In the operating room, Higashiyama Keika's deformed spine had been removed and replaced with a 3D-printed prosthetic support, while Chen Yu and Daimon Michiko were drilling holes in her still-intact spine to install the fixation screws for the support frame.
"Drilling complete, hand me the titanium screw," Chen Yu said as he passed the drill bit he had used to bore holes into the spine back to the surgical nurse, took the titanium screw she handed him, and twisted it into the hole he had drilled. There were already over a dozen such titanium screws implanted into Higashiyama Keika's vertebrae.
