The northern road was different during the day, or maybe because I was out of it when I came through.

For the first 2,000 ft or so, it was farmland. While A had referred to it as a plain, there was an orderly forest planted by the people here. They grew in moderately straight lines and in large block plots. Once I passed through, I noticed why I didn’t see them. While from a distance, they looked plentiful and strong - they looked thin up close.

As Hembree mentioned earlier, the road was patrolled heavily. I passed four patrols heading towards the castle. The last one stopped me and cautioned me. They would be the last patrol for the next two hours. With this information, I thanked them and hurried along.

After 45 minutes, the castle was no longer visible. From there, I continued on in search of a field away from the road. The search continued for about an hour at a brisk pace.

Eventually, I hit the end of farms and trees. It was as if someone had wiped away any form of civilization. The change was abrupt, with only snowed hills and concaves as far the snow allowed me to see. I changed my map and found that I had only gone 1/7th of the way to the north to the mountains.

I used the map to angle myself diagonally before I stepped off the road. Once on top of every fifth rolling hill, I scanned my surroundings. It wasn’t until I was far from the road did I circle around the area to clear it. Once I couldn’t find a sign of anything, I redeemed the Cyberware repair and the two loot boxes.

Three devices appeared in my hand. Each looked similar to cylinder smoke bombs I’d see in our company’s warehouse. It was an inspection my brother was supposed to do himself but flaked. My father was in a meeting with an Arasaka executive. If I remembered correctly, it was because an Arasaka suit had threatened one of our own executives. Not knowing she was one of ours.

Funnily enough, the shipment was supposed to go to Arasaka. The Arasaka executive had been the one to broker the arms shipment earlier that week. He’d sexually harassed the woman at the club down the street later that night. It almost turned into a full-blown war due to the man falsifying the reason he’d been scooped up by our forces.

A smile came to my face when I remembered how happy my father was when I said I’d do the inspection in my brother’s place. It’d been a year since the incident and I hadn’t really left my room much. I only knew he flaked because my father accidentally blasted it through our family’s message group… It was also the night I was going to kill myself…

Pushing aside the memories, I turned them over and found the activation button, and threw them on the floor.

[Tri-Dimension Shipping: Order for two packages received! ETA 30 minutes!

Divine Medical Wares: Request received! ETA 10 minutes!]

Ten minutes later, I heard the roar of boosters approach from the north. The eye shimmered in the distance as the snow was kicked up in a line heading towards me. A second later, the shimmering air fell away to reveal a medium-sized white transport VTOL. The nose lifted up as it dropped speed. It flew over me before turning around to land in the depression between the hills. A red circle with a white medical cross painted its sides.

As the engines powered down, the rear of the transport opened and three armed men stepped out with one man in scrubs. “Ms. Xu! We have your replacement cybernetics! Please come on board!”

I boarded the transport and he led me past two auto-turrets before we reached the midsection. It was a door and beyond it was a whole medical suite related to cybernetics.

“Lady Avery, bless her reign, had already forwarded us your medical history - along with your list of cybernetics,” he said as he walked up to a large computer screen on the side. “Please strip, then take the wire on the side of the bed and jack it into your neural port. It will run a diagnostic and a female doctor will come in.”

As he said, my history was there on the screen. He left the room and I did as he asked. The Diagnostic screen came up in my view. It ran the whole suite on me. As the system said earlier, most of my wares were damaged. That was no surprise since they weren’t combat-rated - except for the monowire and fangs. Yet, even those weren’t heavy-use items.

5 minutes later, a woman entered the room.

“Good day, Ms. Xu,” She looked at the screen. “I see your hardware has been strained extensively. Not good at all. You have quality cyberware, but it was not meant for combat. Luckily, your Patron had already reported what happened to us just before you summoned our services. She also requested your base connections be upgraded to withstand combat.”

“What does that mean for me?” I asked. I knew what that meant, but it was like electrical wires. Two wires could be rated the same, but their qualities differed. One would break easily but the other would last for years.

“We will switch the bases with Tier 1 connections to avoid having them break down as quickly as yours did. But your arms, legs, and eyes will be replaced with the same models.” She said before she administered a shot to me.

I woke up twenty minutes later.

“Welcome back, Lady Xu.” The doctor said. “Very good news. Your body took to your new bases quite well. But we still recommend you take the rest of the day easy. No combat what’s so ever. Walking is fine. We’ve already administered your booster, so you don’t have to worry about that.”

If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

“Thank you, Doctor.” I sighed as I sat up with some effort.

“While you were under, two packages were delivered.” She said as she helped me up. “Our guards are watching them, so they are safe.”

“Anything else I need to know?” I asked.

She shook her head. “You’re all done. Please disembark after getting dressed. We look forward to your further calls!”

Once I stepped off the rear ramp, the guards shuffled in and the VTOL lifted off. Snow blew in every direction. The airship cloaked itself and followed the path it took. I turned back to the boxes.

Both of them were the same, only one was gold and the other was platinum. They were the same as my father’s quick-drop supply crates. Long octagonal boxes with a touchpad on their lid. I touched the gold box’s pad and it opened up.

