Chapter 14: Restoration

"How does it look? Tell me honestly.", eagerly asked the young woman. Her eyes were practically shining stars.

"Well for starters, don't you think about the visual appeal is?", she probed a little.

"I know, I know. All those people think about is the outer appearance. This has to be this, this has to be slim or thick."

"Like you cannot attach more than two limbs in a human torso or you cannot scrape the head part and change it to a terrestrial beast head."

"I'm tired of all those crap, so why not incorporate something else?", she became jolly at that point, characterized by her wide smile.

The chubby fingers moved and pressed a couple of moves. The screens divided and all of those models underwent numerous, different simulations simultaneously. Docking dodges, leap attacks, sudden outbursts of cannon fire, and swift handling of daggers. Nana even saw it fight against another bulkier model in low-atmospheric conditions.

"All of these are video records made by the industrial computer in the workshop. So, what are your impressions, sis?", she was still excited as she took another mouthful scoop of a dark brown chocolate flavored cake.

Carefully, the older woman assessed the tapes based on her own opinion. Even if she has no single understanding of suits, Nana would still give her truthful assessment. This is always the case whenever Nila has built her own machine designs.

"Fix the asymmetrical limbs.", she pointed out to its uneven size. "The blaster cannon on its right arm is too big that I bet it consumes more power even if it is a simple movement."

"Also, why the heck would you use a different part for the lower body? You do know that this model, the Python Hunter suit is created with a humanoid shape. So, it is plain obvious that humans would use it." It may all sound harsh but there wasn't a morsel of grudge on her face as she listened then laughed.

This was not the first time Nila would come up with something like this and ask her about it. Years ago, when she came home earlier, a simple skeletal-motion system with speakers was implanted on her toy doll. This in turn scared the wits out of her elder sister when she got home from work. All because she thought that Nila became a walking inanimate doll permanently.

That wasn't the worse of all because there was this one time, she pranked her too much that Nana had to be transported to the nearest hospital, straight to the emergency room for medical reasons.

Men would find her cute, likable, and charming. The right one is worth investing their time and effort. Nana could only feel sorry for those men and the coming ones in the future that will be courting her. Underneath that facąde of a cheerful, goody-two-shoes goof is a mischievous monster that will certainly make you afraid of her.

"Haaa", a small sigh came out of the thin lips as she remembered those times.

"Is this another kind of elaborate game of yours? There is no way that this is what you have learned?", she sternly asked, worried that all these years of hardship would be wasted.

The surface of the hologram rippled once again and another advertisement poster appeared. The one that is typically seen everywhere.

A bright poster from a company called ISSO Suites. It featured flashy colored armors, famous gigantic mechs, and their signature technological products. A usual method imposed to catch the interest of people. The thing that sets it apart from the others is the catchy golden colors of a seven-digit number.

"Win up to 1,000,000 Nins? You mean.."

"Yup, I managed to enter this competition!", she was interrupted by her loud delighted declaration of accomplishment. It was flipped and the contents of the other side were the real surprise.

There were a lot of categories a person could choose from. A virtual cursor appeared, specifically pointing to a variety she never heard before.

"WOMBO-MAC COMBO-HINE?", her voice was laced with confusion.

A page consisting of the contest rules materialized beside it to clear any misconceptions or any inquiries. The side screen listed a long list of subcategories under the main theme.

The obscured vision was finally wiped out by the arrival of light. Knowing her personality, it wasn't a surprise for her that she would be entering this machinery tournament considering the cash prize.

"But where does this crazy idea of yours this time come from? An animal in a documentation series, an idea of another friend of yours or your Jirhen?", she said, asking her directly while watching the girl giggle to herself.

A mysterious, natural smile formed on her chubby cheeks after her soft laughter. Nila extended her hand and took out a red-green striped notebook from her black handbag on her lap. Stickers of cute animals and iconic characters adorned the whole cover. From this alone, she was branded as an angelic, decent woman. However, once they got to know her, people will be totally mistaken and gallop away from her.

The size was also smaller than Nana's Jirhen and the coarse yet glossy pages are turned. It wasn't until half a minute later that she finally stopped and showed her frames of an unknown machine.

"This is everyday bolts, Nila. Stop screwing with me.", a cold voice knitted with solemn seriousness. She couldn't believe an ounce of it.

"Don't tell me, this thing couldn't be possibly the sole reason why you did build such botched machine this time.", traces of anger flashed in her eyes. She has been working hard for the past three years for the younger one to snatch that wonderful vision she yearned.

