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All life radiates energy.
It is in the same context that we say that stars are alive. Stars emit energy like living organisms, and when that energy runs out, they die.
Life is dynamic and changing, and death means a state of no change.
… … Death is stillness.
‘Death, what lies beyond it?’
This is a question that countless intelligent beings have asked the universe.
Someone said that there is nothing beyond it. It is a materialistic statement. When viewed coldly, consciousness is nothing more than a fragile and flimsy illusion. Even our consciousness is not even the brain itself, but a ‘temporary reaction phenomenon’. The evidence is so overwhelming that it is hard to deny.
Consciousness is simply a general term for the phenomenon that occurs only while energy flows through the body. It is no different from the light that disappears when the light switch is turned off.
So we are closer to ‘light’ rather than ‘light’ itself, and our value depends on the form of light.
Brighter, more colorful, longer lasting.
Like stars shining, we show off and boast our colors. And someday, they will all quietly go out.
‘Luka, Lucius Custoria.’
I remembered my name. It seems I am not dead yet.
If I were dead, the thinking would have stopped completely. Not even a faint light would remain.
My consciousness is hazy and my memories are cloudy because my brain function is not perfect. My experiences and memories are not arranged chronologically or in order of popularity.
The order of memories is random, like someone who closed their eyes and opened a book at random. Let’s divide them by time, inferring cause and effect from scene to scene. I should set aside scenes with clear emotions. Those must have been important events to me.
I organized my memories like a librarian. It was a tedious task.
I had just woken up, and my level of consciousness was very low. My thoughts were stiff like a rusty machine, and there was no connection between my body and my brain.
… … Let’s think about something terrible for a moment.
Am I a brain in a vat right now? Maybe my brain is just floating around, thinking.
Anyway, the situation is not good. I can’t feel external stimuli at the moment. Just as if you lose your humanity if you don’t use your human functions, the brain can only maintain its functions if it receives appropriate stimuli.
If I continue like this, I will become a fool.
“Wake up… … .”
Oh, thank goodness. I can hear the sound.
My hearing was the first to react. My brain, hungry for stimulation, was quick to pick out and savor the sounds.
It was the voice of a man who had passed his puberty. There was no signs of decline or aging, and it was not artificial, as if there had been no intervention from a mechanical device. Judging from the first impression, it seemed that he had passed his puberty, so he must have been a young man. The vocal organs were probably biological. There was no damage to the trachea caused by addiction to cigarettes, alcohol, or drugs.
I never knew that such a trivial stimulus could be so sweet. That voice was truly delightful. Even if it were a man, I would want to hug him tightly.
“… … It happened. The level of awakening is rising rapidly.”
“Idiot, if you know that I’m quick to awaken, don’t just talk, move right away.”
“Okay, senior. Then should I administer a tranquilizer?”
“Hey, how long are you going to keep asking me every single question? Do you work for a day or two?”
It seems like a conversation between a bad senior and a lacking junior. The accent wasn’t Akbaran’s.
I listened to the conversation calmly. Rapid arousal can overload the brain and cause damage. It’s the same principle as when you do high-level movements without warming up, your body is easily injured.
But for me, ‘rapid awakening’ is not a high-level mental activity. It’s an extremely everyday thing.
I focused and consciously awakened my senses. Since my hearing was activated, my other senses responded instantly.
Buzz.
My eyelids fluttered. Come to think of it, it seems like my eyes and optic nerves were completely damaged… … .
“Oh, the patient is awake!”
“Miss, I told you not to wake up yet! Give me a tranquilizer! Quickly!”
My vision was perfectly normal. It seemed like someone had performed an optic nerve reconstruction surgery.
Two men in white coats appeared. The one with the most ugly appearance, as bad as his speech, had tattoos all the way up to his cheeks, making his white coat look embarrassing. Judging from the tattered clothes, he seemed to be a medical professional, but he looked like a gangster from the lower class.
And the junior employee who was struggling with the tattooed man was hurriedly taking out a syringe. The junior employee’s face was bruised as if he had been hit often.
“Uh, uh, sir. According to procedure, you have to, wake up, so you have to sleep now… … .”
