3G: the Glowing Green Goo

The three stayed in the bath until the curfew drew close. Zax and Aran enjoyed a few other tubs but alternately kept an eye on SG, just in case. Coming had been an excellent choice, they had never seen her so tranquil before, even asleep. It was a pity to wake her up, but all good things had an end.

They expected to startle her; her nights were still agitated. However, she woke up as softly as she had dozed off. Most remaining people were leaving, so she caught on and wordlessly left the pool.

The hallway to the changing room had dryers in lieu of walls, with individual toiletries to order hair, fur and feathers at the other end. With the sheer volume of rushing hot air, it was the fastest SG had ever been dried before, and along with the noise it helped to fully wake her up. Only then did she notice how… wrinkled her friend’s hands were.

“What happened!?” She broke her inner harmony and nearly screamed.

“What? Oh, that? It’s just what happens when we stay long enough in water. It’ll pass in a few hours.” Aran calmed her down.

“What? Isn’t it… dangerous? Painful? It looks like it should…”

“Feels weird outside water, but no.” The foxy girl wiggled wrinkled toes on a pale, slightly handing sole in demonstration, before confining them in footwear.

“Entirely natural process, entirely painless.” Zax opened and closed a fist.

“You too? It’s not a mutation?”

“No. A minor mutation could prevent it, possibly? Or enhance it, more likely. It must have a point, but I don’t know what. I don’t think mutations around that were ever recorded; I’ll look it up.” Zax rambled, because of course he did. “And like everything, it’s only dangerous in excess. If you stay a month constantly underwater, you will have problems. A few hours? Unpleasant and uncomfortable at most. Major mutations like yours don’t have such issue though. Not surprising; some species of bird are made to live around water.”

SG probed and indeed, her own wings and talons were the same as always behind the feathers and soft scales.

“That’s weird. What’s the point?”

The conversation continued as they finished clothing themselves and left. The soft conversations and ambient noise of the dot felt nearly alien after the silence of the bath, but not unlikable.

Zax distractedly checked his messages; he had received two over the course of the evening. One was a notice of achievement from his commissions. Adaptations to the algorithms making his model were available. Took some time, but one got what one paid for. He would look at them at home, but they wouldn’t be directly useable to make graft-compatible models. The second message was the Core’s response to his self-incriminating report. No comment about the content, merely a normal satisfaction survey – an excellent one – and chosen payment options.

Reassuring, but to be honest, Zax hadn’t known what to expect.

The payment included a path to a section of the Shelter’s database containing everything about the swarm, its properties, how to make and maintain it, software requirements and even archives about their past uses and related theories, although that part was sparse. Not a lot of use had been seen through history.

It was everything he needed to master it.

That cache had always been technically open to anyone and not hidden, but it was in an unfrequented part of the database, the path all but obvious especially for someone specifically looking for it, and the main topic never explicitly stated. Even if someone randomly stumbled on it, significant foundations in the field were required to understand what it was about. To anyone else, it would be gibberish. Zax had known this section existed, but he would have never found it on his own; or at least it would have taken a lot of time.

This treasure trove made up most of his payment, but not all. The rest would be more nanites for his personal swarm, to be delivered the next day. At his shop, since it was remuneration for an official commission. The programmer couldn’t tell how much it would be, but he was already satisfied with the first part.

When the three arrived home and separated for the night, Zax went to work. He wanted to dive in the swarm’s data right away, but the amount was monumental and he would definitely lose himself in his study. On his own, he wouldn’t have minded, but he had an apprenticeship to go back to in a few hours.

He channelled his frustration on the model changes instead. The commissions fit his demands, but they had to be reworked to fit his needs. He spent hours at it without realising, but once complete he only had to feed it the data and see the results. He had a several configurations to test and compare, so he programmed them to be launched one after the other. He was exhausted, so he would analyse the results later. The next night, most likely.

The next day, as the flatmates prepared, SG kept talking about her experience in the bath. It was amusing for the other two, like watching a child get excited for discovering a new piece of common knowledge. She mentioned imitating Zax’s purposeful breathing, and the topic moved to meditation and its benefits. The winged girl was intrigued, and it could be a great help for self-control and to find herself, so Zax proposed:

“My ex told me about the benefits, but I recently learnt more about it and I meant to try more seriously. Maybe we can do it together?”

Aran didn’t want to be left out, so five minutes of their evenings were planned for the foreseeable future. It would be enough for a starting point; they could change it later.

The workday was nothing unusual. The delivery of C-nanites arrived from an anonymous sender, allowing Zax to teach his apprentice about the different payment options besides 3G units. She hadn’t considered it, but it gave her food for thought.

