Legends of Amacia The Caverias Rebellion
Chapter 45: Josephine and Nano-machines

Two minutes later, Hanna wheeled Selina back to the pool. Hanna sported her black swimsuit while Selina had on Hanna’s silver tiger-striped halter-top swimsuit. Everyone paused while the pair approached the side of the pool. Andrew’s mouth fell open when he saw Hanna and Selina’s swimwear. “Whoa,” he breathed. “I’ve never seen you in a swimsuit, Hanna. You look great. And aunt Selina...wow. You’re breath-taking.”

“Thanks, Andrew,” Hanna chimed, suddenly feeling desirable as she stopped Selina beside the pool. “That’s so sweet of you.”

Selina smiled warmly at Andrew. “Why thank you, Andrew,” she purred pleasantly. “You’re such a gentleman to see past my scars.”

“Those marks are scars?” Andrew asked with a raised eyebrow. “I just thought they were part of your natural markings. I didn’t know.”

“But they do enhance her looks, don’t they?” Hanna crowed. “It gives her character, and with that suit on, you hardly notice them.”

“I can’t argue that,” Andrew agreed. “She’s still one gorgeous cat, no question.”

Selina chuckled. “You’re a good judge of both character and beauty, Andrew,” she purred pleasantly. “It must be genetic.”

“I honestly don’t know about that,” Andrew admitted. “But I know what I like. I just like beautiful things, whether it be a landscape, animal, or person. I can’t help it.”

“I’m sure you can’t,” Selina chimed pleasantly. “That’s a good thing, being able to see the beauty in everything around you. Since you’re such a connoisseur of beautiful things, have you complimented Josephine on her beauty yet?”

“Every time I see her,” Andrew confessed. “She’s so exotic in both mind and body. I just love to be around her. She has this strange calming effect on me that’s right down eerie. I can’t explain it.”

“I must agree,” Hanna stated with her hands on her hips in a casual pose. “Josephine’s very presence is magnetic, alluring, even sensual in a way. I replace it quite refreshing. What do you think, Arabella, Elle?”

“That she does,” Arabella answered, leaning casually on the side of the pool, propping herself up. “I’ve never had close contact with a real cyborg like her. It’s fascinating to me as a doctor. How could something so bizarre in form be so pretty? And she has such a kind and gentle temperament too. I think that’s what really attracts me to her as a friend. She really needs a friend.”

“I’m must admit that Jo emanates a kind of animal magnetism that attracts me too,” Elle said, smiling. “It’s so deep and primal, yet gentle. For some strange reason that eludes me, I replace myself completely at ease when around her. And like Andrew, I want to be around her. I’ve never had anyone do that to me before. It’s like she’s been my best friend forever.”

“You really think so?” Josephine asked with a quiver in her tone.

“Absolutely,” Elle declared. “I feel I could tell you anything, even my deepest thoughts and desires. I just know you’d not betray that trust.”

“Of course I wouldn’t,” Josephine insisted. “I’d sooner destroy myself before betraying any of you. I’m honored that you all think so highly of me.”

“That we do,” Hanna stated. “You’re family and we always treat family members with respect and love. Now how about let’s get you moving around.”

“I’m all for that,” Josephine chimed. “I’m a bit tired of being helpless.”

Hanna turned to Selina and asked, “Ready to get wet, sis?”

“More than ready,” Selina chimed. “Just get me into the water. I’ll hang on to the side while you guys help Josephine with her therapy.”

“Okay,” Hanna answered, picking Selina up out of the chair. “Arabella, help me get Selina into the water.”

“Right,” Arabella replied, moving over to Selina as Hanna set her down on the edge of the pool so her legs dangled in the water. Reaching out and grasping Selina by the waist, Arabella slid her into the water as Hanna gently lowered her by the arms.

“Oh, my,” Selina cried as a chill raced up her spine from her sliding into the water. “The water’s warm as a bath.”

“I know,” Elle stated, coming to assist Arabella with situating Selina. “We keep the water in these pools fairly warm. It enhances what the minerals in the water can do.” In seconds, Arabella and Elle had Selina floating in the water while she held on to the edge.

“Are you okay?” Arabella asked intently. “Can you stay afloat?”

“I believe so,” Selina answered. “Oh, man, this feels great. Come on in, Hanna. The water’s fine.”

