With a silent but dictating command, Notitia moved over to the eternal-sized console from where she apparently would guide the operation. While orange holographic screens flashed up all around the giant robot began the doctors in white to prepare the surgery chair for their patient. Mica observed the surprisingly chaotic happening around her, witnessing how two of the assistants of Notitia came into a brief verbal fight about who was more qualified for handling what they called a 'Veil-Core'. A minute passed, and silence washed at last over the operating room, with the team of weirdos with degrees having finally found their spot in the imminent operation regarding her. Mica's left eye twitched and she looked up to her goddess with slight fear in her voice.

"Excuse my language, lady Notitia, but what in the name of yours was this? Why do I have the feeling that the reason for my predecessors being not around anymore has anything to do with the chaos I just witnessed?"

"17895, please." The goddess met her gaze with blinding eyes, her orange glowing retinas burning into hers. Looking at the Eternal was all of a sudden an experience of pain. "This went surprisingly smoothly. Only one minute till everybody knows their place. A record, given that my 'Hands' have to remain anonymous. Relax, kobold. Your rebirth is imminent, the artificial magic of Control will be yours by the end of the day. So stop resisting, especially verbally. The signature is genuine, you won't leave until we have finished the experiment. Think of the money, that usually helps with keeping you mortals calm."

Mica was about to retort, feeling triggered by how Notitia addressed her, but she remembered her stand. This is no bar fight, the goddess dictated a similar desire of devotion Father asked of her back in 'Familia' days. Just do as she was asked and refrain from asking too many questions. The kobold swallowed her ruffian pride and lowered her head, her mind clearing up not having to endure the burning gaze of a living god any longer. Stripped of everything she previously wore, the bare kobold helped herself onto the surgery chair only to get interfered with by two Hands, who immediately began to attach suction cups to her body, wiring her up to various analysing machineries. Screens, containing her vitals and many more cryptic symbols the kobold didn't understand, flashed up and the remaining four Hands started to interact with the machines and prepare the instruments of surgery. Looking up once again to her goddess, who was by now verbally directing her assistants their eyes met once again and the eternal briefly grew silent.

"Prioritise the anaesthesia. 17895 has to be fully gone before we begin with the surgery. ... A verbal request is binding after all."

Hearing that, Mica relaxed noticeably, soon embracing the medical mask, feeling the gas filling her respiratory system, slowly putting her down. The voices diminished and became blurry. Her eyelids were heavy and her limbs relaxed, her mind drifting away, trying to grasp happy thoughts to calm her nerves. She thought about people that mattered to her and was surprised to find only people out of her time in prison and after she got released. The kind prison warden Casbi, Vulpes and her family. But none from the many years prior to that fateful day. Then however another face joined the gathered memories, distorted, guilt-ridden. A grimace of fear, but full of warmth. The man, who ignited the spark of defiance in her, the teacher who taught her how to dance ... the poor man she was forced to execute on Father's behalf. Mica knew that there was a chance that this procedure could fail, so she focused her final thoughts on the kind gentleman.

This is for you, prof. I will become the greatest Magitek dancer the world ... ever saw ... honour your sac-sacrifice. I ... survive!

After these words, nothing remained. Only a distant feeling as her world got numbed down. Cuts, from far away, barely noticeable, but present. It had begun. 

First, there was nothing, a void of darkness. A state of emptiness in which the spark, of what could be traces of a faded consciousness, began to flicker, gifting the void a singular source of light, of hope. The void greedily embraced the light of the weak soul, devouring it, extinguishing it. The void had now a colour, what was black turned into the deepest shade of purple imaginable. Nothing happened for an unknown period of time. Time had no meaning in the void. There was only the suspense, the hunger present. Another spark! Stronger, but unsure if it was welcomed. It flared up, then got extinguished by the deeply purple void. The void shifted. The colours brightened up, becoming purple, and then after consuming the next attempt of rebirth bright pink. The void was no void anymore, the returning soul convinced it that it could be more. 

As the aetherial powers of the Veil washed over the emptiness of nothing the darkness lifted. Ligaments of pink strings filled the space and when the spark of Mica's soul returned one final, last time, the spark was welcomed. The bands of Veil magic embraced the returning kobold spirit, viewing it finally as an ally. Weaving a protective layer around her soul, the Veil allowed her to grow, to return. Stronger and better than what she was before. The Veil didn't understand, couldn't understand. Why was the soul, it tried to crush before, now feeling so familiar? Why yearned the aetherial energy to protect the soul all of a sudden? It ... accepts it ... yes. The kobold soul appeared not impure anymore, it finally allowed the Veil energy inside. But yet it felt rejected. Tolerated but unable to interact with the soul. The soul, now one with the Veil ... or not?

Hours passed since Mica lost consciousness. Or were it days? Weeks? Mica had lost her sense of time in the period she was a goner. She was awake, barely. She had neither control over her body, nor her brain even. She was only existing, and that for a decent while by now. Waiting till she would eventually receive a signal from her body to get online again. She chuckled in her empty thoughts. After all, would she wake up more machine than Kobold if she interpreted the gibberish on the document correctly? A replaced nervous system and some external devices sticking out of her paws and chest. That Fire magitek guy she met had not much more replaced than that, plus his eye. It would be a readjustment, with her limbs being partly artificial, but the ability of telekinesis would definitely be worth it. She sighed in impatience. The fact that she was currently in this near-comatose state meant she didn't die during the process. All she was able to do was to wait.

