Chapter 4
Metal Arms

Kourindou was that one place the residents of Gensokyo would go to if they wanted to see items from the outside world. The owner of the store, Rinnosuke, claimed to have lots of knowledge when it comes to outside world items and knew at first glance what they were capable of. Despite this, he did not exactly know how to operate them, and his supposedly accurate claims of what they were capable of were not always accurate and were at times exaggerated.

Shizuha had become more and more curious about the outside world after getting to know Akemi. From her conversation with her the first time, Shizuha could tell that she really didn't like the kind of life that the residents of Gensokyo were living, so this made her wonder how life was really like in the outside world. As a result, she was at Kourindou to see if she could find the answer to that herself.

The goddess walked around the place, looking at the various outside world items placed on the shelves and tables. She was familiar with some of the things, but there were some that she was unfamiliar with or had never seen before. Picking up a handheld device that had two screens, she said to Rinnosuke, who was standing behind the counter, without turning her head, "I've seen this kind of thing before, but the one I saw had both its screens the same size. This one has the upper screen larger than the bottom one. Is it a new model?"

"According to Yukari, that is supposed to be an entirely different device, but it is still related to the one you said having both screens the same size," Rinnosuke replid. "Like the one you said, it is capable of creating artificial worlds and creatures and then controlling and destroying them. Being able to do such incredible things… Thanks goodness it doesn't involve the real world…"

Shizuha put the handheld device away and then continued looking at the various items. She then asked Rinnosuke, "Do you know how life in the outside world is like?"

"Well, to be honest, I don't know the answer to that either," Rinnosuke replied. "I myself have never gone to the outside world. I tried to emulate the kind of lifestyle there by making use of the items I have, but it seems that I cannot truly obtain that kind of feeling they have out there. What I mean is… you can't seem to truly understand how life in the outside world is like unless you live there yourself. Simply having outside world items isn't enough. I also can't use some of the items properly… I'm sorry that I couldn't answer your question…"

"It's all right," Shizuha said as she turned to him. "I can get answers elsewhere. Thanks for letting me take a look around here! The collection here has grown since the last time I came here, and there are more and more things I haven't seen before, too!"

"You're welcome to come here whenever you want to! The collection here grows every once in a while, so you should come often if you want to see new things!" Rinnosuke told her.

The goddess stepped outside Kourindou and then took flight. As she was soaring through the sky, she tried to think of people she knew that came here from the outside world to see if they could give her an answer regarding how life was like out there. "Perhaps the wind priestess can help," she thought, and so she headed for Youkai Mountain.

"How life is like in the outside world?" Sanae curiously said when Shizuha asked her the question, and the latter nodded. "Well, let me think… Honestly saying, I've been here for quite a while that I'm actually starting to forget how life was like out there… Things must've changed a lot ever since I came here…"

"Can you tell me what you remember?" Shizuha asked her.

"Let me think…" Sanae said with her finger placed against her face. "Young people out there go to school to study and obtain knowledge… I also went to school, and I remember not getting along very well with the students there. None of them believe in the existence of supernatural stuff and deities, so they laugh at me when I tell them about Mistress Kanako and Mistress Suwako. In fact, almost everyone out there no longer believes in gods, demons, ghosts, and other supernatural things. People who believe in those things tend to get laughed at. You know, thinking about this makes me mad, because it reminds me of the days I got laughed at!"

"Um… You don't have to say anything anymore if it makes you mad… It's all right…" Shizuha said to her.

"And speaking of school, I was never really that good in my studies, so my grades tend to be below average," Sanae continued. "My teacher lectured me often, and some of the students would laugh at me for not being bright. They keep on calling me a weirdo! Also, what's wrong with girls liking science fiction and mecha anime? Who said girls must always like dolls, ponies, and cute stuff? I prefer giant robots, space, and other kinds of awesome stuff that attract boys! The female students in my class called me a weirdo for liking things boys like, so they stay away from me! Is there no freedom in this world anymore?!"

The wind priestess continued to rant angrily about her not-so-pleasant life in the outside world. Shizuha, not wanting to hear her rant anymore, told her that she was going to take her leave, and then she left, but she also thanked her for sharing a bit of information.

"Not sure if she was the best person to ask about this…" the goddess said in her head. "From the sound of it, life outside may not be all that pleasing… If that really is so, then why does Akemi hate life here so much that she wants to make it more like the outside world? Maybe it's like what Rinnosuke said: you can't truly understand how life in the outside world is like unless you live there yourself."

At the science lab, Kanako and Akemi were together in a room, the former sitting in front of a business desk, and she didn't look too pleased. "I would never have thought that you would go this far to try to build a movie theater!" Kanako said to Akemi, who didn't dare look up. "Trying to obtain a construction spot through burning a flower field? I would never accept that! Just because I want to renovate Gensokyo doesn't mean I'm willing to destroy nature in such a way to achieve my goal! Are you listening to me?"

Akemi nodded slightly without raising her head.

