occupied by a girl with fiery red hair engrossed in a thick textbook.
"You got it, mid 20's white female, red hair. She turned up outside the Bayview hospital three weeks ago, total amnesia, no idea who she was, not even her name. "
"Any physical indications?"
"Not a scratch on her, no evidence of any past trauma either. Perfect teeth, perfect vision, no previous broken bones or symptoms of any other illness."
"What about brain scans?"
"Well PET scans show decreased activity in some of her memory regions. There also seem to be some persistent neurotransmitter imbalances in those areas as well."
"Is there evidence of brain damage?"
"None, her condition doesn't match anything we have on record. There's a chance the problem could be psychological so we have been attacking things from both the medical and mental health angles. Because there's a clear chemical imbalance I think it is likley that we can find some drug or drug combination that can help her, but so far none of the likely candidates have had any effect. We did get somewhere with hypnotherapy though."
"Oh? What was she able to remember."
"The only thing she was able to even remotely remember was that her name was Freya."
"Freya? That's an uncommon name, are you sure that was her name and not something she happened to read? What about her last name?"
"We weren't able to get a last name and ecause Jane Doe isn't the best for morale we decided to stick with Freya. She seems to like it at least."
"Any luck identifying her?"
"No, none at all, its like she materialized out of thin air. Even the name didn't help, no Freya's reported missing. We're going through state ID databases looking for a match, but most of the photographs aren't searchable yet so it's going to take some time."
"Fascinating case, you should be able to get a paper published from her no problem."
"Well thanks for coming by, I feel that the key to unlocking her memories is either going to be time and a lot of head shrinking or some unorthodox drug treatment. However, there's something I think you should be made aware of."
"What is that?"
"Well, if the perfect health wasn't unusual enough, she appears to have no other mental issues aside from the lack of memory and some slightly above average, um, sexual inclinations."
"Well there might have been a first time seizure that acutely affected the memory regions and nothing else."
"That's not all, her intelligence, it's, remarkable. When she got here she was having trouble reading, but now she's devouring college level textbooks, primarily math, but also philosophy, art, history, you name it."
"Are you saying her memory loss is psychosomatic? That she really knows all these things but refuses to consciously acknowledge it?"
"No, we gave her some books on topics she would be highly unlikely to have prior knowledge on and she was able to become proficient in an afternoon. We tested her IQ and it came back as 172."
"172? Are you kidding me?"
"No, I mean look at that."
Angling slightly to the side Dr. Cranford saw a white board in the room covered with a completed mathematical proof.
"This is beginning to sit rather strange with me," continued Dr. Taylor. "You don't think she's some sort of, experiment, do you?"
What, you think this is some sort of movie?," Dr. Cranford laughed.
"I don't know, but I decided not to publicize her being here to much, just in case."
"Alright, let me see her charts and I can examine her later in the afternoon. I think I might be able to suggest some possible treatments."
****
Freya waved goodbye to Doctor Cranford as he left her room at the hospital. She liked making new friends, but Freya was becoming a bit tired of all the tests, scans, talking about her "feelings" and the other annoying things the doctors were always asking her to do.
"It's like sometimes they didn't believe that she couldn't remember anything before waking up in that emergency room three weeks ago," Freya mumbled to herself. "And why were they so interested in me learning the rules and history of test Cricket?" she wondered, happy to be back to her Math texts.
Freya wasn't exactly happy about being in a hospital, unable to remember anything from her life, but there was a certain joy in being able to quickly learn things that she had the feeling she had known before. Sort of like watching a favorite movie one hadn't watched in a long time. Finishing the chapter on the Axiom of Choice Freya looked at the clock and realized she had to hurry to the cafeteria to be in time for dinner. For some reason she had a bad habit of remembering meal times or even to eat at all. Not wanting to alarm the hospital staff again Freya threw on her slippers and hurried downstairs to the eating facility which still had a smattering of patients and staff finishing up their meals. Taking a tray and picking out a variety of items she couldn't remember ever sampling before Freya sat down at an empty table and began to thumb through a magazine.
"Hello, mind if sit here?"
Freya looked up to see an woman with a thin body and tired face standing across the table with a meal tray.
"No, of course not. My name's Freya, what's yours."
"I'm Joan, you're that girl who can't remember anything right?"
