The moment Bread’s eyes finally opened again, he felt heavy, awkward. He was suddenly incredibly uncomfortable.

The joints around his arms were stiff. As if his weight had just tripled. Every time he moved his neck, it would make this grinding noise. But across the dimmed room, he saw something that made him forget about all the awkwardness in his body.

Valkyrie, his idol and hero, was crouched in a corner, legs tucked, head down in her knees. Soft sniffles with the occasional tear slid down her cheeks.

She was crying.

Why is she crying? He tried to move, but when he stretched his fingers to reach out, he could feel a pressure pulling them back. His knees buckled; his arms didn’t feel the same. Why did he feel this way? What was happening?

Peering down, he saw a jumbled mess of wires and metal plates greeting his eyes. An amalgamation of inorganic material.

What was all this? Where was his body? But then it hit him—he was looking at it. This was his body, his vessel. He connected all the dots—this was the real world. This was the place he’d always dreamed of experiencing…

But his body wasn’t even real.

“Bread?”

The more aware he became of his form, the more he started to struggle. He wanted to get out, get away from this monstrosity. He didn’t like it. It felt weird, unnatural. It didn’t feel right!

“Bread, calm down!”

All his movements required over-exaggerated strain. Like he was holding up the earth. Each blink felt forced; each eye felt disjointed from the other. He tried to breathe, but he couldn’t. Panic flooded in. Was he suffocating? He tried again, but his chest started to vibrate loudly. He tried to suck in air—a ragged rotary noise got stuck in his throat. It felt like he was choking. He was going to die. He wasn’t going to survive. He couldn’t breathe! He clawed at the air. He couldn’t—

“Calm down.” Val embraced her tightly into her arms. “It’s okay, Bread. It’s going to be all okay.”

He finally started to relax.

“Breathe in…”

He breathed in. His chest heaved up, clicking and clattering, trembling ever so slightly.

“…and breathe out.”

He breathed out. The vibrations started to subside.

“It’s okay.” She held him tighter; her eye was puffed up red with tears. Bread could feel the heat dripping down his synthetic arms. “It’s all okay.”

There was a deep grunt from the back. “Seems he’s all fine, ain’t he?” It was Coach. He started putting away a bunch of power tools.

“I’m so glad…” Val leaned back and examined him. “But I think we need to find you a better face. Not that naked skeleton you got there.” She let out a stifled laugh, eyes almost tearing up again. “I’ll get you perfectly set-up soon, okay?”

Bread didn’t hesitate to nod. His eyes watered. How this fake body could do that, he didn’t understand, but he was feeling fuzzy all over. She cared. He finally found someone who seemed to really care. For the first time in his life, he could finally belong.

“I just need some time.”

“You need more than time,” Coach said. His eyes fell on Bread’s torso. “That core of his ain’t gonna last.”

Bread looked at where Coach was eyeing. Lodged in the center of his chest was a round, circular orb. It was connected to the wall by a socket and was shining light green at the moment. Every few seconds, it would flicker red. Something about the color told him it wasn’t supposed to do that.

He pushed himself off the floor. A red flicker wouldn’t stop him from exploring this new world! Real or not, he had to get used to this body. Otherwise, he feared he’d start to feel sad all over again.

The moment he got to his feet, however, his legs gave way, and he collapsed. Val rushed in to support him.

“What’s wrong with him, Coach?”

“Probably the core actin’ up. I told you it was weak.” Coach walked over. He poked a few times at his chest with a long screwdriver. “Ouch!”

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

Sparks flew.

Bread tasted beef jerky. That was what his inner records had stated. It was sweet and a little spicy. There were hints of garlic and pepper.

It was odd. There was nothing in his mouth. At least from what his new senses could perceive. Did he even have a tongue to begin with? Taste buds? Could he even feel? His arms had felt the warmth in Val’s tears. The skin was there. Synthetic, but there. But he didn’t know how he could feel so vividly. It wasn’t like before—Simular was more dull, less pinpoint accurate. The real world, if this really was real, felt different—almost a degree sharper.

Everything he touched had another level of edge to it. It was weird. Like he could actually touch more and feel more. Like he was twice as alive as before.

