MIB Enhancements Part 2
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There's this one kind of procedure some MIB can get. It involves integrating Silicon Carbide into the bones. Silicon Carbide is a 9 to 9.5 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness. That makes them nearly as hard as diamond. I ain't no doctor, but this is how I understand the way it works.
Basically how it's done is they first start with a scalpel that's even sharper than an obsidian one. The reason obsidian is sometimes used in surgery is because it's so sharp that it causes less trauma to the tissue. The wound heals faster, and there's less scarring afterward.
So imagine if there was something even sharper. What I was told is they use something called a Non-eutactic Scalpel. What that means is it's like something that's so sharp it almost doesn't have a definable edge to it. Most common razor blade edges are measured to around 300 angstroms at best. There are newer synthetic diamond scalpels that they got down to about 30 angstroms. The Non-eutactic Scalpel is way finer than that, around 1 angstrom. Give or take.
It also has a way of altering its polarity, so instead of cutting through the cells and damaging them which causes trauma, it's more like it weaves its way between the cells and separates the tissue gently instead of ripping it apart. After they open the skin and spread the muscle apart, they hold it open with surgical retractors so they can get to the bone.
High speed burs are then used to remove the lining cells from the surface of the bone in order to expose the inner cortical bone. Then a substance is "painted" on with an applicator a lot like a foam brush, only of surgical quality. The substance is a homogeneous mixture of a type of artificial nanotechnological osteoblast along with ultrafine particles of Silicon Carbide in a neutral suspension.
You just paint it on, wait a bit, and it infuses the Silicon Carbide into the compact bone tissue. The artificial osteoblasts wirelessly interface with a computer nearby which notifies you when they've finished arranging themselves and are set into place. You can apply multiple layers until you've reached your desired saturation goal which is measured digitally.
The Silicon Carbide integrates with the bone and becomes a part of it. The nanotech aspect of it makes sure the end result is still porous to retain full hematopoiesis and mineral homeostasis functionalities. A new layer of lining cells consisting of regular bone later regrows on top.
The final aspect is stem cell treatment is used to aid the healing process along with growth hormone supplementation to decrease recovery time. A modified version of platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha (PDGFRa) is applied to avoid fibrosis in the muscle tissue.
Skin scarring potential is already reduced drastically with the Non-eutacic Scalpel. Bone Morphogenetic Protein is administered to convert myofibroblasts into adipocytes which allows scar tissue to convert into regenerated skin instead. Finally, a sterile and refined stem cell serum is applied topically before bandaging. The end result is no sign any surgical procedure ever took place.
After it's done, it's supposedly enough to stop a bullet. That's the most important point of it. Can't run if you need to when your femur has been shot to bits. Plus the sharp edges of a fracture might puncture something like an artery or cause muscle and nerve damage. For the arms, it makes you less likely to drop a weapon and helps maintain a higher degree of combat effectiveness should you get shot there.
The other thing is it increases tensile strength exponentially. It allows you to exert more force without injury. The tricky part is retraining the brain to utilize this reinforced bone because there are some natural limiters in place that keeps everyone's bodies from hurting itself. Lastly, the procedure helps to maintain bone strength after extended periods in microgravity environments.
It's extremely painful as you can imagine, so it's done under anesthesia. It's also an extraordinarily expensive and labor intensive procedure so it's rarely performed. It's also typically only used on certain bones, because you can't do it on something as complex as a spine.
Well, you can, but it would take forever and you'd need more intricate tools to get in all the nooks and crannies. Plus there's a lot of delicate nerves in there you could damage. Not to mention that even if you had a team working on you, it takes so long the healing process would have started by the time you got halfway through.
It's typically only done on arm and leg bones after the growth plates have closed. Sometimes it's done on craniums, but in a limited capacity. Mostly because the skull continues to grow slowly throughout your life. If they do, it's only on the areas surrounding the brain and not the face and jaw. It would kind of be like wearing a helmet under your skin.
It's may not make your bones indestructible like the fictional metal adamantium, but the advantages Silicon Carbide provides is that it's biocompatible, won't get you stuck to large magnets, and you can sneak through metal detectors with it.
Don't try this one at home either. Hoo-boy.
