chapter 119
POV: Sam
Bob and I were back to making the bio-cybernetic neural net. It wasn’t exactly difficult to make, but it was time-consuming, and you constantly had to monitor everything. But right now, I was enjoying every second of it.
Each time I pressed a button or pulled a lever, I could feel it all so naturally. At first, I needed to dial down almost every feedback this body was getting, as it was overwhelming. Now I understand people better and why most biologicals acted so insanely.
The amount of feedback they were getting every second from their entire life, they must suppress so much, yet they still feel it. There is no way that wouldn't drive you just a bit insane.
Yet there was also nothing like it. My other parts, especially the ones Captain made, had pretty good sensors, but they were still just that, individual sensors that gave complex signals but still basic compared to the sensor inputs I was getting now.
It was like having all the advantages of being biological, but thanks to the cybernetic part, I had so much more range and control over everything. The precision I could get with my hand movements while still exerting so much strength was something I never dreamed of having.
I did have to sacrifice in some places so my hands wouldn’t move as fast as Dean’s will, but I will be mainly using guns, unlike him, who chose to stay with close combat, as we were originally designed to do.
I was able to bring up my status page exactly like Captain was, so I could see it as a floating screen. Every so often, I forced myself to close it, as keeping it open all the time didn't make any sense, but each time I saw it, it just made me so happy.
There would have been a few better body types to go with to get my desired affinities, which I did get, sort of. Mobility is actually better than I wanted to get, and my innate ability seems quite good for me.
We all ended up going with human-like bodies. My skin looked exactly like a human’s and every other feature as well. The skin, however, wasn't like human skin, it was a lot tougher and had a lot more features, like built-in radiation shielding.
Underneath the skin, things immediately changed. I had quite a light defensive layer, with only a few millimetre-thick plates in parts that didn't need flexibility, and where I did need flexibility, there was a metal mesh composite that covered everything else.
In the end, this body was still built for war, and it was damn good at it. I really wanted to start testing everything out properly, but it would have to wait. The thing I was most excited about was that everything seemed to still be at G rank, but I was already so strong thanks to this body.
My damage output did suffer quite a lot because of my choice of weapon. That will be fixed, as Captain has already figured out and made his first hard light rifle. Captain said it was a basic prototype that was barely functioning, but the stats already were crazy.
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The moderate amount of kickback he reported was for his own body, which was E-ranked and heavily cybernetically modified. A normal human firing it would be flying backwards at least 5 feet, even if he was a big beefy male.
Our shooting range targets weren’t just regular steel, it was highly modified to be able to survive hundreds of rounds of portal material bullets fired at extreme speeds. The fact that one shot blew a hand-sized hole through it, melting the sides and bending it inwards, was beyond crazy.
The more scarier fact was that as we continued to climb higher, weapons like that would become more commonplace, not among us, but among others we run into. When thinking like this, this body felt too weak, but I did have my Mobility affinity and my innate ability that might help.
It needed a lot of testing, but the fact that I should be able to phase through walls, as the skill description said, opened up a lot of opportunities. The skill description did say that it didn’t have to be a wall, that was good news. FH was doing research on the skill, trying to find some more details, as we both had a feeling that this wasn’t all that the skill could do.
My mobility affinity also seemed to sync quite well with my innate ability, which was nice to see. My mind was constantly running through different types of skills that might synergize really well, making me exponentially stronger.
Having 28 skill slots between the two was a bit disappointing, as it was below average, but my god, I actually have slots to have skills in, which was so crazy.
Through my bond, I felt the captain commanding so many so he could upgrade the ship. We had heard rumors of ships that were alive, but was there an actual possibility that they had skills? What kind of skills would even fit them, I had no idea.
Our work continued until we were all called into Lola’s workshop once again. I know captain calls this a workshop, but a medical bay or a laboratory, I think, would fit better. Nevertheless, on the bed that I had just recently woken up in, experiencing this new body, laid Dean’s new body as his core was being installed into it.
I was 6 feet tall; he would be 6 feet 4. He was never going to let that down, but greater height for me would be a disadvantage, while he would need the extra mass and reach so he could dominate close-quarters combat.
While there is an argument to be made for a smaller, faster body, in the end it wasn’t his style. When he opened his eyes, I could see the same thought process as I was going through.
“Lower the sensory input, brother.”
After he did so, the wildness in his eyes disappeared, but he didn’t know anything yet. Once again, Lola started testing until.
“His flame is about to stabilize,” the captain announced, and not a moment later Dean, as myself, became unsteady on his feet. He was handling that better, but that was because his body was built better for balance.
“Was I out of it like he currently is?” I asked, getting nods in return. I could have watched a playback of what happened to me, but the thought never occurred to me. It was fascinating watching from the screens how the machine read the changes that were currently happening to Dean’s body.
Eventually, after the core formed, he woke up, but he was quite a lot more silent than me.
“Is anything the matter, brother?” I asked, a bit worried. He shook his head, a smile coming to his face.
“It’s more than fine. It’s amazing.” And I understood what he meant, being able to sense mana and cycle it through our core was a feeling like none other.
We followed him, going to get tested. FH immediately showed us all Dean’s status page. Will need to figure out how to repay FH kindness towards what she did to me. I twitched as soon as I saw it, as this bastard of a brother of mine had three affinities.
Name: Dean
Age: -
Species: Bio-cybernetic humanoid
Bonds: To Remi Graves
Items: None
Body: rank G
Mind: rank G
Core: rank G
Innate ability: Strength from Motion
Affinity:
Sword: rank G 1/3 0/10
Speed: rank G 1/3 0/10
Disempowerment: rank G 1/3 0/10
Skills: None
The bastard also had 30 skills slots and that innate ability Strength from Motion. It was an excellent combination. The disempowerment, that did came out of left field. We were all a bit confused at that, but I also noticed that Lola and Bob seemed subdued. Were they anxious about their own new bodies? Not to worry, you will experience this soon enough.
Now I also really hoped that FH was able to go through mana rebirth as well. I really didn’t want her to be left out.
“Enough standing around, let’s get back to work,” the captain announced, and we all dispersed.
What I wouldn’t give to be able to run portals right now, as I only wanted to test out what I can do.