《The Ones Among Us》 Chapter One ¡°Do you think we¡¯ll get a good display when the spaceship crashes?¡± Lindsay asked while the friends lay on the New Zealand beach outside their ocean front cabin rental. She flipped her long blonde hair to draw her boyfriend¡¯s attention. ¡°No dummy.¡± Michael said ¡°It¡¯s going to happen during the day. There won¡¯t be anything to see.¡± ¡°Well, that sucks.¡± she pouted. ¡°Is that what she said?¡± he said with a playful leer as he emphasised checking out her tanned, athletic body. Lindsay gave Michael a look of mock horror and smacked him in the shoulder. ¡°Are you two going to need a room?¡± Ren¨¦ asked, peeking over her oversized sunglasses. ¡°I might, but him? I don¡¯t know.¡± Lindsay shot back. ¡°Are you saying I like to put on a show?¡± Michael looked offended. He pretended to be innocently oblivious to flexing his well toned physique. ¡°Well, after Thailand¡­¡± ¡°In my defence, I was pretty drunk¡­¡± Michael temporized. ¡°So what are the chances we¡¯ll actually see anything?¡± Farrah asked, changing the subject away from feeding Michael¡¯s ego. ¡°Pretty low actually. We¡¯re on the edge of the potential impact area, but we might see some bits and pieces burning up. We won¡¯t know until tomorrow if the news reports are right.¡± Michael answered with a shrug. ¡°That¡¯s a bummer.¡± Lindsay sulked. ¡°Well, it¡¯s not like we don¡¯t have 1000 things to do around here.¡± Ren¨¦e said, waving idly at the expanse of beach and trees. ¡°No doubt.¡± Lindsay said looking at Michael. ¡°Let¡¯s head back to town and see if we can rent some jet skis.¡± ¡°Sounds good.¡± *** ¡°Finally, some peace and quiet.¡± Farrah said shortly. ¡°Love those two to death, but sometimes they just don¡¯t let up.¡± Renee and Daniel nodded. Vacationing together was always a balancing act of personalities and interests. Some days they thought it was a miracle that there hadn¡¯t been more fights in the last two weeks. Maybe just being away from home and the pressures of work and school, combined with wide-open beaches and plenty of activities meant everyone had the space they needed. ¡°I¡¯m going to go for a run down the beach.¡± Daniel said. ¡°I¡¯ll be back in an hour or so.¡± The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Even though they were on vacation, Daniel made a point of keeping up his maintenance workouts. He didn¡¯t want the off-season to set him back like they did someone with less discipline. ¡°Are you taking your bionics?¡± Farrah asked. She was intrigued by his new glucose monitor. The experimental contact lens was just starting human trials. ¡°Yeah, I have them in. No alarms so far today. But I¡¯ll take my kit just in case.¡± ¡°Cool. I still want to know more about that thing, if you happen to leave the brochure lying around.¡± ¡°I wish, but nondisclosure and all that.¡± Farrah sighed, resigned. ¡°How about you?¡± She said looking at Ren¨¦. ¡°Run or relax?¡± Renee stretched and shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m laying here in the sun doing nothing on purpose. If I feel like a burst of energy is coming on, I¡¯m going to roll over and ignore it until it goes away.¡± Farrah smiled, ¡°I¡¯ll be in the shade reading my book.¡± waving in the direction of a nearby tree. *** ¡°I wonder when Michael and Lindsay are going to get back?¡± Ren¨¦ pondered that evening, as the friends finished cleaning up after dinner. ¡°Knowing those two, they could be shacked up in a hotel room on the far side of the island, or up to no good on some billionaire¡¯s yacht.¡± Daniel shook his head. ¡°Yeah, I know. But I¡¯d still rather know they¡¯re safe somewhere.¡± The other two nodded. However, after this many vacations together, they knew Michael and Lindsay could be counted on to disappear every few days and stagger back with wild stories that were only half believable. ¡°Oh well, leave the lights on downstairs and we¡¯ll hear all about it in the morning.¡± ¡°No doubt.¡± Daniel said heading up the stairs to the sleeping loft. ¡°I¡¯m headed to bed. See you in the morning.¡± ¡°Night.¡± The other two chimed. *** ¡°What the hell is this?¡± Michael asked poking the container with his foot. ¡°Don¡¯t touch it.¡± Lindsay said, her voice tinged with worry. ¡°It¡¯s probably from that Chinese spaceship.¡± ¡°Satellite.¡± He corrected, ¡°Satellite, not spaceship.¡± ¡°Whatever, it¡¯s a piece of a ship that fell from space. Space. Ship.¡± Lindsay shot back. ¡°Whatever it is, don¡¯t touch it and get back to paying attention to me.¡± She pulled at his arm. ¡°What are you afraid of? It¡¯s just space junk. Here let¡¯s get a selfie with it. We can show all our friends and be famous.¡± He pulled his phone out of his pocket. ¡°I¡¯m not afraid, I¡¯m bored. It¡¯s just a piece of junk.¡± ¡°Junk, sure¡­ But junk from space.¡± Michael grinned, ¡°I wonder if I can open it?¡± ¡°Now you¡¯re going looking for trouble.¡± Michael shrugged and pulled out his multitool, replacing it in his pocket with his cellphone. Unfolding one of the blades, he started prying at the latches on the container. ¡°You aren¡¯t going to be happy until you pop that thing and radiation sprays everywhere, are you?¡± Lindsay poutted, folding her arms over her chest. ¡°Radiation, yeah whatever.¡± he snorted without looking up from his struggle. ¡°They wouldn¡¯t let something like that land anywhere near, well land.¡± ¡°Yeah, because they did this on purpose.¡± Michael had managed to pry open one of the latches and got to work on the second. Lindsay dropped her arms, ¡°You have fun with that. I¡¯m going to sit over here in my bikini, soaking up the sun.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Michael exclaimed. ¡°Got it!¡± Lindsay looked up, hopeful that his interest would be satisfied and he would return his attention to her. He pried open the lid with an expectant look on his face. Lindsey watched as his hopeful optimism turned to disappointment. He shook the case, and reached inside. She could hear the sound of broken glass rattling inside. ¡°Awe, your new toy broken already?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a bunch of busted glass and some grey dust. You¡¯d think they¡¯d keep their spaceship cleaner.¡± ¡°See! Spaceship. You agree.¡± She said with a self-satisfied look. ¡°Yeah, yeah, whatever. I wonder if the case is worth anything?¡± He said looking as if a secret compartment would pop open and reward them with treasure. ¡°Ow, dammit.¡± ¡°Aw diddums, did you hurt yourself?¡± She asked sarcastically, ¡°I bet it¡¯s worth¡­a trip to a Chinese prison? ¡­or least a stay in the local cop shop while they decide whether or not you¡¯re worth the hassle?¡± ¡°Yeah, it probably wouldn¡¯t be easy to get out of the country anyways. Dammit, that hurts.¡± He said, sticking his cut finger in his mouth. ¡°So it¡¯s settled, you can get back to paying attention to me.¡± she winked at him. ¡°Baby you always know I want to pay attention to you.¡± Michael scratched idly at his hand, where he had cut it inside the container. *** Chapter Two ¡°Dammit. Who forgot to close the blinds last night.¡± Daniel muttered, not for the first time. He hadn¡¯t had anything to drink last night, but his head was pounding and his body ached. It had sounded like such a great idea to get an east facing cabin so they could watch the sunrise. However, they soon discovered the downsides on days they wanted to sleep in. Someone was always forgetting to close the blinds on the upstairs sleeping loft. He groaned as he eased himself out of bed. ¡°If you¡¯re up, you can put the coffee on.¡± Daniel heard a weak voice call from the far side of the loft. ¡°You and your coffee.¡± ¡°It¡¯s better than that flavoured water you drink.¡± Ren¨¦e answered. ¡°Tea is the drink of civilization.¡± Daniel shot back. ¡°Dead civilizations, maybe.¡± He heard a giggle from Renee¡¯s side of the room. ¡°Did Michael or Lindsay come in while you were up?¡± ¡°No, but I think they staggered in early this morning. I heard someone coming up the stairs after I came to bed.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t see them.¡± Daniel said, puzzled. Ren¨¦ sat up in her bunk, looking around. Farrah¡¯s slumbering form was in her bed, but Michael and Lindsay¡¯s beds were empty. They looked like they¡¯d been slept in, and the downstairs lights had been turned off. ¡°Huh, maybe they got up and went for breakfast.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, but breakfast sounds like a good idea. I may get some toast started with the coffee and tea.¡± ¡°Shower. Shower first, then food. I feel like crap. I hope I¡¯m not getting sick.¡± Daniel nodded as he headed down the stairs into the kitchen as Ren¨¦ started the shower. None of them had gotten sick so far, but living in close quarters meant that if anyone did they likely all would be soon. *** ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re feeling okay? You look sick.¡± Farrah asked after the breakfast dishes had been cleared away. ¡°In fact, you both look like you partied for a week.¡± ¡°Gee thanks, Miss ¡®I think I look fresh as a daisy.¡¯, but you aren¡¯t looking so hot yourself.¡± Ren¨¦e shot back, with a half smile. ¡°Yeah, I feel kind of warm. But it¡¯s not like we did anything stupid last night. Maybe Michael and Lindsay brought something home with them and we¡¯re catching it?¡± Tilting her head to one side, as if it would help her see something different. "Crap I hope not." Renee frowned. ¡°Speaking of the terrible twosome, have you seen them?¡± ¡°Nope. But the beds are slept in, and their shoes and clothes are here. It¡¯s not like they went skinny dipping this morning.¡± Daniel said ¡°Wait¡­ You don¡¯t think¡­¡± he laughed. ¡°Maybe at two in the morning, but not in the middle of the day.¡± Farrah responded. ¡°Well, if they don¡¯t stagger in by dinner time we¡¯ll start the search parties.¡± Ren¨¦e said with a smirk. *** ¡°Did you forget your key? Did you forget we don¡¯t lock the doors when we¡¯re home?¡± Daniel hollered, hearing someone at the front door later that afternoon. The knocking at the front door continued. He finally reached the door, opening it, ¡°What the¡­¡± Daniel trailed off as he saw the official looking group standing outside the front door. ¡°Is it about Michael and Lindsay? Are they okay? What¡¯s going on?¡± Questions spilled out of Daniel, as he took in the group. ¡°Who are¡­?¡± The stern looking woman who was apparently in charge of the group interrupted herself when she realized what Daniel was asking. ¡°May we come in?¡± She asked starting again, gesturing towards the door. Without thinking, Daniel turned and waved them inside. ¡°Do we have company? You could¡¯ve warned me.¡± Ren¨¦ hollered from upstairs. ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on!¡± Daniel yelled back, ¡°I think they know about Michael and Lindsay.¡± Daniel turned to the woman. ¡°Do you know about Michael and Lindsay? Is that why you¡¯re here?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know who Michael and Lindsay are.¡± The lady responded. ¡°What are your designators?¡± ¡°Our what?¡±, Daniel asked. ¡°Aren¡¯t you the police?¡± Confusion registering on his face. ¡°The police? Whatever for?¡± The woman asked, almost in a sing-song voice. Daniel took a breath, ¡°Our friends are missing. Michael and Lindsay.¡± He repeated. ¡°We woke up this morning and they weren¡¯t here. Isn¡¯t that what you hear about?¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid not.¡± With no tone of apology in her response. ¡°We¡¯re responding to an emergency call. Didn¡¯t you send it?¡± She asked Daniel, ¡°Who are Michael and Lindsay? Would they have sent it?¡± ¡°Ren¨¦e? Farrah?¡± he paused, ¡°Did you call 9-1¡­ I mean 1-1-1?¡± Daniel corrected himself in his call up to the girls. A chorus of confused, ¡°No! and What?¡± came from upstairs. ¡°No, we¡¯re not that kind of responders.¡± She corrected, ¡°If you don¡¯t know why we¡¯re here perhaps Michael or Lindsay called us. Where are they?¡± She glanced around the cabin. ¡°That¡¯s just the thing. We don¡¯t know. We¡¯re not sure if they came home last night. ¡± Daniel was getting worried now, ¡°It¡¯s not unusual for them to disappear for a day or two but all their stuff is here. We¡¯re not sure what¡¯s going on. We thought you were the police telling us something had happened to them.¡± He scrubbed his hands across his face. ¡°No, we¡¯re not the police. What are their full names and ages?