“I believe you were well into your cups. In fact, I think the proper term is ‘drunk as a lord’.”
“And you let the purchase go through?”
“I tried to warn you, but you insisted.” Sadnyss paused for a pointed moment. “And you needed to learn a lesson.”
“You’re right, I should never mix Busch and Tequila.”
--Security camera footage after Samurai Wade McBeerbelly woke up in a back alley.
***
--You got off pretty easy with the catalogs, but the enhancements were quite expensive. Here’s the totals.
Catalogs:
Class I Portable Mass Drivers (100 Points)
Encyclopedia Galactica (250 Points)
Subtotal: 350
Body modifications:
Symbiote Alimentary Support System (200 Points)
Bionite Nodules (300 Points)
Erythroglobulin Secretion Gland (450 Points)
Silden Second Nerves (450 Points)
Swift-Sin Colony (450 Points)
Vesali Bonded Osteopresintesis (450 Points)
Kyrias Eyes Replacement (150 Points)
Hertzian Skew Visor (250 Points)
Cosmetic eyebrow adjustment (10 points)
Raegan Auric Symbiont (200 Points)
Subtotal: 2,910
Equipment and External Symbionts:
Sidavor Sallet (200 Points)
Sidavor Symbiont (450 Points)
Gecko Peds (120 Points)
Trickle Trainer (100 Points)
Deuce Rail (500 Points)
Subtotal: 1,370
Training Modules:
Cyberwarfare Techniques (50 Points)
Melee Combat Training (100 Points)
Applied Antithesis Physiology (300 Points)
Subtotal: 450
Misc:
Nutrient supplement (10 Points)
Alfa-state Inducer (5 Points)
Subtotal: 55
Grand total: 5,145
Points remaining: 2,097
--It only seems that way because you are getting everything all at once. You’ve done well without any upgrades. If you were a more normal Vanguard, you would have used the equivalent amount of points, or more, on the fly, bit by bit. It wouldn’t seem so steep broken up like that.
I ran over the list of items and couldn’t find any one option that I had a complaint against.
--I’m going to induce a super-alpha state where you will be awake but not actually conscious. It will keep you still while I install all the upgrades throughout your body.
I looked at the other end of the couch, where Tara lay curled up.
--No messes. Maybe a little twitching, though. And you’ll need to be careful coming out. There will be big differences in how you move, feel, and sense the world that could cause accidents from overreactions.
A small, wire-thin headband appeared in my lap. At Corie’s direction, I made myself comfortable, slipped on the device, and my mind started drifting. I could feel things happening to my body, motions, and the occasional electric zing, but they felt almost like it was happening to someone else. It was me, but it wasn’t me.
After a time, Corie’s voice drew me back to full awareness. I came to with a large breath, feeling sharply focused and alert. My body felt hollow and light, the way I imagined a helium balloon would feel. When I opened my eyes and saw only pitch blackness, a cry of concern slipped out in the moment’s panic. Had something gone wrong?
--I’ve locked the visor in blast mode, so it won’t let in any light. That way you can adjust to your new senses slowly. Try not to move. You might hurt something yet.
I dropped back into the couch with a sigh of relief.
--Sorry about that. We’ll start with what can’t be easily blocked out. Do you feel the wall behind you?
As soon as she said it, I became aware of the wall. It felt solid, and to the sides I could feel both ends of the couch and the shelves attached to the wall. A motion beside me dominated the sense, and it took me a moment to realize it matched the light breathing I heard.
--Tara woke up briefly half an hour ago, used the restroom, and came back. You’ve been out for about two hours now.
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
--That’s your auric sense. The symbiont will translate it for you, but awareness might come slowly. It’ll register the space about you and any changes to it, out to a good space. The area perceived should increase over time. I’m turning on the UI, let me know if it’s too bright.
The display on the inside of my visor turned on, and the sharpness of the display amazed me. I spent several minutes moving windows and UI elements around and changing font sizes. In the end, I had a huge, uncluttered center space with tons of perimeter for more icons and infograms. Corie pulled up a couple of videos, and I could track the shows, even when minimized to the corner of my eye.
