The intricate machinery began to emit soft clicks, while two faintly glowing diamond-shaped crystals floated out from a storage slot beside it and hovered before Diana. The light screen projected by the intersecting crystals swept over her body like a net. In that brief instant, Diana's memories returned to many years ago, to the days when she had served as a guard at Vepranton Observatory.
Back then, life had been far simpler. A machine did not need to think about so many things.
A mechanical arm with a sharp tip moved above the repair bay and precisely pried open the maintenance cover on Diana's abdomen. Her old brass core ticked away within the Machinery Cabin. The mana hub and the Mind Core wrapped in its protective layer glimmered faintly blue within a gel-like cushioning substance. Under Ophelia Norton's personal control, the tools equipped in the repair bay began carefully working on this body, which differed greatly from its factory settings. Diana then heard the legion commander's voice from above once more.
"This may take some time. Many components inside your body have severely exceeded their service limits, and there are also many... rather nonstandard modifications and repairs. Those things barely kept you functioning normally, but they have placed enormous strain on many of your core systems. Now, relax. I am going to reroute your energy flow externally and remove your mana hub."
"These nonstandard modifications and repairs are what kept me alive until today. Without them, I might have died a century ago," Diana said softly.
A brief wave of dizziness struck the instant her mana hub was removed, then swiftly faded as the external power supply connected. She blinked and heard Ophelia Norton's voice in her ears. "'Alive,' and 'dead.' Ordinary Ironclad Soldiers rarely use such words for themselves,