Let’s see if the inventory system can work, Aria thought early the next morning after checking the number of the new nanites she had. It was an hour before the sergeant would demand her presence. There were enough nanites according to her calculations and more than enough energy in the storage nanites and particles. Here goes nothing.
She sent the command and hummed along with a song she was playing. The humming is just in case.
At first nothing happened, then she felt the gradual increase in energy around her. It caused her hair to stand on end. The implant notified Aria of the status of her attempt.
Quantum entangled state achieved. Kitaev chain formed.
“Holy shit!” Aria exclaimed. It worked! Her enhanced vision picked out a swirling vortex in front of her.
Aria walked around the vortex. It was basically a flat spinning disc from the front. From the side, it looked almost like a floating piece of nearly invisible paper that she could barely see. I doubt normal humans would be able to see this.
After walking around the backside of the vortex, Aria could barely make out the disc shape and couldn’t see any swirling. She walked back to the front of the vortex. I need to test this.
She pulled the hair tie from around her left wrist and held it in front of the portal. She felt a slight tugging sensation, but nothing else happened. Hmm. Guess I need to get the object closer. I don’t want to stick my hand in there though. I’m scared my hand will get bitten off.
Aria checked the room but couldn’t find anything other than a pair of eyelash tweezers in the bathroom. That’s not going to work. Welp, my hand it is.
She walked back into the bedroom and reached for the portal. At the last second, she chickened out and tossed the hair tie into the vortex. The tie disappeared. Aria checked the inventory program she had written.
“Oh my God!” she exclaimed. “It worked!”
Aria jumped up and down in joy. She stopped. But how do I close the vortex? Or can I anchor it to me and keep it with me? I really should have thought about this more before trying it out. Plus, how do I get stuff back out without sticking my hand in there and hoping to find something?
She sat on her bed. Aria then ran some numbers and simulations. I can stick my hand in the vortex, which I’m not excited to do, or use a fetch command.
Aria thought it over some more and opted for the fetch command. The implant helped make quick work of the coding. She checked the time and saw she had half an hour before she needed to meet Hauora. Aria executed the fetch command, filling in the hair tie as the object to be retrieved. Less than a second later, the tie floated at the edge of the vortex. She gingerly plucked the tie from the portal.
I’m not sure if this is the same tie or a recreation. It honestly doesn’t matter, Aria thought as she used the tie to put her hair into a ponytail. She quickly used the fetch command to create an input command by copying the code and just making a couple of word changes to allow for input instead of output. I don’t want anything to go in there by accident.
Aria watched as the vortex winked out and restored itself. She tossed one of her running shoes at the portal. The shoe flew through the vortex and fell onto the floor. “Ha!”
She used the new command while pushing the end of the shoe into the portal. The shoe disappeared. She then retrieved the shoe and put both on. Aria touched the portal. It felt like air slowly moving in a circle. From the sides and back, she felt nothing. Aria smiled and shut down the portal. It winked out of existence.
That works. I need to go meet Gunny. While I run, I’ll work on the code to anchor the portal to something I can wear. Ugh! I don’t have any jewelry or even a belt. Even if I had something, I doubt Roth and the Gunny would allow me to keep it. I do have some jewelry I can ask mom and dad to bring me. Guess, I’ll ask the sarge about it. Maybe I will get my ears pierced again too. But on the positive side, my inventory system works!
28
Aria stopped and tied her shoe again. She quickly picked up the small rock she had noticed and activated her inventory. She put the rock into it and deactivated the portal.
That’s a lot of energy being used to start up and shut down the system, Aria thought. She started running again. After two laps, she paused and activated the portal after making sure she wasn’t being watched. That’s not good. The rock is not here. So, that must mean each portal is a new instance.
She started running once more after deactivating the vortex. Aria checked the nanites and everything else she could think of. Yep, the rock is gone. This means I’m going to need to tether the portal to me somehow, which I already suspected.
Aria pushed her thoughts aside and changed her music. She smiled and started singing along with the song. “The sky was all purple, there were people running everywhere.”
She hummed along for a bit before singing another line, “So, tonight I’m going to party like it’s 1999.”
*
“That’s odd,” one of the security techs monitoring Roth’s facility stated.
