Creation of Francesca.
Part 4: Italian History
Dr. Frankenstein continued on with Francesca's education, not just of her using her cybernetic implants, but of also things she is missing by not going to school in the absence of her recovery. Though she still resides within the medical ward, Dr. Frankenstein has given her many personal things just for her to survive: new clothing, a small desk and chair to work on, some books to read and study on and an old laptop for her to access. With help from his female staff, she is given those things that a girl of her age would need. On those few rare occasions, Dr. Frankenstein takes her out on a trip to the library or museum, under strict supervision and observation.
"OK, Francesca- We're going to test the strength of your arms and legs. You are going to pick up that bar that is tethered to the floor and pull on it as hard as you can", a voice on the loud speaker says.
"Yes, Dr. Gilliani," she responds.
"Whenever you're ready..." Dr. Gilliani says over the loud speaker.
Francesca plants her feet on the floor and picks up the bar with her hands. The cable only allows it to extend 1 meter from the floor, but to her it feels like something is pulling back on it. The harder she pulls, the harder it feels like it is pulling back.
"She is already at 200 kilos..." a medical technician next to Dr. Gilliani says to him.
"That is not possible..." Dr. Gilliani says back to the technician.
"Let's see something..." the medical tech says to Dr. Gilliani. "Francesca- I'm going to increase the pull on the cable, you are to keep it from pulling you down."
Francesca nods as she continues to fight the cable's pull. Though the cable's tension increases, Francesca does not budge.
"She's at 500 kilos...!" the medical says.
Dr. Gilliani grabs the microphone, "Francesca- now I want you to pull with all your might all at once!"
Francesca nods, then clenches her teeth tighter and in one motion, tries straightens out and lifts the bar over her head. Instead, the wench below the floor rips off its moorings, and comes out off the floor. The sudden release makes Francesca fall back several feet from where she stood, and the wench fly up into the air a couple of meters and crash back into the hole from where it came from. Both Dr. Gilliani and his medical technician assistant stare at the damaged gym-test area in awe. Francesca is sitting flat on the floor with both hands behind her. In her right hand, the handle she was pulling with a definite bend at its center.
(10 years before)
"Once again the Prime Minister's budget bill in creating another mega construction project has been blocked by the Political Right Wing Majority of the Padania Party. They claim that it would only give jobs to the well to do and well skilled of Italy, leaving the poor and unskilled with nothing," the voice on the TV say. Then it suddenly turns off by remote.
"No more..." the Prime Minister says to his fellow cabinet members. "I want those fools arrested with whatever criminal charges you can put up against them. And I want those arrested embarrassed by the news media, like they have embarrassed me for the very last time!"
In the days to come, more meetings were held and more budget bills stopped in its tracks by the Padania party. As the proposed budgets are held from being passed, economic woes continue for Italy. Though it being a global depression, a few nations seemed to have fared better than others. The Italian Prime Minister wants Italy to be within those who have crawled out of the global depression, but many in the opposing party believes that such projects he is proposing to be to indulgent to some and not enough to everyone else. It taxes the rich too much, even though they are given opportunities to improve society.
The arrests came in swift and suddenly. Documents have been falsified, allegations have been made, evidence of minor crimes exaggerated into monstrous deeds against the Italian society. In less than a week, the Padania Political Party has been dissolved to just a hand few of dissidents and rebel rousers. Soon came the clamp down of the media sympathy of Padania Politicians.
With the wealth of the dissolved political party, others parties were created and then quickly dissolved, the Five Republics was the first newly formed of such parties to fall. Political Assassinations were often the case when such a member rising to power was found to be too clean for the government to peg. With members of high society seeing no way out, begin their own private civil war against the Prime Minister, and his left winged political cronies. It would not take long when terrorism raises its ugly head. At first it begins with an occasional bombing of a government building or of a supporting government contractor's facilities. It would soon spread to threaten the public safety.
