At night, Orb Standard Time, Industrial 7 switched off the simulated sunlight in its living quarters, entering night mode.
Streetlights turned on, but there were very few pedestrians on the streets. Everyone was still shaken, huddled in their beds, unsure whether tomorrow or another accident would come first.
After arriving at Industrial 7, Mu skillfully went straight to the bar. Fortunately, Industrial 7 had already been in trial operation for a long time, and all the necessary infrastructure was running normally. Even with so many Orb citizens suddenly arriving, there was no chaos.
The pre-stored supplies could sustain Industrial 7 at full operation for a year and a half. By then, the agricultural zone would have officially started production. Industrial 7 could truly be called one of Uzumi's legacies.
"So… are you planning to take this request?"
In a dorm room, Murrue, freshly out of the shower and wrapped in a bath towel, drying her hair with another towel, looked at Roz flipping through something on his tablet.
"That's right… ah, it's a loss."
Roz recalled the balance he saw on the bank card, then estimated the cost of the prosthetics for this request. He almost wished he could go back a few hours and slap his soft-hearted self.
"Limbs, synthetic skin, medication for recovery, suppressors… that child was too close to the MS attack, maybe even some artificial organs need replacement…"
Thinking this, Roz couldn't help but sigh.
"This is a losing business, a total loss!"
"But… whether it's a loss or not, you'll still take the request in the end, won't you?"
Murrue walked over to the table, looking at the tablet Roz was flipping through.
"You can't just ignore the suffering in front of you."
On the tablet were the examination reports from Orb's hospital. The numbers alone made one frown.
"There are so many people in the world suffering. I can't help them all. Being able to aid those who ask for help right in front of me is already my limit."
Roz put down the tablet, rubbed his forehead, and began thinking about how to design the prosthetics for Shinn's sister.
"I just… made a promise to someone and want to have clear conscience in the end."
Keep in mind, the prosthetic components used for Christina's artificial body were "military-grade." Christina could use them only after long-term training at the Blue Cosmos research lab. Fitting these prosthetics onto a little girl who had just been amputated and was still weak would probably trigger cyberpsychosis immediately.
"Ah… whatever, sleep!"
Due to lacking a lot of parameters, Roz finally gave up, put down the tablet, and skillfully jumped onto the bed, pulling up the covers. "I'll decide the specifics after I see the little girl!"
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The past two days had seen little major action from ZAFT or the Earth Alliance—mostly just small, localized skirmishes.
For Shinn, however, these two days had been extremely agonizing.
He stayed by the side of his non-human-shaped sister, Mayu, praying that everything would go smoothly. Without a doubt, the rejection reaction Roz had mentioned before could be fatal for the now-weak Mayu.
"Brother… brother…"
A hoarse, almost broken-organ-like voice sounded in Shinn's ears.
"It's okay, Mayu…"
Shinn held Mayu's hand, now reduced to just two fingers, and dared not apply force. He gritted his teeth, enduring the inner pain.
"Your brother found a very capable doctor. The recent examination was just to help the doctor diagnose… soon, Mayu will be able to run and jump like a normal person."
"Capable… doctor?"
On the hospital bed, Mayu slightly opened her still-normal left eye, a glimmer of hope shining through.
"…Yes, your brother has been running around for you."
At that moment, Roz's voice sounded from the doorway. He entered the room wearing jeans and a shirt, but had deliberately put on a doctor's white coat.
"Mr. Roz!"
Shinn looked at Roz, hoping to hear some good news. "How… how is it?"
"I've gone through the report. There's one good piece of news and one bad piece of news. Which would you like to hear first?"
Roz glanced at the report, summarized slightly, and asked for Shinn's preference.
"Please, the bad news first."
Shinn decided to be direct—horizontal or vertical, either way, he wanted the bad news first.
"You both know you are Coordinators, right?"
Roz shrugged. "Due to genetic engineering, your physical abilities are excellent, but generally, Coordinators have significant rejection reactions to implanted prosthetics. The postoperative recovery phase will be long and dangerous."
"I… I understand. And the good news?"
Hearing "a long postoperative recovery," Shinn instinctively thought of medical and hospital fees, reinforcing his determination to earn money.
"The good news is, your sister's rejection level is relatively small, within an acceptable range. Surgery can be performed."
Roz patted Shinn on the shoulder.
"Boy, come with me; I'll take you to pay the fees."
"Okay… okay… Mayu, wait here for me."
Shinn seemed to understand Roz's intention. After calming Mayu slightly, he followed Roz out of the hospital room.
