Chapter 36: Burned Anew
Every fiber of Levi's body pulled taut, every nerve screaming. It felt like he was being filled with fire—pressurized, ready to explode.
Pain ripped through his skull, a splintering agony that twisted and spread, like a tree of glass trying to grow inside his brain—only to shatter, again and again.
Edmond and Rufus stepped back.
The machine shuddered, hanging over Levi like a dying beast, bucking as its gears strained.
Inside Levi's chest, the valve wasn't moving.
A high-pitched scream ripped from the core, piercing the air. Steam jetted from his chest, hissing in furious bursts that filled the room with blistering heat.
"Turn it off!"
Edmond lunged for Maggie, arm outstretched—
Ssst!
A jet of scalding steam shot out, burning his forearm, forcing him back.
"Maggie! Turn it off!"
She didn't respond.
Eyes locked on her goggles readouts, she gripped the lever, sweat dripping from her temple, fingers trembling.
"Au diable avec ça!"
She threw the lever.
The machine roared.
Its Pneuma Core howled, gears screaming as it forced everything it had into Levi's core.
HSSSSSHHHH!
Between the high-pitched whine of the machine and the roaring steam, no one heard Levi's scream when it finally tore from his throat.
The flames inside him turned to molten steel the moment the pressure spiked.
But he felt it.
The valve moved.
A fraction—then more.
The lava crawled up his spine, seeped into his skull, boiled into his eyes.
The machine's screeching lessened as the valve forced itself open, grinding inch by inch until—
TSSNK!
Levi lurched, back arching as a burst of white-hot steam vented from his arm, the pressure inside him finding release.
Maggie moved fast, flipping a series of switches and lifting the machine away from his core.
Then she threw herself on top of him, pinning him down as his body seized.
"Help!"
Edmond rushed in, grabbing Levi's arms just in time to stop him. His hands were twisting toward his own face, fingers clawing for his eyes.
He was moments from ripping them out.
He couldn't help it. The pain had taken over. His body begged for relief, every nerve screaming for him to tear out the source, to end it.
But slowly—
His body calmed.
The hissing vents from his arm faded, the pressure inside him finally stabilizing.
Edmond's breath hitched when he saw blood leaking from Levi's ears and nose.
But Maggie didn't flinch.
Pulling the cord from her goggles, she snapped it to her shoulder port, her fingers pressing firm against Levi's chest.
Lines of text flickered across her lenses.
She focused.
"Did it work?"
Maggie ignored Rufus, her eyes scanning the data flashing across her goggles.
The tension stretched, each second dragging. Then—finally—she let out a breath.
"It worked. Dieu merci. He will be fine."
"Fine?... Feel like I got my head smashed in with a lemon wrapped gold brick."
Levi groaned. He raised a shaky hand to his head, rubbing his eyes. His body still burned, the phantom heat of near-death clinging to him.
But it was over. And he could already tell—something changed.
He hadn't opened his eyes yet, but the glow behind his eyelids was different. Sharper. Stronger.
He could see the veins running through them.
"Do not move yet. Unless you want to vomit, I suggest you stay zere with your eyes closed for a while."
She disappeared into the bathroom. The sound of running water filled the room before she returned, a dripping wet rag in hand.
She flopped it onto his forehead.
Levi moaned. The instant relief made him sink into the table as the rag steamed.
Rufus rubbed his arm as he watched the steam rise.
"That was some of the craziest shit I ever seen. Ain't never seen augments linked like that."
"It's because of his core."
Maggie walked up to the machine, resting a hand on its frame, her goggles still running calculations.
"Zis machine is designed to handle ze feedback from his core. Without it, if zat valve had opened even a sliver without control—zis entire shipyard would be gone. Poof."
Rufus paled. His eyes flicked to Levi's chest, then back to Maggie.
"Next time, I ain't comin', ya hear, Edmond? We coulda died just now!"
He lit a smoke with shaky hands, side-eyeing Maggie like she was a damn lunatic.
"Big cyclops baby."
"Would ya all mind shuttin' up?"
Levi grumbled, pressing the rag harder over his eyes.
"Your voices are killin' me."
Maggie grabbed the steel plate, reattaching the cover to his chest with a soft hiss.
Then, without a word, she took the rag, re-wet it, and placed it back.
Turning to Edmond and Rufus, she waved them off.
"Zis will take a while. I will send him home when he is ready."
Both men exchanged a look, then glanced back at Levi.
"Shoo, shoo. Ze proud parents must wait outside. Now go!"
She pushed them toward the door, and Edmond caught it.
A faint red creeping across her cheeks.
He didn't say a word. Just grabbed Rufus by the shoulder and led him out.
As soon as the door clicked shut, Maggie turned back.
Her face was still flushed.
"Now take your time. I will be reading ze results from your diagnostics. So do not worry."
Her eyes drifted—
To his bare chest. Rising and falling, covered in sweat.
She shuffled some papers. Moved them around. Pretended to read.
Every now and then, she adjusted her glasses.
Anything to seem busy.
----
Panic.
