Free Web NovelPavela huddled in the corner, hugging her knees.
Her back was pressed tightly against the wall, as if she wanted to embed herself into it.
Her silver hair hung messily on both sides of her cheeks, covering most of her face.
Only her eyes were visible.
They were red.
Not the crimson red of the Path of the Tower. freeweɓnovel.cøm
More like the redness after crying.
She stared at the door on the other side of the room.
The door leading to the treatment room.
It was pure white, its surface as smooth as a mirror, and currently tightly closed.
But Pavela knew what was behind that door.
Those robotic arms.
Countless, silver, flexible robotic arms.
They should be quietly retracted into the walls right now, like a cluster of sleeping snakes.
But at a single command from Dr. Lovelace—
They would wake up.
Pavela shuddered.
She buried her face in ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ her knees.
She didn't want to look at that door anymore today.
Today was already her second day at this facility.
The second day.
It felt like a century had passed.
Yesterday's Mental Space test was actually okay.
Dr. Lovelace said it would hurt, and Pavela had wondered then, how much could it hurt?
She had connected to mechs before.
The pain of metal probes piercing straight into the spine and nerves being forcibly torn apart—she had experienced it countless times.
So the test in the Mental Space—
It did hurt.
But it was within her tolerance.
One might even say it was easier than she had expected.
Dr. Lovelace had tested her Return Power in the Mental Space.
Making her switch repeatedly between the Path of the Tower and the Path of the Magician.
Testing the speed, precision, and stability of the switching.
Testing her reaction time, thought patterns, and power output under different states of The Way Back.
The entire process lasted about three hours.
Pavela remained conscious throughout, completing every action according to the instructions.
After the test, she felt a bit tired, but she wasn't injured.
Dr. Lovelace seemed very satisfied.
She said Pavela's performance exceeded her expectations.
She said Pavela's Soul Adaptability was indeed the best she had ever seen.
She said this mech would definitely be able to exert unprecedented performance.
Pavela was quite happy at the time.
Then they left the Mental Space.
Returned to the real world.
Dr. Lovelace said the mental-level examination was complete.
Next was the physical-level examination.
Pavela nodded.
She thought it was just a normal physical exam.
Measuring height, weight, checking vision, hearing, reaction speed, and the like.
She had undergone similar exams with the military doctors.
Although tedious, it wasn't a big deal.
Then she was taken to Dr. Lovelace's laboratory.
It was a massive room filled with various precision instruments.
The walls were pure white, with pale blue arc lights everywhere.
The air was filled with the smell of disinfectant and machine oil.
Dr. Lovelace had her stand on a platform in the center of the room.
Then the examination began.
The first round was basic data.
Height, weight, wingspan, leg length.
These were all normal.
The second round was a nerve conduction velocity test.
Dr. Lovelace attached many small electrode pads to her body and then used instruments to measure her neural responses.
It was a bit itchy, but bearable.
The third round was a bone density scan.
A huge machine descended from overhead, making a humming sound as it moved slowly around her body.
Pavela stood there motionless, waiting for the scan to finish.
Next—
Dr. Lovelace's expression changed.
She stared at the data displayed on the instrument, her brow furrowing tighter and tighter.
Pavela noticed this change.
"Doctor?"
"...Continue to the next round."
Dr. Lovelace's voice was a bit heavy.
The fourth round was muscle tissue analysis.
The fifth round was internal organ function testing.
The sixth round was a spinal structure scan.
With each round completed, Dr. Lovelace's face grew gloomier.
By the end of the sixth round, her expression no longer looked like the curiosity and excitement from before.
She looked—
Angry.
Very angry.
But not angry at Pavela.
Rather, angry at something she saw.
Dr. Lovelace walked up to Pavela.
Her emerald-green eyes looked directly at her.
"Turn around."
Pavela did as she was told.
She felt Dr. Lovelace's fingers lightly pressing against her back.
Starting from the cervical spine, feeling down section by section.
Each time she touched a spot, she paused for a few seconds.
Pavela could feel those fingers trembling slightly.
"...This is the third section."
Dr. Lovelace's voice was very soft.
"Malunion, with a displacement angle of about seven degrees."
"Fifth section."
"Compression fracture, height reduced by at least three millimeters after healing."
"Seventh section."
"Cracks, three of them, running through the entire vertebral body."
"Ninth section."
"..."
Dr. Lovelace stopped.
Her fingers pressed against Pavela's waist, motionless.
"There are also marks of probe insertions on your spine."
"Not just once."
"At least... more than ten times."
"And without any protective measures."
"Pierced directly in."
Pavela didn't speak.
Of course, she knew what Dr. Lovelace was talking about.
Those were left from her time in the Punishment Camp.
Every time she connected to thug-iv, the probes would pierce directly into her spine.
No anesthesia.
No buffer.
No protection whatsoever.
Pavela had originally thought that mechs in the Punishment Camp were just designed that way.
If you survive, you survive.
If you don't, they move on to the next person.
But later she learned that even in the Punishment Camp, pilots would undergo Spinal Modification Surgery.
Her situation was likely even more exceptional than she had originally thought.
...
Dr. Lovelace's hand had already moved away from her back.
Pavela heard a deep sigh from behind her.
"Turn back around."
Pavela turned around.
Dr. Lovelace looked at her.
There was a very complex emotion in those emerald-green eyes.
Anger, heartache, and something else she couldn't quite name.
"Your physical condition,"
Dr. Lovelace said,
"can no longer be described as just 'not good'."
"It's simply abysmal."
She paused.
"The original Aptitude of this body was near perfect. Bone density, muscle fibers, nerve conduction velocity—all indicators far exceed those of an ordinary person."
"If properly nurtured, you should have been able to become a top-tier mech pilot."
"But now."
"Almost your entire body is covered in old and hidden injuries caused by repeated trauma and improper healing."
"Especially the spine."
Dr. Lovelace's tone became even more severe.
"There are at least twenty obvious marks of damage on your spine. Fractures, dislocations, cracks, scar tissue left by probe insertions—if these injuries were on an ordinary person, they would have been paralyzed long ago."
"And just within the last month, you must have also performed a Violent Connection to a mech once."
"Right?"
Pavela nodded.
That time in the void realm.
She was piloting the manifested thug-iv, fighting in a vision.
Although it was the void realm, the sensation during connection was real.
The pain of the probes piercing her spine was also real.
"The fact that you can still move normally now,"
Dr. Lovelace continued,
"is entirely a miracle."
"According to normal medical logic, you should already be lying in bed, unable to move."
"But not only can you move, you can run and jump, and even fight with people."
"This can only mean one thing—"
"Your body is using some method to forcibly maintain its operation."
"It might be the influence of Return Power, it might be your own willpower, or perhaps both."
"But this is not a long-term solution."
"If these old wounds aren't treated, your body will eventually collapse completely."
"When that time comes, even I won't be able to save you."
Pavela was silent for a few seconds.
"So you..."
"So I am going to help you with treatment."
Dr. Lovelace said.
"To heal all the old and hidden injuries completely."
"To restore your body to the state it should have been in."
"Only then can you pilot the mech I've designed for you."
"Otherwise—"
She paused,
"Otherwise, you won't even have the qualification to sit in the cockpit."