¡± She gestured for a suit beside her to take notes. ¡°Michael Williams 34 and Lindsay Harris uh¡­¡± Daniel thought for a moment, ¡° 32.¡± The suit beside the woman started typing on his tablet before looking at her and shaking his head. ¡°Well, it looks like we have either a problem or a mistake.¡± She seemed to grow taller, if that was possible, ¡°We were summoned here by our emergency locator system, but it seems no one who has access to it called us. Do you have any guests?¡± she eyed Daniel. ¡°No guests, just the three of us, plus Michael and Lindsay.¡± Daniel confirmed, shaking his head. ¡°They¡¯re usually the ones who bring guests back. We¡¯ve been here almost a week, but haven¡¯t had anyone over for days. ¡°So if you didn¡¯t call us,¡± She started, ¡°and there¡¯s no emergency, why are you dormant? The intimidating woman asked.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°I¡¯m not sure what you¡¯re talking about.¡± Daniel raised his eyebrows. The stern looking woman looked like she was about to answer him, then she stopped herself and turned to her associates. ¡°We¡¯re done here. I¡¯ll meet you outside.¡± She said dismissively. After the rest of her group obediently filed out and closed the door, she turned to Daniel, Ren¨¦e, and Farrah. ¡°May I have a look around?¡± she asked waving around the cabin, ¡°Specifically where Michael and Lindsay slept last night?¡± ¡°I¡­guess?¡± Farrah said. She led the way upstairs to the sleeping loft. Pointing at the two bunks pushed together, ¡°That¡¯s where Michael and Lindsay usually sleep.¡± The woman knelt down and peeled back the sheets. She touched the pillow and rubbing her fingers together, ¡°Do you know for sure if they came home last night or not?¡± ¡°Not for sure, we thought we heard them and their stuff is here, but no one actually saw them.¡± Farrah responded. "And you all slept here in the same area?¡± She didn¡¯t bother looking at any of them, as she continued her search of Michael and Lindsay''s beds, ¡°Have you felt sick this morning?" She asked. ¡°Soreness? Like a hangover?¡± ¡°Yes, we all sleep here.¡± Farrah exchanged looks with Renee and Daniel, ¡°And yes we¡¯ve been a bit run down this morning.¡± The woman frowned and started back downstairs, the group of friends followed. ¡°Without being indelicate...¡± she started, before pausing and looking at each of them in turn, ¡°Can I assume that none of you are what is referred to as one-percenters? None of you are worth hundreds of millions of dollars?" She looked at them each of them intently. Daniel, Ren¨¦, and Farrah exchanged puzzled looks. ¡°Not Michael or Lindsay either?¡± the woman probed. ¡°Well, I guess my family might be worth a few million dollars.¡± Farrah said. ¡°But not hundreds of millions.¡± Daniel and Ren¨¦ just shook their heads. "We don''t know those sorts of details about Michael¡¯s or Lindsay¡¯s finances, but certainly nothing like that, unless they were hiding it." Daniel answered. "Well then, this presents a puzzle,¡± the woman pondered. ¡°because you''re all presenting as dormant, but you don''t seem to have any knowledge of it. This shouldn''t be possible." It almost seemed she was talking to herself. ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Farrah asked. The woman¡¯s gaze focused on Farrah, as she stood and extended her hand. "My name is Victoria Thompson.¡± She shook each of their hands in turn, ¡°I represent a biotechnology firm, and for some reason it seems one of our products is inside you.¡± She stepped back to regard the group, ¡°All of you.¡± She opened her arms as if including them, ¡°That shouldn''t be possible." Her hands returned to her sides. Daniel, Ren¨¦e, and Farrah exchanged shocked looks. ¡°What do you mean¡­ Inside us? Do you mean we¡¯ve been infected with something?¡± Renee asked, panic registering in her voice. "I wouldn''t say exactly infected.¡± Victoria Thompson said in a calming tone. ¡°But then this shouldn¡¯t be possible at all." ¡°Well then what would you say?¡± Farrah asked. ¡°Does this have anything to do with where Michael and Lindsay are?¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid that Michael and Lindsay may no longer be with us.¡± ¡°Wait what you mean ¡®No longer with us.¡¯ ?¡± Farrah demanded. ¡°Are you saying this thing killed them? Where are they?¡± ¡°If you say they came home last night, and they aren¡¯t here now, based on what I found in their beds, I have to assume that they are dead.¡± Victoria Thompson said coolly, as if this sort of thing happened every day. ¡°Then where are their bodies?¡± Fair asked exasperated. ¡°That¡¯s why I have to assume that they are dead. Because of this¡­¡± She said holding up her fingers and showing them the dusty residue she had been rubbing. ¡°But wait, are you saying, that that is¡­¡± Farrah pointed, ¡°is them?¡± she shuddered. She saw the panic in her other two friends, ¡°That their bodies are dust? What are you saying? That they were vampires? Do we look stupid?" She was straining to keep her emotions under control. ¡°No, not vampires. That would be silly.¡± Victoria Thompson dismissed, ¡°I''m not sure how to explain this, but it looks like they came into contact with one of our products last night, and it killed them. Then consumed their bodies.¡± She said matter-of-fact, ¡°The big question now is why is it in you three, and why are you still alive?" The three of them held up their hands, examining them, staring at them in horror. "You mean... That''s inside us? The thing that killed them and ate them is inside us?" Renee said in almost a whisper. "I don''t know any other explanation at this point.¡± She shrugged, ¡°I''ve been working with this product for decades, so without further testing that is my hypothesis." ¡°But, but what is this¡­ Thing?¡± Farrah demanded. ¡°This is a cutting edge nanotechnology. It¡¯s in the experimental stages and usually under heavy security.¡± ¡°So how did it get to a beach hut in New Zealand?¡± Ren¨¦e blurted. "Do you recall the satellite that crashed yesterday?¡± Victoria Thompson asked, ¡°It was one of our testing facilities.¡± She continued after the friends all nodded, ¡°It should have burned up in the atmosphere taking the nanotechnology with it. At this point I''m guessing your friends came into contact with a piece of wreckage that had some of the nanotech and it killed them. Apparently you are the only ones it came into contact with after that, and it is currently active in your systems." "If this is true... Why are you telling us this?¡± Daniel chimed in, ¡°Shouldn''t guys in black suits be bundling us off to secret test sites or erasing our memories? Or just killing us?" "Well yes, those things have happened in the past.¡± Victoria Thompson confirmed matter-of-factly, ¡°However this is a unique situation. I need to know why you''re still alive. It''s my responsibility to understand what is going on. I would prefer your willing help,¡± she paused, ¡°but I will take your unwilling help if necessary." ¡°And if we¡¯re unwilling?¡± Ren¨¦ asked slowly. "Tourists suffer tragic accidents on vacation every day." Something about her stoic demeanour worried the friends. The three of them stared at each other and at her. ¡°So¡­¡± Farah started. ¡°What does our willing assistance look like?¡± ¡°I would like to monitor your conditions and try to determine why the nanotechnology has not killed you¡­ Yet. I would also like to know how it is affecting you and any further developments that you encounter.¡± ¡°So, this is something that really could kill us, as in make our bodies disappear like Michael and Lindsay?¡± Farah established. "Unfortunately so.¡± Victoria Thompson continued, ¡°The nanotech is designed to prolong life and increase resistance to disease. It''s also designed to provide physical enhancements and other advantages. However it needs to be tailored to specific individuals, or so we thought. That''s why it should have killed you.¡± She half laughed, an action that unnerved the friends, ¡°The nanotech inside you is generic. It hasn''t been tailored to your DNA. In the past, that has always resulted in the death of the host.¡± She shrugged, ¡°I need to understand why you are different. It could change the research in ways we haven''t foreseen." ¡°You mean¡­¡± Daniel started. ¡°This could cure my diabetes?¡± ¡°You¡¯re diabetic?¡± Victoria Thompson asked. She turned to the others ¡°Are either of you diabetic?¡± ¡°No, but I have endometriosis.¡± Ren¨¦e said. "Stage IV cancer. Brain and bone." Farrah said quietly. "This vacation was going to be my last." Renee gasped, covering her mouth. ¡°When were you going to tell us?¡± Daniel asked, putting a consoling arm around Renee. Farrah shook her head and sighed, ¡°I didn¡¯t want you to worry. I didn¡¯t think it would be fair to take away any fun from you guys.¡± She avoided eye contact with her friends, ¡°It¡¯s not important.¡± ¡°What do you mean, not important?¡± Renee frowned. Victoria Thompson cleared her throat, ¡°I realize this is a difficult time for you all, but can we please stay on track? Those suits outside will be starting to wonder what is going on, if I don¡¯t wrap this up in a timely fashion.¡± The friends all nodded and fell silent, ¡°Were Michael or Lindsay ill or sick?¡± ¡°Nope. They kind of lucked out. They didn¡¯t even have allergies.¡± Daniel answered. ¡°Your conditions may just be what saved you.¡± She stared at them intently. Her eyes seemed to sparkle as she fixed on each of them in turn. She held up her hands as if she was scanning their aura like a faith healer. The three exchanged puzzled looks as she stood and moved around them seeming to examine them, without touching them. "Did you want me to get my bag?" Farah asked, referring to her medical bag. "Thank you, but no." Thompson answered. "This is far more advanced than anything you''ve encountered." After a few moments she returned to standing in front of them. "Well, I can tell that the nanotech is not killing you... Yet.¡± Farrah didn¡¯t like she kept using, yet. ¡°It seems to be focused on your respective conditions. I''ve also turned the system from active to passive so you should no longer show up on our scanners unless you wish to.¡± She stopped talking, seeming to be thinking to herself for a moment. ¡°I need to tell you something. You are in a very dangerous position. I would like to continue helping you, and yes studying you,¡± she said reading the disbelief on Farrah¡¯s face, ¡°but it is prohibited by the organization I represent for people outside the organization to know about, let alone utilize, our technology. There are people who will hunt you down and kill you if they know you have our technology.¡± She emphasised again, ¡°However if you agree to work with me, I can train you how to use it and hopefully learn more about how it is interacting with you." "But, if this cures us... Won''t the nanotech then kill us? Kind of like chemotherapy killing good cells as fast as it kills the bad cells?" Farrah asked. ¡°Under normal circumstances yes, however I have put a command in your systems that will put the nanotech to sleep if it shifts from attacking your condition to attacking healthy cells in your body. That¡¯s the best I can do for now. However, when the alternative is death, I think a chance is better than nothing.¡± Thompson offered. "How can you teach us? I assume those guys outside are going to wonder what''s going on, and aren''t exactly the patient sorts.¡± "I''ve uploaded the basic tutorial programming into your core system. Until you''ve finished the tutorial programming your system will not be able to go active and¡± she held up her hands, indicating for Farrah to wait until she was done talking before questions, ¡°at that point all it will do is alert me. Depending on how long that takes hopefully I will have new ideas about how to proceed. Then we can decide what steps to take. " ¡°How long does the tutorial normally take?¡± ¡°It varies but I expect you will take longer than most because you lack any of the preparatory training.¡± She mused. ¡°I expect it will take you approximately a week to become familiar with the systems and how they interact with you. You will be able to communicate with each other over a distance of about ten meters, but I suggest limiting that to times when you know you are alone or in emergencies. The transmissions may be detectable over short distances so don¡¯t take any chances.¡± "What about Michael and Lindsay? How do we explain¡­without bodies..." Farrah asked. "What about that dust? Is that... Is that them?" She willed herself not to act squeamish. "You said they¡¯re used to disappearing for days at a time?