Between Your Letter and My Reply

Chapter 23

[Translation By Divinity]

Damian pressed the doorbell once and waited, but the house was dead silent. He pressed it again. Still, no matter how long he waited, there was no sign of life from inside.

Wondering if no one was home, Damian tried the doorknob. The door was unlocked. He hesitated, then, seeing the lights on inside, he stepped one foot inside and peered around.

One wall was lined with numerous prosthetic arms and legs. It seemed he had come to the right place.

Damian raised his voice slightly.

“Excuse me. Is anyone here?”

Again, there was no response. But Damian had a feeling someone was inside and didn’t want to leave empty-handed, so he shouted even louder.

“Is anyone there?!”

Then, he heard something collapse upstairs, followed by a thud that shook the ceiling. Creaking floorboards signaled someone’s approach, and soon, footsteps pounded down the stairs.

The person who came down pointed at Damian accusingly.

“Hey! If there’s no answer after ringing the doorbell, you should just leave! Why did you have to yell and wake me up?!”

He was a man in his early thirties with a somewhat irritable expression. Dark circles hung under his eyes behind square glasses, and his shoulder-length gray hair was tied up haphazardly.

“Ugh, damn it… I finally fell asleep after three days of working all night, and some clueless idiot comes and…”

Ignoring the man’s anger, Damian first confirmed if he had come to the right place.

“Are you Asher Olon?”

“Yes! I’m Asher Olon, so what?!”

Despite having rudely woken the owner of the house, Damian spoke politely.

“Hello, my name is Damian Stern. I was referred by Major Paul Jeska to inquire about getting a prosthetic arm.”

“Prosthetic arm?”

Asher’s gaze naturally fell on Damian’s right arm. He snorted and turned on the lights in the workshop. With the lights on, the workshop was quite a sight.

Damian had never seen such a messy room in his life. The floor was littered with various parts and all sorts of trash.

“Come in.”

At Asher’s permission, Damian carefully stepped inside, mindful of where to place his feet. But while Damian was cautious, Asher simply kicked the objects on the floor aside haphazardly.

Asher gestured from beside the table in the center of the room. Damian approached, and he motioned for him to sit on a chair.

“Let me see.”

Damian took off his coat, unbuttoned his shirt, and exposed his right upper body. Asher didn’t even flinch at the sight of Damian’s body covered in stitches and scars.

He examined Damian’s right arm and asked in a casual tone,

“How did this happen?”

“I was hit by a grenade.”

“Oh dear.”

There wasn’t a shred of sympathy in his voice. He didn’t ask any further questions or stare at Damian like he was a ghost, like others had. Damian found that strangely comforting.

Even though Asher was speaking bluntly and informally with a grumpy face.

After examining Damian’s arm, Asher put his hands on his hips and said,

“What do you want?”

“What do I want…? I just came to get a prosthetic right arm.”

Asher clicked his tongue disapprovingly.

“I mean, what kind of functionality do you want in your prosthetic?”

“Just something that allows me to go about my daily life.”

Asher shook his head at Damian’s words.

“This is why laymen are… There are many prosthetics that enable daily life. But even within those, there’s a huge variety.”

Asher picked out a few prosthetic arms from the ones lined up on the wall.

“This one is just shaped like an arm. It’s called a cosmetic prosthetic, and it only hides the fact that you’re missing an arm. It can’t move or anything.”

Damian took it and weighed it in his hand. It looked like a real human arm, complete with skin texture, but it was stiff as a board.

“This active prosthetic model can perform simple joint movements. In your case, where the amputation isn’t all the way up to the upper arm, we can connect the prosthetic joint mechanism to your remaining upper arm muscles. I’m not sure what you mean by ‘daily life,’ but while simple tasks are possible, there are limitations to its functionality beyond that.”

Asher moved the prosthetic back and forth, and the prosthetic wrist also moved loosely. While Damian examined and touched the prosthetic, Asher brought out another one.

“But since you came all the way to me, I assume you want something more advanced than that… Are you looking for a prosthetic at the level of an automatic prosthetic or higher? I can also make prosthetics with surface or internal electrodes.”

“Automatic prosthetic level…?”

Damian tilted his head in confusion, and Asher scratched his head.

“You know, if you’re planning to buy a prosthetic, you should have done some research beforehand.”

Asher sighed and continued.

“When we send signals to our muscles, electrodes are generated from the nerves. Surface electrodes refer to the nerve signals flowing on the surface of the muscles. Prosthetic arms using this principle receive electrical signals through devices attached to the skin and send signals to the prosthetic to move.”

Asher paused briefly to see if Damian was following his explanation.

“And prosthetics using internal electrodes connect the nerves directly from inside the muscles, not just the surface. Any prosthetic requires rehabilitation training to use properly, but the ones with internal electrodes allow for the most delicate movements. They’re what you’d call ‘cybernetic arms.’ They require surgery and a longer rehabilitation period, but they’re often used for military purposes.”

“I see.”

“So, which one do you want?”

“Is the one with internal electrodes the best?”

“Well, the best type of prosthetic varies depending on the person’s lifestyle… But technically, the internal electrode automatic prosthetic is the best because it’s the most similar to a real arm… no, it has even better mobility and convenience than a real arm.”

“How much does it cost?”

“It depends on the options, but usually starts from three hundred thousand Hirks.”

At Asher’s words, Damian’s face hardened, a rare occurrence. Excluding luxury goods, the average monthly living expenses for an ordinary citizen were about two thousand Hirks.

Damian didn’t have the money to pay over ten years’ worth of living expenses all at once.

Seeing Damian flustered by the exorbitant price, Asher attached a cosmetic prosthetic to his arm and said,

“Automatic prosthetics require surgical attachment, but active prosthetics like this one can be easily attached. Try it on for a test.”

Before he knew it, Damian was wearing the prosthetic and moving his joints as Asher instructed.

“Oh, you’re doing well. You’ll adapt quickly to other prosthetics too.”

“Um… I don’t think I need a prosthetic with internal electrodes. So…”

“Ah, you want the surface electrode type?”

“How much is that?”

“It’s much cheaper than the internal electrode type. Usually starts from two hundred thousand Hirks.”

Damian almost coughed up blood. Seeing his expression, Asher said sympathetically,

“Don’t have the money? It is objectively expensive, but it’s definitely worth the price.”

“It’s just that…”

“If you don’t have the money, the prosthetic you’re wearing now isn’t bad either. If you just want it for daily life and not for any heavy-duty tasks.”

“So, the price for this one is…”

“Fifty thousand Hirks. Much cheaper than the others, right?”

Damian’s hands trembled as he gently removed the prosthetic… no, the prosthetic-nim, from his arm.

“Excuse me, but is this price range normal for other prosthetic companies?”

“No.”