Image of a bed with a pillow and some surgical tools on it. It has an indentation where someone had recently layed. The bed is in a cavern, with a large sheet of metal attatched to the wall next to it, and a glowing light bulb hanging down from the ceiling. Polaroids have been taped to the wall above the bed. [https://i.vgy.me/gWcOY4.png]

Enevelen awoke feeling surprisingly okay. Not perfect, but okay. Something felt different, she noted, as she lifted herself from the bed (table?) she found herself on. Oh god, was she at the mechanic's? She hated the idea of having to budget for another bill, let alone one that would cover all the terrible injuries she had put herself through... She had finally died, or at least become unconscious, and that alone had been a fantastic feeling. Though she was glad she had full control of her body yet again (no further sensation of backseat lack of control thank goodness) she would readily give it up to feel that empty bliss of oblivion yet again, once the opportunity presented itself.

Something did feel different though, not only had the injuries been healed, but she felt... honestly better than okay. Her stress was gone. Her fear, gone. Why was this?

She looked around the room and was shocked to find that it was not the mechanic's office, or even a scrapyard, or anything of the sort. It was a familiar space, a multi-colored cavern of different lights and glows, hanging bulbs of different eras. LED, fluorescent... even the novelty black light from her memories, and its fascinating array of colored stains on the wall behind. This was the scavenger's lair.

Looking down at herself, something else was surprising. This was not her body. It was weaker, yes, but surprisingly, it was green. Her limbs had been replaced with wired scrap, pumping tubes reclaimed from sunken cars. The iron on her exterior was green, bent, and welded around her form to thinly veil the patchwork organs within. Oh dear.

Well great, they'd converted her. Like a zombie. Fantastic, she thought, attempting to lift herself from the bed. Her body was noticeably weaker but surprisingly, oh, much lighter? She supposed that carrying the titanium chassis and heavy mechanics of her previous body had been like pumping iron, every day, at all times. She had been stronger in that form because her body had required so much strength and power to operate. Still, the new form was... she identified the nearby dirty mirror of reclaimed glass, having slid fully onto her new feet, and stared.

It didn't look that much different than her previous body... thin, muscular... she now appeared as if she had been reconstructed from metal leaves and filled with rebar. There had been an effort to replicate her original form, she observed. Looking over to the adjacent wall, she discovered several photos of her unconscious body taken with an instant camera, the pictures affixed with tape to the rock of the cavern. Surreal, but alright. Looking closer, she found that in the photos, her original body was in total disarray. Parts missing, metal warped and frayed. Stained with oil, possibly blood. It was photography of a damaged vehicle. What had happened? It was much worse looking than she had previously remembered upon her... demise. What had happened thought?

"We're attempting to get them back, I apologize."

A voice came from behind. She swirled around, still dizzy from awakening, to find a being looking not too unlike herself. Gray and white, disoriented metal, and draped with something akin to a smock, this figure hung in the doorway and stared intently.

"We sold your body parts, we're trying to recall them. They were sold to other hunters as scrap. We didn't realize you still had consciousness running in your mind, as well as memory back-ups at your mechanic's. We bribed them for it, but he refused without pay. So we stole them."

Enevelen looked back at herself in the mirror. Her face was that of warped hand-blown glass, though bent overtop glowing eyes in an attempt to resemble her earlier visor.

"I did the best I could, I knew you'd wake up eventually. I didn't want you to feel disgusted with the new form I built, but, you know, if you're upset I can understand. I really did try. I made an effort to keep it mostly symmetrical as I know cyborgs tend to prefer it, though it's not normally something we worry about..."

She pulled back her visor, and behind it were her flesh eyes, green and bright. At least what remained of her true face hadn't been sold. Though, holes had been poked through the edges for iron wires to knot through, and the mouth hung awkwardly off the body behind the jaw, resembling her old rebreather to some extent. She could see there had been an effort.

"Do you have a name? Doctor?" Her voice surprised her, it was lower, but still feminine. It warbled, no doubt from cheaper equipment. "A-are you a doctor? Or just a mechanic..."

