(85) Physical Reality

30/SEPT/35MT

Under the sound of beeping and the whine of machines, an additional noise joins in, “Grnnn…” A groan, a very close-by groan indeed. That’s when I notice an overarching pain all over my body, a type of pain I would imagine being similar to having an elephant crush me… “Ouch…” I voice weakly.

Following this, I slowly open my eyes, and then struggle to turn my head to the side as a bright white light floods my vision. Yet, this barely helps. The sheets covering my body, the pillows below my head, and even the floor I look to are painted white - the entire room is.

As my eyes slowly begin to adjust to this assault of light, I notice the room I’m in. It’s a hospital room, similar to the one I saw when I visited Nanako back then. To my left is an IV stand and a couple machines, tubes and wires running to hide under the bedsheets, likely hooked up to me somehow. On my right is a small bedside stand in which I find my duel disk on top, a giant relief considering what happened. In front of me, from what I can see without moving my head set on top of a stack of pillows, is a small corridor that leads to a door.

Seeing this, I lean back down on the pillow and draw in a deep breath, finding my throat also sore. “Anf… I really got fucked up in that duel, huh?”

[“Patient has awoken - Calling medical staff persona and designated emergency contact.”] The announcement plays over the speakers on the room’s ceiling.

I roll my eyes after hearing the message, ‘Great, now to explain whoever ended up as my emergency contact why I got so beat up.’

Seconds later, the door to my room opens and a familiar face comes in. No, not any person per se, but injection fairy lily, the same projected assistant which inhabited the Station’s clinic. She walks over to me, carrying a white tablet like a clipboard close to her chest.

“Welcome back!” It greets cheerfully. “Could you tell me your name and how you’re feeling?” It follows.

Still groggy, I gulp and respond. “Y-Yes, I’m Yuumi Kata— Matsunaga. Yuumi Matsunaga. I feel… Err. Pain? I don’t know but my whole body feels sore… Could I get some water, please? My throat is like a desert.”

She nods, turning around while saying, “Soreness is to be expected. After all, you’ve been in bed for the last 5 days.” The projected being turns around and holds out a plastic cup for me to drink from.

I hesitate, but end up drinking it before asking what’s on my mind. “Five days?… Wait, where am I exactly?”

After pulling the cup away, she looks to the door and speaks. “Some confusion is also to be expected.” After turning her head back my way, she tells. “Yuumi, you’re aboard the UP Colossus, you were transferred from the clinic aboard MDS Space Station Arena. We’re currently on-route to earth.”

Looking off to the wall, I ask, “That long… Wait—” I interrupt myself, shaking my head to the best of my abilities. “What happened?—No, first of all, is Haruna ok?”

The projection looks up as if thinking, then it states, “Haruna? There was a girl with a matching name who left our care a couple of days ago. While for personal privacy reasons I can’t tell exactly how long ago she left, or what she was in here for, I can at least affirm that she was successfully discharged with a clean bill of health.”

A wave of relief washes over me, but it rapidly leads the way to more confusion. “Wait? She was shot! How the hell has she already recovered and I’m still here?” I look at the projection with a hint of distrust. “We are talking about the same Haruna, right? Short, bright pink hair? Tall? Able to keep a smile on her face in any situation?”

It nods. “Yes, we appear to be. But again, while I can’t be specific about her injuries without her express consent, I can affirm they were much less severe than yours.” She looks down at her tablet. “Three fractured ribs, a collapsed lung, many minor bone fractures, several Major bone fractures, including a broken tibia…”

As the AI continues listing off my injuries, I start to zone out. ‘Right, that duel was brutal… That last turn was purely momentum, adrenaline and not much else.’

But then, the fairy gets to a part where she looks at me with serious eyes. “And that’s not even mentioning the big one.” She leans down and asks. “Yuumi could you show me your right hand, please?”

Furrowing my brow, I try to move my right arm and find it a tremendous task with all the pain. “Grrnn, let me try…” With major effort, I am able to pull my arm out from underneath the bedsheets. It is no longer covered in bruises and it doesn’t look injured at a glance, but it hurts a lot to move. Still, I power through.

The projection nods. “Good job. Open and close your right hand for me, please.”

I do as told, again, hurting throughout the entire process. “Grnn, what is this for?”

“Checking if your tendons successfully healed,” she tells while noting something on her tablet. “Right, that’s enough of that.” She looks me in the eye, inquiring in a somber tone, “Could you please try the same with your left arm?”

A little weirded out by the way she put her question, I try to lift my left arm from under the sheets… And do so successfully, with a lot less effort and pain than when I tried moving my right one. I place my arm over the sheets, moving the fingers on my left hand effortlessly.

In response, she leans over me and starts pinching along its length, asking, “Can you feel that? And does it feel weird?”

I shake my head. “No, it’s normal… Why are you focusing so much on this arm? It appears solid to me. Way better than my right one.”

She nods. “I’ll tell you soon enough, but first, I need to draw some blood.” With that, a small syringe materializes in her hand and she presses the tip against my left wrist.

Unlike some Yugioh protagonists, I don’t really have a fear of needles, or, better to say, not anymore. ‘I had to draw blood so many times for check-ups back then, I kinda grew desensitized.’ Anyway, with a small prick, the needle pierces my skin and crimson red blood fills the syringe as the fairy pulls the plunger.

After filling the syringe, she pulls it out and places a bandage over my wrist. She then brings the syringe up and carefully examines it, as if she’s looking for something. A few seconds later, she puts the syringe down and bows apologetically. “Everything checks out Miss. Matsunaga… I’m sorry.”

