Constitutional Upgrades:
1 of 3.
Mother Crab RNA Reinforcement:
1) Reinforce genetic stability (Necessary for Multiple Catalysts)
2) Skin Chitinization
3) Limb Regeneration
“Wait a second. This isn’t automatic? Isn’t this just supposed to increase my Nano capacity?”
Correct, Upgraded Nano Capacity is Standard. Crab Catalyst will increase bone strength and Nano Capacity, Mycelial Catalyst will increase Nano Capacity of Musculature, Viral Catalyst will increase Nano Capacity in Blood and Viscera. [NonStandard] Catalysts possess additional energetic forces that must be integrated during Constitution-Tier UpGrade.
Well, that answered that.
He quickly looked outside the Pod at Jonah and the SI. The metal table had been tipped over and Jonah was half hiding behind it as he fired small beams of red lasers at the Trash SI as it laughed and rolled around to dodge Jonah’s attacks while occasionally firing eye-lasers back at him. He let out a breath, all good. He focused back on the screen.
1 of 3.
Mother Crab RNA Reinforcement:
1) Reinforce genetic stability (Necessary for Multiple Catalysts)
2) Skin Chitinization
3) Limb Regeneration
He guessed he wasn’t going to be able to look at all of his options at once. It never was that convenient was it? He was sure the AI would have some reason for that so he didn’t bother asking.
The first was obvious, the AI that was about to go messing around with his body deemed it necessary. That said he wasn’t really thrilled about the idea of anything related to a crab anywhere near his genetics.
He moved to the second choice. He knew what reinforced skin looked like and he had no desire to have the black-gray hardened crab skin of Tule, passing on was easy. Even if he wanted it, it was a coin toss on whether it would fit his “BlackJack” nickname or if the entirety of RatKind would turn on him. No changing appearance. Limb regeneration seemed useful but then again, the AI hadn’t given any other ‘Necessary’ indicators on anything else. He didn’t trust it but then again, this was all uncharted water.
At least it wouldn’t be jamming Skills and Mods into him, although some of those would have been pretty useful. He selected the ‘Necessary’ option, Reinforce Genetic Stability.
Confirm?
“Yes. Confirm.”
Now to the next.
2 of 3.
Mycelial Web Reinforcement [NonStandard Catalyst] (effects unKnown)
1) Psy-Brain One Augmentation
2) Interwoven Musculo-Skeletal System
3) Distributed Intelligence
The first option was a no-go, right off the bat. He had hazy memories of connecting to the One and had no desire to have his mind subverted by some mushroom super-organism collective. ‘Interwoven Musculo-Skeletal System’ seemed good to him. Stronger muscles stronger bone, each working to reinforce the other. He queried the AI and his assumption was correct on that one.
Distributed Intelligence seemed… interesting. Did that mean he could survive being decapitated? He asked and the answer was… yes.
“Does that mean I could be missing half of my brain and still continue to function?”
Correct, dependent on level of damage, able to maintain above 95% combat efficacy.
Yes, that was it, and more. He moved his finger to ‘3’. Increased muscle and skeletal strength and coordination was nice but being functionally unkillable unless he was diced into tiny pieces? That was almost unbeatable. A sharp lance shot through his skull and his finger moved to 2. What? No he didn’t click that.
Confirm?
He tried to tell the AI but his words came out in a nonsensical jumble. Was he having a stroke? He gently teased out “ye-” and he could say that just fine. “No” just came out as jumbled nonsense. What was going on? He felt another spike of pain through his head. Do you want the pain to stop?
“Yes!”
Select Final Catalyst Evolution:
Maybe… he didn’t really know why but maybe that was a good thing. The more he thought about it the less he liked the idea of his brain being messed with. He hadn’t picked up on that feeling before. He just decided to move on instead of spending time digesting yet another uncomfortable thought.
Shard of the Primordial Virus (Long-Term Effects unKnown)
1) Poison to Life
2) Mutazive
3) Viral Gland
He asked about ‘Poison to Life’, apparently that was a ‘semi-controlled distribution of viral loads’. Aka he would sometimes kill living things that he touched by exposing them to the Primordial Virus. The fact that the AI was telling him that it'd be ‘semi-controllable’ wasn’t a good sign and kind of soured that option for him right off the bat. Still, it didn't sound terrible.
Mutazive sounded… also kind of weird. It was a weird phrasing by the AI.
“What’s Muta… Mutazive?” He thought he said it right.
It will allow the Primordial Shard to ‘hijack’ primary biological functions greatly boosting Strength, Agility, Bite-Force, as well as unquantifiable increases in Senses and Grit. Sharp decrease in Dexterity and unKnown effects on IQ and EQ.