To her inquiry, the girl nodded her head intensely. Indicating that what she assumed is correct.

This is a simple screw that is mostly used in construction work and can be bought even from a general merchandise store. Hence, the incredulity of Nana.

"Tsk, tsk, sis, sometimes you really are stubborn unless you have witnessed it with your own two eyes. Come, let me show you something else.", Nila isn't that dense to not sense the suffering her sister experienced all these years. The notebook was closed, cautiously placed on her bag, and the two siblings hastily left the café.

The best way to make an individual believe something mystical is to have them sense these events that would topple their world perception.

While these two are going somewhere, some light-years away, a man suddenly stopped what he was doing.

Acchhooooooo!

Another sneeze and Lon is having a headache. He dropped the thread he was holding on his left hand and picked up a piece of tissue to wipe away his snot that escaped his nostrils.

Achooo!

"Why I am suddenly sneezing?", he wondered out loud as he stared outside the window. It was a cloudless day with a fresh breeze of air that entered his room. The weather was fine, totally fine. The thing he couldn't understand is why he is sneezing every hour for no apparent reason.

Achoooo!

"What the fucking hell!", he cursed out loud as he took another tissue to wipe a small booger that came tumbling out.

Achhoooo!

For some odd reason, he was having a runny nose since yesterday. This impeded his work on fixing the amputated corpse puppet and doing an in-depth examination of the other one.

Today is the second day his zombie would be gone. Nothing interesting happened except for his uncooperative snout.

"Ahhh, not again.", Lon neatly folded pieces of tissue paper before brazenly exhaling to it. In his busy inner isolated world, his actions abruptly stopped.

He picked up the tissue box and stood up. The black eyes fell upon a naked body in the corner of the room. All of its limbs, the legs, the arms, and even the neck are chained to a chair that he also drilled into the floor.

A slim body with the right curves that will fascinate and interest a modeling company, ample breasts that are not too big and not too small but with the exact measurement that even asexual people would compliment, and the contrasting face. She may be blessed with a bombastic body but her facial features weren't that adored.

The rough, squirming scar that ran across her right side of the forehead until the left portion of her thick yet alluring lips. This certainly ruined her gorgeousness but fortunately one of her eyes isn't that hurt.

This long blonde haired female still retained her body's freshness. An effect of the corpse puppet ritual that preserved every aspect of hers at the time of creation. This was the second body he processed.

Lon even placed a security measure in the form of chains that wrapped tightly around its body and also connected to the ground and walls. Not even he is sure what kind of supernatural existence could possibly possess the empty shell. Or if there is even a courageous soul wandering in that place that would try to occupy the corpse.

The real headache for him if it is still usable and controllable. He didn't even dare to try to explore that question. He still lacks the strength to do that without any enormous harm inflicted on his soul and mind.

It was stated on his Jirhen, that if the coffin case is destroyed, as long as the puppet is intact and did not sustain massive devastation, it could be placed into another case with the same way of construction. However, there is a slim chance that it wouldn't work for some reason. That was vaguely mentioned in the journals written by someone inside his Jirhen.

If it did not work even if he tried it out, then the only thing left to do is either to use it for other experiments or for him is to completely discard it. There is no need to have an attachment to things that do not bring any form of help to him.

There is also the CE-14. He used his left eye to see if there is a spirit inside the female corpse. Indeed, there was nothing inside the human puppet at all. It caused him to immediately faint after sustaining it for thirty straight seconds to ensure that there was really nothing.

But who knows? CE-14 is the easiest procedure and also one of the weakest instantaneous installations he scraped, altered, and created from a couple of complete and complex rituals. There was no absolute thing in the universe and there wasn't a guarantee that it would enable him to see every soul out there.

Lon turned his back and went out of the room. When he was out of sight, a change occurred. The emerald green big eyes blinked. It was so swift that any lack of attentiveness would make you fail to notice it.

It rapidly blinked while its eyeballs creepily rotated and turned around in different directions. As if it is scouting the whole dimensions of this place. Then a jiggling noise came out. Carrying a bag of ice packs, Lon entered the room.

When he arrived and looked around, nothing changed. The only addition to the room is the warm current of air that he felt, coming from the open window.

The rolling eyes returned to its original state. Even a person wouldn't find anything out of place even with a close inspection. The same goes for Lon as he applied a remedy to the bruises he gained from the blunt attacks and shockwaves of that cimexan.

Achhooooo!

...