A light blue metallic heart with six clockwork chambers and six major vessels made of solid low cobalt lay innocuously on the table of their new inn room on the fifth floor of a building close to Glokham’s ramparts.
“What happened to ‘you gotta take your time, boyo,’ and ‘slow and steady is how you advance,’ huh old man?” Thode asked in a mocking tone.
“Har, har, har, lad. I also said that the world doesn’t wait for us either. In this case, if you wanna crawl into a hole and forget about someone who crossed you, then by all means, do it. But I didn’t raise you to be gutless, I raised you to be resourceful. To be a scrapper. And your genes are as much as an advantage as anythin’ else,” Zeb proclaimed proudly from within its ant-drone exoskeleton.
“What about Coal toxicity and freaking out, old man? We’re just…gonna ignore that?” Someone had to say it. Thode had seen how bad it could get both in real life and through the eyes of his ancestor, Zebulon Wedgecraft.
“Bah! Don’t worry so much. It ain’t good for your wrinkles. Besides, you’ve got some good things goin’ for you, boyo. For one, you come from good stock. Remember, my old self had reached Gearace by the time I was your age now and then Gearking before the age of 50. Those are incredible achievements in and of themselves.
Second, you’ve gotten to 100% integration in at least two Gears at some point. I know with the second eye to complete your set, your percentage has dropped, but that doesn’t invalidate your original achievement. Those percentages are just values that your Gears report back to your display. They don’t depict the true changes that have occured in your body,” Zeb countered.
Thode still wasn’t convinced. He skeptically eyed both the low cobalt heart and Zeb in equal measure. “I don’t know, Zeb…There’s gotta be another way, no?”
“Sure, lad, sure,” his companion waved a pincer at him. “Why don’t we wait for another Gearmonger invasion to come along, raze the entire city and have one of those massive titans rip Reina’s arm off for us. Then, we can just shoot her up right after.”
“Grr…Fine, Zeb, I see your point, but that doesn’t make the danger necessarily worth it. I ain’t exactly keen on losin’ my mind to my own Gears. I don’t wanna become a monster like those Gearjunkies buried in those stasis tanks.”
Zeb sighed, almost in exasperation, “Lad, do you actually know what happens when you assimilate an integral Gear?”
Arching an eyebrow, Thode wasn’t sure what his companion was getting at, “Uh…yes? It replaces one of my organs with a mechanical version of it and gives me different Fluxpowers. Y’know…That sort of thing.”
“It’s more complicated than that, boyo. Integral Gears are vastly different from adaptive ones. First of all, integral Gears have essentially the same basic Fluxpowers.
Brain Gears augment your cognitive capabilities and your reaction speed. Heart Gears boost the overall Flux output of your adaptive Gears as well as improves your stamina. Spine Gears enhance your speed, dexterity and coordination. Eye Gears upgrade your vision, ear Gears your hearing.
There are others too. Lung and nose Gears can give you infinite breath, allowing you to survive in any environment. Meanwhile, mouth and stomach Gears will ensure you no longer need to eat or drink to survive. And as an added bonus, they usually let you breathe Fluxfire from your mouth.”
“That’s absolutely mental, Zeb…” Thode replied, overwhelmed by the possibilities, “…Though what does all of that have to do with me not turning into a mindless Gearjunkie?”
“I was trying to highlight the point that integral Gears are more complex than you think. Your various organ systems are so intertwined that they rely on each other, which means that there are diffuse connections between all of your major organs. And so, assimilating an integral Gear has the possibility of tapping into those connections,” the automaton provided, while taking on a lecturing tone.
Thode knew that voice well. Zeb tended to use it only when teaching. “You mentioned that when you were running for your life from the Gearlady in abject terror that you felt a…connection between your Gears, right boyo?”
“Ya, it was like a surreal sort of harmony between my eyes and ears and my legs. It felt like I didn’t have to think about what I was doing. My thoughts were my actions,” Thode said almost reverently.
“Aye, that sounds about right. Y’see, that was a synergy between your Gears. Experienced High Tinkers call that phenomenon — ‘Gear Melding.’ And it bodes exceedingly well for you that you’ve already experienced that moment for the first time.”
