Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord

The sequence of movements flowed like running water, leaving everyone stunned.

Then, a wave of elation swept through the crowd:

“She’s connected again?”

“How is it, Nora? Can you move?”

“I told you she wouldn’t die! Look, it’s connected!”

“Should Castel abolish beheading already?”

Even Nini couldn’t help but step out from behind the steel plate, her face full of relief.

“Nora, try it now.”

“No! I can’t control the body!” Nora suddenly spoke up.

Nini froze, and under everyone’s astonished gaze, Nora’s body slowly raised her head in its hands.

“I can’t control her. Whether my head is on her neck or on a vase, there’s no difference—I can’t feel the body at all!”

Nora’s voice came quick and anxious. The surrounding people sucked in a cold breath, staring tightly at Nora, who was holding her head before her.

Had “she” become a completely independent being?

If a body gained independent consciousness, what would happen?

Would “she” believe that Nora had enslaved her and turn hostile in revenge?

Without showing it, Nini waved her hand behind her. Granny took a step forward, and beside her, the armored Banshee Assault Squad prepared to move.

If “she” tried to harm Nora, Granny would seize Nora first, and the assault squad would forcibly subdue “her.”

However, Nora’s body made no aggressive move.

“She” seemed puzzled as well. The body carefully placed the head back on its neck, turned slightly to adjust the alignment, and tried moving again.

“No, I still can’t control the body.”

Nora’s body scratched its head out of habit—only to knock the head off again, scrambling awkwardly to catch it.

The situation froze for a while.

Everyone could tell—the body seemed to want to reattach the head, yet it just couldn’t manage it.

“Could it be that too much time has passed?”

“Should we try gluing it in place?”

“Fixing it won’t help—she still can’t control her body.”

“So they’ve really become two separate entities? Then this is no different from being beheaded.”

“This is bad…”

Nini furrowed her brow, thought for a while, and suddenly asked, “Nora, can you write?”

Nora blinked, then realized Nini must be speaking to the other Nora.

Nora’s body stood motionless, unresponsive.

“Nora, tell her.”

Nora’s expression turned odd. After a moment’s hesitation, she repeated Nini’s words aloud.

This time, Nora’s body actually squatted down and began tracing in the dirt with her finger.

“White-Bone Sanctum?”

“What’s that? A church or something?”

People around shook their heads. Nora frowned in thought, then shook her head too. “I’ve never heard of it either. But judging by the name, maybe it’s related to the Bone-White Raven?”

“You’ve never heard of it within the Church? ‘White bone’ sounds connected to Bone-White Raven or Burier orders.”

“No. I haven’t been a cleric for long, and I’ve been a Burier for even less. That name doesn’t ring a bell at all.”

“So,” Nini narrowed her eyes, “you and your body were originally one. But now, you don’t know what the White-Bone Sanctum is—while your body does. The answer must lie within this so-called Sanctum.”

Nora thought a moment, then looked toward her body. “What is the White-Bone Sanctum?”

No response.

“Have you been there?”

“Do you know who I am?”

“Do you have your own name?”

“Step back.”

“Gwen, Hughes, Bazel.”

Nora said everything she could think of, but her body remained completely unresponsive.

At that point, no one knew what to do. After some discussion, they began dispersing in frustration.

Maybe Nora really couldn’t control her body anymore.

Just as the crowd was about to leave, Monica—who had remained silent all along—suddenly brightened.

“Wait, I think I have an idea!”

—

Hughes sat in the armchair, quietly listening to Hodge’s report across from him.

His fingers tapped the wooden table rhythmically. Steam rose from the teacup, filling the room with a tranquil atmosphere.

“So, what exactly was Monica’s idea?”

Hodge closed his notebook and looked up at his lord. “It’s you, Lord Hughes. She believes you might be able to solve this problem.”

Hughes raised an eyebrow.

“Monica said that back when she was being corroded by contamination, your touch purified her. Although Nora can’t sign a contract with you, perhaps you—or your blood—might still help her.”

“Ah, that.” Hughes sighed. “That was ages ago.”

Signing the Symbiotic Contract with the Banshees felt like a lifetime past—when he had just received his title as Frontier Count, and the Empire still shone in its prime.

“I don’t think Nora is contaminated, but trying won’t hurt. Where is she now?”

“At the test site. Lord Richard is also there, checking her condition.”

“Let’s go take a look.”

The two soon arrived at the test site, where quite a few people had gathered.

Most of the Banshees had joined the Hospital Knights and were currently tending to the wounded. Nini hadn’t reached her rotation yet and was still stationed in the Northlands. As a result, only Monica and a few others were present at the site.

“Richard, how’s the situation?”

“Strange. Very strange. In theory, Nora should be able to control her body. A Burier’s soul is fixed within the body—the head and body should function as one—but it’s as if something is blocking the connection.”

Richard rubbed his chin, frowning.

He was a scholar of medicine and the human body. If he couldn’t figure it out… then perhaps only Monica’s approach was left to try.

“In that case, let me touch her and see,” said Hughes.

“No!”

“You can’t!”

“That’s far too dangerous, my lord!”

Everyone immediately objected. Hughes was still human, while Nora’s body possessed Extraordinary Power—if something went wrong, it might be too late to save him.

“Relax, relax,” Hughes said with a smile. “Have you forgotten my Symbiotic Contract with the Banshees? Even if Nora tried to strike me, killing me wouldn’t be so easy. And besides, she doesn’t look dangerous right now.”

His reasoning wasn’t wrong. After a quick discussion, the others decided to let the Banshees restrain Nora’s body first.

Once they donned their heavy armor, the Banshees surrounded her. She didn’t resist.

Hughes took a deep breath and reached toward the severed edge of her neck.