The gears in his joints clicked in harmony, but they made minor improvements. He needed more speed. More power. Enough to rip through meat like paper. The reason for implanting gears was so that he could add motors to speed up his movements.
There was only one motor in his lab that would not start no matter what he tried. It needed some parts replaced, but he did not have any in his hands at the time. To solve this, he would have to purchase them.
Everything can be completed online, removing the need to leave the house. Solus could easily place an order for a few motors and have them delivered to his doorstep in minutes. But wait, there were more problems for him to deal with.
First, he had no idea what the world looked like outside his lab. The houses and surrounding environment have undoubtedly changed over the years. His old house would appear outdated in comparison to theirs, and the delivery drone would simply mark his house as suspicious.
Furthermore, if someone suddenly opened the door to an abandoned house, law enforcement would rush to the scene. There was no way to buy them directly from the store either.
Solus approached a table and picked up a small metal card with a chip embedded in it. If he remembered correctly, some should be in his old bank account. However, it had most likely been deactivated by that point. So, that card served no purpose for him.
Whatever happened, he needed money. Every option screamed risks, but risks meant progress. He did not have an ID, and if he got caught, it would cause a lot of trouble.
"There is no fun in solving a puzzle unless there are consequences. I have reached a point where no matter what I do, I will be backstabbed."
The simplest and safest approach would be to rely on others for the time being. If there were any single houses nearby, he could easily break into them and steal.
Before heading outside, he removed the other corpse from the glass compartment and placed it on the table. He then removed the microchip containing his memories from the robotic frame and installed it in the brain. The reason was if something went wrong, he would have a backup and could awaken in the second body.
With everything ready, he opened the lab door and began climbing the ladder outside. The lab was deep underground, so it took him a few minutes to reach the surface. The upper lid was closed. If someone were out there, his game would be over.
He slowly opened the lid and peered outside. He saw nothing but darkness. It was the basement, and seeing it again made him feel at ease. It meant his house was still intact and no changes had been made.
He fully opened the lid and climbed up. There were old furniture and other items scattered throughout the basement. He shut the lid before walking up the stairs to his house.
The basement door was located beneath the stairs. After stepping outside, he looked around. The house's design remained unchanged. Compared to the sterile houses, it appeared more lively and cozy.
"Julius! Where are my damn medicines?!"
An old man's voice echoed, followed by footsteps up the stairs. Solus remained standing beneath the stairs, quietly listening. When he looked out, he noticed a skinny old man looking around desperately.
"Julius! Where are you?!" He continued to shout angrily, and when no one responded, he sighed. "That brat is not home. I'll see him when he gets back."
Saying this, the man entered the living room. Solus watched silently, his eyes gleaming like blades.
He expected there to be people in his house. They most likely obtained ownership by forging the documents at a time when the world was in turmoil. They were unable to afford renovations, so the house remained unchanged.
But Solus was the only one who benefited. It was obvious that the old man had gears and motors in his joints because of how easily he moved despite his frail body. In the cyber world, those were the most basic items, and if you were hurt, you could easily get them—sometimes for free.
Solus came out of the shadowed space and into the living room. The old man was sitting on a couch, watching the news. Since the door was behind him, he was unable to see Solus.
Solus made a silent movement and stopped behind the old man. Without hesitation, he firmly placed his hand on the man's mouth. The old man's eyes widened in shock because he thought the house was empty. He frantically moved his arms and legs.
Solus was having some trouble because the man's movements were powered by tiny motors that were five times stronger than normal bodies. But the old is old in the end. He was still weak due to his age and inability to defend himself.
Solus could have knocked him out, but he needed the man to get down the ladder to the lab. If he became unconscious, it would be extremely difficult to bring him down.
Solus dragged the man into the basement. The man was unable to scream for help because Solus still had one hand on his mouth.
After opening the lid, Solus entered first and pulled the man by his legs, forcing him to go down. The old man grabbed the ladder and tried desperately to climb up, but Solus kept pulling him down.
When they reached the bottom, Solus dragged the man to a table and strapped him down. The old man screamed at the top of his lungs, but Solus paid no attention. He was busy gathering the tools.
"HELP! ANYONE!"
Solus approached the man and gripped his hand before starting the extraction process.
The lab was filled with screams, but Solus ignored them. He operated with precision because he needed the parts. When he reached the man's elbow, he noticed the same stainless steel gears and a motor spinning whenever the man moved his arm.
He detached the bones from the gears and extracted each one individually. The old man's mind was numbed by the pain in his arm, and he was exhausted from shouting for help.
"Grandpa, please do not mind my actions. What should I do? I need the parts."
Solus kept a blank expression on his face while removing the parts from the elbow. Only a part of the whole body was finished. He removed every required component from each joint one by one, taking out all the small motors and gears.
As he piled them into a tray, they were stained red. After completing his task, he found a total of 10 motors and 28 gears.
The old man lay motionless, having lost consciousness a long time ago. Solus had no use for that body, including its organs, because they were worse than normal.
It was time to get rid of the evidence. He had the option of adding it to the preservative liquid in his closet, but he did not want to waste that precious material on junk.
He detached the elderly man's arms and legs to make him smaller. After clearing everything from another table surface, he raised the top to reveal an empty space. He filled it with all of the useless papers and documents.
He then took a large bottle of a flammable liquid and poured it on the pile of papers. He grabbed the elderly man's arms and legs and threw them into that space.
"It is nothing personal. I needed them." said Solus in a calm tone before he used a wire to create a spark, which ignited the fire.
He stared down with a detached expression. It reminded him of the old days when people died because of his actions. Their screams of agony before death were the same as the old man's. He used to enjoy and laughed at their pathetic acting, but he had long since moved on. Efficiency comes first, even if it means doing the most inhumane thing.
Eventually, the man's body disappeared, leaving behind only charred bones. Solus waited for everything to be consumed by the flames. When the body was reduced to ashes, he walked away to clean up the mess.
Another scream buried in silence.
"I have not heard screams in a long time. Fly high, grandpa."