## Chapter Three — Orphan in the Mines
The mines of Elementar were a coffin of dust and dread, every wall humming with the threat of collapse. Roy, half-wild with fatigue, steered his cart over broken rails while the foreman's rod snapped overhead.
"Don't stall, runt!" Another blow landed; his knees buckled.
Arms ached; wrists raw where nanobot tool bracers pressed; skin cracked from dust and cold. Each time Roy strained to haul the cart, his breath rattled in sore lungs—panting for air thick with metallic grit. Sometimes, he trembled too badly to control the nanobot manipulator arms, risking a fatal brush with Pulsarite's lethal glow.
Every night, Roy pressed his face to his arm to muffle sobs. The HUD in his S-rank wristband scrolled warnings:
[SYSTEM ALERT: SLEEP DEFICIT | MALNOURISHMENT DETECTED | PAIN THRESHOLD NEARING LIMITS]
[ADVICE: Seek medical attention (UNAVAILABLE)]
He dreamed of his parents—Kael's strength, Elira's calm—most often the pain of loss lingered. Sometimes, there were good memories, but they faded with morning light.
***
### Desperation and Awakening
When the D-rank Level 5 Neutron ripped through the mine, all the pain, hunger, and fear blurred. The monster killed indiscriminately, children screaming and running, two falling before Roy's eyes.
Instinct drove him—he seized the nanobot tools, reaching for a girl trapped beneath a beam, as Pulsarite-laden carts scattered. The monster lunged at the crystals, but couldn't touch. When Roy deployed his nanobot manipulators, a jolt of raw energy surged as the manipulator briefly grazed a shard.
Pain unlike anything before. He collapsed, writhing—the HUD exploding in alarms:
[SYSTEM SHOCK | USER AT RISK | ABSORPTION OVERRIDE]
[ENERGY ABSORPTION: INCOMPATIBLE | ADAPTING…]
Roy screamed, body arching; it was as if liquid fire rushed through his veins, every cell igniting. He wanted to let go. To stop.
Then: his parents' voices, roaring through the white haze.
> "Not yet, Roy. Breathe. You must endure."
> "The pain is the price of change. Endure, and it becomes strength."
As the Neutron advanced, the nanobots also changed, shimmering painfully through the agony until the energy turned from fire to molten light. The HUD flickered:
[ABSORPTION: PARTIAL SYNC]
[USER PAIN LEVEL: EXTREME]
[EVOLUTION: BEGINNING…]
Waves of shudders became a trembling calm. The agony receded, replaced by an aching relief, as if scar tissue had been stripped away to reveal new, sensitive skin.
> "You survived. We knew you could," Elira soothed.
> "Forge that pain into action. Now, Roy—protect them," Kael commanded.
With the monster closing in, Roy willed the nanobots to act. The HUD displayed a final, pulsing line:
[NEW FUNCTION UNLOCKED: DUAL GUN PROTOCOL INITIATED]
With a surge of restored will, the wristband's manipulators fused Pulsarite energy into two humming guns—never touching his flesh—each aimed at the Neutron bearing down.
"Don't destroy. Conduct," Elira urged.
"Protect with every breath," Kael finished.
Roy fired—wind and shadow arcing, saving the children, terrifying the monster. He dropped to his knees as the Neutron fell. The guns melted into nanobot whisps. The pain lingered, but beneath it, something new pulsed in his heart: a bond, a beginning, a chance.
***