In 3994, the corroded energy is eating away at the skeleton of the world.
The free mercenary Renn accepted a sky-high commission in the Gear Church. The rust pattern on the reward coin contained the same frequency as the "final rust" that was about to merge with his broken arm. When the ominous piece of metal embedded itself in his flesh and blood, he was forcibly dragged into the AECB—an institution whose name is "containing anomalies" but actually fosters rust.
What the mechanical prosthetic eyes saw was always contrary to the records: Teammates died of metal in front of their eyes, but the report said "all survived"; under the remains of the childhood wooden house was a cold metal skeleton; the gears inside the pocket watch were reenacting deaths that had not yet happened. At the entrusted signature area, the words "Future Director of AECB" are leaking more rust as he uses the metal prosthesis.
He is AE-017, adapter number, the 17th "container" selected by Final Rust. The failed test subjects in the Memory Cemetery share their consciousness in the cry. The prophecy of the Mechanical Bible hides the coordinates of the mercenary code. Under the mask of Seat 3, there is a face identical to his. Time has long since closed a loop: he writes the commission in the future, and he walks towards the Bell of Death in the present. All "Ren" are in the rust spots of the gear church, repeating resistance and sacrifice.
The steel has penetrated into the bones, but the rusty fire is awakening. He is a weapon, a host, and a variable that tears apart the closed loop. The rotation of the pocket watch's gears contains the mother's antibodies, the father's vows, and the cries of all failed products——
"The end? It's just the prologue to a prairie fire."
