The glow in the lab dimmed as the integration sequence ended, yet their bodies still hummed with stored current. The chips weren't just attached—they were alive, breathing with their nervous systems, pulsing faint light under their synthetic veins.
Nikhil clapped twice, his cybernetic palms sparking faint static. Holographic diagrams of their bodies hovered above them now, showing five glowing nodes embedded in their hands, arms, and lungs.
"Accha, ab suno dhyaan se." His tone turned professor-like. He pointed to Valerian's palm on the holo. "Assault Unit. Yeh sirf ek chip nahi hai. Tumhari gloves ab kinetic storage systems ban gayi hain. Har punch, har impact — charge karega isme energy."
(""Right — listen carefully." His tone took on a professor's precision as he tapped Valerian's palm on the holo. "Assault Unit. This isn't just a chip. Your gloves have become kinetic storage systems. Every punch, every impact — it stores energy.")
The projection zoomed, showing a fist glowing brighter with each strike, energy cycling like a battery.
Nikhil's grin widened. "Aur ek point par, jab tum decide karoge release karna — ek hi mukka. Shockwave aayega. One hit knockout. Kinetic bomb punch. Machine ko bhi gira dega. Samjhe?"
("And at the moment you choose to release it — one strike. A shockwave. One-hit knockout. A kinetic bomb-punch. It can even topple a machine. Understand?")
Luna's eyes widened. She turned her gaze to Valerian's storm-blue hands, imagining the power coursing beneath the skin-like suit. Her cheeks burned again. He was already terrifying in combat… now even one punch could shatter steel.
Valerian flexed his gloved hand experimentally. A faint crackle of energy sparked between his fingers, blue light flickering like lightning veins. His expression was unreadable — but his chest tightened. Not fear. Not excitement. Something else. A pull in his stomach he couldn't name.
Nikhil moved to the next diagram. His Hindi rolled fast, almost playful.
"Overdrive Unit. +14%… tumhare arms ka pura kinetic output badha dega. Matlab ki ek pull, ek grab… aur bone-crush."
("Overdrive Unit — plus fourteen percent. It amplifies the total kinetic output of your arms. One pull, one grab… bone-crushing force.")
Luna swallowed, her lilac eyes shimmering. Bone-crush… He doesn't even need this. But me… maybe now I won't drag him down. Maybe I can fight by his side.
Nikhil tapped to switch views.
"Range Finder Unit. Yeh tumhari saanson aur aankhon se synced hai. Har aim, har strike — steady. No drift, no recoil. Machine-precision."
("Range Finder Unit — it syncs with your breath and your eyes. Every aim, every strike — steady. No drift, no recoil. Machine precision.")
He leaned back, smirking at Luna, who sat straighter, trying not to look nervous.
"Onslaught Unit. Yeh elbows mein hai. Tumhari layering ke first mesh ke saath integrate hua hai. Ek elbow = ek blade strike."
("Onslaught Unit — embedded in your elbows. It integrates with the first mesh layer of your armor. One elbow, one blade strike.")
And finally, he jabbed a finger at their glowing hands.
"Integrated Power Unit. Yeh sabka father hai. Pure biomechanical synergy. Tumhara grip, tumhara block, tumhara har touch… amplified. Dono ab sirf humans nahi. Mechatopia ke andar, tum dono predators ban gaye ho."
("Integrated Power Unit. This is the origin— the father of them all. Pure biomechanical synergy. Your grip, your blocks, every touch… amplified. You two are no longer merely humans. Inside Mechatopia, you're predators.")
The holo collapsed into sparks.
Silence lingered. Valerian stared at his hand, his veins glowing faint blue. He could feel the hum beneath the skin. Not foreign. Not alien. Strangely… natural. Like this was always inside him, waiting to be unlocked.
But then it happened.
A faint flicker. Static in his head. Just for a moment, the chip link surged too deep, and in that surge — his consciousness brushed against Luna's.
Not words. Not images. Feelings.
Warmth. Nervous flutter. A heartbeat racing. A desperate, unspoken thought: I want to stay with him.
Valerian stiffened. His stormy eyes snapped to her across the lab. Luna, sitting with her hands folded tightly on her lap, suddenly gasped, her lilac glow pulsing faint pink. She too had felt it — but from him.
An echo of cold emptiness. The weight of silence. A command burned into memory: "Hide here. Don't come out. Stay silent."
It crushed her chest for that instant, enough to make her shiver.
Luna's cheeks burned crimson. D-did he… feel me? Did he just hear me?
Valerian clenched his jaw. He looked away, storm in his eyes, gripping the recliner arm until it creaked. She knows. Dammit…
Nikhil, oblivious to their flickering emotions, chuckled. "Bas. Yeh hai tumhara new body. Tum dono ab sirf couple cover nahi… tum dono ek machine-couple ban gaye ho. Hah!"
("That's it. This is your new body. You're not just playing the part of a couple anymore… you've become a machine-couple. Ha!")
Luna's heart pounded harder at the word couple. She tried to force a nervous laugh, hiding behind her lilac hair. Acting. It's just acting. But… why does my body betray me like this?
The projector screens around the room flickered again, lines of data wrapping around their holographic silhouettes. The stormy blue of Valerian's figure pulsed faintly, while Luna's light purple outline shimmered with lilac and pink undertones. Their upgraded biomechanical shells looked almost alive in diagram form.
