Chapter 83 - Both? Both.

As 427 successfully diverts Lucas's attention away from where his wandering gaze insisted on landing, Lucas had quickly become quite invested in his retelling of the sisterhood's stories.

'GodDAMN. I feel like I can barely survive if the fridge happens to be empty. Three pre-teen girls survived being homeless through a superpower-fueled war? Fuckin' ridiculous. There had to have been a ton of real awful shit she didn't bring up...'

[I would assume so. Even if they had still been with their family, there would have been no small number of horrid events as the war raged on around them. I must admit though, there was something amusing about hearing an external source mentioning Maynard, and in such a positive light in this day and age to boot.]

'Eh? Oh, so he was the hero she mentioned? Huh, small world.'

[Quite so. I imagine that if we were aware of the extent of Miss Calculated's... Development of knowledge at the time, things would have gone quite differently. No guarantee that the researchers that would have wanted to take her in would have been as welcoming to her sisters as well though. If she were desperate enough, Miss Chievous surely could have managed to squeeze in as well, but who could say what would have become of Miss Masher, particularly since that was before her powers had even begun to develop.]

'...Well, that's dark. I can guess pretty damn easily what would have happened to her if she was left alone without her powers.'

[...Exactly. Unfortunately, especially as they were already clearly on the losing side by then, the heroes and their associates were in no shape to tend to individuals that had nothing to offer in return.]

'...Some heroes they were.'

[Says the poor mockery of a faux villain.]

'Hey! Not by choice!'

[You made it quite clear you wouldn't choose to be a hero either.]

'Damn right, I'd just stay home and not bother anyone! If more people did, the world would be better than it is now!'

[...It depends on which people stayed home. Regardless, the scan is nearly complete.]

427 replicates a soft sigh as Lucas returns to reality. Shortly after he has shifted his attention back onto the world around him, there is a beep as the machinery determines it has finished with its task. The wire-frame display of Willy is rather detailed by the time it has run a few passes, there is even a bit of texturing for his fur.

"Ah, so I can just touch right on the screen where he should get the chip?" As Lucas absentmindedly asks Natalie for confirmation, he has already started bringing his hand up toward the display.

"Mmhmm. Waitaminute, stop! You're as much of a brute as Mash is, aren't you!? I'll do it, don't touch it!" As Natalie manages to defend the fragile screen from a Lucas-finger-sized crack, she waves his hand off and rotates the angle of view, zooming in on the previously indicated hind leg.

"Wanna just put it near the spot that's already shaved?" As Natalie asks while looking at the zoomed-in image on the screen, Willy barks once in response before Lucas has a chance to say anything.

"Ha, guess that answers that. Go for it." Lucas chuckles a bit, stepping back as he gives her a bit more space, realizing he was probably standing too close for her to comfortably interact with the display.

Pausing a moment to smile in acknowledgment at Lucas for the personal space he gave her, Natalie double-taps on the selected area on the display, causing a new arm of machinery to come out to get to work. It secures Willy's leg firmly in place and cleans the area with disinfectant, uses a laser scalpel to open the incision, then precisely inserts the chip it had removed from the static-shielding case. Stopping a moment to adjust the calibrations of the laser, it then cauterizes the incision point, binding his flesh back together without any need for stitches.

'...After how long the scan took, that seems a bit anticlimactic with how quick it was.'

[Measure twice, cut once.]

'Yeah, yeah, whatever.'

Once the machinery has released its hold on Willy and retracted fully back into itself, Natalie goes over to undo all of the straps and helps him back down off of the table. Expressing his thankfulness for her not being a troll, unlike a certain other individual in the room, he licks one of her cheeks in a kiss while she has him lifted in her arms to help him down. Breaking out in a fresh smile, Natalie giggles a bit at the sign of affection.

'NO FAIR!'

[...Which one?]

'...'

[Heheh, which one of them are you more jealous of, Lucas?]

'...'

[So both, got it.]

As 427 floods Lucas's mind with laughter, Willy gingerly sets the recently augmented leg down slowly, gently easing his weight onto it to test for any discomfort. Thankfully, everything is fine, the only aftermath being a slightly itchy sensation where the surface needs to completely heal, which would be sufficient motivation for an inferior doggo to want to chew at it, certainly.

"Well, you guys are all set, shall we head on back?" As Natalie heads over and holds open the door, Lucas awkwardly scratches the back of his head as he follows Willy out the door she is holding open.

"Uh, er, yeah, let's." Managing a decidedly NOT smooth response, Lucas starts heading back the way they originally came from to get to the surgery room in the first place.

-----

Lucas kills this chapter: 0

Lucas total kills: 7

Lucas deaths this chapter: 0

Lucas total deaths: 10

Lucas current GDV: 8.98

Lucas's fame level: 2.75* (Mostly just local)

Lucas's hero suspicion level: 1.5* (Only highly paranoid people)

Jonathan kills this chapter: 0

Jonathan total kills: 5

Jonathan deaths this chapter: 0

Jonathan total deaths: 2

Jonathan current GDV: 2.01 (+.01 net change)

Jonathan's fame level: 1.75* (Just local)

Jonathan's hero suspicion level: 1* (Only highly paranoid people)

Supervillain social circle size: 10

-----

Little character theater:

Jonathan, proving to be an attentive audience to Miss Masher's tales when regaling her early feats of strength, which only encourages her further: Ooh, sweet!

Willy, still subconsciously favoring the leg even though it doesn't necessarily hurt, the tingly itch is just a bit off-putting, looking up at the awkwardly behaving Lucas: Bark?

Lucas, now trying to redirect 427's attention: Hey, what else are they talking about now?

427, finally done laughing: [Hold on, I'll ask 011 if there were any more stories worth repeating...]

Author, tauntingly: No kissies for you Lucas.

Mr.. Quacks, confident he would have been able to conduct the surgery every bit as efficiently as the machinery: Quack.