Cocking an eyebrow, I ask the pertinent question, “So… If everything checks out with my arm, why are you apologizing?”

As the projection rises to her feet, she regards me with a gaze full of pity. She then begins, “I’m sorry for the theater, but…” She swivels her white tablet in my direction, revealing a gruesome image that makes me shudder. It’s a picture of me on a stretcher, with blood oozing out of multiple wounds I sustained during the duel. But what really catches my attention is my left arm… It’s completely black, from the shoulder all the way down to the fingertips… Black…

The projection delivers the final blow, stating as a matter of fact, “That arm you feel now is bionic… Your original arm was completely unrecoverable, necrotized, dead. Even enhanced rejuvenation was ineffective.”

…

…

Leaning back on the hospital bed, I close my eyes, uttering with a wobbly voice, “Oh… Oh, crap…” I look on to my left arm with wide eyes, a deep realization dawning on me. “So… T-This is a cybernetic arm?”

The projection shakes her head. “No, a bionic replaces an organic limb, but tries to mimic it by copying a real limb, in this case, your right arm. It does this by utilizing nano solid vision to project a real epidermis. A cybernetic doesn’t, focusing on utility instead, and would require both of your arms to be replaced as to keep your force symmetric between the limbs. Such a procedure can be accomplished should you desire compatibility for market cybernetics instead. But be warned, as a medical entity, we don’t provide such replacements.”

What she said barely registers in my mind as I keep looking at this ‘Bionic’ arm. “I-I think I’m good, thanks… Could you… Could you give me some time to process this… Please?”

I don’t see the projection, but can still hear her respond. “Of course, I’ll be just out the front should you need anything.” Followed by the sound of footsteps fading away.

As the projection walks away, I wait a few seconds before slowly opening my eyes. The room is quiet, the only sound present being a faint hum from the machines. My breathing is steady, almost perfectly in control. Despite this, I find myself lost, unsure of what I’m even supposed to be feeling. Raising my ‘bionic’ arm up slowly, I begin examining every centimeter with meticulous attention to detail. I touch it, the warm skin feels smooth against my fingertips, and I can feel every crevice and curve as I run my hand along its surface. When I’m done, a single conclusion forms in my mind: The bionic looks and feels completely indistinguishable from my real arm.

Finally, I ask myself, my voice coming out with a hint of frustration, “This just had to get more complicated, didn’t it?” Deep down, I want to scream, and I know it wouldn’t accomplish anything. Still, I cover my face with both hands, feeling the warmth of my palms against my skin. I can feel the tension in my body, the frustration building up inside me like a pressure cooker. With a sudden burst of energy, I let out a primal cry, “Rrrrraaaaahh!!!! Fuck, fuck! Fuuuuuuuck!!!” The sound echoes off the walls, ringing in my ears as I thrash around in the hospital bed.

After I’m done, I draw a deep breath through my nose. The smell of antiseptic fills my nostrils, reminding me of where I am. The sterile scent is overwhelming, and I can’t help but shake my head in distaste. Despite my frustration, I know I need to keep a level head here. The last thing I need is for things to get any worse. ‘Right… I need to calm down…’

Then, as I look down over the hospital bed, I remember something. ‘Wait… That fucker did this, didn’t it?’ I pull up the sheets and draw up a simple pale blue shirt they dressed me in. Looking at my belly button, I find a note instead of the piercing I am looking for. Still, I pick it up, and start reading it.

[

Sorry for this form of correspondence, it’s Ness.

While I did tell you a lot about the creature you have in you, I didn’t want to go into the details when you were so unstable. Seeing as you’re pulling up your shirt, I’m hoping this note finds you in a better mental state…

]

I roll my eyes, thinking ‘Yeah, good job on that, Ness.’

[

Anyway, if you were looking for that navel piercing, know it will only appear when you allow the creature to interact with you. You can do so mentally, but be warned, you have to be specific on exactly how much you want to allow that thing to connect with your being. This can range from hearing it speak to allowing it to hear and see through you, all the way to being able to manifest itself in a spectral form or even possess you; I hope I don’t have to leave a warning about how dangerous that last possibility is.

You’re probably wondering why I’m even giving you the choice to do something so dangerous. The answer is simple: I don’t really have a choice myself. Either I give you full control or I’m breaking Solus’s edicts on permanently sealing local deities. I just hope you show the same restraint and levelheadedness you showed in starting your second life… Which now that I’m writing this I’m realizing was not much… But hey, you survived.

]

I draw a deep breath in and let the bed sheets once again cover my body. With my eyes fully closed, I go over my options. Should I really call that thing so soon? Would it even give an answer as to what it did to my arm, and if it did, would it help me in any way?

…

‘The answer is probably no, isn’t it?’ I look over my bionic arm, marveling at the intricate details and the way it smoothly moves as I twirl my fingers around. There’s absolutely no mechanical whine apparent even as I move it close to my head. I run my fingers over the smooth surface, feeling the warm artificial skin against my own. ‘I have to admit, this is pretty amazing. Even looking at it now, I cannot tell the difference… She even drew blood from it…’ Moving the arm, I touch my face, feeling the softness of my skin beneath its fingertips. Goosebumps rise on the arm as I feel the pressure against my cheek. “It feels… Weird… But… Normal?… I guess knowing that it’s not real is what makes it strange?”

As I’m busy analyzing my new limb, I hear knocking on the door. “Excuse me, Miss, but Academy Director Light Haswell is here to see you.”

With another deep breath, I utter, “Let him in.” ‘Let’s hear what he has to say about this situation.’