So white… so bright… where am I?

Sham slowly opened her eyes, the light very overwhelming. It felt like the whole room was spinning.

Apparently someone spotted Sham's eyes opening, because something was said in English. Instantly, Sham was filled with dread as she remembered that she never escaped and that her savior likely died in an explosion. MOUNTAIN certainly got her back!

Sham tried to sit up, but the voice said "No, you no move yet!" in a heavy accent.

Sham's eyes widened. Was that a threat?

"It's okay," another man's voice said in a soothing tone with perfect Japanese. "How are you feeling?"

The man who owned this voice walked into view, standing over Sham who was in a lying position with an expression of concern. While it appeared he might be blind in one eye, the other was that same sort of bright caring blue that the child she saved before had. His hair was silver like hers too, and he wore glasses. Despite the scar that covered a good portion of the man's left cheek and the bandage that graced the right side, he somehow looked extremely nice and trustworthy. Like he was someone you could always count on to help you out.

"H-huh?" Sham asked. "What's going on? Where am I?"

"The answer's going to scare you a bit more than it should," a young girl's voice explained. She walked forward, and sure enough, Sham could now tell that THIS was the girl she saved before. She seemed uninjured. "This is the base for ALTITUDE, a side branch of MOUNTAIN that's meant for cleaning up the disasters made by the war. Fixing buildings and the like. But really, we aren't ANYBODY'S enemy in the war, we just want it over so we can fix everything. We've already assumed you're from SHORE, along with the girl you came with, but we mean you absolutely no harm."

"The girl I came with!" Sham exclaimed in realization. "Is she okay? Where is she?"

"She is merely sleeping in other room," the man explained. "She was caught almost directly in the explosion that you saved my daughter from, but she doesn't actually seem very injured. SHORE's Weapon Girls never cease to amaze me."

"...Your daughter?"

Sham looked at the man, and then the girl. They looked so similar, she almost felt silly now for not noticing sooner that they must be related.

"I wanted to thank you," the man said now. "You don't know how grateful I am."

"Me too," the girl added. "I don't know what would have happened if… if you weren't there."

"I…" Sham looked at the two. They SEEMED genuine. "What were you doing at the MOUNTAIN base?" Sham asked.

"As I've said, ALTITUDE is technically under the umbrella of MOUNTAIN," the girl said. "They wanted to see my father for a report, and I wandered off. I had no idea they had kidnapped someone, or that a breakout was in progress." The girl smiled. "My name is Suguri."

"I'm Sham," Sham responded, hoping her name wouldn't be a problem.

"Well, I owe a great deal to you, Sham," the man said now. "You saved my beloved daughter. I don't know how I can ever repay you."

Sham felt a pang of emotion bolt through her. …What was this feeling? Seeing this man care so much… he clearly loved Suguri a lot. She guessed… she might be jealous. That they had such a close father-daughter relationship.

"I think I just need to get home now," Sham said, trying to stand up.

But she couldn't figure out how to move her left leg.

Suddenly, she was aware of the fact that it didn't even feel like she HAD a left leg.

Sham let out a scream. "What happened to me?!" she asked.

"It's okay," Suguri's father assured her. "It's natural for you not to feel your limbs after a burn that serious. I've cleaned it up, of course, but you'll need physical therapy to learn to use them again."

"...How bad is it?"

"Fourth degree," Suguri said sadly. "I'm so sorry!" she added, nearly in tears. "You saved my life, and there's nothing I can do to help you! Even when you can move everything again, your skin will be scarred forever. And you will probably never be able to feel anything in those areas, either."

Sham gasped. "N-never?"

"I'm sorry," Suguri repeated, crying.

"Your friend," Suguri's father said, "she didn't get burnt at all despite being much closer to the blast than you were. Perhaps SHORE knows how to help you?"

"I doubt it," Sham responded. "She was probably born with that ability. Fa- the one who makes the Weapon Girls only enhances their pre-existing talents. She was probably already immune to fire before she was discovered."

"I see," Suguri's father said. "Still, it would be better to get you home, so you can begin proper treatment. I'm sure your parents are very worried about you."

"Heh, more waiting to lecture me, I think," Sham responded. "But Suguri?"

"Y-yeah?" she managed between tears.

"It's okay if I'm scarred," Sham assured her. "I CHOSE to protect you, and I don't regret it. I've always wanted to be the kind of person who could help people, too."

Suguri smiled a soft sort of smile that somehow felt like it had power behind it. "You're a really good person, Sham. I wish there were more people in the world like you."

"There are," Sham responded. "They just don't often get to be."

Suguri stared at her with surprise for a moment, before her smile returned. "I guess you're right."

Suguri paused, then said "I hope I get to see you again someday."

