3G: the Glowing Green Goo

Rude.

Zax frowned disapprovingly at the Resident’s back. She had been more and more silent as the evening went on, but turning around and briskly walking away without parting words seemed out of character.

“Nevermind. Sorry for the intrusion. Keep going, and don’t forget: you hit the ball with the inside of the foot, not the tip.”

Zax bid farewell to the team of sporty teens he had hailed, sent a message to warn his roommates of his imminent arrival and went on his way. His high spirits were spent, so he went straight to the light road this time.

He arrived a few steps behind Aran. The foxy girl hadn’t spotted him, but he failed to get a reaction when he tried to jump-scare her. She was surprised to see him out though, SG hadn’t told her about his encounter. Zax didn’t explain, letting the winged girl be the first one to deliver her news.

Said girl greeted them with her usual restrain, but didn’t hide how relieved she felt at their safe arrival. It prompted a series of explanations; the last part of which Aran wasn’t sure how to react to:

“Sounds like you had fun.” She commented with an uncertain voice.

“Fun? No. It was annoying, it as tedious, and it took way too long. Delayed all my swarm assimilation schedule.” Zax complained. “I couldn’t read her face at all and I still don’t know who she was or what she wanted. All I learnt is that she is good at deflecting questions, she’s being sent here by people she reports to, and she will be in trouble if she wastes her time, but she doesn’t need to used it for anything specific. Which makes me think she will be back. Or she might be replaced? And after today, the next one will not be as obvious. I hope so at least, or it really was a waste of time, for everyone involved.”

The girls exchanged a glance and shared a thought, but decided against voicing it.

“At least I could trick her into allowing me to be informed of her location.” He added after a sigh. “I’m not sure she understood it, but now I have the legal right to know where she is, anytime and anywhere. Just in case.”

“Would that work without bracelet?” Aran quizzed.

“I won’t be able to live-track her every move, but I’ll at least be notified when she passes the border.”

He displayed the one he had received during their briefing. He’ll have to check more precisely what this authorisation allowed him, but later. Right now, he wanted to put her out of his mind, and Aran set the perfect segue up:

“I’m surprised you didn’t negotiate your help against a scan of her body.”

“You know how hard it is to convince a dotter; how do you think a Resident would react? I didn’t think she was that desperate.” He shook his head. “And if she was and I exploited it… I feel better about myself since our talk, but I did see the slippery slope I was leaning towards. I’d rather play it safe still.”

“I see.” They didn’t expect that, but Zax didn’t let the reminder of the previous night make it awkward.

“Plus, she lied to me from the start. I don’t want her to know my address, and I don’t want to spend the night with her in the Circle, where I’m not even sure the nanites would last long enough to get in her body. Speaking of, what should we do with yours?”

The question caught the girls off guard, but he developed his thought:

“The priority would be how to handle the ones in SG’s brain. The recording is done and delivered; they have no use anymore. Or they shouldn’t, but let’s maybe wait a few days to be sure they won’t need another one. We can also decide what to do with both of your scanning ones. I kept pushing that talk back, but I can’t pretend they are required anymore. If the problem came from your grafts, the data I have should be enough for a complete model, once I have the updated algorithms.”

“Oh, by the way, how’s that going?”

“As well as expected,” He nodded. “Two people with different answers accepted my commission, I should have something back soon.”

“I see. Well, about the nanites, I’d like to keep mine. I slacked off recently, but it’s fun to see my stats grow when I keep pushing myself. And I’m close to something about WIL, I think I’m almost done.” Aran answered casually.

“Hm? Ah, right, your custom stat. I forgot about that. You haven’t taken a lesson in a while.”

“I know what to look for and where on my own now!” The not-so-novice-anymore programmer beamed with pride.

“Congrats.” Zax humoured her with a smile and a thumbs up. “Don’t forget there are several ways to get the same result. And you?” He turned to SG.

“I… don’t care?” The winged girl shrugged. “I don’t feel them, and they don’t do anything.”

“Most people would still be creeped out by having millions tiny foreign bodies in their own. Especially in their brains, where they can record everything.” Aran flatly stated with a raised eyebrow.

“… Maybe remove the brain ones.” SG slumped and conceded. Her eyes couldn’t meet Zax’s.

“That’s fine.” He nodded. “Right now?”

“I can wait. I’d rather not have to get them back again.”

“Fair enough.”

“Alright, enough serious talk. Let’s play now!”

Aran being Aran, Zax and SG chuckled. Things were back to normal. Maybe too normal, actually, as both Zax and SG were more and more restless as days passed.

SG had run out of relevant news to peruse, and she was at a loss about what to do with her new free time. Online games were fun, but she became fidgety if she spent too long sitting. VR games would solve that issue, but they weren’t designed for wings. Zax could customise a few games, but his apartment didn’t have sufficient room to play them anyways.

She hadn’t made her mind up on how to wear her bracelet yet, but she was still actively thinking about it. Zax often caught her staring at its sleeping form, her gaze unfathomable.

It will affect her whole life, after all.

Zax couldn’t help her on that matter. He could only hope daily life and interactions outside his home would help, once she could leave.

All of Zax’s projects were as far along as they could be, requiring either outside intervention or time.

The recording of the Core’s sentence was fully examined and being peer reviewed by fellow hobbyists on the forums.

