I shifted, causing a muted string of pain to course through my spine. It wasn’t pain as in hurt, but more of incredibly sore. Hesitantly, as if scared of what I would see, I eased my eyes open- rather, eye open. The Advent Ghost didn’t seem to work, leaving me with just half my vision.
Sitting up, I realized I was somewhere I had never been before. The bed I lay on sat in the middle of a concrete room barely big enough to fit the bed and definitely not big enough to fit two. I rubbed at my arms, feeling slightly chilly. My gear had been taken off at some point, and all sat in a heap near the end of the bed.
Where even was I? I reached a hand up to the Advent Ghost. An eyepatch covered it, which I promptly removed. Nothing. A sickening chill went through my spine as I lightly probed at the empty orbital socket.
Did Scavs grab me- no, my stuff was all in one piece… and I still had life in me. Scavs were a one-stop chop shop; not exactly where someone would come out alive after having their chrome ripped out.
Now wasn’t the time for this. I threw on my coat and armor once more, finding slight relief in it all being together. Wherever I was obviously wasn’t hostile- there was no way a hostile entity would let me keep my gun.
My head felt light as I got dressed, lighter than it had in weeks. Maybe because I didn’t have a chunk of chrome thrown into my eye socket? Regardless, it was nice. I felt refreshed as if I had finally been able to sleep peacefully after a week of constant insomnia.
After kitting back up, and checking anything for signs of tampering, I moved for the door with my pistol out. Only Shinobu’s wedding ring was missing. It was a bit off-putting to walk without my depth perception. It had been years since I only worked with one eye, so it took several steps to get used to it again.
It led out into a somewhat long, dimly-lit hallway, all the same boring cement. Doors, all incredibly similar to the one I stepped out of, sat all along the hall partially illuminated by the flickering overhead lights. The end of the hall loomed close to my right, capped with a metal door.
I exited out of the hallway into Nael’s clinic from a side door I didn’t even know existed. The door opening and closing drew the attention of the room’s inhabitants, who were both familiar faces. Nael stood over the other man, running checks on him. Immediately, I stowed away my iron.
Nael glanced back towards me, his expression instantly brightening. “Good to see you up, Shiro. Just give me a few minutes.”
“Yeah.” I nodded to the Medech and rubbed at my neck lightly. I felt… off. Like I was missing something other than just an eye. It was like- like I had a crick in my neck that finally vanished after years of annoyance.
A couple minutes passed, and I suddenly couldn’t help but become immensely aware of what I was wearing. I had on the full Crusade kit, and even the badge was evident on my chest. I slipped a hand up and took off the badge. Nael knew I wasn’t exactly clean, but impersonating an officer?
It was a superfluous action. He had already seen it, so I just had to wait and see what he would say. Hopefully, it didn’t lower his opinion of me too much. I don’t know how I’d feel if Nael started to look at me like I was some kind of fiendish crook.
Nael finally moved, flipping up all of the complicated-looking machinery surrounding the Medech chair. “You’re good to go, Silas.”
The man, the friendly-looking one from a couple of months ago, sat up from the chair with a wide smile and headed for the door. “Thanks, doc.”
Nael waved him off and walked over to me. “How are you feeling?”
“Rested, I guess. Where’s- uh, where’s my eye?” I asked as I rubbed at my arms.
“I had to pull it…” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “How much do you remember?”
I tried to think back to my last memory, but all I could summon up were long nightmares of twisting demons and hellish pursuits. Before that though…. I was supposed to help Shinobu out with something, I think. “I was working on a job?”
He led me over to two chairs set up by the Medech table. “Look, kid. I’m not sure how to say this- when you got to me, you were Glitching hard.”
“W-what?” Fuck. The shadowed images in my brain started to make a lot more sense.
“Yeah… thankfully, you seemed to be more inclined to flight than fight, which made it a lot easier. I removed your eye and Neural System Interface, but it's been three days since then.” He leaned back in the chair, giving me a minute.
Part of me wanted to curl up into a ball and cry, but the other wanted to laugh at the sheer absurdity of me Glitching. It’s not even like I was susceptible to chrome! “What caused it?”
“Best I could tell?” He shrugged. “It was too much for you, or at least too much for now. There's a reason most suggest spending a few months before getting chipped again.”
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“So- so you removed both?” I asked. No wonder my neck felt so light all of a sudden.
He nodded. “The Advent Ghost is in my chrome bank till you want it back, but the Neural System Interface is fully broken. It's a miracle it didn't blow up when I removed it. In my professional opinion, you should give it at least a couple of weeks to rest and recover before doing anything else…”
I tried to think about my bank account, sorely missing the HUD that could just pop up the numbers into my face. I could go for a couple of weeks with my current stash, but with rent coming up and all that-
“That being said, after the surgery on your neck to remove the Neural System Interface, your neck healed rather quickly.” He eyed me, though not with suspicion like I almost expected. “It seems you might have a mutation to heal quickly, or maybe you’ve awakened some kind of Kinetic ability?”
