Dawn approaches, I try to move and fail. Metal protests. Flesh doesn't.Everything smells like ozone and disinfectant.
Cadence speaks first, calm and mechanical, the voice of someone who has seen too many near-deaths to care."Welcome back to the land of partial functionality."
I try to open my eyes. The left works. The right flickers with the HUD.
"Status?" I rasp.
"Severe trauma, structural compromise, organic bruising, emotional instability, standard post-battle conditions."
"Funny."
"I try."
A hiss of hydraulic release fills the room. I realize I'm on the same repair table from before, cables sunk into ports along my ribs and spine. Rhea's silhouette moves somewhere behind the glass partition, watching monitors, but she isn't doing the work. The hum inside my chest tells me who is.
"Cadence, you're driving?"
"Rhea's hands aren't small enough for the wiring. I took over. You were conveniently unconscious."
I taste copper. "Feels like you're building me out of scrap again."
"That's accurate. Fortunately, you make good scrap."
A current runs through my arm. It burns, then cools. I hear the faint click of metal fusing, servos recalibrating.
Rhea's voice carries through the speaker. "She's stabilizing faster than she should. Cadence, her vitals?"
"Predictably stubborn," Cadence replies. "Healing rate at three hundred thirty baseline. Scar tissue eliminated. Bone fractures, gone. Neural sync, cleaner than before."
"She's still in pain?" Rhea asks.
"Obviously. I don't do miracles. I do maintenance."
I groan. "Appreciate the craftsmanship."
"Don't thank me yet. The next part may sting."
It does. Electricity spikes through my ribs. I jolt, curse, and almost black out again.
Cadence hums, almost soothing. "See? Functional reflexes. Congratulations."
"Feels like being rebuilt from the inside out."
"Correct in theory. Traumatic in practice."
The hum fades to a low pulse. I can breathe again. The world sharpens at the edges, cold steel, sterile light, Rhea's worried face behind glass.
"How long was I out?"
"Six hours, forty-two minutes. Impressive. I was considering taking bets against you."
I blink. "Did we win?"
"Technically. You are still talking, and the enemy no so much."
Rhea steps in finally, exhaustion heavy under her eyes. She carries a crate. I know the look, it's the you're about to get an upgrade face.
"Try not to break this one," she says. "Best thing we've got, fact it's only one we've got."
Mara follows her in, arms folded. "Reinforced arm. Custom servos. Internal dampeners. You'll hit harder than anything out there."
"Stronger?" I ask.
"Stronger," she says. "Strength four, combat score seven. You've officially graduated from 'liability' to 'moderate threat.'"
"Finally, metrics worthy of mild applause."
"Can you fit it?" I ask.
"Already did," she says.
I look down and realize she wasn't kidding, the new arm gleams under the lights, jointed smoother, plated darker. When I flex, the motion feels too precise, too easy.
"Looks expensive," I mutter.
"Was," Mara says. "Don't lose it."
Rhea checks the calibration screen. "Everything's synced. Battery full. Neural lines perfect."
Cadence adds, "And ribs fully restored. You're almost symmetrical again. It's unnerving."
I sit up slowly. My body hums with quiet violence.
"Scars?" I ask.
"Gone," Rhea says.
"Figures. I was starting to like them, adds character."
Mara doesn't smile. "You'll have new ones soon enough."
Her tone kills the small talk. The air tightens.
"We still down two?"
Rhea exhales. "Yeah. No trace, no signals."
Silence. The kind that buzzes.
"Gone?"
"Taken," Mara says. "Scavs dragged them when they fell back. We tracked the heat signatures north-east. Not far."
Cadence hums. "There were human life signs detected before range exceeded. Time is against them
"Meaning?"
"Meaning if you wait, they become dinner."
Rhea winces. "They eat the flesh and adopt the metal the scavenge. They graft metal by hand, like animals with tools."
"Efficient," Cadence says.
"Creepy," I counter.
"Synonyms, really."
I push off the table, testing balance. The new arm stabilizes me before I can sway. It feels too alive.
Mara moves closer. "We go together."
I shake my head. "No. I go alone. You'll slow me down, and I can't protect a squad from people who wish to eat you."
Rhea opens her mouth to protest, but I cut her off. "If I fail, at least you won't have to listen to me complain anymore."
Cadence murmurs, "Statistically reckless. Emotionally consistent."
Mara glares. "You'll need support."
"I've got it," I say, tapping the side of my head. "Built-in, always opinionated."
"Flattered," Cadence replies.
Rhea exhales hard. "Fine. But at least take the relay uplink, we can track your signal."
"Do that," I say. "If it drops, assume I''ve made new friends."
Mara doesn't laugh. "Just bring them back, Iris. Alive if possible."
"Alive's the plan. Specifics pending."
Cadence hums low. "You shouldn't go alone."
"Someone has to."
"You're not exactly the team type."
The silence holds for a long beat. I grab my pack and turn for the door.
Outside, the world has cooled to that pale hour before sunrise. The compound behind me still burns in places, wires sparking, towers groaning. The air smells like dust and ozone.
I pause at the gate. Rhea and Mara stand in the glow of floodlights. Rhea calls out, "You sure you're ready?"
"No. That's how I know the day's going to be interesting."
The desert stretches out in front of me, endless and gold at the edges. My HUD flickers alive.
Tracking… Scavenger Signatures
The HUD draws a glowing breadcrumb trail through the wasteland.
"Efficient," I say. "Feels like stalking, though."
We walk into the dunes. The wind rises, dragging the sand into ghosts. The horizon burns pale.
"Battery full," Cadence says. "Systems stable. Neural integrity perfect."
The sun finally breaks the ridge. My shadow stretches long and narrow. The relay hum fades behind us. Ahead, faint engine echoes tremble on the wind.
Cadence whispers, "Signals confirmed. Time frame: if dead five hours before decomposition. That is assuming they are still edible."
"Morbid," I say.
"Statistically accurate."
I flex the new arm once more. The servos answer like breath.
"Alright," I mutter. "Let's bring them home."
"Heroic tone detected," Cadence says. "Would you like me to cue dramatic music?"
"Save it for the sequel."