Leta picked up speed as she got out of earshot and was nearly sprinting to her destination. When she arrived at the large wooden door she’d been in previously, she knocked loudly before opening it an inch. “Anyone in here?”
Not hearing a response, she rushed inside and quickly locked the door behind her.
“What the fuck do you mean the nanites can live outside my body?” She hissed once she was alone.
[Nanites exist as part of the Host- literally woven into the fabric of the Host’s DNA. This does not mean that nanites exist only within the Host - so long as the nanites are in full and direct contact with the Host, they can survive outside of the Host’s flesh.]
“If they’re outside my body, what good is that doing me? Don’t I need them to, like, breathe or something?”
[Unassigned nanites are not being utilized for a task. These nanites can be interpreted as free-floating material within the Host’s body with the potential to be given a function. Unassigned nanites can be given temporary tasks until a permanent command is given. For example, when the Host is injured, unassigned nanites may be given a temporary command to assist assigned nanites in the healing process to remove the Host from danger quickly. Once the task is completed, these nanites return to their free-floating existence, waiting for a permanent task. The Host’s physical form currently does not allow nanites to function with temporary assignments outside the Host’s flesh. However, by creating small ports, unassigned nanites can temporarily be used outside the body. This was a common practice with Atlantians, who would manifest these unassigned nanites in various ways, from linking with supercomputers and commanding their space vessels to creating armor and weapons.]
Leta leaned against a wall and practically fell onto the stone bench as her knees weakened.
She sat speechless, elbows on her knees as she tried to process the image from her vision of the winged woman in white armor with alien runes.
“I mean, wow.” After a few minutes of stunned silence, she chuckled, “That’s crazy.”
[However, it should be noted that if the Host were to install the skill Summon Nanite and install two ports, the Host would not have sufficient unassigned nanites to generate anything substantial regarding armor or weaponry. With the current number of available nanites, the Host would only be able to conjure a coin-sized disk of material.]
Gada’s insights only slightly damped the wonder and awe from a moment ago. Of course, there was a little kid inside her who remembered Saturday morning cartoons and watching animated shows of superheroes in disguise magically transforming to save the day. Who wouldn’t think that was cool and be disappointed that that dream was just a hair’s width out of her reach?
Once again, the sophistication of the Atlantian race astonished her, and their technological mastery filled her with marvel.
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It was not the first time she wondered what they were like.
Their culture.
Their religious beliefs.
What sports were they interested in?
Did sports even exist in their society?
What did their teens do for fun?
What did their art look like?
She felt that same curiosity as a child with her nose stuck in books about the Mesopotamian cultures, her imagination wandering down painted corridors and walking through fields that had never known the plow.
The human race’s ancestors were probably learning to stand upright when these creatures from a far-flung planet were mastering the stars, using nanites to take them past the farthest horizons.
“Just tell me what that cost would be.” She quietly asked, her soft voice barely an echo.
[The installation of a single port would require 2,001,982 unassigned nanites. The software Summon Nanites would require 340,321 unassigned nanites. This would leave the Host with 861,281 remaining unassigned nanites, which would be able to produce approximately 56 grams of usable external nanites.]
“That isn’t anything if you’re trying to make yourself armor.” Leta pursed her lips as she pondered, visualizing a disk ten centimeters wide. In her mind, she crumpled it into a ball and reshaped it into various forms of that mass.
Maybe she could make a tiny pyramid that could do some damage to a Goblin in a fight?
An itty-bitty dagger that was little more than a letter opener?
Perhaps a choker around her neck to stop a Loupgarou from biting again?
Leta rubbed her neck at the memory of fangs sinking into her flesh.
Atreus’s earlier words served as a reminder that she lacked the readiness to face those who wronged her and loved ones.
If she wanted vengeance, she had to be alive for it.
She needed to strike her enemy dead but also endure the hits when they landed.
“What skills or stats do I need to fight and take a punch?” Leta’s lips tightened with her resolution to seek out Tariq and the ones who had hurt her family.
[An immediate recommendation to increase hand-to-hand combat would be to replace all skeletal structures in the wrists and hands with Atlanite. This would require 2,804,205 unassigned nanites and would need eight hours to complete. The remaining 399,379 unassigned nanites would reinforce muscles and tendons in the hands and forearms, increasing the Host’s power stat by three.]
“I forgot that changes like that could affect the stats.” Leta admonished herself, “It didn’t do anything when I modified my forearms. Let’s say speed. If I aimed to be too quick to hit, how should I do that?”
[Based on the number of currently unassigned nanites, the Host would be able to replace all skeletal structures below the ankles and reinforce some tendons. However, this option would, at best, be suited for movement over rough and uneven terrain and would not significantly increase overall speed. For that goal, the Host would need to replace all skeletal structures and substantially reinforce muscles and tendons below the hip, increasing endurance and reinforcing lung and heart functions.]
“Dang. Looks like speed is a massive investment.”
[It is recommended that the Host consider what sort of offense and defense best suits the Host’s methods and capabilities. Not every combatant is disciplined for melee, and not every hand-to-hand soldier is suitable for mastering long-range offensives such as archery or fire.]
Leta sighed, nodding. “Yeah, probably should have thought about this way before we reached this point. In my defense, though, I’ve either been trying to pretend everything is normal or being unconscious in various hospitals.”
[The Host has adjusted well into being the carrier of the Monarch system. Statistically, the Host should be dead several times after multiple poor decisions. Given the opportunity to utilize their talents, the Host will undoubtedly master an offensive strategy that works best.]