"Oh, yeah, that's me unless there are some new ones around."
"Man, I wouldn't mind forgetting about my ex-husband," said Joan sitting down. "So, how are you feeling."
"Good, kinda fun to have so many new experiences. I mean look at this thing, sign said it was an "egg roll", I have no idea what it tastes like!"
"Yeah, sounds exciting. So have they let you out of here yet? You know, see the real world?"
"Oh, no, said they want to make sure my condition is stable."
"Yeah, I'm kinda in the same boat."
"They won't let you leave because you're unstable?"
Joan laughed, "Some might say that, but actually I'm here for court ordered rehab."
Freya blinked at her.
"I got drunk and tried to stab my husband with a pen at our divorce hearing."
"Oh, well I guess he must not have been a very nice person."
"I would agree with what assessment," said Joan smiling. "Anyway, I found someone who will help me "escape" from this place for an evening, but I don't want to go out alone."
"Oh, well, I'd love to go out and all, but I really shouldn't, I mean I have no memories of what "out' consists of."
"Come on, it will be fun. You're like the only one in the unit who isn't completely off her rocker and looks like she might have fun at a club."
"I don't even know what a club is."
"Oh come on, I've heard you in your room at night, you are definitely one for the club scene. You won't even have to color your hair."
Freya turned beet red. "Um, you heard that?"
Joan gave her a knowing look.
"Oh, heh, yeah, well, I don't want to get in trouble."
"Hey, you're the patient here. The staff is here to help you. Not like some bastard judge ordered you to stay here or something."
"Um, well, I still don't know."
"Come on, just give it a try, I promise you'll have a good time."
****
Two hours later Freya was looking in a mirror trying to get her hair to look just right when she heard a knock at the door. Opening it Joan slipped out of the dark hallway and into her room.
"Hmmmm," said Joan, looking at Freya's white t-shirt and gray sweats, "guess those are all the clothes you have. Here, try these on, they should fit."
Freya took the bag from Joan and examined the black mini-skirt, tube top and assorted accessories.
"Um, aren't these a bit...revealing?"
"Yeah, that's the point. Here, I'll wait while you get changed Be quick, one of the cleaning staff agreed to help us get out and we need to meet him in 20 minutes."
Freya went into her bathroom and quickly changed into the outfit Joan had brought. Like almost everything in her life Joan's clothes were a completely new experience, but like her math books there was this slight feeling of familiarity.
"Damn, I'm turning myself on in these," said Freya to herself, looking in a mirror. "Wonder how often I wore stuff like this in my old life."
The "escape" consisted of one of a janitor sneaking the two women out in his truck and then dropping them off in the center of town where the night was just getting started for a large number of young hip party goers. Joan lead Freya confidently down the street to what could easily be mistaken for an abandoned storefront if it weren't for the throbbing beat leaking up through the sidewalk.
"Here we are Fry, Club 411."
Joan knocked on the door. A bouncer opened it, looked at Joan, then looked at Freya.
"Oh, she's with me," said Joan, taking Freya's hand.
"Oh, sure thing Miss," said the bouncer granting them both admission.
"Um, Joan? It's a little loud," said Freya, trying to speak over the high intensity music.
"What?"
"It's really loud! What do we do here?!"
"Just have a good time! Let the music move you!"
Freya tried to get into things, moving her body in time to the beat, but without the contextual knowledge of the club scene Freya was finding most of the social interactions strange and confusing. About an hour later she felt a tap on her back and saw Joan there smiling at her."
"Heya there Fry, you don't look like you're having a very good time."
"Oh, well, its alright, you know I love new experiences."
"Well I got you a little something that should help get you more into the flow," said Joan, discretely holding out a pair of pills and a bottle of water.
"What is that?"
"Oh, just something like what they give you back in the hospital to feel better."
"Joan...I really don't know...."
"Come on, I want you to have a good time. I took some, you can see I'm having a good time," laughed Joan.
Freya took a breath, reached out taking the pills and the water and then drank them both down.
"Hang on to your tits Fry, you're going to be flying before the night is over."