Section 1 of the Social Welfare Association was developed to research and review such public threats and deal with it with help from the military and the police. It would soon run into obstacles, when some within the paramilitary ranks believe that the government has gone far enough and that they would not be publically active in enforcing unjust laws and arresting innocent people for crimes they did not commit. Thus Section 1 begins to create their own enforcement arm, along with Support, Administrative and Logistics Staff divisions. Over the years, it begins research on technologies. When a field agent gets killed while doing his job, the mandate is passed for termination orders of suspects.
The silent civil war has begun.
Part 5: Francesca & Section 2
Dr. Frankenstein was angered about the Strength Testing of his creation. To him it was not needed and it could have damaged Francesca's healing body. He knew that she would have been super strong, compared to a normal adult human male, but he did not cared for knowing of her upper limits. To him such limits were for her to find out once she would be released home.
Francesca's parents arrived on a Wednesday, to check up on their little girl who seemed to have miraculously healed in such a short time.
"Just a few more tests and you can take her home in about a week," Dr. Bianchi tells them.
So a week they stayed in the lavish Westlin Hotel. On Saturday, a terrorist group walks into the hotel and starts randomly killing tourists and hotel employees, similar to attacks in Lebebon and Syria years before. Francesca's parents were of those of many who had been killed. The news was broken to Francesca as she watched the TV in her room; the names of the victims scrolling by included the names of her parents.
Within Francesca, grew a determination to get those responsible for her parents' murder. It was little surprised when she approached her good friend and doctor to find a way for her to use her cyborg abilities to hunt down the bad guys. But she does so by interrupting an agency meeting of doctors and the newly appointed Chief Lorenzo.
"I am truly sorry, Mr. Lorenzo. Such an interruption will not happen again," Dr. Frankenstein tries to patch up the meeting and trying to get Francesca to wait by the door for him.
"Wait. Who is this child?" Chief Lorenzo asks.
"She is our cyborg medical project we have been working on for the past several months," Dr. Gilliani tries to explain.
"Cyborg?" Chief Lorenzo asks.
"Cybernetic Human Hybrid," Dr. Gilliani explains.
"Hmmm... I have heard Section 1 using these cybernetic beings, but they have ran into a lot of trouble with them," Chief Lorenzo says.
"That's because their cybernetic agents were drugged up not to feel pain!" Dr. Frankenstein stated out loud.
"How would you know this?" Chief Lorenzo asks.
"I was there at the end of their program to rectify those problems they were getting, and yet they refused to listen to my recommendations!" Dr. Frankenstein barked loudly.
"I see... Tell me, following your guidelines and recommendations, can we send her out into the field without the failures Section 1 has had?", Chief Lorenzo asks.
"She would need proper training, but I did not build her to be a weapon!" Dr. Frankenstein said.
"Her strength exceeded all expectations, including those by that other group working on cybernetic subjects," Dr. Gilliani pointed out. "I will add this much- in the last strength test, she ripped out a pulling wench right out of the test gymnasium floor- to do that would have required 4 tons of force!"
"I see. Dr. Frankenstein, how soon can you build more test subjects like her for us to work with?" Chief Lorenzo asks.
"I can build as many as I want if supplies and money are there, but...", Dr. Frankenstein started to say.
"Don't worry about funding or supplies. Give me 15 more with the possibility to double that figure soon after," Chief Lorenzo states.
"Sir, what about the other test subject, Alpha?" Dr. Belgonchi asks.
"Is Alpha better than... what is this unit's name?" Chief Lorenzo starts to ask.
"Francesca..." Dr. Bianchi adds.
"Is Alpha better and stronger than Francesca? The reports seem to indicate that he is not," Chief Lorenzo says.
"Wait, who is Alpha?" Dr. Frankenstein attempted to ask.
"What shall we do with him then?" Dr. Bianchi asks.
"Scrap the project and absorb all resources into our program. Take all necessary personnel and the cyborg and integrate them with what we have," Chief Lorenzo says.
