Verlon nearly blacked out at the sight of so many needles digging into his skin. Even a single one made him feel nauseous, but hundreds? The only saving grace was the complete lack of pain coming from the jabbing needles. He could still feel them pressed into his skin, but nothing seemed to press deeper than the epidermis.

That rapidly changed as the sadistic device constricted, slamming every needle deep into his wrist. He could feel them passing through his skin, flesh, and veins as they dug into his nerves and bones. Although the needles weirdly didn’t hurt, the feeling of them pressing against his bones was odd, to say the least. It felt as if his entire wrist had turned into his funny bone.

Verlon tried to rip it out of his skin, but the bracelet only constricted further, burrowing further into his body as the black metal slowly changed shape and color. He scratched and clawed, tearing his fingernails up as he lost grip on the bracelet. Blood seeped up from the edges where he had cut himself from trying to pry it out. By the time he pulled his knife out to dig it out, the bracelet had entirely disappeared.

At least visually. His wrist looked entirely normal as if there wasn’t a device implanted into it. He could feel it though. The slight weight of the device along with the weird sensation of burrowed needles gave it away, though even those tells began to fade. Soon he felt entirely normal, as if a relic hadn’t just merged into his body.

He frowned before taking his knife and preparing himself to cut into his hand. The relic might not pose a significant danger, but he didn’t want to take a chance. He would rather lose a hand than potentially lose his life. He could still find work with a single hand.

Just as he raised his knife, his body collapsed next to the fire. His consciousness was still present, though he felt like his entire body had fallen asleep. He couldn’t even control his eyelids as he lay there. Thankfully, the paralysis only seemed to affect his usual motor faculties seeing as he could still breathe and his heartbeat continued.

What the hell was happening? Did he end up putting on a suicide device? No, that couldn’t be it. Otherwise, why would the device’s Empyreon creators make it go invisible upon connecting to him? It would be a waste of time and energy… maybe something else was happening? Verlon hoped it wouldn’t injure him too badly at the very least.

He lay in the dirt, entirely defenseless, for what felt like hours as he desperately attempted to move. Even just to close his eyes, which had long dried out thanks to their proximity to the fire and his inability to close them.

Was he going to die here? How ironic that Verlon escaped certain death back in the ruin only to meet his end through a dumb bracelet. No, he couldn’t die here! There was still too much he had to do. He still hadn’t caught a hint of his parents even after years of searching.

And his sister! If he died out here, who would take care of her? Nicole might, but he couldn’t accept leaving his only family behind in this fucked up world of theirs. The thought of seeing Robin's weeping face once more, though this time because of his own inability to be there for her, set a fire in his heart. It blazed with a furious flame as rage burned at his mind. He wouldn’t accept it. He won’t accept it. With renewed vigor, he tried to trash his body, to make any movement no matter how minor.

His effort proved to be fruitful, though he knew in the back of his mind it likely had nothing to do with his own will to move. His eyelids ever so slowly closed, then reopened. It was such a simple ordinary thing, yet he felt extraordinary accomplishment at the ability to blink. From there, the paralysis began to fade throughout the rest of his body. At first, it was just a twitch of his fingers, then his hands, then he could move his entire limb.

Once his full faculties returned, he grew determined to remove the device. He was safe at the moment, but if such paralysis happened somewhere else? He didn’t want to take the chance.

He forced himself up into an upright position and reached out for his knife, only to stop as he heard a voice. The voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at the same time as if it was in his very brain. “Biotic bundle detected. Bioelectricity harvested. Initiating boot protocol…” The voice somehow managed to sound entirely androgynous and mechanical.

“Who’s there?” He drew his revolver and looked around, though nothing jumped out at him as being the potential culprit. What was this about bio-something? He looked down at his wrist with worry evident in his eyes. There was a strong possibility that the ‘simple’ bracelet was a far more powerful relic than he originally gave it credit for.

