After an extended meditation session, I calmed down somewhat the next day. Yes, I still wanted to slap myself silly, but I was functional again.

And I still had work to do. I had barely started with the tests of Glory, and I had to test the work of the filter applicator as well.

While I desperately wanted to finish testing Glory in all her brilliance, I knew that I had to test the work of the applicator first.

For that, I cloned an even 100 trans human rats and had the industrial fabber churn out simple neuronect implants in the appropriate sizes.

After that, I ordered several drugs on the black market that all had the adverse effect of increasing CRS.

At the size of the implants, I could use one of the chambers for a couple of dozen of them, and it was still quickly done.

The bottleneck occurred during the implantation. In Seattle, I had a special lab-rat auto-surgeon that could work on 20 of the little buggers at once. Unfortunately, it was not part of the standard bio lab package and I neglected to acquire one, making me do with the basic lab auto surgeon. Yes, each implantation took only a bit less than 15 minutes, but I only could work on one of the rats at once.

In the end, I put a couple of androids to the task of working the implantation, as it took more than a day. Yes, it would influence the reliability of the results in a small way, but I additionally asked the VI to supervise.

That should, at least in theory, solve the reliability issues. I also had the androids inject the rats with the drug cocktail that almost ensured CRS development at least in five of the rats over the next week.

If that was not the case it would not yet be proof that the applicator worked, but it would be enough to start working on Marc.

Don’t get me wrong, I fully expected the new applicator to work. After all, it was just a variation of the application process I already had successfully tested and used. Hence the smaller rat number, as well as, if the first results were good, the early use.

And before somebody asks, yes, I also used a control group where the only difference was that the implants had not been converted. That should be clear without a question, but unfortunately, know-it-alls and arm-chair scientists can crop up everywhere.

The last time I did this test the control group had within a single week developed CRS in a whopping 45% of the subjects. I expected similar results this time.

And of course, I ordered three new full-sized bio lab auto surgeons for later use. An even bigger model than what I had left burning out west. Somehow I had the premonition that I would need to do a plethora of animal testing in the not-so-distant future.

All in all, I was busy for nearly two hours with the cyberware tests before I could return to Glory. This time I was much less careful at connection. I still gave the VI the disconnect, but otherwise jumped right in.

I set the standard compression at an easy 240:1. Yes, I could have gone higher than that, but it was a nice, easy number and any increase gave negligible advantage for a significant performance hit. I also set the normal combat compression to 120:1. Still more than enough to rip any other Jack to ribbons, but it left me with an incredible reserve still in the sleeve.

Then I started the simulated combat test. Here, the VI proved to be a godsend. It was much more precise in the application of its attacks and defenses than even the expert system had ever been.

In the end, it was good that Glory had such a significantly higher compression than I had originally expected, as I had to tweak quite a few settings and even had to write a completely new driver for the buffer module.

Finally, after most of the day in real-time, I was finished with her, and my Glory was ready. She was, if you pardon me, glorious. The new buffer mechanism seemed to work marvelously. Sure, I would have to wait for how it worked in real matrix combat, but at least in the tests it almost instantly regenerated my buffer by switching to another buffer bank. I still had an inner and an outer buffer, with the outer one under the VI’s direct control, but both were now almost instant regeneration.

And I was seriously exhausted. When I surfaced, my muscles protested, as usual when I remained in the matrix for more than three hours at a time, in real-time that is. But I had more urgent business to take care of, and I gingerly moved to relieve myself.

After that, I at first slowly, and gradually more flowingly did my Thai Chi. Compared to the mostly walking and shaking my limbs method that I had previously used after a long matrix session it worked wonders, and my muscles slowly quit aching.

In other news, in a surprising joint proclamation, Ralcon and Enertech had announced a joint operation to defend the helpless citizens of Chicago, Philadelphia, Columbus, Indianapolis, Boston, Detroit, Milwaukee, and Baltimore from the unprecedented and abhorrent spontaneous violence, aka the gang wars that Falconer had provoked.

From what I read in the summary, the whole announcement was around 50 pages long and I will never torture me that way, they decided to do the humanitarian thing and put these violent fringe groups on notice that their lawless behavior will no longer be tolerated yadda yadda yadda.

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

Typical corporation propaganda drivel. I honestly had no idea who they actually write that stuff for. The common folk won’t believe a word, the politicians are bought, the activist groups were too, by the way, and the employees and stockholders knew better.

Well, the stockholders might be the target audience. Not the majority owners, the small fry that entertain the illusion that they get a fair share of the profits, and have a say in things. These idiots are usually responsible for around 10% of the income of a big corporation, so it would be impractical if they jumped ship.