Thode looked at Zeb eagerly, speaking in an almost hungry tone, “Gear Melding? That’s what happened to me?…Can it happen again? Is there a permanent way to maintain it?”
Zeb rubbed a pair of its metallic pincers together and replied, “Oh yes, lad. We can most definitely reproduce it. Once you’ve experienced it, the Melding has already taken root. If you get thrown into more and more life and death situations, then that will only strengthen the already powerful bond between your two Gears.”
“Bond? What bond?”
“The connection, lad. Your Gear eye has already rewired parts of your brain and reinforced them with dark cobalt. However, your brain isn’t made up of purely distinct sections that exist in a vacuum. There’s wiring that runs from one end to the other. Going a few steps beyond that, I’d hazard a guess that some of the neural pathways coursing down your spinal cord have also started to be reinforced by metal.”
“B-But…I don’t even have a spine Gear. How is that possible?”
“Any Gear that taps into your brain or spinal cord has the potential to rewire portions of them. It’s not nearly as good as having a true Gear dedicated to that specific body part, but you’re still able to tap into a bit of amplification. In your case, it’s unparalleled hand-eye coordination.”
Thode still wasn’t sold. “That sounds all well and grand, Zeb. But how does that keep me from turning into a monster?”
“Lad, what this means is that portions of your brain have already been reinforced by metal — specifically by dark cobalt. Your brain is fortified now. It will be far, far more difficult for you to lose your cognitive faculties. Remember, you’ve already experienced some of that. You’re more resilient to getting drugged and your Gear can even snap you out of unconsciousness. If someone was going to be able to survive assimilating a third Gear piece without fear of freaking out, it’d be you,” Zeb said with more confidence than Thode felt.
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Then, his companion chuckled, “And besides, boyo, if you do freak out, I’ll just put you down myself!”
“Not funny, ya rustbucket!” Thode growled, while pacing around their small inn room to let his body move and bleed off some of his nervousness. When he first scavenged these Gear pieces, he wanted to assimilate them all as soon as possible. Then, Arcwatch was destroyed and suddenly, he felt so unprepared for the unknown, especially now that he learned firsthand just how bad the unknown could get.
Coming to Glokham distracted him from those bone-deep worries. So much so that he even entertained actually partnering up with Reina. Fat lot that did for me…Fraggin’ backfired on me ‘cause I’ve been so stuck in my own blasted head. I didn’t want to jump into the nearest Gearmonger ruin and surround myself with more of them. The contracts were a nice compromise…until they weren’t.
Now, with this most recent betrayal, Thode no longer had the luxury of waiting to get over his own fears. The remaining two Gears he had left were burning a hole in his storage barrel.
He glanced over at Zeb, who was lazily rubbing its pincers together, while staring at him with its single golden eye expectantly. “Alright, Zeb,” he said with as much resolve in his voice as he could fake. “If you’re sure, then I’m willin’ to try. I don’t want that vexin’ heiress to win without a fraggin’ fight.”
“Dynamo, lad! Absolutely dynamo!” Zeb skittered around the dark cobalt heart excitedly. “I promise, you won’t even feel a thing!”
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Thode laid motionless on the cot in his inn room, a high-grade elixir of paralysis heavy on his limbs, while his breaths came slow and steady as if he were in a deep sleep. Meanwhile, a high-grade potion of enhanced mind kept his thoughts razor-sharp for when he needed to visualize the initial integration process. Lastly, a high-grade vial of concentrated blood coursed through his veins, pumping him full of extra vital fluid with regenerative properties to combat the imminent blood loss of this particular procedure.
Muted by the potions mingling in his system, dull pinpricks of pressure scuttled over his chest followed by the faint sensation of skin separating from bone. Zeb crawled atop his steadily rising chest, riding along in its ant-drone frame, slowly tracing an incision with mechanical precision using one of its metallic pincers.
“Alright, lad, almost done with this,” his companion spoke calmly. “Hard part’s coming next.”
Even if Thode wanted to say or do something, he physically could not. So instead, he busied himself with the projected diagram that Zeb provided him on his internal display. It was a three-dimensional model of a Paraburnese heart — four main chambers and four main vessels.
Just like with his Gear eyes, Thode would need to maintain this image in his mind as the new heart went to work. Fortunately, this process was streamlined now because of his internal display. He didn’t need to memorize the many twists and turns of his own anatomy. The diagram did that for him.
