CHAPTER 7: RECOVERY (1)

A couple of days have passed since the whisperspawn appeared, even though I handled the problem. It’s been pretty quiet out there with hardly much to worry about.

I’d consider us lucky for the time being since not a lot of people without some sort of ability can survive them. Mostly because those talents, powers, or magic can actually make a difference in the fights.

It wasn’t the first time I heard those whispers before... I just never actually confronted them like that.

But on a side note, Ghost has improved over the last few days with her movement and even some of her speech became more clear. Still no signs of her memories returning but at least everything else seems to be working properly.

She still seems to worry quite a bit about me because of the pain in my gut but it can’t be avoided. I got slashed and stabbed in the same day so it’s a bit hard to avoid that kind of pain.

Still can’t understand how I survived that in the first place.... They were pretty bad wounds from my understanding and I noticed that they bled through the bandages.

"Rokuro do you ever go past the junkyard?" Ghost asks, breaking my chain of thoughts.

"Not really. It’s not smart for a junker to do such a thing." I respond with a bit of disappointment in my voice.

It’s hard not to feel that way because maybe something greater is outside this damn junkyard. Hunters come in and clear out some of the monsters then I just go collect whatever I need.

Same process for years now, yet I’ve achieved nothing from it. I ran one of my hands through my hair as I sat back on one of the old chairs.

I’m not getting younger, the world is only getting worse, and now I have a new person with me. Ghost might be who I needed to finally leave this junkyard, but how can I do it?

She’ll definitely need some proper preparation before we try to venture out past anything. There’s also the problem with her fear of the monsters that needs to be handled.

Maybe it’s possible to make some sort of sword for her to use against them since she should have the speed to beat them.

"Ghost I want to run a few tests on you quick, is that okay?" I ask with a calm tone.

I’m not an asshole who will just force everything on her so I’ll do this the way I was raised, respectfully.

"I don’t mind it.. you did save me.." Ghost responds with a shy expression across her face.

"Thank you." I say before getting up to hook everything up.

The computer screen unlocked and I could see the status appear for everything once more.

I need to run a few different limb based tests to see if they’d hold up against a monster or if they’d fail. Her reflexes are the biggest test I’ll be running here so hopefully it’ll work.

Run simulation based on current parameters? Yes.

Limb functionality.... Good. 80% speed out of possible 120%.

Reflexes have been tested based on current parts.... 100% functional. Each scenario was 80% successful with current specs.

Fear override.... Unsuccessful.

So she’ll have to get over that on her own which isn’t a big deal but it would’ve saved a lot of time. It’s not like I always had it in me to go out there to confront those damn monsters.

I was terrified most of the time because they are way stronger than me.

"Is everything okay Rokuro?" Ghost asks with a bit of concern in her voice.

I probably looked like I was worried about something which isn’t the case right now... Luckily.

"Everything is perfect, I just want to work on something for you." I reassure her before unhooking everything.

Working on a decent weapon for her would be the best choice for now since she can probably react faster than me. It really is a mystery how they couldn’t do as much as a hunter back then.

All these special enhancements on them and they still got outclassed but I guess talents, magic, or some sort of ability would do that. I wonder if it’s possible for a cyborg to have an awakening like that?

She’d be pretty damn powerful if that was the case. Well, if the talent was a high ranking one.

E, D, C, B, A, S, SS, and the rarest of them all SSS. No one has ever been confirmed to have a talent with such a high ranking since everyone awakened. It still baffles me that I didn’t even get lucky enough to have an E rank talent.

"I’ll head back to the other room for a little while." Ghost says before leaving the room.

"Sorry Ghost, just figuring something out. I’ll have a gift for you in a bit." I reply loud enough for her to hear.

Time to get to work, even with this sharp pain in my gut... It hurts like a bitch.

I pulled every piece possible that I could use for a sword into the main shop room. It didn’t take long for me to start welding a bunch of crap together since I did it most of the time anyway.

A sword made from scrap would probably be just enough for her to defend herself and me if needed. I’ve never really made a sword before but I have done a lot of welding over the years.

That’s why this shop is so fortified in the first place.

A couple of hours passed and I could feel myself sweating but the sword was finally done.

I looked down at the sword in my hands.

It wasn’t pretty... hell, it barely looked like a sword. Just a hunk of sharpened metal welded to a makeshift hilt, held together by desperation and a few curse words. But it felt solid. Heavy in the right way.

I’d carved the edge from an old street sign, the letters still half-burned into the steel. "Speed Limit" or something, now half gone. The spine came from a broken suspension bar... dense, ugly stuff that hated heat. Took way longer to weld than it should’ve, especially with this constant pain in my gut making me want to puke.

The hilt was a strip of synthetic leather I’d torn from an old bike seat, wrapped tight and wired down with copper stripped from the wall.

Not much of a guard either, just a busted gear I’d hammered flat and stuck on out of instinct.

This was the best a junker like myself could do, I wasn’t some blacksmith who worked on weapons all my life. I hope she’ll like it at least, it reminds me of myself in a lot of ways.

A piece of junk but it’s all held together and can probably do some fine work.