"Doctor! HA!" shouted the being, which startled her. She noticed she had become a bit more jumpy than she had remembered herself being before. "I don't mind being called a doctor~ It sounds very distinguished, doesn't it?"

"No, no I'm, my name is Temperan, or at least I call myself that. I used to be named Markus as a human, but that was centuries ago. I'm not that person anymore. Our people you know, we change over time, replace things, change our bodies. Whoever that was, you know, I'm an entirely different ship now I suppose."

Enevelen studied the sc... Temperan, and then turned herself back to the mirror. She was honestly not against the green. Something about it felt very freeing. Different.

"Why this color, Temperan? Why green? Why not my metallic grey?"

"Did you want to be grey? I have spray paint laying around here somewhere, it's just that the green metal was what I had in abundance, you know, it's only meant to be temporary until we can get your old parts back-"

"No, well, I'm glad you're looking to get them back," she interrupted. "I'll... I'll probably want those, but, the green is fine. It's fine."

"Alright. I'm... I'm glad," the scavenger replied. "We can change it of course, any time. It's very easy. Our bodies are very malleable."

"I suppose so, they're made of scrap," she mumbled.

"It's not as advanced as your originals I know," he quickly replied, seeming anxious. "I know you want those back, we'll do our best to find what we can, hunter, we're very sorry-"

Enevelen turned to him again, her gaze piercing at first, but then softer. Her tense shoulder fell. Her new body had not yet adapted to her usual fearsome energy, and thus she became calm and tired.

"I'm... I'm sorry," she heard herself saying. It was a new phrase that hadn't left her mouth in some time. "I don't... I'm thankful for the temporary body. I..."

Temperan was somewhat frightened, confused by her sudden shift in mood. He did not reply.

"...I like it. I think you did a good job," she said earnestly.

He perked up at the response. He seemed to smile.

"Ah, good! You know, I should introduce you to the others. They should be back from the scavenge about now. I'm eager to see what they've found."

The doctor rushed up the cavern steps, into the sun. Enevelen took a quick glance around, eyeing her new form in the mirror, curiously, looking at her back, head, arms... It wasn't too different than her previous body, just very... green. Honestly, she liked it. It was a strange thing, much more fragile in appearance than her souped-up original body from the wars, but something about it felt... reassuring. Like, even if something broke, they could just fix it with a paperclip. With something simple. Something about it just felt stronger in that sense, like nothing could really hurt her anymore. Something about it appealed to her, and she didn't feel as frightened looking at herself, despite the obviously inhuman form. Where was the dysphoria that she normally felt, staring at herself? She didn't feel it. Strange.

...

Wandering up, out of the cavern, she noted she felt more comfortable walking for once. She didn't need to run, she wasn't as worried about tripping, and she took her time to exit. Something about this new desire not to rush was fascinating to her, though she didn't know why. She was eager to see the others, but, of course, she didn't feel like she'd be missing anything by pacing herself. They would still be there if she took an extra minute. What was this sensation? No anxiety existed in her mind.

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Five figures crawled their way out of two boats, different colors and sizes of form. All looked wet, disjointed, but mostly nimble finding their way from the ocean to the shore. She watched them step into the ocean, a quiet sizzling as they did. They didn't seem to notice. Didn't that hurt?

'Um, hunter! Come meet my family, they're eager to see your... developments!"

"Yes, yeah, right way!" she felt herself saying. It was her saying it, though the feeling of enthusiasm was alien-like to her. She wanted to meet these people.

The first of them shook her hand, it was a younger scavenger, blue in color and enthusiastic to greet her. His appearance was ragged, but charming, in a sort of, old bicycle sort of way. Very friendly, enthusiastic face.

"Ah, hello! Hello! I'm South."

The name made her laugh, another foreign feeling. "South? You and North... very creative names."

"She picked them. You know my sister?" asked the kid with glee. "You're very cool, you need to show me your weaponry. That charge-based pistol is phenomenal. North won't let me touch it, but..."

"No no, not yet. You're not old enough honey," came a familiar voice. It was the tall figure that had harassed her during the next-to-last job. North. She still looked menacing in the mask, which she took off to reveal her piercing red eyes. She peered into Enevelen's gaze, and smiled.

