We Can Rebuild Her...

[Tess Ryder]

"And she may surprise us and be a great ally and mend her wicked ways. Crazier things HAVE happened of course." Tess said with a smile. "See how her jawline has changed and her nose and cheekbones? All this one tool. We spent years developing something that would safely reconstruct bone structure with minimal side effects, other than the usual warmth and soreness, can even be changed back at a later date. Very useful for infiltration in pre-warp civilizations. It's still amusing how us humans are almost 'basic' among our galactic brethren."

"Don't say that last word around Kinsey." Ari chuckled.

"Right... oof... those beasts I would not want to encounter, I keep asking for medical records on them and all I get is 'don't touch'." Tess winced. "Alright... I think that should about do it... now the 'fun' part... new skin."

"If you don't mind I'm going to read..." Ari winced as she sat down. "That part always gives me the creeps."

"Didn't you once rip the skin off someone's face...?" Tess hummed.

"And it gave me the creeps and nightmares." Ari said. "And it was an accident... mostly. I only wanted to scratch him, not like take his flesh off, who knew he had Son'a treatments done!?"

"I just hope Miz Thorne appreciates the care that we're taking in her new look... when we're done, her own mother wouldn't know." Tess said with a smile.

[Young Aimee]

"Until she opens her mouth to speak," Aimee said absently. "Unless. I read a research paper out of Demobula a few months back. The researchers were using a new technique to feminize voices in transgender patients. It used a combination of stem cells and genetic modification. I wonder if we could adapt it to change her voice."

[Tess Ryder]

"Or we can use tech." Tess replied. "But that's not a bad idea. Nicholas and his daughters had a rather interesting ability to alter their vocal cords to essentially sound like someone else, we created a tiny disk that did the same in non augments. Still, if she wants to sound like someone completely different and have it last... we can bring that up to her." she injected a couple of different hyposprays into her scalp. "Once we let the nanobots work the final bit of growing the naturals hairs around her new flesh, we can wake her up. Trust me, it's entirely weird to wake up to skin that feels freshly stretched and hairless. Word of warning, never change the crystal in a laser scalpel over your leg."

[Young Aimee]

She nodded, "Of course doctor."

[Tess Ryder]

After another half hour of working, Tess stepped back and looked at their handiwork. "Well, I would say that's a great improvement over what she came in looking like. We'll let her rest and check on her in the morning." she gave Aimee a smirk. "I'll buy you dinner."

"What? I get nothing?" Ari teased.

"I'll send down a fish fry." Tess replied.

"That actually sounds good... I was just thinking, 'I could really go for some deep fried beer battered fish.' as unhealthy as it sounds." Arisu said and laughed. "Seriously... watching you put her back together, and she was a Master... I'm called that but I'm not at her level. So... y'know... life's a little too short to worry about calories."

"As if you won't burn it off." Tess said and patted her own butt. "Me, it goes straight to the hips."

[Young Aimee]

"It goes nowhere," Aimee grinned. "The benefits of youth. I can eat whatever and not gain a pound. Speaking of battered and fried fish, last time I was on Earth I was visiting Louisiana and ended up in some back water swamp of a town called Grosse Tete. There was a little shack of a restaurant, but they had the best fried catfish, hushpuppies, and cornbread you'd ever ate."

[Tess Ryder]

"I've found some of the best food comes out of places like that. I remember Leo and I making it a point to go to these dives when we traveled, go where the locals go, even if it looks like you'll need a hypospray of a cocktail of antibiotics afterwards." Tess chuckled. "It's funny, when Alice and Nick still lived above Leo's, it was too clean, too 'nice', now that she's been gone a little while, it's getting that nice 'dive bar' sort of atmosphere. Lived in, a little grungy, but it's because people actually go there. If a bar looks like a hospital, it's got no soul."

"Well, if you go for soul food, bring me some... I want to see if the smell will wake up Victoria." Ari said with a smirk.

"And they say she's the evil one..." Tess replied

[Victoria Underwood]

The Next Morning --

Victoria woke up feeling, strange, her head still felt a little fuzzy, her body felt tingly and warm, numb in a few spots, but more sensitive in others. She looked at her hands, she could have sworn she had fewer fingers, but they were all there, even the nails had nail polish.

"I feel like... my voice... what the...?" Victoria cleared her throat. "Okay that's going to take a little getting used to." she looked down at herself, it was like she woke up from a dream and the body she woke up wasn't the one she thought she should have. Lifting the gown that covered her she chuckled. "They did more than I thought..." she mused and sat up carefully as she looked for a reflective surface.