That was definitely a non-starter. Reduced Dexterity? He liked it where it was and didn’t want to have to start dropping Allocation into that. ‘UnKnown’ effects on IQ and EQ? Pass.
It seemed like the third option was probably going to be the choice even if he didn’t yet know what it yet was.
“Alright, give it to me, what’s the ‘Viral Gland’?”
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
Viral Gland will be installed in the Body and will grant the ability to infuse body fluid with an extreme viral load.
Uhhh… Jack was getting the feeling that the AI didn’t really know what to do with this Catalyst. What was he going to do with this? Seminal flu… No no, that was gross and, even worse, useless.
Jack thought for a long while about how he’d use this in a fight. Well actually, he kind of had used it in a fight. Jack had an idea.
“AI, can you add it to the, uh spit gland?”
The submandibular gland can be modified into a Viral-Submandibular gland.
“So I’ll just activate it and spit?”
It will require certain facio-musculo manipulation to properly eject viral load.
Jack tapped the third option. Killing someone with spit was probably more manageable than accidentally killing someone by touching them or whatever mechanism made the first one work. It was easier to control who you spat on instead of who you touched.
Confirm?
“Yes, confirm.”
The Pod started to heat as a room temperature gel started to fill the inside of the space. Jack stayed still, of course this was going to be weird as it continued to fill the Pod. He was surprised that the gel seemed to be breathable, although slightly uncomfortable to do so. Before he could process that, portions of the slimy gel froze at his joints, he couldn’t move anymore but he was still ok.
Then the needles arrived and burrowed deep into flesh and muscle. More needles went deeper still, into bone. Needles pumped mixtures that decayed muscle and softened bone. He grit his teeth and then opened his mouth to gasp as a rippling sensation came up his spine.
The Pod took the moment to freeze the gel around his face, and locked his mouth open. This was less ok. A new set of needles jammed into his open mouth from every angle.
The next set of needles moved toward his eyes. The fine points that slowly approached his eyes were too much as he uncontrollably blinked. The gel around his eyelids froze and he choked a silent scream in the gel as the needles moved in.
He felt almost relieved by the feeling of the needles work their way up his spine as each vertebrae was stabbed into one after another. As those continued, he felt their sharpness in exquisite detail as the sharpness relaxed into a searing pain that pumped into each vertebrae. He wasn’t sure if it was hot or cold, but his perception of it didn't matter as it continued to spread one after another up his spine in sequence.
Nerves started to fire and twitch and sent freezing sear, burning ice, soft tickles and jagged spears a mile wide that jammed through his body at every angle. He laughed as a tickling sensation swept over him, then he felt his jaw muscle snap on his right side as he tried to close his mouth into a grit, that part hadn't been released by the gel. There were waves of pleasure that pulsed from every pore of his body that swept away the pain, then left his mind bare to the newest pain as the pleasure disappeared just as fast as it had come.
The needles working their way up his spine finally finished. Dammit when he was he going to go unconscious? Maybe the HandPad upgrade wasn't so bad after all.
That was the last thought before he felt the needles that punched into his temples on either side.
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Leanne had found a perch, high up and out of the way. It had a rusted metal walkway that looped around to the floor. She had decided to keep it intact, for now, since she could likely collapse it if necessary. She was watching a procession of crabs enter a grand hall next to a Door that read, "Cryo-Laboratory" in big, machine-carved, metal letters on the top frame of the massive portal.
The swarming crabs ebbed and flowed like they were made of water. Far below, near the base of the door, she saw, what looked like a ritualistic ceremony. There were 3 hybrids and... did that hybrid have Tule's blade?
She recognized Tule's Toothpick being held by another crab, the one that Jack had called 'Devin'. There was the other crab that she had joked that looked like Jack, both of its undersized arms were shoveling rat corpses into its mouth, grinding and chewing at a furious, starved pace.
Standing tall and proud was a hybrid that she assumed was the leader.
It was hard to make out too many details clearly, she had figured out how to magnify with the goggles but the amount of other visual input present in them was intense. She had no idea how Jonah managed to focus on anything while wearing these.
The crab ocean parted and she saw Tule walking unsteadily toward the hybrid group.
The leader hybrid moved to stand across from Tule in an clearing made within the roiling swarms of crabs surrounding them.
It stood across from him, holding two swords at the end of two Human arms below the traditional pincer/blade combination hovering over either shoulder. It threw a sword to Tule and he somehow managed to catch it.
He swayed on his feet as the master walked closer to Tule. Tule swung at it but the hybrid caught Tule's blade and lanced out its own counterattack. Tule took a slight piercing wound across his chest and stumbled backward.
