Chapter 241: NanoMechs

A few minutes before the clash between Siva and Kladis…

When Rex logged back in, Manang Fe who has little to no idea yet had a hunch of the current circumstances of Rex Kingsley, couldn’t wait until the boy collapses and called in Graham’s line. She may look like a strict granma, but since it was her job to take care of Rex’s needs, she had learned how to like the boy, especially when seeing how he works hard for it everyday.

Siva’s face and name had been all over the news and even on her way to the Market each day, he’d see some shops who sells and advertises the NLD and RPG: Terroa, displaying some trending topics about the latest on Siva.

Although she wasn’t aware that it was his ‘boy’ at first, but there are some clues in regards to the conversations of Graham and the others, as well as the conversations of the neighbors in their seemingly quiet neighborhood.

She, of course, could tell it from the clues.

As such, although he kept quiet about it from the people who had hired her, she was still given a task to call Graham whenever something is amiss with the boy.

Minutes later, Graham’s hulking figure opened the gate, towing behind Martinez, with the twins, Hank and Frank McCullers, following closely while they carried a weird metal box.

Graham, with a smooth and gentle stride, walked over Manang Fe and asked with a gentle look:

“How was he?”

Manang Fe didn’t answer him and while she wore a look of admonishment at Graham, she still knew her place and so only shook her head and headed straight at the kitchen.

Graham also didn’t linger around and went directly upstairs, standing beside Rex’s bed.

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His large size was a sight in contrast to the clean and brightly lit small room.

His brusk shape and wide frame, paired with the intimidating sunglasses and black suit and tie gave him the air of a hitman who was looking down at his sleeping target.

But instead of killing intent, there was wariness and… perhaps fear… that continuously twitched on his frowning brows.

Graham then thought at that one very short and very unforgettable moment where this seemingly harmless boy had met his gaze for the first time.

He lifted his right hand, or fist, and recalled that day*…

…and couldn’t help but feel that everything he’s been doing to this boy is really something scary and beyond his imagination and profession.

He was a former special forces of the World Government’s experimental soldiers, the role model and “punching bag” of their then-under-development but now fully ready for deployment Android Technology.

AG recruited him because of his background but even before that, Graham was already brought in front of The Father and was told of his untold potential and his wanting of his service.

Only right after that meeting did he met Augustus and from then on, he had been one of his very dependable guards.

He saw the exemplary person as this “Augustus” and how terrifying the person hiding behind that calm and simple calculating smile.

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When he smiles, that’s when the world is happy.

When he frowns, the world should expect some place or someone to burn.

And yet, when Graham found out that The Father is the head of The Family where AG was only a member of its twelve branches, a frightening idea had taken root on his mind.

While AG was a human version of the Greek Legend that is Zeus… The Father… is Zeus’ father, the dominator, the grand beginning of it all, the Godfather of Rules, the frightening might that could crush ten AG with a flip of his palm.

He was the shadow in everything.

Not even AG, as great and as powerful and as frightening as he was, he was still a little man when compared to The Father.**

Even if his loyalty lay with AG, his fear was not in AG’s direction… and this was a frightening demon that dwells in Graham’s heart.

As such, no matter how much he wanted to protest to this idea of ‘father’ and ‘son’ direct clash using him and this boy, he had no choice but to play his part in the grand scheme of everything.

Because… the only way to save Rex Kingsley, and to ensure that his own little brother is also safe, is to burn his soul and remold him, or… as he looked at his fist that once punched that ‘other Rex’ that day (refer to the first *) …wake up that sleeping true self that was still trapped somewhere in the recesses of this boy’s mind.***

“I wish I have never learned of that truth.”

Graham could only wish dearly to himself.

It hasn’t been that long since he was called back in Goldwyn City and was told by The Father himself about his ‘Salvation’ plan.

He lowered his fist and looked behind, seeing the twins bringing in another one of those metal boxes.

DHUG!

With a heavy thud, the rubber sole at the edges of the metal box fell solidly on the hard floor in the room.

Martinez went directly at the side and pulled up the monitoring panel that connected Rex’s NLD to the neuronet socket.

His brows twitched as he checked the recent-to-the last week changes on his mental condition.

