Brown colored eyes opened and stared up at the ceiling as Jane awoke from her slumber. It only took her a moment before she reached over and switched off her alarm clock. It hadn’t even gone off, but she knew it would in a few minutes. She still set it despite her body’s internal clock waking her up roughly the same time each day, always around five thirty AM. 

Reaching down with her left arm she threw the covers off and turned to get out of bed, as she did her eyes wandered to the top of her dresser and the metallic object which sat atop it before the vanity. Switching the light on as she walked over towards it, Jane couldn’t help close her eyes and sigh for a moment before opening them and grabbing hold of it and bringing it up to her right side. Looking down at the metallic port which was installed on her right side, taking up the place where her right shoulder blade had been, and going further in to just before her right breast and around her back. 

Gripping the cyber prosthesis tightly, she let out a steady breath before inserting it into the port. Immediately a flash of pain ran through her right side causing her to grit her teeth and dig her toes into the carpet below, but she didn’t scream, she held it in as best she could before a second later it was gone, the feeling having disappeared almost as soon as it arrived. Jane allowed herself a groan before flexing her now attached right hand and rolling the arm around as she would her left. 

Walking over to her closet, she discarded the sleeveless top and shorts she wore as pyjamas on the bed and pulled out a clean pair of track pants, a t-shirt and a hoodie. She tossed them on before grabbing a pair of socks and heading out of her bedroom, walking till she reached the living room and going through till she reached the front door. Putting on the socks and a pair of well worn Nike sneakers, she made sure to grab her keys before heading out for her morning jog.

The street was still dark as the sun had yet to come up fully, but she paid it no mind as she set off for the morning. 

~0~

Opening up her apartment door, Jane stepped and kicked off her sneakers near the door before walking in and making her way to the kitchen. Going for the fridge she grabbed a large cold bottle of water, not bothering to pour it into a glass she instead gulped down several mouthfuls of the cool liquid till her thirst was quenched. Putting it down as she took a breath before abandoning the bottle and walking back down towards her bedroom, going further down the hall and passing the door to her room, she kept going till she reached the next door and walked into the bathroom. 

It was a good sized bathroom, with a toilet in the back left corner, a glass shower on the left of the door, a sink and mirror to the right with drawers below it for her toiletries and other items. She also had a bath facing along the right hand back corner facing the toilet, though she rarely used it. 

She quickly shed the hoodie, her t-shirt and track pants were clinging to her body and moistened with sweat as she peeled them off and tossed them into the laundry hamper she placed beside the bath, followed by tossing the socks and her underwear and bra in, leaving her bare naked. 

Jane couldn’t help but see the sight of her body in the mirror, her toned left arm showing off the hours and hours of physical training she’d undergone weekly, and still did. The prominent abdominal muscles going down her stomach and the same toned chiseled look of her legs. Though that wasn’t what she focused on. 

No, it was the scars. 

Surrounding the cybernetic port were a series of mottled and discolored marks of healed burns, some of which extended onto the right side of her breast. Jagged looking scars marker even further down on her ribcage, speckled bits of more discolored flesh as well as larger patches going down her right leg and lower back. She couldn’t hold back the grimace though at the sight of the arm, that damned metallic silver prosthetic that couldn’t help but draw her attention in the light of the bathroom every damn morning.

She clenched her right hand into a fist as she forced herself to turn away and enter the shower. It being water resistant was another added benefit of it. Showers, baths, spas and pools weren’t off limits like the other models she was presented back when she first received it. Although, showing it off in public especially in a pool was not on her agenda. Not to mention she could wear it while sleeping, but after one too many nights of waking up from nightmares with holes in her wall or torn bedding and other damage caused by the cybernetic limb, she stopped wearing it while unconscious as it seemed the arm had a mind of its own. 

Stepping into the shower she turned the handles and let the cold water pour down upon her, waiting for it to heat up before beginning to clean the sweat and dirt from her body, scrubbing along her organic arm and closing her eyes as she continued down, tracing along her abs and stomach. 

She washed the rest of her body before moving onto her hair, saving it for last. Squirting a liberal amount of shampoo into her hands she lathered it through her short dark auburn hair, ensuring the reddish brown locks were thoroughly soapy as well as her scalp before leaning back and letting the water wash it away. 

Jane spent a few more minutes in the shower before finally turning it off. Quickly grabbing a towel from the rack she had beside the shower along the left bathroom wall, she began to dry herself. 

~0~

Once again in her bedroom, Jane began to dress herself for the day, but was interrupted by the sound of her phone ringing out from her bedside table. Seeing the familiar caller ID flash on the screen, Jane picked the phone up and hesitated for a moment before answering. 