"Ah, of course you wander in again. Did your machines kick you out, hunter?" She cooed, and laughed somewhat. "I watched him drag you in here, imagine my surprise to see you rebuilt in our image. We've done it before but, you know, you look good like this. I see he tried to recreate your form as ours."

Enny couldn't help but blush at the closeness of their face. "Um, yes. Well, sorry about... that whole stealing thing. I was in a bad place..."

North stared intently, before retracting and placing the mask back on.

"All is forgiven," she said. Wandering off. "...but don't think I won't keep my eye on you, hunter."

A large black figure lurched into view, obscuring Enevelen's path. In her weakened state, she felt terrible fear, thinking she would be crushed, only for the figure to reach out and shake her hand. It bowed politely.

"West," it growled. "Madam."

The large figure continued past her, a large being of burnt metal and a thin smell trailing of what seemed to be... coal. He appeared to be carrying a large load of metal scrap from the sunken buildings they had visited. Menacing figure, but very kind, and seemed good at carrying things. Interesting. She admired the strength somewhat. She found herself wanting to know more about him.

A large, soft yellow figure lifted himself from the boat, he looked somewhat older than the others. Who was this?

"You can probably guess," he laughed. "I'm East, elder brother of West, it's nice to meet you." The figure was long, with what appeared to be... cotton hair? Artificial? hanging from the face. East laughed as he talked, chuckling with each response.

"Oh, hello? Nice to meet you."

"Likewise! You seem like you're in need of meditation. Do you hunters do that sort of thing? Ha!"

She found him charming. "Ah, yes we do! Ehe. I've done it with my plant friend a couple of times, and my older master... who's um..."

"Oh! A plant huh," he shook his head in a comedic fashion. "Yes they love to sit around, rooted like their ancestors huh? Ahehe!"

She liked him.

Temperan came from the boat as well, his thin gray figure attempting to lift some of the heavy recollected metals. It looked to be a struggle for him, so Enevelen shuffled over and took some of the metals from him, carrying them with ease, despite her weaker form. Her strength surprised her.

"Oh! Thank you Enevelen, very kind of you to help."

"Ah, yes," she responded, surprised at her generosity. She just had felt a sudden urge to assist, she realized. Again, a strange new feeling for her. "To be fair, you shouldn't be trying to lift that much in the first place with your thin frame."

"Oh?" replied the doctor. "What's wrong with my frame, huh?"

"Aha," she laughed. "You're a string bean!" Enny looked down, noticing she had stepped into the ocean without looking. Despite the slight burning sensation, it did not seem to harm her.

...

The group of them picked through the scrap, North and South trading glances and laughing as they flipped through a small magazine or flier they had found. It had pictures of what seemed to be twentieth-century houses, long forgotten.

"Humans lived in these?" asked South. "How silly! There's no stability. One gust of wind could knock the wood down. I don't understand."

"Yes, it's pathetic isn't it," North replied, flipping through the pages. "This is a lot of money, right East? Forty-eighty-nine... thousand?" she slammed the paper closed, tossing it to the yellow scavenger across their pile.

East didn't grab the paper right away, but lifted a small magnifying lens he held to the rusted item he was already inspecting. "I think there might be diamond in this, we could, ehe, maybe burn it out somehow."

"East," North reiterated, pointing to the paper. "How did humans survive in these things? This looks like a lot of money for something so fragile."

East picked up the paper, setting the scrap aside. "Oh, darling yes it was. An entire fortune but, you know, ehe. Humans often desired fragile things, just like we do. The environment was much less hostile back then, you know!"

"They would've been better off in caves," grumbled West, who was quietly cutting away at a clay-rounded piece of metal. His hulking form intimidated Enny, who sat with them, eyeballing them from a distance.

"They didn't have caves like we do now, West," chuckled East. "You know, I've read in my books. They had things called "apartments" too. Did you know that? Thousands of living spaces in one tower. Amazing."

He gestured with a long, bent figure to the towers poking out from the ocean in the distance. "Like those, you know, but I don't think as big."

Enny perked up. "We have those."

The group looked at her.