Freya continued to dance and make idle conversation with other males in the club. The drinks they bought her were seemed to be producing more intriguing effects than the pills Joan had offered and Freya was beginning to enjoy the numb buzzing that has permeated her body along with the pounding music and flashing lights. Suddenly as Freya danced near the corner of the bar an image of a woman's face popped into her mind, then another, then another. As Freya stopped and tried to concentrate on the first real thing she could remember that hadn't occurred in the past three weeks she got more flashes, a group of women, soldiers, explosions, energy blasts. Freya grabbed the bar to steady herself.
"Oh crap, what did Joan give me. I must be having some sort of hallucination."
Freya grabbed her head again as more images flashed through her mind. Tree lined streets, an apartment, a binary star out of the window of a transport ship, but unlike an hallucination all the images came with context. She knew the name of the ship, the address of the apartment and the length of the street. Freya's breath quickened, unsure if these were memories or something she had seen on the Internet. Suddenly she looked down at her body, instead of the black top she was somehow wearing a blue metallic leotard. She reached down to touch the material finding it warm and rubbery and producing a sensation that was the same as if she were touching her own skin. Her fingers felt an imperfection in the fabric, it felt like some sort of seam. Tracing it around Freya found the seam formed a rounded off square just below her breasts. For some unknown reason Freya dug in her fingernails, the seam began to widen. Freya pulled and part of her chest ripped loose in her hands exposing a mass of silver metal, optical cable and flickering crystals. Freya began to scream.
"Freya!!!"
"Gah!" Freya found herself staring at the floor, there was a hand on her shoulder and several pairs of legs pointed in her direction.
"Freya are you ok? You sort of spaced out for a second and fell to your knees. How much have you had to drink? Do you think you need to leave?" said Joan, clearly worried she was going to have to leave the club before either closing time or being able to hook up with a guy.
Freya's wild eyes darted about before gradually settling down. She stood up and looked at Joan.
"I'll be fine...I think some of the flashing lights made me dizzy. I'll remember not to stare directly at them in the future."
"Oh, good. Think you might be up for another hour or two?"
"Of course, although I just might want to sit at the bar and collect my thoughts a little," Freya replied before turning to the men who had congregated around her. "Alright, which one of you guys wants to buy a hot girl a drink."
Noting which hand went up first Freya turned to the bar tender. "Hey barkeep, I'll have a Boston Tea Party."
"Um, I'm sorry Miss, I am unfamiliar with that type of drink."
"Well here's how you make one," replied Freya, grabbing the credit card pen and jotting down the ingredients on a bar napkin.
Joan gave Freya a funny look. "For someone who's lost their memory you certainly know a lot about mixed drinks."
"Let's just I'm a quick study," said Freya before she turned away, her eyes lost in contemplation. "Oh Joan, before you go can you please get me a contact where I might be able to score more of those fun pills?"
"Um Freya, are you sure that's wise? I didn't want to get you hooked or anything."
"I'll be alright, I think they might be helping me remember things."
"Sure, I'll see what I can do," said Joan before melting back into the crowd.
Freya turned back to the bar where her drink was waiting and began to sip it.
"Rolland, you are going to PAY for this."
"What was that?" inquired her drink patron who was sitting next to her.
"Oh, nothing. This guy I know just stole some stuff I left at his place. So, keep telling me about what you do."
Tuning the guy out Freya went back to planning her next moves in the privacy of her now freed mind. The bot turned human wasn't too alarmed. Rolland wasn't some criminal mastermind after all, he was just some loser kid. His plan had come apart so quickly that Freya was sure she could get her body back and cover the whole little incident up. All she needed was to obtain a weapon and a supply of cash to allow her a degree of independent action. After that, she would confront Rolland and merge with her android shell and finally, clean up all the lose ends. Freya decided not to go into detail on the lose ends bit, preferring just to play things by ear, however an idle thought crossed her mind. What if this Joan person hadn't met her at the hospital, taken her to a club and given her an illegal drug? How long would she have been stuck in a human body? What if she were left unable to merge back into her Sister shell? Freya quickly tried to banish the unsettling questions. She was free and that was that.
"Hey, are you alright?"
Freya's shot back to the world around her and the man sitting beside her.
"What?"
"You hand, it was shaking. Are you alright?"
"I...I'm fine, just something that happens to me sometimes I guess. Go on, you had me really interested there."
Hoo boy, Rolland's in trouble now! If Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, then just imagine what a trained military gynoid can do to his sorry butt.... 