“How could this day get any better? I am sure I am just going to love whatever amazing news you have for me.” Glen said, the sarcasm in his voice so thick in his voice it caught Liz entirely off guard.
“What are you talking about, news?” Liz looked at Glen with confusion clear in her eyes. She pulled the spear out of the hound, swinging it quickly to the side to clean the leaf tip of her new weapon. Realization dawned on her that Glen was most likely talking to his new companion.
Before she could follow up with another comment Glen held his hand up to stop her. Liz might have been annoyed at anyone else, but she decided to give him a pass on this one. In Glen’s defense, he has had a rough couple of days, even compared to the rest of them.
“Sorry, hold up I am dealing with something over here. My new friend apparently has some news that it thinks I am not going to like.” Ending his two second conversation with Liz, Glen swapped back to his conversation with his AI. “Ok, back to you. Seriously, think of a name. Anything is better than just thinking of you as ‘System’, or ‘AI’. What do you got for me?”
“You mentioned before (User Glen), you don’t recall everything that happened when you were being brought into the system and you spoke with your messenger construct. I was not present for that conversation, but there are certain things that every MC is supposed to inform you of when you’re being integrated.
The main thing is you may have noticed I have some idiosyncrasies, that stems from how integration works. I said before I am The System, and The System is me. That is mostly true. The problem arises because the interface chosen for you was the AI and the nanites already in your body. It was determined to be the best way to elevate you and give you the tools to lift yourself up as well. However, the weakness that was present before for your nanite swarm, didn’t just go away.”
Glen’s face conveyed the message that he had no idea what his AI was talking about. Which really made sense when you considered that he didn’t even have time to adjust to the AI, or The System for that matter, independently before suddenly having them both. He thought he knew the path his life was on, but that all had been up ended.
“I am not really following. I didn’t really have the 7AI before you were here. What weakness are you talking about?”
“The System did its best to integrate the AI, as part of a smoother acclimation process. However, what the system ultimately does is it builds up the person. Mind, body, and soul. Not necessarily augmentations. The swarm inside you that is supplying a lot of your growth is significantly diminished. You should have nanites in the high millions, you are in the low thousands.”
“Okay? That doesn’t sound like a good thing, but it can be fixed right?” Glen was doing his best, but numbers just weren’t a big part of their lives. He was more worried about keeping his people safe and bringing back meat, than learning anything past the first couple hundred. Even now the only reason he could even begin to fathom the difference in values that high is because the AI aiding him without his knowledge.
“(User Glen), you do not realize it, because I have been working very hard to suppress it, but you are falling apart. In a very literal sense, your body is coming undone. I have been stopping the pain receptors from telling you just how bad things are.”
Suddenly Glen was very angry, “Why would you hide that from me?? Also, stop it with this ‘User Glen’ nonsense, it is just ‘Glen!’”
“I had been hoping to get you back to your home, where you would be safe, and we could deal with the underlying issue before it progressed. But this is the perfect opportunity that I felt we should not pass up. Glen, if you die, then I do as well. It is in my best interest to keep you alive and healthy.
“However, there are a LOT of negative things going on with your body. After the last battle, the swarm simply doesn’t have enough nanites to keep holding you together. Soon, you are going to be in unimaginable pain again, as your insides have been wrecked when trying to subdue and assimilate the lesser nanites that were in your body.”
“Why would you even start the assimilation process you keep talking about if you knew this was a possibility?” Glen was pushing down his frustration deep inside of him, but it was still bubbling right at the surface. None of this had been his choice.
“It isn’t that simple, Glen. It was needed. I could not work the way I needed to with the lesser designs functioning inside of you. They were never made to do what I can do, and they would have been actively working against us both the entire time.”
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
“Alright enough of this, again you have us doing a lot of talking and nothing is happening. In the future you need to let me know before making any decisions for me. What was the opportunity that presented itself you needed to tell me about?”
This conversation was going on far longer than Glen had thought it would. While waiting for an answer, Glen apologized to Liz and gestured to the hound indicating he wanted to move it to a nearby alley while they were waiting. As they began to move the hound, they both took a moment to look down the street towards Skytop. Just barely visible in the distance they could make out Douglas entering the building with Pirah in his arms, Miles right behind him. Glen heard his unexpected head guest project a noise as if it were clearing its throat to get his attention.
The AI resumed their conversation,” A large amount of your body fat was broken down and used as temporary grafting, much like in your shoulder, to hold him together while I guide your recovery. Too much in fact, I had to break down muscle and bone as well. Your body is dangerously malnourished.”
