I came to with a wheezing cough.
I lay upon the floor, but how I’d ended up there, why my mind was spinning like a carousel, I couldn’t remember. Everything was fuzzy, and my memories struggled to catch up with my situation.
The Artifact, it…was gone. Pulling myself upright, there were no traces of the strange contraption to be seen. The computer screens still shone with their pale blue light above me, however, and upon one of them, dark text was written.
Welcome, Administr@tor
Path Of The Codebreaker (Unique)
Current Synchronization: 3%
New Authority, Initializing…
What does that even mean?
Once more, I couldn’t shake off that feeling that someone, or something was stringing me along. I wasn’t even sure if I could fight it.
My entire body was aching, and my soaked clothes had made me colder than I realized as I pulled myself upright. I shivered, and then I paused. My eyes had just passed over the rest of the screens.
I blinked.
I couldn’t have been out for long as the scan of that first mod I’d gotten was still running. Rather than the usual enigmatic blobs and blurs that would pass across the screen, what I saw was endless information flash by, broken down into a binary code.
There was too much of it flooding the screen for me to make sense of. There should’ve been, at least, but the longer I watched it, the deeper that sense of unease grew.
Beyond its mere presence, something was off with the code.
It was…like a perfectly aligned room where everything had its place and purpose, except a painting that wasn’t put up right, leaving a crack in the symmetry. No, it’s more than that. That painting is barely attached to the wall, and if it comes loose, I’m certain the entire room will begin to unravel…
As I stood there, having watched for longer than I’d realized, a notification popped up that the first mod had finished, and the scan of the second one began.
This one was even worse. In this room, the rugs were dirty and the chairs rickety, and the ceiling was barely holding up — left rotten through by entire patches of ugly code.
There are zeros where ones should’ve been. A string that ran on for too long, leaving dissonance within the whole…
I felt nauseous, something within me raging against the imperfections even as I couldn’t explain why I felt them.
Worried that I’d actually throw up as the vertigo bashed into me, I switched over to that new tab that’d opened up to read the verdict on the completed scan.
Even though it was just as lacking as I’d expected, I still drew a relieved breath as that distorted code was gone.
The mod was categorized as a D-grade muscle stimulant, and skimming through its summary, I realized that it would propel me to the peaks of the human physique in only a few years with barely any effort. With some effort, however, with the right diets, discipline, and training regimes, it would take me even further beyond that.
I would become a freak of nature by human standards. It was just that, on the galactic scale, humans standards weren’t all that high.
Still, as far as D-grade mods went, it wasn’t bad. There was a reason even the ‘bad’ muscle stimulants sold like star fuel on any marketplaces they appeared on.
It’d cost me several concessions getting it from Mikayes, not that I regretted it. There were tons of extra information available as well.
Expected integration rate with human: 58%
Harvested species: Adult Cryak Male
Chance for genetic deviation: 8%
—Expected mutation rate: aesthetic
There was also a mapping of which muscle groups would see the most improvement from the enhanced growth, with a lot of focus on the legs and the back. There was a list of potential dietary changes as well — a taste for bugs and smaller rodents — common mental fluctuations, and potential abilities I’d gain, listed alphabetically:
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Absorption: 5.2%
Acid Bleed Out: 3 %
Acidic Claws: 13%
Accelerated Growth: 16%
Aerial Movement: 88%
Antiseptic Saliva: 22%
…
Before I ran the mod against my own genetic code, these percentages weren’t all reliable. Another reason I need to get a gene scan sooner rather than later…
Not that I felt like getting my hopes up. Good abilities — pyrokinesis, technomancy, true flight and their like — were usually exorbitantly expensive even in their weakest iterations. The best I could hope for at D-grade was improved physiques and enhanced senses.
Good stuff, not just the kind of things that made a young boy run around screaming with excitement as he read about them. The question was just, good enough to make a difference?
Most of the abilities came with an extended explanation available through a few clicks and changed tabs.
I took a look at Aerial Movement, as that seemed like the one I’d be most likely to get if I integrated with the mod.
Expected grade(s):
C 54%
D 17%
E 9%
B…
Sample size, human males: 334 675
There was an extra tab for integration with female subjects, other species, and similar mods as well. There were even several articles on where to acquire the ability, with several of the top results leading back to the Cryaks: an abundant, insectile species of Arvo-CC14, sector A9-14.
