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Megana nods and focuses on Thunder, while wondering about Sam. She plans to see him afterwards. After a moment, concentrates on the task at hand while keeping an eye on Thunder.

Dane looks a bit uncertain when Dr. Greenwood turns to him, then nods slowly. “Okay, yeah—hey, when you know what tech it is… like the model or at least who made it…” He tries to sound more confident than he feels. He pulls out his tablet and starts poking around, finding somewhere where he can do some research. He starts broad—looking for anything on equine cybernetic limbs—and plans to dig deeper once he knows the manufacturer or model. “I just need to refresh my memory on some specifics,” he adds.

It’s partly an excuse—if he gets another one of those strange bursts of knowledge, he can just claim he read it somewhere. He’s a little nervous about anyone noticing the new computer, but that’s a problem for later. For now, he keeps his attention on the screen and the patient, ready to help however he can once the doctors are ready to begin.

Once Dane is logged into the tablet, he notices the screen assist software has already been picking up some of the conversation. An icon of a smiling dog asks, "I see that you're about to conduct intrusive equestrian bionic repairs. The only reputable supplier of equestrian parts is the black market, currently peddling parts from the Lone Star Facility of the Coalition States. Second up is Iron Heart Fabrications, which focuses on arms manufacturing, but tends to dabble in other areas of research and production. The rest of the products are sparse and rare, thus, this puts the likelihood of the bionics being Coalition made at 65%. Unfortunately, I have no schematic, but if the cybernetic parts have an airtight data terminal, then we could use a class N cable to my convertible datajack. From there, I could analyze the progress of the surgery and any fault errors. I can also assist with heart rate and blood pressure, temperature, oxygen levels, brain activity, nerve trauma and autonomic impulse analysis. Would you like me to assist?"

A 'yes or no' option appears on screen as Dane is sure that the AI behind this software is far more advanced than anything he has ever encountered.

The doctor and veterinarian both have Megana stand in front of Thunder, encouraging her to continue petting the horse. "Just make sure to let us know if Thunder begins stirring or acting in any way conscious." Mrs. Greenwood, the veterinary technician and Dr. Greenwood's wife, stands beside Meg to supervise. She feels as though they are teaching her a little bit about veterinary work.

OOC: Assuming Dane has the cables with him, otherwise, hell ask Meg if she can go grab them real quick.

Dane studies the display for a moment, still not entirely sure how this thing seems to know so much. After a quick search through the AI’s prompts, he checks for any reference images or diagrams showing where the data port might be located.

“Okay,” he says after a moment, glancing up from the tablet. “I think I’m ready. Once you get in there, look for a data port—if this model has one, it should be on the upper part of the femur, sealed under a watertight cover of some kind. If you can find that, I might be able to hook into it and get a clearer picture of what’s going on inside.” If they find the port and he’s got the right cable for it, he’ll connect the tablet and tap the “Yes” prompt to let the AI assist.

Dane finds the cable and unravels it to stretch ten feet long. He then studies the display for a moment, still not entirely sure how this thing seems to know so much. After a quick search through the AI’s prompts, he checks for any reference images or diagrams showing where the data port might be located. Eventually, he just looks along the side of the tablet and locates the convertable data port. With a few flicks of a dial, the port converts to the same size as the N-class needed. He plugs it in.

“Okay,” he says after a moment, glancing up from the tablet. “I think I’m ready. Once you get in there, look for a data port—if this model has one, it should be on the upper part of the femur, sealed under a watertight cover of some kind. If you can find that, I might be able to hook into it and get a clearer picture of what’s going on inside.” If they find the port and he’s got the right cable for it, he’ll connect the tablet and tap the “Yes” prompt to let the AI assist.

"Noted," Dr. Greenwood nods, "Julie, apply the general anesthesia and start the timer." Mrs. Greenwood injects a giant needle full of liquid into the horses shoulder. The horse eventually goes limp. Both doctors begin shaving hair from the incision points. They then take scalpels and begin cutting, revealing the bionics, which look to Dane and Megana like they've been used before. Using forceps and clamps, they locate the sealed data port and unplug it. Dr. Lewis takes the opposite end of the N-cable and plugs it in.

