A Change is as Good as a Rest

[magneto]

Of course Erik hadn't personally spent the early hours of the morning preparing the machine. That's what the staff were for. He had spent the hours since dawn in the metal-filled training room that had become the focus of his attention for three hours out of every day. Practise, it was once said, made perfect.

Erik still had a long way to go to get back to perfect.

Little by little his powers were seeping back though. He may yet have been a long way off hurling national landmarks about, but all things would come in time.

By nine o'clock he was ready for the day ahead, and the possibility of bringing another Mockant into the fold.

Ana possessed the boundless curiosity of intelligent youth. She was also reckless. That was something he would have to work on with her if she survived.

And if she didn't, well there were always other volunteers.

Sooner or later he would hit on the formula for flawless mutation, and then there would be no more need for conflict.

Homo-superior would reign supreme.

[ana]

Most of her evening had, surprisingly, been spent sleeping. Though Ana had spent a good couple of hours in the medical lab running through tests, recording the results so that they could be compared with the same tests after the procedure. But Sylvia had gently led her to bed to make sure that she was in the best possible condition for the procedure to come, and Ana had managed to fall asleep pretty quickly.

She'd woken with the sun and spent a good few hours thinking things over, since Erik had wanted her to be sure of herself coming into the procedure. There was nothing that could dissuade her, at least nothing that she could think of. Yeah, there were risks, but there were risks living where she lived, risks getting on planes to go watch her father, risks just walking across the street.

The reward for this, in comparison with the reward for walking across the street, was incredible. Scientific knowledge was first and foremost in her mind, but there was that little bit of her that thought it would be very cool to get some impressive mutant power.

Dressing quickly, Ana María headed down toward the facility and ignored the slightest fluttering of butterflies in her stomach.

It will be worth it.

The thought didn't help.

[magneto]

Erik was giving the machine one last check when she arrived. He had checked that all the seals were still intact and that the radiation levels were within tolerable levels, for the staff as well as the prospective Mockant.

Everything seemed to be in order.

"Good morning my dear," he greeted Ana warmly.

"You havn't been up all night working on your tests I trust?"

He already knew that she hadn't, the staff had made sure she had taken at least some rest to prepare for the trial ahead.

And it would be a trial, of that there was no doubt.

Erik was pretty sure she was unaware of exactly how difficult the change could be, even if it did succeed. If it failed, the consequences could be much, much worse.

[ana]

"Good morning, Mr Lensherr." Ana smiled shyly, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear in a nervous gesture. Shaking her head, she looked down at the floor.

"No, I slept very well. I spent a lot of time this morning thinking." The long pause could have seemed like a prelude to refusing the procedure, but Ana's next words condradicted the feeling.

"Is there anything else I need to do in preperation?" She hadn't actually eaten, instead filling her stomach with water to take away the empty feeling.

But she wasn't sure what was involved in the procedure, whether she needed to change into a medical gown, if there was anything else she needed to do. She'd done her very best to avoid finding out just what the procedure actually involved, in case it put her off.

All for science.

Licking her lips nervously, Ana nodded to herself.

[magneto]

Erik gave her a warm smile.

"Just try to relax my dear, and get changed into one of these."

He gestured to one of the form fitting white suits that was hanging on the wall nearby. They looked thin and elastic but with a number of odd bulges around where some of the bodies nerve clusters were located.

"The suit is designed to help us monitor the changes in your body as they occur and also helps us regulate the flow of energy into the chamber."

He turned and faced the large metal banded device that looked like a prop from The Fly.

"Take as long as you need, there are staff changing rooms through there," he indicated a door off to the left.

[ana]

Taking the suit, Ana wandered over to the changing rooms and quickly sripped off. Pulling the white suit on, she sat for a moment and took a few deep breaths.

Pushing her hair behind her ears, the young Colombian looked down at the floor before padding back out in her bare feet to where the group was assembled.

There was a growing apprehension now as she looked at the assembled group, unsure what was going to happen to her or even if she would survive.