“What’s odd?” Lieutenant Dawson, who oversaw the morning shift, asked.
“Ma’am, sensors picked up an energy spike four separate times outside the building in the last ten minutes,” the tech answered. “According to logs, the same sort of spike has been detected at least twice in the last few days.”
“Where were the spikes at?” the lieutenant asked. “Were these spikes near anything critical?”
“All were near Baird, ma’am.”
“Is that so?” Dawson inquired. The tech nodded. The lieutenant sent a message to Gunny Hauora. “Sergeant Hauora says he hasn’t seen anything strange.” She considered her options and checked the logs herself. “It was just a short energy spike that did nothing?”
“Yes ma’am,” the tech agreed. “As far as our sensors can tell at least.”
“Alright. Since Hauora hasn’t seen anything and there’s no damage or other things to worry about, report it, and carry on with your duties as normal. Report it every time if you see additional spikes. We’ll let Dr Roth and the other higherups worry about them.”
“Yes ma’am,” the tech happily agreed.
*
“Hey Doc, hey Collingsworth,” Aria said in greeting when she reported for the daily tests.
“You seem to be in a good mood,” Craig replied.
“I am,” Aria admitted. She glanced at Collingsworth as she sat in the examination chair. “Collingsworth, what is your first name?”
“Phillip. Why?” the tech replied.
“I was just wondering,” Aria answered. “Which do you prefer to be called by?”
“Collingsworth,” the man stated. “I’m used to being addressed by my last name at this point.” He then murmured under his breath, “and I don’t like my first name.”
“Alright,” Aria said, shrugging her shoulders while trying not to smile. Guess he forgot I can hear that. “Hey. I have a question for both of you.”
“What sort of question?” Dr Clarkson asked.
“Shoot,” Collingsworth replied at the same time.
“Scientific theory I suppose,” Aria answered. Craig nodded as did Collingsworth. “If it were possible to open portals, how would you anchor them so they could be moved?”
“What kind of portals? Craig asked. “We would need to know what the portals do to give an educated answer.”
“Hmm. Let’s say quantum,” she replied.
“Like for theoretical quantum teleportation?” Collingsworth clarified. Aria nodded. “From what I’ve read, the energy requirements for a large enough portal to be useful, would be so great the portal would have to be stationary and permanently attached to its energy source. And by useful, I mean one that a person could walk through. Think Star Trek or something along those lines.”
“Hypothetically speaking, if the portal’s energy requirements were low enough so that it could be portable, I suppose the grid or whatever structure used to build the portal could be moved on a trailer,” Clarkson said. “But that sort of technology is still years away despite our using quantum entanglement for communications now.”
“Thanks. I suppose that makes sense,” Aria replied.
“What made you ask about portals?” Collingsworth asked. “Looking to escape to a tropical island?”
Aria laughed. “No. I’ve just been doing some reading and that made me wonder what was possible.”
“Science fiction?” Craig asked, a tone of dismissal in his voice. Aria shrugged.
Craig is cute. Okay, being honest, he’s hot. But he seems to be an elitist asshole too, Aria thought. And that means I’m not really that interested, especially with my future up in the air. Besides, I’ve been around his type for too much of my life.
She turned her thoughts to other things while continuing to listen to old Prince songs while the men did their tests.
*
“I thought we were finished with sparring,” Aria said.
“Humor me,” Gunny replied. He pointed to a man. “This is Sergeant Travis Towns. If you can beat him, Travis will join us on your excursions including the tracking exercise.”
Aria examined the dark-skinned man. He’s about Gunny’s age and looks like he weighs about 150 pounds more than me with about a foot of height advantage too. He’s not moving around much, so I’m going to assume he’s a highly trained fighter that doesn’t want to give away anything.
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“Why should I want him going with us?” she asked. Travis grinned. He’s cute too.
“For a couple of reasons smartass,” Hauora answered. “First, I said so. Second, Travis is a highly skilled field operative and will watch your back as well as mine. Third, I would consider it a personal favor.”
Why would the sergeant want this man along? He’s said the excursion won’t be dangerous. Is this guy his husband? There’s only one way to find out. Aria’s eyes widened as she quickly scanned Hauora’s personal file, and she smiled. “Why Gunny Hauora, you want your husband along with us! Who would have thought that you’d bend the rules like this. For shame!”
