For five hours straight, Larry didn’t move from his spot by the surgical table. His hands moved consistently, and so did the mechanical arms extending DAEDALUS.
He divided his work by muscles and worked on each area separately. First, he would cut a roughly square-shaped patch of the skin using his scalpel, then he would command the mechanical arms to remove it by carefully separating the connective tissue of the hypodermis layer using a blunt dissector and other specialized tools.
The exposed part is then separated into a modular grid using the same neon green lines that map the incision route. Then comes the most interesting part of a bionic implantation surgery: placing the implant.
First, a layer of smart neural mesh is applied to the exposed parts, placating the severed nerve endings. A specialized mechanical arm then reaches into the box containing the segmented parts of the KAPSU-L15 and takes hold of the hexagonal plates one at a time. Simultaneously, a different arm applies biocompatible Nanobonding gel to the section of the grid where the plate is meant to be placed.
The KAPSU-L15 plates were made from smart polymer. Though they appeared rather soft and barely thicker than a piece of cardstock paper, their properties allow them to absorb the kinetic force of anything that comes into contact with them, making them capable of stopping bullets and protecting the bones and organs behind them.
Each of the plates is placed into its dedicated spot with calculated precision, leaving barely any gaps between them. Once the entire section is completed, it appears as if it has been covered in a layer of hard scales.
The same process is then repeated with the other parts, and once it’s done, a layer of Anti-inflammatory fluid is applied, and the previously removed skin is then sutured back in place using absorbable stitches and a small dose of Nanomeds.
Some people prefer to replace the outer layer of their skin with a synthetic substitute that offers additional protection, but many keep using their natural skin until it’s completely destroyed.
Done with the first part, Larry let the Nanomeds do their job and went to take a break, eating some lunch and having a much-needed smoke. When he returned to the operating room about an hour later, the front side of KAPSU-L15 had already settled in its place, and the skin around it healed, leaving fresh scars behind as proof of the successful procedure.
With that done, it was time to move on to the second part of the surgery.
Removing the straps holding the patient in place, Larry commands some of the mechanical arms to lift him up and flip him over. The surgical table is then replaced with one that has a wide gap at the center. When Dante is placed on it, the new table adjusts itself so the gap at its center surrounds his chest and abdomen, leaving the areas that had been operated on untouched.
The surgery resumed and Larry went about the same steps, gradually implanting the subdermal armor to Dante’s back. This time, it took him only four hours to finish, but by then, he was completely exhausted.
After another smoke break, Larry returned to the operating room for the final part of the surgery. Usually, it only involved administering antibiotics, Anti-inflammatory medication, and a proper dose of Nanomeds to hasten the recovery process. Due to a request made by the patient himself, however, those parts had to be delayed.
Two assistant robots carried a long tub into the room. Another one brought a tube and filled two-thirds of it with water, and a fourth added a few buckets of ice into it.
Waiting a few minutes for the water to cool down, Larry then instructs the arms of his DAEDALUS to carry Dante’s unconscious body and gradually submerge it into the iced bath, leaving only his head above the surface of the water.
Even at this point, Larry still has no idea why the red-haired youth insisted on having a cold bath right after surgery. He obviously asked for an explanation, but the only response he got was that the less he knew, the better.
As a trusted underground doctor, Larry knew better than to shove his nose where it doesn’t belong, but curiosity still got the better of him, so he remained in the room waiting for something to happen. He didn’t have to wait for long.
A couple of minutes after the youth was submerged into the iced water, some parts of his body began to emit a faint glow. Before long, his entire chest turned a pinkish red, and his abdomen followed soon, making his torso appear like when one places their thumb on a flashlight.
Since he didn’t remove the probs connected to him, Larry could still get a reading on Dante’s condition. The first thing that caught his attention was the sudden spike in temperature, and seeing the degree it reached in a matter of seconds caused the underground doctor to be covered in cold sweat.
That was not a simple fever. The young man was burning alive right in front of him, and since he was submerged in water and there was no fire covering him, it could only mean that the heat was coming from inside his body.
As his eyes widened from the realization, Larry remembered the time Dante came to him with injured hands. Up until now, he didn’t understand how someone’s hands could be burned from the inside while leaving their outer skin completely intact, but now he was given a hint. Whatever was happening to the segmented armor implanted under the youth’s skin, it was the exact same phenomenon that caused his hands to burn from the inside.
Though the iced water helped a little, it couldn’t do much about the inner layer of the skin currently being seared. Any fat in the area is likely burned at this point, and the damage will keep piling until the skin itself can no longer hold on.
As the minutes ticked by, Larry could only watch in horror, not knowing what he should do about the situation. The fact that the red-haired youth was still unconscious from the anesthesia brought him some relief. He did not want to think about the excruciating pain he would be experiencing at the moment if he were awake.