Hanna flashed a confident smile and dove into the water at a shallow angle just away from Selina. After swimming fifteen feet underwater, Hanna surfaced with a gasp. “You weren’t kidding,” she crowed, pushing her hair back while clearing her eyes. “This pool is really the cat’s meow. I love it. The water is just the right temperature too. I wish I’d known about it earlier. I’d have used it.”

“You never asked,” Andrew stated.

“Touché,” Hanna chimed, moving towards Josephine. “But this is really nice. You say this water has healing properties, Elle?”

“It does,” Elle reported, moving back towards Josephine. “The waters are piped in from a mineral spring near the volcano. We use it all the time for relaxing and healing sore muscles. The water can even heal minor injuries if you remain in long enough.”

“Ah,” Hanna chimed, stopping just beyond Josephine’s tentacles. “We encountered something similar in Arionath at Kaal Bek. The water in the royal suite had healing properties too when used in concert with that crystal bathtub. We had to use it after the Emperor sucker-punched Selina and me with that psychic attack when we first got there. We had all kinds of broken bones and bruised organs from it. It even healed some of our wounds from Zebek’s ambush outside the Arionath gateway.”

“I didn’t realize the people of Arionath had that technology?” Elle admitted.

“And I didn’t know the Emperor had tried to kill you with a psychic attack,” Andrew declared.

“Well, he did,” Hanna answered. “The malignant sow didn’t just hit me, but Selina also while we were asleep no less. Fact is we were still recovering from those injuries when that son of a bitch Hades captured us in Cush and took us to the Emperor.”

“The bastard,” Andrew growled venomously. “He’ll pay for that.”

“He already did,” Hanna stated bluntly, swishing her arms back and forth through the water around her. “I killed Hades in the Arena right in front of the Emperor. Apparently, I got him with my sword as he was generating his fire. He exploded and Magnus rescued me in the chaos.”

“I know,” Josephine said bluntly. “I watched you do it. It was a masterful kill, but you didn’t escape unscathed. I was shocked when you survived Lord Hades’ infernal fire. Usually, nothing survives contact with it.”

“So was I,” Hanna agreed. “But I did by the grace of the Almighty. By the way, how many of those tentacles are attached to you anyway?”

“Ten,” Josephine reported. “They’re a little over four and a half cubits in length and attached at my hip/waist area. I can control them at will.”

“Can you walk using them?” Selina called out while floating.

“Not in the traditional sense,” Josephine admitted. “I can crawl with them, using them to pull myself along. I’ve never tried to use them as legs. I really didn’t have any need to until now. My prison held me upright.”

“So you’ve never tried,” Hanna murmured, looking down at Josephine’s tentacles in the water.

“No,” Josephine stated bluntly.

“But you can control each of them independently, right?” Elle asked.

“Yes,” Josephine stated. “When Bolthor did this to me, he enhanced my brain so I could control that infernal apparatus. Most humans utilize less than 10% of their brain. When they did this to me, I went from utilizing ten percent to eighty-five percent and my IQ quadrupled.”

“How’d they do that?” Arabella inquired.

“Much of it has to do with the machinery they grafted into me,” Josephine stated glumly. “If you do a scan of my brain, you’ll see it’s almost a third machine. The brain enhancement allowed me to use every appendage independently to do different tasks at the same time. Being wired into the machine gave me added power and mental capacity as well to do what the Emperor wanted. Now that I’m separated from the main apparatus, my control ability is somewhat reduced because I no longer have access to the mainframe supercomputers they hooked me into.”

“Interesting,” Hanna said thoughtfully. “I take it that your connection to the mainframe was what allowed you to control all those tentacles and drones in the Black Fortress. Is that right?”

“It is,” Josephine stated. “By removing me from the mainframe, I lost the ability to do the thousands of tasks simultaneously that I could before. However, I still retain my enhanced brain, which is more than enough to control all of my personal appendages independently. Will you permit me to touch you with my lower appendages as a demonstration, Hanna?”

“Sure,” Hanna answered, curious as to what Josephine had in mind. Before she could blink, Hanna felt Josephine’s tentacles swarm and encircle her belly, hips, and legs, squeezing firmly, but gently. A worried look crossed her face as it stirred memories of her abuse in the Black Fortress.

