“Before we start fixing the chips, I have a request.”
Delena didn’t answer directly.
After Yu Shi awkwardly lifted her onto a chair, she turned to Kuru, who was sitting at the front desk.
“Once I fix them, could you install a lower body for me for free? Our budget is pretty tight right now.”
“Hey, hey, hey… Give an inch and take a mile? I let you use the chip machine for free, and now you still want more? I beg you to fix this? ”
Kuru’s brows knitted together, his fingers tapping impatiently on the plastic tabletop.
The hazy sunlight outside streamed in, casting a glow across the counter. His mechanical fingers danced between the light and shadow.
“I’m only showing a bit of pity because your implant installation failed. Now your job is fixing the god damn chips ,not taking shit from me!”
“I don’t need anything advanced; something defective is enough. Please. If money is an issue, can you extend our credit?”
Despite the tension in the air, Delena remained calm, like a sea frozen in time.
Yu Shi stood frozen beside her, stunned.
He hadn’t expected Delena to make a request herself.
And if she was going to ask someone for something, it should’ve been him, her owner, not some outsider.
Did she think he was too broke to ask? Like a precocious child from a poor family?
But after all, she was his responsibility. Even if they were asking for help, it should’ve been him doing the asking.
“Kuru, you must have a bunch of old, unsellable implants lying around, right? Just give her an old one, like the ‘God Hand 2’? Put it on my tab, and I’ll pay you back once I make some money.”
The “God Hand” series was the first well-developed line of prosthetics.
On March 12, 2027, Tima Company announced the release of the first prosthetic, “God Hand 1,” which was used during the Second Nassan War to help soldiers who lost their arms regain their combat abilities.
The subsequent release, “God Hand 2,” was undoubtedly for the legs.
After that, other tech companies rushed to develop their own smart prosthetics.
But on June 15, President Kolleba Fuwandi was assassinated, and the new president, Carrilian Sean, announced a withdrawal of troops, bringing the Second Nassan War to an end.
The “God Hand” series gradually transitioned to civilian use, marking the beginning of the prosthetic era.
“Uh? Uh, uh, hahahaha!! God Hand 2?! Are you idiot?! What year is it? Who even uses God Hand 2 anymore?!”
Kuru’s brows twitched uncontrollably, then finally burst into a maniacal laugh, his crazed eyes squinting as he looked at them both with a mix of mockery and pity.
“Damn, you’re really… hahaha, you’re killing me! Now people would rather buy junk from the black market than use God Hand 2! Oh shit…”
He turned around laughing heartily, and just as straightened up to look at the prosthetic on the wall, he bent over again, laughing "hahaha."
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“Uh, hehehe… you two fuckers are just… hehehe, well well. This joke is worth it… uh, hahaha…”
Yu Shi was left with a blank expression, watching Kuru laugh uncontrollably while rummaging through the prosthetics.
Was it really that funny?
He tried to empathize. Maybe… it was like having a perfectly good electric heater, but someone still wanted to borrow your nylon clothes to start a fire?
No, it still wasn’t funny.
But then Yu Shi remembered hearing that too many prosthetic installations could really affect one’s mental state, making their personality volatile.
In severe cases, people couldn’t even tell the difference between reality and hallucinations, turning into what they called “cyber maniacs.”
Hmm, maybe Kuru’s sense of humor was just a bit off compared to normal people. That could explain it.
“Alright, alright~”
Kuru bent down, his upper body buried in a pile of prosthetics. After some clattering, two iron leg frames were pulled out.
They looked heavy, but he tossed them out as easily as if he were carrying two plastic bags of flourbeans.
The dull thud of the steel hitting the ground echoed in the shop for a moment, causing the fluorescent lights on the ceiling to flicker involuntarily.
“Here, once the chips are fixed, this is your payment for the joke, got it?”
He sneered at Yu Shi, his lips curling up in a mocking grin.
“This is good stuff! Sure, it’s… well, it’s from Memphis, but it’s really decent. Copied from… um, OneX Tech. It’s a high-quality replica, way better than the fart you just farted.
The copied items are high-end goods, and the fidelity is pretty impressive. You’ve hit the jackpot!”
“Thud!”
The two iron legs landed on the counter with a thump.
Kuru grabbed a nearby inhaler-shaped stimulant, took a couple of deep puffs, and immediately shivered as if hit by a cold wave, his neck twitching as his eyes rolled back.
Suddenly, he froze in place, and in less than a second, he let out a satisfied sigh, exhaling the air from his lungs.
“Ah… sweet air…”
A lazy voice escaped Kuru’s lips. His mechanical hand quickly grabbed tools to start working on the iron legs.
“I’m getting started on these ‘Thatcher’ legs now. I’ll have them ready in under an hour… What are you still staring at me for? Get to f**k!”
Yu Shi immediately straightened up, turning to Delena.
She sat calmly, lightly swiping at the LCD screen she held, seemingly still figuring out how to use the chip machine.
“Right in front of the chip machine, yes, over there by the wall, there’s a box. Take out the top two yellow shit and f**k them! Understand?”
Yu Shi listened impatiently to Kuru’s rambling as he picked up the two small boxes.
He unclipped the locks, revealing two beautifully crafted blue boards. Unfortunately, dark splotches of varying shades of black were unevenly scattered across the chips.
“This… clearly looks like it was caused by splashes of molten metal from high temperatures. What kind of people would do such a thing?”
“F**k it and stop talking bullshit! Talk bullshit then f**k out! Why you always bark a lot?!”
Kuru’s harsh voice interrupted Yu Shi’s thoughts, leaving him scowling, placing the chips on the workbench in front of Delena.
“Now it’s all up to you, Delena. Don’t make mistakes. If anything goes wrong, just tell me; don’t let yourself crash halfway through.”
He glanced weakly at Delena, then back at the chips, his lips moving restlessly.
Taking a deep breath, he let out a weary sigh.
“Don’t worry, Master. Delena won’t let master down.”
She turned to Yu Shi with a slight smile before focusing back on the LCD screen.
“Hey, you little brat, do you know why these legs are called ‘Thatcher’? They were shit by OneX. They say they’re modeled after the perfect legs of former Sesciece Prime Minister Thatcher.
But you know what? Those motherf**ers at first were just claiming they wanted to study Thatcher’s pathology, then dug up the bones of that old chick who’s been dead for decades and started playing with them! Hahaha!!”
Kuru was clearly high on the stimulant now, his hands still working while he rambled on, laughing uncontrollably as he shared the story.
“Wha… what do you mean?”
Yu Shi frowned, glancing back at Kuru.
“Master, Kuru means that those developers have a necrophilia… well, to put it correctly, bone necrophilia. They especially liked Thatcher’s leg bones.”
Delena had already started working. With her remaining fingers, she carefully secured the chip.
Then she began operating on the LCD screen, controlling the two large, precise mechanical arms to skillfully repair the tiny damaged components. In the meantime, she replied calmly.
“Really?… Wait, they’ve been buried for decades; how could they still have a thing for a few old bones?”
Yu Shi’s brows twitched in disgust, his lips curling up in revulsion.
“Ahahaha!! That’s the unyielding romance of the Sesciecians!! Rom~~ance~~!”
Kuru was laughing so hard he was nearly going mad, his tongue flopping out of his mouth like a fish bait tossed into the water, thrashing about wildly to attract fish.
But there were no fish to catch here, just a young man rolling his eyes so hard that nearly reached the back of his heel.
Oh, and a half-paralyzed robot.