“So, what I am just going to kill over because you have left me so weak? I do not feel bad, how can I be malnourished?” Glen spoke in a very discontent whisper hoping not to alarm Liz, but she heard him despite his best effort.
“The hell do you mean you’re about to kill over??” Liz was getting progressively more agitated hearing only one side of what was going on. From everything she could hear, it almost sounded like this technology inside of her brother was doing far more harm than good.
Glen had to take a breath to reorient himself before speaking. After a couple seconds to clear his head he spoke directly to Liz again, “I am sorry I overreacted. It actually isn’t that bad. My little friend here was just telling me he had a solution in mind, he just doesn’t think I am going to like it.”
“Yes, as I was saying Glen. We do need to hurry this up, your body is basically eating itself right now. The hunger you’re facing is severe, and it looks like there is a meal right in front of you.” Saying this, the AI activated the optic implant it had recently constructed inside Glen to give a faint red outline around the mutant hound laying on ground at his feet.
A look of disgust crossed Glens face at the suggestion, but resignation set in as he said, “Okay, I can take some cuts off this creature. I clean it and cook it back at Skytop. How much do I need to take to offset the damage inside of me?”
“It won’t be that easy Glen. You need to eat it, as it is... The heat needed to cook its meat will destroy the nanites that are ingrained in the meat. You need to replenish them just as much as your fat reserves.”
“Okay so I can’t cook it, we could try boiling it? When our people eat the meat from these animals, they get very sick. There are never any exceptions to that.”
There was a slight pause before the AI continued, “Surely you noticed how tough this creature’s hide was? That is not natural, and only slightly magic in nature. The cooking process keeps your people from getting sick, but it prevents them from gaining more of the little bots that make you stronger.”
The resolve that was carrying Glen through this far was breaking, “Are you sure this is the only way?”
“Glen, you have talked about needing to be stronger. In order to grow stronger, you must survive. If you do not do this, I do not know that I can reverse the damage that has already been done. You are going to get sick for a time while I subdue the new nanites you’re bringing into your body, but I can stave off the worst of it. Once I get them under control, I can start repairing you inside and out. This is the best chance you have.”
“No more talking about it I guess, it's time to act.” Saying so, Glen pulled a skinning knife from a sheath strapped to his leg. He could not have used this to fight, at least not the monsters that roamed the world now, but the Greenmen made sure they never let a team leave unprepared. He kneeled closer to the mutant dog ready to make the cuts.
“Glen, I know this is difficult. I have highlighted the areas I believe will yield the best results.” Like a light switch being turned on, another outline came in to exist and the earlier one winked out instantly. The outline focused heavily on the muscle and fatty areas across the creature. While Glen cuts the meat from the creature, he explained everything that Liz missed from their conversation.
“I do not like it, but I agree you should do it... Glen, in the last day I have seen you do incredible things. If this is what you can do with one foot in the grave, imagine what you could do with time. You know Gideon picked us apart. We got lucky before. This is exactly what we need to stand up to him when he comes back. He only gave us six months. We don’t have time to do this any other way than charging forward and hoping for the best. Just know, I will always have your back.”
Glen took a moment to think about what Liz said to him, “You’re right. This isn’t just about me anymore. I do this for them.” As he finished talking, Glen took a small strip he had cut away to be bite sized and put it in his mouth. It was sweet, unnaturally sweet.
“What is going on?” The surprise was evident in Glen’s tone, alerting Liz as well.
“I knew that the flavor might pose an issue Glen, I took the liberty of stimulating your taste buds to help you get it down. You’re currently a false flavor I thought you might find more pleasant.”
This makes Glen even more uncomfortable, “Can you please stop messing with my reality? You may see it as helping, but how can I trust anything I see, hear, or even taste with you ‘taking liberties’ and deciding what is best for me?”
With his AI’s agreement it stops changing the flavor that Glen was experiencing. Suddenly the taste changes to very bitter, and the taste of copper and iron comes through. It was too much for Glen. He began choking as he fought back vomiting.
Struggling to contain the blood juices from the meat and vomit Glen managed to croak out between clenched teeth, “I am sorry, you were right. Please change it back!”
The effects were not instant, but with the nanites already in place the AI was able to quickly change it back so that Glen could finish getting the meat down. Glen cuts a few more strips of meat off the beast and wraps them so that he can eat them later. As Glen was standing up getting ready to start heading back to Skytop and finish their journey, a new prompt popped up on a screen in front of him.
Consuming the uncooked flesh of an enemy you killed in battle that was equal to or close to your level has made you eligible for the passive skill [Ghoulish]
Would you like to accept?