It was Lillian. Her voice came from inside a rge tube. Her body, bloart in the explosion, had been pieced back together, though only a small portion. Her barely funing brain floated in the liquid, tubes and wires eg to it. "Sophia must’ve cried a lot, huh?" she added with a soft sigh.

  Zack approached the tube, his expression serious. "I’ll ask you o time," he said, ign her question. His voice was cold and direct. "Are you absolutely sure you want to live like this?"

  Lillian’s face softened as she fell into quiet refle. "Sophia’s father passed away early," she began after a moment. "The weight of the family business fell on me, and I never had time to be there for her. Evehe apocalypse came, I failed her..."

  "Stop." Zack cut her off, his voice sharp. "You know that’s not what I’m asking," he tinued, leaning closer to the tube. "The funeral erfect. Everyone was there. Sophia believes you’re really gone now. She’s finally accepted your death." Zack’s eyes narrowed. "Why not let it end there? Rest in peace. Do you really want to end up like Gers? What happens if you show up one day, looking like this, and tell Sophia you’re still alive?"

  His words were blunt, cutting through any illusions of hope. Lillian was silent for a long time, her face clouded with emotion. Finally, she spoke, her voice steady despite the tears f in her eyes. "You’re right," she said softly. "But I still won’t ge my mind. No matter what I bee, as long as I protect Sophia... I’ll do it. I’m willing to give up everything for her."

  Zack sighed. "Fine," he said after a pause. "But I’m warning you now," he tinued, his tone cold and unyielding. "After the transformation, I’ll have plete trol over you. Your thoughts, your as—everything will be under my and. My orders will override even your own will." He leaned closer, his voice dropping to a near whisper. "Theoretically, I could even make you harm Sophia. And you’d do it without hesitation."

  Lillian smiled faintly. "I trust you," she said simply.

  Zack’s brows furrowed, caught off guard by her fidence. "Don’t misuand me," she tinued. "You may be ruthless oside, but you’re kind at heart. You’d never hurt her."

  Zaced at the monitor beside the tube, where a scrolling dispy of her brain’s thoughts was being processed iime. "Ahem," Zack said, his expression darkening. "You do know I see what you’re thinking, right?"

  Lillian froze, "Let’s just get on with it," she muttered, ging the subject quickly.

  Zack shook his head, he slipped on his b coat. He adjusted his gloves and pushed Lillian’s culture chamber uhe robotic arms. Nearby, two shelves were lined with pre-made artificial meical ans that looked eerily simir to their human terparts. "How you be so sure I keep you alive?" Zack asked, his tone calm but probing.

  In truth, he wasn’t the one perf the transformation. The real work was handled by the robotic arms overhead and a swarm of nano-meical is designed for delicate procedures. "Do you think I had a choice back then?" Lillian said, f a faint smile despite the situation. "But I figured if someone like you create such advanced exoskeletons, then maybe—just maybe—you could pull off something like the Vanguard anization and bring me back."

  "Let me make something clear," Zack replied ftly, adjusting the sole. "I ’t resurrect people. All I’m doing is salvaging someone who isn’t pletely dead."

  As soon as he finished speaking, the robotic arms sprang to life, moving with meical precision. Lillian’s eyes flickered with fear as the robotic arms desded toward her. "It’s not too te to ge your mind," Zack offered, pausing the process with the press of a button.

  "No! I don’t regret it!" Lillian quickly protested, though her voice wavered. "It’s just..." She hesitated, gng nervously at the maery around her. "For such a big procedure, are you sure you don’t want to give me ahesia first?" she asked, trying to sound nont but failing miserably.

  "You won’t feel anything. Your pain-dug nervous system has already been severed," Zack said, not looking up from the sole. "But if you’re scared, I knock you out."

  "I’m not scared. Just get on with it," Lillian replied, attempting to sound brave.

  "Alright." Zaodded and resumed the procedure.

  The robotic arms moved again, carefully pig up meical pos to begiransformation. As the first tool neared her, Lillian ched her eyes shut and blurted out, "Okay, I’m scared! Knock me out! Do it now!"

  Zack sighed, pressing a blue button on the sole. "You know," he said dryly as she slipped into unsciousness almost instantly, "the procedure hasn’t even started yet."

  With her finally out cold, Zack’s expression grew serious. "Ego, is it ready?" Zack muttered, fog entirely oask at hand.

  “Sir, the foundational blueprints for syic human anatomy have been piled. I’ve ied existing knowledge of bioengineering and nanoteology with data extracted from pre-colpse archives. Additionally, extrapoted models from experimental neural-interface research have provided pathways fmenting brain-mae iion. The syic human model relies on three critical pos: the neural bridge, the artificial awork, and the bionic exoskeleton. Shall I detail the stru sequence?”

  “Go on,” Zack said, crossing his arms as the holographic dispy shifted to a three-dimensional schematic.

  “The neural bridge acts as the tral interface between Lillian’s anic brain and the meical systems. It’s posed of ultra-thin graphene nanowires, which are flexible yet ductive enough to hahe brain’s plex bioelectric signals. These nanowires will ect to the neural nodes impnted in the meical body’s core systems.”

  “Sounds straightforward so far,” Zack muttered.

  “The artificial awork,” Ego tinued, “utilizes syic meical pos desigo replicate essential funs. Unlike ventional prosthetics, these ans are modur and equipped with ied nanomaes to maintain funality autonomously. Finally, the bionic exoskeleton uses a Ultralium alloy for strength and durability. This material is resistant to corrosion and capable of withstandireme enviroal ditions. The internal framework incorporates shock absorption and kiic redistribution systems to handle high-impact sarios.”

  “Good, let’s start the process than.” Zack ordered. Several hours ter, The transformation was nearly plete. The final meical po clicked into pce, and the lifeless body oable gleamed uhe sterile b lights.

  Except for the brain, Lillian’s body was irely meical or syic. The cost of the materials alone was astronomical, but Zack didn’t care about the price. There was still one critical piece missing: "Bionic skin ready?" Zack asked.

  "Produ plete, sir," Ego replied.

  Zaodded and removed his gloves, stepping aside to drink a cup of chlorophyll juice while the sterile pleted its work. Wheification chimed, Zack pced the empty cup down and walked to the . Through the observation window, he saw the finished product—a perfectly sculpted female body.