Should he even try to dig it out at this point? It might pose a greater danger to interrupt whatever process is going on in the bracelet. What if ripping it out of his flesh caused something worse than just leaving it?

After a momentary dilemma, Verlon sat back down by the fire and sheathed his weaponry. He would take the risk of leaving it alone. Based on what he knew about Empyreon relics, most weren’t designed to harm their users at the very least.

It took an hour before he heard the voice again. Verlon knew the exact time since he watched his pocket watch nearly religiously after deciding to wait. The voice returned, this time accompanied by the bracelet once again showing itself. A small dial, almost like a watch, pushed out of ‘his’ skin along with what looked to be a leather strap.

The dial lit up and flashed in time with the voice. “Boot protocol complete. Greetings user, and thank you for volunteering to be a subject for experimental Omega Tech. Your nation, and military, thank you for your sacrifice.”

“The hell?” He had never heard of Omega Tech. And what was this about being a volunteer? He hadn’t volunteered for anything- wait… did putting on the bracelet thing count as volunteering?

He scratched at the location of the bracelet, feeling ‘skin’ even though he knew it was metal. Weirdly enough, the metal band seemed to have tapped into his nerves since he felt the ‘skin’ as if it were his own. The only parts that didn’t feel like skin were the leather strap and watch face.

Whatever the device was, it most definitely was a high-grade relic. The other Seekers weren’t kidding when they said he would know one when he saw it. The relic was on an entirely different level than his boots and it far surpassed his canteen. Even putting them in the same building would be too close.

The device seemed to be far more magical than his other two. This just proved the point that the Empire of Dawn was just spreading propaganda when they said that the relics were just hyper-advanced technology. There was simply no way that the gears and cogs used in modern technology could produce such a thing, let alone speak.

At the very least, the relic didn’t seem like it would harm him. If anything, it might bring about a boon of usefulness. Assuming it empowered him in even a small way, the turmoil it caused would be worth it. Who knows, it might even be the key to advancing through the ranks of Seekers. He had never heard of such a weird relic after all.

“In compliance with Article 451 B 005, please state your identity, user.” The flashing blue light of the watch face was eerie, to say the least.

Did he reply? What was this about Article 451? Obviously, it was something of the fallen Empyreon Kindom. Assuming the Empyreon Kingdom operated remotely on the same basis as the Empire of Dawn, maybe it was some kind of law? The Empyreon Kingdom was supposedly a society of humans way back when. From what little he had read of political theories, society would only somewhat smoothly run if there were laws at work.

He was already in deep, so he might as well comply with the weird relic. “Umm… Verlon Boreal. Tier-three Yellow Cross Seeker.”

“Error. Connection interrupted. Record Verlon Boreal not found. Temporarily generating personnel records Error. Designation - Yellow Cross Seeker - not recognized. Please show proper designation.” The mechanical voice spoke with a red flash.

He likely didn’t have a proper designation that the relic would recognize. The Empyreon Kingdom fell a long time ago, after all. What should he do- maybe the medal would count? It had been near the relic when he originally found it. He rifled through his bag and pulled it out. Now what? Maybe just hold it in front of the watch face?

“Pheonix Captain insignia recognized. Welcome, Captain Verlon Boreal. Biotic bundle boot protocol initiated. Apologies, Captain, you may feel a slight sting.” The mechanical voice, which he was sure came from directly inside his head by this point, said.

Phoenix Captain? Must be a rank in the Empyreon military. What was the equivalent in the legion's ranking? It sounded quite high up. Captains were the ones who operated ships, so it only made since the rank would be quite high. What did all of this mean though? It was truly hurting his head-

Electrical shocks caused his body to lock up as a surprised whine of agony escaped his lips. Every single one of his cells felt as if they had been struck by the full fury of lightning. What the hell was the device talking about when it said ‘slight’?! He groaned as the sadistic treatments continued all over his body. Even his fingernails felt as if they were being shredded. He didn’t think it was even possible to feel fingernails! The pain became too much for him to deal with as his body forced itself to shut down.