¡± Thompson confirmed, ¡°I suggest that you all agree they didn''t come home last night and you haven''t seen them. If they don''t turn up by the time your vacation is over, I suggest you make a police report then. That would be the natural thing to do, would it not?¡± she waited for the friends to nod, agreeing with her, ¡°As far as the dust, no it''s not them. They are completely gone and I''ve absorbed the remaining nanobots. There''s nothing left of them." ¡°That¡¯s shitty.¡± Daniel said. ¡°They may have been jerks sometimes, but they deserve better than that.¡± "My new friend, in time you will discover people rarely get what they deserve.¡± Daniel wasn¡¯t sure if she was saying this as a poor attempt to sound sympathetic, or to just move the conversation along. ¡°In the meantime, I suggest you carry on as normally as possible. Study your tutorials privately. When you have all completed them, and are within range of the Internet, your systems will automatically send me an alert and I will be in touch." "That''s it? Carry on as normal, do your homework, eat our vitamins? How do we know we won''t die in the middle of the night? How do we know those guys outside come back for us?" Farrah asked frustrated. "At this point, all I can offer is possibilities. Based on my scans you should be safe for at least a few months. In the meantime I will do what I can to find out more information. As for the people outside, they go where they¡¯re ordered. Once we leave here they''ll have no reason to come back. I''m the one who decides where they go and why and I now have a vested interest in your continued survival." Thompson said as if this was enough to squelch all of their fears. ¡°When you want to start your training, simply say ¡®System Tutorial¡¯. If the system is ready, it will activate. If nothing happens it means your system has not yet integrated with the host, that¡¯s you. Try it periodically until it activates. Once it does so, follow the instructions. I have attempted to ensure you can¡¯t unintentionally damage yourselves, but humans are inventive enough that you must take responsibility for your own actions.¡± Thompson turned and headed to the door, where she paused and looked at each of them in turn before opening it, and without another word she left as they watched in silence. Chapter Three Each of them looked at each other. Ren¨¦e was the first to speak. "Do we believe anything she just said?" She slumped into a chair. Daniel and Farah exchanged glances, joining Renee, "I don''t know." Farah said. "But I think we had at least best play along for now. If this technology really does work we''ll know soon enough." She shrugged. Daniel nodded. "System tutorial." He said. "System. Tutorial." He repeated, over-emphasising his words. "Nothing yet, but who knows, maybe it''s just to keep us quiet for now." ¡°System. Tutorial.¡± Ren¨¦e said. She shook her head, ¡°nothing, and I feel kind of silly.¡± "I think I need a drink." Farrah said, over-emphasising as the others had with their attempts. "At this time of the morn..." Daniel started. "Ah hell I''ll have one too." "I need a shower.¡± Ren¨¦e said, getting up from the couch to head for the shower the second time of the morning. *** ¡°Dr. Thompson?¡± Damien asked from the front seat. ¡°Yes Damien?¡± Dr. Thompson answered from the rear seat. ¡°Why did we come here? I thought a client was in trouble.¡± ¡°It appears the breach from last night¡¯s re-entry came into contact with two of the people who were staying in that cabin. By all appearances it seems to have killed the two individuals and gone dormant. Somehow¡­. Anyways, that¡¯s what triggered our sensors. Unfortunately the death radiation is interfering with our sensors, so I¡¯m not sure how much data we will be able to recover. This is the first time I¡¯m aware of that untailored nanotech escaped into the wild. I really wish we had been able to capture more data, but it¡¯s more important that the situation be contained.¡± what is she doing, body language ¡°Were the other three contaminated? Do we need to establish surveillance?¡± Damien asked. ¡°No, that won¡¯t be necessary.¡± she paused, as if considering her words. ¡°I wasn¡¯t able to detect any transference. It appears that the nanotech wasn¡¯t able to survive after consuming the bodies of the two it came into contact with. Basically it went into a sort of panic mode as they died, and that¡¯s what triggered the signal. It didn¡¯t have any programming beyond the basic core systems. All it knew how to do was cry for help, so that¡¯s what it did. When no help came it enacted terminal protocols. In many respects we¡¯re fortunate it didn¡¯t transfer to the other three.¡± ¡°Were you able to tell if there were any other nanites present?¡± ¡°I was able to determine there were no active nanotech present during our visit, and I sent several termination pulses. At this range it should have killed off anything that wasn¡¯t in a host. That said, everyone who was inside should get checked when we get back to base. Just to be sure that I didn¡¯t do any unintentional damage.¡±, she said dryly. Damien cocked an eyebrow, ¡°You can do that?¡± ¡°Yes, the office of Director of Biotech comes with certain¡­requirements.¡±If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°I see.¡± ¡°You¡¯re wondering if the tactical units shouldn¡¯t have this ability?¡± She asked knowingly. ¡°Yes, yes I am. I thought this was something that required a dedicated facility or at least a vehicle size power source.¡± ¡°Normally it does. However I don¡¯t have any of the tactical enhancements that you or your people do, so I can afford to dedicate more resources to diagnostic and intervention capabilities. You can¡¯t have it all, Damien.¡± Victoria said absently, ¡°Not even you.¡± Damien nodded thoughtfully. ¡°I know that look, Damien.¡± she raised an eyebrow, ¡°If you have any ideas, run them by me. If there¡¯s any way to squeeze more out of the system we¡¯re always open to new ideas, as long as they fit within design parameters and power/resource supplies. ¡° ¡°I just might do that, Doctor.¡±Damien said looking out the window, his thoughts miles away. *** The rest of the day passed quietly. Every time one of them started to say something, they paused and let the moment pass. By the time the sun set they had run out of idle things to do and were sitting on the deck watching the shadows lengthen. ¡°System. Tutorial.¡± Daniel muttered. ¡°Holy crap!¡± He leapt up, knocking over his beer. ¡°What? What happened?¡± Ren¨¦e and Farrah asked. Daniel was pawing at the air in front of him. Then he started tapping it like a tablet. ¡°Do you see something? Did something happen?¡±, Ren¨¦ asked. ¡°There¡¯s something. Something here.¡± Daniel said. ¡°It¡¯s like a pop-up or drop-down. It says System Tutorial. My hand keeps going through it.¡± He continued in vain trying to touch it. ¡°Let me try.¡± Ren¨¦e said, jumping up to join him. ¡°System. Tutorial.¡± Daniel looked at her questioningly. ¡°Nope, nothing yet." Ren¨¦e said, sitting back down. "But there is something else, something different. Today there hasn''t been as much pain as usual. It''s like... It''s kind of like... oh I don''t remember the last time it didn''t hurt." Both of them turned to Farah, questioning looks on their faces. She looked up at them. ¡°What?" She said. ¡°Ok fine then. System. Tutorial." Her eyes widened. She reached out tentatively. Her fingers seemed to brush something that wasn''t there. "Holy crap. There''s something here. I can''t quite touch it. But there''s really something here." Daniel and Farrah turned to Ren¨¦. She shrugged. ¡°I guess everyone is different. I¡¯ll keep trying. Tell me what you see at least?¡± Farrah waved at Daniel. He shrugged and pawed at the air again. "It doesn''t seem to be reacting yet. System. Tutorial." He paused, "Go go gadget system tutorial." He paused again. "System tutorial powers activate!" He shook his head. "At least you aren''t missing much." He picked up his empty beer and headed inside to get another. Ren¨¦ followed him inside. "Damn, I''m hungry. I don''t remember the last time I was this hungry." She said heading for the kitchen. Daniel looked at her oddly, "Now that you mention it, for the number of beers I''ve had today I haven''t been eating much, and I don''t even have a buzz. It¡¯s like something is burning through the booze before it gets to me." Renee stopped, turning back to the front of the cabin, "Farrah!" Ren¨¦ hollered out the door. "You want some food?" ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll be right in.¡± Ren¨¦e started to root around in the fridge while Daniel opened the cupboards. Pretty soon they had found enough to make nachos and had them heating in the oven. "Okay, so you two have something, I have a lot less pain than usual, then we¡¯re hungry as all heck, I guess that means this might be real." Ren¨¦e said. "Kind of surreal.¡± She pondered, ¡°Michael and Lindsay are just... Gone. Now we have to trust someone who looks at us like guinea pigs, and we might drop dead tomorrow." ¡°Well, if I stop taking insulin that¡¯s going to happen soon enough anyways.¡± Daniel said. ¡°Fair enough.¡± Ren¨¦e said. ¡±Speaking of which, what does your bionic widget say? Has all this stress changed your levels?¡± "I haven''t had a single alert all day. Not one.¡± Daniel realized, ¡°I think it''s the first day I can remember my levels have been this stable." "Well," Farrah said. "We have mostly been hanging around here all day. None of us have been stressing ourselves physically." "I don''t know, I don''t even know what to think." "You two can keep an eye on dinner, and I''m going see what''s on TV. All this quiet is getting me down." Farrah said, heading for the couch. Farrah started flipping channels on the TV. Several of them covered the splashdown of the Chinese space station. Alerts told people to avoid any wreckage found washed up on beaches and to call the New Zealand Space Agency if they found anything. Radiation hazards were cited, and people were warned to stay away. ¡°Yeah sure, radiation hazards.¡± Farrah muttered under her breath. ¡°Dinner time!¡± Ren¨¦e announced as she brought a platter of nachos over to the dining room table. ¡°What you got there? Anything interesting?¡± ¡°Just the official version of the satellite crash. Makes you wonder how much of the official news has another side after that visit today.¡± Ren¨¦e shook her head as she dug into the nachos. ¡°Save it for later. I¡¯ve had enough for today.¡± Daniel and Farrah nodded in agreement. Farrah switched to a movie. Chapter Four Victoria sat back wondering how it had come to this. ¡­she sat at her desk, ankles crossed, feet up on the desk, a scotch in one hand. It was her only vice, Victoria was a well run machine. Her work was everything to her, even more so than her own daughter. She had hoped She watched the darkening city skyline out of her floor to ceiling windows that lined her office. The view was one of the reasons she insisted on her office being the corner, being above the city below made her feel powerful, in control. The Tiangong-1 re-eentry was supposed to be smooth. It wasn¡¯t supposed to result in the nanotechnology escaping and affecting civilians. It especially wasn¡¯t supposed to result in live Civilians. This variance was outside anything they had predicted. Non-tailored nanotech should have killed all of them within hours. Could their illnesses have really been the determining factor? She cursed herself for forgetting to ask if any of them were related. There were obvious ethnic differences but Sibling relationships weren¡¯t always apparent at first glance. Her field scans were running on the disposable laptop. All the data from every field mission was always sandboxed and run through disposable laptops before being entered into the core system. No one had noticed when she picked up an extra. The data so far was fascinating. The nanobots were attacking the cancer cells and eating away at the endometriosis lesions. There were even signs that the nanotechnology was repairing the pancreas. It had only happened previously with tailored nanotech. For un-tailored nanotech to be performing this way was unheard of. She wished she had been able to get samples of the two dead civilians. Unfortunately all she had was partial records from the nanobots that remained before she terminated and absorbed them. Finishing her drink, Victoria called up her displays. While she had to manually interface with the laptop until the data was cleared, she could still use her nanotech to interface with the rest of her systems. She started cross-referencing the information on the five civilians from the resort their flight itineraries and expanded from there. Shortly she had compiled profiles of each of them then started working on medical backgrounds. The three she had talked with were correct in that the other two didn¡¯t appear to have any medical conditions or family histories of hereditary medical problems. They had lucked out¡­ Until they stumbled across something straight out of their nightmares. The Tiangong-1 facility had been far larger and more complex than most people realized. Most of the media reported a 7 to 10 ton module when in reality there were multiple modules that size and the entire facility was comparable to the old Skylab complex. That was one of the reasons for a mid-day, mid-ocean splashdown. It limited the visibility to onlookers. Fortunately most of the compromised parts of the facility burned up in the atmosphere, however at least one of the critical experimental modules passed over New Zealand. Her biotech retrieval teams had found most of the components but at least one of them had been tampered with. She hoped that they had found the only people it had come in contact with it. Otherwise New Zealand was likely to have several more missing persons over the next day or so.