The handyman wondered how the Core handled deliveries outside its territory, but prying felt like a bad idea.

The afternoon’s outing was at the spring park this time; they would visit the other seasons during the following days.

Aran was reminded and reminded Zax about the free running lessons they had discussed; it felt so long ago. SG had never heard of the discipline, so he demonstrated. It was the ideal place. She tried afterwards, and the dotters were awed speechless by her demonstration of aerial acrobatics. Left, right, up, down, she jumped, bounded, twirled in every direction an in more ways than they could have imagined.

It felt like a dream.

Even knowing of her past, they couldn’t help but wonder what she could have looked like at the time.

Her mutation fit perfectly.

While Zax focused on her body’s movements and reactions, Aran fell in love.

The grace, the agility, the control over herself and her environment… it was everything she wanted to be. Not like Quinn, but enough to bewitch her. The tailed girl resolved to be more serious than she had ever been in learning parkour. She wasn’t particularly interested in wings though; they were not quite… Aran. She hadn’t forgotten the impression Quinn had left on her either; she knew there were other methods.

When the show ended, every dotter fortunate enough to be a witness clapped and cheered. The winged star was startled; she hadn’t noticed the crowd admiring her feats. She froze, still panting and a bit sweaty, but encouraging nods of her friends helped to ground her. She put a hesitant smile on her face and timidly waved a folded wing.

This joyous applause… it was nothing like the bloodthirsty jeers she was used to. It was… warm. She could get used to it.

“-and remember: skill and intent drive the mutation, not the opposite.” Were Zax’s parting words to the more curious onlookers.

When most of the crowd had left, a few enthusiasts had stayed to question SG on her training. It was a sensitive topic, so Zax had taken the reins with a few tips and helped break a few common misconceptions. Aran listened too, and with an attention that surprised him.

SG wore a subtle smile all the way home and then some.

Later, the three were relaxing on their own. Aran and SG were on opposite sides of the couch and Zax in his room.

The gamer had fun testing her WIL add-on while her friend was looking up a random topic, her bracelet between her wrists.

“Paper?” Aran glanced at the floating screen. “Were does that come from? You usually look for more common topics…”

Before SG had time to answer, Zax burst in:

“Great news! I just finished the last checks, and my models are good to go. I managed to make a stable one for each of you. They even hold out during intense exertion like SG’s show earlier. They should even work for people with several grafts, although some complex surgeries might be a problem.”

“Wow, that was faster than I expected.” Aran nodded.

“Congratulations.” SG politely concurred.

They didn’t care that much, but they knew how important it was to him.

“Thanks. And you know what that means?”

“You can update Stat Maker to get better results?” The gamer girl immediately answered.

“No! Well, yes... More accurate results anyways… Technically yes? Nevermind.” He shook his head clear. “Not what I meant.”

“You can use your nanites for surgery?” SG attempted.

“No, I know the theory but I’m not a surgeon. Or even a physician. Although my scans would be a great diagnostic tool. I meant you not needing nanites anymore.”

“Ah.”

“Oh.”

An embarrassed silence followed, but Zax didn’t let it last.

“Soo? Do you want to remove them? Right now? Let them evacuate naturally without restocking? Keep them? Keep them for now?”

“Ah, I’d like to keep mine, please.” Aran was instant. “I like seeing my stats improve. Also, don’t you need us to go to our limits to be sure?”

“No need, I used your records. What is measured it the same, the difference is in how it’s computed. I never measured SG at her limits either. And you?”

“Hmm, well, I was thinking… can they be used to teach others?” She nervously rubbed her wings together.

“What do you mean?”

“Well… Aran wants to learn how to… free jump, but I don’t know how to teach, so I thought… maybe… she could… learn it directly?”

“Making her feel your muscle memory? Or your proprioception during exercise? That… should be possible, but I don’t know how much it would help. Your bodies are pretty different.”

“That sounds like a great idea! Can’t you adapt her perceptions? Translate it to fit mine? You have both our models.” Aran butted in.

“That’s… maybe, but it would only force-match your anatomies. No idea how helpful it’ll be, but it’s worth a shot. I’ll try.”

“Yay! Real-life skill books!” The foxy gamer exclaimed.

Skill books?... Oh, yes, I can see it now.

“Neat, I didn’t notice. I doubt it’ll be that convenient, but it’s a clear goal to aim for.”

“Skill books?”

“Ah, right, we didn’t try games that used them.” Aran realised. “It’s an item that gives you a new skill instantly.”

“A tutorial?”

