Chapter 208
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 208
Japa sent the list exactly ten days after I requested it.
Beep.
I brought up the list on the terminal's hologram. Japa had thoroughly investigated every single prosthetic-related worker residing in Border City and forwarded the results.
The data was neatly categorized by field, covering prosthetic mechanics, engineers, and cybernetics experts. Japa had even gone the extra mile, filtering the list to highlight those who had experience with full-body prosthetic procedures or possessed the necessary skills and facilities.
'Japa really does run Border City.'
I scanned the names, getting a rough idea of where to start. With an attached map of their addresses, I figured I could wrap up the inquiries in a few days if I stayed on the move.
As I reviewed the list, a message pinged on the holographic screen. It was from Lapis.
—Luka, the item you ordered is ready. I need to explain how to use it, so drop by when you can.
I paused, trying to recall what item she meant.
'Ah, the preheating tool for the Hwagwang Yedo.'
Lapis hadn't forgotten my request. Even I, the one who asked for it, had pushed it to the back of my mind.
Whir, click.
I packed my gear and left the room, heading straight for Lapis's maintenance room.
"Oh, you came right away?" Lapis greeted me. She was taking a break, her safety goggles pushed up onto her horns.
"The faster, the better. Where is it?" I urged, remaining on my feet.
"That palm-sized metal box over there. There's a specific way to use it, so let me explain."
Following her gaze, I spotted the metal box. Just as she said, it was about the size of a palm—perfect for slipping into a coat pocket or clipping to my belt.
'Looks pretty plain.'
It was a bare metal box without a single external decoration. It featured two narrow slots, just wide enough for a blade to slide through.
"Well, I can tell just by looking at it. No need for an explanation. I'll figure it out once I use it in the field—"
I reached out to grab the box.
Clang!
Lapis smacked the back of my hand with a heavy wrench. A sharp, stinging sensation shot straight to the crown of my head.
"Cut the nonsense and listen," she scolded. "Custom gear made in a private workshop isn't like standardized, mass-produced junk. It's tailored, which means you can't just intuitively guess how it works. Do you think this is some cheap gun where you just pull the trigger and a bullet flies out?"
"...Fine."
I had been a bit too hasty. Artisans have lines you just don't cross, and it's best to respect them. Everyone has their triggers.
"It might look simple, but I poured my heart and soul into this. I figured if I was going to make it, I should do it right."
"Hmm."
Just looking at it, it certainly didn't look like a masterpiece of craftsmanship. Lapis scowled at my lukewarm reaction.
"First, I bought some Ignium to act as a whetstone. I barely managed to snag a mere hundred grams that popped up at the auction house. I didn't have the equipment to process it myself, so I had to swallow my pride and go to another Tarpa workshop with the proper facilities..."
Lapis went on and on about how grueling the manufacturing process had been. It was tedious, but I figured the polite thing to do was listen, nodding along every now and then.
"To be honest, I felt a bit guilty making it because it goes completely against the philosophy of the Galactic Artisans. It basically spits on their artistic circular design. I can only imagine how much they must have racked their brains to perfect it."
"But they failed in the end, didn't they?"
I shrugged mockingly, prompting Lapis to glare at me with wide, indignant eyes. Man, teasing her was just too hard to resist.
"No, I mean—ugh, seriously! It's the spirit of the challenge that matters! Show some respect! It has artistic value!"
"Alright, alright. So how do I use it? I just slide the blade into this slot and pull it out, right?"
Every time I acted flippant, the crease between Lapis's brows deepened. This was actually getting a little fun. No, scratch that—it was highly entertaining.
"I told you, don't touch it yet! First of all, I named it 'F.A.I.' It stands for 'Fire and Ice' in the Federation's official standard language."
"Fire and Ice? Did you install a cooling mechanism too, not just a preheater?"
"That's exactly why I feel so conflicted. The Galactic Artisans aimed to create self-sustaining weapons through circular designs that didn't require external attachments. Like a legendary sword. Even if it lay buried in the dirt for hundreds of years, it would work perfectly the moment you dug it up. If the Hwagwang series were discovered in an era where science and technology had been lost, people would call them divine blades or cursed swords."
'But they still failed.' I swallowed the retort rising in my throat. Lapis clearly held the Galactic Artisans in incredibly high regard. If I pushed her any further, she'd get genuinely pissed off.
"Since there are two slots, I'm assuming one is for cooling and the other for preheating? The one with the blue trim is for cooling, right?"
"Yes. The cooling slot uses a cartridge system, so you have to eject the coolant once it's done absorbing the heat. The spent cartridge will be at an extremely high temperature, so don't ever touch it with your bare hands. It'll melt right through your prosthetic arm."
I stared at F.A.I. The exterior wasn't plain for no reason; it must have been forged from a special steel with extremely low thermal conductivity.
"Must have been a pain to machine, considering the material."
My own prosthetic body was an aesthetic masterpiece, and Lapis was the one who built it. Compared to her usual work, F.A.I. looked incredibly crude.
"Exactly. They said it couldn't be done, so I had to pay double the asking price to get them to process it. Well, it was Japa's money anyway. They've probably never had the chance to work on a material like this before. It was a good experience for them."
As I stared at F.A.I.'s slots, a question occurred to me. Although the cooling slot was slightly wider than the preheating one, I would still need to sheathe the blade with absolute precision.
"If the plasma blade grazes the edges, won't even this special steel melt?"
"It will. When you're preheating, it's fine if you bump the entry slot, but you have to slide it perfectly into the cooling slot. Is that going to be a problem? From what I've seen of your prosthetic control, your precision is practically on par with an android's."
