What is colder than the cold? Linea was faced with the answer to this question.

  Another person might have simply mistook it as the result of particularly finetuned air conditioning, but one whose life had nearly been taken by flames couldn't help but immediately seek the caress of cold upon awakening.

  Typically, she'd start her morning with a stretch. Linea was in her late thirties, and her husband was a few years older. Her bones weren't what they used to be, and she'd suffer backaches often. But now, when she sat up on the unfamiliar bed, she felt light as she hadn't since childhood, and strong as she could never dream of.

  A noise like the dropping of an anvil echoed through the laboratory as Linea stepped down. It took several hops to realize the source was herself. Bewildered, she turned to find Damien sprawled over the floor and against the front pane of a complicated machine.

  "Honey!" She made a dash for him, but the results weren't what she expected. Her body darted into the air and crashed into one of the devices, blasting it open and spewing parts and fragments everywhere. The noise until now hadn't woken him, but the shock from this did.

  "Ugh...!?" Damien didn't immediately come to his senses. He had hardly caught a few minutes of sleep. "L-Linea! Linea!" He hurried to his feet and chased. Linea was on the ground beside a metal wall that had bent inwards from the impact.

  "Damien... What's happening to me?" She was scared. Such a monstruosly powerful being she'd become, and she was shaking, daring not to even get to her feet.

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  "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I fell asleep."

  Damien rushed to help her up, but when he pulled on Linea's arm, he was pulled downwards instead. It was so instinctual he himself had forgotten.

  Dainty and slim as her frame might have been, the current Linea several hundred kilos. There was no way he could pick her up on his own, even if he hadn't completely foregone exercising to work on this.

  Linea realized what was happening and tried to get up. She placed her hand on the ground and squeezed to get a grip. Her fingers cut into the steel flooring, making five distinct claw-like marks into the underlying cement.

  "What...!?"

  "Please, Linea. Calm down. I'll explain." Damien reached for her, but Linea screamed and shook her head.

  "No! Don't touch me! I'll hurt you!"

  She was most likely right. Damien gulped, but he didn't take a step back. He kneeled on the ground beside his wife, and placed his hands on her shoulders, careful to avoid the joint mechanisms.

  "Stay still." He said, and quivering in fear, Linea agreed.

  It was the first time he'd held her since the accident. Something he thought he'd never do again.

  "I missed you so much, Linea..."

  "Honey..."

  Her memories were still fuzzy. Had she left somewhere? She didn't remember leaving. But she did remember something much like this... This sense of longing...

  "I missed you too, honey."