It's going to be alright.

Though she repeated the thought several times, it didn't help reassure her.

Dios te salve María, llena eres de gracia, el Señor es contigo, bendita tú eres entre todas las mujeres, y bendito es el fruto de tu vientre, Jesús. Santa María, Madre de Dios, ruega por nosotros pecadores ahora y en la hora de nuestra muerte. Amén.

The Hail Mary. She wasn't as deeply religious as some, but her old maid had taught her the prayer and she found it comforting sometimes.

"I'm ready."

[magneto]

Erik nodded to her slowly and gestured for her to enter the complex looking device.

"Prepare to take a step into a larger world my dear. The change has been different every time, sometimes there is pain and sometimes it has been as if nothing happened at all. Try to relax and be ready for anything."

With that, the clear plexi-glass door slid open with a hiss and a few tendrils of chilly mist seeped out into the lab.

The scientists and technicians punched a few buttons and rechecked pressure and radiation levels. Everything was within the normal parameters.

"Fortune favours the bold," Erik quoted and waited for her to step inside.

[ana]

One last look at the people around her, and Ana stepped into the chamber. It was cool, cooler than the lab, but her suit must have been designed to work with that as well as monitor vital signs and radiation levels.

She tried not to think about that as she stood somewhat nervously in the centre of the chamber, looking around to see what was in there.

Very little, actually.

Ana could hear muffled voices, a slight hum, and she found herself looking with interest at the ceiling. Because it felt like absolutely nothing was happening, aside from a slight tingling in her fingertips.

That could very well have just been the way she was standing, though.

She didn't know how long she was standing in there but it felt like forever before the door finally slid open again and she looked out curiously.

"Is there a problem?"

She didn't feel any different. She didn't feel anything, really, except a little bored and quite hungry.

No, wait, that feeling in her stomach wasn't hunger.

With a very quiet "Oh," Ana Maria Grisales buckled over and emptied the contents of her stomach. Water and gastric fuids, and nothing more. She hadn't eaten since her meal with Mr Lensherr the previous night.

"I am sorry." Pushing her hair out of her face and wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, Ana felt an extreme embarrassment. Not to mention acutely aware of the fact that she had just vomited everywhere.

Her throat burning and her mouth tasting horrible, Ana covered her mouth in shame.

"Please, I will clean up."

Well, apparently something had happened. She just didn't know what, yet.

[magneto]

The procedure went flawlessly. There was no sign of any cellular degradation and no trace of radiation poisoning; for all intents and purposes everything had gone as planned. The vital signs all remained within tolerable levels during the entire process, a first since the experimentation began. Adam's had been close to stable throughout but not quite perfect, while Anthony had suffered a severe spike in physical stress.

Erik gave her a smile as she left the chamber. Fortunately, her vomit managed to miss him.

"As reactions go, there have been much worse my dear," scouring the pod clean of liquefied tissue had been much, much worse than a pool of sick.

"Do not worry yourself," he looked over at one of the medical staff on hand, "take Ana down to one of the medical examination rooms and check her over."

He looked back at her.

"Welcome to the future my dear."

[ana]

A kind faced woman was holding her clothes, waiting for her to come down to the medical labs for basic observation.

"Thank-you, I'm fine." Ana didn't want sympathy when all she'd done was be ill, and she still felt incredibly embarrassed about being ill all over the floor.

Her head swam as she took the first step, and she had a feeling of being hyper aware. She could feel the people in the room, feel those entering from the door behind her, feel the watery vomit on the floor and the glass of water and mop bucket that the orderlies behind her had brought.

She blinked for a few moments and the feeling went away. Turning, she didn't really notice when she was completely right about what had been behind her.

"Thank-you." Taking the glass that was offered, Ana followed the kind-looking woman down toward the medical labs, where she had to insist again that she was fine.

For several hours.

All she wanted to do was have a shower and something to eat.

[Exit Ana]