Deterioration part 2

Deterioration
part 2

Leo woke slowly; his eyelids drifting open of their own accord. The view of the ceiling was just as it had been when Bishop's machine had knocked him out, so he knew that he was still a captive.

When Leo tried to move his head his vision swam and he had to close his eyes quickly. Nauseas and disoriented, Leo discovered that his eyes were the only part of his body obeying commands. For a frightening moment, Leo wondered if somehow his spinal cord had been severed.

"This body is remarkably fit and resilient," Bishop said from somewhere quite close.

Leo's eyes flew open again in expectation of seeing Bishop hovering over him once more. The only thing Leo saw was one of the scientists staring at him curiously.

"Agent Bishop?" the man asked.

It almost seemed as though the man was addressing him and Leo frowned. With an effort he managed to turn his head towards the table where Bishop had lain.

Bishop was gone but the table was covered in a gelatinous brown substance. The smell of it hit his nostrils and made him grimace.

"The residuals are always rather unappealing, wouldn't you agree?" Bishop asked.

Once more Leo's eyes darted around as he tried to locate the owner of that voice but he still didn't see Bishop, although the man sounded as though he were standing right next to Leo.

"Let's try a little experiment," Bishop said in his most unctuous tone. "Something simple I think."

A slight pain blossomed inside Leo's head and then the fingers on one hand lifted.

The movement was jerky, as though the digits were being controlled by a marionette. Leo had given no conscious thought to lifting them, but now he did concentrate on lowering them.

As soon as he thought it, he felt another will push back against his; another consciousness attempting to control his body.

That's when Leonardo realized where Bishop was.

"No," Leo whispered, his initial panic giving him control over his vocal chords.

"Yes," came the mocking reply; Bishop's voice from inside Leo's head.

"You transferred your mind into me?" Leo asked with his mind since he still seemed to have control over that part of himself. "How?"

"Most beings on this planet only use a very small percentage of their brains, Leonardo," Bishop answered. "The transference machine looks for an idle energy signature; an area of the brain's electrical synapse that are not firing, and then transfers the consciousness from another location into the idle area. I know that you Turtles are a bit more enlightened than common humans, but I took the calculated risk that there would still be space for me to occupy."

"I thought that you wanted Donatello to build you a body of your own," Leo said in some confusion.

"I do," Bishop said. "I thought about taking him and transferring my consciousness into his body to force him to build one for me. That would have been my preference because then I could have guarded against any attempts at sabotage. The problem is that your brother is much too intelligent; in fact, he is off the charts. I had no way of ensuring that his brain wouldn't reject me or even him for that matter. Both of those scenarios would have been catastrophic."

"So you chose to transfer yourself into one of his brothers," Leo said darkly.

"As you can see, I had to move quickly," Bishop said. "This choice serves two purposes; it provides me with a body and it will give your brother an incentive to work quickly. At least assuming he wants you back."

"What makes you think I won't try to force you out?" Leo asked.

Bishop laughed lightly. "You may certainly try. The difficulty for you is that I am occupying a portion of your brain that you don't normally put to use. Since you have no practice accessing it, you're going to have a problem attempting to force anything. That is another thing Donatello might have managed to do, but certainly not you. As a strategic thinker, you must admit that this is a foolproof plan."

Leo ignored the taunting tone, choosing instead to take stock of his situation. Bishop was sharing his body with him and seemed sure of his ascendency over Leo. Forcing himself into a calm state, Leo discontinued his physical struggles, internalizing every bit of his consciousness.

With an effort, Leo pushed back against Bishop's control and managed to lower his fingers.

He could feel Bishop's consciousness attempting to access the portion of his mind that Leo was carefully closing off. Putting to work the mental skills that all of his years of meditation had given him, Leo built a wall between himself and Bishop.

"I might not be Donatello," Leo said, "but I'm not a pushover either. You won't learn any of our secrets from me. I'll not take you to the lair and I'll not let you use my body to trick my family."

"Is that what has you worried Leonardo?" Bishop mocked. "Afraid I'll take advantage of my time inside your body?"

"I think you'll use any opportunity you can get in order to further your cause," Leo said. "This may have begun as a gambit to get yourself a new body, but the chance to push your leverage as far as possible is something you won't try to resist."

Leo could almost feel a physical manifestation of Bishops sarcastic laughter. "I suppose you think you know me, turtle. Whatever else I might or might not want, remember that my primary goal is to have Donatello build a new body for me. This form is not one I wish to occupy for any longer than necessary."

"Then we find ourselves in complete agreement on at least one thing," Leo said in return. "Because I don't want you in here for very long either."

"Good." In a lighter tone, Bishop said, "Let's see what this body can do."

Leo's mouth opened and a voice that sounded similar to but not quite his issued a command to the scientist who was still crouched over him.

"The subject and I are both occupying this body, Dr. Garcia," Bishop said. "The experiment was quite successful. Remove the straps; I want to practice operating the limbs."

Dr. Garcia frowned. "You gave me a series of codes, Agent Bishop."