The relation between the glowing veins and acupuncture’s meridians had led to interesting hindsight, but wouldn’t progress without practical experiments he couldn’t do. Observing was one thing, but he wouldn’t risk affecting someone’s activation or mutation. Even less so when he couldn’t surmise what it would do, if anything at all.

He had been surprised at how uncharted that venue of study was, but acupuncture was nearly as disused as surgery; merely less hidden from common people’s eyes, for obvious reasons. It was only studied as a hobby and practiced on rich dotters who as a fancy technique. Aran had joked that he was probably the only one with deeper knowledge of both.

His theoretical study of surgery was slowly but steadily advancing; it only took time. He was not grossed out by the pictures and descriptions anymore, and like acupuncture, it gave unexpected perspectives on the interactions between different parts of the body.

Who would have thought breaking the ribcage could help fix a twisted spine?

Well, eons before, someone had, and it could explain some obscure but common sequences of mutations, when minor alterations prepared for a major one. Some were obvious, but others were baffling. Kad’s lateral bone growth, in preparation for a second pair of complete arms, were not even among the most outlandish ones.

The commissioned algorithms were still in progress and would arrive anytime.

The swarm integration was complete in his brain and body, and it had barely made a dent in his stock. His previous programs were in the process of being rewritten for them; automatization had made it a breeze once he had worked out the kinks of translation.

With nothing better to do with it, he had started on his project with the lowest priority: making detailed organisms with nanites. The natural extreme of his teacher’s living sculptures, he would give them actual organs, as accurately as he could. He might even make life-sized micro-organisms once he was skilled enough, but it was more a vanity project than anything. He wasn’t quite sure they were minuscule enough.

Remarkably, there had not been any loss from disruptive fields yet. It went against expectations; smaller and more complex devices should be more sensitive and vulnerable, but he wouldn’t complain. He had no way to restock. His reserve could only dwindle, any loss was definitive, and he wouldn’t let himself forget it.

As a precaution, he stored dormant aggregates in several places in his body. With their low volume, there were more options than for his normal nanites, so his usual stock was left untouched.

Finally, Officer Bor contacted him, and what was more, it was with good news! The recording had been accepted as a valid testimony from an anonymous witness given by a secret source of his. Unconventional, but no follow-up questions would be asked.

He couldn’t share details with Zax, obviously. They wouldn’t know if the testimony would have consequences or to whom, but someone else was paid to take care of that. What truly mattered was the Enforcers officially stating that the recorder had done nothing wrong and had no repercussions to fear for their past or their testimony. The wording was all fancy official sounding, but the conclusion was unmistakable:

SG was safe and free!

It was great news. The best possible news, even.

Why was she not feeling better?

When Zax had announced it, she had cheered with everyone. Hugs had been exchanged and rejoicing ensued. One minute later, the reality of the situation had fully sunk in, and there she was, crouched on the couch, her talons dangerously poking at its canvas, ‘palms’ on her knees, taut as a sinew.

Cautious probing from her friends produced a single whisper:

“What do I do now?”

Excellent question.

The dotters thought as one. They had been so focused on ensuring her freedom and safety they hadn’t considered what to do with it.

She knew how to use her bracelet to find her way, but she didn’t know where to go, and letting her wander the dot alone was just asking for trouble. Her social anxiety was only a hurdle among others. After some time discussing ideas and shooting them down, one came through that could work for everyone:

“You could come to work with me?” Zax proposed. “I stopped going to unwind after a stressful event, but I had only planned for one week, maybe two before going back. We’re past that now, and I’m getting restless too, so I thought about going back. We can go together. I regularly hire temporary workers, the ‘how’ won’t be an issue and I’ll definitely have things for you to do. Standard pay and training, although you’re not exactly short on credits right now, so I don’t expect much overtime.” He glanced at the storage space below the couch, where her briefcase was hidden away.

When they had realised what it contained, nobody had known what to do with it. For most, it was a sure way to improve their life – heck, they wouldn’t even have to mutate, it was enough to rent a place in the Circle for a while. More than enough to find a job and properly earn their mutation, probably – but everyone present had their own reasons not to. Zax knew for a fact it would be wasted on him, Aran had promised to not leave him alone again, and not-yet-SG had been too lost for such considerations.

Besides, she hadn’t been ready to share her past yet, so the dotters had only been aware that whatever strings came attached to those units, they were ominous and dangerous. Zax had wordlessly put everything back in the baggage and put it out of sight and out of mind. Nobody had mentioned it since, with a tacit understanding nobody would touch it.

Now they knew of its origin, and while it was technically stolen property, the owner was dead and the Enforcers hadn’t reclaimed it.

“Getting out, meeting people with face-to-face but minimal interactions, participating in the dot’s daily life, all with Zax around to ease things out.” Aran listed. “Many birds in one stone. That could work.” She nodded.

“And once she’s autonomous enough, she can either stay in the shop when I’m away on field orders to extend working hours, or come with me to see parts of the dot she wouldn’t normally go to.” Zax added. “It’s the usual progression for temps.”

Nobody brought up the elephant in the room, of how her wings would interfere with her performance. Even if they did, the point was to give her something to do and a reason to leave the apartment.

SG was nervous, but exited at the same time. She agreed.

“Great! We’ll start tomorrow. Be sure to wake up on time. You don’t have to call me boss, but that would be appreciated.” Zax clapped his hands and smiled pleasantly.

The two mutants couldn’t tell if he was joking or not.