[Arisu Lei]

"Good morning Lady Seig'Ajem..." Arisu said as she walked in and kept her hand on her kilden that was hanging from her hip. "I trust you'll behave since we pretty much rebuilt you and gave you a second lease on life. Or do I have to undo Dr. Ryder and Nurse Sandoval's hard work?"

"Sandoval's daughter helped? I thought I felt a familiar presence. I must say, they did nice work, I hardly look like me. I look younger." Victoria mused and smiled and frowned and made a few faces. "It's amazing, it's like I had this face all my life."

"Tess does quality work, she believes in mercy, in second chances, in giving people the benefit of the doubt. I'm not quite so hopeful." Arisu said as she sat down on a stool. "A part of me wants to just end you right here and now, the Iljuna will probably be with me more than it's been with you, clearly you lost that fight, but you survived, barely."

"Which is what counts dear." Victoria said and sat up gingerly.

"True. So, tell me why we should trust you? Do you repent of the Ajem'dasis way of life or are you going to try and kill my people as you did before?" Arisu said being completely blunt. "If it's the latter, we can save everyone some trouble. I can even make it look like natural causes. Your heart couldn't handle the surgery's strain... you died of a broken heart... something."

"Ah, the grey Jase'dasis... I wondered when we'd see that stripe of Jase... and as much as I would like to make you eat your words... I know when I've backed the wrong side. Of course, as you no doubt realize, we have more in common than simply a penchant for being space wizards and looking fetching in black leather." Victoria said with a slight smile. "The Ajem and Jase sides have many similarities and I see now that the pure Ajem way of life is one of power and great loss, which makes having that great power worthless. I lost my apprentice. I lost my fiance. The only woman I have ever felt a true partnership with and she's dead. I want revenge yes, which is not a Jase philosophy, but justice is. And her killer, Bellatrix's apprentice Lady Thade... who I believe is working under everyone's noses, needs to be sanctioned sooner than later."

"I will inform the council that you wish to repent of your ways and work with us... but know this, any deception will be handled accordingly." Arisu said and looked her in the eyes. "You could be a good person Victoria. You could be the greatest of us all, or you could lead us all to our deaths. For that we may need to meditate on the will of the Iljuna."

"Which I've made sure wasn't clear to your side... but... I believe I can help you cut through the fog." Victoria said and swung her legs out of the bed and used the iljuna to steady herself on her feet. "I'm still short, but... not bad." she mused as she looked at herself in the reflection of the monitors before she undid the tie on her gown and let it fall to her feet and walked around her bed nude. "If you don't mind I need to be bare to meditate to help heal the Iljuna's cloudiness, at least in part, Bellatrix's Ajem'dasis horde is the main reason it is cloudy, but I didn't exactly help make things clearer for you."

"Any excuse to be naked huh?" Ari chuckled. "I can't entirely fault you... I meditate better with less on, of course... Islander girl, I spent most of my life in swimsuits and sarongs, sun on my skin, water at my feet, wind in my hair."

"Romantic... " Victoria smirked. "Pity I don't find you the least bit attractive... okay you're pretty, but you're still 'that Lei bitch' that foiled so many of mine and Fred's plans."

"And you're still that Ajem bitch to me." Ari winked her eye. "Maybe that's not so bad... keeps us both on our toes."

"Quite." Victoria said and closed her eyes. "Tell me something... your grey Jase order... could you use another?"

"Just recover Victoria... then we'll discuss your future." Ari said and nodded her head.

"As you wish and Agent Lei... call me Tori... Tori Thorne. Still my name, but a different form of it. And with this face and voice, no one will think anything of it." Victoria said and returned to her meditations.

"I'll keep that in mind." Arisu said as she left the recovery room.

"So?" Tess gave Ari a look.

"She's on our side... but I still don't trust her." Ari replied.

"Mercy Arisu, always mercy. We show her mercy, she will reciprocate." Tess said softly.

"I hope you're right." Ari sighed and closed her eyes. "I truly hope you're right."

[A'mira Stormborn]

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Though, I'm uncertain I would call her a friend," A'mira said evenly as she made her presence known. She had been blending into hub and bustle of normal hospital operations as part of it. Sometimes the best way to hide is in pain sight. "If we were on Talaria I'd say execute her for crimes. But, you people believe in redemption just like taking in Bellatrix's daughter."