“Hey” 

“Morning.” Her older sister’s voice on the other end said before yawning, obviously she’d just woken up. “I just wanted to call and make sure you’re still going today?”

Jane hesitated again for a moment before replying. “Yeah, I’m still going.” she said, her tone showing an obvious lack of enthusiasm. 

“Still don’t think it’ll do any good the fourth time around, but whatever.”

“Janie, we talked about this.” Her sister replied softly. 

“I remember you doing a lot of talking.” Jane said back with a huff. 

“Look I know you didn’t have much success with the other three, but that’s why I handled organizing it this time, I vetted them and everything.” Her caller said before several seconds of silence filled the air before she spoke again. “I...you know I’m just trying to help you….right?” 

Her tone alone told Jane there was tears welling up in the other woman’s eyes. 

Jane couldn’t help but look to the floor, her left hand gripping the phone tightly as she tried to suppress the flash of guilt that brought her. 

“Yeah, I know Sandy.” 

“Just call me this afternoon. Let me know how it goes, or just tell me if you want to keep going, ok? It seems like the real deal.”

Jane suppressed the urge to let out a sigh, she’d thought that of the last four she’d seen but didn’t voice her opinion, merely answering evenly.

“Yeah ok.” she said as she eased her right hand out of the fist she’d unconsciously curled it into. “Look I’ve got to go, I’m going to have some breakfast before I head out, I’ll talk to you later.” 

“Alright, I hope your session goes well and regardless, try and have a good day...ok?” 

“I’ll try to.” Jane said after a moment with the same even tone, before she ended the call and placed her phone back on the bedside table. For several seconds she just stood there and stared at the wall in silence before letting out a breath and remembering what she had to do. 

Breakfast first, then she could focus on what came next. 

-------------------------------------------------

“Sergeant Rodgers, you’re up next to see the doc.” As Jane tried her best to cover up her one bit of shame born out of war not many were proud to fight in, she stood up, put on her black glove that covered her right hand while leaving the other bare. She was here to get diagnosed by the marines top PTSD specialist to see where her head was at after her years of service and her most recent injuries. She just hoped there wouldn’t be any more of those terrible meds she didn’t even bother to take, whereas if she was deemed clear, she would be sent back home for good, ready to see civilian life once more. She just had to hope this new doctor she was seeing would maybe let her off with some form of leniency.

Her current situation was not ideal, she had been on medical leave for the past few months since she’d had her prosthesis attached, and had thus returned home for the duration of her leave, until she was given a full psychological evaluation and assessment.Though technically she was still in the military service, just not active currently and it made her feel trapped between two separate worlds, not quite out but at the same time not quite in. 

She’d dealt with four other psychiatrists in the past few months and none of them had done her any good, all too ready to prescribe a cocktail of drugs and none of them seemingly having the desire to actually help, and thus she’d moved on to another, but it had done her no good. She felt like a statistic or just a test subject of study to them, and less like a human being. Needless to say those experiences had turned her off wanting to see any more ‘specialists’.

However her sister had been the one to suggest seeing this new doctor, even going over her head to her CO after having looked into them, and recommended this one specifically, and thus here Jane was for the fifth time about to start this whole routine over again. Maybe the fifth time was the charm.

“Yeah yeah, I’m coming. Tell the doc I’ll be there in a few seconds. He can wait a few more minutes.” Jane said as she walked over to the door, her gloved hand in a fist as she tried to convince herself she needed this, no matter how humiliating it was.

“Well she’s waiting in room ten-A, and please try to show her some respect. From what I heard, she’s put in more hours to be here than any other doctor. Knows her shit, might even manage to get into that thick head of yours.” The soldier at the door laughed at his own terrible joke as Jane walked through, brushing up against him with her arm. She’d never had a female psychiatrist, only guys. Maybe this would be a nice change of pace. A much gentler touch, which was something Jane hadn’t felt since her mother passed a few years ago, right before she got deployed. It had been a hard time, especially when her father was rarely there for her even before her mother’s passing. Not that it mattered now, considering what she lost back in Seoul.

As Jane made her way through the halls, she couldn’t help but overhear some conversations going on between patients and their own doctors. She recognized some of the voices, some being members of her former squad 'Occam's Razor’. Corporal Achersen being one of them. To her surprise, the door to the office was slightly open allowing her to peer somewhat into it. To her surprise, the one once hard as nails corporal was actually bawling his eyes as he spoke about the attack that killed half of the squad and injured Jane along with several others with the corporal being one of the few to come out with minor injuries by comparison. Jane grabbed hold of her arm as she felt it tense up, just like the surgeons warned her about if she was ever overstressed. Seeing the man she saw as nothing more than a killing machine broken down crying to the doctor who was carefully taking notes proved to Jane that she wasn’t the only one bottling up her pent up emotions.

