“When earth ended, human technology had completely gone down the path of nanotechnology and genetic manipulation. A ‘human’ in the old sense, hadn’t existed for hundreds of years. Human bodies were carefully engineered constructs, designed to be worn, and in some cases discarded at the whim of the user.”

***Agena***

***Antioch***

“Can I have my hand back? I still need to fly the shuttle.” I try to reason with Silith. She just blew up a few hundred people and doesn’t show any kind of remorse. It’s true that she didn’t create the self-destruct system, but in a twisted way, she is responsible for its activation. Somehow, I have a feeling that I shouldn't get on her bad side.

“Oh, of course.” She lets go of me. “Antioch, how old are you? I find it strange that you have no clue about our people.”

“I am twenty-six standard years,” I answer, and try to pretend to do something with the console. I could fly the shuttle by using the network connection, but Silith doesn’t have to know that. “They held me in a facility just like yours. My captors tried to stop my growth. I see that they were trying to do the same to you, but you are almost as developed as I am.” I raise a questioning eyebrow.

Her expression turns sheepish. “Oh, yes, you are right. They were starving me. I am forty-four, older than you. That makes me feel bad for not being able to escape on my own. But it explains why you don’t seem to know much. It’s possible to unlock a certain skill, Human Lore. With that, you get all kinds of basic knowledge about our people. It’s like a racial memory,” she explains. “The requirement is to reach seventy-five percent in Mental Growth.”

She is... eighteen years older than me. I don't know what to think about that. The subject seemed to concern her. Does age carry any significance to my people?

But that's not important right now. I just got great news! So there was a manual after all! “Do you know what G.O.D. is? And how does our skill-system work? I was wondering about the huge skill-trees. I only get a few skills each time I unlock a new skill-set. At that rate, I will never unlock all the skills before my Physical- and Mental Growth are finished, assuming that it ends at one hundred percent.”

“I am sorry, I have no idea what exactly G.O.D. is.” She presses her lips together. “As for skills, each of us is born with access to three classes. Up until our bodies grow to full adulthood, we get free access to twelve Physical skills and twelve Mental skills, given that we have the resources to upgrade them. All the other skills have to be unlocked by doing quests for G.O.D.”

I glance at her. “What are you? I am a Survivalist. That gives me access to some great physical skills and some technological stuff.”

Silith smiles. “I am a Designer. That includes a whole set of cybernetic warfare and a pretty neat ability to edit body enhancements. I can optimize my abilities and the ones of others.”

“That sounds... overpowered.” I whistle.

“It isn’t. There are some hefty restrictions. I also thought that it is unbeatable, but in the end, it didn’t help me to get out of that facility.” She tilts her head. “Say, did you also get a new quest? Find Others?”

I check my interface and nod. “I got it when I escaped my own facility.” She doesn’t have to know that I owe my freedom to pure, dumb luck. “It led me to you. When we escaped, it was a success. But it seems like I got it a second time. The quest-marker also points in a completely different direction.”

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She pulls down the corners of her mouth. “That must mean that there are more facilities. We must free as many of us as we can.”

“That sounds dangerous,” I interject. “But I can’t really object. Who knows what they will do when they find out how to harness our abilities...”

“How long is it going to take to get there?”

I check the quest-marker and use the shuttle’s navigation system to compare the location to the maps. It points at the other end of the sector. “A long time. Over a year… maybe two. Sorry, the rigged up transporter in my possession isn’t the fastest ship. The database says that there are much faster vessels. Maybe we should try to get our hands on one of those.”

“Then we have to find a way to get a faster ship. Or to build one. I got a boon from G.O.D. when I escaped. Do you know how this works? The description only says that I can ask for knowledge.” She points at something only she can see and touches my shoulder.

“Don’t use it!” I quickly warn her, then I explain what happened when I asked G.O.D. for knowledge, making sure that she understands the part with the hot-brain-surgery-scalpels. “… so try to save it up for a dire situation. It’s really powerful.”

Silith nods, a grave expression on her face. “Thanks for warning me. I’ll make sure not to waste it.”

We are interrupted by the proximity alert, which was caused by the Chimera. I return my attention to flying and rotate the shuttle, slowing it down for a smooth approach to the Chimera's landing clamps. Five minutes later, I am finally able to power down the engines.

Silith opens the hatch and helps me out of the cockpit.

Upon entering the living section of the Chimera, I wince. Everything looks like it’s a work in progress. I didn’t exactly pay attention to style when I rigged the ship together. There are freely running cables and half-disassembled electronics everywhere. “I know that it looks horrible, but up until now I had to wing everything I did.”

“So did I. Don’t worry about it. Just tell me that this wreck will bring us out of the system.”

Nodding, I reassure her, “That, it will do! Then we have to think about our next steps. Either, we try to acquire a better ship, or we try to improve this one. Though, I think that will be hard. There is only so much I can do with the parts of two outdated transporters and a pirate ship.”

She huffs. “One problem after the other. First, we get me something to eat. Then you have to get healthy.”

“Oh, yes. The food-stocks are all stored in the mess hall. I tried to keep order when I looted the ships, but the Nano-Workers clearly showed their limitations when it comes to organizing things.” I guide her down a central corridor and into a large room. There are a few tables and a rudimentary kitchen, but most of the room is filled with supplies.

I hobble over to a chair for humanoids and sit down while Silith opens one of the crates which is labelled with ‘Rations’. She retrieves one of the sealed boxes from inside the crate and tears it open. Moments later, she starts inhaling the contents.

Smiling, I watch her for several minutes. I did very much the same when I finally got my hands on an ‘all you can eat’ buffet. I spent three days with eating, tasting everything the ship had to offer. While she is busy, I check my wounds. They have scrabbed over. The red blood was replaced by a silvery fluid. It also doesn't hurt anymore. Assured that I will live, I return my attention to my new acquaintance.

Silith is nothing more than skin and bones. Her dark hair is cut at shoulder length and her brown eyes are sunken deep into their sockets. She is almost as tall as I am and her skin is pale, almost transparent. I can see every vein beneath the surface.

At some point, her captors must have allowed her to grow in order to get better results from her mathematical abilities. Afterwards, they probably started fearing her. Although I was also starving in a certain sense of the word, I never had to feel actual hunger. My body was denied the materials to expand on its nanotech, but not the organics.

She wanders around the room and inspects the various crates and barrels which I managed to save from the other ships, all the while munching on her food. The white blocks of organic material don't taste great, but they seem to have everything the body needs. Since she is busy and has her mouth full, I also use the time to unpack and eat one of the rations.

At some point, she stops in front of a bucket and taps it with her food. “What’s that?”

I eye the bucket, thinking. Then I remember. “Oh, that’s my Hardware Backup! I made one right before I went to rescue you.”

She turns to look at me, then back at the bucket. “You keep your Hardware Backup in a bucket?”

“Yeees?” I answer, stretching the word to turn it into a question. “I figured that if this body dies, I should place the Hardware Backup somewhere where it can get easy access to everything it needs to grow. Apparently, it just sits there and waits while I am still alive.”

She looks at me, a bothered expression on her face. “I guess that it makes sense. Just promise me to never put my Hardware Backup in a bucket.”

“Oh, okay!” You have no idea. There are worse places than a bucket to restart your life.