Nikhil leaned back in his chair, switching seamlessly between Hindi and broken English, his voice carrying the weight of someone who had lived in Mechatopia long enough to understand its intricate codes.
"Ab suno… now your registered levels. Both of you — Android Type, MK-1.
Level 10."
("Now listen — your registered designations. Both of you: Android Type, MK-1. Level Ten. Mark Tier One. Your layering gives you an HP capacity of twenty-five thousand. If you take damage… you'll regenerate, but slowly.")
His cybernetic eyes gleamed as he tapped the console, and the holo above shifted, numbers blinking into existence.
"Means… Mark Tier One. Bas. Your layering — HP capacity 25,000. If damage… regenerate slowly." He paused, raising a cybernetic finger like a teacher testing his students. "I attached one healing chip. Rate: 500 HP per second, sustained, until stabilize."
Valerian's storm-blue gaze studied the numbers without reaction. He simply nodded once.
"Understood."
Beside him, Luna pressed her knees together under the table, fingers fidgeting on her lap. Her lilac eyes darted between the data and Valerian's calm profile. He doesn't even flinch… like he's born for this. Meanwhile, my cheeks are red just listening…
Nikhil continued. "If someone ask your age… bolo—ten years, MK-1, Attack Type." His Hindi grew rapid, his metal jaw clinking as it moved. "Remember… outside, act polite. Not reckless. Mission hai—Flame Stormbringer."
He leaned closer, voice lowering. "If raining… hide. Your head, hairs, face not covered in biomechanical layering. If want bath, don't put head in water. Dangerous."
Luna nodded nervously. "S-samajh gayi." Her heart raced when Nikhil's glowing eyes flicked toward her. Why is he looking only at me when explaining? Valerian already knows this…
Nikhil tapped another switch, and diagrams of androids and Detroits filled the walls: families walking, couples linking hands, reactors glowing faintly in their chests.
"Some androids, Detroits — maybe become friends. Lekin avoid eating restaurants. Risky. If hungry, eat secretly—apna food."
Then his tone shifted, carrying something heavier.
"Now… complex part."
Luna's body tensed. Her cheeks, already flushed, deepened to crimson. She knew what was coming.
Nikhil folded his cybernetic arms. "You already know human reproduction. Machine reproduction… different. Don't think… male, female organs same. Nah. Very complex. Simple terms…"
He projected another diagram — two android silhouettes leaning into one another. Between them, a glowing orb of energy exchanged through ports on their chests.
"They exchange their life reactors."
Luna's heart skipped. She remembered, vividly, the cyborgs in the street whispering, "Let's exchange our reactors, young Lady." Her stomach twisted at the thought, and before she could stop herself, her nervous voice blurted:
"Th-they… they said the same thing to me earlier…"
Nikhil's metal jaw clicked. His tone hardened.
"Exactly. Machine terms, this is trust. Love. But forced exchange… in human words? Sexual assault."
Luna froze, eyes wide. Her body went rigid, and then she curled slightly inwards, hugging her arms. Her face burned as she laughed nervously, trying to brush it off. "Haha… o-of course… assault…"
Valerian's stormy eyes narrowed faintly, watching her reaction with silent intensity. Something in his chest tightened at the image of those cyborgs surrounding her. She almost… He forced his gaze away, suppressing the flash of anger beneath his cold exterior.
But Nikhil wasn't finished. He flicked his wrist, and new schematics appeared — one diamond shape, one octagon, both designed to fit into the biomechanical layering just above their sternums.
"You are couple," Nikhil declared flatly, mixing Hindi and English. "So, I will place device. For girl — Luna."
The diamond shape enlarged, glowing faint lilac. "Width 2mm. Diameter 10cm. It will glow with the EMP — emotion pattern module. If she loves her partner, turns pink. If not, green."
Luna's breath caught. Her face ignited like fire, crimson spreading down her neck. P-PINK!? It will glow pink immediately! Oh God, what if Valerian sees—
Nikhil's cybernetic hand shifted, summoning the octagon. "For boy — Valerian. Octagon, 2mm width, 10cm diameter. Glows green if love. Red if not."
The words sank like stones in the silence. Valerian remained motionless, his face a mask of stormy calm. But inwardly, something flickered — sharp and unbidden. Red… green. Why does this suddenly matter to me?
Luna's thoughts spiraled uncontrollably. Her palms were sweaty. It will betray me. It will scream my feelings. What if his stays red? What if he sees my pink and despises me?
Her trembling lips parted, and in a nervous blur of panic she stammered:
"I… I need… some time before doing this."
The lab froze.
Nikhil blinked, surprised — his mechanical eyes whirring faintly as if processing her hesitation.
"You need time?"
Valerian's eyes flickered toward her, stormy and unreadable. Even for him, her refusal was unexpected. She hesitated? Why? This is mission, nothing more. But her tone…
Luna buried her face in her hands, her whole body trembling. Why did I say that? Why now? I'm an idiot! He must think I'm weak again!
Nikhil muttered under his breath in Hindi, shaking his head. "Thomas was right… careless girl. S rank, really?"
Valerian's lips twitched faintly — the smallest crack in his composure, an almost invisible amusement at her spiraling embarrassment. Luna saw it, and her heart flipped violently in her chest.
He… he smiled? Did he? Oh no… I can't do this. I can't survive this.