“Sergeant Rodgers, Dr. Silva is waiting. Sergeant Rodgers, ten-A.” The intercom rang out as it soon snapped her out of her eavesdropping. She came here for a reason, and that was to get help from this new doctor. Just had to hope this one would actually try to help her rather than just toss her some pills and send her on her way. 

~0~

Chloe took a deep breath in and out as she sat on the desk. This was her dream job, helping soldiers in need of assistance. She was trained for years just to get this and had overcome many obstacles but still the only thing that frightened her was the people she was supposed to be helping. She’d had terrible experiences with the humans that stood hundreds of feet tall in comparison to her while some good as well. Coming from a mixed sized family usually leads to a more open interaction when it came to meeting humans but not with Chloe. Even if her adopted mother and sister were loving towards her and her father, humans were still frightening to the small girl.

It was a difficult time in high school, that’s all Chloe would ever speak of about her own issues but now that she was helping others, she could focus on their problems rather than her own. And with this new patient, Lt. Jane Rodgers, was not going to be an easy nut to crack open. She’d taken the time to read her file, or at least the parts not censored by the higher ups and it was not looking good for the young marine. Almost three years in that hell known as The Burning Circle. On top of that, four other therapists have all tried to crack the enigma that was Jane with no luck. It was not going to be easy.

Chloe took one deep breath as she heard the familiar footsteps of military boots at her door. She gulped down whatever fears she had remaining inside her and wiped the sweat off her brow as not to show this young and arrogant lieutenant that she was in any way unqualified to assist her in these troubling times. With two simple knocks on the glass door, Chloe yelled as loud as she could allowing the giant soldier to hear her. “Come in, I’m expecting you!”

Fortunately, the door was carefully opened, revealing a massive woman with the usual gray digital camouflage uniform with long sleeves covering both her arms, but the right hand was completely covered up by a black glove that was noticeably absent on the other hand, peeking Chloe’s interest in the young, giant marine. She was astonished by her gorgeous looks, the perfect hairstyle that was present, like a solid wall with gel mixed in to keep it where it was. Chloe’s heart raced as she tried her best not to make too much of a scene as she squirmed in her chair, trying to remain calm as Jane walked up to the chair with her hand waving out to the small doctor, snapping her out of whatever trance she was in.

“I said, ‘hi doctor’. Geez, worst case of deafness I’ve seen so far and I’ve served with guys that stood next to howitzers all day.” Jane laughed as she took a seat directly in front of the small doctor who was still recovering from her trance.

“Hello Sgt. Rodgers, my name is Doctor Chloe Silva, I’ll be your therapist for the next few weeks. I hope we really get to know one another. Before you say anything, yes I know I’m a micro, yes I know how tall you look to me and how short I look to you. I’ve been doing this a lot longer than you think I am. And no, I’m not deaf.” Chloe brought up her clipboard as she looked up at Jane with curiosity. She’d only ever helped male soldiers, both micro and human but never a female. Contrary to popular belief, males were actually more willing to share the trauma they endured rather than their female counterparts. Chloe would be fighting an uphill battle every step of the way.

“Seems you know a lot before I’ve even said it, doc. Guess you’re going to be my ‘be all, end all’ for my trauma. Last doctor I went to said the exact same thing. He said I’d be fixed with him and look where I am now? Here.” Jane was adamant no one would be able to fix her or even find out what was wrong with her, partly due to her stubbornness born out of a desire to be better and not show weakness. 

“Alright then. Shall we start? Because we need to go over a lot in our little amount of time. We’ll start off simple. I’ll even make it easy. I ask a question, you get to ask one about me. How about that?” Chloe read in Jane’s file that she felt the other doctors only saw her as a ‘test subject’ or someone they needed to fix in their first session. Seeing this opportunity to get to know one another would be a bit better than just Jane talking about the traumas she saw back there on the battlefield. Jane nodded with a slight smirk, causing some uneasy feelings with Chloe but she proceeded with the questionnaire. “Where were you born?”

“Thought this was supposed to be about the ‘traumas of war’? Not twenty questions.”

“Jane, we have almost three weeks to delve into your traumas. It’s not healthy to jump into the scary parts first. Trust me. We have more than enough time to get there. Now, where were you born? Stateside or somewhere else?”