Shit. He definitely noticed Quick Healing… What should I say? A magical floating box gave me the ability to heal quickly? If I say mutation, that would mean it’s replicable- no, that was just paranoia speaking... Nael is a good guy.
Maybe I wasn't back to a hundred percent quite yet. Rationally, I knew I could trust Nael. Yet there was an illogical side of me that just wanted to lie and get out, to get away as quickly as possible...
Regardless, if word somehow got out I mutate a healing ability? I would be hunted down by the big corps to be experimented on, without a doubt. Everyone would want a bit of Shiro Slushy if it brought them immediate healing.
“Kinetic… a- uh, couple months ago.” It was the safest option. Everyone knows you can't forcibly activate a Kinetic ability. Hundreds of billions had probably been sunk into it over the years, and likely millions have died trying, but the fact remains.
He nodded his head. “Right… I saw something similar a few years back… Rest for a couple days, and I’ll look around for a better Neural System Interface. That is, if you even want to be chipped again?”
“As opposed to what? Not having an eye?” I asked as I stared at him.
He stood up and grabbed a small dataslate before returning. A few seconds later, he handed it to me. “You could go to Slab Co. and get a new flesh one… that being said, with a new Neural System Interface, you should be fine. It shouldn't be too bad of an implementation with your Neural Link... Heck, the NSI being faulty was the only reason I could think of for you glitching so hard. That being said, if you want a new one, I’ll watch closely and judge your body’s reactions to the tech just to be safe.”
“Ok…” I pulled my phone and looked at Slab Co's sight. I easily slid through the page, observing the various offerings. They were the premier body dump in Aythryn City, so I had heard of them, but this was the first time actually being on their site. It was a bit of an odd feeling.
I checked it out deeper. It was surprising, to say the least. They offered lab-grown body parts guaranteed to fit the genetic genome of the buyer to a T. The surprising part was the price though. At just fifty Ryan, I could have a whole new eye like I had back in my youth.
Did I even want one though? Chrome was just… better. At least, for the most part. There were the occasional glitches and bugs, such as what just happened to me, but they offered so many benefits.
”Regardless, at least three days before I chip anything back in. Rest. Let your body recuperate.” Nael shrugged. ”You can stay here if you want so I can keep an eye on you, but you are free to go home if you want.”
At least he was giving me options. “I’ll go home. Take a shower.”
”Right…” His face scrunched up slightly. “Anyway, I’ll look around for a new Neural System Interface. Just take it easy for a few days. Oh! And Shinobu came by while you were out to grab the ring. Wanted me to tell you to call him when you get up.”
“Thank you, doc. I uh… I didn’t say anything weird, did I?”
We waved his hand and turned to his terminal. “Don’t worry about it, kid. Nothing I haven’t heard before... Good luck out there.”
”Thanks…” I left the clinic, finding my bike in the spot I typically park in. It seems habits are still strong even while glitching out. I pulled out my phone and checked it. Over a dozen missed calls from Shinobu, and one from Carone a day ago.
I called up Shinobu. “Hey-”
“Are you alright? I found you at Nael’s clinic, but he only said you were stable? What happened? What went wrong?” He asked.
“Chrome issues, though I’m good now… I think… Nael said you got the ring?”
He laughed, though there wasn’t any mirth in it. “You seem to have a lot of those. Maybe you should look at getting your chrome from somewhere else? The Fangs have a supply-”
“I’m good.” Ishimaru had brought up the issue of receiving chrome from the Jade Fangs before, but I didn’t want to be indebted to them any more than I already was. Unfortunately, my family had been to close to them to pull out all the way... or maybe fortunately? The Fangs had done good by me. “The ring?”
“Right. Yes, I got it back…”
“Nova.” I talked to him a bit more as I drove back to my apartment. Halfway home, he hung up, leaving me to stoop in my thoughts.
Maybe I should just drop the experimental tech altogether. The last two times I had used Advent’s stuff, it had burned me. Literally with the Phantom. The ghost was more of a mental burn than anything. Maybe I should just go back to normal stuff from the big corps?
But the utility provided by the Ghost had looked so good on paper… should I give them one more time? Heck, this time it wasn’t even because of Advent’s tech. It was my Neural System Interface that malfunctioned… still, if I tried again, would it finally kill me? Third time a charm and all that?
Was it even necessarily the chrome’s fault? From what I heard, chrome was supposed to hinder and malfunction with those aligned to the Aether. There was a reason neither Magus nor Adepts had the stuff. Was my connection to the other dimension causing some issues?
Or should I just go for a reversion back to flesh? It would be nice to be all… me once more. I didn’t technically need any chrome, although I would be giving up a ton of potential power if I went back to flesh…
By the time I got into my apartment’s parking garage, I had come to a decision. For now, at least, I would continue with chrome. There were simply no other good options these days. And if I wanted to get better at being a merc, and hopefully get to being an Edgerunner, I needed all the power I could get… maybe I should look into joining a crew?
There was just too much to go over, so I tossed everything down and headed for the shower. For now, I just needed to take it easy.