Not an hour after Nine left the lab, Sam received an emergency notification on his phone. Thankfully, he hadn't left his lab, so all he had to do was endure a few excruciating minutes as he waited for the Valkyries to return. Two drones entered, carrying a coffin-like transparent pod. As they passed right before him, Sam felt a sharp pang in his chest.
A young girl lay inside. Her almond-colored skin, previously smooth and soft, was now littered with cuts and burns, framed by singed strands of her brown hair. The remains of a tight-fitting combat suit clung to her form, along with the pieces of a shattered exoskeleton. One look was all he needed to know that she had failed to increase the output of her Force Field in time.
Though the injuries were something a human would struggle to recover from, what truly spoke of the girl's condition was something else. The young Valkyrie was unconscious. As a walking computer, one would expect that damaging her Shell wouldn't affect the operation of her central processor. At the very least, her head should still be working, since its functions are supposedly not connected to the rest of her body.
That logic didn't apply in the case of Valkyries. Even though they were robots, Odin saw the need to put in some limiters that caused them to go out of commission if they were to receive a considerable amount of damage. With how peaceful things had been around the Forty-Sixth base, Sam never had to see the three suffer damage of this level. He wished the robot were wide awake—at least that way he wouldn't have had to deal with nausea induced by looking at the burned body of a young girl, something that reminded him of the early days of the war.
"What happened?" He asked, turning to the door.
Nine and Zero five entered after the drones, still wearing their gear. While they were in a much better condition, he was quick to catch several signs that showed this last battle was much rougher than what they usually dealt with.
"We had a run-in with a B-class Calamity." Said Nine, a shadow cast over her face. "We failed to measure its true potential, and…"
"Please be at ease, Doctor." Zero Five came forward, intending to reassure him. "We have neutralized the threat and made sure no other Calamities were in the area."
"I... I see…"
Although he tried not to care, the event gave Sam an ominous feeling. Now wasn't the time to be worrying about it, however. With the Valkyries being the base's main weapon, one of them being incapacitated reduced its defensive capabilities quite a bit. He needed to get her back in shape as soon as possible; otherwise, the other two would have to carry the burden of another attack on their own.
"You two can go clean yourselves and change." He said, waving them away. "We can fix you during the usual examination. For now, I need to deal with this."
Sam's lack of concern for their condition caused Nine to frown, though the change in her expression went unnoticed as he had his back to her. Once they left the room, he immediately got to work, grabbing the tablet that was placed on his desk.
"This... doesn't look good…"
It was obvious just from looking, but when he checked the results of the rough checkup done by the drones, he realized things might be even worse than he thought. It was weak, but the sensors had detected several types of radiation on Zero Three's wounds. If she hadn't been put into that pod, he'd have been on the floor dying from radiation poisoning.
"Well, her central processor is safe, at least. And her Heart is undamaged..." That was good news.
Sliding his fingers on the screen, he gave the drones a list of instructions. First, they are to move to the next room where the devices used for the examination are kept. Once they're there, he wouldn't have to worry about the radiation anymore. Next, they are to remove the damaged exoskeleton and combat suit and seal them in special containers. Once that's done, the unconscious Zero Three would be left stark naked.
While the drones were doing their work, Sam went and prepared the examination device for a more thorough reparation process. Eir was the name Odin gave it. At first look, it appeared to be nothing more than a large cylindrical container made out of transparent glass-like material. Receiving a command, its front split open, both sides retracting to open a path to its interior.
Sam stood behind the glass wall separating the lab from the examination room and instructed the drones to place Zero Three inside the cylindrical device. When the mechanical arms let go of her, she was left floating in a standing position as if suspended in the air by an invisible force. The container was sealed soon after. Several holes opened at its base where a strange green liquid began to fill the interior.
The liquid was a mixture of many components, the most important of which were the billions of nanomachines it contained. Those nanomachines allowed for more complex procedures than what can be done through other means.
Putting the tablet aside, Sam pulled his chair and sat down at his desk. In front of him were several monitors linked to the computer controlling Eir.
"Let's start by cleaning the wounds…"
Going through the more detailed data gathered by Eir, he began typing on the keyboard, entering a list of commands. It was impossible to tell if something was happening just by looking, but the nanomachines were already on the move, removing all foreign bodies from the Valkyrie's damaged Shell and cleaning the contamination as well. Fifteen minutes passed, and everything was going well. Sam let himself relax for a moment, and as he did, Zero Five and Nine came back after cleaning themselves and changing their clothes.
"I'm mostly done over here." He said. "It'll take some time before she's fully recovered, but there is nothing to worry about."
It perplexed him that he went through the effort of informing them of the examination results. Nevertheless, seeing the relieved looks on their faces helped improve his mood, even if a little.
"Thank you, Doctor."