Jane sighed as she leaned back into the chair, facing the wall with Chloe at her left, still on the desk. “Wyoming. Just outside of Casper. Do nothing town with more cows than people. Surprised my sister and I got out of there. Not many people do when they graduate.” Jane paused as she thought of her own question to ask the small doctor. “What about you shorty? You don’t strike me as someone who’s not exactly from here.”

“I’m actually from England. My parents moved here a year or two after I was born. Wanted to see me grow up to be something more than they were. We lost my mom in an accident at her work, my dad got remarried to a wonderful mother, who also had a daughter who became my adopted sister. Both of them human.” Chloe tried her best to not let herself falter in her words, and maintain a calm outer appearance as her thoughts on her mother began to flood back to her. It was a tough few years after losing her mom, and later getting a new one in less than a month of her dad dating her, but she was well loved and well taken care of. 

She just wished her mother was still here, though right now as she was working she couldn’t let her emotions get the better of her, she had to appear controlled and be a pillar of support for Jane. “Next question, what made you join the marines? Family member served before you?”

“Umm, I was the first in my family to join. Wanted free college, a new life and somewhere to go. Had no idea North China would invade its neighbors as soon as I signed up. Wasn’t fun like they all said it would be on the brochure.”

“I'm sorry, I really am.”

“Don’t be, doctor. I knew what I signed up for, just hoped I’d had time to get prepared to see my first battle.” Jane said as she suppressed the single tear she felt welling up in her right eye as she thought back to that day. All she really could remember was fire, screams, death and explosions with the smell of smoke and gunpowder in the air. One minute she’s joking around with her friends in the humvee and the next, darkness. Gun fire rang out every which way while Jane laid on the ground with her friends covering all around her. “The news and the brass called it a victory the next day. If only they’d ask the ones who were there, maybe then they’d get the truth.” Jane paused once more as she started to shake, with her arm slowly shaking as well before she grabbed hold of it.

“Is there something wrong with your hand, Jane? You can show me what’s wrong. I won’t have to report it unless you want me to. Promise.” Chloe leaned in her chair as she watched Jane sigh in both annoyance mixed with some level of pain as she brought her sleeve up to her shoulder, allowing the doctor to see the most embarrassing thing about the young soldier. It didn’t shock Chloe however, she worked with a few people, both micro and human that had artificial limbs. Some from a rogue human toying with them, others from a near fatal accident but this was the first time she’d seen a soldier with one, especially with one so advanced. It’s cybernetic viens glowed a deep blue as the electricity could be seen lightly glowing through the outer plating, normally not visible to humans unless magnified or through glasses but as a Micro, Chloe was able to make out the glow easily, especially given her proximity.

“Woah.” Chloe said in genuine awe. “I-I’ve never seen a soldier with a prosthetic of this quality. This is a top of the line model from the design and obvious advancements. Why would you hide such beauty from the world?”

“Because the way I got it….wasn’t pretty. There was a battle in Seoul. We were only supposed to be there to get civilians out before the bombers wasted the city. We didn’t expect a lot of perps there but one minute my friends and I are cracking jokes, the next moment *boom*. I wouldn’t wake up til six hours later in the hospital room, demanding to see the rest of my squad. I reached for the doctor with my right arm, only to see it was nothing but a...a husk of its former self. They said they did their best, but I guess ‘military grade’ isn’t what it once was. It wasn’t until I got home that I got this... thing.”

“Doesn’t look cheap, who paid for it for you?” Chloe leaned in as Jane brought her mechanical arm close to the small woman, who was still stunned by this great leap in technology. The metal seemed solid enough as Chloe reached for it with grace as she felt the cold steel like metal that was on the outer shell.

“My sister, she’s the reason I have it.” Jane said, eyeing the smaller woman.  

“She is obviously very generous, most would be lucky to get a simple arm, yours is so detailed, tell me, can you feel this?” Chloe began to wind up for a punch as Jane just looked down with curiosity. She’d never had a doctor this...into her before. The others either just brushed her off like she was nothing but a simple idiot that got her brain destroyed in the attack and just sent her on her way, prescription in hand or just wrote as she listed all of her traumas without saying a word. She didn’t have much confidence going in to see Chloe but now, she had a little bit of trust in her dedication. 

“Jane? Did you feel that?”

“A little. Shouldn’t we continue our little questionnaire? I’d rather not talk about this thing right now.” Jane brought her arm back to her side while she blushed with embarrassment. 