“No.” The foxy girl detailed. “The tutorial will teach you,” she pointed, “The player, the controls to make your avatar move. The skill book will teach your avatar a new move. The controls are the same for you, so no point in wasting real time leaning. Can be anything, from fireballs to swimming to a new language that is not part of the basic gameplay. Can open up great options. Isn’t that the dream? Instant learning without effort, and you can just buy it!” Aran chuckled.

“As I said, it won’t be that convenient.” Zax deadpanned.

“Nothing to do with the list you gave me then?” She asked.

“Hm? Ah, the one with job descriptions and related skills? No, nothing at all.” He waved his apprentice’s question off.

“List?” It was Aran’s turn to be confused.

An explanation and demonstration from SG later, she excitedly exclaimed:

“We can totally add that to the Stat Maker! It’ll be like a real character sheet! Just missing the level, experience points, health points, mana gauge, titles… okay, nevermind.” She deflated as she listed.

“Hm. Not a bad idea, actually.” Zax perked up. “I can give titles as rewards around the achievement list. Maybe other conditions too. The level could match the mutation. Basic, midling, advanced… That’s more a cultivation than RPG though.”

“Can be mixed.” Aran shrugged.

“True. XP would be a percentage of achievement of what they want? Or would that be for quests? Life goals? The skill list should be easy, just put your resume in and it’ll make one from the official database.”

“Can even add an alert if they aren’t as good as they think they are.” Aran giggled.

“That could work. The disclaimer will have to make it clear it’s not legally binding though. I can already hear people complaining about it.” He winced.

Both girls chuckled at the imagined scene.

“Alright, the small project is getting big, but let’s come to it later. There’s something else I wanted to talk about.” Zax waited until they were done before continuing. “So, you know I usually spend some time alone in my room in the evening?” Nods. “Well, I didn’t mind when you called me at that time, but I have something I need to seriously focus on now. I’ll restrain myself to one hour a day – which is most frustrating – to not lose touch with reality, but during that hour I can’t be interrupted unless it’s an emergency. It’s very important to me, alright?”

The girls shared a confused glance, but nodded.

“Sure, but what happened? It can’t be the skill book idea, right?” Aran tried.

“I found a huge pack of data about the swarm. And I mean huge! It’ll take me a long time to unpack everything, and I’ll definitely loose myself in it. A strict schedule for when I do and don’t dive will help, but it won’t work if the ‘do’ moments are not actually filled with doing it.”

“Uh.”

They were speechless.

“I thought only mutations could make you so… involved. Even the surgery thing didn’t.” Aran broke the silence first.

“Er, well, it IS interesting on its own, isn’t it? And it’s something only I can do.” The only thing. “The surgery thing was just too gross, and I’m pretty sure diving deep in that bag of worms would mean meeting the Black Market. Anyway, I’ll send you a planning of ‘do not disturb’ hours. You can also think of something to do for yourself, you’ll be sure I won’t disturb. I’ll tinker something to make it clear on my door without actually locking it. See ya in an hour, we can do the group meditation after.”

“Wait, you were serious?”

“Ah, wait!” SG perked up but went unnoticed under Aran’s shout. “I have great news too.” Her eyes gleamed with pride as she turned her holo-screen toward him. “My WIL app is done!”

“Really?” Zax’s eyebrows rose. “Testing and all? Can be used as is? And wasn’t it supposed to be an add-on to the stat maker instead of an independent app?”

“Yes! Well, I didn’t actually test it, but I checked everything several times and the simulations hold up. The Main Computer confirmed it.”

“Nice. And impressive.” Zax nodded. “I have no idea how you define willpower, let alone measure it. Careful using the Main Computer’s name though, it can only confirm if your program does what you make it do, not what you want it to do.”

“Yes, even the best machine is stupid and will not see the obvious missing part. I noticed.” The foxy girl pouted. It had taken many mistakes before that particular lesson sunk in. It was the end of the command, why did the final dot matter so much!?

“Eheh, that brings me back.” He chuckled. “Install it on your nanites and you can launch the field test. We can use your free running lessons for that too, get two birds with one stone.”

“Good idea but, er, well, I hoped you would look at it first?”

The programmer’s raised eyebrow was met with puppy eyes. He had decided long ago, but he kept silent longer than necessary. Her reaction was amusing.

“You won’t improve if I fix your mistakes, but I’ll make sure you didn’t do anything dangerous. My safeties should prevent it, but you know what is said about completely foolproof devices. I’ll look it up tomorrow, or maybe tonight if I have time. Now if you’ll excuse me.”

He had left before she could utter a word.

“What is said about completely foolproof devices?” She still asked aloud.

“A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof, is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.” SG quickly found the quote.

“… Did he call me a fool!?”