Megana senses as Thunder slips into unconsciousness. Pure tranquil abyss is the best description. Thunder almost seems happy.

Dane's computer display immediately populates with vital and bionic statistics and monitors. Dane finds that he doesn't have to do anything as the model number of the Coalition manufactured bionics is confirmed. The neural transmitters are connected, but no one's set the dampeners to prevent the neural signals from bleeding into other nerves, which would cause immense pain. Dane realizes that the doctors don't need to do anything, they simply need to adjust them with the tablet that he's holding.

“Hold on a second,” Dane says, glancing down at the tablet. “It looks like… this might actually be a firmware issue.”

He frowns, scrolling through the interface, his brow knitting tighter as he parses the data. “The neural transmitters are set way too high. They’re flooding nearby nerves instead of isolating the signal to just the ones meant for movement.” He pauses a moment, mentally tracing the logic of what he’s seeing before continuing, half to himself, “That’d explain the pain. The system’s basically overloading the surrounding nerves every time he takes a step.”

He taps a few prompts, then asks the AI quietly, “What’s the correct setting for a standard-sized horse?” Dane also checks if they will need to adjust each leg separately or if the legs are interconnected and he can do it with just this one connection. Once he’s certain, he adjusts the settings one leg at a time, his fingers moving carefully across the display as he watches the readouts.

“Hold on a second,” Dane says, glancing down at the tablet. “It looks like… this might actually be a firmware issue.”

He frowns, scrolling through the interface, his brow knitting tighter as he parses the data. “The neural transmitters are set way too high. They’re flooding nearby nerves instead of isolating the signal to just the ones meant for movement.” He pauses a moment, mentally tracing the logic of what he’s seeing before continuing, half to himself, “That’d explain the pain. The system’s basically overloading the surrounding nerves every time he takes a step.”

He taps a few prompts, then asks the AI quietly, “What’s the correct setting for a standard-sized horse?” Dane also checks if they will need to adjust each leg separately or if the legs are interconnected and he can do it with just this one connection. Once he’s certain, he adjusts the settings one leg at a time, his fingers moving carefully across the display as he watches the readouts.

"The correct setting would be to turn the I/O frequency down to 10% of the current setting. These bionics were calibrated for reckless amounts of speed with no consideration for the host creature." A visual representation of each leg shows all four in red. As Dane adjusts each leg, they fall to yellow, then green. "Another two hundred days of former setting would have terminated the host creatures life."

Megana feels Thunder relax more. Thunder lets out a relieved sigh.

Both doctors stare expectantly at Dane. For once, they aren't the heroes of the operating room. Finally, Dr. Greenwood breaks the awkward silence, other than Emily chatting Miss Hoffman's ear off, "So, are we good?"

The AI replies, "Please suture or laser the incision closed after removing any tools or foreign objects. Afterwards, begin proceedings to prosecute the surgeon and any associates for negligence, animal cruelty and circumventing prescribed bionic settings for a creature that's unable to articulate its own decisions."

Megana notices Arthur's face turn pale.

Dane feels something rare stir in him — anger. It builds quietly as he reads the AI’s response, sharp and cold. “Yeah,” he says finally, his voice steady. “All good. You can disconnect me.”

He doesn’t look at the doctors when he speaks again. His eyes shift to Arthur, and the usual uncertainty in his posture hardens into focus. “I’ve adjusted the settings down to normal — that’s ten percent of what they were.” His tone is calm, but there’s no warmth in it. “Someone had cranked them high enough that Thunder would’ve been dead in six months. The only reason to do that would be to make him faster. Fast enough to win races… no matter the cost.”

Dane feels something rare stir in him — anger. It builds quietly as he reads the AI’s response, sharp and cold. “Yeah,” he says finally, his voice steady. “All good. You can disconnect me.”

