The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 1024: Blessings

Beep—beep—beep—

When he opened his eyes, Gao Yang found himself lying topless on a semi-automatic surgical bed, covered in a sealed translucent tent to shield him from the dim, damp, and cold environment outside.

Through his blurry vision, he saw a man in surgeon garb working on him with surgical instruments, assisted by a cybernetic arm. Gao Yang felt nothing but a crushing exhaustion weighing him down.

He slid into sleep.

...

Then he opened his eyes to quiet.

There was a respirator in his mouth, and his body was connected to numerous IV drips. There was something strange about his body, but he couldn’t quite grasp what felt wrong.

Swish. He heard the rustle of a cape being removed. A tall, slim figure came up to him and inspected him. Gao Yang’s vision was so blurry that he only caught a long thin scar.

He was tired. He closed his eyes once more.

...

Gao Yang woke up.

There was no longer a respirator in his mouth, and there were far fewer IV drips connected to him.

He had regained his senses over his body. It felt right, like his soul and body finally fit together once more.

He tried to open his mouth and speak his need. He heard his hoarse voice say, “Water...”

“Whoa!”

Gao Yang looked to the side to find Can shooting to her feet from the chair at his bedside. Eyes red, she shouted, “Newbie’s up! He’s woken up!”

She fed him half a bottle of energy water. That brought him back alive.

Wu Dahai was the first to rush over at Can’s call.

He lifted Gao Yang’s eyelids and examined his tongue. With his gloved hands, he felt around Gao Yang’s body and patted him on the shoulder. “Hm, good. You’ve recovered well.”

Gao Yang didn’t say anything.

“Hey, noticed you missing something yet?” Wu Dahai smirked.

Gao Yang recalled what had happened before he blacked out. He twisted his neck and indeed, his right arm was gone, replaced by a cold, smooth silver prosthetic arm.

“When Boss Lady Xia brought you here, you were barely breathing. Your right arm was gone. The stump was burned, killing the nerve endings there. Even if your original arm had been found, that wouldn’t have helped. I gave you a prosthetic one.”

Wu Dahai rubbed his hands together with anticipation. “Ready? I’m activating it.”

Gao Yang nodded.

Wu Dahai pressed a hidden button on the back of Gao Yang’s hand. The “veins” of the arm immediately lit up. A holographic panel was projected from the hidden button. Wu Dahai typed away, checking the user’s condition and calibrating the initial data and configurations.

“Done!”

Thirty seconds later, Wu Dahai pressed the intangible enter. The prosthetic arm hummed into life.

“Ugh!”

Gao Yang felt a sharp pain in his shoulder, as if countless steel needles had rushed through his blood vessels to his brain. Thankfully, the pain was short-lived, fading in a few seconds.

“The first time always hurt. You’ll get used to it soon.” Wu Dahai stepped back, satisfied. “Here, follow me.”

Wu Dahai raised his right hand. Gao Yang followed.

Wu Dahai splayed his five fingers and wiggled them. Gao Yang followed.

Then Wu Dahai balled his hand up. Gao Yang did it too.

When Wu Dahai slowly extended his middle finger at Gao Yang, Gao Yang began to mirror the gesture, only to be interrupted by Wu Dahai.

“Alright. It’s good.”

“This is the latest model with an overall adaptability of 94.5%. It simulates the sense of touch. It could be switched between feeling mode and painless mode...”

Listening to Wu Dahai prattle about the product, Gao Yang stared at his prosthetic arm, saying in a low voice, “Thank you.”

“Geez, no need for that. We’re all friends here.” Wu Dahai extended a hand. “So my friend, that’ll be 600 credits.”

Gao Yang blinked. “I have nothing.”

“It’s already paid from your earnings for the mission. The rest is wired to your account.”

Gao Yang looked up to find Vermilion Bird coming up to him with a smile, followed by Gray Bear, Lithe Snake, Xiran, and Ronnie.

“Hahaha!” Gray Bear walked to the bed while guffawing, putting an arm around Gao Yang’s shoulder in a friendly manner. “Welcome to the Tin Man Family, kid.”

Tin Man was what naturalists called those with augmentations. It became a common phrase.

“Gentler, Uncle Bear!” Can said worriedly. “Newbie’s still weak.”

“Listen to me, kid!” Gray Bear ignored Can and continued to preach. “There are only those who haven’t had augmentations and those who have dozens. I bet you’re going to get addicted!”

