Deep within the Badlands Workshop, the constant low temperature and the rhythmic, inorganic hum of machinery formed an eternal background.
On the specialized medical bed, Sasha Yakovleva's long eyelashes fluttered a few times, catching the light from the complex array of life-support systems. She was struggling at the very edge of a deep, medically induced sleep.
She finally opened her eyes, her gaze first fixed blankly on the metal ceiling above, crisscrossed with pipes and sensors, before stiffly shifting to the sides.
What greeted her were the familiar, worried, and deeply exhausted faces of the Maine Team.
"Sasha! You're awake!" Rebecca was the first to cry out, her green cybernetic eye wide with uncontrollable excitement. She sprang up, ready to pounce on the medical bed, but was instantly snatched by the back of her jacket by Pilar.
"Whoa, my little ancestor, hold your chrome!" Pilar stumbled as he hauled her back, his newly optimized mechanical arm holding firm. "The Boss said she's a precision instrument right now! Calm down!"
"Calm down, my ass! Let go of me, Pilar!" Rebecca twisted, elbowing back hard. "She's been lying here for almost a week! Let me see her!"
"Just look, don't charge over like a cannonball!" Pilar grimaced from the impact but wouldn't release her. "If you break her, you pay for the new parts!"
Dorio stepped in, her movements steady and strong, placing a calming hand on Rebecca's shoulder. "Rebecca, that's enough. Just stand." She turned her attention to the patient. "How are you feeling, Sasha?"
Maine's voice was a low rumble. His tall frame leaned closer, casting a protective shadow, his eyes filled with unconcealed, heavy concern.
Sasha tried to speak, but her throat was too dry. Only a hoarse, ragged gasp escaped. A slender mechanical tentacle extended from the side of the bed, precisely delivering a cool liquid into her throat.
Invigorated, she tried to move her fingers but only felt an unfamiliar heaviness and detachment. She found her vision largely obscured by translucent bio-gel and complex support structures.
"...I..." Her voice was faint and strained. "...am I still alive?"
"Of course you are, you idiot!" Rebecca finally tore free from Pilar's grip, rushing to the bedside, hands on her hips. Her tone was sharp and urgent, yet her eyes were visibly red-rimmed. "You know you almost flatlined for real! If it wasn't for the Boss' crazy tech and us getting you here just in time, you'd be a puddle of—a puddle of unpresentable stuff under the Biotechnica Tower right now!"
Unable to articulate her relief, Rebecca stomped her metal heel sharply on the ground. Falco and Pilar also clustered near, their faces etched with profound relief.
Dorio gently patted Sasha's shoulder. "Don't rush to move. Your body… it has been extensively repaired. You need time to adapt."
The warmth of the team atmosphere caused a brief, comforting ripple in Sasha's icy heart. But the memory surge that followed—Biotechnica, the data, the jump, the betrayal—shattered the comfort. Her eyes lost the confusion of waking, replaced by raw pain and a flicker of desperation. She remembered the price she had paid.
"...The data…" She looked at Maine urgently, her voice trembling slightly. "News 54... Did they... publish it?"
This single question instantly froze the atmosphere in the workshop.
Maine's facial muscles tightened. He took a deep breath, suppressing a wave of exhaustion and frustration. Dorio looked away. Falco pushed up his glasses, silently lowering his head. Pilar nervously rubbed his fingers together.
Rebecca's reaction was explosive: "Publish?! Publish my ass! Sasha! You're a complete and utter idiot! The number one biggest gonk in the world!"
The sharp curses echoed through the workshop, making Sasha involuntarily flinch.
"Rebecca!" Maine growled, trying to intervene.
"Don't stop me, Maine! I'm going to scold this idiot whose brain is filled with cybernetic lubricant until she wakes up!" Rebecca's green cyber-eyes stared fixedly at Sasha, her finger almost poking her nose. "Why didn't you trust us?! Huh?! Did you think if you died, it would all be over? Did you think if you died, Biotechnica would let us go?! Open your eyes and look!
Because of your 'great' self-sacrifice, we're all on Biotechnica's blacklist now! The bounty on us is enough to buy half a street in Watson!"
"Get lost! I'm going to talk!" Rebecca's chest heaved violently. "What do you take us for? Plastic sisters who can only drink together but can't take bullets together?!"
Maine stepped forward, his voice heavy and serious, like a cold boulder crashing into Sasha's heart: "Sasha, Rebecca's words are crude but true. You shouldn't have kept it from us. We're a team, we're family. Family means facing difficulties together, facing dangers together. Excluding us, that's what hurts the most."
Sasha's face grew even paler, her lips trembling, but she couldn't make a sound.
Maine continued, his tone a heartbreakingly calm analysis: "You pinned your hopes on News 54; that was always a massive gamble. The ties between those big media outlets and corporations are deeper than you can imagine. They might criticize minor news, but when it comes to core drug scandals, things that could shake a corporation's foundation, their first consideration is their own survival.
As of today, it's been almost a week since your incident. Has News 54 made any moves? No. They chose silence, or rather, they were persuaded into silence."
This news was the final, devastating straw. The last faint glimmer of light in her eyes extinguished, replaced by a dead, gray emptiness. She had exchanged her life for nothing. All the effort and sacrifice were in vain. Tears silently streamed from the corners of her eyes, mixing into the cold bio-gel. She closed her eyes, seeking to shut out the entire unforgiving world.