“For decades, transhumanism was a relatively niche subject of philosophical and academic debate - what makes a person human, and how much change does someone have to undergo before they stop being human and become something more?
Then the Protectors arrived, and the question became extremely relevant to a select number of people. Most of whom cannot agree on what the answer is.”
Professor J. Huxley, from a presentation on modern trends in philosophy, 2044
“So, what does this thing do? Obviously it keeps you safe, from what you’ve told me about anemones in the past. I still remember the clownfish rant.” Nate got up slowly, finally finding his footing, and moved around the Anemone, looking it over. The Anemone was a large, segmented metal capsule that had folded open, letting soft blue light spill out from within, where a comfortable space lay mildly disturbed by my previous bouts in there. Not a speck of water in sight, though.
Neat.
Nate traced his hand along the side, considering what this giant new piece of technology could possibly be able to do. He then turned and placed his hands on his hips as he looked over to me. “Do you remember that, Macy?”
“It wasn’t a rant. It was an explanation of symbiotic behaviors! Like a shark and a remora,” I grinned.
“Sure, tell that to the three people in the cafe that fell asleep during it.”
“We don’t talk about that.”
“It was an hour, Macy,” Nate scolded.
“Not the time, Nate,” I retorted with mock annoyance.
A crash of something big nearby signaled that I was very much right in my assessment.
“Kyos, can you get Nate something from the Stalhas catalog that he can use to defend himself? You know, besides the electricity. Also, two Sonar Resonator Mark IIs.”
“Can do. Nate, melee, ranged, or explosives?”
New Purchase!
Points reduced to…7641
Two boxes of Sonar Resonators dropped, which I then walked around and set up.
“Ranged. I can’t imagine getting up close and personal with those things,” Nate said, looking off to the side and rubbing his other arm.
“That can be arranged.”
New Purchase!
Ultra Reverb Cannon High Intensity Neutralizer- 300 points
Points Reduced to…7421
Gotta love passive point gain. Go, Bruce and Jeff, go!
A new box dropped next to Nate. As he opened it, it revealed a…what could best be described as a water gun mixed with a harpoon gun.
“The URCHIN is a weapon that makes use of the speed sound travels within solids and liquids. By sending powerful acoustic waves through the connections between the gun and the target, the target is destroyed from the inside out. The water function acts as a pseudo-pressure washer and is harder to be actively deflected but will not be as strong as the harpoon and line,” Kyos explained.
“Alright. Shoot a thing, pump sound into it, and blow it up. Yeah, this should do.” Nate hefted the weapon and then nearly dropped it. “Right. Arms still…not fully there. I’ll figure it out. These resonators…they should repel some of the smaller forces for now?”
“Should. Your gun is just for emergencies,” I admitted.
“How long will this be going on, anyway? Am I just gonna be out here alone?”
“Oh yeah. Good questions. Kyos, how long will this whole thing be?”
“Around forty-eight hours, give or take. Though, I would still consider leaving this area. Nate is correct. It will be unsafe to stick around.
“Couple days! Oh, shit,” I looked over to Nate, concerned. “Kyos, can I get an estimate on where the closest safe area on land might be?”
“Easy enough. Currently, the local Samurai are holding the bridge over into Bellevue as the main evac point. If you can get onto the bridge and across, you should be able to get Nate to a stable shelter.”
“The bridge…is like an hour’s walk from here. With my Bloodchaser, make that about ten or less minutes, but that would leave Nate either undefended or in my arms, getting whiplash.”
“I don’t like the sound of either of those, the whiplash or just being stuck here on my lonesome. Maybe we do something slower?” Nate sheepishly laughed before another sound of destruction punctuated the air. “Ok, maybe something mildly faster doesn’t sound so bad.”
I giggled at that before sighing in deep resignation. “Holy fuck, this has to be one of the longest days in the history of the world.”
“It has been precisely three hours, forty-four minutes, and six seconds since you initialized. Seven. Eight. Nine-”
“WE GET IT!” Nate and I both shouted at Kyos before we both looked at each other, realized what had happened, and broke into uproarious laughter.
We both needed this laugh desperately. It took a minute for either of us to get our composure back, of which Nate was the lucky first person to break from his incapacitation via hilarity.
“...Alright. We should get moving. The longer we wait, the bigger the problems we might face along the way, right?”
