Steam and Heart.

"Your weapon cuts well," Irina said, looking somewhat jealously at the axe her shattered teammate was barely holding. 

"I guess, thanks... Alexis and I worked hard on it, it took me several paychecks to raise the money for the materials," Jack said, sitting carelessly on the soot-covered ground from the previous explosions. 

In front of him, a team of soldiers searched for a way to open the armor under the direction of Alexis, who was obsessed with the magnificent mechanical work before him. 

He had seen steam armors before, but this one was of a much more advanced model, and that made his mind boil with excitement, excitement so much so that even the driver inside the machine seemed to feel uncomfortable. 

"Hey impure boy, stop looking at me funny," the driver said, although his voice no longer had the same fervor as before, the touch of fanaticism in his words, especially when he said 'impure', was still quite present. 

"You call us impure, but you are only a minority in your country," one of the soldiers complained with a smile on his face as he tapped the handle of his weapon on his helmet.

"Careful, don't hit the armor like that, you might damage some internal mechanism," Alexis complained, making the soldier stare at him for a few seconds before turning away. 

No one said anything about Alexis' attitude, even though they hated the bastard with the power armor, they knew that they had to listen to the redhead at this point, since they had orders from above. 

"HAHAHAHA! You, impure people, are so funny that you have to resort to stealing technology from us, the minority," the driver sneered, his mocking laughter even worse when his helmet was removed. 

His face was hideous, not only was it full of fresh stitches, but his eyes seemed to have been roughly gouged out, leaving marks around the edges to be replaced by two shiny pieces of glass. 

Pieces of glass grew from his flesh, shattering his skin and oozing blood, his teeth were black and sparse, but he still laughed like mad. His sparse hair was graying, falling over his pale skin. 

"What the hell...? " a soldier asked in disbelief at such a sight. 

Some might think that the enemy country, Raurania, was full of strange types, but they were honorable enemies in a way, except for a very repulsive minority of their own. 

Those guys were crazy traditionalists who would do anything, but not for their country, no, they hated their country with a passion, but they worked for it for a simple reason they never bothered to hide: they wanted to see the rebirth of an empire that had died centuries ago. 

They call even those on their side 'impure', they act wildly without scruples, they push everything they can harness to the limit, and were it not for the fact that their hatred is directed at everything that is not part of them, anyone would think they would fall into the hands of these freaks. 

"Are your people crazy? " the one who was most affected by the man's appearance was Irina, who felt a terrible rage when she saw the terrible state the guy was in. 

"Oriental girl, we will do whatever it takes to revive the empire. My body didn't have the power to strengthen the armor with Pneuma, so why don't you accept implants that could increase my power? "asked the Juggernaut, silencing everyone in the room. 

Even Jack, who could draw comments from many situations, was silent this time. Yes, people hated those guys, even those on his side, but the Goths still gained some respect around the world. 

"The Federation will return you to your homeland," Alexis said seriously, causing the man to nod. 

Everyone knew what would happen, he was neither the first nor the last to have Vetro crystals implanted in his body to gain power, but there were two endings for that kind of person. 

Become a rarity or die, and the Juggernaut would never want to become the former, so he looked at Jack, who was being tended to by a war doctor.

"Boy, you fought well, even for an impure like you from the Rosicrucian Federation, it can be said that you have earned some of my respect. So I ask you... cut off my head with your weapon," the man demanded, though his arrogant tone of voice made it sound more like an order than a request for death, but no one commented on that point. 

"I guess the best I can get out of this standoff between countries is respect from a goth like you," Jack drew a smile, even though his face was contorted in pain from the terrible pain he felt, his body was in pieces.

But he got up with Irina's help and walked step by step towards the Juggernaut, who had been stripped of his imposing armor, but never let his gaze touch the ground, always with his forehead held high, looking towards the sun. 

"The Empire will be reborn," even with his necrotic body covered in blood, bleeding wounds, multicolored crystals emerging from his flesh, and constant trembling, he maintained his arrogance.

There is no race more arrogant than the Gothic! They clamor for a fallen empire, even if the people of their land hate them, they know they should return to their former glory. They know that one day... their emperor will return. 

Jack's pneumonia had barely recovered, his heart pounding, and the wave of power coursed through his body until it surged through his right hand, the one that held the weapon. 

From the hilt, it ran along the purple lines of the weapon's blue metal to the blade, causing the edge to glow purple with a distinctive hum. The Gothic drew a smile and touched the left side of his chest, revealing a crystal.

Zumm! 

Ironic, to die under a weapon enchanted with Vetro crystals, the one that gave him the power to wield the best steam armor his people had yet built. But at least he would die like a human. 

Sush!

The axe fell, blood splattered and a head rolled to the ground, but was picked up by an agile soldier. The remains were quickly cremated to prevent any abnormalities from appearing; in this world hostile to humans, this was the only post-mortem treatment. 

"Do you think this skirmish against Raurania makes sense? "Jack asked quietly to the woman tending to him in a tent. 