Better yet, now that Zeb had a physical body, Thode didn’t even have to worry about not having access to his hydro chamber. The old man would be regularly injecting him as needed with the other high-grade potions they’d bought to keep his body from bleeding out and going into shock.
“Ok, boyo, here we go,” Zeb’s calm voice floated across Thode’s semi-consciousness. Despite his whole-body paralysis, he could still glimpse flashes of the procedure through his half-lidded eyes. Zeb placed the low cobalt Gear into Thode’s partially open chest cavity and suddenly, he felt his heart tighten as if it was being squeezed by an ice cold grip.
His limbs spasmed involuntarily as his breaths rapidly sped up despite not feeling any actual pain. He would’ve been worried if he wasn’t so numb. But as it stood, Thode weathered the seizures without issue.
He trusted Zeb. Maybe a little too much. Though if he couldn’t trust family, then who could he trust?
Scintillating streams of Flux energy flooded his whole body then, scouring his insides like a wildfire through a dry forest and in that moment, he regretted ever believing the fraggin’ rustbucket.
A scream tore from his lips as his chest heaved and his body bucked. All he could see in these sudden near-death throes was the haunting image of a Paraburnese heart burned into his retinas.
Thode latched onto that like a lone branch in a flood.
Even without pain as a measuring stick, he knew his body was dying. The corners of his vision fuzzed, then darkened, until all that remained was that blasted diagram.
And in Thode’s death-addled mind, he could have sworn the image of the heart in his head began…to beat.
Ba-dump.
Ba-dump.
Ba-dump.
Each of the four major blood vessels writhed, pulsing erratically. At the same time, the four chambers pumped frantically like the bellows of a forge desperately trying to keep its flames burning.
With every spastic heartbeat, he felt his life flowing away as his heart failed him. The procedure wasn’t going to work. Zeb had been wrong.
Thode’s genes weren’t good enough.
And the Hanged Gods’ Depths were taking him.
ZAP!
A peal of thunder boomed in his eardrums.
ZAP!
A lightning bolt struck his chest and he convulsed like a sputtering ignition.
ZAP!
The essence of a thunder god breathed life back into him and his heart rumbled like a revved up engine.
Long moments passed as the clock ticked by, stretched and slow like counting down to closing time.
And then, a desperate gasp escaped his lips like a drowned man coming up for air. Thode’s eyes shot open, pushing back the claws of the Hanged Gods’ Depths that gripped his heart.
All of a sudden, the image of a six-chambered, six-vesseled, light blue heart dominated his vision. This was more than just a simple pump that transported blood throughout his body.
This was a motor. A turbine. A piston-powered generator.
He felt like a locomotive trapped in the body of a man, his new heart thundering in his chest like the engine of a racing motor carriage.
And before he knew it, Thode was standing on prosthetic legs as sturdy as a suspension system. His pulse pounded in his ears like the drumbeats of whirring pistons.
The roaring furnace in his chest made him feel like a living inferno as scintillating energy suffused every pace of his body. At this point, he was nothing more than a conduit for the raging Flux in his veins.
Wild-eyed and manic, his eyes swept the inn room in a desperate need to focus on something, otherwise his head and chest were going to burst. Zeb swiftly flew into his visual field, having urgently shed its ant-drone exoskeleton.
“Lad! Lad! I’m here! Focus on me!” his companion cried.
The words rang hollow in Thode’s ears, but Zeb just swiveled in the air to keep pace with his head turns. After several frazzled moments, Thode finally settled enough to stare into Zeb’s single golden eye.
Gazing into the steady, ticking cogs of his companion’s clockwork orb, his breathing eventually calmed down and his thundering heartbeats evened out to a more manageable drumming.
“Z-Zeb?” he stammered, his voice flustered. “Wha-…what happened?”
The gyroscopic automaton zipped around his head in excitement, “What’d’ya mean, lad? You did it! That’s what happened! And I did a dynamo job makin’ sure you didn’t die on that table, if I do say so myself. It’s a good thing you’ve got those Gloves of Smite. They pulled you back from the Hanged Gods’ Depths.
But, none of that matters now, boyo! All that matters is that you’re a Gearmeister!”