Rick

Vadstalle took his bike back to the hospital. He went in through the main entrance and told the lady at the desk he was there to see Dr. Vomisa. She nodded and sent him a message. He took a seat in the lobby. The TV was playing some kids' show where a raccoon, like the one Javan had on her desk, was trying to play a prank on some old guy with an eyepatch, probably Odin. 

Before he could get fully engrossed in the plot (thankfully) Vomisa appeared. "Detective Vadstalle," he said, holding out his hand to Vadstalle. "Please, follow me."

Vadstalle followed Vomisa through the hospital. He still wore the blue-stained medical coat. Vadstalle watched him as they walked. 

Vomisa had wild hair with silvery mutton chops. He wore thick glasses, and wore a bolo tie with a turquoise gem. 

He stopped outside an elevator and pushed the down button. As they waited for the elevator to arrive, he looked at Vadstalle. "You've been cleared by your superiors," he said.

"What?" said Vadstalle.

"What you're about to see," said Vomisa. He looked around the hallway. "It'll make sense soon."

The elevator door opened and the two men climbed inside. It was a smaller elevator, not one for gurneys. Vomisa stood a little too close to Vadstalle. They rode down in silence for what felt like far too long. Vadstalle was about to quip about the depth of the hospital when their car arrived on the lower floor. The doors slid open, and Vadstalle saw a narrow hallway stacked with junk before him.

Vomisa shot out of the elevator and wound his way around the obstacles. Vadstalle hurried after. He saw some labels on the boxes, and raised his eyebrow when he saw, or thought he saw, one labeled "arms."

"Say, Doc," said Vadstalle.

Vomisa shushed him. He was standing outside of a door that said ROR on frosted glass of the window. The top of the O in the middle had fallen off, so only the sticky residue of its shadow remained. "Please," said Vomisa, "follow me." He stepped into the room and Vadstalle hurried after.

The room was dark, illuminated by various flickering screens and worklamps. In the middle of the room, a translucent shower curtain dangled from the ceiling. The foot of a gurney poked out through one end. Vomisa stepped past the curtain.

Vadstalle looked around the room. It gave him the heebie-jeebies. Suddenly, he'd wished he'd brought his PARD with him.

"Say, Doc," he tried again. "What's going on?"

Vomisa poked his head through the curtain. "All will make sense soon," he said. He waved for Vadstalle to join him beyond the veil.

Vadstalle took a deep breath before pushing back the curtain. There wasn't much room for the two men and the gurney. He squeezed in right next to Vomisa.

"Behold," said Vomisa, waving his hand out to the gurney.

Vadstalle looked down at the gurney. The blankets were stained the same blue as Vomisa's jacket, and in the middle, a figure lay, draped with a sheet.

"What in the nine realms is going on here?" said Vadstalle. "Is this the morgue or something?"

Vomisa chuckled. "Not yet," he said. "We were able to save your friend, but it was at a considerable cost to her." He reached and pulled the sheet down, exposing the shiny white top of a head.

Vadstalle cringed. "Dinzai!" he swore, "Is that Bher's skeleton?"

Vomisa pulled the sheet all the way down, exposing the entire figure. It was pure white and metallic. On its face were the places where one would keep things like eyes and a mouth, and it had a sort of feminine form to its body. 

"In a manner of speaking," Vomisa said, "it is. But not like you'd think."

Vadstalle looked down at the metal and plastic body. "You put her brain into a robot? Like those wackos at LifeBack?"

Vomisa frowned. "No," he said. "In fact, I happen to respect their work. But that's beside the point. You're not understanding, Detective."

"Well, then tell me what's going on," said Vadstalle.

"Your partner, Bher Javan, has been a robot all this time. The explosion at the factory destroyed her simulated flesh, leaving just what you see here." He waved his hand over Javan. "Sure, we can grow it back, but it'll take some time. Fake skin doesn't just grow on trees... yet." He looked down at Javan. "But several of her servos need to be replaced, and that's no simple task for a sophisticated machine like her."

"Why'd you call me down here?" asked Vadstalle.

"I didn't," said Vomisa. "She did." He tapped on the edge of the gurney. "Well, she asked me to call you, and so I did. But she wanted to see you, to speak to you."

Vadstalle looked down at Javan's robot body. He took her hand in his. "Can she hear us?"

Vomisa spluttered out a laugh. "Oh, no," he said. "Hold on." He reached behind Javan's neck and pushed something. The mechanical eyes lit up, glowing with the soft brown of Javan's eyes. They moved across the small room, landing on Vomisa, then on Vadstalle.

"Oh, Rick," she said. "I'm glad you're here." Though her mouth didn't move, it was definitely her voice.

Vadstalle gave her hand a squeeze. It was a bit weird. "How are you doing, Bher?"

Javan blinked. "Couldn't be better." She probably would have smiled when saying this. "They tell me I earned one Hel of a vacation, but I want to get back into the action, and for that I needed your help."

Vadstalle looked at her. "Sure thing, Bher. What is it?"

Her eyes went over to Vomisa. "He tells me that the repairs will take a while, but I was wondering if..." she looked down.

"What?" said Vadstalle. "Name it, Bher."

She looked up at him. "It's a little strange," she said.

"I've seen stranger," said Vadstalle.

She sighed, which was a bit surreal, as her body didn't move as she did so. "I want to be your PARD."

Vadstalle's eyebrows went up at this. "Can they do that?"

Vomisa nodded. "We can have her ready to go before you leave."

Vadstalle looked down at Javan. "Sure, Bher. I'll do that for you. Under one condition."

"What is it?" she asked.

"You stay out of my head. That madhouse is too much for me sometimes."

Bher blinked. "It's a deal," she said.

Without a word, Vomisa plugged something into the back of Javan's neck. He tapped some keys on a keyboard, and something beeped and some lights flashed, and before Vadstalle knew it, he was holding a top-of-the-line PARD unit. He slipped it into his ear. It took a moment to sync with his mods. After a moment, Javan's face appeared in his field of vision. She was smiling.

"Ready?" she asked.

"Ready, pard," he said. He turned to leave, but stopped at the curtain. "Say, Doc," he said, "why don't you just upload her into a different body?"

Vomisa started chuckling. "That would be too easy, wouldn't it?" he said. "No, we can't do that, Detective." He patted the still form in the gurney. "Detective Javan was our only model."

Vadstalle nodded. "Well, thanks for the chat," he said. "Let us know when Bher's body is ready again."

"I will," said Vomisa.

Vadstalle left the small room and ambled back toward the elevator. "How you doing in there, Bher?" he said as he waited.

"It's more spacious than I originally thought," she said.

"Hey," he said. The elevator slid open. He stepped inside. "Was that meant to be a joke?"

Javan chuckled. "Yes," she said. "I'm fine."

Vadstalle pushed the button for the ground floor. "Well, I got bad news for you," he said.

"What's that?" asked Javan.

"I rode Old Mellie here, so you might want to switch off on the way home." The elevator doors slid closed.