Oh, and they had a few kind words for New York, where conscionable and community-minded activist groups managed to snuff out the emerging violence in the beginning.

I found that rather entertaining while I spooned something posing as soup into my mouth.

So after dinner, I decided to make my typical rounds in the matrix again. As so often, the universities and laboratories wielded not much new. Yes, a handful of tweaks for cutting-edge technology here and there, but nothing groundbreaking. Nothing I would build, or even design, something new for.

In the Abyss I was surprised that my message log was mostly empty. Yes, the usual requests for a tailored board, which I usually declined, and of course the usual job offers for Spectre, but that was it.

I had set off not one, but two nukes and there was no reaction to it? Then a new message came in, just to immediately vanish again, and I remembered that I had tasked the VI to take care of messages concerning itself and the CRS-free cyberware.

Apparently, it decided to remove them from my inbox. With a shrug, I connected to the cluster.

There, I found a couple of folders for several messages. A small one was marked as ‘personal handling advised’.

The rest were ‘threats – resolved’, ‘threats – resolution pending’, ‘threats – removed’, ‘request – VI – resolved’, ‘request – VI – pending’, and ‘request – cyberware – pending’.

The ‘threats – resolved’ folder contained several thousand messages. A spot check revealed the usual angry rambling of people who felt their rights and privileges were endangered. Surprisingly the vast majority, over 99% of them seemed to come from outside of the Abyss.

Included was how the VI had reacted, and essentially it answered with an info-bomb almost every time, telling the irate sender exactly what it knew about him or her. Which was way too much for most of them.

The thing was usually resolved by the complainant formally apologizing and taking back their complaint.

The number of messages in the ‘threats – resolution pending’ folder was significantly smaller, as in double digits. Again a spot check showed me the difference to the first folder was that the answer from the complainant was missing.

I was much more apprehensive about the ‘threats – removed’ folder. Fortunately, it was sparsely populated, with 12 messages.

The beginning was the same as in the resolved folder, but the answer was another round of threats. Attached was the exact organization the VI ratted the poor fool in question out to.

The ‘request – VI – resolved’ folder was interesting to read. Basically, the people asked, mostly nicely, how it could have happened, or how it was to have a VI to assist and such things. From what I read, the people here rarely realized that they were communicating with the VI about the VI. I was, honestly a bit proud about it, as it snowed most of them under.

The equivalent ‘pending’ folder on the other hand had the discussions still ongoing.

There was no need for me to intervene in any of these messages.

Then there was the cyberware folder.

When I entered it, I found a tally file pinned up on top.

When I opened it I thought for a moment I was hallucinating.

There were more than 14 thousand requests for jacks of the various qualities, nearly 3 thousand synaptic accelerators, 542 cranial boards, several sensory enhancements, including those I thought frivolous, and even 883 animated tattoos.

Just to make it clear, the 14k jacks alone would break my logistics into subatomic particles. I had nowhere near the industrial capacities to make them. Not in 100 years.

While I was looking at the file more or less in shock, the VI apparently noticed where my attention was.

“Yes, I see that. Why did you not inform me earlier?”

Argh, the stubbornness of the VI stroke again. Anything that was not important for keeping me alive was not allowed to distract me from something that was.

“All right. Do you have simulated possible solutions to the insufficient capacity?”

< 1. Construction of nano-filter applicator in cluster facility. Industrial fabricator in cluster facility superior to industrial fabricator in ‘Fortress’. Enables increase of cyberware production by approximately 162.43%.

2. Construction of factory for cybernetic neuro-connector system production with included nano-filter applicator.

3. After immediate demand for cybernetic neuro-connector systems is met, enlarge factory to include connection plates for cybernetic prosthetics.

4. Sell nano-filter applicator chambers to implant surgeons to adapt cyberware themselves>

Hm, the first step was the easiest and would relieve some of the pressure almost immediately, as soon as I had the applicator fully tested. And considering that it had decided to build a NADA by itself, I was happy that it formulated this one as a suggestion.

The second… it was way too early for that. I would probably increase the industrial fabbers here and in the cluster facility, but if I build the factory and the market became saturated, I would have wasted a whole lot of money.

And #4 was out anyway.

“I agree to the nano-filter applicator in the cluster facility. But I don’t know if the factory is the right decision. It could be an initial flood of orders and then nothing. If we increase the industrial fabbers it should be enough. An no to selling the applicator. Also, please use jack instead of cybernetic neuro-connector system.”

“I get that we are at the moment overwhelmed with orders, but that will ebb. And then I have a factory, which I don't want anyway, sitting idle.”

Frick, and I so did not want to run a factory.

“I will think about it. First I have to test if the applicator works like expected.”