Spark of Life
In-universe date: Era Nova, October, Year 2
Real-world date: 21 August 2026
Author: Henry Westcroft
I am standing inside the medicinal tower, surrounded by rows of ancient books and cluttered laboratory desks. Before me stands Electrus, looking down at the workbench where my crude copper prototype and messy schematics are laid out. My right arm hangs completely dead at my side, a useless weight.
I have explained my failure to him using pure engineering logic: the copper gears and joint sockets are perfect, but they lack a current to move them. Where my science hit a wall, his hand moves to bridge the gap.
The procedure begins without delay, executed with grim, surgical precision. To stop the decay from spreading further into my chest, the dead flesh must be removed entirely. I force myself to watch with detached, clinical focus as the ruined limb is severed. A machine cannot be repaired until the broken components are cleared away, no matter the physical cost.
With the wound prepped, we lift the copper prosthetic and align it directly to my shoulder. Electrus does not use standard rivets or leather straps to hold it in place. Instead, he channels a controlled surge of electromancy directly into the metal frame.
The sensation is agonizing. A sharp, blinding jolt of pure lightning rips straight through my chest, violently fusing the internal copper filaments of the mechanism into my remaining nerve endings.
Then comes the ignition.
The air in the tower instantly fills with the sharp smell of ozone and heated metal. With a sudden, loud hiss of escaping steam pressure and a rhythmic clicking of miniature clockwork gears, the arm wakes up.
The copper fingers twitch.
I command the hand to move, and the cold metal responds instantly, locking into a solid, perfectly steady fist.
The machine is complete.
The flesh is gone, but I am functional once more.