Raine had just turned ten when his whole world changed. It wasn’t that his father wasn’t really his father. Terrin had told him from the beginning that he wasn’t. It was when he discovered his mother had been an elite warrior who possessed a powerful being that helped her, and he was to inherit it. Raine was an elf or a half-elf, he wasn’t sure and didn’t know the difference. He was a little small for a boy of ten, but he was smart. His father was a blacksmith now, with his thieving days behind him. He was tall roguishly handsome with dark hair, lithe, and had wide shoulders. He walked with a limp and sometimes his right leg would give out unexpectedly. Raine had similar hair and looks which is why most people assumed Terrin was his father. On his tenth birthday his father brought him a large wooden chest. Raine could feel this heart thudding in his chest. The box was well made and sturdy with thick banding on the edges and two bands on each side. The solid dark wood was smooth in his hands as he sat on the bench, just resting them on the box. Swallowing dryly Raine asked, “Did you make this?”
“Yes. It may be the best woodwork I have ever done.”
Raine nodded to himself, as he slowly inserted the key into the lock and with a faint click removed the hasp. Inside smelled of cinnamon and cloves as he pulled out a thick, dark grey fabric. It was a finely stitched cloak with a soft fur-lined hood. Under the cloak was a leather scroll case. Raine pulled out the case and set it to the side of the box. The final item in the case was a large faceted black crystal in a protective wooden frame. Raine lifted the surprisingly dense crystal from within the frame. The tear-drop-shaped crystal was a foot and a half long and half that wide. The dark gem shone in the firelight despite being black within. Raine’s father removed the frame from the box, setting it on the table. With a gesture, he indicated Raine should place the crystal in the frame. After placing the crystal in the frame his father reading from a small note said, “Say hello to Warpaint.”
“Warpaint?” Raine asks quietly. A blue face made of light appeared above the crystal.
“Hello Raine, I am Wideband Augmented Reconnaissance Prototype Artificial Intelligence Nanites – Tactical, WARPAINT. I was your mother’s and now I am here to help you. You may ask me questions and I will provide you with any answers I am able to.” The voice had a strange feminine chime to it.
“What?” Raine asked bewildered, looking to his father. His father wore the same shocked expression as Raine.
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“Hello Raine, I am Warpaint. You may ask me questions and I will provide you with any answers I am able to.” The face above the crystal said again in a serene tone.
“What are you?” Raine asked.
“I am a nanite composite, artificial intelligence quantum computer prototype designed for use in a scouting and reconnaissance role. I can augment the vision and camouflage my user in a symbiotic relationship. According to your mother, I am a magic crystal. I will attune to you and make you faster and stronger. She wanted me to serve you as I served her.”
Raine looked slack-jawed at his father.
“What does this mean?”
“I don’t know how it works. I never saw the crystal until just before you were born. Your mother told me it was very important that I give it to you on your tenth planter’s day. It has never been anything other than a crystal to me.”
“I will first need to authenticate your access. Please press your finger to the green light.” The cheery female voice said. The blue face disappeared, and a small green dot appeared on the dark gem’s facet closest to Raine.
“What does authentic mean?” Raine asked his father.
“It is to make sure you are who it thinks you are,” his father said quietly “Your mother left it to you with those exact instructions. It is very unlikely it wants to hurt you.”
Raine cautiously pushed his right pointer finger into the glowing green dot. The facet of the gem was spongy and Raine’s finger went in up to his first knuckle. Before he could remove his finger, a dozen tendrils shot from the gem and wrapped around his wrist in a very strong but not painful cuff. There was a sharp intense pain that stopped at once in the middle of Raine’s fingertip. After a few seconds, the blue face returned floating above the gem.
“DNA confirmation has been verified,” the voice said in a pleasant tone. “There will be a short period of no more than two months for me to reconfigure for cortex and optic interfacing. Cochlear interfacing will be completed in fifteen seconds.”
The tendrils detached from the cuff and were reabsorbed by the gem. Raine was left with a small black bracelet. In horror he watched as the bracelet slowly dissolved into his skin, leaving a small welt before disappearing completely.
“What…Wha.. it …doesn’t hurt.” Raine stuttered unsure of what to do.
His father now stood nearby with a worried look on his face.
“This will only be uncomfortable and not cause any damage,” the voice said in a casual tone.
Raine first started to feel a pressure in his neck running up to his ear, then a barely audible high-pitched ringing noise started in his right ear. The noise got louder, then fuzzy, and Raine had the feeling of a winged insect flying around inside his eardrum. He shook his head and put his finger in his ear to try and stop the feeling. A second later everything stopped all at once.
“Testing Connection, can you hear me?” the same voice from the blue-faced asked almost a whisper in his ear. The face above the gem just looked at Raine but her lips did not move.