After a while, he met Graham’s glare.

“So?”

“It’s getting worse.” Martinez uttered. “I’s not sure what’s happening to him inside but the high output signal of his NLD settings is slowly frying his brain activities. Look at this [Hate Chart]. It’s to high! If this continues further, there is no saying that he will forget himself completely and create unknown aftereffects on his own personality. Perhaps, he might even confuse himself of what is reality and what is the game world if that happens…”

Indeed.

This particular notion itself is a horrifying certainty.

But Graham dismissed the latter part of the doctor’s statement as it was irrelevant to his current mission, and only listened to the first and gave a swipe in the air to see a panel window that displayed the events in Alexandria.

He saw the Akhenaton smashing the castle base then glanced down at the boy, seemingly unable to believe that it was the pilot of this thing.

“And to think everything he’s experiencing is also real to his senses without anything being held back…”

Right now, unknown to Rex, his NLD is set to be on the DNI-Therapy settings.

Meaning, even though he was awake and not in a coma, his brain is being forced to function unnaturally fast with everything happening in that virtual universe converted into ‘real’ simulated events that may affect his overall ‘self’ in a big and eventually unknown kind of way.

Every wound on his skin would hurt like hell…

Every punch or every monster tackle he receives would injure his muscles and bones…

Every searing or chilling magic spell would electrocute his nerves and create a long lasting impression on his memory and emotions…

Everything he was experiencing inside that world was akin to something a DNI-Patient was going through with the only difference being he was unknowingly being forced to experience this kind of ‘tempering’ for the sake of The Father’s plans…

Graham grumbled, “But he’s never complained and he never whined even once…”

Rex’s strong will and determination was something even an experienced soldier like him admires.

But… the first results of these said ‘effects' have already shown itself that day…. and because of his instincts kicking in before his wits, he punched the poor kid into oblivion.

And yet, Graham never forgot the fear he felt in that day and even today, it lingered on and off on his senses, making him feel even more repulsed to the idea of wakening or even remolding this boy so that he can control that side of him.

“Project Salvation…” Graham murmured.

“What?”

“Huh?”

“You said something. What was that? Salvation?”

“It’s nothing.”

Graham took a deep sigh and dismissed Martinez as if he really heard nothing. He glanced over the large metal box in front of Rex’s bed and thought deeply:

“If he succeeds… there will only be two choices to choose from after that. And it is to listen to the suggestion of The Father or to ultimately end all and everything one and for all…. so… am I… am I really doing the right thing? If I don’t do this, they will only further hurt him and in turn implicate it to me and my brother. But if I do this, I’m afraid I’d be one of the people he’d turn a hateful pair of eyes against…”

In this dilemma, Graham recalled the reason why he punched Rex that day. The fear he felt was real and if they were not careful and doesn’t follow the step by step procedures of The Father, then yes, they wouldn’t be able to survive when [Project Salvation] succeeds.

“So in the end, I have to carefully follow those two father and son’s instructions to the letter. I have no choice or we’d meet our early end.”

When he had decided on this, he glanced at the twins and saw that their preparations were now complete.

He gave them a nod and he stepped back, pulling Martinez who was still confused and was in the middle of adjustment of the data on the panel.

Hank and Frank McCullers were doctors and as well as martial artists. They were experts who had a radical notion to combine the advancement of these two separate worlds when creating the new era’s martial experts.

It was the reason why they taught Rex the Triple Bloom Meditation technique, along with their own ‘illusion inducing’ nerve techniques that requires them to attack and stimulate certain acupoints to give their ‘patient’ the necessary conditions in successfully training this technique.

SHUUUUU….

With a press of a button, something akin to the sound of compressed air being released were emitted as the metal box ‘unlatched’ on certain angles and revealed boxes of many sizes and irregular-dimensioned sides.

These boxes were sometimes long, small, big, or even short… only differing from being a rectangle or a square and thus when combined creates the perfect metal ‘box’ they carried earlier.

When these smaller metal boxes unlatched from the main body, it revealed a space inside not as big as a man’s body.

After wearing black-colored thick-leathered special gloves, the twins picked up the cube.