Finally, she cleared the black tinting, and my apartment showed around me, transformed. I felt like I’d gone to sleep in a faded watercolor only to awaken in a high-definition reality sim. Every color had a greater vibrancy and nuance, while textures popped out deeper and more real. I swore I could feel the fabric of my dinette’s chairs just by looking at it. And any and all edges had a crispness I’d never noticed before. And yet, looking about had the world weirdly distorting around the motion.
After some testing, I realized it happened because an area of magnification shifted when I looked about. It increased gradually from the periphery to the main focus, and lines and shapes warped as they moved through that transition area. I’d have to be careful as I moved about until I was used to the changes.
Then I tried to read some papers that had missed the trash can half a room away. The distortion increased until the words on the page were as legible as a page in my hand. A flicker of thought, and the magnification backed off.
We performed more vision tests where Corie used the holo projector to show patterns for me to review and some experiments with the other vision layers. I finally, slowly, stood up. A wave of dizziness washed over me, and I nearly tipped over, but that quickly passed. It took longer to find my balance again. Every time I tried to move, I nearly toppled over as I overcorrected again and again.
--The enhanced Swift-Sin Colony has organs to improve your balance, but it might take a while until your reflexes account for the new feedback. Start with small motions first and build up to larger ones. You’ll soon find your balance again.
When I closed my eyes, the floor rocked randomly, like a small boat caught in heavy seas. Touching a wall or doorway revealed that I actually was rocking, and having a solid touchstone helped me calibrate my stance again. After twenty minutes, I’d recovered my balance enough that tripping over my own feet was merely unlikely. That’d have to do until I found more space and could go more than a couple of steps without hitting furniture, corners, or walls.
--Now, for the armor and rifle. I waited on these for several reasons, the biggest of which is the armor will change your center of balance slightly. You’d find it easier to adjust again after resetting your balance without it first. Plus, your shirt is in the way. You’ll want to use the smaller rectangular one first.
Four boxes appeared on the coffee table, ranging in size from an 80-centimeter-long flat rectangle down to a nine-centimeter cube.
I took the three smaller boxes into the bathroom but jumped and nearly dropped them when I caught sight of the new me in the mirror. The yellow-gold visor stretched over my eyes, extending from the top of my eye sockets to my cheekbones. As it wrapped around my temples, it narrowed, ending in a black nodule over them.
A black bar ran along the top of the visor, over which my eyebrows rose in pleased surprise. Kaitlyn had insisted they be artfully lifted from behind the visor. I wiggled my brows a bit and had to agree that it helped my expressions to show around the cold mirror.
Over my buzzcut, a five-centimeter-wide mohawk covered the crest of my skull and down the back. Kaitlyn and I had agreed that punk fans didn’t fit me, so we’d kept it a couple of fingers wide and only slightly higher.
After some fumbling, I figured out how to clear the visor, and my new eyes peered back at me. The alien cat’s eye with cross slit pupils in a sapphire blue iris combined with my sharp nose and high cheekbones to intensify the raptor impression I’d always had. The whole impression was fierce and distinctly intimidating. It resulted in a gaze that I’d call primitive if not surrounded by the obviously technical visor.
Engraved images in the box lid showed proper orientation and positioning of the armor symbiont. Inside, I found a long dry log of scaly flesh as thick as my wrist. One end had extensions to the side, forming barbs like an arrow.
To assimilate the armor, I lay the flexible bit along my spine with the barbs on my shoulder blades. It stuck to my flesh before wiggling across my skin into better alignment with my spine. I felt it working its way into my skin as tendrils pushed into my skin. The wriggling of the tendrils disturbed me as I imagined worms digging into my flesh. A few minutes later, it settled, and I could feel the armor link up with my hind-brain, providing both feedback and control.