What kind of nonsense are you talking about?
I looked around. I was lying on the bed, and there was something hanging from my body. It was a complex device that read my vital signs. Graphs and numbers showing my condition were coming out of the monitor. Just looking at the scenery, it looked like a hospital in the lower area.
Bam!
The tattooist hit the back of the junior employee’s head hard.
“What good can I say to a gentleman who doesn’t even have a proper conscience? He won’t be able to move anyway. Give it to me.”
The tattooist snatched the syringe away and approached me.
I opened my mouth a few times. My speech function was recovering a little late, so the words didn’t come out right away.
“… … Put that syringe down before I break your wrist.”
I managed to say it while lying down. The tattooed man hesitated, his eyes wide open.
Creak.
My limbs move slightly. I have prosthetic arms and legs.
I closed my eyes slightly and adjusted my bio-signals. Judging from the response and output, it was a cheap prosthetic hand and leg that was difficult to use even for everyday use. It seemed to have been put on for show. It was dull, without even artificial skin or sensory sensors. It was literally just a moving lump of metal.
Now that I’ve checked my body, let’s decide on a course of action.
My name is Luca, and I don’t know exactly what’s going on. My last memory is of the storm at Akbaran. I don’t know what happened after that. But judging from the peeling paint on the walls, the faded medical equipment, and the way the supposed medical staff spoke, it didn’t seem like I was being treated in a ‘good place’.
Worst case scenario, I might have been woken up by someone who has ill will and hostility towards me.
And I always assume the worst. I’ve known since I was a toddler that life isn’t that easy.
“I understand that you’re surprised when you suddenly wake up. But, if you just stay still, everything will be fine.”
The tattooist said, shoving the syringe into the back of my neck.
I warned you kindly.
Woohoo!
I’m going to break your wrists.
I extended my right fist and struck the tattooed man in the elbow. His elbow was alive, so the bone snapped and broke through his skin and clothing.
Actually, I didn’t intend to break my elbow. Since the prosthesis was unfamiliar, the output and movement were random. There was a big gap between my thoughts and actions. Now, I don’t have time to adjust myself, so I have to do it roughly.
“My arm, my arm!
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Sorry to say this, but the bastard’s screams were a great stimulus. It was like eating food with a lot of seasoning. It made my brain tingle.
My brain, recognizing the battle, instantly activated.
“Huh, huh, huh? Senior! A bone, a bone! A bone is sticking out!”
The stupid junior screamed.
“Ugh, ugh. Guard, guard! Guard!”
The tattooist tried to press a button on the wall.
I started to move, raising my upper body. My whole body was creaking.
Whirl!
I grabbed the tattooist by the collar and pulled him back. Oh, and not only did I grab his clothes, I grabbed his flesh too.
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”
My side got pinched by that bony finger, it must hurt.
I grabbed the tattooist and wrapped my arms around his neck.
“Where is this?”
I asked calmly.
“One, one, one, one, let go, give, se, go, guest, bang! bang!”
“Just answer the questions.”
The tattooed man was unaccustomed to combat and had no pain tolerance.
Crap!
I bit the tattooist’s ear and ripped it with all my might.
“Kkiyaaaa …
The tattooed man let out a terrified scream. I spat my pierced earring on the floor.
“Next, I’ll gouge out your eye sockets. You, you little brat, stay still. If you move even a finger, you’ll see your senior’s neck rotate 360 degrees.”
Threats can’t be vague. You have to really intend to do it.
“Stay still! Stay still! Listen to the customer! Crack, crack, squeak.”
The tattooed man cried out desperately after experiencing my violence, because the thought that he might really die had really entered his head.
“Answer me. Where is this place?”
“Yes, it’s Lazarus.”
It’s the first time I’ve heard that word.
“Tell me your geographical location and the name of the person who paid for my treatment.”
“Look, Border City… … . I, I’m just a low-level employee, so I, I don’t know the details, please, spare me.”
There was a reason the tattooist’s accent sounded strange. This wasn’t even the outskirts of the empire.
‘Border City of the Bellato Federation.’