I wasn't sure whether to be flattered by her confidence or worried by the stakes.
"No, I mean, it's fine. As long as I don't mess up, it'll be fine. And I won't mess up... hopefully."
...If I slipped up while trying to cool the blade, my fingers would probably fly off. Or worse, my entire wrist would be sliced clean off.
'Then again, the Hwagwang Yedo isn't the kind of weapon you wield without that level of resolve anyway.'
The cooling function was an unexpected bonus. There was no point in complaining.
"Take the extra coolant cartridges next to it, too. Let me know before you run out. They take some time to manufacture."
I gathered F.A.I. and the cartridges, then glanced up at Lapis.
Suddenly, Gilda came to mind. Despite belonging to entirely different species, Gilda and Lapis shared similar interests and temperaments. Both were gentle and warm, yet possessed a quiet, underlying strength.
"Lapis, this is a bit out of the blue, but can I ask you something?"
"Hmm? Sure, go ahead."
"Have you ever ended up hating a close friend?"
Lapis's solid black eyes widened slightly before she let out a soft chuckle.
"Of course I have. I've lived much longer than you, Luka. Are you having relationship troubles? Looking for some advice from your big sister?"
Hearing Lapis, who was a full head shorter than me, refer to herself as my "big sister" felt downright bizarre.
"...I know someone similar to you, and I was trying to understand a sudden shift in her feelings."
Lapis sat down, resting her chin in her hand as she closed her eyes in thought.
"Like most Tarpas, I'm pretty single-minded, and I don't hate people easily. To put it bluntly, our gentle nature means we get taken advantage of a lot. Because of that, young Tarpas who venture out to interact with other species often end up deeply scarred, sometimes retreating from the outside world entirely."
"Sounds like you're the exception."
Lapis smiled.
"I've just had more experience. You, Japa... I like you both, but I don't harbor any naive illusions that you'd never betray me. If you found something you valued more than me, you'd deceive and use me in a heartbeat."
I saw Lapis in a new light. She wasn't just some naive, sweet-natured mechanic. She continued, her voice steady.
"We Tarpas get betrayed a lot. But it's not because we're oblivious or stupid. It's because even when we sense a betrayal coming, we deny it to the very end, choosing to believe in them anyway. But when that trust is finally shattered, it morphs into a terrifying hatred. The moment our absolute faith is repaid with betrayal, everything changes."
The eyes of the Tarpa race are solid black, completely lacking sclera. Lapis's eyes, which usually seemed so gentle and clear, now looked bottomless and dark. For the first time, the shadow lurking within her became visible.
"Luka, you asked when we start to hate a friend. I just gave you your answer. We hate the betrayer with the exact same stubborn intensity we used to believe in them. It's an obsession other species can't even fathom. The thought of 'How could I have trusted someone this much?' violently twists into 'How can I hate someone this much?'"
I felt a sudden chill run down my spine.
'I must never make an enemy of Lapis Lazuli.'
She belonged to an alien species with blue skin and a youthful appearance, marked by a pair of bovine horns sprouting from her head. At a glance, they seemed harmless. Yet, despite their fragile builds, the Tarpa were a mainstream species that coexisted alongside fierce races like the Tajiruns, Crawlers, Humans, and Equesians. That meant their capacity for survival—and their capacity for hatred—was profoundly deep.
I let my imagination run wild for a moment, picturing the instant Lapis's goodwill flipped. The sheer scale and depth of that malice would be terrifying. She would probably engineer every weapon and torturous device imaginable just to put me in the ground.
"...That's actually pretty chilling," I admitted.
Lapis let out a soft laugh, the suffocating darkness in her eyes vanishing as if it had never been there.
"There's no need to overthink it. It rarely comes to that. Like any other Tarpa, I have a mountain of patience. I don't hate people over trivial things. For my feelings to warp into true hatred, someone would have to do something genuinely monstrous. The kind of act where anyone would agree they deserve to die."
I pondered her words for a moment before standing up. Lapis waved cheerfully as I made my way to the door.
"Thanks for the chat, Lapis."
Leaving the maintenance room, I walked down the corridor. Once I turned the corner, I leaned my back against the cold wall and closed my eyes, taking a slow, grounding breath before opening them again.
The heat in my blood slowly cooled. Piecing together the testimonies and stories I had gathered so far, the core conflict between Gilda and Giselle began to take shape in my mind.
'Giselle betrayed Gilda in some way. And Gilda must have endured it countless times before she finally snapped.'
Giselle betraying Gilda was still just a theory... but deep down, I knew it was the most likely truth. There was no point in denying reality just to defend Giselle.
'I know her. Giselle is unstable, and she doesn't have the best personality. But she isn't the type of person to betray a friend for mere profit.'
The testimonies from those who knew Giselle were overwhelmingly negative. No one had a good word to say about her. Even Gabriel, her former security chief, had remained strictly neutral at best.
'...She did it solely for me. Giselle moved forward, bearing the destruction of her relationships and the crushing weight of infamy.'
A single conclusion crystallized in my mind.
I bit my lip, swallowing a sigh before it could escape. I refused to be weak. I had to keep moving forward. I already had a lead. The faster I wrapped up the task at hand and made my move, the closer I would get to finding Giselle.
'To hell with overcomplicating things.'
I sharpened my focus. All I had to do was track Giselle's trail. Once I found her, nothing else mattered.
Tracking Kinuan, cooperating with Japa, dealing with the Empire and Ilay...
Every single bit of it was just a means to an end. The moment I found her, I could throw everything else away.
I always realized it too late, but Ragnata's advice was usually spot on. Which only made me angrier. This time was no exception.
...I guess I really am a hopeless romantic.