Until just a short while ago, Luka had been suffering — unable to accept a version of himself that merely scraped by, day after day. He had felt like a wretched survivor forced to endure a life worse than death, a lump of flesh that couldn’t do anything on his own.
But in the moment he had raised a vertical line using nothing but his own breath, Luka had felt his own weight for the first time. The weight of an existence that was ferociously heavy and viscerally real — one that did not disappear even without arms and legs. The memory of the captain’s warm smile, sharing in that joy alongside him, surfaced with it.
The captain who shared his name — Luka. A kind and gentle adult. Someone who showed him affection with his whole effort at every turn, never once letting on that he found this armless, legless version of him repulsive or bothersome. Every time he smiled, he shone so brightly, like sunlight, that Luka couldn’t look away….
Just thinking of him made Luka’s fingers curl and fidget against the bed sheet. Just like the way he would fidget with the buttons on the captain’s uniform when nestled in his arms.
“…He’s definitely a strange person. I’ve never met anyone like him in my life, so honestly… it does put me off a little.”
After that brief musing, Luka’s expression grew complicated as he stared out into space. There was no way the captain was doing nothing but selfless charity with nothing to gain. He must have had a reason for keeping him alive.
And yet — the attentiveness, from start to finish, had been excessive for something with an ulterior motive. To willingly give his time and pour his devotion into someone who struggled to so much as breathe.
“…Why didn’t he just let me die? Why does he kiss my forehead and the back of my hand and treat me as though I’m precious? Why….”
In the middle of that endless parade of whys, Luka let out a short sigh. Nothing had been resolved. No — as time passed, the worry he had been trying to suppress was filling his mind to the brim.
The fear that if it turned out he had truly been treating him with such affection purely for some ulterior motive — then even Luka would have no choice but to end up hurt by it.
Luka murmured, very quietly.
“When I can walk… he’ll probably say it’s been a month, so hand over the price of your life… he’ll tell me why we share the same name, and why he came looking for me.”
What would he say as the reason for keeping him alive? Would it be that, now that his arms and legs had been replaced with prosthetics, he made a useful combatant who could engage directly in fights against Aegis? Was that why Kai had calibrated the prosthetic to a higher output?
It was certainly easy enough to treat him as a machine-person rather than a whole human. Even if arms and legs got broken in battle, they could just be replaced with new prosthetics. That kind of disposable machine-person treatment did suit the state he was in right now — all too well.
“…….”
Luka tried to rein in the low mood threatening to take hold. Even if he were treated as a machine-person, he couldn’t let himself grieve over it. After all, his life had been saved, and a debt like that had to be repaid.
Once I’ve repaid it all… maybe I can say I’m leaving this ship after that….
But if he left the ship, where would he go? His home planet had already been destroyed and was gone. Would there be any world generous enough to take in a displaced person like him?
The window reflected a version of himself — alone in the vast, impenetrable dark. Not the feverish gaze of someone who had begun to hold hope for life, nor the despairing expression of someone who had given everything up, but simply a plain, unremarkable self, accepting fate with quiet resignation.
Luka slowly closed his eyes and steadied his breath once more.
“Haah, huu….”
Imagining the cold touch of metal that would soon meet his severed limbs, Luka, for the first time, did not resist the arrival of tomorrow.
At last, the promised month had been fully counted out. The appointed time to connect Luka with a prosthetic body suited to him. The neural synchronization ports had already been intricately embedded into the cross-sections of Luka’s shoulders and thighs as he lay on the operating table.
The heavy door to the medical bay swung open, and Kai entered, pushing a massive metal storage case on a transport vehicle that resembled a dock cart. Obel followed behind, expressionless, readjusting his gloves.
“Alright, the time has finally come for Luka’s new life to begin!”
Kai unlocked the storage case in an excited voice. With a hiss of steam, the lid opened — and what was revealed inside was a grotesque object.
It was a black chrome prosthetic body, meant to replace the arms and legs Luka had lost. The black alloy, specially crafted to allow the Aethernos particles that powered the Nautilus to flow through it, absorbed the light of the medical bay and gleamed with an eerie, cold luster.
At every joint, a faint blue energy pulsed and moved. It looked like part of some creature’s body — quietly exhaling, still as stone.
