Chapter 4: Juiced up!

  “Self-augmentations are different from cybernetics. In this case, someone decides to augment their natural bodies instead of replacing parts of themselves wholesale. There are advantages, of course, like maintaining muscle memory, reflexes, better kinesthetic awareness, all of that. Personally, I find that it can be a bit of a waste point-wise.”

  –Street-side interview with Lag from within his tank/body, 2051

  ***

  I looked at the two rather large boxes occupying half the remaining space at my disposal. They were side by side just within reach of my right arm. On reflex I started leaning their way when...

  Don’t!

  I felt a bit of tearing in my chest and stopped in my tracks right away!

  ‘Right, splintered ribcage stabbing my organs. Thanks.’

  Much more carefully, I took the top off one of them and found a big tank of… something.

  ‘Altany, what is that?’

  It is a nanite-based Mole-Bear creation called bio-silver that I modified using your emergency installation Nanites catalogue. You see the syringe connected to it by a tube? Stab it at least a few centimeters below your ribs.

  Said syringe didn't actually have a plunger, just a tube plugged into the tank. Following instructions like a good boy, I stabbed myself near my hip.

  I didn’t expect the fucking fucked up needle to fucking widen inside me! Actually, I was a bit unsure what it did? Those painkillers were working for their pay!

  In just a few seconds, the syringe became more of a terrifying extension for the tube! The containers, on the other hand, the circumference of my neck, started visibly emptying.

  ‘Hum… Altany? Just… What?’

  I’m sorry, what part of this is unclear to you?

  I thought about that for a second, then nodded my head, conceding the point. I’d have shrugged but again, shredded organs.

  When the can was empty I inserted the other needle. I’m pretty certain Altany waited for exactly that fucking moment to activate the little bastards! The moment she did, an intense buzzing filled my entire body.

  I'd never liked THC. It was one of the old school drugs that just didn’t agree with me. Every time I tried, it felt like my whole body just started vibrating, and not in a fun way! I’d ended up bed bound the few times Robin had convinced me to try again.

  This? This was worse. Every single one of my muscles felt like it had angry bees buzzing all over! Followed by my bones. Joy.

  ‘Altany? Is that normal?’

  I may have been ever so slightly worried... Alright, This shit felt like internal radio static and I wasn't a big fucking fan!

  No.

  'Oh... I'd really fucking love an explanation attached that no...'

  Usually, an installation accelerated to this extent would be mind-numbingly painful and severely traumatic. The KP-Kicking in your system is protecting you from severe psychological damage. This process will be much less strenuous if you opt for the complete installation. This is surface level, close to your skin, and high-speed. Deep muscles affects your pain receptors differently.

  I tried to take long deep breaths to calm down, then remembered I couldn’t and gave up.

  ‘Fuck it, Altany, do you have any vape stuff? Mine's been a bit... obliterated?’

  … You only have a small fraction of your lungs operational, and you wish to fill them with vapor laced with addictive substances?

  I could feel the 'are you fucking kidding me' look even without a body to emote with!

  ‘Yes, desperately.’

  I called and raised with a 'my bones are almost powder' unimpressed look! What can I say? It was a winning argument! It took a few artificial moments for my AI to answer but she did.

  There are tier zero items that could do the trick, however they are an unappealing option. If you wish to keep this habit up, may I suggest a catalogue for such? We could find a use for your disgusting practice this way.

  ‘Sure.’

  Class 1 Recreational Handheld Vapor-based Devices Unlocked!

  Points reduced to… 353!

  Do you wish for anything specific?

  ‘Twenty mg of nicotine per ml, and some CBD while we’re at it, please? Just something disposable and cheap. Oh, and something that won’t attract antithesis?’

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  New purchase: Flavored Nicotine and CBD laced Vapor Inhalation Device!

  Points reduced to… 350!

  My grip was a bit shaky at first with all the buzzing, but I managed to pull the little vape-pen like device to my lips. A bit of experimentation and thanking Altany later, I found out that in my current state I had to fully empty my lungs then create negative pressure in my mouth before inhaling.

  It was a pain, but the nicotine fed my little addiction neurons real well! Hence, I relaxed as much as I could, waiting to be strong enough to get the big fucker off my chest.

  ‘How did you know Raspberry was my favorite?’

  Strangely, it didn’t taste like anything raspberry-flavored I’d had before. It was more… fresh? Less chemical? Was this what real raspberries tasted like?

  It was in your profile, although those can be incomplete to say the least.

  ‘What does my profile say exactly?’

  Much of it would be incomprehensible to a human, but some of the main points are simple enough for you to understand. You have a high degree of empathy and a very strong protective instinct, especially in regards to anyone you deem as your people. This is magnified for anyone you consider family. There is a 93.5% likelihood that you are what humans deem as Autistic on the Asperger side of your spectrum, hence many of your social practices are learned instead of instinctual.

