Bad Born Blood - Chapter 159
Only Noblemtl
159
-You say you can’t fight properly without your fighting limbs? Your weak body is cumbersome and tiring.
“En said in front of the machine maintenance room. He knocked lightly on the door.
Chiik.
As the door to the machine shop opened, a child-like alien appeared. It was about my chest height and small in build. A pair of horns rose from between its hair.
‘Tarpa.’
I know this being well. I saw it in Noel’s memories too.
‘A race that taught science and technology to the Accrecia Empire.’
The Empire’s mechanical engineering is based on the technology of the Tarpa race. Some Tarpas even work as engineers within the Empire’s corporations.
“Oh, this person is the one who will receive the prosthetic transplant.”
Tarpa lifted her sky-blue face and looked at me. Her eyes were black with no whites, but there was no sense of danger. Tarpa looked similar to a human, so I could tell she was a woman.
-Make this human fight, Lapis.
When Equusian and Tarpa stood side by side, they seemed to be twice as tall.
“Come in, human male. What’s your name?”
“Luca.”
“That’s a good name.”
“It’s a common name.”
“My name, as you may have heard, is Lapis. Lapis Lazuli. It’s my original name, changed to a human word.”
I went inside and snickered.
“Hmm, even though Bellato is a multi-ethnic nation… … they all seem desperate to please humans. They even changed their names to make them easier for humans to pronounce. And they learned this language too.”
It may sound like I’m whining, because I am.
“Not only Bellato, but all the nations of the planet Novas are based on humans. We have no choice if we want to survive here. On other planets, humans will behave just like us.”
Lapis responded gently, not even showing any anger. En snorted inside his battle helmet and sat down.
– Narrow-minded guy. Do you think kindness is flattery? Judging by your twisted personality, it’s obvious how you were raised.
Yen’s harsh words struck the back of my head. And because what he said was true, I couldn’t even respond.
“Please sit comfortably on the operating table.”
I sat down on the operating table, rubbing my neck awkwardly. Around me were complicated electronic machines and monitors scattered in a mess. The cables on the floor were tangled enough to trip my feet every time I moved.
Clank! Kkwing!
Two pairs of mechanical arms rose from either side of the operating table.
“Do it alone?”
When I asked, Lapis smiled softly.
“It’s easier to work alone. I also have an AI robot arm. It’s a great assistant.”
Lapis stroked the robotic arm attached to the operating table. It responded to her and nodded.
Lapis was carrying the prosthetic limbs and arms that were leaning against the wall, one by one, while struggling. They seemed to be for my use. They looked quite heavy for her body type.
-Can I help you?
“En, who was sitting on the chair, said.
“No. I like to do everything with my own hands.”
-You seem stubborn. Do what you want.
En sat back down in his chair and looked out the window. The maintenance room was also on a high floor, so he could see the city below clearly.
Border City was as overdeveloped as the lower areas of Akbaran, and it seemed even worse because the architectural styles of all races were mixed together.
Rattling.
Lapis moved the prosthetic limb and arm next to the operating table and wiped the sweat off her body.
The prosthetic limbs and arms that Lapis brought were not covered with artificial skin, so the machinery and metal were clearly visible. However, they did not have the hard feeling of the Empire.
Woohoo.
The surface was gently curved along the muscle-like texture, and a blue light flowed intermittently from the circuitry. It almost felt like a work of art.
“Which company’s product is it? I don’t know much about Bellato’s company.”
“If I had to name a company, it would be Lapis Lazuli.”
“I’m sorry. It’s a custom-made body.”
My body information seemed to have been transferred in the evening. A custom-made body in a private workshop cannot be made in a day or two. It takes at least several months, and at most years.
Ivan’s variable body and Francek’s splendid chair body were custom-made bodies for which there were no ready-made models.
“The device you are using now does not have sensory signals, so there will be no pain even if you remove it right away. Let’s get started.”
Lapis slowly replaced my limbs one by one. She was afraid that I would feel uneasy if she removed them all at once. It was a delicate and considerate process.
“Are there any bills left?”
I said as I looked around. There were a lot of random prosthetics in Lapis’s machine shop. I thought there might even be one prosthetic eye.
“Why the bill?”
Lapis said as she removed my right arm. She changed her grip on the tool with the help of her robotic arm.
“The biological eyes are not functioning well. It seems that the eyes have regenerated along with the brain while the brain is being treated.”
I tapped the area under my right eye with my left hand. The swollen eye felt unfamiliar.
“It’s crazy to throw away a healthy body to become stronger.”
I smiled with the corners of my lips twisted.
“That’s exactly me. So, take out this eyeball and put in a prosthetic eye for combat.”
Lapis’ smile disappeared for the first time. She frowned.
“I don’t do things like cutting out healthy bodies and implanting machines. If you need artificial eyes, go to the black market. And don’t come to me again. I won’t deal with you, even if it’s Jafar’s orders.”
En, who was listening to our story, laughed.
-You’re amazing for making Lapis mad in less than ten minutes of meeting her. You’re talented, the talent of a piece of trash.
“My identity has already been revealed.”
I shrugged.
-That’s how it is for all those born in the Empire. You throw away your natural body like old clothes, right?
“I didn’t know Equusian was so talkative.”
-I don’t know if it’s Aki’s or what, but Jafar is wasting his money.
Lapis frowned even more as she listened to En and I’s conversation.
“Please don’t fight in my maintenance room. I’m a bit crazy. If Endo keeps doing that, I’ll go outside and wait. This work requires a lot of concentration.”