"Look what you ended up doing trying to burn the field! You made a foolish decision that nearly took your life!" Kanako continued. "Anyway, the plan to build a movie theater will be put on hiatus for now. There are several other ways we can try if we want the people here to become interested in the outside world. From now on, you are not allowed to make your own rash decisions without commands from your superiors! Did you hear everything I said?"

"Yes…" Akemi said without raising her head.

"I hope you understood everything and will learn from a lesson. By the way, I will grant you your request of having cybernetic arms," Kanako told her. "Our scientists will try their best to make them for you, but please do know that they can't guarantee it making your life easier. You will have to cope with your way of living if that's the case."

"I will," Akemi said.

"I do hope that they succeed and that you can still live a normal life and continue working here," Kanako said to her. "You are smart, talented, and enthusiastic, so not having you working with us… Let's just say that you are an important part of us, so we wish that you can continue working with us to make Gensokyo a better place."

"I will. This is the only place here that I like," Akemi told her. "Even if I can no longer work for you, I still wish to live here."

"I can try to arrange for you to be sent back to the outside world, too," Kanako told her. "It depends on if Yukari is in the mood to help you, though… She's not the kind of person who can be convinced easily…"

There was a knock on the door, so Kanako told the person to come in. Nitori poked her head into the room and said, "Excuse me for interrupting you, but we need Akemi here in order to determine the measurements for the cybernetic arms."

"Oh, then she can go with you," Kanako told her. "Go now, Akemi. This is your chance to have arms once again!"

"Okay," Akemi said as she stood up. "I'll be taking my leave now."

"Good luck!" Kanako said to her.

Nitori and Akemi went into a room where Rikako and a few scientists were. "They want the arms to suit you perfectly and comfortably," Nitori said to Akemi. "Therefore, they need more information on your body build in order to determine the size and appearance of the arms."

"Can I ask for the arms to have, like, shapeshifting functions?" Akemi asked. "Make it transform into things like swords, guns, and more! It would be cool if it can extend and retract like the mechanical arms in your backpack, too!"

"You sure are asking for a lot…" Rikako said when she heard what Akemi said. "For now, let's just determine the measurements of the arms first, and then we'll go into details and what sort of functions it can have."

Days passed by in Gensokyo, and life was quiet and normal for the residents.

Farmers continued to harvest their crops, while Minoriko continued giving them their blessings. Shizuha continued to wander around the place, looking for trees that still had their leaves and then kicking them to make the latter fall down.

Reimu continued to spent time in her shrine through eating and sleeping, though she would occasionally sweep away the leaves in the yard if Ruukoto was busy with cleaning up other things. Marisa and Suika occasionally paid her visits, and the latter ended up living in her shrine. When Reimu asked her when she was going to leave, the oni replied that she would be staying until she felt like leaving, and that it might be around next year.

Shizuha occasionally went to Kourindou to see if there were anything new. One time, she met Yukari, who brought back some new things from the outside world. Seeing that this was the perfect opportunity to learn more about the outside world, Shizuha asked the demon of boundaries for information about it. Luckily for her, Yukari was in a good mood, so she answered her question.

There was one time when Shizuha went to Keine to talk to her about Akemi. Since Keine was the first person Akemi really got to know when the latter came to Gensokyo, Shizuha figured that the were-hakutaku would know a lot about her.

While all this was happening, Akemi's cybernetic arms were being designed by the scientists in the lab. The final design and the functions it would have were decided, so the scientists got busy with developing the arms.

While the arms were being developed, Akemi continued her days in the lab, doing nothing but relaxing. Due to being armless, she had to be served by people in more or less every matter, such as eating and opening doors. She didn't like this kind of life, as not being able to do certain things by herself proved to be frustrating. Not a single day went by did she wished for the cybernetic arms to be finished soon.

After a month of waiting, her patience finally paid off…

"Well, what do you think?" Rikako asked Akemi, who was looking at her arms in awe. "This is the first time we did something related to attaching mechanical parts to flesh, so we're not sure if it's perfect or not. Maybe you should try moving them around to see if you find them comfortable or not."

Akemi couldn't believe it. Not only did she have arms once again, but they were mechanical arms. Because of this, her arms stood out from the rest of her body in the way that they were metallic and gray. Despite being made of metal, the arms were as light as ordinary arms, so Akemi found that she had no problem moving and swinging them around. In fact, movement was very flexible, so it felt as if her arms were real.

"I can't believe it… I actually have… cybernetic arms!" Akemi said in disbelief. "They feel… They feel… great!"

Rikako and the scientists who helped smiled. "Good to hear that you like it!" Rikako said to her. "We also gave you some of the functions you wish for it to have, and they can be performed as easily as thinking!"

"Really? Awesome! What are the functions it has?" Akemi asked her.

"Well, for starters…" Rikako said as two scientists brought over a whiteboard that had a blueprint of her cybernetic arms on it. "Since you do lots of engineering work here, we'd figure that it would be convenient for you if you can change your hands into various kinds of tools, such as a wrench, a hammer, and a screwdriver."

"Really?" Akemi said as she looked at her hand, and suddenly, it changed into a screwdriver. "Whoa!"

"See? You only have to think to make it change!" Rikako told her.

