"Doctor—!"

The sounds of K&D's victory still seemed to echo in his ears, as if he heard someone calling for a doctor in the repair room, and as if someone was calling his name from very close by. When his eyes fluttered open, he was enveloped in a haze of white light and indistinct shapes, his thoughts adrift in confusion.

A sharp pain pierced his consciousness, awakening him from a deep slumber, while snippets of reality gradually pieced themselves together amidst the throbbing headache. His gaze wandered, slowly taking in his surroundings, realizing this wasn't the K&D base's repair room. There were no colleagues, and no mechs needing repair...

He seemed to have been transported to a medical center by the base's doctors.

But where was this? A mech pilot's examination room?

In the spacious, stark white examination room, two robotic assistants stood by, and not far away, a sign read 'Mech Pilot Examination Room'. 

Merlin's gaze settled on a person standing beside him, and on the other side of the table, a figure in a white coat had their back to him.

Soon, the slightly overweight man turned around, revealing a face that was both familiar and strange to Merlin.

Merlin remained silent, having not visited a mech pilot's examination room since his disability and retirement.

Two people sat in the examination room, and the overweight man called out to Merlin several times without a response, finally noticing Merlin's pale face and the sweat on his forehead.

"You're sweating a lot, are you okay?"

"Merlin!? Merlin, can you hear me?"

Merlin's head hurt, and he instinctively tried to adjust his wheelchair, accidentally knocking over something nearby. 

Pain shot through his waist and legs, and Merlin looked at his legs in a daze. The pain from the fall cleared the fog in his mind, sharpening his muddled memories.

"Merlin!"

His legs...? 

Merlin turned to see a worried, chubby face.

The overweight man looked at him anxiously, "Are you okay!? How did you zone out during an exam?"

Merlin looked at the man beside him, recalling the younger version from his distant memories, "…Carr?"

The last time he saw Carr was five years ago; it was impossible for him to be here, across star systems, and... to look so young.

Carr sighed with relief, "At least you're responding now. You ignored me when I was talking to you earlier."

He tried to help Merlin up, realizing he wasn't moving, "Merlin?"

Merlin looked at his legs, "…I can't walk."

Carr turned and shouted, "Doctor—!"

Merlin looked down at his hands, his gaze moving from the lines in his palm to his intact right hand. The hidden veins, the well-defined joints of his hand... and his fully functional legs.

Below his trousers was the soft touch of flesh, not the hard, mechanical sensation.

Rapid footsteps approached rapidly, and Merlin was somewhat dazedly pulled up by Carr as robotic assistants and the doctor rushed over, the surrounding voices suddenly intensifying.

"Merlin?" Carr looked at him anxiously, "Are you okay? Can you hear me?"

Merlin's voice was hoarse, "I'm fine."

The doctor scrolled through the virtual screen, repeatedly checking the medical records. 

Merlin observed everything around him, spotting his medical information on the public display.

[Merlin Occam, male, 18 years old.]

18 years old, Star Calendar year 1245... that was 12 years ago.

Carr looked at Merlin, then at the doctor beside him. They had come for the routine adult mech pilot physical examination, and now that the exams were finished, they were just waiting to hand over the medical tablet for the doctor's signature. But suddenly, Merlin had started acting strangely, sweating and not responding when called... and now he couldn't even walk.

After a while, the doctor finally looked up from the tablet, frowning deeply, "…This situation is a bit special; we need to redo a few tests."

Carr grew nervous, "What's going on?"

"Mech pilots often connect neurally with their mechs. This sudden condition might indicate a neurological issue." explained the doctor, quickly called over assistant robots and contacted other examination rooms, marking several tests on the list, "Let's do these exams first. Just to be safe, let's also conduct a genetic screening."

Merlin was wheeled away for further testing, observing the unfamiliar yet familiar surroundings. As he passed by a treatment room and saw his reflection in a mirror- youthful, healthy, looking exactly as he did at 18.

The year 1245 of the Star Calendar, the year he had won the single combat mech championship in the Star League, healthy and unmarred, a bright and shining 18.

Everything felt like a dream, unreal and illusory.