“Yeah,” I concurred. “You said that my goggles could be implanted into my eyes, Kyos? Would I be able to update my augs to help us find a safer way through the streets?”
“That and more. The Huntress’ Eye Goggles were purely a stopgap until you got the genuine cerebral augment. Normally, you could have the nanites of the Anemone slowly implement the augment during your slumber. However, if you are willing to endure high levels of pain, which you have been shown to be willing to do, the installation of the augment can happen over the course of a minute. It will be violently painful, and you may pass out.”
Nate stared at me, wondering what Kyos meant. “What do you mean, ‘shown that you are willing to endure high levels of pain’? Macy, what did you do to get to me?”
My face grew tired and dark. “I had to swim through the tide.”
“Oh. Oh, fuck,” He gasped, leaning against the wall as he realized the feat I had to go through with to even make it to this location.
“Yeah. I’m surprised I’m even alive right now, but I am, and so are you, and I couldn’t be happier.”
“Are…are you making me more important than your own self again?” Nate questioned with mild bafflement.
“...You’re not going to believe me if I say no,” I slumped in defeat.
“No, absolutely not,” Nate said nearly simultaneously. He stood up straighter, testing his footing before continuing. “I know you, Macy. You’re my friend. You are very self-sacrificing, even to your own goals. Kyos, can you assure me that you can get her to practice self-care?”
“I will do my best.”
“That’s all I ask,” Nate relented.
Silence followed for a moment.
“Alright, how much will the augment be?”
“Good question. Nate, are you ok with her doing this?”
“...” He sighed, “You’re a samurai now. I can’t stop you from helping. And I can’t stop you from improving yourself. You should do it in a safe environment…” He shuddered, shaking his head and clenching his fist to his side, “But I have to agree with Pathos this time, as much as I hate it. Whatever you can get to help navigate us better will be more beneficial in the long run.”
Yeah, that was going to be a long fight for Nate. Hopefully, I would gain the ability to help him. However, in the short term, he…and Pathos were right.
“I see you’ve made your mind up. The Huntress’ Eye Goggles are a gear-based version of what you would be getting with the Huntress’ Eye Cerebral Augments, which would allow for both giving you sonar perception around you as well as giving you electroreceptors similar to sharks. Essentially, you’d be able to perceive electrical fields within people and objects, albeit in a non-standard way to the human umwelt. It will be a new feeling, to be sure, but I’m positive you will come to appreciate the usefulness of those new senses quickly. The total cost of the augment is 1500 points, though the cost will be raised due to needing a speedier method of integration. About 100 extra points.”
“Let’s do it.”
New Purchase!
Mark II Huntress’ Eye Cerebral Augment (w/Nanites for Installation Process) - 1600 points
Nanite Injector - 3 points
Points Reduced to…6221
Good luck, Macy. Kyos spoke directly into my mind, rather than out loud, before an auto-injector pen appeared in my awaiting hand.
Once more…into the breach.
I pulled the cap off, at which point a plunger extended at the back end of the tube.
“You will need to stab somewhere in your upper torso. Your shoulder should suffice,” Kyos resumed speaking through the small SHARK drone.
I moved the syringe quickly and brought it to the front of my left shoulder.
A second passed.
And then…fire.
I collapsed to the ground and began to spasm as if I had a seizure. I could barely think. Everything was pain. If you have ever heard of the story of Phineas Gage, the pain I was feeling probably was somewhat comparable to the incident that he is infamous for. White-hot, searing pain that made me feel like I had hot coals in my skull.
And then…quiet.
The pain subsided, the echoes of flame left me shuddering on the ground, sputtering half-spoken blasphemies to any and all higher beings looking on.
Nate sighed in relief. At some point, he had tossed his new gun to the side and placed himself next to my uncontrolled body, holding my neck and head to make sure I didn’t cause myself injury. As I looked up at him from my shaken stupor, my eyes bleary, I…perceived. I perceived something new.
It was like I was seeing life. Every small electrical impulse, it wasn’t feeling or seeing. It was…the best word we have in the human lexicon is perceiving. I perceived Pathos’ chip. I perceived the inner electrical workings of the Sonar Resonators, the SHARKS. I could even parse the intense intricacies of the hyper-dense carbon wafer in my head…even if the complexity of it far exceeded anything that I could wrap my head around at the moment. I still knew it was there, and the electrical field and impulses that it was emitting.
I laughed wearily.
“Oh…this day just got even longer.”