Two Become One

Please note:  This story is inspired by the drawing, "Two Heads Are Better than  1" by AL818, and is included here with the permission of the artist. Thank you, Andrei!

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Linda Larson is a brilliant graduate research assistant for a noted medical researcher doing advanced studies in the area of cloning and biomechanics.   Doctor Janet Michaels all but considered Linda to be her noted colleague, and planned to make her a partner in her company when their research reached the stage where they could commercialize their work. It was also rumored that they enjoyed a romantic relationship that had started as a deep friendship outside of the lab, but they were very, very careful to keep it all "business" when they were in the laboratory.

One day, there was a terrible accident in their lab, and both women were seriously injured.  Dr. Michaels suffered the worst injuries, with broken bones over most of her body, and many of her major organs seriously damaged as well.  Linda was also gravely injured when a heavy shelf packed with equipment fell on her right side, forcing doctors to amputate her right arm and leg.

When told about Doctor Michaels' grave condition, Linda remembered one of their research projects, and asked Janet if she wanted her to save her life.  Time was of the essence since their doctors determined Janet did not have long to live, and she consented, but in her injured state, could not imagine how their work could be applied here.  The last thing Janet remembered was the doctors rushing her down the hallway to an operating room, and seeing Linda's bed also being moved in, before she lost consciousness.

When Janet awoke, the first thing she noticed was Linda's pretty head next to hers in the bed, in very close proximity.  She glanced down, and saw what looked like a female-shaped metallic  arm and hand extending below her right shoulder, and a shiny leg, shaped like a woman's limb, extending below her hips.

In an operation that took almost a day, surgeons had first used Janet's research to clone her spinal cord, attach it to her head, and implant it onto Linda's shoulders.  Then, the doctors implanted the robotic arm and leg that Linda had been working on, onto her body.  Since she had used her own arms and legs as models, they were an exact match for the limbs she had lost.

Upon waking, Linda gave Janet another surprise: she had told the doctors to give Janet full use of her uninjured  left arm and leg on the left side of their now shared body. Linda would go through the hard work in physical therapy and refinements to her computer program to make the prosthetic arms and legs of their right side operate properly under her control.

"Why would you do this?" asked a tearful Janet, when she realized that her friend had made an incredible sacrifice to save her life.

"Because," said Linda gently, "I love you so much, and you are smarter and the more talented of the two of us. I decided it is more important that you have the the use of *our* more sensitive and more precise left arm and hand.  I will keep working to make our right arm and hand function so that we can continue our work...together!"  And then she turned and tenderly kissed Janet to seal the deal!

It took almost a year, but with hard work, Janet and Linda were able to make a full recovery, and reeturned to work.  Linda continued to refine the algorithm that helps drive the right side of their shared body, giving them much more precise control.  Janet worked on cloning Linda's lovely skin so that eventually, they would be able to cover their metallic arm and leg with a natural skin layer so that all four of their limbs will match in appearance.  Janet also realized that in the process, her friend had bestowed on her the gift of youth, and Janet had gone from being a 49-year old woman starting to feel her age, to sharing the body of a young and healthy 23-year old!

In recognition of Linda's unselfish move to save them *both*, Janet changed her last name to "Larson", and then married Linda, who had, in turn, already changed her name to Michaels.  And then, in an unprecedented move, Janet got her college to confer on Linda an identical doctorate degree in recognition of her pioneering work in biomechanical cloning. With time, it became difficult to determine where Janet ended and Linda began, they would complete each other's sentences, and their co-workers began to think of them as one talented and brilliant woman.

And in the future, all of the results of their joint research would be published under their one, married name:


The End.