[Gold box opened:

UAV Watcher - An unmanned aerial vehicle will circle a two-mile radius for three minutes. Any living being will be marked on your minimap and full map during that duration. Their estimated levels of danger are based on this world’s own information. The area covered by the UAV will illuminate the map area permanently.

Shop value: 7,000p (Support - UAV: Watcher)]

I picked up the thin tablet that rested at the bottom. The box then disintegrated into light particles. Then I moved to the next box.

[Platinum box opened:

Orbital Drop FireTeam (Temporary): Drops a 14-armed Light Infantry Droids into the user’s AO. The user will be assigned as their Pilot. Drones will stay with the user for 24 hours, or until they’re destroyed. Whichever happens first.

Shop Value: 50,000p (Support - Fireteam: 24h Full FT LFIs)]

The next one was the same. I deposited both tablets into my inventory and returned back to town.

Night had fallen by the time I’d reached the gate. I entered and used my map to find my way back to the lower ward. The guards there informed me that Sir Hembree would be waiting for me in his room. I thanked them and went there. Once there, I knocked on his door and announced myself.

“It’s Mercy,” I said.

I heard him call out “one moment!” and waited. After a minute, he opened the door.

He frowned. “I was worried something happened to you.”

“Why?” I laughed and walked into the room before I sat on the bed.

“For one, it’s already night! You’re still wounded and –” He pointed to my right arm, the said arm I used to support myself as I leaned back. When I tell you the joy I got out of seeing his jaw drop. “H-How?!”

“A girl’s secret.” I hummed.

He knelt down in front of me. “May I see it?”

I was about to say no, but the concern in his eyes was too much for me… Maybe I had gotten soft… If this were back home, no one but the doctors and Yang could touch me… But with Hembree… I felt safe. This had to be that phenomenon I heard happened among cyberpunk crews. When you go through a life-or-death fight, and the person behind you sticks with you, there’s no other comrade like that.

“You don’t have to, Lady Xu.” He cleared his throat.

I realized I had made an unpleasant face. I laughed it off and smiled. “No, it’s fine. I just… Thought I would’ve been appalled by the thought of being touched. But… I don’t feel unsafe with you.”

He chuckled and blushed a little. “I know what you mean. It happens with new soldiers every time. Most people who’ve never had someone fight side by side with them - almost to the bitter end - never know. Once you step out into battle, you realize you have a real chance of dying. Everyone has that moment. And you look to your sides, and you see your comrades in there with you, that’s the brotherhood that’s formed.”

“Do you consider me a brother now?” I laughed and blushed as well. Because he was right.

In fact, it was strange that I felt comfortable around the guards here. Even the ones at home I had an unshakable distrust of. Except for Yang - because the only people who touched Yang were me and the very people who worked on my Father. It felt… Freeing… To trust someone.

“Maybe a sister!” He said with mirth in his eyes. “I was skeptical of you when I first met you, but after the ridge, I trust you, Mercy. That’s why I’m giving you leeway with the things you say. You didn’t leave us to die when you could have ran. I saw Yang out there. You could have left any time, but you stayed. You earned it with your own sweat and blood.”

For once, I felt like I had accomplished something… I gave him my arm.

He slid up the jacket sleeve and I helped him wiggle the suit back a little. His eyes grew when he saw just how… Inhuman my arm was. I felt shame burn in me. The same shame I felt when my mother first saw my arms, and I looked away.

“What… Is it?” He asked. “Mercy, please look at me.”

I refused. I thought I’d gotten over that shame, but it burned in my chest. The hatred for having not been a full human.

“Mercy, please?” He asked again.

I looked at him.

“Why do you look like that?” He asked.

I wanted to answer about my arm, but I knew he was asking about my expression.

“Personal reasons,” I said as I wrangled my emotions back into place.

He looked sad for a moment, then nodded his head. “I won’t ask. Everyone has their demons. Hopefully, one day, you’ll tell someone.”

I nodded and decided to answer the first question now that I managed to rebottle whatever had come out. “Its a cybernetic prosthetic. I’m not sure about the materials, but from above the elbow down, it’s metal and fake skin.”

I reached over with my left and pulled open the maintenance panel on my inner arm. Inside, it was an orderly series of bars, wires, and a battery for the monowire. Hembree was fascinated by it all as he cooed over it. For once, I felt a little good about it and flexed my fingers. The bars and wires move around.

“That is amazing!” He said.

“This box here is a battery. It supplies power to this wire right here –” I pulled the monowire out. “And acts as a short-range whip. It can also be used to cut stuff depending on the material. I also have claws.”

I extended the claws out my fingertips.

“I see, so this is why you were so confident about last night?” He asked.

I shook my head. “Honestly, I never thought I would die. In fact, I can only recall only thinking about trying to stop those monsters from harming more of the people behind us.”

“You have a good heart,” Hembree said.

I bite my lip to try and suppress my grin.

“I won’t pry into your past, but…” He stood up and nodded. “I think you need food.”

I titled my head to the side. “And whys that?”

“Because I damn well know you didn’t have lunch,” Hembree said.