Known boons: 3 dimensional sense of movement for winged species and an inherent sense for body positioning while in the air. Several subjects have also shown a supernatural sense for wind directions as well as judging height.
There was other information available as well, under ‘Expected boons’ and ‘Speculative benefits,’ though too many of them linked to forum posts from retro youths, talking about the ability to do “rad back flips,” for me to pay them any real attention. Instead, I glanced over the other potential abilities.
While most were fairly self-explanatory, or lacked sufficient sample size when they weren’t, the one to keep my attention was Accelerated Growth. At least initially, until a deeper look told me that it would, at best, just bring me to adulthood quicker.
While not terrible, it wasn’t the kind of growth modifier I sought.
Some mods, usually those harvested from younger subjects, could grow and adapt alongside the user. It wasn’t an option many cared for as it involved too many variables. It was a high risk strategy with few guarantees unless you knew exactly what you were doing. And if you did, well, odds were that you possessed the funds to go for a stronger base mod instead.
Fortunately, it meant that they were usually cheaper to get a hold of. Unfortunately, being part of a civilization that spanned billions of planets, conventions weren’t always uniform.
Sometimes, the specific modifier I sought came under other titles or variations, with minuscule alterations that weren’t necessarily obvious.
Which meant, the next hour or so, I spent combing through mountains of data until my eyes grew blurry – all throughout which I couldn’t shake off that earlier feeling of discomfort.
It only got worse as I turned towards the F-graded mods that’d just finished scanning.
Both of them were categorized as Lesser Bone Density Enhancers, one extracted from an aged Kithrin, the other an already deceased Ferrus Bull. I’d picked them because, just like muscle stimulants, even at their lowest grade they were a popular component in synthesized mods. At worst, I might be able to sell them for a couple of credits each.
There were no interesting bonuses, and their percentages were nearly nonexistent beyond potential physical mutations.
From F-grades, that much was expected. What wasn’t expected was that nauseous feeling that kept washing over me as I looked through their stats. Each chunk of data I went through was like a mural of offensive art, triggering phobias I hadn’t even known I possessed.
I glanced towards that Welcome Administr@tor message on the other screen. Is the System trying to guide me here as well, keeping me away from bad mods?
If that was the case, it was undeniably useless. I didn’t need to feel sick to my stomach to know that F-grade mods were worse than D-grade ones…unless there’s something more to it?
I stifled a yawn.
Rain still pattered against the windows of the dim room, and although it was still night outside, I could see a brighter tint to the skies. Morning was coming, and I’d been at it for way too long. My eyes were dry, and my pounding headache was only getting worse.
Whenever my eyelids fluttered shut, however, they were still there. The image of the Charger, crashing into a roiling lake. Cold water rushing inside, slithering figures, and screams for help…
𐫰 𐫰 𐫰
I was back in the room with the golden code.
The boy’s silhouette was still there, but now, it was also accompanied by a second figure. It was a massive, semi-humanoid insectile, covered in carapace and with large eyes that followed my every movement.
It was a Cryak. I’d gone over its data earlier, but such things hadn’t done its size justice. It was a daunting thing, especially for my current form. Still, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something in it was missing.
Gradually, from the feet up, the miniscule code that made up its body was disintegrating, one string at a time. Then, it began to fully unravel, and as it began trickling into the silhouette of the golden boy next to it, something was wrong.
I could see that first crack begin to form as the damage piled up, and although the boy before me undeniably grew stronger, something within him also twisted. Something misaligned that made me sick looking at.
The boy was in pain, and he fell to his knees, throwing up the genetic code until the incomplete Cryak reformed beside him once more.
Something was missing…
If I only knew what.
>Information Gathering 5 > 6
> Gene Data > 1
>Market Knowledge 3 > 5
> Gene Modifications > 2
Eyes of the L’Ithari 1 > 2
Achievement(s) Unlocked:
Second Insight:
> Codebreaker Synchronization
>
> +1%
Host Of The Codebreaker:
> Warning…
>
> Warning…
>
> Overriding…
>
> ¤&/”…
>
> Lj╫ᶚ@...
>
> ̕ȁ÷Ǧ…
Administrator:
> Deep Access, Granted
>
> Error…
>
> Error…
>
> Access Does Not Match Admin Level
>
> Corrupted Files Detected
>
> Termina…
>
> Overriding…
Welcome, Admini$trator…
> Input, Accepted
>
> Locating Contingency…