He doesn’t look at the doctors when he speaks again. His eyes shift to Arthur, and the usual uncertainty in his posture hardens into focus. “I’ve adjusted the settings down to normal — that’s ten percent of what they were.” His tone is calm, but there’s no warmth in it. “Someone had cranked them high enough that Thunder would’ve been dead in six months. The only reason to do that would be to make him faster. Fast enough to win races… no matter the cost.”

Arthur begins to stammer, "I... I didn't know that that's what they were going to do! I knew something was wrong after the first race. I just couldn't afford to get it fixed!"

Dr. Lewis glances over to Dr. Greenwood as they both nod. Wyatt walks over to the emergency radio and picks it up, "Sheriff Ericson. Would you come over to the animal clinic?"

Panic flashes across Arthur's face as he tries to rush past Dane, Megana and Mrs. Greenwood for the door.

At that point Megana slowly turns her head towards Arthur. Fury burned in her eyes it felt like electricity just shot though her as a cold malice filled her voice "you intentionally done that to win....HAVE YOU NO SHAME!!"Her voice rises in rightous fury "YOU LET HIM SUFFER!! NO MONEY IS WORTH THE SUFFERING!!!"

Dane instinctively moves to block Arthur’s path, stepping just far enough to slow him without actually grabbing him. He’s not a cop, and he’s not about to start a fight — but he’s not going to make it easy for him to just take off, either. OOC: Don't remember how big Arthur is, but Dane's only a buck ten, so without any hand-to-hand training, weight advantage is probably going to win out in a physical conflict; hence, Dane isn't going to start a fight.

The anger still lingers, but it’s dulled by something closer to pity. Yeah, Arthur should’ve known better. He should’ve done something. But the shock on his face looks real — and for a moment, Dane almost believes he really didn’t understand how bad it was.

At that moment, Megana spins her head towards Arthur. Her eyes burn with fury; like electricity shooting through her as malice chills her voice, "You intentionally done that to win. HAVE YOU NO SHAME?!" Her voice raises to righteous vehemence, "YOU LET HIM SUFFER! NO MONEY IS WORTH THE SUFFERING!"

Arthur just stares at her as he runs by while Dane instinctively moves to block Arthur’s path, stepping just far enough to slow him without actually grabbing him. He’s not a cop, and he’s not about to start a fight — but he’s not going to make it easy for him to just take off, either. The anger still lingers, but it’s dulled by something closer to pity. Yeah, Arthur should’ve known better. He should’ve done something. But the shock on his face looks real — and for a moment, Dane almost believes he really didn’t understand how bad it was. Arthur, being only slightly larger than Dane, almost bounces off Dane, only to get shoulder checked and nearly lose his balance. Both of the doctors swiftly move in, like hungry cannibals tackling and pin him down. Mrs. Greenwood produces handcuffs and cuffs him to one of the stainless steel surgical benches.

"Please! I didn't know! He broke his legs in a fall and I didn't know what to do! When the guy asked me what I do with Thunder, I said that we did races!" He begins crying like a child who's about to be beaten, "I didn't know! Thunder is EVERYTHING to me!"

Dr. Greenwood stands, giving Arthur a cold hard stare. Then says, "Megana, once Thunder wakes up, please take him to your grandmother's stables for observation. If Mister Arthur here is telling the truth, then we can have a vote on if he can have his horse back. If he's lying, then Thunder is yours and Arthur gets to pay the punishment." as he never takes his eyes off of Arthur. "Julie, make sure that he doesn't move. I'll go meet with the sheriff." Wyatt strolls out of the operating room.

Dr. Lewis is still kneeling beside Arthur, "I really hope that you're telling the truth."

Dane, by now, is quite certain that Arthur would've never had enough technical knowledge to jury-rig the bionics. Whoever did had definitely prioritized wealth over compassion. Did Arthur know that the cyberdoc was going to do this? He isn't sure. A trial would probably reveal the truth.

Megana feels Thunder begin to stir...