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. They had already sent out the disabling pulse that would render any surviving nanotech inert. If any of it happened to be inside a living person and shielded from the pulse it might cause the host some health issues, but that was preferable to the secrets getting out. How she proceeded from this point would be determined in part by how these three variances responded to the system. She would try to keep them as isolated as possible until they understood how to use the nanotechnology. However she needed to be prepared for them to be discovered before they were ready. Damien certainly wouldn¡¯t approve of her little side project. He was very black and white that one, heavily weighted towards the black. If he knew what she was doing, those three would be dead and disappeared within hours. Fortunately her position protected her from repercussions, but those protections did not extend beyond her person or her position. *** Farrah looked over at Daniel, with only the moonlight through the open curtains, who seemed to have woken up at her noise. "Still alive I see?" She asked. Daniel held his hands up in front of his face looking at the front and back. "Looks like it." He hesitated, "System. Tutorial." What appeared to be a computer/video game screen materialized in front of his face. It said, unsurprisingly, [System Tutorial]. He reached out to tap it like a tablet screen, and it blinked at him. [Integration data unavailable. Do you wish to continue?] [Y/N] He looked over at Farah, who was watching him with a puzzled expression. ¡°It¡¯s asking me to do stuff. Have you seen any of this?¡± Farah shook her head. ¡°System. Tutorial.¡± The system tutorial screen appeared in front of Farrah. She tapped it and the integration data unavailable screen appeared. ¡°I think we should wake up Ren¨¦ before we go any further. We should do this together.¡± Farrah leaned over to Ren¨¦e¡¯s bed and shook her. Ren¨¦e woke with a start and saw both of them watching her. ¡°You know, you guys are creeping me out. Watching me sleep like that¡­it¡¯s not cool.¡± Ren¨¦e said. ¡°We weren''t watching you. We were waking you up,¡± Farrah reassured her, ¡°The system thing, it seems to be working for us now. We thought we should do it together." Farrah said. "That''s what you say now. I believe you. Thousands wouldn''t. But I believe you." Ren¨¦ shot back sarcastically, eyeing her friends. "Okay, here goes. System. Tutorial." She said. Her eyes widened as the system tutorial screen appeared in front of her. "So this is what it looks like." She tapped the system screen. "Now what?" "We don''t know.¡± Daniel said, ¡°This is as far as we made it. We figured we should do this together." ¡°Any guesses as to what ¡®integration data¡¯ is?¡± Ren¨¦ asked. ¡°Well, since this is supposed to be part of some great procedure, I guess that¡¯s all provided to people who are doing this properly. Since we don¡¯t have it we either continue or we don¡¯t.¡± Daniel shrugged. ¡°Here goes nothing.¡± Farrah said as she stabbed forward with her finger. ¡°Wait!¡± Daniel yelped, reaching towards her. ¡°Too late.¡± Farrah said. Ren¨¦ and Daniel waited, staring intently at Farrah. ¡°Well, you might as well hit yes.¡± She said. They did so and saw a new screen pop up. [Analyzing.] ¡°Sort of anti-climatic, don¡¯t you think?¡± Farrah asked rhetorically. Chapter Five [Analysis complete.] [System in standby mode.] [Proceed with tutorial?] [Y/N?] Each of them looked at the other and shrugged they all tapped their screens. [Abrasax System tutorial] [Limited access web network detected. Two nodes detected.] [Connect with nodes?] [Y/N?] More shrugs and more taps. ¡°Hey I can see¡­¡± They all started to say at once before realizing they were all saying the same thing. [Node connection.] [Node connection.] ¡°Abrasax¡­? What the hell is that?¡± Ren¨¦e wondered. ¡°I think it was one of the old gods.¡± Farrah answered. ¡°That¡¯s an odd piece of trivia¡­the more you know!¡± Renee mused. ¡°Either one of my history electives, or one of our RPG games, or maybe that nerd I dated who was into ancient aliens?¡± she speculated with a shrug. ¡°Okay, I can see something that shows me we¡¯re connected. I hope no one else can see it like Thompson said." Daniel said a bit apprehensively. ¡°Well, she said only to use it in emergencies, or if we were sure no one else was around.¡± Ren¨¦e said. ¡°Let¡¯s just remember to shut it down later.¡± Daniel cautioned. ¡°Well, let¡¯s see how space-age this thing is.¡± Ren¨¦e said. ¡°System.¡± She said, as if she were talking to a fourth person in the room.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. [Abrasax system tutorial] Ren¨¦ tapped the hovering icon. Branches spread out from the icon like spokes from a wheel. Each spoke led to a new icon with different labels. Some of the icons were greyed out, while others had different colours. [System] [Physical] [Mental] [Offensive] [Defense] [Communication] [Health] [System upgrades] As Ren¨¦ hovered her fingers over each of the new icons she could see additional spokes branching out from each of them in turn. The display seemed to shift so that the icon she was selecting was always in the centre. Daniel and Farrah each turned to their displays and started exploring. ¡°Should we be taking notes?¡± Farrah asked. ¡°I¡¯m not sure that¡¯s a good idea.¡± Daniel said. ¡°Until we have a better grasp of things, I don¡¯t think having any records would be a good idea. At least not for now.¡± Ren¨¦e nodded as she was scrolling through her selections. She tapped on the [Health] Button. The health button expanded to show additional spokes leading to more icons. [Baseline] [Vitals] [Assess] [Target] [Enhancements] [Augmentations] [History] She tapped the [Baseline] icon and additional icons appeared. [Assessment] [Assess and replace] [Import] [Integrate] She tapped the [Assessment] icon. A new icon popped up. [Analyzing] She looked over at Daniel and Farrah, but they seemed to have the same look of engrossed confusion that she assumed was on her face. It was odd, watching them track things that she couldn¡¯t see and tap the air like an invisible tablet. "Anything interesting?" She asked. "I''m freaking out a little bit over here, if I''m reading some of these things right." Farrah said. "Offensive and defensive capabilities? What do these mean?" "Well, let''s find out." Daniel said enthusiastically, rubbing his hands together. ¡°Do we have to keep waving our hands around like this?¡± Renne asked. ¡°I can¡¯t imagine the people this was designed for being willing or able to walk around looking like they were swatting bugs all the time. There must be an alternative.¡± ¡°Good point.¡± Farrah said. ¡°System.¡± [Abrasax] ¡°Can the system accept inputs without us tapping the AR icons?¡± [Abrasax system accepts physical, voice, and ocular input cues.] ¡°Ocular?¡± What¡¯s that¡± [Focusing on the desired option selects it.] Ren¨¦e¡¯s display started flashing. The [Assessment] icon was flashing green. She stared at it. [Assessment complete] ¡°Whoa, it works.¡± she said. Two additional options appeared below it. [Full assessment] [Deviation summary] Renee swallowed and tapped [deviation summary]. A larger screen appeared full of text. Quickly scanning the text she realized it was a summary of her medical history. At least the things that the doctors had told her were wrong with her. Her endometriosis, her allergy to penicillin, her broken arm from elementary school, and even her appendix being removed. She sat back, overwhelmed with the idea that she now possessed nanotechnology that was more effective at assessing her health than all the doctors she¡¯d ever met. It had taken her over five years for them to discover her endometriosis, but these nanobots had discovered it in seconds. They spent the next several hours tapping and swiping through various icons exploring the system as best they could. They agreed not to select anything that appeared to take an action but only to search for information. Chapter Six They watched the shadows lengthen out onto the beach as the sun set behind them. It had been a long day, alternating between stretches of silence and bouts of enthusiastic chatter. ¡°If I believed in God, I¡¯m not sure if this would be God¡¯s work, or the Devil¡¯s.¡± Ren¨¦e said resigned. ¡°All my family always has, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s either.¡± Farrah responded. ¡°This is good old-fashioned arrogant man not stopping to ask whether or not they should do something.¡± "After reading through all that, I''m even more curious as to why they left us alive." Daniel said. "We must represent something particularly valuable to this Victoria Thompson person." The other two looked at him apprehensively. ¡°Did you read the difference between active and passive effects?¡± Daniel asked. The other two shook their heads. ¡°Tell your system to screen for passive effects.¡± ¡°Screen for passive effects.¡± they both chimed in. [Passive effects] Both of them reached out and tapped their displays. [Vision] [Hearing] [Smell] [Taste] [Touch] [Dermal] [Skeletal] [Structural] [Weapons] The list appeared to scroll off the bottom of the display.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Tap Vision.¡± Daniel suggested. They tapped their displays again. [Baseline vision correction] [Heads up display] [Flash suppressant] ¡°What the¡­¡± Farrah trailed off. ¡°Try baseline vision correction.¡± Daniel suggested, looking at Farrah. ¡°You may never need contacts again.¡± Farrah looked at both of them questioningly. They could see the uncertainty in her eyes, but there was a mixture of disbelief and hope on her face. ¡°Well, when you¡¯re dying of brain and bone cancer, I guess being eaten by nanobots isn¡¯t the worst thing that could happen.¡± Farrah shrugged. She tapped the icon. [Baseline vision correction estimated time until completion six hours] [Proceed?] [Y/N?] ¡°It says it should take six hours. Here goes nothing.¡± Farrah said. Before the others could say anything, she tapped the icon. ¡°So that¡¯s it?¡± Ren¨¦e asked. ¡°We pick a thing, and it fixes us, and that¡¯s¡­ It?¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m sure there are some downsides in here somewhere. We just need to find them before they hurt us, or¡­ Kill us.¡± Daniel said. On a hunch, Farrah brought up the vision option again. ¡°System. Display effects of baseline vision correction. Display negative consequences. Display costs.¡± Several new screens appeared. Farrah read them off as they appeared. [Effects of procedure ¨C correct vision to 20/20] [Chance of procedure error 5%] [Procedure error may result in less than optimal results.] [Procedure costs 4000 kcal ¨C suggest offsets through calorie intake. Failure to offset costs may result in muscle or organ damage.] ¡°Well holy crap! I guess we know some of the costs now. Next time we find out before we start procedures. I don¡¯t want to wake up in the morning missing vital organs.