"Me too," Sham responded, and she meant it despite barely knowing this girl at all.

Sham gave a smile, even though it felt so strange doing so without feeling in her left cheek.

"PROFESSOR! PROFESSOR! PROFESSOR!" the redhead shouted as she ran through a SHORE base Sham had never been to before. The redhead was carrying Sham as she ran, shaking her up quite a bit which really didn't help Sham's still-aching head but she didn't feel like asking the girl to calm down, either. She wanted to get to Shifu quickly, too.

The redhead finally found him in his office here, looking over some paperwork. "THERE you are, Kae!" Shifu exclaimed angrily. "Your report was ridiculously uninformative!"

"I swear it wasn't my fault, professor!" Kae exclaimed in near tears. "It wasn't me!"

"What wasn't-" Shifu finally looked up and spotted Sham all bandaged up. "Sh-Sham?"

Sham tried to get out of Kae's arms to rush over to Shifu, but she was still having a hard time even MOVING the left half of her body. Instead, she just unceremoniously FELL out of Kae's arms and onto the floor.

Shifu quickly crouched down to figure out what was going on, and Sham pulled him closer with her good arm.

"T-today's been a REALLY bad day…" Sham told him between tears.

"I TOLD you to stay out of trouble!" Shifu scolded, but his heart wasn't in it. "What happened?" he asked softer.

"I got kidnapped by MOUNTAIN and now I'm covered in scars from an explosion and I was 95% sure I wasn't going to make it out of there alive."

Shifu let out a sigh. "We should look at those injuries first, then we'll talk about the rest. Kae, tell Kyoko to meet me in the operation room. I'll deal with you later."

Kae's eyes widened, but she rushed off. "Can you walk?" Shifu asked Sham.

"No," Sham responded. "I can't even move my leg right now… I'll be able to walk in the future though, right? You can fix it, right?"

"I don't know right now!" Shifu snapped. "I need to get a look at it!" He sighed, seemingly annoyed that he sent Kae away with Sham still on the ground. Then, with no other option, he picked Sham up, carrying her himself.

Sham buried her face into him, taking in his scent. It was comforting to her, even if it was a little unfamiliar. It still somehow made her feel safe. Like things would be okay after all.

Shifu rushed Sham over to a room full of scary looking tools and equipment with a sort of table for people in the center. There was a way to strap people down on it, but obviously Shifu didn't need to do that for this.

In the room already was a teenage girl with long purple hair, red glasses, and a white coat. She gasped upon seeing Sham. "Professor… isn't that… your daughter?" she asked with concern.

"Yes, Kyoko, she is," Shifu snapped. "But that's not the concern right now, is it?"

The girl promptly apologized, but Sham couldn't help but stare at her. She looked so familiar.

Almost instinctively, Sham reached out and grabbed the girl's hand. It was ice cold, as Sham somehow knew it would be.

"I know who you are!" Sham said, despite this being so unimportant right now. "You're the first ever Weapon Girl! The one who saved my life all those years ago!"

Kyoko fixed her glasses. "U-umm… yes. That's me. I'm surprised YOU remember that, though. It was so long ago I couldn't even fly back then."

"Of course I remember," Sham responded with a smile. "I wouldn't be alive if it weren't for you. So thank you."

"Now is NOT THE TIME!" Shifu snapped. "Sham, where did the bandages come from?"

"Umm…" there was no good answer for that, was there? "A doctor…? I think?" How could she even explain that man?

"Wonderful," Shifu responded sarcastically. "Alright, let's get a look."

Shifu carefully began unwrapping the bandages, and for the first time Sham could SEE just how bad the burns were. Her skin was so uneven and it was severely darkened.

"It won't be that noticeable when it heals, right?" Sham asked.

"We should put her to sleep," Shifu said to Kyoko. "Get the anesthetic."

"Dad?" Sham asked.

"I'm going to see what I can do. It seems to have already been cleaned, but…"

Tears in her eyes, Sham asked "You can fix it, right?"

Kyoko pulled over an IV that she had attached a fresh bag to. "Can I see your good arm for just a moment?" she asked sweetly, though it didn't match her face.

"I-I…"

Kyoko rubbed a spot on Sham's arm with a pad that smelled like alcohol, then injected her with a needle. Before Sham knew it, she was asleep.

Sham's head still hurt when she awoke. She tried to climb out of the bed she was in, but even still the left part of her body was more like a foreign object than limbs that had been attached to her for her whole life. They were basically useless.

By looking around at the curtains that surrounded her, she could tell she was in the infirmary. Surely someone would check on her soon and tell her what was going on, but for now, she was alone.

One thing that obtaining Nath as a friend had taught Sham is that she absolutely, positively hated being alone.

Sham sighed. She was scared and alone and there was nothing she could do about it.