"Yes, of course doctor," Bishop said. "Adiabatic."

The word was unfamiliar to Leo, but the doctor nodded as soon as he heard it and immediately began removing the straps that held Leo to the table. Once Dr. Garcia had released all of Leo's limbs, he stood next to him and offered his arm.

"Let me help you stand," Dr. Garcia said.

"No," Bishop told him. "Move back and have the tranquilizer gun ready. I don't believe that Leonardo will be foolish enough to try anything, but if he does, I want you to knock us out."

"Yes sir," Dr. Garcia acknowledged, moving to a desk near the control panel and selecting a tranquilizer gun off of it.

Leo relaxed as he felt his body following Bishop's command to rise. Since he too wanted off of the table, Leo didn't attempt to interfere with Bishop, holding back his own natural instinct to leap for his weapons.

Sitting up without having consciously given his body the command to do so was one of the most bizarre things Leo had ever experienced. The movement was jerky as Bishop tried to adapt to the turtles unfamiliar anatomy, barely compensating in time for the extra weight of Leo's carapace.

With his legs dangling over the edge of the table, Leo sat and waited to see what Bishop would do next. He made no effort to take control; as long as Bishop appeared to be in charge of the body, Dr. Garcia would not be firing off any tranquilizers.

Almost as if reading Leo's hidden thoughts, Bishop said, "I am sure your swords are a great temptation but I'm afraid your reflexes are not going to be anywhere near normal. Any movement you attempt to make that is counter to my set of commands will be met with extreme resistance. I will freeze this body mid-stride and leave you an easy target for my people."

One of Leo's hands lifted and he found himself touching his own plastron. His palm slid along the rough scutes, fingertips dipping into and exploring the various nicks and gouges.

"This is quite a fascinating bit of armor," Bishop said thoughtfully. "I wouldn't have thought it to have the ability to feel sensations, but it is actually rather sensitive. These wounds must have hurt."

He continued to explore Leo's body, removing the attached electrodes from his skin and carrying on a soliloquy as though he expected that Leo would offer no commentary.

Holding a hand in front of Leo's face, Bishop opened and closed it several times. "Superior musculature and an incredibly strong grip. Three fingers will take some getting used to."

Leo couldn't resist responding, "Don't bother, you won't be in here very long."

"I sincerely hope you're correct," Bishop countered. "This body may be stronger and more versatile than the average humans, but it is not nearly as perfect as my cloned form."

"The one that burns out and melts into a nasty pile of goo with a fair amount of frequency," Leo said bitingly.

"Touché," Bishop said. "I'll give you that one. Let us both hope that your smart brother will remedy that small problem for me with the new body he is going to design."

"If it were up to me, he wouldn't lift a finger to help you," Leo said.

"You are used to having Donatello obey your commands without question, aren't you?" Bishop asked. "It must have been quite irksome to hear him agree to meet me despite you telling him not to do so."

Leo didn't care to have a discussion with Bishop about Donatello. His brother rarely ever went against Leo's direct orders but when he did it was always because he had one of his brother's well-being in mind. Donatello could be a real dictator when it came to health issues of any kind and he would see giving Bishop a new body as a minor sacrifice when weighed against Leo's life.

Bishop ordered Leo's hands to push off from the table and when Leo's feet hit the floor, Bishop practiced giving his legs the commands to bend and flex. Standing as straight as possible, Leo's arms lifted into the air in a long stretch that pulled all of his muscles taut.

When his arms came down, Leo found that his hands were now exploring his body once more, fingertips roaming over his head and face, across his neck and the top ridge of his carapace. His hands slowly moved downwards, over his scutes and onto his exposed sides, and then he bent over to run his hands over his solidly muscular thighs, calves, and even as far down as his feet.

As his fingers traced their way back up, Leo discovered that one hand had been given the command to reach back and grasp his tail. When the other hand started to explore between his legs, Leo forced his own will to assume control, putting an immediate stop to Bishop's curiosity.

With a laugh, Bishop said, "I was wondering how far you would let me go. You are attempting to play possum so that I will not know how much control you can still manage to exert over this body. You should understand that type of subterfuge won't work on me."

"You need to realize that there are certain boundaries that I will not allow you to cross," Leo said, "even if stopping you is a detriment to my own well-being."

"Since we are going to be sharing this vessel for a time, it probably wouldn't hurt to have some ground rules," Bishop agreed. "I will promise not to explore beyond the bounds of propriety and within the limits of self-preservation, to not directly or indirectly cause harm or damage to be inflicted on your body."

Leo laughed shortly. "'Within the limits of self-preservation' seems to be leaving you with a sizeable loophole."

"I did take you for a reason, Leonardo," Bishop said. "Occupying your body was a necessary step towards incentivizing your brother to work for me. If he needs further coaxing then I may have to take drastic measures to encourage him."

"You're going to feel anything you do to me just as much as I will," Leo reminded him.