¡± Farrah said. ¡°I¡¯m finishing the nachos and anything else I can find. Four THOUSAND?!?¡± ¡°System. Display cost for vision effects Heads Up Display.¡± Daniel said. [Heads up display - Level 1 ¨C 12 hours. 120,000 cal.] ¡°Well that answers that question. You can have some cool stuff, but there are certainly prices to pay and eating constantly seems to be one of them.¡± Daniel chuckled without humour. ¡°I wonder if this Victoria Thompson person knows of shortcuts, or if there are official or technological ways to enhance the process? Either that or we¡¯re going to be eating a lot of high density protein powder over the next few days.¡± ¡°Wait a second.¡± Ren¨¦e said. ¡°System. Display effects of Heads Up Display without installing system.¡± [Display Heads Up Display simulation?] [Y/N?] Ren¨¦ tapped yes. Her displays were suddenly replaced by something out of a video game. There were health bars and lists of skills, with a map centered on the display showing figures moving around. It was obviously not the room they were in, but it showed her what sort of information could be available. ¡°System. Display costs of correcting deviations summary.¡± Ren¨¦e said quietly. [Deviation summary ¨C cost of full correction ¨C 12 hours. 500,000 cal.] ¡°I¡­ You mean¡­ If I eat my face off for a day I can be¡­ Cured? After all this time?¡± Ren¨¦e said softly. [Question not understood.] ¡°I bet you don¡¯t.¡± Ren¨¦e said. ¡°What are you thinking?¡± Daniel said. ¡°In 12 hours. I could be cured in 12 hours. All I have to do is tell¡­ This¡­¡± She gestured to her screen, then her body, realizing the nanobots were inside her, not in front of her. ¡°¡­Thing to cure me and eat like my life depends on it, and I could be cured. No more pain. No more drugs.¡± Ren¨¦e said softly. ¡°System. Display alternative payment methods .¡± Daniel said. [Procedure costs can be met by nanotech infusions. Procedure time frames can be accelerated by use of Abraxas facilities.] "So it looks like we''re stuck with old and slow." Daniel said. "I guess if Thompson comes back we can ask her about the other options." Suddenly Daniel stood up, "I have some thoughts, but I''m going to go for a run and see how things look when I get back. Don''t do anything risky until then." "Sure okay, see you when you get back, remember to eat, to make up the calories." The other two chorused as he pulled on his shoes and headed out the door. Chapter Seven Late the next morning the three of them roused from deep sleep. Daniel had not gotten back by the time the girls went to bed, last night, but they heard him come in later. By the time the girls were up and showered, Daniel had breakfast on and was making enough to feed a proverbial army, with coffee. "Good call on that." Ren¨¦e said, she pointed to the pile of food accumulating on the table. "Somehow I see us eating more than we planned on." She sat down and pulled a plate towards her, loading it up with the options the table was laden in. "Have you looked at your system this morning?" Daniel asked, setting a plate of pancakes down. ¡°Not yet.¡± Ren¨¦e said. ¡°I figured anything could wait till after food.¡± ¡°I discovered that we can send each other messages, so I left you notes for some information I found last night while I was running. But it looks like the web connection thing shut down after about an hour of inactivity.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll check them out.¡± Ren¨¦e said, her words muffled by the pancakes she was shoving in her mouth. ¡°Is this for real?¡± Farrah asked from upstairs. ¡°Can we really do all these things, Daniel?¡±Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ¡°I think so. It¡¯ll take time. But if we have help from Thompson figuring out what¡¯s going on and hopefully how to use these systems¡­¡± "Did you really get stronger last night?" Farrah asked coming down the stairs. ¡°Well, it didn¡¯t feel different from any other work out. But I did the baseline assessment before I left, and the system says there were minor gains. But what was really noticeable, was that I ran for an hour longer than normal, without really feeling it. Whatever this stuff is inside us, it¡¯s giving us boosts, enhancements, but we will have to track and see what the costs are. I don¡¯t want to go for a run and find out that it¡¯s eaten away my liver.¡± Ren¨¦e and Farrah laughed nervously as they turned their focus to eating. After they eaten more than their usual daily intake of calories, they started sharing notes around and catching each other up on things they had found relevant in their various searches. ¡°By the way, how are your eyes?¡± Daniel asked Farrah when they pushed back from the table. ¡°I¡¯d completely forgotten about that.¡± Farrah said. She blinked several times and waved her hand in front of her eyes. She got up and walked to the sliding glass door leading to the deck. She looked around outside before coming in and sitting with the others. ¡°I can see across the bay. Yesterday I would¡¯ve needed my glasses for that. I guess it works, if at some cost.¡± It was obvious they were still only scratching the surface of the Abrasax system. However it was also obvious from the information provided that the system seemed to be designed for the intended hosts to pick and choose certain aspects. So far it didn¡¯t seem reasonable that anyone could max out the entire system and turn into a superhuman person. The amount of resources that would take was staggering. But they still didn¡¯t know what sort of support this had, because just devising something like this was on par with the space program. Ren¨¦ had pointed out that this was ¡°kill you if anyone finds out.¡± level of conspiracy theory. The fact that it supposedly came from a Chinese satellite and Thompson implied they would be subject to ¡®accidents¡¯ if anyone find out, led support to that idea. The big question, was why she let them live. If they really were guinea pigs, then they needed to be smart capable guinea pigs that took every advantage seized every opportunity, and were ready to flee if it¡¯s keeper ever came around with bad intentions. Chapter Eight After lunch, there was a knock at the door. The three of them looked each other a mixture of fear and confusion on their faces. Daniel got up and walked to the door opening it. One of the suits from yesterday¡¯s visit was standing there expressionless. ¡°Do you remember me from yesterday?¡± He asked in a faintly English accent. "You were with the lady, yeah." Daniel said. "Other than that, not so much." "My name is Damien." The man said. "I''m following up on yesterday''s visit. May I come in?" "I''m not comfortable with that." Daniel said, barring the door. "Perhaps you should leave." "I think it''s...safer. For everyone. If I come in. Now." The man said, his voice hardening. ¡°Is that a threat?¡± ¡°Yes. It is, if I don¡¯t come in.¡± Daniel frowned, but he stepped back from the doorway to allow the man in. The man looked at Daniel intently. Daniel assumed he was scanning him. The man turned to Ren¨¦e and Farrah in turn. ¡°So your friends got into something they didn¡¯t understand? And now they¡¯ve disappeared?¡± They looked at him blankly, wondering what he was trying to get out of them. ¡°I¡¯m going to suggest that in a few days you report them missing to the police. I¡¯m going to suggest that you emphasize that this isn¡¯t the first time this has happened. I¡¯m going to suggest that you return home and tell people you think they just went off on their own vacation.¡± Damien pressed. ¡°With any luck, we¡¯ll never see each other again. Because the only luck that would bring me back around would be very bad luck for you.¡±The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Without waiting for response Damien turned and left closing the door behind him. *** "Well if that isn''t a sign we''re in so far over our heads, and we don''t know which way is up, I don''t know what is." Renee muttered, after Damien closed the door behind him. She could feel the anxiety in the pit of her stomach. "I wonder why he didn''t say anything about..." Farrah waved at them, as if the nanobots were smeared all over them like paint. "She said she had some way of turning it off to scans. Maybe she clouded his scans? I know as much as you do." Daniel answered, referring to Thompson. Farrah sighed, "Are we going to get through airport security?" "We need to do a lot more research." Daniel said scrubbing his hands over his face. ¡°System.¡± Renee said. [Abrasax System} ¡°Can the nanotechnology in our bodies be shielded from someone with similar abilities?¡± Ren¨¦e asked. [Abrasax system has many stealth and stealth like technologies. Would you like to know more?] [Y/N?] ¡°Yes. Please display all stealth and stealth like technologies and their costs both to activate and to maintain.¡± [Compiling.] Several screens opened and started to scroll information. ¡°System. Stop.¡± The flow of information stopped. ¡°Display information starting from least costly.¡± [The Abrasax system has many active and passive ways of reducing its electromagnetic signature or detectability. The system tutorial covers all of the basic and intermediate aspects.] ¡°So, I should do my homework. At least before bothering the teacher.¡± Renee said knowingly, ¡°System?¡± Ren¨¦e asked. [Abrasax system] ¡°Maintain maximum stealth until tutorials are complete. Maintain maximum stealth until explicit instructions otherwise.¡± [Abrasax maintaining maximum stealth.] ¡°System?¡± Farrah asked as a thought intruded. [Abrasax system] ¡°Can you provide an alert or notification if costs of stealth system exceed current resources?¡± [Abrasax system can provide notifications and/or alerts for any designated event or function.] ¡°Provide alerts any time stealth system is impaired or cost of any system activity exceeds available resources for any of us.¡± [Alert status upgraded.] ¡°I guess it¡¯s back to the books.¡± Daniel said. ¡°At least one of you is helping in the kitchen from now on.¡± The hours rolled by almost as quickly as the screens full of information. Chapter Nine "I''ve been thinking..." Daniel said, breaking the silence between the friends. The girls looked up at him, questioning. Daniel sat down, "How long do we stay here? I mean we''re in a foreign country with minimal resources, no friends, and questions that might need answers we can''t provide. Part of me thinks that I''d rather be sorting this out at home." "It also makes a lot more sense to not be outsiders stuck on a tiny island." Ren¨¦e offered. "Change of plans and fly home soon? How soon? Tomorrow?" Farrah asked. ¡°Will it really matter? An organization like this must have the resources to find us anywhere." Ren¨¦e said. "I just feel more comfortable knowing I can get in the car and the next day be in a different country." Daniel continued. "I guess it makes sense. It also means we don''t have to make up stories about Michael and Lindsay. They became their usual insufferable selves and we packed it in favour of a staycation." Ren¨¦e said, spinning it positively. ¡°I can¡¯t believe they¡¯re just¡­ Gone. I wonder how long it will take to set in?¡± Farrah said wonderingly. ¡°Likely about the first time we go to call them. ¡­or the first time they don¡¯t show up for game night.¡± Daniel said The three of them sat in uncomfortable silence for several minutes. ¡°Altogether, or should we fly separately?¡± Farrah asked breaking the tension. ¡°The same way we got here. I think it would look more suspicious if we suddenly left all that once when none of us arrived together.¡± Daniel said. ¡°Wait a minute. System?¡± Ren¨¦e shifted gears. [Abrasax system] ¡°System, will commercial air travel affect the system in any way? Would interfere with upgrades?¡± [Not so long as system upgrade costs continue to be met.] ¡°Well then, no upgrades that aren¡¯t finished before we leave for the planes.¡± Daniel said. ¡°System?¡± Ren¨¦ asked. [Abrasax system] ¡°Can you display surplus or deficient status of energy costs in real time?¡± Ren¨¦ asked. [Affirmative] ¡°System. Display status of energy costs in real time indicate surplus in green and deficiency in red.¡± A display flashed to life in the upper corner of Ren¨¦e¡¯s field of vision. It was green with a number 218. ¡°System? What does the number 218 mean?