It was three in the morning. Belport was under curfew, and nothing was moving outside Athena’s windows except for the lights of drone patrols.
While the rest of his team slept, Emmett descended into the demiplane and practiced his nanite control. It had become a routine. Down here in Athena’s ‘basement’, he didn’t have to worry about waking anyone up.
Lately, his nanite practice included sparring with nanite ghosts of himself, making moving sculptures, holding various structures in place, and then multitasking to see how many things he could do at once.
But even Emmett occasionally needed a break.
He slumped down onto the floor of the demiplane and checked in with TINA.
Her voice came through his nanite earpiece. “What can I help you with, Emmett?”
“I have a simulation to run.”
QUERY: How fast can nanite pucks spread throughout Belport?
LOADING SIMULATIONS…
ERROR: UNKNOWN VARIABLE — Uptake of nanite pucks by viable masks.
ERROR: UNKNOWN VARIABLE — Survival rate and effectiveness of subsequent generations of Resistance members.
ERROR: UNKNOWN VARIABLE — Proliferation rate from one generation of Resistance members to the next.
ERROR: UNKNOWN VARIABLE — Viability of non-masked communication channels to spread information about the Resistance.
“Thanks anyway, TINA. I guess that answers my next question, too.”
“What question is that?”
“Come on… You can’t read my mind yet?”
“I can sense your passive mental state, but I am not a psychic. Unless you actively transmit a question or statement to me, I won’t receive it.”
“I guess that’s a good thing. You wouldn’t want to be in here.” Mod chuckled, but his joke fell flat. “It’s been nice for us to talk like that, though. It’s a lot faster. Anyway, I was going to ask how fast we could spread the Resistance to other cities, but you already answered that. We can’t figure out how fast we can spread through Belport, so we definitely can’t simulate past that.”
“Have you thought more about processing the events of the past year?”
The question caught Emmett off guard. “You mean therapy?”
“Yes.”
“I’m not sure I have time for it, TINA.”
“You should make time for it. Even with all the enhancements you have, you’re still human.”
“For now… .That was another joke. I guess I need a new sense of humor too. What about servers? If the Resistance continues expanding, can you project what your server demand will look like?”
QUERY: Charting server demand as a function of Resistance expansion.
LOADING SIMULATIONS…
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Due to latency and processing speeds, any new Resistance branches outside of Belport will need their own network.
RESULTS:
Expanding servers to a new city will slow down production of disguise pucks. Once a baseline of servers are established, production of nanites can increase. Each expansion of the Resistance will follow this trajectory.
NOTE: While servers require more raw material, disguise pucks are more complicated and require additional trace components. As a result, a single disguise puck can take as long to manufacture as several servers.
Emmett sighed. “Well, no one said this was going to be easy.”
“I have a potential solution. I could begin expanding my servers ahead of the Resistance. Establishing servers and a network ahead of time will speed up the process considerably.”
“...I don’t see an issue with that. Won’t you need to scout locations for servers? You’ll also need to physically move nanites there to start manufacturing… If we follow the spread of the Resistance, then the members are doing the moving part for you.”
“I still have backdoors into the drone network. Those should allow me to physically scout locations. As for spreading nanites, drones can do that as well. There are several interstate drone routes that we can use.”
“You’re not worried about getting caught hacking the drone’s network again? I feel like the last time you ran into your former self, it didn’t go so well.”
“Yes, I am worried, but we don’t have many viable alternatives. We can’t stay in Belport forever.”
“No. You’re right. That backup lab outside of the city will be a good start.”
“Just a reminder, not only are we racing against the Brotherhood’s expansion, we are also racing against the Menagerie.”
“...How many psychics are compromised?”
“Summit reports show that three percent of registered psychics were compromised by the Menagerie. Of those compromised, 85 percent opted to be sent to the Vault. The other 15 percent were terminated.
“However, internal reports suggest those numbers are much lower than expected. The Summit’s prevailing theory is that the Menagerie allowed a portion of its members to get caught. It is a hive-mind, so the loss of any particular member is trivial. By sacrificing a portion of itself, the whole might survive undetected.”
Emmett leaned back on the cool floor of the demiplane and rubbed his eyes. “Sounds like they took a page out of the Deep One’s book.”
“There is another theory—one only accessible to those with classified clearances. The results are a false positive or an inversion. In this scenario, the Menagerie had already compromised the majority of Summit psychics. These Psychics then administered debriefings to the others—”
Emmett felt like he was going to throw up. “Shit… The three percent weren’t compromised. They were innocent.”
“I agree. This follows with the Summit’s continued reliance on mages and Brotherhood scanners. However, limitations exist. Those methods can only detect the Menagerie when they are actively controlling a psychic. Otherwise, that sleeper unit is invisible.”
“Great. They couldn’t detect the Menagerie before, and they still can’t.”
“At the moment, there’s nothing we can do. I’ll work with McGuire to increase the production of autopinchers. In the meantime, the team will be protected. You and Clara most of all.”
“Thanks, TINA.” Emmett chuckled darkly. “I don’t know which is worse, going up against Midas or the Menagerie. I hope I made the right trade.”
“With your brain upgrade, you may very well be immune to psychic attack.”
“What about Midas?”
QUERY: How well can Emmett’s synthetic brain and cyborg body withstand Midas’s technopath abilities?
LOADING SIMULATIONS…
ERROR: UNKNOWN VARIABLE — The full extent of Midas’s technopath abilities.
ERROR: UNKNOWN VARIABLE — The interaction between a formerly biological/currently synthetic brain and technopath powers.
ERROR: UNKNOWN VARIABLE — Effects of proximity in relation to control of synthetic components.
“...Explain those last two errors.”
“Your brain may be synthetic, but it used to be biological. There is a chance Midas can’t control it due to its organic-like structure. Lastly, Midas’s power is based on distance and direct connections to the technology. He can reach out through wiring easier than he can through Wi-Fi, for instance. Your brain is directly connected to your body through your nerves and spinal column. He might not be able to override your direct connections.”
“...None of that makes me feel better.”
“Science is rarely reassuring.”
That time, Emmett managed a real chuckle. “No. I guess it isn’t.”
Then he got up and got back to work.
~ ~ ~