Well, maybe that wasn't COMPLETELY true. She knew she was fake, of course, but that hadn't stopped the fact that Sham still sometimes talked to her imaginary friend when she had no one else she could turn to. Usually while she was trying to work out an error with a robot she was building or something, but also for times like this.

"Yuki, are you there?" Sham asked out loud.

"Of course I am," the imaginary voice responded. Sham MADE her respond that way, but even still, it was comforting. In her mind's eye, Sham could see the gray haired girl with surprising fluffy black cat ears staring back at her expectantly. "What d'you need?"

"I'm scared," Sham admitted, though doing so somehow made her feel like she just lost cool points with her own cool-as-heck imaginary friend. "And there's no one around."

"No point in being scared, right?" 'Yuki' asked her. "Do somethin' to cheer yourself up."

"Like what?" Sham asked.

"Hmm…" 'Yuki' responded, of course not knowing something Sham hadn't thought of herself. But in a way, thinking for Yuki helped Sham think things through herself, and 'Yuki' said "Try singing somethin' cheerful. Music cheers everyone up, right?"

"You're right Yuki, thanks!" Sham exclaimed, already feeling a little bit better.

"Anytime," her imaginary friend responded with a salute before dissolving away back into just Sham's memory once again.

Then Sham closed her eyes, and thought about the most cheerful songs she's ever heard. Of course, they were all old pre-war songs, but she loved them, and belted them out as loudly as she could.

But of course, such an act would certainly draw the attention of people nearby. Only a few minutes later, someone peeked in through the curtain to check on her.

"Sham? You're awake?" the girl's voice asked. Sham recognized that voice easily.

"Saki?!" Sham responded, and Saki stepped in.

"I heard you were hurt, but I had no idea it was that bad!" Saki exclaimed. "How do you feel?"

"Heh, I've been better," Sham responded, not about to tell Saki that she was talking to essentially herself just a few moments ago.

"Lonely?" Saki asked anyway.

"...Maybe a little."

"Muh-huh! I have an idea!" Saki exclaimed. "I'll be back in just a second. Are you hungry?"

"...I think so…" Sham responded, though her stomach was kind of in knots with nerves about her skin's fate. Still, she could almost hear Nath's voice nagging her that not eating would just make it take longer for her to heal.

"Be right back!" Saki assured Sham before flying out at top speeds.

Sham was stuck with a few moments of loneliness again. She missed Nath. And Sora, too. Even this infirmary felt weird because it wasn't the infirmary she SHOULD be in. Though it had only really been a few days, it felt like eternity since Sham had been in that singular base she had spent nearly her entire life in, and she was feeling homesick.

But her moments to dwell passed when Saki re-entered, carrying two breakfast trays. "I brought a friend, too!" Saki told Sham, before a green haired girl also entered the curtained area.

"Woah, what happened to you?" the green haired girl asked. She appeared to be younger than Sora and Saki by like, a couple years, maybe? She didn't sound concerned, though. More just… in awe, really.

"...I got hit by an explosion…" Sham admitted embarrassedly. "Nearly dead on."

"I bet the scars will look SOOO COOL!" the green haired girl told her.

"You think?" Sham asked.

"Yeah, definitely! And if you did something cool LEADING to you being near the explosion, you can wear those scars with pride, y'know? I'm Iru, by the way."

"I'm Sham," Sham said with a smile, finally feeling a little less insecure about what happened.

"I thought we could all have breakfast together, if you're feeling up to it," Saki said, setting up a mini-table by the bed Sham was at and setting a tray down for her. "Rules tend to be a bit more lax on days like today, so I don't think it'll be a problem."

"What's today?" Sham asked, suddenly realizing just how hungry she was upon smelling the food.

"You haven't heard?" Iru asked, taking a bite of her breakfast. "The professor's officially altering the newest Weapon Girl today."

Sham had taken a large bite herself, and had to chew a little before asking "The one that can control seven objects?" with a little bit of food still in her mouth.

"Her name's Nanako," Saki explained. "Youngest alteration to date, at only three, so I bet she'll have to get maintenance done SO OFTEN until she gets a bit older. The little Weapons always grow out of their alterations so fast, you know? They have to get tune ups all the time. I mean, Iru was only altered about six months ago and she's already had to have maintenance done on her twice. "

Saki wasn't really all that big herself, but Sham wasn't about to tell her that.

"I heard Nanako was a technician's daughter," Iru added. "That's how they found her almost immediately after she was born. Poor thing was barely a month old when she was dragged into this place so they could begin properly testing her potential. Her parents gave her up without an ounce of a fight and decided to never come to this base so they'd never see her again."

"She never stood a chance," Saki said, trying to stay light-hearted in nature despite the deepness of her words. "Not much of a childhood here, either."