Their gloved hands didn’t actually make contact with it but the way they carried it seem to give the impression that it was being held magnetically.

They didn’t tally as they brought this floating cube towards Rex’s left leg.

Rex looked like he was just sleeping with sunglasses on his face.

When this cube was brought over his leg, Graham approached and pressed an invisible button and a liquid-like substance 1/5 of the size of the small cube fell on that leg and began to spread.

It was like a richly-crystalline blue water in appearance and looking at it directly made even Martinez feel envious at how ‘cool’ it would be to have that blue-crystalline water drip on his skin.

Next to be dropped was the other leg, and Graham did the same, pressing an invisible button and letting 1/5 of the cube’s original size drip over his legs.

Then, both arms was dripped as well.

Lastly, Graham pulled a knife from somewhere and he ripped Rex’s shirt to reveal his chest. The twins then let the last 1/5 part of the mysterious cube drip at the center of his chest, letting it scatter and connect with the first four drops of liquid metal.

Sssssssssss….

There was the sound of muffled hisses as the liquid slowly covered Rex’s entire being and made him look like a translucent blue-skinned creature.

But… the twins’ ‘cube’ wasn’t fully consumed yet.

Although it seemed that they were careful as to not waste any of the cube and allow it to drip on the bedsheets as they stood on both sides, the very last part of that ‘cube’ is but a single drop of liquid blue metal that they carefully ‘carried’ towards Rex Kingsley’s forehead.

Both of them swallowed and then looked at the burly man.

“Do it.” Graham gave them a nod and the twins let go of the drop at the same time.

Suuuuuuu…

The liquid blue metal made contact with Rex’s forehead and there was no change on his expression.

Martinez’s forehead was filled with sweat as well as the twins. Only Graham remained unperturbed although deep inside, he was also worried.

They watched as Rex’s entire being was covered by the liquid blue metal, it was a slow process but the critical part of applying it on the body and not spilling one drop had already been accomplished.

Martinez asked, “Will this process affect his overall capability at this moment? Isn’t this a critical time for his mental stability?”

Graham didn’t look at him but watched on as a ray of light suddenly burst forth and Siva’s image had just obliterated an entire part of the moon.

Martinez: “God have mercy!”

Frank: “What the hell ‘n morgue…”

Hank: “That’s… that’s just sick…!!”

While the other three had differing reactions, Graham only frowned and glanced at the sleeping Siva.

By this point, the blue liquid metal began to seep through his body and his fair skin is now slowly being shown back.

The bluish liquid metal… was absorbed on his body.

Graham said, “There will be no effects… at least not right now…”

Martinez frowned, “What do you mean?”

“It means that without the proper trigger, those NanoMechs in his body we just planted would only cleanse his body and make sure that their master will be healthy and functioning. Not until the right stimulus or the right trigger is activated will these guys be detected by the kid. Until then, they’re just ordinary dormant proteins on his body…”

At this point, they saw Siva fell from the sky and was caught by Thorn. Of course, although they knew Thorn’s name, they have no idea of who he was in the real world… yet.

Then, as if he felt something, Graham looked at the unconscious Rex Kingsley and his eyes then widened up as he yelled to the twins.

“Hold his arms!”

The twins were still martial artists and as soon as they heard Graham yell, they immediately darted on each side of the bed and held Rex’s arms and put their entire weight on them.

Martinez reacted slow as he pulled a panel window and began to adjust a few things on it.

Graham held the legs and yelled at the doctor who suddenly erupted into a panic state:

“As soon as any emotion-bar reaches the limit, hit the button to stabilize the NanoMechs! We can’t let it activate this early!”

“I know, damn it…!! I know!!!”

.

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NOTES:

*Volume 4, Ch33, Graham punched Rex in this chapter

**Pegasus = The Great/Heavenly Father referred to by his brainwashed minions, Goldwyn City’s “The Father” is a different person. Name will be revealed in later volumes. (sorry for this Armor)

***You might get confused here. In Volume 1, when Rex was just transferred to this house right after closing the deal with AG, Graham secretly gave Rex a simple note with a website written there, along with a parting sentence saying “you’re not the only one who has a brother”