"I'm bored!"

A certain figure slumped on a sturdy, specialized hover chair. The man rubbed his rough stubble as his chair spun around in a circle. He looked frustratingly at his quarters, wishing he could stand up and sit on his couch or lie on his bed without requiring the aid of the bots integrated in his unwieldy chair.

"Nyeow."

Minxie jumped on the tray that was placed above the lap and began to settle on it like it was her personal perch. Her fluffy white tail swished back and forth as the chair stopped spinning.

This was what Vincent's life amounted to these days.

"I'm supposed to be a heroic expert candidate!" He lamented. "Why am I being treated this way? I should be going on parades and earn the appreciation and worship of my friends. I shouldn't be confined to my chair and be unable to do anything that requires me to stand. I'm not even allowed to pilot a mech!"

"Nyeow…"

The cat completely disregarded his feelings and dozed off. While the feline thought it was strange that one of the humans who took care of her was stuck in a chair all the time, she still got her usual scratches, so everything was fine as far as she was concerned.

"If you want your new legs to be attached to your body without complications, you better do as the doctors say." A female voice warned.

Raella Larkinson entered their quarters with a stern face. Even though she was facing an expert candidate who confronted the Trost head-on, there was no awe to be found in her expression.

She wore a formal business uniform that made her look professional and formal. Despite the sudden drop of mech pilots in the clan, interest in the Larkinson Mech Games Circuit only increased.

The Battle of Reckoning served as a giant wakeup call to all of the complacent clansmen. They learned that as long as they adopted the Larkinson name, their fates became bound to the fortunes of the clan.

An enemy that targeted the clan also threatened the lives of every individual member. Even though it sounded obvious, during the Nyxian Gap Campaign most of the non-combatants were never exposed to any danger.

This was different!

Becoming a part of an expeditionary fleet meant that every Larkinson became exposed to the same threat.

If they lived on a planet in a cozy little state, then the loss of the combat forces wouldn't have been able to threaten their lives, at least under normal circumstances.

Yet because they lived and worked alongside the same Larkinsons who ventured out for battle, the civilians and support personnel within the clan had nowhere to run in the event their soldiers lost!

Though certain people such as Raella thought that this kind of thinking was silly, she was glad that her fellow clansmen became less naive.

One of the consequences of the Battle of Reckoning was a renewed interest in the more martial aspects of the clan. More people joined the group of spectators who wished to see their fellow clansmen succeed against each other. More Larkinson mech pilots wanted to take part in the action because it was one of the few ways they could gain actual battle experience outside of a virtual setting.

Her days would only get busier in the upcoming months when the Larkinson Clan was slated to undergo another rapid expansion.

That meant she had less time to spend with Vincent, not that she minded that. Ever since her boyfriend lost his legs, he had become a lot more tedious to be around with. They were no longer able to do many activities together because his disability got in the way.

Vincent looked at his lower body in distress for the umpteenth time. The stumps of his legs were mercifully hidden from his sight, but there were moments in his day where he couldn't avoid looking at it. Just a glimpse was enough for him to recall the moment his mech crumpled inwards when it collided straight into an expert mech!

According to the mech technicians that inspected his ruined mech after the battle, he had come very close to losing another 'leg'. If the force of the collision was just a tiny bit stronger, if the front of his cockpit pressed against his body just a centimeter or two deeper, then he didn't even know whether he wanted to continue living!

"Have you asked the big man whether he can do anything about the Adonis Colossus?"

His girlfriend directed a stony glare at him. "Hell no. Why would I do that? Our patriarch doesn't need to waste his time on fixing up your stupid old mech. I did approach Ketis, though. Even though she seems to be preparing to go on a trip, she did me a favor and approached a number of her colleagues."

"And?"

Raella shook her head. "No one has any time to fix up your mech. The assistant mech designers are all being worked to the bone in the Design Department. Their design projects are way behind schedule and Gloriana is practically hounding them to complete their work. Even after they are done with their current projects, there will be new ones that will occupy their time as well. What they do over there is much more exciting than trying to reconstruct the Adonis Colossus."

In other words, the only people who were skilled and knowledgeable enough to restore his personal mech to a working condition didn't want to work on his mech. They all looked down on his manly mech!

"Damn! If I had legs, they wouldn't have dismissed me out of hand. I'm no good now that I can't stand anymore!"

"Don't be such a whiner, Vincent. Your legs will come in due time. It will only take a couple more weeks to finish their growth and make sure they fit your body well enough. The doctors can't rush this process any further."

Vincent scowled. "These docs are too incompetent. I heard that the organ doctors based in Prosperous Hill IV can grow out an entire limb within an hour and attach it to a body in the very same day!"