"I am fully cognizant of that," Bishop said. "Believe me when I say that type of inducement will be used as a last resort. I think Donatello is a very rational and reasonable being, however your brother Raphael is rash and volatile and Michelangelo is both cunning and resourceful. I do have a high regard for your siblings strengths."

"Yes, my family has experienced your high regard on more than one occasion," Leo said sarcastically.

"You should be flattered that I'd desire your assistance in creating a means to protect this planet," Bishop said. "What I've asked of you has always been with thoughts towards the greater good."

"I'm not going to debate that point right now," Leo said. "Not with you occupying my body. The fact remains that your goals may sound lofty but your methods are reprehensible. Killing us has always been your top priority and no matter what rationale you attach to that, the end result is that my family would be dead."

Bishop chuckled. "I'm not sure how much time we will have to spend 'together', but I am sure there will be other opportunities to continue this discussion. Let's get back to those ground rules, shall we? I have given you a fair promise and I would like to extract one from you. This process will be less time consuming if we don't have a repeat of your earlier attempts to dissuade Donatello from fashioning a new body for me."

"You want my promise that I won't order him to let you rot?" Leo asked.

"Not really, no," Bishop said. "He wouldn't listen to an order like that from you so I'm not concerned about you issuing one. Once he knows that I'm in here, he'll do what I want. The promise I hope to extract from you is that you will not do anything impulsive in an attempt to prematurely evict me. I am quite aware of your cunning and ingenuity. I am also aware of your limitless ability towards self-sacrifice."

"As I'm likewise aware of your willingness to keep your word as long as we know exactly what that is," Leo said in response. "So as part of those ground rules you're so intent on laying out I want a promise that you won't attempt any type of move on my family. You are undoubtedly going to learn more about us from being inside my body than any of your prior attempts have gleaned. This is it; don't try anything else or I'll destroy both of us to save them from you."

"Done," Bishop promised. "It is nearly time for us to meet your family. I would like to walk over to that table and put on your gear. Would you care to do the honors, or shall I take the initiative?"

The last thing Leo wanted to do was offer Bishop any more opportunities to practice controlling his body. "I'll do it."

As he crossed the room, his body under his own stewardship for the first time in over an hour, Leo could see that Dr. Garcia kept the tranquilizer gun pointed at him. The second he reached for his belt, the gun lifted.

Once more Leo's mouth opened under Bishop's control. "I am still in command, Dr. Garcia. Please move forward with the next step in our plan; have my car ready. Leonardo and I are going to fetch the genius I was telling you about. Prepare the lab, he will need full and complete access to everything we can possibly give him."

"I will make it so, Agent Bishop," Dr. Garcia said. "What about safeguards?"

"Leonardo and I have reached an understanding, doctor," Bishop told him. "One that is mutually advantageous to both of us. The tranquilizer gun won't be necessary."

"You have the code?" Dr. Garcia asked.

"Abyssal," Bishop said.

Dr. Garcia promptly turned and left the room. Only one other scientist was still with them, and he was seated at a computer, seemingly hard at work and ignoring Bishop/Leo.

"Certain members of my staff know the code words I've selected," Bishop explained. "They aren't in a computer anywhere, so don't think that Donatello will be able to locate them. Measures will be taken if I issue a command that isn't also followed by one of the codes. Is my meaning clear?"

"You've thought of everything," Leo said, slowly pulling on his gear.

"I have certainly attempted to," Bishop acknowledged. "Speaking of which, you have yet to give me your promise."

Leo had hoped that Bishop would forget, but he should have known better. He did know that Bishop would honor none of his own guarantees if Leo didn't invoke his word.

"I'll meet your conditions," Leo finally said.

His hands curved around the handles of his katanas as he spoke and he lifted them from the table. Looking into the polished metal, Leo saw his own reflection staring back at him.

Leonardo's image seemed somewhat foreign to himself, tainted by Bishop's point of view. He could almost feel the thoughts that Bishop was holding back from him, thoughts prompted by emotion rather than logic. To Bishop, Leo was nothing more than a creature; a beast with no place in the world and no rights.

Something was there, something in Bishops reaction that was the answer to defeating the man, but it was so elusive that Leo lost his grip on it. He knew better than to try and chase it, whatever it had been it would come back to him eventually. All he could hope for was that it would come back in time to do Leo and his family some good.

Leo had no illusions about how far he could trust Bishop and his promises. The wording was too full of verbal ambiguities, purposely phrased in a manner that would be most advantageous to Bishop.

That sort of game could be played by two, and apparently Bishop had not noticed Leo's responding word of honor was likewise couched in a way that would give the ninja a means to protect himself and his family.

He could feel Bishop seize control of his arms in order to lift the katanas and slide them into the sheaths that rested on Leo's back.

"It is time to greet the family," Bishop said. "Shall we?"

As they moved towards the door, Leo found that for the first time in his life he was hoping that Donatello would not be waiting for him.

That hope was of course unrealistic. Donatello was always there for him. It was the one thing that Leo could always count on.

TBC…………………