"We do," she replied, anxiously. "Cyborgs have buildings of living quarters, though they're mostly... you know... just rooms. Not furnished as humans had."

They stared in curiosity.

"We sleep on the floor..." she replied, wary of their gazes. "Though my place did have a bed, but it wasn't like... a nice one like yours..."

"...and you want to go back to that?" asked a bewildered North, tilting her mask in confusion. "I don't understand why, cyborgs, hunters, what have you... you just don't seem to take an interest in comfort."

"W-what do you mean...?" Enny replied, somewhat frightened of the looming woman and her large staff. "We have carpets, my old cavern outside of town had a pillow mattress... I'm not like the rest, you know, I've always prioritized comfort."

"You prioritize Service," she snapped back. "Service and labor, to your rulers."

"We don't have rulers, North, we're an anarchistic society. We used to, but you know, since the wars. We got rid of them, we 'rule' as a populace."

"Your pocketbook," North replied, "those who you work for, they rule you."

The group was silent for a while. They continued to pick at their scrap, Enny watched as Temperan smiled at her, taking a picture with a dirtied instant camera. The photo came out quickly, and he shook it around.

"You don't need to do this part to develop it, you know, it's just a ritual." He smiled at her.

Enny looked to North with a cold, saddened gaze. "You say that like I want to go back."

"Huh?"

"You say 'my pocketbook' as if I want to go back to that life. To the cyborgs."

The group continued its silence.

North leaned in, again curious. "I mean, don't you? Hunter? We have people out, getting your pieces returned. You've cost us money and resources. You've lived as a cyborg for, what, centuries?"

"I mean," Enny stumbled over her words. "I don't want to take away what would help you guys... I don't um... really need my old body back."

Temperan stopped looking down at the photo and up to her with a face of shock.

"Wait, honestly? You like this one that much?" he said, gesturing to Enny's new, green carapace and wiring. "It's incredibly inferior to your old one... It's not as dynamic or strong..."

"It's, strong enough."

"But, your work, your life...?" North asked in surprise. "We wouldn't want to take that away from you. We wouldn't want to keep you here."

"...If you don't want us to keep you here," added East with a chuckle, still peering down the lens into the worthy scrap. "It's true, life as a scavenger is much more comfortable than that of a hunter, but-"

"...but what?" Enny interjected in frustration, though her body couldn't expel the energy necessary to get angry, and relented. Taking a deep breath. "What is better about being a hunter, really? I'm... I'm realizing it maybe isn't worth it, when something like this is an option."

She stared at them silently. They stared back, curiously. West's large frame leaned in to hear what she had to say, putting down his piece of metal.

"At least," she mumbled. "I hope this is an option..."

They continued to stare.

North leaned back, crossing her arms. "We could use the added muscle around here. Not saying I'm willing to have you on board or willing to accept you as one of our family just yet, but, I'm interested in seeing you attempt to meet our standards I suppose."

"What, what are your standards...?" Enevelen stumbled out the words.

North laughed. "I'm joking," she said, looking over to Temperan and his messy, dirty smock. "We don't have standards, as you can clearly see."

Temperan scoffed.

"Oh, so, I can stay?" asked Enny with an eager tone of voice. "I... I really like it here... I like you guys, I don't know."

The rest of them looked to East, the eldest of the group. He did not look up from his stone, but glanced around, realizing he was being stared at.

'Hmm? Oh, yeah. Sure."

Enny's face lit up with glee. "Oh, oh my god really? Fuck, thank you. Thank you." She stood up excitedly and shook Temperan's shoulder, causing him to drop the camera. He looked down in horror as the back of the device popped open, the film exposed to the sunlight.

"Ack, ye gods!"

"Oh, oh," she said, attempting to pick it up for him, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm really sorry,"

North laughed, pointing. South gave a similar gesture, but didn't seem to understand what was so funny.

"It's alright, It's alright," cried Temperan, attempting to close the device and salvage any film that hadn't been burned away. "We can get more, we can find more...."

Enny looked around at the others, her new family, for as long as they'd have her, and they all seemed to be smiling. She found herself feeling very good too, it was strange.

For some reason, she felt a weight off her shoulders.