Once the door was closed, Roz handed Shinn the tablet in the corridor.
"This is…"
Artificial limbs, synthetic skin, artificial vocal cords… Looking at each prosthetic item, and then seeing the balance left after subtracting the bank card's funds, the expensive total almost made Shinn dizzy.
But as the only man in the household, Shinn sobered up. He had already taken on the role his deceased father left behind, becoming the main pillar of the family.
For now, he was the only one in the household able to move freely.
"Here's the bill breakdown."
Roz pursed his lips, pulled two paper bags from his backpack, and handed them to Shinn. "Preoperative medication, inhaled, twice a day, for two weeks."
"After two weeks, I'll perform the surgery on your sister."
Roz patted Shinn's shoulder. "I'll also go over the remaining precautions then."
"Okay… okay… thank you, Mr. Roz."
Shinn instinctively bowed at 90 degrees, the only gesture of thanks his straightforward mind could think of.
"Alright, stop bowing, it feels weird."
Roz sighed, feeling a little overwhelmed by Shinn's single-track mind.
Roz turned and left the hospital corridor, leaving Shinn behind, clutching the two bags of medication and staring hard at the bill.
Roz planned to borrow several machines from Morgenroete. Initially, he had no clue how to make prosthetics for Mayu. After seeing her condition and the detailed report, many ideas came to him.
However, after carefully calculating the numbers for these plans, Roz came to one conclusion:
Even with these "civilian-version" prosthetics, which were less armed and less powerful, if Mayu ever fought Shinn, she might actually knock him out with a single punch.
"…But… making civilian prosthetics… this is the first time I've done it."
Roz scratched his head, took out his communicator, and started recording the quantities of materials in his memo.
All that remained was to finish the design drawings, then apply for a workshop from Morgenroete in the industrial zone.
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Time passed quickly, and many events had occurred during these two weeks.
For example, the preliminary construction of the Kaohsiung Mass Driver had been completed. Although the work was rushed, it was at least the only Mass Driver on Earth that could be used.
At the same time, a large number of cargo ships had been launched into space, apparently to construct a colony satellite? Looking at the pictures of the frameworks being assembled, no one really understood the Earth Federation's intentions.
A more significant matter, however, was Halberton's communication.
"Blue Cosmos, under the guise of the Kingdom of Foundation, has been transporting supplies to the Moon… but the quantities received do not match the launch requests."
In the communication, Halberton's expression was serious. Constantly hunting spies to investigate Blue Cosmos had left him somewhat fatigued.
"I've roughly determined the location of the devices they're building, but that place is heavily guarded; my men can't get in."
"It will take a few days before I can investigate myself. I still have some matters to attend to here."
Roz sat at the table, scratching his head, considering his schedule.
"If you plan to come over, contact me in advance. I will cover your entry into the Moon base."
Halberton nodded. "Also, you may already know about the Gryps Project, which Blue Cosmos has been instigating."
"From what I know… they refer to the Gryps Project as a decisive weapon…"
"That means what the cargo ships are building isn't a colony satellite at all—it's a weapon under construction."
Beside Roz, Murrue, hearing this news, frowned tightly.
On the surface, everyone was easing the intensity of battles, but both sides continued to apply pressure, waiting for a decisive fight to crush the opponent in one strike.
"I understand. Thank you for the intelligence, General Halberton."
Roz scratched his head, trying to calm the chaotic thoughts in his mind.
"Everyone is starting to go mad. Don't die, Roz."
Halberton looked at Murrue and Roz, squinting slightly, then sighed. "Murrue surely cannot bear to lose another loved one."
"General Halberton!"
"Another… one?"
Compared to Murrue's slightly awkward reaction, Roz looked confused.
"In any case, let's leave it at that for today."
Seeing the atmosphere on the other side of the screen lose its previous seriousness and descend into chaos, Halberton laughed heartily and quickly ended the communication.
"Tch… old rascal."
Roz shook his head and looked at Murrue.
"You never told me you had an ex-boyfriend?"
"Because he's long dead. Bringing it up only adds trouble."
Murrue waved her hand, recounting her experience. "When we had just confirmed our relationship but hadn't progressed further, I was assigned to Heliopolis for MS development work. He died in the Endymion campaign. I don't even know where his grave is."
"Uh… sorry?"
Roz felt a bit awkward. Not knowing the full situation, he had only asked casually. "So that's why you're so skilled? No wonder you have me completely under your thumb."
"...You're not going to sleep tonight!"