The fighting was over, at least for now. The Federation had secured the special mineral mine in this area of the continent for a few more years, and there would be no more similar conflicts for a while. 

Laria, a brunette with long white hair and gray eyes, looked at Jack's naked body as she sewed his open wounds. She was used to this sight and had already finished treating the man's internal injuries, she was just finishing the job. 

As she worked, Jack was nothing more than a simple project, her gray eyes looking dead from the exaggerated concentration she put into her duty, but she still decided to answer her partner. 

"It doesn't make sense, no armed conflict makes sense, but it's the only solution when nothing else can be done. That's why we fight anomalies and oddities because there's nothing else we can do with them but crush them," the woman replied coolly, although she seemed to melt as she put the last stitch into Jack's body. 

To her, her companion was like a rag doll made of pieces of different fabrics, with so many scars and marks on his body. Though her Pneuma was slightly different from the others in that it had certain healing properties, the prostrate man before her forced her to improve her treatment methods. 

Even her family's old-fashioned potions, which were considered witchcraft, took on a special glow as she made sure, day after day for two years, that her companion was not crippled or permanently damaged. 

How was it that he had no dark wounds or latent problems before he met her? She wondered that until she learned of the boy's background and the resources he had at his disposal, something that made her look at this boy a little differently, for he was not a smug bastard. 

Since they had met, he had begun to sponsor his research, materials, data, and equipment with the support of his family, something he was uncomfortable with at first. 

Until he had a talk with Jack's parents, which made him accept the situation, and made his level of medicine improve by leaps and bounds, that decision proved to be the right one today.

"But at least we've learned some useful things from those shits," Jack said wearily as he got dressed. 

Having a physique slightly above the human limit was a miracle in itself and allowed him to perform complex movements after exhaustive treatment. 

"Oh yes, even the terrible things from 50 years ago are no longer a problem, like the Carnivorous Virus," Laria said nonchalantly as she pulled several test tubes from the leather belt at her waist.

Jack's sixth sense began to emit a terrible alarm at the sight of those vials, sensing that he was facing a truly deadly danger, but knowing Laria's hobby, the best he could do was... ask curiously. 

"Is it one of those wolves? Those freaks that eat human flesh?" he asked, causing Laria to nod. 

"They first appeared fifty years ago, on a battlefield between the Federation and those vile reptiles. The carnage caused by modern firearms brought them into existence, but that did not stop us from using them in wars. 

They brought with them the Carnivore virus, once bitten you become an abnormal creature similar to the undead, only it's not contagious, only wolves are infected," she looked at the vials of reddish matter that seemed to pulsate, there was a sickly fervor in her gray eyes, but Jack was used to it by now.

"Now they can even be used as educational material," Jack said with a grimace as he remembered his school days, something that made him think of another of his friends, Robert, whose team, as far as he knew, was made up almost entirely of women.

Slight feelings of envy aside, Jack approached Laria from behind and embraced her, both of them staring at the test tube containing a virus that could turn them into living dead, thirsty for organic matter... not romantic at all. 

"Why do you think so many strange things happen in this world? "asked Jack, who felt comfortable because of the warmth he felt from Laria. 

"I don't know, but the anomalies, the weirdness, the contamination zones, as well as all the problems they cause, must have a reason for being, maybe we know, maybe we don't, but my purpose is not that," she answered after putting the vials away in her belt.

Laria took Jack's hands that were resting on her stomach and snuggled against him, they were both silent for a few moments before he spoke. 

"It doesn't matter, at the end of the day our duty is to cut it all down so that it doesn't harm the Federation," Jack said, his words were a simple whisper, but anyone with developed senses would feel the edge emanating from his body. 

Laria seemed to take notice of this event, something Jack didn't even notice, and noted it in her mind to summarize later, but now was not the time for research. Her partner wanted to comfort her, she just wanted to be pampered for a moment, why ruin the occasion?

Just... that things don't always stay quiet, no matter how much you want them to. 

[Observation Subject #13 has exceeded expectations. Due to the indirect observation methods used to monitor him because of Subject #13's Sixth Sense factor, there has been a deviation in the data-based prediction]. 

[Subject #13 seems to be aware that he is being monitored, which prevents the correct collection of necessary data. Much of the data has been categorized as erroneous or intentionally false, implying that the subject is acting against surveillance].

[Subject #13's values should be recalculated and subject-related projects updated accordingly. Further extensive testing of this subject is required].

[Analyzing how to proceed... squeezing the potential of Subject 13 through specific tests to obtain better readings of his abilities, this procedure was considered the best option. The "Shadow Crawling" project was initiated].

These messages appeared on what appeared to be a somewhat neglected screen with cracks in the glass that made it up. The light from it was the only illumination in the room, which was plunged into deep, unnatural darkness. 

Suddenly, a metallic palm touched the screen, leaving another crack in the screen, and then it began to show videos from various distant angles, all showing Jack's fight against the Juggernaut. 