Was this what it felt like to be real?

“His joints seem intact, and power seems to be flowing through.” Coach cautiously stepped back, scratching his beard in the process. “It’s probably the core. He needs a more efficient one to support the outputs necessary for proper function.”

“Where would we find another core?” Val asked.

Coach groaned a little. “Greg’s… probably.”

“Greg’s again? You’re kidding.”

“I ain’t kidding, lass. It’s a big pile of shite, but it ain’t Greg’s if not for that shite.”

She chuckled at the seemingly rude-sounding remark. “That’s true. How much would it cost then?”

“It’ll cost ya an arm and a leg if you’re goin’ for military-grade. But we don’t need that. Just a mid-grade’ll be fine, but lass,” he continued, “You won’t have enough for your eye.”

“Coach, we only got like 100k from that guy. That’s not enough to find a replacement for my Razen—”

“But that is enough for a replacement.”

“Yeah, well, those won’t be good. Whatever. I don’t need boxing right now. It’s not that important—”

Don’t need boxing? “You’re quitting? But…” He didn’t want her to quit. Not for him. He wanted her to soar again. He didn’t want to become another bother like he was to Dad.

“It’s fine. Both of you.” She motioned towards her broken eye. “This shit’s not a big deal. I’ll jump back soon. I got my ways.”

“Like what, lass? Stealin’ again?”

“Just for now, okay? I won’t fall into the habit.”

“You’re stealing?” Bread knew she wasn’t perfect, but she was stealing? Like a thief? Was that really okay to do?

“Guys, guys! It’s not that bad.” She held out her hands as if to place some space between herself and them. “Can you guys please chill? Both of you’re just ganging up on me at this point.”

“Isn’t stealing bad?” That’s what his records told him. “You could go to j—”

“Shhh.” She placed her finger over his mouth. “It’s just a little bit. Just to help us get back on track, right? I said I wasn’t going to quit. Plus! Stealing’s hard! It’s basically like a real shitty job.”

“Isn’t that a bad word?”

“Oh my gosh, Bread. Were you always like this?” She rolled her eye, but her faint smile didn’t leave her. “You’ll get used to it.”

“Is it really worth it, lass? He’s not even r—”

“Coach!”

“Alright, alright. My bad.” Coach moved over to his computer. “I got the address to Greg’s. It won’t be cheap, but he’s the best we’ve got. I’ll contact him to let him know you’re coming.”

“You’re not coming with?”

“I gotta watch over the lad. Unless you wanna try.”

“I’m fine.” She changed the subject. “Greg got any veils too?”

“A dermal veil? Val, that’ll go over budget. We ain’t made out of money.”

“I know, I know. Just—whatever. Just tell me.”

Coach shook his head. “I don’t know. But he’s always got the goods.”

“I’ll check—”

“Lass, he doesn’t need a veil. He can function—”

“I know. I’ll be smart about it.”

“Smart.” Coach grunted. “Yeah, sure. Just don’t go stealin’ anything from Greg. He ain’t someone you can mess with.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“I’m being very serious, Val.”

“Same here.” She started packing things into a small backpack. “I’ll be back in a jiffy.”

“Can I come?” Bread asked. He was so close to seeing the world. It was right there in front of him. All those trees, beaches, real birds… “I want to watch—”

“No!” the two yelled in unison.

“It’s dangerous,” Val blurted out. She then turned to Coach. “Keep him safe. And don’t mention that word.”

“What? Oh, that word.” Coach made a weird, groaning noise, like an extended clearing of his throat. The sound suggested mild annoyance; it was something even Bread noticed without having to fully understand the situation. “He’s real. I got it. Just keep your word. Don’t even think about stealing from Greg.”

“Yeah, I got it.” Val rolled her eye again. She then headed towards the door, waved, and quickly left without another word.

After everything had settled down some, Coach pulled up a chair next to Bread. “Now, you’ll be safe here with me, lad.” He brought out a fresh bag of beef jerky. His more positive demeanor seemed to have returned. “I may not look it, but I once fought a bear…”

But Bread didn’t believe a thing Coach said that night.