I’ve heard it several times. It’s the city Lillian Ramones wanted to go to.
Click!
I frowned.
The junior employee who had been watching ran to the wall and pressed the security call button. The one who was more surprised than anyone else was the tattooed man.
“Hey, you fu*king punk! Why are you movinghhhhhh!”
I threatened to kill the tattooist if the junior employee moved. But the junior employee moved boldly. I didn’t know he had this much courage.
“Oh, Sun, aren’t you going to kill the senior? I just moved? If you do that, it’ll be awkward.”
The junior employee spoke as if he was embarrassed.
“what?”
The tattooist was dumbfounded, and I was dumbfounded just now.
CLANG!
The junior employee opened the door and ran away.
“… … If you keep teasing that guy, you’ll probably die soon. Those kind of guys are the scariest.”
I kicked the tattooist away with my foot. The tattooist groaned and crawled away to a corner.
Creak, creak.
I stood in front of the wall monitor, walking on a prosthetic leg that was no better than an old piece of paper.
When I actually moved around, my body wasn’t as stiff as I thought. It seems like they had been doing movement rehabilitation while I was unconscious. So my muscles were still intact and my prosthetic legs and arms were still attached.
Whoosh.
I swiped my palm across the screen to check my medical records.
‘Case Tres.’
It was registered under a pseudonym.
‘Kesa is my name when I dress up as a woman.’
Few people know the name Keisa.
‘… … Tres.’
A word meaning the number 3 in many languages.
I moved on to the next record. The guards will be coming this way. We need to get all the information quickly and move.
“This is driving me crazy.”
I frowned.
He had been here for nine years. Five of those years were spent in cryogenic sleep. The actual treatment period was four years. Even when I checked the date, it seemed that he had been admitted three years after the storm had ended.
’12 years have passed.’
It was longer than I expected.
Knock, knock.
Footsteps are heard in the hallway. The metallic clang sounds suggestive of armed guards.
‘What should I do with this?’
The limbs I am using now are not for combat. Furthermore, they are not in a state of coordination or adaptation. My two eyes… … I flinched.
They were not artificial eyes, but both of them were living eyes. Somehow, I felt that they were too comfortable.
I leaned back against the door and glanced down the hallway. Two armed guards were visible around the corner.
Crackle, crackle.
The two guards were carrying live batons, and their pistols were neatly tucked away on their waists.
I twitched the corners of my lips.
‘Well, if it’s close combat, it’ll be okay somehow.’
Bullets are hard to dodge in this state, but close combat can be done skillfully.
Our ancestors on Earth, long ago, killed people by hitting their heads with rocks. I have iron blocks on both arms. If a person gets hit by a block of iron, he dies.
I flinched as my senses sharpened. There was more movement.
-Keisa Tres, are you awake already?
A mechanical sound was heard from the corner of the hallway. Someone was coming this way. If my brain was in good shape, I would have recognized the shape with my auditory vision.
Soon, a large alien appeared. I had seen that alien before.
‘Equusian.’
Parts of my unstable memory came back to me quickly. I started to retrieve the information I needed.
I’ve dealt with the Equusians before. They are a larger race than humans, and are skilled in combat to the point where they can be called a mercenary race.
The combat helmet that completely covered his face and his blue skin with orange stripes were still there.
-Your employer paid for your medical treatment. I understand that you are wary of unfamiliar environments, but if you were going to harm me, you wouldn’t have to spend so much money. You would have already cut off my limbs.
A robotic voice flowed from the translator hanging from Equusian’s neck.
“What is your employer’s name?”
-You can’t say it here. Think wisely. Your employer cares about you.
I thought for a moment. It felt like my brain cells were waking up one by one. The resolution of my perception was expanding, and the world was becoming clearer.
‘Case Tres.’
It must be a password that only I can understand.
There are only a handful of people who know the name Keisa. Of those, only one would take it to mean tres, or the number three.
“ha ha ha.”
I covered my mouth and laughed between my fingers.
‘Giselle Custoria.’
The number of times she and I have been in a relationship is 3. That’s a very romantic code, just like me.