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The next day, Shinn saw Roz with dark circles under his eyes, continuously pouring coffee into his mouth.
"Mr. Roz… don't you want to take a break?"
It wasn't that Shinn had suddenly become considerate; he was just worried that Roz, in his current state, might accidentally injure his sister during the operation.
"Just some dark circles. My hands are steady."
Roz tossed the empty coffee bottle into a nearby trash can. "What about you, Shinn? Aren't you going to rest?"
At this moment, Shinn's dark circles were even worse than Roz's. Roz even wondered if this guy had been staying up all night like some immortal cultivator.
"Because I have five jobs to work in one day. This is just a trivial price to pay."
Most people would have given up when facing such an enormous debt, and Roz hadn't planned to collect the debt anyway; he was just sighing at the "loss" out of instinct as a space junk dealer.
But Shinn, being single-threaded in thought, immediately decided to earn money. He took five jobs a day, proving himself an ultimate working warrior, with nothing but thoughts of making money.
However, earning enough to clear the debt this way would take too long. Shinn had to find legal ways to make more money quickly.
By now, he had already identified two new targets.
"Take care of yourself, young man."
Roz patted Shinn on the shoulder. "Well, if there's nothing else, the surgery is about to begin."
"Understood… thank you, Mr. Roz."
Watching Roz walk into the operating room and the red indicator light above the door turn on, Shinn's heart couldn't help but tense.
Although Shinn didn't believe in gods or anything like that, at this moment he instinctively prayed, hoping Mayu would be safe.
The brand-new hospital corridor welcomed its first person's prayer.
Compared to the oppressive atmosphere of the corridor, the doctors observing the installation of the new prosthetic limbs fell into an eerie silence.
Who uses welding tools and wrenches to perform surgery?
Watching Roz operate on the unconscious Mayu, even though it wasn't themselves, these doctors felt sweat pouring from their foreheads.
Time passed second by second. Outside the operating room, Shinn continued to pray, not daring to stop, fearing that if he did, something might happen to Mayu.
Or rather, Shinn could only find something to occupy himself to suppress his inner anxiety.
Finally, the operating room light turned off.
Several doctors pushed a hospital bed out, their faces full of shock. On the bed lay a girl in a blue surgical gown.
"Ma… Mayu!"
Seeing her familiar face, intact limbs, and skin, Shinn froze for a moment, instinctively wanting to rush to the bed.
"Shinn, don't rush."
A strong hand held him back.
Shinn turned and saw Roz, who had somehow acquired another bottle of coffee, continuously drinking it.
"Phew… the surgery was very successful. Your sister is fine."
Roz finished the last sip and exhaled. "But the real expenses are just beginning."
He handed Shinn two freshly printed sheets, filled with lists of medications and dosages.
"This is…"
Shinn looked at the papers in disbelief.
"One is post-operative medication, taken twice daily for at least six months."
Roz pointed to one sheet. "The other is a suppressant to prevent your sister from developing cyberpsychosis."
"Cyber…psychosis?"
Shinn had never heard of this illness and felt puzzled.
"You can understand it as follows: your sister might experience dissociation or other harmful sensations when controlling prosthetics that perform better than her original body. This is dangerous for her."
Roz paused, then explained in simpler terms.
"This medicine is usually injected once every one or two weeks and is lifelong."
"In short, these drugs are custom-made for your sister. You'll have to buy them and learn to manage the dose yourself."
Roz handed Shinn two paper bags containing pneumatic injection devices and containers.
"U-Understood… thank you, Mr. Roz."
Looking at the two prescriptions in his hands, Shinn finally made up his mind.
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Shinn explored many ways to legally earn more money.
For example, running a business, working at a company, and so on. But he had no money, and his qualifications didn't meet the hiring standards, which stalled his money-making plans for a time.
Now, he had found a good path: joining the military. The choices before him were only the Orb military or ZAFT.
If he joined the Orb military, it would be safer, but the pay would be lower.
If he joined ZAFT, it would be more dangerous, but there were bonuses for shooting down enemies. Especially now, with ZAFT and the Earth Alliance at war, the opportunities to earn bonuses would be plenty.
As for the Earth Alliance? What are you even thinking!
Everything Shinn was dealing with now was caused by the Earth Alliance. If he had the chance, he would gladly strike Axis on them immediately.
"In that case… there's only one answer."
Looking at the girl asleep on the hospital bed, Shinn turned to the webpage on his phone.
"All of it will become my bonuses—damn Earth Alliance!"
Shinn cursed quietly in his heart and deleted the option to join the Orb military.
.............