Did they drug him? She had seen him fight in the Cryo-Core and he wasn't like this.
It seemed like Tule was able to recaptured some of his former glory as the two traded blows back and forth in weaving attacks and parries.
Tule's cuts were finer but the hybrid hardly looked like it was struggling much at all, it had a massive edge in speed and strength.
The two continued to trade blows, each strike of Tule's looked more and more wild as the battle continued back and forth across the clearing. Tule went in for a lunge and it pierced the center of the hybrid. It pulled Tule closer and placed both of its hands on either side of Tule's head as it pulled him closer to look him in the eyes. Tule's scream didn't sound Human as something passed between the two's eyes.
Tule's body slumped to the ground then, in the complete silence of the grand hall, he rose up and bowed before the master. They turned in unison to look in the same direction. It was at her!
The wave of crabs started to pour up the steps toward Leanne's position. She fired gout of plasma at the churning mass as she stomped over and over again on the platform. It creaked and twisted before completely dropped with the crab's weights and her attacks to its integrity.
She ducked as she ran back through the tunnel.
Ship ship shipdamn it.
She was out of here as she burst through the rusted door she originally entered through and jumped to grab the pipe near the ceiling. It lurched and she swung her feet to wrap around it further down. She flipped her hands to grab the next section and kept alternating.
Leanne dropped into a roll when she was close enough to the ground and took off.
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The stacks towered over them, oppressive in their height and mass. Yuma had noticed a haze in the air. It was stronger around the Nano-lake but even here, further away from it it was still present. It obfuscated the air, brushing away details, it added an unfocused look to everything she saw. It felt like someone was watching her. Or something she supposed.
They had heard a loud clunk before the lights had turned off again. Amongst the containers they had survived another ‘night’.
They had managed to get inside a large, long container and after killing a few of the monster’s that had been waiting inside had been able to spend the rest of the night there.
The inside of the containers varied, sometimes they found ancient tech previously scrapped for parts or too old to make much use with new or NanoTech. Most of the time there was nothing at all. They were stuck in a cycle of safe hazy days and dark choking nights.
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It began in distant Decontamination-Units. These massive, sprawling filtration behemoths, dozens of stories high and hundreds of feet wide, had managed to keep up with the increased purification loads, after all, they were built to last and reforged in Nano-steel. Even so, they were operating well beyond tolerances and they were very old.
Imperceptible at first, in Decontamination-Unit 19, the automatic sensors finally reported a half-percentage reduction in filtration efficiency, then it became a full percent. This was the fifthteenth Decontam-Unit that had reported the same series of problems. The closest Fixer Team able to respond was Team:09 and at the moment the automated report was received they had just finished replacing broken and jammed panels in another Unit and were busy power-cycling the internal filtration systems to get it back online.
There was going to be a delay until they could respond.
The sprawling filtration system continued to purify contamination after contamination until the demand of removing the dead, purified matter started to bottleneck the entire process. It could no longer remove the dead spores fast enough as the biomass continued to build. Having finished the power-cycle, Fixer Team:09 was now moving toward Decontam-Unit 19 and was being joined by Team:04 who were slightly further away.
Before the teams managed to reach the Unit, a single panel, one out of hundreds in Filter Screen 23, failed completely. The cascading failures brought down the rest of Filter Screen 23 as well as adjacent Screens 22 and 24. Then, all of Decontamination-Unit 19 sputtered to a stop. Contact with Team:09 and Team:04 was not re-established.
The twinkling of small luminescent caps turned the dim beach into a poor mimicry of a starry sky. In the dim light a field of mushrooms spread as far as the eye could see as algae foam nurtured the field in its soft laps onto the beach.
Through the deep twilight flashes of aquamarine visibly flared in the distance.
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“Hurry up eh? I’m getting bored.” Kala scraped the bottom of her boot against a metal edge leaving a fleshy film of grime.
Elra finished at the HandPad and it slid open, her guardian, Gurey moved in front of her to clear the room. The door was a side entrance. He saw desks, screens, a Terminal in the center of the room and integrated with a long desk. Other desks were on all sides with somewhat uncomfortable looking chairs.
Empty, no, not empty. His Senses picked up something faint. He gave Elra a look and she stuck to his back, another look to Kala and her hardlight cannon started to softly glow from the tip of the barrels. Eilien set down Uller and followed Kala's twisting, flanking movements into the room.
“Who’s there? I would move slowly, doubly so if you’re friendly.”
A tap tap tapping emitted from a desk near the back. Guardian Gurey shared a look with Kala, at least she was acting professional now as they flanked opposite sides of the desk. Kala didn’t care but Gurey made sure to not end up in her line of fire.
“Are you Security Personnel??”