Epics of Noche 1, Anchor

EON CH 98

NEED SOME AIR.

1774, NOVEMBER 27th SUNDAY 5:00 pm.

Shaylin came back with a full glass of wine.

"I was thirteen years old when I came to the Create continent... Two years before Medusa's presidency," her cybernetic arm rubbed her human bicep. "Back then, the United Government forced every Create user to be tagged and numbered like cattle."

Noche took a closer look at Shaylin's tattoo. The giant green gear had a tree-shaped like an hour-glass within; thick roots, tree branches, and leaves spread far out on the top and bottom. A hidden barcode acted as bark texture on the tree.

"Medusa abolished the Cross identification code when she became president," Shaylin sipped some wine. "No one's had to get it for fifteen years... But its still crazy everyone had to get one during Ezekiel's reign."

Noche frowned. "Sounds awful."

"Oh you know, people being forcefully taken from their homes, separated from loved ones, getting tattooed, imprisoned on an island, and given little to no help to survive," Shaylin downed the rest of her wine in one go. "Great childhood."

She placed the glass on the table and picked up another one.

"Should you really be drinking so much?"

"Hahahahaha – no." She paused. "When dad and I were relocated here... We were attacked by bandits."

Shaylin's eyes fell upon her cybernetic arm.

"They created a landslide... I was a child with no Augment at the time," she shrugged and wine spilled onto her hand. "WELP! That's life. Lost my left arm, my left eye, and became paraplegic."

Noche blinked. "I'm sorry, what?"

Shaylin tapped her left eye three times. "Fake – well cybernetic. I can see in multiple spectrums, including thermal and night vision... I can even take recordings."

"Dawg... If you're paraplegic, are your legs cybernetic too?"

"Oh no, no, no. I'm stall paraplegic. You know how you can't use Create inside another Create user? Well you can use it inside yourself!" She grinned. "I learned how to Create precise electrical signals to bridge the gaps in my cut nerves."

Mary shoved Noche out of the way. "BRUH! No fucking way!"

"Language please," Shaylin smiled. "And yes fudging way."

"The medical knowledge, precision, and skill needed to pull that off on a daily basis is practically impossible!" Mary shouted. "It'd take a genius to handle such efforts."

"Well, I've never taken an IQ test... But I can Create robots-"

"You can create robots?!" Mary shouted.

A few people turned towards Shaylin – hushed whispers filled the adjacent area. Shaylin rubbed the back of her head and let out a whisper of a laugh.

"I-It's not like I'm doing something impossible, like creating anti-matter... A-Anyways. That's why I have a medical chart tattoo of a spine on my back. It's a useful reference," Shaylin smiled. "But its all for naught if I run out of Drive... Or if I get in contact with DriveMetal. Luckily, I'm developing some countermeasures."

"Bruuuh. What kind of person are you?"

"A horny ginger," she laughed. "Seriously, you don't know how good it is to stretch your legs, until you can't."