An undisclosed time later pain eventually returned. Mica finally felt her body again and her entire frame was burning, where she felt fresh scar tissue held together by strings and staplers, the heat overtaking her as waves of scorching sensations ebbed over her. She let out a shrill scream of pain, only to feel a sudden numbing feeling spreading across every scale of her body. She looked up and embraced the orange glowing eyes of her goddess observing her, holding a decently sized syringe in her lower right hand. The upper right reached down and in an unexpected motion of what she interpreted as compassion, she felt Notitia's finger brushing along her cheek.

"Shhh, stay calm 17895 ... Mica. The experiment was a smashing success. Welcome back to the land of the living ... literally. We may have lost your mortal coil a few times. Was it seven? I lost count. Turns out this new version of my dear drug puts up a fight. Took a few nudging resurrections to convince the Veil that you are now one of them. Seemingly at least. You are still a Purist. But that all doesn't matter. You are alive and kicking."

Notitia turned to one of the Hands and exchanged silently a few words with him.

"Please update the database. Further research is necessary. Magika is still deadly. Not yet commercially usable."

"Yes, milady! On my way."

While listening to the banter happening around her, Mica attempted to move her muscles and flex her tummy, tail and legs. Move her eyes as well as her earhorns. She seemingly was back, for the most part. Her arms were still entirely numbed, she didn't even feel her shoulders. Her throat felt heavy as well, which caused her breath to be quite challenging. She tried to activate her arms regardless, urging them to hold her pounding head. But no arms arrived at her aid. Strange. Mica focused her eyes, tried to tilt her head against the heaviness of her throat and gasped at what images her eyes sent to her brain. Brass. A brass chest, a large core reactor embedded right above her heart. But that was to be expected. What shocked her far more was the reason why she didn't feel her shoulders. Seeing her reflection in polished metal orbs where her shoulders once were, she cautiously glanced past them ... only to see nothing!?

"What ... what the hell happened? Where are my arms? What have you done to my arms? I haven't signed up to become an armless freak!"

"With the exception that you did, Mica." The robotic goddess looked down on the mutilated kobold and sighed. "What is it with your kin and not reading contracts? I even shortened it down to the bare essentials. 30 pages is nothing."

"I signed up to receive the gift of control, of telekinesis ... I exp-"

"Telekinesis? Heavens no, my dear Mica. Telekinesis is much broader in its usage than what this Magik is capable of. Speaking of. Please, focus on your hands. Not arms. Only your hands. Imagine two perfectly healthy grabbers, maybe even four if you are feeling close to my greatness.~"

Mica couldn't do anything but blink in sheer speechlessness. She did it! Exactly what she avoided all the months prior to this OP. She let her excitement take over and signed a contract without knowing every last detail of it. She was too focused on scanning the documents for fine print, that she only skimmed over the description and let her brain fill in the gaps. She groaned and desired to hit herself in her face, punishing the overexcited 'bold. A kobold, who had, after wording out that desire, a single second left to brace herself for impact.

Mica attempted to gasp as a brass and blue fist appeared in her view, accelerating towards her face, about to smash her head in with unrestrained power! STOP! And the hand stopped in motion, only gracing the tip of her snout. She blinked in shock and inspected the hand hovering in front of her face. A hand without an arm attached, like a drone listening to her thoughts. Mica glimpsed past the fist in her face and witnessed that the reactor core in her chest was now glowing. It took a small bit till her brain connected the dots, but when they did, she noticed the fist opening and turning around, so that its master could inspect the flat hand, noticing the soft velvet-blue palm. She was in Control! Having understood what happened to her, she imagined the other hand of her, then remembered Notitia having mentioned four, focusing on that number instead. Three further hands appeared in her field of vision and she understood, slightly, barely. Nothing at all if she was completely honest.

"Yess, four hands. And you can even add more at the cost of a bit of mobility. This, my dear Mica, is Control! A little side project of mine to revolutionize cybernetics in general. Functional hands that don't need leverage or anything thanks to the Magika core. The Magitek line will elevate our technology to the next level and you are the wielder of the first step to new horizons!"

The excitement of her goddess was contagious and Mica observed her free-floating hands with newfound euphoria. She was now an extraordinary kobold. She surely was able to utilize her new lack of limbs to her advantage, creating impossible dances to convince the talent scouts that she was worth supporting after all. She stood up and felt pleased by the fact that she actually could use her hands like normal hands, pushing her out of the surgery chair. Mica was about to speak, only to notice that Notitia was already deep in conversation with the Hands. Only to feel the glove of the tallest surgeon on her back, as he guided her out of the room.

"Reception awaits you. Eat, drink and have plenty of rest. We will send further medication to your address."

The Hand pushed her out of the room, barely having given her a chance to grab her clothes from a nearby table, nabbing them with one hand, able to reach way further than with the restriction of limbs. The door closed and Mica was now left alone. She took the opportunity of privacy to roughly cover herself up with her skirt and boots, leaving the remaining clothes as a bundle for now. 

Having followed the green arrows back to the reception, she was met by a familiar face, smiling warmly towards the returning kobold. Mrs Erigi appeared tired, but energetic enough to reach down and gently hug the survivor.

"You are back, followed my orders I recon?~ Look at you, all fancy and new, love the shoulders. You must be famished, Mica. Took a few more hours than anticipated, had to reschedule two other lab-'bolds. Now how does coffee sound?"

Mica embraced the welcomed hug and purred deeply, looking up at the red salamander, she smiled genuinely.

"Coffee sounds perfect. And cake.~"