“How did you…” Gunny broke off. He scowled as Travis laughed a booming laugh. “Dammit Travis. It’s not funny. Aria has somehow gotten into the personal files.”
“I got logged,” Aria guessed. Gunny nodded. “But to be fair, I was given access to the system and all files. Anyway, I’ll play your game. But if I win, I get the rest of the afternoon to do what I want.”
“That’s not the way this works,” Hauora retorted.
“It will be if you want me to spar with your spouse,” Aria calmly replied. “I’ll even use Wing Chun instead of Akido, so it doesn’t take so long.”
“Now that’s a challenge I can’t resist,” Sergeant Towns said. He grinned as he eyed some practice knives and swords in the weapons racks. “We’ll use weapons, and I’ll go easy on you.”
“Remember this is just a sparring session. Don’t hurt each other,” Hauora said.
“I won’t hurt your girl, Tupu” Travis said. “I’ll even let her pick the weapons.”
“Thanks. We’ll go with the three-and-a-half-point Dragon Pole,” Aria said. She selected two of the six feet long poles and handed one to the visiting sergeant. They backed off and bowed to each other. He might be skilled in different martial arts and weapons, but I think I caught him off guard. He’s not holding the pole like someone that knows how to use it.
Travis moved quickly and jabbed the staff at her. Aria used a small circular motion to send his pole past her. She slipped to the side and dropped the end of her pole, tripping the man.
“Shit,” Sergeant Towns muttered, barely keeping his feet.
“Gunny, I promise not to hurt your husband too much,” Aria said. Towns quickly turned, swinging the staff high. Aria ducked the blow and came up while using short, shaking thrusts to pummel the larger man in the stomach and chest. He dropped his weapon and fell to the mat.
“Damn,” Gunny whispered. Louder, he said, “that was fast.”
“Are you alright, Sergeant Towns?” Aria asked.
“Yeah, I’m not hurt much,” Travis answered. “But I’ll bruise. And I’m not just talking about my pride.”
“I told you she was quick,” Hauora said as he helped Towns up. Aria smiled as she noticed the longer than necessary hand holding. “Collingsworth gave Aria a master’s level of skill.”
“He did?” Aria asked. Hauora nodded. “Huh.” She shrugged. “Sergeant Towns, it was nice meeting you and I look forward to seeing you on the trip. You two have a nice afternoon. I’m going to go play some guitar.”
29
Download complete. You have learned Stealth.
Download complete. You have learned Movement.
Download complete. You have learned Archery.
“Those seem like entirely different things to give me at once,” Aria remarked. And what’s up with Movement? I already know how to move. She checked her stats and skills.
User: Aria Baird
Class: None
Level: 1
Trait Stats
Physical: 7
Mental: 9
Personal: 9
Skills: Akido, Archery, Movement, Paramedic, Survival, Tracking, Wing Chun
Are they turning me into an assassin or someone’s idea of a fantasy elf warrior? Aria wondered. She was glad all the survival skills were listed under one heading instead of individually. I should ask if I’m going to be taught the Kama Sutra next so I can become someone’s plaything too. She shook her head and pushed those thoughts away.
“Gunny wanted to push things a bit,” Collingsworth explained. “It seems your tracking trip is going to be a bit more involved than you were told.”
“That’s just great,” Aria said. I need to see mom and dad before Gunny takes me to the woods. “Am I good to go?”
“You are,” Craig replied before Collingsworth did. “Sergeant Hauora wants you in the gym though.”
“I guess he wants to see how I move now,” Aria said. Dr Clarkson nodded. She shrugged and walked to the door.
*
Collingsworth watched her exit the lab. “Damn!”
“What?” Craig replied.
“You saw the way she walked.”
“Yeah, and?”
“Aria has gone from moving as gracefully as a dancer to moving more elegantly than any human I’ve ever seen,” Collingsworth answered. “You can see the power in her every move now almost like she’s a tiger or something.”
“You just like staring at her ass,” Craig said.
“That too,” Collingsworth admitted. “But I’m not wrong, the girl has become more than human, and I don’t just mean with her looks.”
“Then we’re doing our jobs well because that’s the goal of this project,” Dr Clarkson stated.
