I had finished eating, and stood up to walk around. As I connected with the floor, I noticed a sensation that was almost completely foreign to me.
The ground under my feet.
I could feel every groove in the floor, its smooth texture, and it's cool touch. Somewhere below me was emitting a very deep sound, causing the ground to vibrate slightly. I looked down at my feet and found them to be flesh and blood again, rather than carbon and steel. However, my wonder was cut short by the arrival of 3 of the mechanical inhabitants of this realm. Two had more coppery tones to their bodies, while one was slightly larger and silver. The sliver one examined me for a moment, before loudly commenting.
"Oh, lovely. She's discovered it. That's just going to make this all the more difficult for us. Right, you two, grab her and take her to reconstruction. Some idiot failed to for the damage to the organism."
The two copper robots proceeded towards me. I backed against a wall, not sure of what was going to happen to me. They each took a hold of one of my arms, and I found myself hardly able to protest, my energy drained. My knees scraped against the ground as the things carried me off somewhere, following the silver one. As we left the room, I could see countless bizarre creatures either walking around, sort of dissolving into the air, or held down onto tables, similar to how I had woken up. Most of them were surrounded by semi-transparent domes that seemed to muffle sound. Disturbingly, several creatures were locked in silent screams as strange instruments were forced under their skin, their bodies changing with every ing moment. Was this my fate? I knew I would find out soon, as I was gently placed on the surface of one of the tables, restraints clamping down on my wrists, neck, and ankles. Even more worryingly than that, I could see one of the domes forming around me. I sharply inhaled as I began feeling something absolutely awful on the back of my head. A spike of some form was slowly forcing its way through my skin, and eventually bone. Once the absolute horror of my situation wore off, I realized that it didn't feel as awful as I'd imagined. I also realized that it must have traveled at least three inches past the bone. I couldn't move.
"Alright, we're going to correct her fear, and then reapply damage to her body."
"But sir, wouldn't she be a better soldier in her current state?"
"Doesn't matter. We exist to restore, not to be kind. She'll make a fine warrior, one way or the other."
"I don't feel comfortable doing this."
"There is no need for you to 'feel' at all. Keep that in mind, if you still have one."
I began to panic as I saw numerous other spikes being held by the creatures around me. I felt things rapidly welling up in me that I hadn't felt in a long time, courage and defiance. I was regaining my energy, and control over my body. I thrashed about as best as I could, managing to free one of my wrists from its restraint. My hand was engulfed in flame, and I swung at anything that came within range, connecting with nothing.
"Let me GO!"
The silver creature examined me, seemingly considering something. Eventually, he decided to comment on my situation.
"Now, Mira, we can do this the easy way where you hold still and cooperate, or the much harder way where we hold you down, continue on, and ignore your screams and cries of helplessness. This process is made far more entertaining for me and less comfortable for you if you continue to squirm. I know you're delighted to have your legs back, but that can't last. I can either find a hatchet and do it the old fashioned way, or use our own techniques, you understand? But look on the bright side, the one thing I am altering from its original form is sure to make Marcus happy."
I stopped moving. My vision swam with colors, and I felt the spike retract from my head.
"Glad to see you see things my way. This may sting a bit."
The restraint clamped down on my wrist again. My silver friend approached me again, while its coppery variants cautiously followed. I began to breathe heavier as a spike was lowered to my chest, and swiftly driven in. Two more followed into my abdomen. I screamed in agony, and was met with a swift blow to the face.
"There, focus on that, and shut up. You're breaking my concentration."
Compared to the Pit, this was still a spa day, though.
Additional spikes followed into my forearms and shins.
"That's the worst of it done. Well, potentially. This won't be fun, either."
I felt a burning sensation all across my skin. As it ed, parts of my skin seemed to tighten, before adjusting to feel more comfortable. I could feel scar tissue where it had been before I died. Suddenly, I lost all sensation in my lower legs. I looked on in horror as they turned to ash and crumbled away, the spikes falling aside. Layers of artificial muscle, carbon s, neural wiring, and other hardware started building up in their place. As a final touch, the plain cotton garments I had awoken wearing had been replaced with the clothes I had been wearing when I encountered the puppeteer, complete with holster and blaster. The spikes were pulled from my body, and the holes they left behind sealed themselves. I was released from my bindings, and slowly sat up, swinging my legs over the side of the table. I felt somewhat refreshed. The silver robot looked at me, expectantly.
"Well? No fits of rage, no violent outbursts? Miss Astral, I must say I am impressed with your self control. Now, before you change my opinion of you, you need to follow me."
I got up, and did as he said. I was lead to a dim hall, where another robot kneeled before a massive statue of an alien creature. He turned around, examining me.
"Greetings, Mirabelle. Lastiran, you are dismissed."
The robot that had accompanied me left. I was alone with this new individual, and the statue.
"There are so many questions I want to be asking."
"Then ask, child of Faron."
"What are you?"
"I am a Daruni."
"Who are you?"
"My name is Narm."
"What do you want to do with me?"
"I am going to mark your body with symbols showing that it's your second time around. This will be painless. Unlike Lastiran, I lack sadistic tendencies."
"Okay. Why do your people care about me?"
"My people care nothing for you. It is just my personal fascination in you that caused your retrieval."
"Fine. What's so special about me, then?"
He looked back at the statue for the moment, apparently thinking deeply. He turned back to me, now with a different tone about him.
"Come, sit with me. We have much to talk about, Mirabelle."
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