Where was this?
A girl with short white hair awoke sealed inside an unidentified liquid. Her surroundings were dim, lit by a faint pale-green glow.
Her nasal passages were filled with the liquid too, but she was not suffocating. It felt inexplicably familiar, though the taste seemed somewhat different.
Suddenly, she felt a momentary tug at several parts of her body.
Looking down, she saw several tubes that had already disconnected from her retracting toward the pod walls. And those black feet...
No, those were prosthetic limbs.
At the same time, she saw that her hands had also been replaced with prosthetics.
She studied the smooth black hands before her. Rounded knuckles, smoothly moving joints. They were humanlike hands, but beyond them were armorlike forearms and upper arms of half flesh, half metal.
She moved her hands. There was no delay whatsoever; they moved as smoothly as real hands.
Before she could finish examining her body, the nutrient pod rapidly drained the liquid she was immersed in.
Standing inside the pod, she braced herself against its wall. Still unused to these legs, she swayed a little.
Then a powerful blast of warm air swept through the pod and over her entire body, drying both the remaining liquid inside and her soaking-wet body.
Once the warm air stopped, she briefly tidied and smoothed down her tousled hair.
Then a seam appeared in the previously smooth pod wall before her, and it slowly opened.
"En-na? En! En-en-en... en-na-na!!!"
(What is this? Ah! Th-this, this... avert your eyes!!!)
Red One screamed, trying to cover Blue Two's and Yellow Three's eyes with one hand each while pushing them slowly backward.
She watched the three red, blue, and green Bangboo retreat a few steps, then inexplicably tumble into a scuffle amid their shoving. Unable to make sense of it, she ignored them.
Then she began examining her surroundings.
It was cold. She had felt that the moment she left the pod. Her surroundings were dark, about as bright as the pod's interior. There was also a collection of machines fixed in place, none of which she understood.
There was also someone standing in front of a large machine. He was tall and dressed lavishly. Judging by his exposed head, he seemed to be an intelligent construct.
Command received. Experimental procedures paused. [Offspring Cultivation Project] entering automated management. Neural link shut down. Ejecting consciousness...
While she was still unsure what to do, she saw lights illuminate Huojin's previously dim chassis again.
He pulled his arm out of the console before him and put on his glove.
Then he turned to face the still-bewildered girl, silently activated his intimidation mode, and said:
"Come here."
The inexplicable pressure emanating from Huojin made the girl shrink back inwardly. But she still instinctively obeyed his command and walked over to him.
Huojin paid no mind to the girl's nakedness before him, instead looking her over as though inspecting an object.
Facing Huojin, the girl showed neither shame nor embarrassment over her current state. She watched the imposing stranger before her with an indifferent expression, her thoughts unknown.
Huojin asked, "How do your cybernetics feel?"
"...Very smooth. No delay."
The girl tested her limbs again and answered.
Huojin said, "Not just your hands and feet. I also fitted you with a full prosthetic spine."
The girl froze for a moment. Using a hand equipped with tactile feedback, she felt her lower spine, then twisted her waist, but could not feel any difference.
Then she felt along her entire spine from bottom to top. Only at her neck did she find a texture unlike skin, smooth and tough yet somewhat soft.
So my spine was prosthetic too? I didn't even notice.
The girl said, "Just like the other cybernetics. Nothing abnormal."
"Good. Then..."
Huojin asked another question. "Do you still know who you are?"
"I remember. I'm... I..."
At this, the girl lost control of her expression and gradually panicked. Her mouth opened and closed, but she could not say her name.
She clearly remembered having a name, but now she could not recall it. She tried carefully recalling her past memories, only to discover in alarm that no matter what she did, she could not remember anything from before she left the pod.
The feeling was like constipation. She knew she had them, but could not recall them no matter what. And she found that the harder she tried to remember, the more uncomfortable and muddled her head became.
Huojin watched the girl begin to sway and stagger. She clutched her head, her molars clenched and her brow tightly furrowed.
"The 'memory sealing' experiment succeeded. The method was a little crude, but it worked. No obvious rejection, but whenever she tries to recall anything, it conflicts with the device..."
Fairly satisfied with the results of the girl's modifications, Huojin nodded and sent a signal to the device inside her brain.
Instantly, the pain in the girl's head stopped. She stood there panting. She remembered. All her memories had returned.
Her name was Trigger. She belonged to the Defense Force's Silver Squad, designation: No. 9.
She remembered that their squad had been wiped out in battle. Severely wounded and unconscious, she had lain in a heap of corpses beneath layers of her sisters.
In the end, a group of scavengers had picked her up. Afterward, drifting in and out of consciousness, she had been listed on the black market and traded.
Then someone she did not know had bought her. She could not remember much of what happened in between.
Trigger recovered and looked up at Huojin before her, already realizing that he was probably the buyer who had purchased her.
Huojin said, "I just unlocked your memory access. You remember everything now, don't you?"
Trigger said, "I-I remember. My name is Trigger. I belong to the Defense Force..."
"Good, Trigger."
Without waiting for Trigger to finish, Huojin said bluntly:
"As a discarded product of the Defense Force, you should understand your current situation."
Trigger's expression grew grave. She nodded and said, "...You're the buyer who bought me on the black market."
Huojin said, "Correct."
Trigger asked, "Who are you? And where is this?"
"My name is Hawking Hongke, the CEO in charge of the TOPS conglomerate. And this is the laboratory beneath my estate."
Huojin continued speaking without prompting:
"From now on, as my new subordinate, you will address me as Master. In other words, your current boss.
"Whether you accept it or not, you have no say in this. I still need whatever value you have left."
Something occurred to Trigger. "You want to use me to reverse-engineer the Silver Army? Besides, why should I risk my life for you?"
"...You really don't listen, do you?"
Huojin spoke in displeasure and transmitted another signal. Agonizing pain instantly shot through Trigger's head, forcing her into a half crouch as she clutched her head and groaned.
"You want to know why?"
Huojin said coldly, "Because I bought your life. Because I installed your cybernetics and treated your hidden injuries."
"...S-so what!"
Huojin said, "Hmm?"
Forcing herself to endure the pain, Trigger said, "Anyway... I have nothing left. They're dead, all dead! They all died before me!!
"If only... if only those scavengers hadn't picked me up... if only I hadn't become a cripple who couldn't even kill herself!!
"...I... how else would I have ended up listed on the black market... treated as merchandise, bought and sold! How else would I still be clinging to life in this world!!"
As Trigger spoke, she freed one hand and aimed it at her temple, intending to kill herself, but Huojin locked it in place remotely.
Knowing she had no power to resist, she could only look up at Huojin defiantly, tears spilling from her eyes from the pain in her head and the heart-piercing grief.
"I-I should have gone with the captain and the others! Died with them-!!"