Crownless: The Fallen World

Chapter 8: Holowrist

Sebastian put the microchip within an alloy to keep it secure and caged. The small compartment supplied the microchip with the necessary nutrients to keep it alive for about five days. They need to resupply the nutrients, or they would risk exposing their location.

He prepared many things today while Hale was resting, constantly being uncomfortable because of the elevated arm. 

There was a faint trace of the disappearing sun from the horizon before darkness engulfed the sky. It has been a while since Sebastian saw the stars in their entirety at night. Its beauty was stunning, yet equally terrifying. He had even dreamed of living with those stars, accompanying him on his journey through belted space. It was only a dream of a child who longed for a company that he couldn't find through a human. Even if he tried, he wouldn't be able to last long. 

It was funny. 

He wanted something that he knew that he wouldn't be able to get. If not in this life, then when? 

Sebastian heard a groan from the bedroom. He looked at the stars again before sliding the glass door open from the balcony. Hale was trying to open her eyes, blinking the lethargy away. Sebastian supported her nape and made her drink her medicine. Then, he reheated the food at the exact temperature before spoon-feeding Hale. 

For some reason, Hale was looking at him with dissatisfaction. Sebastian was confused and asked, unsure, "Did you not like it? Do you want me to cook another one?" 

"No. It is enough." She said, wriggling on the bed with joy. 

"...?" 

Even though he was confused, he only focused on feeding Hale until the bowl was clean. After a meal, he made her drink another medicine. Despite how tiring it was, Sebastian didn't miss a single aftercare. It wasn't exhausting since he used to have little to no sleep for years. Because of that, his body developed a skill. He could fall asleep in a few seconds for optimal sleep by circulating his energy throughout his body, and at the same time, shallow enough to be aware of his entire surroundings. It was hard when he started, but he supplemented his body with the exact nutrients and training. 

When Hale's breathing evened out, Sebastian made an isolated energy sphere in the bathroom and opened his portal through his residence. 

He left out a device to monitor Hale's health so he could tend to her needs whenever. Then, he entered the tunnel leading to one of his workshops. The room had many types of machinery. There were sturdy cabinets where the machine parts he bought from the black market, the materials and ingredients he needed, and the parts he disassembled from various abandoned factories and junkyards. The frames and metals he got that were humongous were cut into parts and were in the process of extraction in another workshop. His failed experiments were disassembled and converted to another set of raw materials. 

As a slave in the underground facility, he acquired most of these skills and knowledge. Although it was a horrible core memory, he benefited from it. Throughout all the years that he went through to survive alone, he began to learn how to regulate his traumas and face them. 

After all, if he didn't become strong, how could he stop the man from achieving his goal? Whatever it may be, causing millions of deaths to produce one excellent result... wasn't the correct method to execute it. 

The amount of tasks he needed to do and accomplish was too much that it felt too overwhelming sometimes. He still had a lot to learn. This experience with Hale was a new ground for him to tread on. Before he left, he would learn as much as possible and try his best to do what he must do. He just had to do what he was doing before and move forward. After settling his accounts, the rest would come to him. 

After he organized his thoughts for the day, he also finished disassembling the Holowrist while analyzing the components that made up this device. 

It wasn't that complicated since the functions in here were what he already had in the ones he made himself. The only difference was that the Holowrist had a small compartment with a dose of a concentrated preservative agent. Just as he already knew before he escaped the facility, they didn't change a thing in this device. It looked like that person didn't find someone who could do the same work as he did. Aside from his energy extracted for years, that was the only thing he worked on. 

Thankfully, he managed to finish the safe version of the Holowrist. Some functions could turn on and off to imitate the previous version of the Holowrist. 

Once in the bathroom suite, he took down the portal and went out. It was 4:35 A.M now. He could only get a shut-eye before Hale woke up later. 

Happy reading!