>>6289217Compared to that, the Force Buckler is almost elegant in its simplicity. You mount the projector on your brachial superstructure, testing the function - engaged, the targe projects a disc of shield energy above the back of your left hand and forearm, shimmering like a slice of sky.
The Pile Bunker is the last, and heaviest. Even with integrated suspensors, it’s <span class="mu-i">heavy</span>; an oversized, solid cylinder with a spike on one end, mounted on an industrial-scale glove that dwarves your own.
You make to lock it in place-
There’s a sour <span class="mu-i">chirp</span> of incompatibility, as systems fail to make the connection.
For the Shackle is already in the way.
Trivalent’s nightmare contraption - hair-fine and flexible needles piercing into the substrata of your frame, infiltrating the nerve-analogues below - leaves no room for anything else. It lets your dead arm move, provides the simulacra of animation, allows for a certain range of motion…But it’s a bulky, jury-rigged device, one that precludes further installation.
“Is something-” Tyrian Edge begins, before he catches himself.
Because he knows.
Because even <span class="mu-i">he</span> can tell - at a glance - that it <span class="mu-i">isn’t</span> all right.
That you may be back, but things might never be quite the same as before.
Kazuya clears his throat, with a faint <span class="mu-i">scrape</span> of intricate mechanisms. His hand, the one stripped bare of orichalcum, twitches once, half-concealed beneath his Mirage Shroud.
“We’ll find a way to fix this,” he says, a little awkwardly. Like he’s unsure what to do, as the doleful chime of a failed connection sounds again. “-We will, won’t we?”
“About that,” Trivalent says, hurrying to fill the lapse. “As it happens, Sterling Industries has made substantial progress when it comes to elective prostheses. Marvelous things, really; While they're still at a trial stage, the early tests have been quite promising, especially when it comes to Players."
His fingers - long, with too many joints - fidget, segments sliding and folding upon themselves.
"We're not quite sure why, but the prevailing theory is that some, <span class="mu-i">ah</span>, lingering connection between one's infraspace chassis and realspace form allows for faster adaptation to a hypothetical replacement. In a way, they're directly analogous, after all-"
>ENERGY: 55%[ ] "Does it involve amputation?"
[ ] "What are the side-effects?"
[ ] "How long does it take to adjust?"
[ ] "Thanks, but I'll manage."
[ ] (To Axiom) "Is he like this all the time?"
YOU HAVE CONTROL