Nine tried her best to smile, but she failed to hide the anxiousness tormenting her. Zero Five was the same. She kept a neutral expression as she bowed her head, but Sam caught on to the anger she was trying to suppress.
The two went to their own containers and waited for the process to start. Soon enough, they were submerged in a green liquid themselves, but compared to the one Zero Three was in, theirs were clearer and much less viscous.
"Alright then." Checking if there was anything he had overlooked, Sam sat back and let the machines do their work, only interfering when they needed his input.
~[ ]~
Zero Three opened her eyes and immediately noticed the green filter through which she saw the world. That gave her enough clues about her whereabouts, causing her to heave a mental sigh. Taking a moment to prepare herself, she then looked down at her body, checking the results of the restoration process.
The sight wasn't a pleasant one. Not in the least. Though all of her wounds were gone, the new skin grown in their place was pure white, lacking the tan she'd gained over time. That made her look like a really bad patchwork, exposing the fact that she had messed up and allowed herself to be injured.
[I see you're awake.]
As she cursed the mess her body was in, a voice reached her ears, giving her a scare. Right away, she seemed to recognize the voice, causing her brows to come down in a frown.
[The restoration is done, and you're back to normal. I guess it's fine for you to come out now.]
The green liquid slowly drained from the container soon after. One would expect it to cling to the skin because of its viciousness, but when it was gone, not a single drop was left on the young Valkyrie. She still felt a bit sticky, though that was nothing a bath couldn't fix.
Her biggest concern was the mess that had befallen her body. She'd need a long sunbath to get it back to how it was, but with the warning she received about the outdoor pool, she was sure that guy wouldn't stop the nagging till she'd lose her mind. He was waiting for her right outside the examination room, so she fixed him with a glare. It took her a moment to realize it wasn't a lecture he had prepared, but a towel he was trying to hand her.
Though it wasn't the first time, something about being seen naked by him caused her quite a bit of discomfort, so she snatched the towel and hurried to cover herself.
Sam was a bit taken aback by her reaction, though he understood what caused it very well. The concept of shame wasn't something a walking computer could grasp, but her programming dictated that she must act the same way a young girl in her position would, and though it was understandable, Sam couldn't help but think it was completely unnecessary.
"How are you feeling?" He asked, averting his gaze.
"What do you think?" Her reply came coated in several layers of annoyance.
Shaking his head, Sam walked back to his desk and threw himself onto the chair.
"You were hit pretty badly. It's actually surprising that you managed to survive."
"Hah! Of course I survived!" Putting a hand on her chest, Zero Three proudly sang her own praises. "I'm a Valkyrie, the greatest weapon ever to grace your miserable, pathetic world! Unlike you weak and useless humans, a single Calamity will never be enough to take me down!"
If she had expected a round of applause, all she got was an audible silence. Sam began to regret his attempt to talk to the young Valkyrie. As tired as he was, allowing her to leave right away should have been his first option.
"Yeah, yeah, just make sure to keep the damage to a minimum next." Stretching his arms, he let out the yawn he was suppressing. "Remember that we only have the three of you in this base. We can't afford to have you out of it for nine hours every time you get hurt."
"Wha-"
Hearing how much she had spent in the container, the young Valkyrie finally understood the extent of the damage she had sustained. It was enough to force her central processor to shut down; that should've been the first clue.
"Hmph! I was just taken by surprise this time!" She said, trying to hide her shame. "I doubt this will happen again."
"Oh, it will," Sam replied. "If you continue to disregard warnings and keep being so reckless. This isn't some game you play; there are lives on the line here."
The more he thought about it, the more confused Sam became. The characters the Valkyries play were nothing but a program designed to make them seem more human; it shouldn't have an effect on their fighting capabilities and decision-making during combat. Zero Three being the rebellious little brat shouldn't have impacted her performance on the battlefield. Even so, she still somehow acted recklessly enough to get herself injured.
'Was the Calamity just that strong?'
As he pondered over the questions, Sam failed to notice the anger rising through the young Valkyrie.
"Then... why don't you go fight them yourself?"
The words reached him in a whisper, sending a chill rolling over his body. Glancing at the humanoid weapon, he was met with a hate-filled glare that froze him in place.
"All you humans do is complain! You nag and nag and nag all while hiding in the back! How about you go out and fight those things for a change?"
"Zero Three… you…"
"Ah! But you can't!" Raising her chin, she wore a sadistic smile as she reminded him of the reality of their world. "You're all weak, pathetic bags of flesh. Especially you, old man. Though in your case, it's nothing but bones!"
Turning to the door, Zero Three stumped the floor as she went to take her leave.
"Keep your advice to yourself next time. I don't need you to tell me how I should fight."
As the grey alloy door closed behind her, Sam was left frozen in his seat.