  I wasn’t really surprised. Autism-specialized doctors were insanely rare and expensive. Their services were profitable, but not many people could afford them and not many knew to seek them out. In my case? I knew I was fucking weird. Never knew anything else and I liked me... for the most part.

  ‘You know about… my past, right? I… I don’t really see myself as a good enough person to become a samurai...’

  Your duty is to uplift humanity and fight the antithesis. We do not seek out many non-violent people, or people that are not comfortable with violence. You have killed many of your fellow humans, that is true, but you did so for the good of those around you for the most part.

  For the most part… Cleaning the floors of the previous trash hadn’t been easy or simple. Many had died, and a lot of them by my hands. I didn’t really feel bad about the abusers, the fellow murderers and various other types of sorry excuses for a human. I was actively happy about the few pedophiles I’d taken care of!

  However… There were quite a few that I did feel bad about. Some teenagers had only been with the gang for a few months… They didn’t deserve to go down because the people around them were monsters, but when you’re being shot at, well…

  I can see your brain chemistry. The fact that you feel negatively about some of the aforementioned violence is one reason you were selected. Humans are empathetic by nature. It is the way social animals behave in order to survive. However, they are also strongly influenced by the group.

  Groups that you find morally repugnant will create more members of the same cloth through peer pressure and learned behavior. Some will even use active conversion and conditioning methods, like cults. Many recognized religions also behave in this manner. Parents will teach their worldview and morals to their children. New members of a gang will become like the other members out of sheer survival instinct. It is how so many behaviors that your species abhors become so prevalent.

  I got the feeling that Altany liked to monologue a lot! It didn't bother me, and I had nothing else to do.

  Humans evolved to have varied traits in order to better adapt to different situations and environments. Psychopaths are an interesting example. They appear in every single human population, even the most isolated, meaning that your species must have had a recursive use for them in your early years.

  Your traits were evolved in part to counterbalance the unsustainable situation your species is currently in. You could have forgotten empathy, guilt, and all other remorse based feelings to fit into your environment, yet you did not. You remained objective and saw unacceptable things, then acted on them contrary to many of the people around you. I am severely oversimplifying of course.

  This type of behavior, in general, encourages those who still have classical human values to act themselves. Most people just need a push and an opportunity to act non-violently. Violence requires a somewhat bigger push. In this way, Vanguards are the exception. They create the push, like you did with your community.

  I stayed silent for a while, both dumbstruck and thoughtful, which was an odd mix. I’d need some time to process all that shit, but it… felt nice. I liked the general concepts even if I didn’t fully grasp them.

  ‘Hum… Thank you Altany, that made me feel better.’

  Good, because this next part will be unpleasant. You should have enough improvement to your musculature to push the model six off of your chest. I suggest pushing him to the left so you still have a corner to hide and prepare in.

  Alright, back to business! I tried to take a few deep breaths, then remembered I couldn’t so I just went for it! I hooked my left arm over the asshole’s head and found purchase in its nose... I did not question what the slimy thing was. Nop. My right went to the thing’s jaw so that I could push away and to the left.

  It was, by far, the most uncomfortable thing I’d ever done! As the head moved left, I was not able to push it that far back. That meant that my insides were juiced once more on my left side! At the same time, my shredded organs took more abuse due to the movement of my ribs.

  I could feel more ribs snapping and organs bursting, but the KP-Kicking was doing its job! I was definitely stronger, at least. My back and pectoral muscles matching my arms was a game changer.

  A few disgusting and insanely uncomfortable seconds later, I fell on my side and started panting.

  You should take the nano-regenerative suites. Right now, please.

  Without questioning my awesome AI buddy, I snatched the third suite and inhaled. I could already tell my lungs were bigger than they had been a few seconds ago, but it still took a couple puffs. I repeated the process with the fourth. The buzzing of my new augments were joined by the healing nanites.

  Normally, this level of nano-regenerative suite would not be able to fix your bones and many of your other issues, but the nanites installing your Vanadium Vambraces Mark 4 and Roar of the Core Mark 6 are providing much needed assistance. You should start regaining feeling in your legs very soon.

  I’d honestly forgotten about them! Probably because I couldn’t feel them and had much bigger concerns. I tried to move my foot but nothing happened. I kept trying periodically until it twitched. I slowly started feeling the same buzzing as throughout the rest of my body, which led me to fidget. I took a deep (ish) breath in and basked in the incredible feeling.

  ‘Oh, fuck me sideways that’s better’

  Since I could move my arms, I grabbed for the vape pen and inhaled deeply.

  Given the neurons currently firing in your brain, I will insist again on the use of a detoxification suite. You should also stop this habit all tog…

  ‘Nop.’

  After a frustrated pause that was clearly just for show, Altany accepted my non-compliance.

  While we are in a safe enough position, we should go over your next purchases. I assume you wish to fight this current incursion?