¡± Ren¨¦ asked. [218 represents your current surplus energy in kilo-calories. As you consume fuel it will increase, as you expend fuel it will decrease. It is currently an approximation, however it will be refined over time as the system becomes accustomed to your individual needs and behaviours.] Daniel and Farrah both instructed the system to provide the same displays for them. "At least now we¡¯ll have some indication of whether or not we''re in danger of the system eating us alive." Ren¨¦e said, with a unenthusiastic smile. ¡°I know what you meant now when you said you were on Team: Always Hungry during your training cycles.¡± Farrah said to Daniel. Daniel smirked. ¡°And on that note.¡± Daniel got up and headed to the kitchen. *** Victoria anticipated that Damien would keep the three under observation. However she didn¡¯t think that he would be so overt about it. Fortunately she knew exactly what capabilities Damien¡¯s system possessed. After all she had designed them and she never let anyone have access to something that was better than she had. It had been simple enough to mask their signatures, between the stealth capabilities inherent in the system and the clutter created by the death bloom of their two friends. Even Damien¡¯s system would have trouble penetrating the chaos of the death bloom. And it wasn¡¯t like there was a large body of information on what to expect when civilians came in contact with un-tailored nanotech.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. No doubt Damien would have surveillance in place to ensure that they got home safely, at least safely for Abrasax, if not themselves. Typically Damien would have tagged them with nano bots, however she made sure that nothing would survive in the aftermath of the death bloom. Any nanotech that he left would seem to go off-line naturally in the chaos. Only she would know that his nanites has been specifically targeted. Victoria mentally shook her head and got back to the data that was still unfolding from her visit. It seemed that the nanotech was focusing on the disease that each of these civilians happen to have, and that was holding them from moving beyond the core directives. If she hadn¡¯t found them, eventually the nanotech would¡¯ve overcome their diseases and ironically gone on to kill them. At least now, with her intervention, the nanotech would go dormant if it was able to cure their diseases before they finished the tutorial and she was back in touch. With the inability to conduct large-scale human trials, they had always been restricted in their ability to gauge the effectiveness of the untailored nanotechnology. Knowing there was a strong likelihood that the treatments would have directly killed patients raised far too many ethical questions and limited their testing. Given the cost of the testing they were further limited And now by a stroke of, what? Good luck? Bad luck? Victoria was able to conduct at least a small-scale test outside the bounds of any of her previous experiments. They had already confirmed that the untethered nanotech was lethal to healthy humans, and that chronic or terminal illness somehow extended the life of the host. However there were so many factors in play that she needed more information than she was likely to get. In the meantime it looks like the nanotechnology would slowly heal or cure the civilians of their conditions¡­Before killing them. ¡°Kevin, could you come in here please? I have a project for you.¡± Victoria said. ¡°I need you to keep an eye on someone for me.¡± *** Daniel walked through the Vancouver airport mid-afternoon, heading for the taxi stand. Part of him was still surprised he had made it this far. He kept half expecting to feel a hand on his shoulder or for someone to wave him out of line and insist on a quiet talk somewhere. He worked to kept his feelings of panic in check, he kept breathing. In fact, it had been quite the opposite. He had breezed through security and the flights had been uneventful. Nothing like coming back from the States. He hoped the girl¡¯s trip home was equally as uneventful. They had discussed several plans but in the end they all agreed that simpler was better. Daniel would fly on ahead, and the girls would come together the next day. Daniel would pick them up at the airport and they would disappear for the last week of their vacation. If anyone asked about Michael and Lindsay, they all agreed that the three of them had come home early while Michael and Lindsay decided to stay in New Zealand and possibly travel further before coming home. After they left they would have no idea what Michael and Lindsay supposedly got up to. {They tried not to think of the moral implications that this brought on? Or something?} Daniel decided to spend his time waiting for Farrah and Ren¨¦e performing low-level tests of the system. He got his bike out and headed down to the Seawall to see how long he could ride at his normal pace before becoming fatigued. Several hours later he was decidedly hungry, but nowhere near as fatigued as he should¡¯ve been. His calorie balance counter had been flashing red for the last half hour, indicating he was burning into his reserves. Time for a pit stop, he thought. He swerved around the pedestrian, who had stepped into the bike lane at the intersection. Suddenly the left side of his vision flashed red and he was thrown into the air as a car ran the red light. He hit the ground and rolled into a ball. "Danger Will Robinson." Daniel muttered, shaking his head, sitting up. "Next time, a little warning?" he asked his internal system. The system remain silent. Daniel looked back and saw the car stopped, his bike lying on the ground beside it. A small crowd had gathered and several people were approaching him to see if he was okay. The driver had stepped out of the vehicle and looked shaken. ¡°System. Assessment?¡± [Abraxas system functional. Dermal protection system prevented injury. Internal support system prevented injury. Cranial network system prevented injury. Assessments ¨C no injury.] ¡°That¡¯s a handy thing.¡± Daniel muttered to himself. He waved a bit at the onlookers, indicating he was okay. The driver walked over to him, looking a mixture of apprehension and concern. Daniel appeared to be shaking it off, but the guy looked like he knew he¡¯d run a red light. Daniel picked up his bike, and checked it over. It looked like the only damage was to the front wheel. Which was bent beyond being able to ride. ¡°Hey man, I¡¯m really sorry. I didn¡¯t see you.¡± The driver said. ¡°Can we not involve the cops? Are you okay, you look okay. If we can keep this between ourselves. I can fix your bike, whatever that costs.¡± The driver rambled on. Daniel realized the driver that had hit him was driving a Mercedes. Likely a new bike tire is not going to be an issue. Which was a sort of fortunate because Daniel didn¡¯t want to draw official attention, especially after his recent experiences. Before leaving New Zealand they had all agreed to stay as far under the radar as possible. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m pretty okay. I don¡¯t think we need to involve the police. Let¡¯s just swap ID, and I can send you the bill for the tire, if that works?¡± Relief spread over the man¡¯s face. After they sorted out the paperwork Daniel lifted his bike to his shoulder and started walking back down the trail towards his house. He was looking forward to exploring the system¡¯s reaction to being hit by a car. Chapter Ten "Is that guy eyeballing us?" Farrah asked Renee and Daniel as they waited for their luggage at baggage claim. She tried to seem like she was just looking around the airport. ¡°Do you mean, is he checking out your ass? Or do you mean is he watching us for something else?¡± Ren¨¦ asked. ¡°Despite your ass being worth checking out, he was watching me when I came in,¡± Daniel said. ¡°So I¡¯m going to lean to either he¡¯s into the group thing, or we need to get gone and hopefully lose him in the crowds.¡± ¡°We can always come back for whatever¡¯s in the checked baggage, if you think we should bail now.¡± Ren¨¦e offered. The three of them met each other¡¯s eyes in turn, and they all nodded. [System.] Abraxas system ¡°System. Can you identify the Caucasian male in blue jeans and a tan jacket on the left-hand edge of my field of vision?¡± Daniel asked. [Subject logged for further identification. Subject not on file. System will continue to track subject within limits of passive operation.] "Holy crap. Well that''s useful." Daniel said. "Okay, let''s get out of here." Daniel confirmed. "I got a rental, and it''s in short-term parking. We¡¯ll ditch it shortly and make plans from there." The girls nodded and they headed out of the terminal, grim determination on their faces. ¡°He¡¯s definitely following us,¡± Farrah confirmed, catching the guy¡¯s reflection in the glass of one of the doors they passed. They climbed into Daniel¡¯s rental. Farrah rode shotgun, and Renee hopped in the back. ¡°Let¡¯s give this a try.¡± Daniel said coolly as they exited out of the airport short term parking lot, into a wet gloomy Vancouver day. Farrah watched the mirrors for tails, as Daniel watched the road. ¡°Yup, there he is.¡± Renee sighed. ¡°He¡¯s three cars back in the right lane.¡± Daniel checked his mirrors, switching lanes, ¡°Shit. Oh well. I¡¯ve got a plan.¡± He winked at Farrah. They swerved this way and that, ¡°I don¡¯t like this!¡± Renee stated from the back seat. ¡°Why are we headed for UBC?¡± Farrah asked a few minutes later, after they turned onto SW Marine Dr. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we be getting away from him? Like to Prince George or something?¡± ¡°Trust me, I have a plan.¡± he answered. An hour later, Daniel pulled the car into the Vancouver Aquarium Parking lot. ¡°You girls have passes?¡± ¡°Seriously?¡± Farrah stared in disbelief at him. Renee piped up from the back, ¡°Oh! I do!¡± She laughed. She rummaged in her purse some more, ¡°Don¡¯t worry Farrah, I have coupons too!¡± Farrah ignored her, ¡°This is your plan?¡± She asked Daniel as they calmly walked to the gates, ¡°Sightseeing?¡± Daniel just let a smile spread across his face. They joined the queue of visitors up to the seasons pass holders desk. Daniel took the opportunity to turn around to watch their guest, pretending he was just addressing the girls. ¡°Yup right in line.¡± He confirmed. ¡°Hello and welcome to Vancouver Aquarium.¡± greeted the young kid behind the desk, ¡°My I see your passes?¡± They each put their passes up as it was scanned. Daniel noticed the man following them speaking to someone on a cell phone. At that moment the clerks phone rang. ¡°We¡¯ve got to move.¡± He rushed the girls forward, they didn¡¯t ask questions, just followed quickly, without looking back. ¡°Excuse me! Sir? Excuse me!¡± They heard the voice of the clerk calling after them. ¡°Keep moving, but calmly.¡± Daniel assured them.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Sir!¡± Staff was in front of them, and they heard the first clerk behind them. They stopped resigned, turning around ¡°You forgot your pass¡± The clerk smiled handing over Daniel¡¯s Aquarium pass. ¡°Oh. Um, thanks.¡± He smiled sheepishly, and pocketed it. ¡°Lets, um hurry to meet my mom, she¡¯s waiting.¡± They rushed on. After a few minutes, they reached an outside area of the Aquarium with high fences, ¡°Where are we going? How do you know we can get out?¡± Farrah asked trying to keep up. They went behind some bushes, reaching a low area of the fence, where they could stand onthe pump case. ¡°Remember that girl I told you about that I dated in high school, with the dolphin tattoo?¡± Renee laughed, ¡°Samantha?¡± Daniel wicked, ¡°Yup. She worked here. Snuck me in all the time.¡± He hopped the fence, and the girls followed. *** ¡°So, that was all an act?¡± Ren¨¦e said, as they headed up the Sea to Sky Highway towards Whistler. ¡°Pretty much.¡± Daniel replied. ¡°I was afraid they might wait until we got together here to do anything, so I made a plan just in case.¡± ¡°So whose truck is this?¡± Farrah asked, looking around the older Jeep Grand Cherokee stuffed with camping gear. "Do you remember Jake? That outdoorsy prepper guy?" Daniel asked, without taking his eyes from the road. The girls nodded looking at each other. ¡°I thought he lived down in Texas, or something.