Reading Hanna’s expression, Josephine cooed, “I’m not going to hurt you, Hanna. Relax. I’m just going to pick you up.”

Hanna’s worry subsided when she realized the tentacles were not trying to invade her bodily. She suddenly felt safe as Josephine’s tentacles gently picked her up out of the water. Looking down and seeing five five-inch thick tentacles wrapped gently around her legs, hips, and belly, Hanna became intrigued at the feel of them. “Whoa,” she breathed. “This feels really weird, but strangely familiar. They’re not slimy like the ones you used in the Black Fortress.”

“That’s because these are special,” Josephine declared. “I can control every aspect of them, making them feel like flesh or making them hard as iron. You want slimy? Try this.” The tentacles holding Hanna up suddenly became slimy as the tentacles of an octopus. She touched them with her hand, both feeling and seeing the slime.

“Eeww,” Hanna hissed in disgust, holding up her hand that dripped of slime. “That’s just nasty. Please change it back.” She started flicking her hand to get the slime off it.

“Okay,” Josephine answered. In seconds, the slime on her tentacles vanished, absorbed back into the tentacles. Another tentacle rose from the water and curled around Hanna’s slimy hand, cleaning it of the sticky fluid. “Is that better?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Hanna murmured, touching the tentacles around her belly with her other hand, feeling no slime, just a wet fleshy appendage that seemed to pulse gently as it held her. “How’d you do that?”

“I merely absorbed the slime I excreted back into my appendages,” Josephine reported. “They’re engineered to obey my will. I’ll show you. Hold my appendage in your hands.” Yet another tentacle rose and laid in Hanna’s hands as she held them out. “Do you feel how soft and alive it feels?” Josephine asked.

“Yes,” Hanna stated, noticing Arabella, Elle, and Andrew coming closer. “It does feel alive. It’s pulsing and feels like a living muscle.”

“Now watch as I turn this appendage into a weapon,” Josephine declared. In seconds, the tentacle became hard as steel with a lance point on the end.

“Wow,” Hanna breathed. “It’s hard as steel and just a few moments ago, it was soft and pliable. How in the name of Heaven can you do that?”

Josephine let the tentacle become soft again in Hanna’s hands. “Like I said, it’s how I was engineered,” she stated. “Everything below my waist and hips are made of organic nano-machines that transform my will into physical reality.”

“That’s truly remarkable,” Arabella stated in amazement. “I’ve never seen anything like that. But what are nano-machines?”

“Nano-machines are a technology not seen since the Calamity,” Josephine stated. “There are technically two types of nano-machines. One type of nano-machine is pure machine created out of various metals and organic matter. They’re used in structural and military applications. They can be used to create or destroy and can do them with incredible precision, speed, and reliability. Bolthor used them as weapons of war regularly with impunity. The shebat that nearly killed you, Hanna, was an application of that variety of nano-machine that survived from my time. In a bomb form, the nano-machines will consume anything they’re programmed to attack, including organic flesh. I don’t know how many times he eradicated entire cities with a barrage of nano-bombs.”

“Whoa,” Andrew breathed. “That sounds like some bad shit.”

“In the hands of the Bolthor, yes,” Josephine agreed grimly. “He perverted their peaceful use to serve his Dark masters. Fortunately for us, most of that technology didn’t survive the Calamity. Those who succeeded Bolthor, including Zaros, have been trying to unlock that terrible technology ever since. The only real progress they made was the development of the shebats and the machine arms like Nemesis and Magnus bear, which are inferior to the nano-machines Bolthor used. Without the direct assistance of the Dark Lords, the Emperor has not been able to recreate that technology. That’s why he’s so consumed with opening communication channels with the Old Ones and Etherians. He knows they have the technological prowess to recreate that ancient technology.”

“I guess we cut a break there,” Elle commented, fascinated by Josephine’s report. “The last thing we need is the Emperor having some of those bombs under his belt.”

“Indeed,” Hanna agreed. “It’s good he hasn’t been able to successfully reproduce that technology. But what about the second kind of nano-machine? What are they like?”

“Well, the second form of nano-machine is completely organic,” Josephine stated. “As I told you, it’s what makes up these appendages of mine.”

“What do you mean ‘organic’?” Andrew queried. “How are they different from the other nano-machines you’ve been talking about?”