Chief Lorenzo starts to pack up his folders and puts them into his brief case. He gets up and walks to the door, opening it. There he saw Francesca waiting. He eyes her over, looking at her from head to toe, in her school-uniform like dress, and nods. He then 1/2 steps into the room and looks at the doctors.
"I want you to use girls, just like her. And the next one you create, I want as my personal body guard," Chief Lorenzo states.
"But we're not finished..." Dr. Frankenstein started to say.
"You promised me that there would be no problems..." Chief Lorenzo started to say. "Now start fulfilling on that promise."
"Where are we going to get more test subjects?" Dr. Frankenstein says to himself but out loud.
"Look in the hospitals and pediatric wards. Help them with their technical needs so they can help us. I'm sure you will find more than plenty of waifs there that will fit our needs. Also start looking into military and law enforcement personnel into training these girls," Chief Lorenzo added. Then he steps out of the room.
The room remained silent for the moment.
"Having second thoughts, Mien Herr doktor?" Dr. Belgonchi asks in almost a mocking tone.
"Francesca is not a weapon.", Dr. Frankenstein stated.
"She is going to have to eventually earn her keep.", Dr. Belgonchi stated. "Besides, she wants to be on the side of right. What a better career for her to have than to be an enforcer of the law? All she will need is a trainer."
"Francesca's primary language is Spanish. What Italian she has learned she has learned here through us.", Dr. Frankenstein says.
"Then let her continue to learn Italian, and we will get her a trainer who knows Spanish to handle her.", Dr. Belgonchi explains.
Part 6: Finding Felix.
Though weeks had past, one final interview subject finally comes into Chief Lorenzo's office.
"Your records seems to be in order, your military and agency supervisors speak very highly of you, and your Italian is very fluent.", Chief Lorenzo says to interview subject. "But explain to me, Uhm (looks at the resume and application)... why should we hire a Spanish National?"
"Former Spanish National, sir. Understand that like everyone else, the Persian Gulf War gave me a bad taste in my mouth. Also in noticing that the Spanish government's willingness to do nothing to the Basque separatists or of their terrorist acts, left me thinking that the motherland is no longer willing to keep its people's safe. I left as soon as I had an opportunity and move to someplace that is willing to do something about their terrorist problems, so I came here. I understand that I can accelerate my citizenry papers if I joined the military or some other agency, so here I am, renouncing my nation of birth and wanting to do my best for a country that gives a damn.", the interviewee explained.
"I see. Do you have any family? Wife, children?", Chief Lorenzo asks.
"No.", the interviewee answers.
"Dating anyone back in Spain?" Chief Lorenzo asks.
"Was. We were even planning on getting married in a year or two, but she turned out to be one of them," the interviewee answers.
"Interesting... Do you like children?" Chief Lorenzo asks.
"What Spaniard Doesn't?!! I like children!" the interviewee answers.
"Follow me then," Chief Lorenzo says as he packs up his papers and puts them in his desk.
Chief Lorenzo makes a couple of phone calls before getting up and walking out the door. The interviewee follows the chief in silence, but in his mind he thinks that he may have landed the job. But what job? And what was the thing about children? These questions stuck to his mind like thorns from a rose bush. Soon he was outside an obstacle course, where several men in lab coats were measuring various results from a lone little red-haired girl who was in t-shirt, shorts and sneakers. Obstacles that would have taken an average man sometime to clear, she went around them with ease. Chief Lorenzo approaches the men from behind silently with the interviewee right behind. Soon the red haired girl stops in front of the men, barely out of breathe.
Dr. Frankenstein looks at his clipboard, "Well done my dear..."
"Another record broken?" Chief Lorenzo asks.
"Looks like it.", Dr. Bianchi says as he looks at his digital watch.
"Well gentlemen, this is Felix. He's going to be Francesca's new trainer and handler," Chief Lorenzo explains. "He comes highly recommended."