*
I really wish I hadn’t heard that because I’m not sure which part was worse. Collingsworth admitting to being a creep or the doc saying their goal was to make me into something else, Aria thought as the lab door closed as she made her way down the hall. She stopped and leaned against the wall. She felt like she wanted to go curl up and cry. That, or be held by her parents while she cried. Keep it together.
She took a deep breath and messaged her parents asking them to come visit. Her mom replied that they would be at the facility by midmorning the next day and that she would call this evening. Satisfied with that, Aria took another calming breath.
It’s just you and me kids, Aria thought to the nanites. She imagined them crawling along, though, and under her skin. That’s it! I can anchor the portal to the nanites themselves. Move them or make some new ones that stay at my right hip and upper thigh.
She smiled and started walking to the gym. Aria sent the command to create some new nanites and restricted them to her right hip and upper thigh. Guess I’ll be eating a lot tonight. Oh! That reminds me. I’ll need to test the storage to see if it can hold food and water.
*
“I’m here, Gunny,” Aria called out just as soon as she arrived at the sparring mats.
“Good,” Hauora replied from her right. Immediately, a ball flew toward Aria’s face. She moved her head to the left and the ball flew by.
“What the hell?” Aria shouted. The ball hadn’t surprised her because she had heard the machine that launched it and tracked the movement with her eyes, but it had still ticked her off.
“Training,” Gunny answered. He nodded and two more balls flew at her. Aria dodged them as well. More balls flew. She dodged and batted balls down for five minutes. “Not bad. But we gave you moment skills for more than just walking around or keeping your balance. Use those skills to catch balls and throw them back.”
“Alright Gunny,” Aria replied. She grinned. If that’s what you want, that’s what you’ll get. She caught the next ball launched at her face and threw it at the sergeant’s head.
*
“Not bad at all,” Sergeant Hauora said.
“Uh huh,” Aria replied before taking a drink from the water bottle she held. “What’s next, running across a balance beam?”
“That’s not a bad idea. You’ll do that in a few minutes,” Gunny replied. He smiled. “You’ll be dodging and catching balls at the same time too.”
“That’s just mean.”
“That’s payback for hitting me in the forehead with a ball,” Hauora retorted. “You underestimate just how hard you throw.”
“You’re barely bruised,” she muttered. He glared at her. “Fine. I apologize.”
“Accepted, but you’re still going to run the beam like I said,” Gunny said. “You’ll have tomorrow off to visit with your folks. The day after we’re going into the woods to test your tracking skills.”
“And the archery?”
“We’ll test that later this afternoon.”
“Was I given archery because the whole fantasy elf thing?” Aria asked.
“Not that I know of. I wanted you to have it because guns aren’t allowed in Southland and archery is an old and proven way to hunt and defend oneself,” the sergeant answered. “We’ll also start you with a compound bow for a few days. Once you get used to drawing a bow, we’ll most likely move your to a recurve bow.”
“Why change?” Aria asked as she looked up the difference between the two bow types and finishing her water.
“Because the company wants Southland to be medieval or even more primitive when it comes to technology,” Gunny Hauora answered. “Other than implants that is.”
“Lovely,” Aria muttered.
“You’re complaining. That means you’re ready,” the sergeant said. “Let’s see what you can do on the beam.”
30
“Listening to 80s music now?” Aria’s dad asked her after recognizing the tune she was humming.
“I’ve been listening to just about everything,” Aria answered. “I’m not a fan of most modern music though.”
“And what do you consider modern?” her mom asked.
“Anything made in the last 20 to 30 years,” Aria replied. “There are a few new pieces in the classical genre that aren’t too bad, but they’re nothing like the true classics though. There’s also some rock music from the early 2000s that are decent.”
“And why do you think new music isn’t as good?” Piper asked her daughter. Mike started to say something only for Piper to shush him.
“Mostly the increased control of the record labels and producers, use of computer software, and lack of bands,” Aria answered. “Oh! Greed too. Artists and labels started focusing on what would sell vs what the musicians wanted to play or liked.”
Mike smiled. “That’s my girl. I agree completely.”
Aria shrugged. “I should have listened to more of your music when I was younger.”
“Are you two sure you didn’t talk about this behind my back?” Aria’s mom playfully asked. Aria smiled and shook her head. She picked up her guitar. “Going to play for us?”
