The Chronicles of a Scalebound Sage: Wandmaker Vol.2

WM [106] Life Force of the Lower Plane

The familiar black obelisk loomed before them, its surface humming with aetheric power, pulsing like a heartbeat. The Administration Site stretched across the landscape, a vast and sprawling complex where at least one hundred thousand humans lived, worked, and died within its suffocating protection. All of them were slaves to the whims of the so-called divine and her cruel machinations.

Inside the barrier, the world seemed deceptively peaceful. The sky was whole, a vibrant blue instead of the fractured ruin beyond. The air was clean, untouched by the corruption that poisoned the outside. But beneath the illusion of tranquility lay something far worse.

There was no life here. Only servitude. The pristine streets, the orderly structures were nothing more than the cages of a menagerie. No, that wasn't right. This wasn't a sanctuary for preservation. It was a slaughterhouse.

The group crossed the barrier into Echo Administration Site 15. Isin could barely stand, his weight sagging between Martin and Adolf as they dragged him forward. The pain in his severed wrists felt like they carried liquid fire instead of blood. Fatigue gnawed at his bones, each step heavier than the last.

Before they could take another breath, on-site security closed in. Armed guards surged toward them, weapons drawn in practiced efficiency. The same routine check. The same suspicion. They weren't verifying identity. They were ensuring the group wasn't a pack of creation beasts masquerading as humans.

Isin tried to keep his eyes open, but the world was already slipping away. Darkness swallowed him before he could see what happened next.

***

Isin woke up with a start, his head nearly hitting the top of his pod. He reached up to touch his face only to feel nothing. For a moment he forgot why but as the memories of both of his hands being cut off by Nuriel resurfaced he gritted his teeth and laid down. He had been healed but his hands had not been reattached or regrown. He didn't have enough contribution tokens to pay for his hands to be regenerated. He would have to get prosthetics.

He struck the side of his pod with his forearm and winced in pain. He couldn't lose his composure now. He had to get as many people as possible to go with him on a new expedition to the Alpha Extraction Site and finally leave this place behind.

"Ramsi how many contribution tokens do I have?" Isin asked.

Ramsi was the site's Aetheric Program with access to all information on the site. It spoke in a cold monotone in the pod.

"Query: 4214 is your current balance an amount of 257 was recently withdrawn to pay for your medical treatment."

"Why weren't my hands reattached." Isin questioned.

"Query: The severed appendages were not suitable for reintegration. You lack the contribution tokens to pay for total rejuvenation."

"How am I supposed to work if I don't have my hands?"

"Query: There are a selection of prosthetics that will suit your requirements..." Ramsi paused for a long moment. "Notice Immediate Action: The Site Administrator has restricted Number 293, Isin, from any prosthetics or procedures that would return functionality to his hands. At this time please leave the medical wing."

"What in the Infernal Planes! Ramsi, how can she refuse to let me get medical treatment," Isin screamed.

"Query: As property of the Site Administrator, your well-being is at her discretion. Please leave the medical wing."

Property.

Isin stared at the ceiling of the pod, his vision blurring with rage.

Property!