Nobody got much sleep that first night after their narrow escape from Eastside. TINA said that it was highly unlikely that the Summit or the Brotherhood had picked up their trail, but that hadn’t helped much. Emmett, Clara, and Athena slept in shifts through the next day.
Even after that, they spent the rest of the week hunkered down in Athena’s apartment.
That was fine with Emmett. Both he and Athena had their own projects to keep them busy.
Athena continued practicing with the stolen magic staff. She’d graduated from making toasters disappear and reappear and continued making steady progress…
Until now.
Athena was currently standing in front of the smaller of her two couches, staff in hand, and sweat beading on her brow. “Look, couch… It’s either you go into the demiplane or you go out the window.”
Emmett had run out of raw materials to make servers, and had been practicing holding the table of nanites together while making other shapes on top of it. Several black cubes were stacked on each other.
But now he watched Athena out of the corner of his eye.
Her staff glowed softly, then Athena uttered magic words and the light around the staff flared. She touched the tip of the staff to the couch for the eighth time.
Emmett both squinted and concentrated, trying to adjust his vision.
Each time Athena made an attempt, the light given off from the staff was slightly different. At first, Emmett thought his mind was playing tricks on him, but each time, he was more and more convinced there was a pattern in the light.
Of course, he couldn’t begin to decipher what it was. Even if Emmett had a slow-motion video, he doubted he could figure it out. When he mentioned it to Athena and Clara, they just scratched their heads.
Still, Emmett couldn’t help the feeling that he was onto something.
“You’re right,” TINA said in Emmett’s ear. “The light emitted from the staff isn’t random. There is a pattern, but it is too complex for me to interpret in my current state.”
Emmett allowed himself a small smile. At least he wasn’t going crazy. Though he wouldn’t have noticed it at all without his brain upgrade.
The light from the staff flickered and died, revealing an unsuccessful Athena and her couch.
Clara had peeked out from the bedroom doorway, but quickly ducked back inside the room.
Athena groaned, then a moment later collapsed on the couch.
“It’s good to take a break every now and then.”
Athena scoffed. “Says the man who doesn’t need one.”
Emmett smirked. “You’re only human.”
“You’re not tired at all?”
“Not really,” Emmett replied. “Sometimes my shoulders get stiff and sometimes I zone out for a while. I still sleep, you know.”
“How much?”
“...Like four hours a night.”
Athena sighed. “Oh, to be young and mechanical again.”
Emmett hesitated. “You should take breaks more often. It looks like the magic in the staff is more consistent earlier in your practice sessions. The more tired and frustrated you get, the more random the magic looks.”
“Oh? Is that your professional opinion, maester?”
Clara called from down the hall. “Did you just make a Full Throttle Heart Reference?”
“Nope.”
“See, I knew you liked the show!”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Emmett ignored them both. “Really, there’s a pattern in the light, and it looks more coherent when you’re fresh and can concentrate more.”
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
TINA spoke up from the table. “That’s my professional opinion, too.”
Athena turned around on the couch, curious. “TINA, how long have you been able to see this pattern?”
“Since Emmett pointed it out.”
A smile flashed across Athena’s face. “Interesting. A mage would kill for eyes like yours.”
Emmett chuckled nervously.
Athena caught herself. “Word choice… Sorry. What I mean is—most mages only have feeling to go off of. It’s like trying to ride a bike or hit a ball. You might know what it’s supposed to look like, but that doesn’t really matter. The feeling matters.”
Clara called down the hall. “There are spells that let you see magic.”
Athena nodded. “There are, and those spells can be a big help when spotting magical traps or crafting magic items. Doesn’t really help in combat though. It’s hard enough to concentrate on one spell at a time…”
Athena’s eyes narrowed. “TINA, could you see patterns in magic before?”
“...I don’t think so. It is possible that my former self could see such patterns, but wasn’t able to pass along that knowledge. It could also have been a fruitless endeavor and subsequently abandoned. Either way, this current version of myself has no prior knowledge.”
Emmett listened intently. It might’ve been his imagination, but there was a longing in her voice. Or maybe it was because their minds were so close.
Either way, he couldn’t help but ask, “Is this a research project you want to continue?”
“...Yes. I think it is.”
“Then we should continue it and see where it goes…” Emmett smirked. “As soon as Athena’s ready to practice.”
Athena scoffed from the couch.
~
When Athena was taking breaks, TINA helped Emmett with his own project—
The 2nd generation of his nanite countermeasure.
Emmett was currently hunched over the nanite table. He’d frozen the bulk of it in place and was drawing and taking notes on the thin top layer.
TINA spoke up. “Bullets are still a viable delivery system.”
Athena snorted a laugh. “Says the totally benevolent AI.”
Clara called out from down the hall. “TINA, we’ll back your plot for world domination. At this point, anything is better than the Brotherhood.”
“Thanks, I think.”
“I’m keeping the bullets, but I need a backup. Especially for speedsters, flyers, and…”
Emmett trailed off and glanced at Athena. He wasn’t exactly subtle.
Athena replied plainly, “And supers that can block bullets.”
“Yeah…” Emmett replied. That was all Athena could do.
He continued, “I need something that they can’t see coming—I need a stealth option.”
The nanites stored in Emmett’s torso were made up of two main types: Controllers and builders, but there was a third type—
Manufacturers.
This last type were the ones that made new nanites.
They were absolutely necessary to maintaining the nanites in Emmett’s body, and maintaining the steady supply of versatile nanites stored in his torso. The manufacturers were also absolutely locked by TINA’s subroutines.
In short, there was a limit to how many manufacturer nanites TINA would allow.
Emmett mused out loud. “So there’s a ratio for this… and a ratio for that. And a limit on those, which means there’s a limit on the entire system.”
TINA added, “I want to remind you that these are not my limits. They were programmed by Dr. Venture.”
“And you’re sure you can’t override them?”
“I’m not yet at a point where I can alter my base programming.”
Athena had stood up and looking over Emmett’s shoulder. “I’m sure Dr. Venture had a good reason to put a limit on these things.”
Clara walked into the living room and slumped down on the couch. “Yeah. He was afraid of a runaway reaction. Lose control of a swarm and it replicates out of control. Gray Goo.”
“What’s that?”
“Nanites eat the world. Nothing’s left except for a planet covered in them.”
Athena shivered. “That’s a pretty good reason.”
“There are other considerations,” TINA added. “Controlling nanites takes processing power. The bigger the swarm, the more power it requires. Trying to control too big of a swarm could damage myself or Emmett.”
Emmett groaned.
Athena patted him on the shoulder. “You doubt the reasoning of one of the smartest supers on the planet?”
“No. But I’m still going to break his restrictions.”
“Like a kid breaking into a candy jar.”
Clara shook her head. “Good luck. I gave up trying to get through the parental controls.”
“This is a little different.”
Emmett trailed off and tried to think of workarounds. Eventually, Athena went back to working on magic and Clara put on an episode of Full Throttle Heart: Redux—one of the spinoff series of the original anime. Athena shooed her off the couch when she tried sending it to the demiplane.
Emmett ignored them, even succeeding in tuning out the noise from the room. He continued scrawling across the desk, using his fingernail to write notes in the top layer of nanites. Occasionally, he asked TINA a question aloud, but for the most part, he stayed hunched in quiet concentration.
It wasn’t until a few more hours and anime episodes had passed that Emmett figured out how to get past Dr. Venture’s safeguards.
He was going to cheat.
~ ~ ~