“And become someone like Berserking Lion?” Lithe Snake scoffed.

“Only an idiot will be like him!” Gray Bear said derisively. “Augmenting all body parts outside of the brain? Not only would the maintenance cost be astronomical, it didn’t really boost his power that much, while costing him human emotions and desires, turning him into a slave for technology!”

Gray Bear slapped his chest proudly. “Look at me. I’m no more than 55% augmented, retaining the fun of being a human while gaining the edge augmentations grant!”

“Don’t forget that Jupiter Travelers’ superpowers are based in our mutated human body. This is our peak form. This is how we stay at the top of the food chain!”

“Right, yeah, yeah. Our Uncle Bear is all about the mixed breed advantages.”

“Can, when are you going to replace your limbs?” Gray Bear asked. “Don’t you always whine about being short? Why don’t you just give yourselves longer legs?”

“Ha, haha...” Can laughed awkwardly. “I’ll think about it.”

Xiran had a piece of artificial skin in his hand. He asked with a smile. “Captain, aren’t we going to go with our tradition?”

Ronnie took out an engraving pen. “Must, do.” @@novelbin@@

The others turned to Vermilion Bird.

She said resignedly, “Why are you looking at me? Have you asked the subject if he’s willing yet?”

“Then it’s a yes!”

Gray Bear grabbed the laser engraving pen and lifted Gao Yang’s cybernetic arm, switching to painless mode. He started etching lines on the artificial bicep. Sparks sputtered like he was welding something.

Soon, the word “bear” was etched on the arm in chicken scrawls.

“My turn, my turn!”

Can took the engraving pen and thought for a moment. Then she lifted Gao Yang’s hand and drew an orange on the palm.

She explained gently as she drew, “Then we’ll cover it all up with artificial skin, so these won’t be shown. It’s a tradition of Dreamrise. Whenever a member installs their first prosthetic, we’ll leave our signature as a blessing.”

“Do whatever you want,” Gao Yang said. “I don’t mind.”

The others each left their signatures. Lithe Snake did a snake eye, Xiran an arrow pointing left, Ronnie a period, and Vermilion Bird, “Neverlost”.

After that, Ronnie and Can put on the artificial skin. Gao Yang moved his right hand. It was almost identical to his original arm, only a little heavier.

“This isn’t a prosthetic specialized for battle, but it’s got quite the range of functions. Take time to get used to it.” Vermilion Bird advised and tossed him a shirt.

Gao Yang put it on. Then he finally asked the question he had been meaning to ask, “When I was unconscious, was there a white cat with me? It seemed like an old model of an AI pet.”

Vermilion Bird’s eyes flickered. The others exchanged a look.

A few seconds later, Vermilion Bird nodded. “...Yes.”

“Could it be fixed?” Gao Yang asked Vermilion Bird. “The head’s not damaged. It’s just the body—”

“Don’t worry.” Can smiled. “It’s already fixed.”

Meow!

A white cat suddenly jumped onto the surgical bed and dove into Gao Yang’s arms.

Gao Yang felt a great sense of relief—for recovering something he had lost. Carefully, he held the cat in his arms. “Thank God you’re alive... Don’t worry. You have a home now. You no longer have to wander...”

Meow. The white cat stepped on Gao Yang’s chest and nuzzle his chin with its head.

Gao Yang only realized then that the cat was missing artificial hair and skin on her right foreleg. Skeletal machinery and cable components were revealed.

Gao Yang paused before breaking into a smile. “You’re just like me.”

“Everyone,” Vermilion Bird said seriously, “For this mission, I made a great mistake in underestimating Berserking Lion’s power.”

“Not all, on you. We made, mistakes too,” Ronnie said.

“Yeah,” Xiran said guiltily. “We aren’t experienced enough in using Green Box. We should’ve deduced that Berserking Lion’s augmentations were military grade.”

“While it was dangerous, it all turned out okay, right?” Can offered. “Stop blaming yourself, Captain.”

“Yeah, and you gave Gao Yang your share,” Gray Bear grinned. “That’s enough of a compensation.”

“There won’t be a next time,” Lithe Snake said.

“Yeah.” Vermilion Bird nodded. She turned to Gao Yang. “I’m curious though. How did you kill Berserking Lion?”

Gao Yang blinked, going over his memory. “I was furious. I only had one thought in my head: kill him. Then...”

He trailed off.