LIGHTNOVELONLINE 194. Growing pains
Nozomi felt like screaming, she couldn’t. Her entire body was out of her control as she shivered from both the pain and intense cold she felt. Worse was the burning, she felt like waves of freezing cold and scorching hot played a game of tag inside her. Not only that but the sensation of a thousand acid covered needles poking both her skin, muscles, organs and even bones was maddening.
Hinata Took a glance towards Nozomi who injected herself. She had been biting her lips with indecision. Now? Now there was no way she wasn’t doing it. Call it peer pressure or whatever but she wouldn’t be left behind. She knew that should she choose to she wouldn’t need to use it, nor would she need to worry about her future. She had full confidence Tomoka would protect her, but did she want to be protected? She would become a burden. If Nozomi had decided against it Hinata would probably do so too, now, she didn’t want to be left behind. With a deep breath to calm her nerves Hinata injected herself too.
Tomoka wanted to help, she had planned to inject herself first so she wouldn’t have to bear witness to the torturous sight of her girls writhing in pain. She had been too stunned once Nozomi injected herself to inject herself. Then she was brought out of her stupor by the sight of Hinata doing the same. Now there was no way she could just abandon them in this state.
Tomoka knew it was safe, she knew they would be alright, she had made sure of it. However, no matter how much her rational mind tried to calm her down she couldn’t let go of the worry, the guilt. Her heart contracted painfully knowing it was her invention that caused them pain. For as much as she loved having emotions and feelings again they were an inconvenience at this moment. Not like she would give them away again, ever.
With a deep breath followed by a sigh Tomoka took the girls with all the care in the world to their shared room,her injector forgotten inside her pocket. The following twelve hours consisted of Tomoka taking care of the girls, doing everything she could to alleviate their pain even if just a little. Those were the worst twelve hours of her life, no, of both her lifes. Screw having a collar with a bomb that would blow your head should the higher ups decide so. No, seeing those you love in pain caused by you has no comparison.
By the time the girls stopped shivering they were exhausted to the point of falling asleep instantly once the process ended. Seeing them sleeping peacefully after the ordeal set Tomoka’s mind at peace and that is when her fatigue crashed on her. Tomoka felt fine, physically that is but the self torturing thoughts that had run rampant in her head had drained her of all her mental strength.
She would have loved to let sleep claim her but she had something to do first. Taking her injector, Tomoka placed it against her arm before pressing the button. She would be fine, what was a little pain anyway. She wanted to do this when she was this tired as a self imposed punishment for not being able to do better. She needed to do better. For them and for herself.
What she didn’t expect was the violent reaction her body had to the serum. She hadn’t been able to test it on a clone of hers, after all there were none. Tomoka’s phantoms had tried to make coles of her on four different occasions all ending in catastrophic failure. Each time her cells would proliferate uncontrollably forming masses of flesh and bone that resembled some sort of eldritch abomination more than a human. Those masses would then escape causing untold damage to the facilities and phantoms present.
It is because of that that Tomoka had no way of knowing how her body would react. The first thing that happened was Tomoka’s eyes activating on their own followed by the headache she had come to expect from it. Then she felt how her brain literally mutated in real time to deal with the added pressure. That is when she realized what was going on.
The gelel stones enhance regeneration. Tomoka’s adaptability went bonkers thanks to this and is now adapting to anything and everything it can. It is because of this that her headache decreased in real time as her brain became more and more powerful. That wasn’t the only change though. Bone, muscles, organs and whatever else was changing as well. Unlike her brain though the changes were negligible. She could feel how her brain was now Hyoton cooled. She can feel how it is drawing power from the speed force to accelerate her processing power.
Tomoka was lost in amazement and pain to notice how time went by. How hours had passed, how dawn had come, when her girls woke up. She couldn’t tell they were by her side, taking care of her in the same caring and loving manner she had for them. Twelve hours went by and finally it ended. Tomoka now felt completely and utterly exhausted both physically and mentally. She fell asleep in the loving embrace of her girls.