“It’s a bit hard to explain,” Josephine admitted, “but I’ll try. You see, the organic nano-machines are actually cybernetic with both living tissue and machine. But they’re not like the others, which consist of various forms of metal mixed with living tissue. I still don’t know how the inventors did it, but there isn’t any metal in the traditional sense in the organic nano-machines. These machines are DNA-based and programmed to adapt and replicate. Their original purpose was to help repair or replace damaged flesh. For instance, let’s say Hanna lost an arm to whatever agency. The organic nano-machines can replace that arm with one that would function and feel just like the one you lost. When introduced, the organic nano-machines bond with your flesh while adapting to your DNA. It would then rebuild your arm one cell at a time until you have a perfectly functional living arm that’s matched to your unique genetic code.”

“That’s amazing,” Selina called out while leaning against the side of the pool. “I’ve never heard of anything that could do that. But if that’s what the organic nano-machines do, then why don’t you have legs?”

“Because Bolthor corrupted their use,” Josephine answered bluntly, her hate evident in her tone. “He took a technology that was supposed to be used exclusively for healing and turned it into a weapon. Like their metal counterparts, the organic nano-machines must have a base programming in order to work. He programmed the ones used on me to not rebuild and replace a missing piece. He programmed them to rearrange my body to his specifications.” She shuddered visibly, remembering vividly what happened. “I remember when it happened,” Josephine whispered, reliving the pain and horror. “I was awake the entire time. They dropped me up to my chest into a vat of organic nano-machines while restrained. I felt the nano-machines rip my legs to pieces one cell at a time and restructure them into these monstrous appendages. You can’t conceive of that level of pain. I managed to resist it for about ten minutes before passing out. I don’t know how long I was unconscious, or if I was even alive. All I remember after that was waking strapped down to an operating table in the Cadre’s labs with this form. Bolthor and his Cadre of wizards surrounded me along with a strange man in white that I’m not sure was really a man. Of everyone there, the man in white scared me the most. Their voices were muffled and difficult to hear. But I do remember the man in white telling Bolthor that when they were finished, I’d be his slave for all eternity. Bolthor seemed pleased with what the man told him and told him to proceed. The man in white and the Cadre moved in and attached something to the base of my head. Next was searing pain as my mind felt like it was on fire, followed by darkness and Bolthor’s maniacal laughter.” Tears flowed down Josephine’s cheek as the pain of her imprisonment overflowed again. “What did I do to deserve such a horrid fate?” she cried. “Why’d Bolthor do that to me? He was my whole universe.”

Tears of sympathy flowed down Hanna’s cheeks. Caressing the tentacles holding her, Hanna said softly, choked with emotion, “I don’t know, Josephine, but I do understand your pain better than you think. I’ve asked the same thing about what’s happened to me. Your pain is so deep and the wound of your betrayal by Bolthor so heinous. We may never get the answers we seek, but be sure of this, Josephine Keleb. You’re not alone in this. We’re here to help you shed the pain and horrors of what happened to you. By the very fact you’re sharing this most troubling incident with us shows me that you’re ready for healing. You had to share it before you can let it go. Let it go, Jo. You can do it.”

Josephine broke down again and wept deeply, venting the pain and horror of her betrayal. Bringing Hanna within reach of her arms, Josephine wrapped her arms around Hanna while letting go with her tentacles. Hanna put her arms around Josephine’s neck in a warm embrace. “I feel your pain, Jo,” she cried softly. “All of us do. Release this pain. It’s poisoned you for over twelve thousand cycles. Let our God heal your wounded heart.”

Andrew and Elle moved in, touching Josephine in a show of solidarity. Arabella saw Selina slowly moving herself towards Josephine, so she helped her get in close to the cyborg. Selina touched Josephine on the arm. “We’re here for you, sister,” Selina purred. “Let it out. We’re here to hold you up.”

Josephine’s sobs slowly subsided when she heard and saw Selina’s effort to touch her physically. “Thank you, my friends,” she whimpered, picking up Hanna as if she were a little girl, sitting her down next to Arabella and Selina. “You’re all so kind and patient with me. Will the pain ever end?”

Hanna held Josephine’s organic hand, looking her in the eye. “Yes,” Hanna stated. “But it will take time. The deeper the wound is, the longer it takes. But you’re strong, Jo. You’ll heal. In time, you’ll replace the pain becomes less and less until it’s gone. Until then, we’ll help you bear this burden.”