¡± ¡°Yeah, well, his cousin lives up here. And likes to cross-country ski. I met him during biathlon training, and that¡¯s how I got connected with Jake. I knew he had this rig kitted out for backcountry camping so I asked if I could borrow it for a week or so, and offered him some cash and let him borrow my car.¡± ¡°You let him borrow your Challenger?¡± Ren¨¦e gasped, with her eyes wide. ¡°Crap, how much trouble are we in?¡± Daniel shrugged. ¡°Better safe than sorry.¡± ¡°Well it¡¯s a good thing Enterprise picks you up. That was a neat little swap back in the park. I wonder what that guy is going to do when the Enterprise guy comes and picks up the car and takes it back to the rental place?¡± ¡°Here¡¯s hoping it takes him a long long time to figure it out. I don¡¯t think he could have seen us hop into this, especially not if he was watching the entrance, waiting for us to come out.¡± ¡°So, have you two learned anything new?¡± Daniel asked, changing the subject and tapping the icons that re-established their local private web. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll ever need to pay to have my nails done again.¡± Ren¨¦e said, holding up her hand. She flexed her fingers and showed off her nails. They were slightly longer than normal. She tapped them on the window glass. They sounded more...solid. ¡°I wanted to try something I could check, something obvious to me that no one else would notice. Apparently it can strengthen bones and teeth and¡­nails.¡± She grinned, apparently quite pleased with herself. ¡°I¡¯m sure if I spent some time I could turn them into claws.¡± ¡°I got hit by a car.¡± Daniel said casually. The two women gaped at him. ¡°Abrasax listed off a bunch of systems that apparently save me from any damage. I¡¯m still sorting out exactly what they do, but it looks like a baseline system of reinforcement that the nanotech does throughout our bodies. Kind of like wearing motorcycle gear all the time.¡± ¡°I wonder if¡­¡± Ren¨¦e said. ¡°System.¡± [Abrasax.] ¡°Can the system strengthen and reinforce our skin and tissues to make us bulletproof?¡± Ren¨¦ asked. [Abrasax systems can be reinforced to provide varying levels of protection. Increased levels of protection come with decreased levels of speed and mobility.] ¡°What about tasers?¡± Renee asked [Abrasax systems are generally resistant to electrical effects. Resistance to directed energy weapons, such as tasers, can be increased.] ¡°Crap, can you imagine a SWAT team or special forces unit with this kind of technology? They could be unstoppable.¡± Daniel said, eyebrows raised. ¡°I wonder if that¡¯s the kind of stuff that guy Damien would have been equipped with?¡± Farrah asked. ¡°Just what the world needs, another arrogant asshole, but this one¡¯s bulletproof.¡± Ren¨¦e said, sinking further into her chair. ¡°Somehow, I don¡¯t think we¡¯re going to get out of this alive using brute force.¡± Daniel said. ¡°If we are going to survive this, we¡¯re going to need to be smarter and go in directions they can¡¯t anticipate. System?¡± [Abrasax] ¡°What percentage of the tutorial have we finished at this point?¡± [Tutorial is 74% complete.] ¡°Is that for all of us?¡± Ren¨¦ asked. [Tutorial completion has been approximately equal for all three subjects.] ¡°Do any of the tutorial components involve activities that would compromise the status of stealth systems?¡± [Tutorial completion requires activities that will compromise stealth. In order to limit observability external steps must be taken to shield effects.] ¡°What do you mean ¡®external steps¡¯.¡± Ren¨¦e asked. [Completing tutorial in remote locations, in shielded buildings, or underground will limit observability.] ¡°How much space will we need to complete the tutorials?What would a shielded building be constructed of?¡± [Any open space approximately fifteen meters by ten meters by ten meters high will suffice for tutorial completion. A shielded building would be one with a metal roof and insulated walls and ceilings to prevent admission of heat and electromagnetic radiation.] ¡°So, a decent size warehouse or storage garage. Or really big cave.¡± ¡°Or someplace way away in the bush where no one is looking.¡± Farrah said thoughtfully. ¡°System. Can you tell if we are being watched by satellites or drones or whatever?¡± [Abrasax system can detect many forms of surveillance. However in passive mode, detection is far more limited than in active mode or in networked active mode. Passive mode precludes awareness of satellite patterns.] ¡°Well then, for now we¡¯re looking for a building.¡± Daniel finalized. ¡°Could you pass that bag of trail mix?¡± Chapter Eleven It was late. The sun had long since set over the desert outside the city. The only illumination the city had left was it¡¯s own man made glare. Victoria was used to these long nights. Even thrived off of them. Less hum of busy people wanting attention. Even the system was quieter. She could hear her own thoughts much clearer¡­ One of the advantages of being the boss was that no one checked up on you. This was certainly interesting, thought Victoria. Her predecessor had had markedly fewer ethical concerns about their research. That was one of the primary reasons he conducted so much of it in countries without medical oversight boards. Fewer pesky administrators poking around concerned about things like human rights. Unfortunately that had also led to serious concerns about the validity of the science. A thorough house cleaning was the reason she had been chosen. The first thing she did was close all of the existing facilities and open up a new one in her home of Australia. Far enough out of the way but easily accessed when it was important. It was also easier to attract top talent when your research was able to be at least somewhat public. If he had still been in charge no doubt he would have had the three variances under lock and key with testing cycles well under way. Whether they survived or not was secondary to how much he learned from them. While Victoria still prioritized the program, if the variances survived to the end of whatever was happening she wouldn¡¯t be adverse to their survival. Her predecessor would¡¯ve tested them until they died and continued testing their remains until nothing was left. However, the information that was coming out of her scans indicated that she wanted to keep them alive as long as possible. If this information had been available to her years ago, who knows how the program would have evolved differently. Early on they had recognized that even the advanced nanotechnology they were using had limits. Although the initial, and to a certain extent current, goals were improving health and extending life, they eventually started working on improvements. In much the same ways that plastic surgery went from helping disfigured burn victims to enhancing breast sizes, the nanotechnology eventually moved from curing diseases and forestalling aging to physical improvements. The first goal was to improve health and extend life, because with more time more things became possible. While there were still limitations on the nanotech¡¯s ability to deal with neurological deficits and aging, the physical side had been far more rewarding. The extremely wealthy were always willing to pay exorbitant amounts for extra years, especially higher-quality years. As with most medical advances, once they achieved successes in corrective therapies they moved on to improvements. Strength, endurance, and eventually tactical applications. Very few had access to the full range of Abrasax improvements, which was why these variants held such an appeal to Victoria. Even the highest level of 1% only received carefully regulated and controlled nanotechnology. Certain members of her staff had more relaxed limitations due to their need to work on the technology itself, but even they had limitations. In many respects, Damien¡¯s tactical units had both the greatest range of nanotech, but also the most severe limitations. They were able to enhance their tactical capabilities, but each of them knew that the nanotech carried suicide triggers to ensure they didn¡¯t get any untoward ideas about their place in the bigger picture. They were worker bees. Extremely well paid and rewarded worker bees, but workers nonetheless. They couldn¡¯t be allowed to act on thoughts of empire building.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. She wished she had more information on the technology that the variants have been exposed to, but without more in person contact that wasn¡¯t possible. She hoped they survived their tutorial. And subsequently escaped notice, so that she could study them further. The crew on the satellite had been working on a number of different technologies, but she had no way to gauge which ones had survived the crash. Rarely was she this frustrated with her own technology. But if she was to learn as much as she could, she would have to exercise her patience. ¡°Kevin, please come in here?¡± Victoria said, pressing the intercom button. *** After a brief stop in Whistler, they had continued north past Pemberton and up into the mountains. Up here even Google maps was vague and inaccurate sometimes. They hadn¡¯t seen signs of other people for at least a couple of hours. Once they passed the public campgrounds and headed into Crown Lands, they found a secluded spot to set up camp. ¡°System.¡± Daniel asked. [Abrasax] ¡°Can you tell if the system will be able to detect us out here in the wilderness?¡± [Unable to determine. Best practice counter surveillance indicates detection chances are minimal. Satellite surveillance unknown.] ¡°Do we start taking chances?¡± Ren¨¦ asked. ¡°We¡¯re going to have to at some point.¡± Farrah said. ¡°Part of the tutorial involves a linking up to other systems. It looks like we should be able to use the network between us, because if we have to link to the full system, somehow I think that¡¯s a bad idea.¡± Ren¨¦e said. ¡°System.¡± [Abraxas] ¡°For the system connection part of the tutorial, will interlinking between the three of us in our network meet the needs of the tutorial?¡± [Local web interconnectivity currently meets at least 94% of system tutorial requirements. The remaining 6% may require connection with Abraxas system facilities.] ¡°Crap.¡± ¡°Well, let¡¯s get this over with. Abraxas continue system tutorial as far as we can go without Abraxas system facilities.¡± Farrah [Completion of system tutorial will create energy deficit.] ¡°How significant of an energy deficit?¡± [Energy deficit of 8000 cal.] ¡°Well it looks like we¡¯re doing this in the morning. Who¡¯s up for some camp cooking?¡± Daniel asked. ¡°It¡¯s not like we¡¯re within range of anything. We haven¡¯t had cell service for over an hour, and we don¡¯t have anything else that can get a signal out.¡± *** ¡°This area should probably work for us. We¡¯ve read the manual, done all of the passive things permitted, played around with some of the things that maybe we shouldn¡¯t have, but now there¡¯s not much else left to do.¡± Ren¨¦e shrugged. They looked around them at the open area beneath the tree canopy. The mid-morning sun streamed down through the branches, but the canopy was thick enough that it didn¡¯t reach the forest floor. They had picked the site partly because of the overhead tree tops and partly because it was near a large outcropping of rock. They estimated this was the best chance they had at shielding any emissions the system might create. ¡°Okay system. Let¡¯s do this.¡± Ren¨¦e said. [3 elements of system tutorial remain. Interconnectivity, martial fitness, and Abrasax uplink.] ¡°Yes system. Thank you system. We know the theory. Let¡¯s get on with it.¡± Daniel said slightly sarcastically. [Establish interconnected web links. Abraxas system facilities not present. Establishing local area web. Subjects may now attempt to take control of other local systems.] ¡°Are you saying you want us to hack each other?¡±, Ren¨¦ asked, stunned. [System users must be capable of defending themselves from intrusion.] ¡°Here goes¡­ Something, I guess?¡± Daniel said. Chapter Twelve ¡°Ooof!¡± The air left Daniel¡¯s lungs in a rush and he staggered back. Farrah followed up in a rush, punches coming fast, but without a lot of weight behind them. If he hadn¡¯t been recovering from that first punch, he would have been able to fend them off easily. As it was, all he could do is feebly hold his arms up in front of him. ¡°I think we know who gets the point for that one.¡± Renee said with a smirk. Farrah stepped back and let Daniel recover, still bouncing on the balls of her feet. ¡°Next?