"That's because the Lifers excel in this aspect. The very best specialists in this area are at the forefront of their research fields. Do you think these highly-regarded researchers can be approached so easily? Hah! They're superstars in their own circle. Just like how Ves can't be bothered with trivial matters, you can forget about catching their attention with your boring little request. Just sit in your chair honestly and wait for your new limbs to be ready."

Even though Vincent had already spent weeks after he was discharged from the medical bay in this condition, he didn't know whether he could go on for another day in this condition.

Due to safety concerns, he wasn't allowed to pilot a mech or enter a simulator pod either. The doctors mentioned a bunch of theories about how his brain structure would get confused about having legs when his actual pair was gone and how that might screw up his body coordination after he finally gained his new limbs.

It was all confusing to him, but the only answer he remembered was that he wasn't allowed to do anything related to mechs!

This was incredibly frustrating!

"I can't even do anything over here!" He whined. "I'm an expert candidate. There's an itch inside me that urges me to pilot a mech all the time. I have so many new ideas, but I can't do anything but play them out in my mind."

"Oh you poor baby." Raella approached and kissed him on the cheek before petting him on his head. His dirty blond hair became messed up due to her ministration. "Would you like me to spoon feed you while you are at it? You're such a brave and heroic expert candidate."

After she enjoyed her daily dose of teasing Vincent, the two sat at their dinner table and began to eat a simple meal together.

"Nyeow~" Minxie purred as she dove her head in a bowl laid out on the table.

"I need a new mech like the Adonis Colossus." Vincent said as he took a bite out of his juicy steak.

Fortunately, his body condition didn't prevent him from eating food like normal people.

"Hmm?" Realla looked up from her own meal. "You'd be facing the same problem as before. There is a huge list of priorities over at the Design Department. There's no way that any of their mech designers have any time to address your needs."

"I'm not trying to get them to work on my mech straight away. I just want to experience what I had with the Adonis Colossus once again in a modern second-class mech. It doesn't have to be a full custom piece like before. I just want Ves to make a manly mech that makes me feel powerful again."

"I can pull some strings to allow you to purchase any mech for sale in Prosperous Hill VI."

"It's not the same! I can barely tolerate piloting other mechs!"

"Not even the new Bright Warrior Version B?"

"That's a great mech in its own right, but it's not.. masculine, you get what I'm saying? Just look at its waist. There's no bulge to be found in that area!"

Raella almost spat out her bite of pasta. She looked incredulously at her boyfriend.

"Is that how you judge mechs these days? You don't care about their cost, performance or mech type. Your eyes just lower straight to their crotch, is that right?"

"Don't misunderstand me, babe. I pay attention to all of that stuff as well. It's just that even if everything falls in line with my needs, if the mech is not to my taste, I won't be able to get my groove on. Almost every mech is designed in a way that shows no regard to the matter I care about the most. Ves was the only mech designer who understood me as a man! The Adonis Colossus is such a masterpiece to me that I really can't imagine going back to piloting a normal mech."

"You sound like you're addicted."

Vincent thumped his chest with his palm. "Maybe I am. So what? I became an expert candidate with the help of the Adonis Colossus. That mech just sung to me when I was fighting against the Trost back then. When I went through apotheosis or whatever it's called, me and the Adonis became one during that critical moment. Do you know what I was thinking about when I melded my heart and soul with my living mech?"

"You needed a bigger codpiece?"

"We both wanted to become heroes!" The injured expert candidate claimed. "We both wanted to save the day, attract everyone's admiration and enjoy life at its greatest by bedding the loves of our lives!"

Raella rolled her eyes until she suddenly frowned.

"What do you mean with that last bit?"

Vincent paused and lowered his head. "It's so sad, don't you think? The Adonis Colossus died a virgin. In its short time of existence, it never really got to enjoy the touch of a female mech. Every time I piloted it, my mech would always become more excited whenever a Valkyrie Redeemer flew close. There's just something about the contours of that Hexer mech that caused my Adonis to heat up a bit, both literally and figuratively. It's too bad it will never have the chance to experience life at its most splendid moment!"

"You.. I think you need to see a therapist."

"I'm not crazy! I know what I'm talking about! Our mechs are alive, aren't they? You recently piloted one of the prototypes, so you should know that this is true. Well, let me tell you that they have the same wants and needs as any human. They take after us in a way. What's sad is that unlike us humans, they can't seduce each other on their own accord. They need the cooperation of their mech pilots to relieve their urges. We should do something about it. Don't you think that's a great idea?"

"HELL NO!"