“Thank you,” Josephine replied, calming herself while wiping the tears from her eyes. “I didn’t think remembering it would set me off like that.”

“It’s quite all right,” Selina purred. “We should’ve known better than to ask you about the tentacles. It’s a very sore memory for you.”

“It is,” Josephine agreed. “But it was something I was going to have to face at some point.”

“That you were,” Hanna agreed. “You did well to face such a gruesome memory. It shows your strength. But let’s leave that behind for now. How it happened isn’t that important right now. What is important is learning more about these organic nano-machines that allow you to do these amazing things with your lower appendages.”

“Okay,” Josephine murmured, calming down. “What else do you want to know?”

“You said something about the machines obeying your will,” Hanna stated. “Are they somehow meshed with your central nervous system?”

“Yes, they are,” Josephine replied. “It’s part of the programming Bolthor put into them. Under normal circumstances, the organic machines would mesh with the nervous system as a way to activate the appendage. But what Bolthor did was program them to actually do what I wanted, or rather what he wanted. That way I could control every aspect of that infernal apparatus he imprisoned me in. The organic nano-machines he used on me are truly symbiotic with me and almost sentient. With that in combination with my brain and body enhancement, the organic machines can translate my thoughts and will into physical reality. I’m literally one of Bolthor’s weapons in that sense, though I never wanted to kill anyone. My only remaining wish is to be normal and not this cyborg squid.”

A deep, thoughtful look crossed Hanna’s face while Josephine spoke. Suddenly, an epiphany broke on Hanna that caused a tremendous smile to cross her face. “You say you have physical control over your nano-machines, right?” she asked.

“That’s what I’ve been saying,” Josephine replied, unsure as to why Hanna smiled so broadly.

“You can turn your lower appendages into anything you want, even weapons,” Hanna continued.

“Yes?” Josephine said hesitantly as a flicker of hope appeared in her mind.

“Then why don’t you just tell those little machines to get rid of the tentacles and make you some legs?” Hanna chimed. “Let’s face it. You’re going to get around much easier on a set of legs. And you’re not going to look so much like a giant cyborg squid if you do it. It’ll make interacting with our other friends much easier. Why don’t you give it a shot?”

A look of delight broke across Josephine’s face. “You mean, get them to rearrange my lower appendages into human-like legs?” she asked, making sure she understood what Hanna was suggesting.

“That’s exactly what I’m suggesting,” Hanna chimed with delight. “With your enhanced brain and mental capacity, it shouldn’t be too difficult. Go on, try it.”

“Yeah,” Andrew agreed. “Do it.” Both Elle and Arabella urged Josephine to try it too.

“Okay,” Josephine answered hesitantly. “But I’m not sure I can. It’s one thing to change the individual appendages. It’s quite another to restructure everything below my belly.”

Hanna patted Josephine on the hand. “We believe in you, sister. You must try, otherwise you’ll never know if you can do it.”

“If you think I can,” Josephine murmured.

“I know you can,” Hanna declared, with reinforcing declarations coming from the others.

“Okay,” Josephine said fearfully.

“Relax,” Hanna cooed, getting in close and putting an arm around Josephine. “I know you’re afraid. You’ve never done anything like this before, have you?”

“No,” Josephine admitted. “Never. I wasn’t allowed.”

“Just breathe,” Hanna murmured in Josephine’s ear. “You’re allowed to choose now. If I might make a suggestion; you have ten tentacles, right?” Josephine nodded. “Take your left five to make your left leg and your right five to make your right leg. Braid them together to make your legs strong. Also, try to remember your original legs and mirror them. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised if you do it that way.”

“You can do it,” Selina insisted warmly. “We believe in you.”

“All right,” Josephine whispered. “It helps to have someone believing in you.”

“We all believe in you,” Hanna said sincerely. “Now take it one step at a time. Bolthor took your legs and gave you those tentacles. It’s time for you to take back what he took from you. You can do it.”

Josephine’s confidence blossomed. “Yes, I can,” she declared firmly. “I can do this. I will have my legs back and there’s nothing he can do about it now.” She closed her eyes and concentrated deeply, tapping her deepest memories and reserves.

“That’s it,” Hanna cooed. “Concentrate. Remember your old legs. I bet they were legs to die for too. You can have them back. All you need to do is concentrate.”