Levi shot up, breath heavy, chest tight. The dream—no, the memory—clung to him like sweat on his skin. But the desert was gone. No one was singing. He was still in Maggie's shop.
"You know you snore?"
Maggie's voice cut through his fog. She tossed his shirt at him, her eyes fixed on the floor.
'What's up with her?'
He must have dozed off. Maybe that's why she wouldn't look at him—she seemed pissed.
"You okay? You look flushed."
"Of course I am fine!"
She snapped upright, sudden and sharp, like she'd just been caught doing something she shouldn't. Then, before he could process it, his hat smacked him in the face.
"Zis is not a hostel, you know?! If you want to sleep, sleep at home, freeloader! Now out! I 'ave work, and you 'ave shit to do, no?"
"Wait—what? Did I do something? Maggie?! Hey! Ow!"
She shoved him toward the door, pushing hard despite her size.
"We haven't even talked price!"
A final kick sent him stumbling outside. Before he could turn back, the heavy door slammed shut with a hiss of vapor.
Inside, Maggie leaned against it. She dragged in a deep breath.
"Ooh la la, Maggie, you are a fool. Why do you think like zis?"
Grumbling, she snatched up the nearest wrench. She needed to fix something. Keep her hands busy. Because if she kept standing here thinking, she was going to lose her mind.
----
Levi stood there, still shirtless, still confused. Behind him, the dockhands snickered.
"What the hell just happened?"
"Usually, you get dressed before you leave the bedroom, kid!"
'Shit.'
His face burned as he yanked his shirt on and buttoned it up. He didn't even want to think about what they were assuming.
"Mind your own damn business! Nothin' happenin'—!"
Then he froze.
He'd been too flustered before—waking like that, Maggie weirding out on him, getting shoved out the door. But now, standing there, it hit him.
The world had changed.
"What the hell...?"
His gaze dropped to his arm. Before, all he ever saw was blacksteel—just plating, dark and matte. He had to focus to make out the seams.
But now—
His arm glowed.
Faint amber light pulsed beneath the plates, seeping through the seams, catching in the rivets. It flickered like something alive, breathing. Energy fought to escape, trapped just beneath the surface.
BAM!
The sharp sound snapped him back. He turned just in time for a notebook to smack him in the chest.
Before he could react—
BAM!
Maggie slammed the door shut again.
More laughter from the dockhands.
Levi stared at the shop door, then down at the book.
Yeah. He knew nothing about women.
Picking up the notebook, Levi traced a finger over the leather cover, watching the minuscule cracks run like rivers across its surface. He could even see the pressed fiber in the paper, each thread standing out like a map of lines and grooves.
"Gonna take awhile to get used to this."
Reading was harder than it should've been. He had to place the book a good ten feet away just to make out the words.
A few dockhands paused their work, throwing him confused glances. By now, he'd become something of a spectacle around the place. Rumors were already spreading—stories saying he was the foreman's long-lost bastard son.
Ignoring them, he focused on the notebook. Walking back and forth to flip pages, adjusting the distance, he kept at it until—
"Ohhh… so that's how they work… Whoa!"
He blinked. Once. Twice.
Then his vision surged.
For a brief moment, a glow erupted from his eyes.
The world bled heat.
Shapes burned in layers—cool shadows clinging to metal, fading warmth where hands had touched.
The dockhands glowed like lanterns, their skin pulsing with shifting reds and oranges, heat trailing from their footsteps like dying embers. Their breath fogged the air, faint clouds of warmth drifting and vanishing.
Beyond them, the shipyard stretched in a patchwork of temperatures.
Steam vents roared white-hot, their heat crawling up walls and bleeding into the rafters.
Machinery buzzed with dull, lingering warmth, gears still holding the ghost of movement.
Even the ground carried stories—fresh footprints cooling, spilled oil a cold smear against the heat of sunbaked metal.
Levi's head throbbed. The colors swam, pulsed, twisted. He blinked hard, trying to focus. It was too much. Too detailed.
His knees wobbled.
But his heart pounded. His smile stretched.
Heat detection. He could track heat now—signatures, or whatever Maggie called them. And that wasn't all.
He blinked a few times, feeling the warmth in his eyes as they shifted to normal. Then he focused. Locked onto the hull of a moored ship in the distance.
Focused.
Maggie's notes said it was a mental thing, that it would take time, that eventually, it would work on reflex. But as his pupils narrowed, his vision stretched. The world sharpened.
A single bolt on the ship's hull, nearly a hundred yards away—clear as if it were in his hand.
"Spectacular…"
The word barely left his lips.
His fists clenched. Slowly, carefully, he retracted his vision, pulling it back to normal. He held his stare until the world settled, until the shipyard was just a shipyard again.
A shiver crawled up his spine.
A crooked smile followed.
Dr. Ashbourne's face filled his mind, that mocking green eye staring back at him.
"Almost there."
He could feel it. It was getting closer.
As he turned toward the orphanage—toward rest, like he'd promised Maggie—he barely registered the dockhands calling out to him.
His thoughts were elsewhere.
On how much longer it would take.
On when he'd finally collect.
On when he'd finally kill the ones who made him this way.