But the focus of the videos was never that fight, but the fight between the soldiers of the Rosicrucian Federation and Raurania, showing the crudeness of what the war was becoming due to the ever-improving firearms; the fight was only incidentally caught on camera. 

The metal hand, however, tore at the area of the screen showing Jack, as if to pierce it and hold the man who gave his all between its cold fingers. Crimson eyes watched all this, and though mechanical, they showed a longing, a desire that would make any human feel fear. 

Why should a humanoid metal machine exhibit such distinctly human emotions as desire, greed, and possessiveness? The mere thought that something mechanical could have those emotions was the ultimate horror to humanity, a full-blown anomaly, and this thing, it pointed to Jack.

On the other hand, the next day had finally arrived, and it wasn't accompanied by a constant bombardment from the Federation or Raurania, which was something to be happy about. 

Jack and Laria had slept together in the same tent, although there had been no nightly action between them, he was recovering, so sex was not appropriate.

Still, sleeping together was just as good, they both enjoyed spending time alone together whenever they could, but for explorers like them, there wasn't much rest, like now. 

Their rest was interrupted by a call from one of their partners, and if sleep wasn't playing tricks on him, Jack knew immediately that it was Lisa standing at the entrance of the shop. 

"You can come in," Jack said in a sleepy voice. 

A girl with brown hair, purple eyes, and a large sniper rifle on her back entered the tent. The girl had a rather remarkable figure and smiled mischievously when she saw that the couple was still huddled together. 

"Pair of lovebirds, as much as I would like to let you sleep, we have work to do. Alexis received a transmission from the barracks, we have a problem to solve," her words only caused Jack to give a resigned groan before standing up. 

"You seem happy, but I don't know if it's because of seeing me or being with Laria," Lisa joked, pointing to the obvious erection Jack had in his pants, but Jack didn't feel much embarrassment, that had been eliminated long ago at the Academy.

"You're beautiful, but I have a jealous girlfriend," Jack said between laughs before starting to change, not caring if his teammate saw him. 

"New marks? "Lisa asked as she saw the stitches all over Jack's body, feeling a little curious. 

"Yeah, my mom's going to complain to me again, but what can you do?" resigned Jack as he thought about how his beautiful body was more scratched up than one of his grandfather's old records.

"Good morning to you too, Lisa," Laria said dryly, but Lisa was used to her companion's peculiar attitude, so she greeted her back.

Rarely did the brunette show her emotions, except when it had to do with medicine, biology, or subjects that interested her, some would say that her boyfriend could also make her show something, but there were times when even Jack couldn't get half a grimace out of her. 

"Tell me, what have we got this time? "Jack asked, dressed for the occasion, quite different from the army uniform he wore yesterday. 

A full suit, with a brown trench coat to match. The emblem of his country, a silver rose with two cross-shaped spears behind the flower, hung on the left side of his chest. Dagger and gun at his waist, a brass gauntlet on his left arm, and his trusty axe over his shoulder. 

Jack's temper changed as he donned the uniform of the organization that served the Federation in solving many dangerous things, looking quite heroic and somewhat fierce.

"Oh, you're going to love it...a Cyber Ghost," Lisa's words brought silence to the tent.

Both women watched as a smile worthy of a sinister predator appeared on Jack's face and a strange laugh came from him, as if he was on the verge of insanity, well, his blood-covered brown eyes indicated that maybe he wasn't wrong with that thought. 

"Okay, okay, maybe it's not the same, but... every ghost has to be killed, no exceptions," a flash of pain appeared in Jack's eyes, which was then covered by a huge determination and bloodlust. 

Neither Laria nor Lisa said anything, this was a matter for Jack alone, so there was no need for them to interfere, although they would support him as always without hesitation. 

"Alexis took one of the steam wagons, so the trip will be a lot shorter," Lisa said, making the place a little more lively. 

"Let's go," Laria said, making Jack nod, he was already eager to fight and didn't want to waste any more time. 

"Looks like this hate will never go away," Lisa muttered as she walked out behind her companions, she knew they heard her, but it's not like she should avoid the subject. 

"No, it never will," Jack replied coldly, gripping the leather handle of his axe tightly, feeling very uncomfortable at that moment. 

"Getting angry like that will only get you into trouble, even though I don't deny your motives, I don't want you to have a long face the whole trip," Lisa pushed her companion's body, making him look at her. 

"Well... did you hear from Alexis that they've found traces of another technological ruin?" asked Jack to finally change the subject to something more pleasant.

"I hope they have medical records, they're always useful," Laria said, obviously excited about the new topic. 

"Oh yes, but it was in neutral territory, even a tribe of reptilians is said to live nearby," Lisa replied with a small smile on her face. 

"Those lizards always appear in strange places, they are a plague," Jack complained, "not because they have intelligence, which means that humans would accept such beings. 

After all, the awkwardness between the two species was very obvious, with so many problems with anomalies or oddities, the feeling towards another intelligent race was negative. But there was no denying how wise and powerful they were as a species, despite their primitive way of life.