The smaller boxes held stiff partial circles with enlarged ends, four smaller, one larger. Two went around my wrists like a bracelet, two around my ankles, and the last one stretched from ear to ear around the base of my skull. These too wriggled into my skin, becoming a part of both me and the armor.
I triggered the body armor, and a thin, blue syrup flowed over my body. It clung to my skin, conforming to every curve, dip, and muscle from groin to neck, and a few centimeters down my arms and legs. Once in place, it hardened into a pebbled texture laced with small warped triangles. A quick check showed that the groin had filled in, preserving my modesty as effectively as any pair of spandex shorts would.
The gloves only covered half of my fingers, palms, front and back, and a small band at the wrist. The boots, however, flowed fully over my full foot, forming an ankle sock. I felt it being restricted by the shoes I wore, however, a pressure just short of pain, like when my feet had swollen after being on them all day.
I kicked off my shoes, and the armor relaxed into a full enclosure reminiscent of the barefoot running shoes some people swore by. The soles were flexible enough that I could feel the edge of the carpet but tough enough to block any sharp object. Their textured sole gripped the ground when I did a couple of test lunges.
Corie had promised the armor would be strong, but I had to test it with one of my kitchen knives. I ran the knife along my covered palm, then cursed myself for an untrusting fool. Despite being as flexible as my skin, the armor won out over the spring steel, and now I was going to have a hard time resharpening my favorite kitchen knife.
Back in the bathroom, I expanded the helmet and watched it flow up the back of my head and around the sides to stop with a fully open face; good for interacting with people, not so good for battle.
A second command and the helmet finished closing up until my visor formed a single yellow-gold bar in the white-accented cobalt of my armor. Over the mouth, the armor formed ridges; eldritch fingers that reached from my cheeks to curl inward and down to form a V-shaped grill. Fine filaments filled in the spaces between the spines, leaving no gaps.
--The ridge on the helmet includes holes around the follicles for your auric sensor. That’ll leave them protected but still exposed enough to do their work.
I nodded, then retracted the armor fully. It took about five seconds for the armor to fully retract. I dressed again and triggered just the torso part of the armor. Since my t-shirt and pants easily covered the armor, I decided to leave that active by default.
Finally, I returned to the living room for the best part: my new rifle. It looked the same as in Corie’s hologram: blued metal with white highlights and a few glowing blue bits. It had a reassuring heft to it, barely more than my previous rifles, if any.
I raised it to my shoulder, keeping the barrel aimed at the ceiling, and a pair of reticles showed in my visor. Their aim points were slightly different due to the height and how close the ceiling was, but I could easily switch between the two aim points.
I practiced replacing the three magazines, making sure I could do it smoothly by touch alone until a wave of fatigue washed over me and I had to sit down. My arms and legs suddenly felt heavy, and I broke out in a heavy sweat.
--This is expected. You may not feel it, but your body is still adjusting to the upgrades we’ve made. In a way, you’ve just gone through a massive rapid growth spurt, and you need the energy to see it through.
A six-pack of one-liter bottles appeared on the coffee table.
--You’ll need to consume these nutrient supplements throughout the day and into tomorrow. They’ll provide what you need to keep you going until your metabolism reaches equilibrium. You will need to eat more in general going forward.
The fluid in the bottle had a consistency somewhere between honey and syrup. I expected a wash of sweetness, but actually it tasted spicy, with a slight undertone of the coppery metallic flavor I get when I bite my lip. Soon I had drunk about a quarter of the bottle and continued to sip at it off and on while looking at the training module lessons.
Since it didn’t involve moving, I started with the cyberwarfare training. It began simply with how to set up basic defenses before moving on to how to clear out intrusions. I applied the lessons to my lock, then took the assault to each of my other electronics and computers in turn.
Somehow, even my microwave oven had picked up a backdoor. I didn’t even know that the appliance had a mesh connection. After a bit of digging, I found that a patch had introduced a vulnerability. For some reason, this particularly annoyed Corie, and she rather aggressively informed the company of the need for a patch.