The boy sat in the Waiting Room, his knees pulled up, his hands clasped around them. He was rocking backwards and forwards silently and biting his lip. He was more worried than he'd ever been about anything before.

His big brother was in the room beyond, with a team of surgeons working desperately over his body. He'd been told that they were the best money could buy but, frankly, he wouldn't have trusted them if they had been a team of angels working directly under the supervision of God himself. No one was good enough to be trusted with the safety of his big brother.

They had offered to let him watch the operation if he thought it might settle his nerves, but he hadn't been able to bring himself to. It was bad waiting, but it would even worse to actually see what was going on, as it was he could imagine it being clean and exact and calm, whereas it was probably anything but.

His brother had always been there for him, had always been the strong one, the one who had comforted him during the lonely nights when there had been no one else around. He'd tried to put a good face on it, always trying hard, but he had to work hard to achieve the same results as his brother seemed to get almost effortlessly. He knew that was unfair, his brother drove himself harder than anyone, pushing himself to achieve more, and yet always managing to beat even his own gruelling standards.

And now there was nothing he could do to help, his only immediate family was unconscious in the next room and all he could do was pray. He felt about as inadequate as it was possible to get. Who should he pray to? Athena?

One of his friends came in to how he was doing, the one closest in age to himself. But he had been an only child and couldn't really understand the emotions, not as deeply anyhow. Still it was nice of him to try.

"How's it going in there?"

"There's been no change, he's 'as well as might be expected'. 'It's an experimental technique' they keep telling me, 'No one's ever had surgery like this before'. So how the hell do they know what to expect?"

"How long has he been in there?"

He didn't even look at the clock, he didn't have to, he was sure he'd worn it out through looking at it so much and, through the ticking, the seconds were drummed into his brain. "Fifteen hours, eleven minutes, thirty-something seconds, but you knew that already didn't you?"

His friend put his arm around him and ruffled his shock of green hair, "C'mon kiddo, stop fretting, it's going to be okay. The Glaude Foundation wouldn't hire anything less than the best on their prime investment would they?" As soon as they words were out he regretted them, but it was too late, he felt the boy tense up.

"We're not an investment! We're people! They shouldn't be treating us as guinea pigs!" the green haired boy all but shouted.

"Kid, your brother knew what he was letting himself in for, if this works he'll be way beyond what any normal person could ever hope to be, and it's not that we were exactly wimps before!" He flexed an arm sardonically, showing off an impressive set of muscles.

"But the risks! If this doesn't work and he does live, he may be paralysed, brain damaged or... worse!" Offhand he couldn't think of anything much worse, and didn't really want to.

"The threats we'll be facing will be powerful, a lot more powerful than we can cope with as it is at the moment, this will give us more of a fighting chance."

"And that's all we'll do with it isn't it? Fight!"

"For a good cause yes, and that should be enough for anyone. But there's more to it than that kid, if it works out the applications are..."

"I don't care about the applications, I don't care about anything except my brother staying alive."

"We all do, kid. You, me, the doctors. They wouldn't have tried this if they didn't think it would work. Deep down they care about him too."

"But they're not related to him. He's all I've got and he's being risked to prove a theory!"

Unable to take it any more the green haired boy pulled away from his friend and ran out of the room into the corridor. He needed to work off some frustrations, and a run might be the idea, just around the hospital a few times seemed like a good idea, he wanted to remain within easy reach should anything happen that might.... He stopped that thought there and then.

His rush for the main exit, pursued by his friend, was interrupted by a figure in surgical scrubs coming through one of the main doors of the massive operating theatre. Her face was unreadable behind a surgical mask. She approached them, clearly exhausted. She sat down in one of the benches and looked up at them with tired eyes but a smile.

"Congratulate me guys, I really am the genius they say I am. It's been a complete success as far as we can tell. He's starting to come around now. The first thing he wanted was to see you two, wouldn't let us move him until you've been in. I've said it's okay, but please be careful... he's very groggy and he might be in a bit of pain at first, but that'll pass.

The green haired boy was ecstatic. "Thanks!!". He paused just long enough to pump her hand furiously and then darted through the doors. The doctor's smile became broader for a moment as she watched him run. Oh, to be that young and impulsive again.

The medical staff were standing at a discrete distance from the figure on the operating table, though several were clustered around assorted monitoring devices with wires trailing all over the place.

All that could actually be seen of the patient was blue-black hair and a pale face. Someone had obviously seen fit to cover him with a sheet so that the new scars wouldn't be obvious. An area of his head had been shaved, but some parts of it were still visible, giving him an odd, uneven look. The head nurse was tidying a tray of equipment, but he motioned them towards the table, smiling encouragement.

The green haired boy approached the bed... "Niisan?". His voice was tentative, his excitement of a moment ago muted by concern.

"Hi there little bro'", the voice was frighteningly weak, but reassuringly firm.

With a stifled sob the boy knelt by the table, holding his brothers hand tightly.

"Hey, a little less pressure... please." This time the voice had a barely suppressed wince in it. Horrified at the thought he might be hurting him, the boy's hands jerked back, dropping the hand like it was red hot.

"It's okay little brother, don't worry, I'm going to be fine, better than fine! I'm going to be a Saint, and so are you!"

Seeing the boys disbelief, his brother looked him square in the eye, and this time there was not even a trace of drowsiness in his voice.

"Honestly, don't worry Daichi, this is going to make all the difference, all three of us we're all going to be Saints! Once we've all had these implants you, me, and Ushio are going to be the first Steel Saints the world has ever seen! And then they'd better all watch out. Okay?"

Daichi reached out and embraced his big brother gently, making sure that he didn't squeeze anything too tightly.

"Sure, niissan, sure, whatever you say. As long as you're okay that's all that matters for the moment."

Privately his thoughts were running along the lines of; "A couple of orphan brothers with weird hair? Like that's prime Saint material!", but he kept that to himself. You never could tell, maybe he was right after all....

+ - + - + - +
Interlude...

Review of case notes, Project Latterday Saints

Professor Fukiyama Akihiro reporting.

So far success levels have been completely satisfactory.

Subject Sky 1 - Sho

Subject has had significant alterations made to physiology with focus on survival in rarefied atmospheres.

Lung capacity has been increased, and oxygen extraction efficiency boosted by 250%.

Bone structure in the heavier bones has been augmented with an aluminum steel alloy. Allowing weight of subject to be reduced with no loss of skeletal integrity.

Subdermal thermal implants prevent hypothermia at high altitudes.

Protective lenses inserted into orbital ridge of eye sockets, sliding into place over the eyes when air pressure difference becomes too much for normal human operation.

Minimal muscle enhancement is required in this case. Interface with Cloth was prime concern. See attached notes:- Sky 1-B 23849/76

Subject Sea 2 - Ushio

Subject has had oxygen extracting water filters implanted just below dermal layer in thorax allowing protracted underwater survival, currently logged at 34 minutes 12 seconds without breaking surface.

Musculature has been enhanced with carbon fibres and woven polymer plastics. Added to subjects already precocious acrobatic skills this has allowed for an exceptional increase in agility and in association with improved response time from neural processors has results in practically unquantifiable increases in dexterity.

Cloth interface at optimum capacity. Energy neutralisation abilities slightly below expected levels at beta testing stage. See attached notes Sea 2-B 38726/73

Subject Land 3 - Daichi....

+ - + - +

End of Chapter 1

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