Damien downed an energy drink in three sips, brought out his soldering iron and put together a chair strong enough to hold Linea's weight.

  It was rather rough, but she did always like how fast and decisive he could be with handiwork like this.

  Slowly, like a baby taking its first steps, Linea made her way to it and placed her weight down on the chair. Damien stared until he was fully certain it wouldn't snap.

  "Phew..." He placed his elbows on the table. Linea almost mimicked the gesture, but recoiled after realizing she might end up flipping it over.

  "So... Could you tell me what happened?"

  Damien's relief disappeared, and his bloodshot eyes became cloudy with a storm of emotions. He asked his brain to produce a practical summary, but there was a forest of brambles between his mind and those memories. After all, there's no way he could have done what he did while facing the sorrow of nearly losing Linea.

  Slowly, he explained the accident, the doctors' diagnosis, how she hadn't woken since then, and eventually got to the day before.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  "That body is a silicon-resin composite layered over a tungstensteel frame, using mechanics from many of my past projects. The system that allows your neural system to control it is brand new, using some research from Tim's company..."

  Tim was one of Damien's old friends in the field, who had more of a specialty in biomechanics. He'd broken a few confidentiality agreements by sending Damien schematics used for military-grade combat implants --- but making a nearly complete replacement body was beyond what his lab could have done on their own.

  "So... There was a fire in the department store, and you... rebuilt me? Like one of your robots?"

  Damien nodded slowly. He feared that Linea might not be happy with her new condition, but decided that selfishly pursuing this project was more than worth making her distressed if it meant seeing her again.

  "Haha..." Her laughter was fake and faint. Linea's fists touched the table, and it immediately balanced towards her. She squeezed them, the vibration making an ultrasonic whirr.

  "Yeah, that sounds like something you would do, honey."