Andrew, Elle, Arabella, and Selina made a perimeter around Josephine while Hanna kept close to her. They watched Josephine’s face become stern, and then noticed her tentacles moving beneath the water. The tentacles started swirling and braiding together: five on the left and five on the right. In less than a minute, a semblance of legs started to form below her hips. “Yes,” Hanna urged gently. “That’s it, sis. Weave them together and let them merge. Feel the bones forming in those legs and connecting to your hips. See your amazing little machines layer muscles and sinew on your new bones, from your hips to the tips of your toes. Everything is coming together as it should, bone to bone, muscle and sinew. Yes, you’re doing it, sis! You’re doing it! We can see your legs taking shape.”

Sweat beaded on Josephine’s forehead as an intense, but delighted smile crossed her lips. “I can’t believe it,” she wheezed from the heavy concentration and load of rearranging her lower torso and appendages. “I’m doing it! I can feel my legs solidifying.”

“Yes,” Hanna chimed. “But you’re not done yet. You still have a little further to go. Finish the job and layer the skin on it.” She looked into the water, seeing skin starting to cover Josephine’s restructured legs. “Almost there, sweetie,” Hanna crowed, “just a little longer.”

With a deep, relieved sigh, Josephine abruptly relaxed, obviously taxed by the restoration of her legs. “I think that’s it,” she declared. “But I’m so weak now I can’t move them.”

“Can you feel them?” Arabella asked, moving in with wide eyes to see the legs. Plunging her hand into the water, she pressed gently on the top of Josephine’s reconstructed leg. It felt like a real leg of flesh and bone. “Can you feel that?” she asked.

A delighted smile crossed Josephine’s face again. “You know, I can,” she beamed. “I haven’t felt my legs since they were taken from me. But I’m having trouble moving them. I must have seriously taxed my power levels to restructure them. And, I’m not sure if I even remember how to walk on human legs.”

“Don’t you worry about that,” Hanna chimed, going to Josephine’s leg. “We’ll help you remember. Do you want to see them?”

“Yeah,” Josephine replied eagerly.

“Okay,” Hanna said pleasantly. “Give me a hand, Arabella. Let’s lift her leg up so she can see it clearly.” Arabella nodded and helped Hanna gently lift Josephine’s right leg to the surface of the water. When Hanna saw it, a huge smile crossed her face. “I was right,” she crowed. “These legs are to die for.”

Josephine stared in amazement at her leg. “I didn’t really want to believe it until now,” she breathed, touching her restructured leg with her organic hands to make sure they were real. “They’re real. It’s not a dream. I have real legs again.” Intense joy blossomed on her face as she suddenly grabbed Hanna, pulling her into a friendly bear hug and kissing her on the face repeatedly. Arabella gently let go of Josephine’s leg and moved back a bit, smiling broadly as Josephine lavished kisses on Hanna. “Oh, thank you, Hanna!” she crowed in utter delight. “I have real legs again thanks to you! How can I ever repay you?”

“No thanks are needed,” Hanna answered, pushing back to look Josephine in the eye. “Just seeing you so happy is more than enough. Now, you can have a halfway normal existence. You can move around like the rest of us.”

“That I can,” Josephine chimed, kissing Hanna again on the cheek before setting her down. “Thank you all.”

“You’re welcome,” Hanna said warmly. “Now, how about that swim we were going to help you with? Are you ready to try those beautiful legs out?”

“Yes,” Josephine stated happily. “But what about Miss Selina; doesn’t she need help too?”

“I’ll be okay for now,” Selina answered, now clinging to the side of the pool again. “All I really wanted to do was float awhile. I can wait.”

“Are you sure?” Josephine asked.

“Yeah,” Selina purred. “I’ll be fine. Go on and learn to move around on your own.”

“You’re so good to me,” Josephine chimed. “And after everything Zaros forced me to do to you. I don’t deserve such charity.”

“Don’t go there, Jo,” Hanna warned. “Selina and I both forgave you for that. You don’t need to keep beating yourself up over that. Leave that evil past buried. It no longer has any sway over you.”

“Right,” Josephine agreed. “Forgive me.”

“It’s okay,” Hanna chimed pleasantly. “Now let’s retrain those legs of yours. Elle, you’re in charge of the physical therapy down here. Just tell us what you want her to do.”