Ten days had passed, the doctor and a nurse came once more to check on Samuel.
"Good morning Mr. Terrence. How are you feeling today?"
"I am bored out of my skull doctor"
The doctor laughed.
"Yeah, is a common complaint among our patients"
The doctor put on the latex gloves and started removing the bandages, the wounds had healed without problems.
"Any pain?" asked the doctor.
"Not really, just a small sensation of itching, specially in my head, is weird, the only way I can describe it is... like a bug is scratching in my brain every now and then, I don't know... feels like when ants crawl on your skin, but inside my head"
"Yes, thats normal, it means the implants are settling in your nervous system. It will go away with time"
The doctor removed the staples.
"You condition is great, tomorrow will be your second activation, are you ready?"
"Sure" answered Samuel, although there was some hesitation in his voice.
"Good, in a few minutes a nurse assistant will come and take you to the image department for a resonance. See you tomorrow Mr. Terrence"
Samuel just nodded. The doctor left, few minutes later a male nurse assistant came and took him away. After being inside the nuclear resonance tube for almost an hour; the annoying low pitched clank, clank, of the machine gave him a headache, but the study was finally over. They moved Samuel to his room. He didn't stay there for long, he walked out and joined Hector in his room.
"How are you doing Hector?"
"I'm good homes, I'm good"
"Really?"
"No homes, I'm shitting my pants, tomorrow is gonna be hell"
"Same here, it was a lot easier when I didn't know what was gonna happen, but now that we know, well..."
"Men, this is gonna hurt"
Both men stood there in silence for a while, then they started talking about some trivial things like their calls with their family and a few other things until the nurse came to send them to bed.
The day came, it was time for the second activation. Samuel and Hector looked at each other as their wheelchairs moved along the hallway, none of them had much of a sleep.
Samuel was taken to a room filled with computers and machines, in the middle of the room stood a replica of a cockpit, with the silhouette of a person in the middle of the squared metal structure. There was a helmet that had many cables connected; the cables went up to the roof and then were distributed to the many machines, the bracelets for arms and legs also had many cables which connected to some more machines and computers on the sides of the cockpit.
"Mr. Terrence, this is will be your second activation. This is a simulation of what might happen during your piloting experience in the future. I ain't gonna lie, this will hurt, although this time it will be a lot better than last time" one of the doctors and a nurse came to greet him.
"Ready?" Asked the nurse.
"No, but lets go" answered Samuel taking a deep breath.
The nurse helped Samuel get naked and get into the cockpit imitation, the material in the interior of the human shaped space had a rubber texture. Samuel sunk into the comfortable cockpit, the nurse connected the bracelets to his arms and leg, then the helmet was lowered to his head.
"Mr, Terrence, we are gonna activate the cockpit module now, you already know what will happen, but still; I remind you to not panic when the interior of the cockpit wraps your body. At the beginning it will be an uncomfortable sensation, like resting over sand paper, but the sensation will pass soon"
"Go ahead, I am ready"
As soon as the system was activated, the black rubber inside the cockpit came to life and wrapped around Samuel body like if it was a living creature.
"Cockpit activation completed. How are you feeling Mr. Terrence?" the doctor asked over the communication line that had activated.
"Weird"
"Don't worry, it will pass. Now we will give you a mild pain killer, and initiate the activation"
"Wow, something is touching me"
"Yes. Mr. Terrence those are some nanometric needles connecting to your skin, they will administer any medication or pain killers you might need"
"Yeah, I can feel it" Samuel voice sounded drowsy and relaxed.
"Mr. Terrence, your implants are going on line now"
The pain started and Samuel screamed.
"Jesus"
"fuck"
"Fuck this shit"
Samuel blasphemed many times. He was not a believer, but he said the first thing that came to his mind.
"Mr. Terrence, the calibration of the system is proceeding smoothly"
"I disagree. Oh god!"
There was tears on Samuel eyes.
"We are getting good readings, we will increase the painkillers dose"
"Please, please, just let me rest. Get me out, just let me rest for a minute"
"I am sorry but we cant do that Mr. Terrence. The second activation is very important, we need to keep going. Now we will fully activate the brain implant"
"What?!"
A new scream was heard, followed for more insults and blasphemy.
A few minutes later, Samuel respiration was heavy, he was sweating and his eyelashes twitched in pain.
"Mr. Terrence, How are you feeling?"
"Like shit"
"How is the pain from one to ten?"
"A thousand"
"Mr. Terrence please, this is serious"
"No shit sherlock, oh god!"
"Is the pain getting better?"
"Yes, but still hurt, oh, ouch!"
"Now we will start the piloting simulation. Do you feel like your arms and legs are longer?"
"Yes, is weird"
"Good, try to move them"
"It hurts"
"We know, but you need to move them"
"Oh fuck!"
"Excellent Mr. Terrence, now, try to run"
"Oh hell no!, fuck this shit!"
"You have to, Mr terrence"
Samuel complied.
"Excellent, the telemetry is great. Mr. Terrence, by all measurements and all technicals standards, you are running on a exoskeleton right now. Try to move as freely as you can, I know it hurts, but you got to keep it up for as long as you can, try to move your torso, try to launch punches and kicks, jump, move around, change positions, what ever comes to your mind"
Samuel followed the doctors instructions and tried to keep moving. Two minutes later, although he physically didn't move at all, his breathing was so heavy the he looked like some guy who just ran a marathon.
"Mr. Terrence, your synchronization with the system is decreasing, I think we have done enough for today. Your second activation has been a success, congratulations. Now you are officially an exo pilot."
When the nurse and nurse assistant got him out of the cockpit, he was drenched in sweat, his arms and leg were week, he needed help to get into the wheelchair.
"How do you feel Mr. Terrence?" Dr. Volder asked.
"Everything hurts, like my body in breaking and my muscles are tearing apart"
"Yes, I know is hard to understand, but it is not real; is a side effect of the implants, this will be like the rehabilitation of a patient that had a major trauma or cerebral damage. The good news is the next activations will be a lot less painful, although piloting a full Exoskeleton will increase the pain level in the future, the more you move, the more it hurts. With time you will be almost pain free during a passive activation"
Samuel looked up at the doctor. "Almost?"
"It never stops Mr. Terrence, it never stops"
Samuel let out a defeated sigh, the nurse took him to his room. He needed help to get into the bed, and as soon as he touched the sheets and the intravenous medication took effect, he fell asleep.
The next day, the nurse woke up Samuel as late as she could.
"Ouch!"
"Still in pain?"
"I feel like a ran a marathon and then was beaten up with a baseball bat"
"Almost all pilots experience the same"
"Not all of them?"
"Not all, some have a very tolerant nervous system or high compatibility with the bio implants. Their recovery and adaptation is a lot faster"
The nurse and the assistant answered some of Samuel questions as they helped him get to the bathroom.