Lying in bed and watching, Luka’s eyes took on a complex, indescribable color. He had steeled himself to accept it, but seeing it in person made him waver. It was far more unsettling-looking than he had imagined.
…It’s way bigger than what I pictured when they were checking the parts, isn’t it?
They’d said they were boosting the output — and it seemed it had grown larger and stranger for it. The arm alone looked twice as thick as his own left arm had been.
This isn’t a joke — it’s real? I have to live the rest of my life with that attached to me?
The life where I walk again that he had dreamed of while gazing at the universe through the window hadn’t looked anything like this. He had imagined something that looked no different from his original arms and legs. But the prosthetic in front of him looked not like a part of himself that would obey his will, but like a beast that would use his frail body as its host and move of its own accord.
“…That’s going to be attached to my body?”
His voice came out slightly trembling. He had resolved himself to become a machine-person, but a form this monstrous was something he had never imagined.
Kai, not noticing his reaction, called out proudly.
“This is a masterpiece that I stayed up an entire month of nights to make! It’s far harder than human bone, and it can connect directly to the Aethernos engine! No matter how much you move, you won’t tire out!”
Kai lifted one of the heavy arms and approached. As the cold mass of metal made to touch his body, Luka convulsed and twisted away.
“W-wait… I’m not mentally ready yet….”
It was a weapon. It wasn’t that he was gaining new arms and legs — he was going to have to live with weapons attached to his body. A terror took hold of him: that operating these weapons would gnaw away every last bit of his life force.
Is this why you brought me here and kept me alive? To turn me into a weapon for this ship?
A vague dread became a concrete, suffocating fear that began to crush down on him.
“No, no….”
“Luka, stay still. I need to connect it to the neural port. It’s dangerous if you move.”
Obel coldly pressed down on Luka’s shoulder to hold him in place. The captain sat at the head of the bed and cupped Luka’s face — drained white — in both hands.
“Luka, look at me. It’s all right. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”
Did they think it was just fear of the surgery? Did no one else find those monster-like mechanical arms and legs wrong?
Luka felt a surge of betrayal and hostility even toward the captain he had trusted. Those eyes that had always been so gentle now looked to him like nothing more than the madness of a deranged experimenter trying to turn him into a monster. The fear became rage in an instant and erupted outward.
“Liar! That thing is a monster! Why didn’t you tell me?! I’d rather just die than live with a hunk of junk like that attached to me!”
The captain’s eyes went wide, as though Luka’s explosive reaction had been entirely unexpected.
“Luka…? It’s not as frightening as you think it is. You’re only startled because it’s your first time seeing it.”
“No…!”
“Luka, calm down and—”
“No! I said no!”
The captain faltered. He seemed to only now register that Luka’s refusal was far too intense. While the captain paused to think about what might be driving this, Obel spoke.
“What’s going on? The synchronization rate has become unstable. I need to finish this before the numbers drop any further.”
Kai fitted the black prosthetic to the port in Luka’s shoulder and chimed in.
“Don’t worry, it’ll be quick!”
Before a startled Luka could let out an even louder scream of resistance — Obel activated the bio-synaptic link.
Zzzt.
The horrifying sound of metal fusing with nerve rang out. Without even knowing what the Aethernos energy Kai had spoken of actually was, Luka had his body forcibly surrendered. The sensation of that energy flowing through human nerves delivered an agony like every drop of blood in his body boiling at once.
“Aaaagh—!”
Luka screamed and thrashed. The captain’s eyes contracted in an instant. He spun urgently toward Obel, as though this reaction was something he hadn’t anticipated either.
“Is this level of pain normal?”
“Mm — no, it isn’t. The patient seems to be reacting with extreme sensitivity.”
The medical support machine sounded an alarm.
— Mental synchronization rate dropping sharply. Danger. Please halt the bonding process.
The captain shouted.
“Stop!”
His voice rang out sharp and cutting a second time.
“Stop it — right now!”
Kai startled and yanked the output control lever. Obel, brow furrowed, entered the forced termination sequence.
Fsssh.
The surging blue energy died away, unable to gnaw any further at Luka’s nerves. The black chrome prosthetic that had been half-fitted to the shoulder port fell limply to the floor with a cold, heavy clang of metal.
Enveloped in silence atop the bed, Luka alone lay gasping, drenched in sweat and tears.
