Tuan’s mumbled apology was heard clearly by Valentina. She wasn’t angry with him. After all, Tuan wasn’t an irresponsible fool or someone who blindly threw himself toward death. What happened that day had already taught him a lesson he would never forget.
“It’s all in the past now. Don’t torment yourself over it anymore. The fact that you’re still alive and safe right now is already a kind of miracle.”
She took a deep breath, brushing the gloom from her face.
“At the moment, radiation levels have dropped significantly, and we’re on course for Titan, Saturn’s moon. From what I’ve heard, this ship was only designed for emergency evacuation. The main vessel is currently docked at Titan, which is why we need to get there first.”
Valentina fell silent. She casually gestured toward the glass of water on the table. The glass lifted into the air, hovering as if pulled by an invisible force, then gently descended into Tuan’s outstretched hand.
“Drink some water. Then go shower and change your clothes. You stink already. If you still have questions, ask the robot guy later. You should be able to take care of yourself now, right?”
Tuan nodded. His physical condition had always been exceptional, so Valentina felt at ease leaving him to look after himself. He raised the glass to his lips and drained it in one go. The cool water slid down his throat, flowed along his esophagus, and dropped straight into his empty stomach, which responded with a loud, gurgling sound.
Valentina smiled, stood up, took the empty glass from him, and gently reminded him:
“You must be starving. Take a quick shower, then head to the dining room. I’ll go ahead and reheat some food. Just step out of the room, turn right, and walk a little – you’ll get there. And be careful. You’ve only just recovered.”
After saying that, Valentina walked toward the puddle of water near the doorway. She had intended to wipe Tuan down earlier, but the moment she saw him wake from his coma, her relief made her drop the basin from her hands. It hit the floor, sending water splashing everywhere. Now, right at the threshold, a messy pool of liquid lay spread across the ground. She drew in a breath. Her slender hands swayed gently forward, light and precise, like a conductor guiding a symphony through a soft, flowing passage. The scattered droplets of water across the floor slowly gathered together, forming a single pool before obediently flowing back into the basin. The towel wiped away the last trace of moisture, and then both the basin and the cloth floated neatly back into Valentina’s hands.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Tuan sat on the bed, quietly watching everything unfold with eyes full of awe – just like the first time he had witnessed it in the dining hall corridor that day. It was this ability, along with several other qualities, that had led to Valentina being chosen as one of the final three survivors of human civilization.
Once everything was tidied up, Valentina glanced back at Tuan one last time before turning and leaving the room. He smiled and waved goodbye to the young girl, then sat there absentmindedly for a moment, sniffing himself a couple of times to see whether he really did stink that badly, before finally deciding to get up and take a shower.
To make personal hygiene easier, the engineers had installed numerous automated shower pods throughout the spacecraft. The models here were nearly identical to those used at the L.A.B, so the crew had no trouble understanding how they worked. Thinking back, if there hadn’t been one available in the EVA chamber that day, Tuan doubted he would have survived until now. He silently thanked his luck for showing up exactly when it was needed.
Tuan swung his legs off the bed. The metal deck sent a sharp chill racing through his senses the moment his feet touched it. He instinctively drew them back, then gathered his strength and stood up, staggering slightly as he began to walk. The ship’s gravity was weaker than Mars’s, leaving him a little off balance. He had to steady himself by gripping nearby equipment before he could move forward with any ease.
When he reached the shower area, Tuan quickly grabbed a hollow, fashionable sphere and pressed it straight against the center of his chest. The patient gown he was wearing was instantly sucked inside, and he casually tossed the sphere into the laundry unit before examining his bare body in the mirror. Everything was exactly as he had expected. All the recent injuries had healed completely; only the old scar on the left side of his chest remained, unchanged and stubbornly intact.
Tuan bit down hard on his arm until blood welled up, leaving behind a deep impression from his teeth. Yet only seconds later, the wound began to close, the skin knitting itself back together as if rewinding time. The pain vanished almost immediately, replaced only by a faint itching sensation from freshly regenerated skin.
“So the final experiment they talked about was implanting these nanobots into my body.” Tuan thought, frowning slightly. “They work like some kind of miracle elixir.”