"This is so cool!" Akemi exclaimed with sparkling eyes.

"For self-defense, we also allowed them to change into blades. No, arm cannons weren't implemented, as we didn't find the need for them," Rikako continued. "Another function is that you can extend the length of your hands up fifteen meters. We could have made it longer, but there wasn't enough space inside your arm for storing the wire. Speaking of which, we used a special kind of wire that is very flexible and can carry heavy objects without snapping, and speaking of heavy objects, your arms allow you to carry objects that are several times your weight with little effort. I believe you can carry up to one hundred kilograms without breaking a sweat.

"Another thing to remind you is that each of your arms is installed with a special kind of computer chip that allows them to perform tasks faster than your usual speed, not to mention with better precision. Something that normally takes an hour to complete can be completed faster if you're the one doing it!"

"Wow! I can't believe this is real!" Akemi said while looking at her arms. "This is too good to be true!"

A short while had passed, and Akemi had already left the room where she was given the cybernetic arms. She walked into the room where the workers hang out during break periods. There, they spent their time watching television, reading the newspaper and magazines, playing board games and handheld games, and eating snacks. Akemi intentionally clapped her hands together to make the sound of metal hitting against each other, and then the workers turned to her and saw her cybernetic arms, so several of them crowded around her in excitement and curiosity to look at her brand new arms.

"Wow! You actually got yourself cybernetic arms!"

"Can I touch it?"

"This is so cool!"

"How do they feel like?"

"Please let me take a picture of them!"

"Please let me take a picture with you!"

"I've never seen something like this before!"

"Awesome!"

"What can you do with them?"

Akemi felt great being able to attract lots of attention and getting praised nonstop. Since nobody in Gensokyo had cybernetic body parts, she felt very special being the first person ever in this place to have them. To show off to the workers what she could do, she lifted a nearby table into the air by one of its legs using only one hand, a feat that made everyone clap hands nonstop.

After placing the table back down, Akemi took out a coin and then extended her hand in the direction of a vending machine, inserted the coin into its coin slot, pressed a button, and then grabbed the can of juice that came out of the bottom before retracting her hand. Once again, everyone was amazed and clapped hands nonstop upon seeing this.

"This feels good!" Akemi said as she opened the can to drink from it. "I can listen to them praise me all day!"

A short while passed, and the workers went back to doing their own businesses. Akemi walked up to the sofa and sat down on it to watch TV. She flipped through the channels using the remote control until she came across a news report talking about how the body of a man was found in a forest. Investigation revealed that this man accidentally drove off the cliff in his car and rolled down a tall cliff before crashing into the forest. He survived several days in the forest, trying to find his way back to civilization, but finally succumbed to injuries and malnutrition when he was only about half a mile from a town.

"Poor guy…" said a fairy was who sitting next to Akemi. "He was so close to making it…" Then she noticed Akemi standing up and leaving.

Akemi returned to her office. Sitting down behind her desk, she thought of the news report she just saw earlier with her head lowered, about how the man survived several days in the forest, trying to find his way out, only to die in the end.

The more she thought about this, the more she started to think of something specific, and the more she thought about that, the more her body trembled and sweated. In her mind, she saw trees… Trees everywhere…

Then she saw the wrecked remains of a plane that was still releasing smoke… Then she saw injured people…

The more she thought about this, the more violently her body trembled, and then her head fell to the desk with her hands on top of the former.

She saw a wild animal… A large cat… A jaguar, to be precise…

Then she heard a roar… It was followed by screams…

Then she heard herself calling out to her father…

She saw two children and a woman running…

Wild animals everywhere…

There were screams…

A dead body…

Another dead body…

She heard herself crying out to her mother, and then to her older brother…

More screams…

Finally, she saw her younger self sitting inside a hollow tree, crying bitterly, while a violent storm raged on outside.

Suddenly, Akemi woke up with a scream and with sweat running down all over her body. Breathing heavily, she looked around to see that she was still in her office. After wiping off the sweat on her face with a piece of cloth, Akemi lowered her head slightly and started to think of something.

"The reason I studied architecture, science and technology, engineering, and various other related courses… The reason I took all those courses…" she said in her head. "It's all for… It's…" Then she raised her head slightly, her face showing a somewhat malicious-looking expression. "I will cut down all the trees in the world! I will either kill or lock up every single wild animal in this world! I will make every inhabitable place in the world habitable! I will remove nature from the face of the world entirely! I will industrialize the WHOLE WORLD! THE WHOLE WORLD!"

TO BE CONTINUED

Just to make it clear, Akemi did not lose her arms up the shoulders. She only lost her arms up to the part a bit below the shoulders.

Having two cybernetic arms may make some people think of Jax from the Mortal Kombat series, but I can't say he is my inspiration for giving her cybernetic arms. I originally intended for her to develop some kind of superhuman ability due to an accident, but somehow, that idea changed into giving her a mechanical arm. It was supposed to be only one arm, but after brainstorming for ways for her to lose her arm, I ended up making her lose both her arms in the way you saw in the previous chapter, so the Jax reference is actually unintentional.