“I understand, I’m so sorry.” Chloe walked back to her seat, her hand throbbing with pain as both girls felt the punch Chloe had delivered to Jane’s arm but she was facing a majority of the pain right now. “Next question, do you ever wish to see the stars firsthand someday? To touch them yourself?”

Jane set her sleeve back to where it was as she raised an eyebrow in confusion to Chloe’s question. “I don’t understand how that is related? Is this part of the program here?”

“It’s my own question, Jane. I thought it would lighten the mood a bit after you said you didn’t want to talk about your umm..enhancement anymore. It didn’t, did it?”

Jane sighed as she soon kicked off her military style boots from her feet as she leaned back on the chair, finally getting comfortable. “My mother, in the little time I knew her, always said I was going to reach the stars with my goals. I wanted to be an engineer one day, work on rockets all day. Recruiter said I could do just that after I finish my first deployment. Now with this, I can barely hold a soda can without crushing it, let alone work on rocket parts. As soon as they saw this when I went back, they rejected me.” 

Jane leaned back in her chair as she stared up at the ceiling, attempting her best not to break her small act for the doctor. She knew this wasn’t the best play for her treatment but in her defense, the other doctors she went to all said they read her file thoroughly but she knew they all lied, said they did and just turned her out only occasionally taking notes.

“Must’ve been hard to hear your dreams were crushed.” Chloe walked to the edge of the desk and ushered Jane to present her hand as a means of comforting her. “Jane, you know you can tell me anything. It won’t be on the report for the general. Promise.” Chloe knew this report was vital for Jane’s eligibility to return back to her old life and missing some key details might cause some of the top brass to put her under suspicion but she wanted to gain the trust of the young and brash Sergeant. If it meant helping Jane break out of her shell, she was willing to do it.

“That’s what the last quack told me and I'll tell you one thing, he was at least a better liar than you.” Jane grabbed her combat boots as she stood up, adjusting her shirt as she walked to the door. She knew this whole idea her sister had was going to be a waste of a good Saturday afternoon. Although Sandra did vouch for her, Jane saw no interest in listening to anymore doctors who ‘knew’ what she went through. She just wanted to be left alone and forget everything that happened over there. Jane stopped at the door as she kicked on her boots and laced them up tight, just like she was taught. She heard the small and somewhat high pitched voice of the doctor, at first begging her to resume their session but after a few more seconds, those begs became full blown orders yet Jane continued to ignore her. As she did she could almost hear her father’s voice in her head, telling her she was a human who didn’t need a micros help, especially a doctor like her who should stick to dealing with her own kind. 

Jane clenched her eyes shut and tried to ignore those thoughts, she wasn't like her father.

As she reached for the door, a sudden piercing shock erupted from her arm, making her yelp out in pain as she fell to the floor, clutching her metal limb close as she felt the pain surge throughout her entire body. There was only one pain that came close to the pain she was experiencing right now. And that was the day she lost the arm itself. The memories flew back to her as she felt like this was going to be worse than the day. Jane clenched her arm tight as she tried her best to figure out exactly what was wrong with this piece of shit now? Jane always doubted the reliability of something they considered state of the art. Periodically, it would shock her in small amounts but never to this degree.

Suddenly, the shocks were stopped. Out of the blue, the pain was gone and Jane took a sigh of relief from the pain as she soon felt the tiny yet surgical-like precision at work. Looking down at her arm, she saw it was actually Chloe who was working underneath a panel near the wrist. “You? You saved me.”

“Of course I did.  You’re my patient. Look, I don’t care what you think about me, I just want to help you, I do think you need some help, maybe even some emotional support. I promise I’m not going to prescribe you pills and send you on your way.” Chloe sealed off the panel she was working on as she was soon picked up by the soldier, fully expecting to be yelled at by her, saying how wrong she was but instead was met by the soft and delicate face of a young woman that just needed someone who was there for her. “I do my best to help my patients, I promise if you give me just one chance, I’ll do so much better than the other doctors did with you. Ok?”

“Fine, I trust you. A little bit more.”

“That’s all I need to hear. You can go if you want, it’s your choice. After that episode, I was thinking just bed rest for a day or two. Sound good to you?”

“No new appointments, doc?” Jane asked as she carefully stood up and walked over to the desk to put the inch tall woman back where she wanted to be. 

“How about this Friday? You can make whatever time you want. I’ll be here all day.”

“Yeah, Friday can work.” Jane turned around, still holding onto her arm as there was still some pain from the present, even after Chloe had repaired it. She reached for the door and left feeling just a little bit better than when she came in. She had real hope to get better with this, after all.