“Sure,” Aria said. Her parents smiled as she started to play.
“Ah, Pizzolla’s Libertango,” Piper happily said. Aria returned the smile and kept playing.
“Dad, I’ll play some rock music for you next,” Aria promised. He just nodded while keeping the smile on his face.
*
“Morning Gunny.”
“Morning Aria,” the sergeant replied. He extended a bundle of clothing and pair of boots. “Put these on.”
“Camo?” Aria asked as she took the offered items. Linen except for the boots. He must want these to last a while.
“We are going into the woods. Travis and a couple of others will meet us outside,” Hauora replied. “You’ll even get a pretty orange vest to wear.”
“Really Gunny?” Aria asked. I see he’s given up on the whole Sergeant Towns thing when referring to his husband. Then again, that just might have been just a slip of the tongue.
“Yep. We’re going into the woods and even though there shouldn’t be anyone near where we’re going and it’s not hunting season, it’s better safe than sorry.”
“Plus, an orange vest lets you keep easier tabs on me,” Aria teased.
“Not really. That’s what the GPS tracker in your implant is for,” Gunny countered seriously.
“Right,” Aria replied. Too bad I control that now. But I’ll still play nice for now and only disable it once I’m ready to make my escape. “I’ll be right back.”
*
“You almost look like a proper soldier,” Gunny remarked after breakfast.
“Almost?” Aria questioned.
“Yeah. You’re too petite despite the muscle and power I know you have. And honestly too beautiful as well,” the sergeant answered as they walked toward the armory.
“Isn’t that the whole point of turning people into elves?”
“Yeah, I guess so. Maybe I’m just too set in my ways for what the world has become,” Gunny replied as they entered the armory. He took a SL3AR12 assault rifle and SL3P45 sidearm for himself along with a few magazines for both firearms. The sergeant handed her a SL3 Valkyrie compound bow and quiver of arrows after securing his weapons on his person.
“I thought I was just tracking today.”
“You are. But again, self-defense.”
Yeah, for some reason I don’t buy that.
“Then shouldn’t I get something I’m more used to like a long pole or butterfly swords?” Aria asked instead of voicing her suspicion. Guess it’s time to prove this really works and tease the company into paying me for it. She activated the storage system.
“Good point,” Hauora agreed. His mouth fell open and closed until he looked like a fish trying to breathe out of water as he watched the bow and quiver of arrows disappear. “H… ho… how?”
Aria smiled and selected a pair of butterfly swords and their sheaths. They disappeared into her inventory as well. She turned back to the sergeant and answered. “Collingsworth and whoever made a game system to control all this. So, I added an inventory system to it.”
“That’s impossible!” the gunnery sergeant exclaimed while pointing toward her hip.
Aria shrugged and removed the bow before putting it back. “It’s science, Gunny. What about water and food?”
“Travis and the others have packs for us,” he answered absently.
“Great, let’s go,” Aria said.
*
“How the hell is that possible?” Lin Roth demanded after viewing the armory camera footage for the tenth time.
“Damned if I know,” Collingsworth replied.
“That has to be some kind of quantum teleportation,” Craig Clarkson said after a couple of minutes.
Collingsworth snapped his fingers. “That’s right! Aria asked about that a few days ago. But I thought she was joking around.”
“So did I,” a smiling Craig said. “This also explains those mysterious energy spikes security has been logging.”
“How is this possible? More importantly, how did this girl figure it out?” Lin asked. The men shrugged.
Collingsworth smiled. He was imagining the bonus from a successful project he would get. “We really did it! We’ve created something better than human.”
“Never mind that. I want this,” Lin said, gesturing to the wall screen. “Whatever this teleportation is, I want it. This technology will be worth billions.”
Collingsworth suddenly frowned. “That might not be possible, ma’am.”
“What do you mean?” Roth asked.
“She has a contract with the company and the company gets first dibs on anything she creates,” Craig answered. “Besides, the company owns the technology that was used to create whatever she did. Which means the company may already own it.”
“And the security footage is offloaded to offsite backups within seconds of being recorded thanks to our communication network,” Collingsworth added. “So, the higher ups may already know about this development.”
“Fuck!” Dr Roth screamed.