"Ugh," Sham said with disgust. "My father would SO do that to someone…"

"Wait, you're the professor's kid?" Iru asked.

"Yeah, keep up!" Saki told her.

"You're just nothing like him is all," Iru clarified.

"That's one of the best compliments you could give me," Sham responded with a playful smile.

"So what's he like when he's not in work mode?" Iru asked.

"I don't know if he HAS a non-work mode," Sham told Iru. "He's kind of a stick in the mud through-and-through."

"Heh," Saki added, "I bet he wouldn't know 'fun' if it bit him!"

"Oh I wouldn't, would I?" a familiar voice asked from behind the curtain.

"Mau!" Saki exclaimed in surprise, and both she and Iru tensed up.

"Uh, hi, dad!" Sham said as Shifu pushed past the curtain and came into view for all of them.

Shifu glared at the two Weapon Girls. "Saki, Iru, if you have time to gossip, you SHOULD be training."

"Yes, sir!" Saki exclaimed, leaving quickly.

"Right away, sir!" Iru added, following Saki.

"I guess you're feeling better then," Shifu said to Sham pointedly.

"U-uhh…"

"Can you move?" Shifu asked with a sigh.

"Not my injured limbs," Sham told him. "My face feels weird, too."

"As expected," Shifu stated. "Some physical therapy should help you learn to move them once again, though it will take some time."

"And the scars?" Sham asked, hoping Suguri had been wrong.

"Sham, I'm going to be honest - those scars are going to be very noticeable forever. They're not going away."

Sham's eyes drifted to the ground sadly. "I'll be able to move fully again one day though, right? How can I build robots if I can't use one of my hands?"

"You'll be able to use it," Shifu snapped. "You'll be fine. Regardless, I don't have much time to spare. I wanted to offer you a proposition, seen as you can't do much right now. You're welcome to stay put here if that's what you so desire, but alternatively, you can come to the observation room so you can watch the alteration process of a Weapon Girl first hand. It would be good for you to start to learn about these sorts of skills."

"The alteration process of a Weapon Girl?"

The idea terrified Sham of course, but it was also strangely intriguing. She's always been curious about how exactly the process worked. And it's not like she wanted to sit here alone again…

"'Kay!" she responded cheerfully.

"I don't particularly have time to teach you to move on your own right now…" Shifu mentioned. "I suppose I'll just have to wheel you there."

And so that's how Sham ended up in a wheelchair in front of a couple different screens showing the room she had been in just last night, but this time there was a lot more equipment set up. On the operation table in the center was a tiny little purple haired girl, sleeping so soundly it was as if she had no idea what was coming at all. Of course, she was drugged into that sleep, but she LOOKED peaceful.

And then Sham watched as her father cut the girl open, replacing her inner-workings with new ones, and Sham was filled with a morbid sort of curiosity she wished she didn't have within herself.

It didn't make her like her father to be curious about what he did, right?

The alteration took the entire day and well into the night, yet Sham stayed alert throughout the entire process. Apparently it would take a while longer for the girl to recover enough to be woken up, so Sham assumed she wouldn't be here to see it. However, she learned that would NOT be the case the following day.

Kyoko walked into the curtained-off area of the infirmary that Sham was currently staying in. "How are you doing?" Kyoko asked.

"Heh, how exactly should I answer that?" Sham asked her in return, trying to keep her tone playful.

"Fair point," Kyoko responded. "That's actually what I was sent in here to talk to you about."

"Hmm?"

"Your injuries - they're not the type that will go away on their own. The wounds will seal eventually, of course, but if you want to use that side of your body again, you're going to have to work at it. That's why the professor wants you to stay here for a little while."

"Wait, what?" Sham asked. "What do you mean 'a little while'? I want to go home! I want to see Nath and Sora again! Can't I do the physical therapy at the main base?"

"I'm sorry, that's what he said. Just until you can learn to move properly again. And… when you've learned something else, too."

"Learned what?" Sham asked.

"I'll just preface this by saying - you're not a Weapon Girl. You don't have the strength of one, nor are you expected to fight like one. But… you were asleep for a bit longer than you might've originally assumed after you arrived here."

"What do you mean?" Sham asked. "What are you talking about?"

"I mean… your father was worried about you, Sham. He was worried you could get into more situations like the one you were in with no way to escape. So he wanted to GIVE YOU that way. That's why…"

Kyoko looked Sham dead in the eyes. "With all of the chaos, I don't think you've noticed yet, but Sham, you've been altered."

Sham's eyes went wide, and she wasn't even sure this was real. "I… I'm unique and powerful…? Like Nath and Sora and everyone else?" A huge smile spread across Sham's face. "This is the best. Day. EVER!"