¡± Farrah gestured to Renee. ¡°Oh no, I think I¡¯ll wait my turn.¡± Renee answered trying to hide her smile. ¡°Besides, it¡¯s much more fun to watch Daniel try to breathe.¡± *** Several hours later it was clear that Ren¨¦e definitely had the edge when it came to any form of cyber interaction. Her coding and programming background gave her several advantages. While Farrah and Daniel were clearly not in Ren¨¦¡¯s league, the system seem to accept that they had the basic grasp and were able to at least slow her down. Against each other they were more evenly matched. Farah imagined the system was begrudgingly accepting their capabilities and checked off that aspect of the system tutorial. They weren¡¯t going to be hacking NORAD anytime soon, but they were gaining an understanding of how to protect themselves. The martial fitness aspect had different results. Daniels martial arts and physical fitness background being clearly superior at that aspect of the assessment. However, Ren¨¦e¡¯s ability to ¡°game¡± the system proved that there was more to it than just physical strength. There was as much usefulness and advantage to how she used the system is or was to just using it in the physical sense. Farrah¡¯s medical background had given her several insights that the others hadn¡¯t considered. While they all accepted that they were struggling to understand something that they didn¡¯t fully understand the nature of, they realized that the diversity of their backgrounds gave them useful insights they would not have had alone. ¡°I¡¯m still working out how you were able to hit me that hard.¡± Daniel mused. ¡°That¡¯s like black belt hard. That¡¯s harder than I figured you were capable of.¡± ¡°Gee thanks. It¡¯s nice to know that a girl can hit you hard.¡± Farah dropped her arms to her sides, frustrated. ¡°No, that¡¯s not what I mean. You¡¯ve never taken martial arts, you don¡¯t fight in MMA, and you¡¯re undergoing cancer treatment. I didn¡¯t think that you¡¯d be able to hit as hard as you did. You hit like somebody who¡¯s had training.¡± Daniel said in disbelief. ¡°Yeah, about that. Something I found out about how the system works. I figured you would have discovered it by now, with your kinesiology background. It¡¯s not about strength or speed, it¡¯s about leveraging momentum. And¡­ I figured out how to turn the system into a low-grade Taser.¡± She said with a smirk. ¡°You did what?¡± Ren¨¦e asked, looking up with a start, her eyes widening. ¡°Show me how!¡± ¡°The system always has a charge and it¡¯s always getting more from us, so I wondered if it was maybe possible to store some of that charge and let it out in a pulse. It turns out, it is. Not as much as an actual Taser, at least not yet. But it¡¯s enough to give a punch a little extra.¡± ¡°How much does that cost you?¡± Daniel asked worried look on his face. ¡°Nothing actually, but it does slow down whatever the system is working on, and it could put it in standby. So it¡¯s not something that you want to rely on all the time, but as a last resort at least for now it¡¯s something to tuck away for later.¡± ¡°I¡¯m betting there¡¯s a way to build up a reservoir.¡± Ren¨¦e said. ¡°System?¡± [Abrasax] ¡°Can the nanotech create electrical reservoirs within our bodies like batteries so that we can discharge them offensively?¡± [Affirmative. Offensive capabilities are listed under the various offensive abilities sections] ¡°Is it possible to discharge the Abraxas system to the point where it shuts down and does not turn back on?¡± [Insufficient power will cause the Abrasax system to enter standby mode. So long as the host remains viable the system will continue in standby mode. If the host is rendered unviable the system would continue in standby mode pending further directions, or until terminal protocols are enacted..] ¡°What about Michael and Lindsay? The system didn¡¯t stay in standby mode and killed them. What are Terminal protocols?¡± [Subject identity is unknown. Abrasax system is unable to provide information it does not contain.] ¡°Have we completed enough of the system tutorial to contact Victoria Thompson?¡± [System tutorial 99% complete. Unable to contact Victoria Thompson. No communication services within range.] ¡°Well, at least we know it has some limitations.¡± Ren¨¦e said. ¡°I¡¯m up for spending a few more days practicing and figuring out what this does for us before heading to town. Then at least we¡¯ll be as prepared as we can be when this thing calls her. Whether it¡¯s the Cavalry or SWAT team coming, we have to find out.¡±A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. The other two nodded agreement. *** ¡°What do you mean they disappeared?¡± Damien ground out, exasperated. He didn¡¯t like getting bad news from the field, especially when it involved situations he didn¡¯t fully understand to begin with. He preferred to be on the ground preventing problems, or at least being the one to solve them. He didn¡¯t like being halfway around the world, dealing with failures. ¡°After taking me on a trip around the city, they drove the rental to a park near the Aquarium.¡± His agent answered over the com. ¡°They got out and walked around the park for a bit then headed into the Aquarium. I waited in the parking lot with a clear view of the entrance until it closed. By the time I realized that they weren¡¯t coming out and it wasn¡¯t accidental, I circled back around to the car, but it was gone. I drove to the rental company and they said they were called for a pickup at the Aquarium, so some guy from the rental company showed up to pick it up. Apparently it¡¯s a part of their regular service, so no one at the rental office thought anything of it.¡± ¡°I claimed to be meeting some friends there, he said that the rental had been canceled and turned in, so they picked it up as requested. I couldn¡¯t find out who the driver was or where they had gone without drawing too much attention, so I figured I¡¯d find it another way.¡± ¡°They planned this, likely before the women got on the plane.¡± Damien said. ¡°He would¡¯ve had to set it up in advance. Do you have any access to CCTV or any other coverage?¡± ¡°Nothing. It¡¯s a public park. By the time I realized they were actively avoiding me, they could have made it to the far side of the park and picked up a vehicle from any of the lots. They could¡¯ve even left the park, or been picked up.¡± ¡° You have a new mission in life. Find them. We need to know why this sudden change in behaviour.¡± Damien demanded. ¡°Do we know enough about them to know if this is a change in behaviour?¡± ¡°Until we have more information the objective is the same. Find them. Observe them. 24/7 surveillance, audio, and video everything we can find out about them. Get video from the Aquarium.¡± ¡°Yes sir.¡± The connection winked out. Damien returned to scanning the information on his displays, as he swiped between their workups. They had precious little on these three, not because they were covert operatives, but because they were normal boring people who didn¡¯t spend their lives blogging about themselves on social media. All were educated, employed, and active. They appeared to have met while attending University in Vancouver several years previously. Farrah was currently attending UBC medical school and Daniel was pursuing his Masters in Kinesiology. Ren¨¦e had graduated previously and was working as a programmer for one of the gaming companies in Vancouver. None of them were particularly wealthy, at least in the sense that Damien was used to dealing with. Farrah¡¯s family was reasonably well off from property development in Toronto. Daniel¡¯s family was decidedly middle-class but he had made a name for himself as a mid-level professional poker player. That explained how he could afford to pursue his university studies, train in biathlon, and still afford to take periodic vacations. There were rumors that he might try out for the Olympics one day. Ren¨¦e had a side job that her employer obviously didn¡¯t seem to have a problem with, and appeared to be in technology. They hadn¡¯t yet found out what it was. *** A small light started pulsing in the upper left corner of the Thompson¡¯s vision. She had wondered if it was ever going to appear. Part of her dreaded seeing it, and yet part of her dreaded she would never see it. At least one of them had survived to the end of the system tutorial she had left with them, and was now within range of a public cellular or Wi-Fi system. The system was slowly sending out the alert that her spiders were constantly on the lookout for. Part of her responsibilities involved scouring the Internet and other communication systems for information regarding Abraxas, its subscribers, and anything she could use to improve the program. Since Abraxas ? Where were they? Where were they? She mused. The system was coming from¡­ Had they gone straight back to Canada? Had they continued on with their vacation? She sent out the commands to trace the alert back...back... Back through the Internet and various server hubs. North America. Canada. Western Canada. Vancouver. Outside of Vancouver. Interesting, they didn¡¯t even have broadband there, she realised with a start. It looked like they had come within range of a Wi-Fi hub in a coffee shop near a town that didn¡¯t even have a name on her map. They had stayed for a little over an hour before the signal was lost. It didn¡¯t appear to have been terminated by any system protocol, so she was optimistic that they were still alive and had simply traveled out of range. How to handle this? She turned over in her mind as she swirled the ice left in her drink. She couldn¡¯t exactly send the tactical team in. She had no reason to send any of her people or resources. There was nothing in the area that would warrant her official attention. Perhaps, she could draw them out? Perhaps she could get them to come to a place that she could establish more direct contact? UBC. Common thread between the three of them. Medical school. Technology. Perhaps¡­ Perhaps it was time to investigate a new outreach centre.The super wealthy were flocking to Vancouver in ever larger numbers all the time. ¡°Kevin, dear please come in. I have a few tasks for you.¡± *** ¡°Do you think they got the message?¡± Farrah asked after the long quiet drive back to the camp. ¡°I hope so.¡± Daniel said. ¡°But there¡¯s only one way to know, and that¡¯s to sit in town and wait within range of cell service or Wi-Fi until they show up, or we get bored and give up.¡± ¡°Eventually we have to get back to class. Uni breaks are only so long.¡± ¡°Speak for yourself. If I¡¯m not back on time I¡¯ll have more to worry about than missing some classes.¡± Ren¨¦e said, her frustration starting to show. ¡°System.¡± Daniel said. [Abraxas] ¡°Can you estimate how long it will take Victoria Thompson to respond? Can you estimate the nature of that response?¡± [Response time will be variable depending on her location and commitments. Based on existing data, response parameters will involve assessment, study, and likely interrogation.] ¡°Is it possible to leave a communications device or relay back in town as a stepping stone for her to find that way we don¡¯t have to remain there constantly?¡± [Affirmative] ¡°How would we build such a device?¡± [Abraxas can extrude nanotechnology constructors to fabricate such a device. Using an external power source will greatly minimize resource demands.] ¡°Wait! What? Say that again.¡± Renee stammered. ¡°You can extrude nanotechnology that can build something outside of our bodies? Why haven¡¯t we learned about this before?¡± [Function is outside limitations of system tutorial.] ¡°But you¡¯re telling us now?¡± [Abraxas has determined the only way to complete Executive Directive to establish communication with Victoria Thompson at minimal risk to variance subjects is to create a signal device. Creation of signal device requires external nanotechnology creation.] ¡°¡­ And if we don¡¯t?¡± Ren¨¦e asked. [All other alternatives involve significant risks to variance subjects. Risk levels conflict with Executive Directives to keep the subjects at minimal risk levels.] ¡°Executive Directives? Where do these directives come from?¡± [Executive Directive source Victoria Thompson.] ¡°What is the nature of this directive? ¡° [Unable to disclose.] ¡°Why not?¡± Renee asked with obvious frustration. [Security clearance required to access directives. Variance subjects do not possess a security clearance.]