-Okay. Oh, and this is your terminal, Luca. It has your room and schedule on it, so check it out.
Yen put one of the terminals down on the table and went outside.
And the conversation between me and Lapis stopped. Lapis transplanted and inspected the prosthesis with extreme concentration.
* * *
The prosthetic transplant was complete. It was a comfortable procedure that allowed me to sleep.
I stared at the new limbs. They were embarrassingly high-end. Instead of blood, light flowed through the blood vessel-like circuits. They felt incredibly light to use, even without any special tuning.
“Then measure the signal bandwidth for output control… … .”
Lapis stood in front of the monitor, wiping the sweat off her body with the towel hanging from her waist. A holographic interface appeared before her.
“To the max.”
“Huh? This is no ordinary thing. It’s going to burn out your nervous system.”
“I get the general feeling. It’s okay to expand it to the max.”
I said, closing my eyes. I imagined blue light bending along the circuit in the darkness.
Kiing.
The fingers that were heavily powered moved slowly. This was because I had artificially increased the output. It soon reached the bandwidth limit that the program had blocked.
‘I think I can break through if I concentrate… ‘
It felt strange.
“Oh, what, what are you doing!”
Lapis said while looking at the monitor. Only then did I open my eyes and lose concentration.
Beep, beep, beep.
Error messages were flooding the monitor. Complex graphs and numbers next to them were rising and falling at random.
“See? Since we can forcefully increase the signal bandwidth anyway, release it before the internal program gets messed up.”
I was bluffing. Actually, it was my first time doing it.
‘I just hacked the machine with bio-signals.’
I knew this was possible. I heard that many electronic warfare experts are using their brains as computers and connecting them directly to networks.
But I’m not an electronic warfare expert.
‘What was expected was… … as I manipulated the prosthesis to its limits, I ended up controlling it as if it were my own body.’
The biological signals sent from my brain are converted into cybernetic signals. These signals move the prosthetic body.
‘If the signal strength is stronger than the program, my command takes precedence.’
This is just a guess. There must be someone in the guards who has had the same experience as me. If Haylas was around, I would have asked him right away. He is a soldier who knows everything.
… … It may be a surprise to you, but Heilas is dead.
Just thinking about it made me feel like a box of emotions that had been closed would open. That’s why I told the story of the Custoria family in front of Jafar.
It was quiet. Lapis also observed my mood and waited, then slowly broke the silence.
“Can I borrow your handkerchief?”
At first I didn’t know what that meant. Then I touched the area under my left eye and laughed helplessly.
“It seems like my head is still broken.”
“Crying doesn’t mean you’re broken. Not crying means you’re broken.”
“That’s true.”
Lapis smiled brightly, as if she liked my answer. By human aesthetic standards, she was cute, but not pretty or beautiful. However, I also liked her smile.
“The bandwidth restriction has been lifted. I will call that prosthetic limb set Lazuli 21.”
Lapis said, fiddling with the holographic interface. My limbs felt lighter.
Key- Ing!
And then came the tingling, tingling sensations and hyperactive signals in my limbs. It felt like shards of glass and needles were poking my limbs. If I wasn’t trained, I would have fainted.
“Oh, does it hurt a lot?”
“It’s good to be sick.”
I said through gritted teeth. This was no joke. I finally felt like I had a proper body. The joy of gaining strength lightly overpowered the pain.
“……transformation.”
“Pervert, crazy, psycho. I hear those words often, so I don’t get hurt. So, does it have any special functions? It feels like a body that’s faithful to the basics?”
I stood up, unhooking the cables from my arms and legs one by one.
Pa- Ah!
He lightly extended his fist and the air vibrated.
‘That’s great.’
The responsiveness and speed were excellent. Lapis’ skills were such that she could be called a craftsman.
“You have a good feeling. I don’t know much about you other than your physical information, so I’ve stuck to the basics rather than the extras. You’ll be hard-pressed to find something better than this in your weight class.”
“and?”
The craftsman does not want to make simple things, but rather something that has something special about it.
“Minor damage will heal itself. The liquid metal inserted between the metal layers using the double-compression method hardens when exposed to the outside, reinforcing the gap. It’s the same principle as blood flowing and hardening.”
“It’s expensive, it’s complicated, and it’s luxurious.”
“That’s why it’s special.”
I passed Lapis and picked up the terminal on the table. Its basic functions were similar to those of the one I used in the Empire.
Beep.
It took a while for the terminal to start working, and during that time, an advertisement video appeared on the small screen.
-Snake, snake, snake! Burgers made with patties made from ground snake! Maybe poisonous! But it’s thrilling, it’s good, it’s delicious, it’s fun! Snake, snake, snake! Come on, Jaffa Burger!
The snake slithered and threw itself at the frying pan. The screen turned black and soon a scene of various races laughing and eating burgers appeared.
-A taste you won’t know even if four people eat it and one dies! If you eat it and die, we will compensate you with enough credits to turn your life around!
Someone foamed at the mouth and fell backwards.
-Japa Burger has 12 locations within Border City.
I resisted the urge to throw the terminal and smash it, turned my head to the side, and looked at Lapis, demanding some explanation.
“Japa is the godfather of the food service industry in Border City and has a huge market share. Would you like to see an ad for Japa’s Pizza?”
“I don’t want to have to see this ad every time I restart my device, do I?”
“You’re sharp, snake, snake, snake.”
Lapis said, shaking her head from side to side to the rhythm.
… … This is driving me crazy.