Trace rolled out of bed and glanced at the notifications that appeared in the corner of his vision.

  - Muscular Strand Integration (Percent Completed): 15.84% - Skeletal System Integration (Percent Completed): 12.33% - Energy Diverted (Percent of Nanite Destruction): 56% - Current resources are insufficient to maintain the current rate of healing and functional integration. Introduce more resources or these functions will soon enter their altered states.

  Altered state, he grimaced at that turn of phrase. What it meant was they would begin to take the resources from his own body wherever they could. Fat tissue, and extra muscle mass in less used areas. Nothing that would necessarily be immediately harmful but would be a pain to replace for a normal person.

  Ugh, all because he had forgotten to take his supplements and eat properly the day before. He would need to remember to stuff his face that day to make up for it.

  The strain in his back had mostly healed during the night, and Ko was scheduled to come over later that day to give him a checkup. The two of them had been in near-constant contact with each other over the last few days. She had wanted plenty of updates on his condition and how he was healing.

  His and Deckard’s revelation about the concentrated healing function had revealed yet another item about the G.H.O.S.T. System that they hadn’t yet known.

  It was a strange mental hurdle knowing that something inside him was gradually transforming parts of his body without his conscious control. He couldn’t feel the changes – most of the time. His muscles had grown stronger, but that was a slow process, and he had certainly become healthier. He knew it was happening, but at the same time, it didn’t really bother him.

  Trace reached over to his chair where he had left the stealth suit the night before and pulled it onto the bed. The back brace had been an absolute genius idea, giving him back his mobility while his spine continued to heal.

  Ignoring the rest of his health was another matter entirely, and not something he was willing to do… not again anyway.

  As soon as the suit was on, he walked over to the fridge and began methodically downing bottles of water alongside the special supplements from Ko. Various metal marbles were swallowed whole until his stomach felt uncomfortably full. After that, he grabbed a couple of sandwiches and headed for the lift. Maybe after another healing session or two, he would attempt the stairs.

  He groaned as he sat at the desk. His belly was protesting at all the metal he had stuffed down his gullet. The metal marbles sat heavy in his stomach, waiting to be processed by the nanites.

  “Deckard,” He called out, knowing the other man would already be up and working on one of his many projects. “How’s the progress on the printing?”

  The screen above his desk computer flickered to life, showing a weary face. “With all the new hardware you installed on the server, I was running multiple simulations in time-dilated environments prior to using the real version. Thanks to that previous experience, I was able to create a model for each piece we need and run the program without an issue. They should all be finished.”

  Trace shook his head. “You can do anything with those virtual environments, and you use it for something like this.”

  “I think you underestimate just how much strain they put on my mind when I actively interact with the time-dilated environments. With the new hardware, it’s not as bad as before, but it is still rather extreme. You should probably check on my nutrient mix level.”

  “You got it,” Trace opened the secure area behind his desk where the braincase was hidden. “Just how many of those things are you running anyway?”

  “Simulations or time-dilated versions in particular?”

  “Err, yes?”

  “Many, to both. They are the most efficient way for me to conduct research at this time. If we had more server units, I could possibly work on integrating some AIs into the process, but the hardware we have at the moment is somewhat lacking for a research-capable AI unit. If you simply wanted something to act as a butler, that could fit on your NetConnect.”

  Trace closed back up the hiding place after filling up the nutrient mix. He had been dangerously close to empty.

  “Is one of these many simulations you have running about my brain and the weird electrical thing it has going on? I mean I didn’t want to say anything before, but that little patch you did before, the one where it diverts a certain amount of energy to the nanites and then destroys them… Yeah, it works, but the percentage in the notification is growing higher each day. It’s at fifty-six percent right now. What happens when it reaches one-hundred percent? Do all my nanites suddenly get destroyed, or do I have the mother of all attacks?”

  The avatar was silent for over a minute before finally responding in a slow, controlled manner. “It shouldn’t destroy all the nanites in your body.”

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  “Oh… So, it’s the second option then, great.” He sighed and rubbed at his face. “Whatever. I’ve been living with them for years. Maybe we can tweak the device in my neck to help some more.”

  Before Deckard could agree or disagree, Trace continued. “Argh, whatever, let’s see if we can get your android body in a mostly working state today. It’ll be easier to troubleshoot everything I might have missed or done improperly with you in direct control of the body and reading its information.”

  For whatever reason, the designer of this particular model of android body had decided that all those functions would be performed through the head. All ports to access the rest of the body’s hardware led to one unified trunk line to the head, similar in a way to a real body. However, it also meant that without a working head, you were in trouble. They could probably have cobbled something together, but since they weren’t near enough to that point, it hadn’t mattered.

  Grabbing the pieces from the inside of the DMLS Printer, he set them on a nearby table and then closed the shield so it could be used again. Next was the CNC Machine and the milled items inside it. He would need to do a few finishing details on some of them, but not much. The machine was good enough that, combined with Deckard’s model, it was already in pretty good condition.

  For now, that was all that he could do. Cutting out the head would need to wait until later. Even if he was ready for it, he wasn’t able to lift the four chunks of titanium they had prepared for its basic frame. The frame would then be encased in carbon fiber printed directly from their second 3D printer.

  Trace approached the workbench where the android body lay. Most of the bullet holes had been repaired, with only a few sections still showing damage. The new components they had bought were lined up nearby, ready for installation. He just needed to clean up all the items that Deckard had spent the night printing and milling, then he would be ready to finish working on it.

  "Let's get to work," Trace muttered. He set a timer to remind him to eat and drink every half hour and then picked up his tools.

  For the next several hours, he meticulously repaired the android body, replacing damaged components and reinforcing weakened sections. The work was therapeutic, allowing him to focus on something other than his own damaged body.

  By early afternoon, he had made significant progress. The torso was completely back together and should be functional. At the moment, he was performing what equated to brain-surgery on the android’s head. It was only because of how steady he could make his cyberware arm that this was even possible. His eyes zoomed in on each section as he worked carefully.

  The work was hard but was so rewarding.

  The alarm went off, almost causing him to ruin the section he had been working on. It was only because Trace had already disabled those knee-jerk reactions that he managed to not ruin everything.

  Pulling his hand and the soldering pen from where it was inside the android’s head, he blinked and groaned.

  “I’m close,” He croaked out, his mouth dry. He reached for a bottle of water, the sandwiches long since having vanished into his stomach. “Ugh, why was my mouth so dry?” He swished the water around, wetting his mouth.

  “It’s because you forgot to set a timer last time you stopped,” Deckard informed, with a theatrical roll of some overly large eyes. “I believe you just got a message notification.”

  Sure enough, he had a message from Ko, letting him know that she was on her way over. For the time being, she was borrowing his car so she wouldn’t need to walk.

  He still needed to finish going through the SUVs he had taken from the Gene Bellua corporation as well. They were another project he still needed to finish. They were even something that he should be able to do somewhat easily in his current condition, as it only involved removing parts, panels, and then reinstalling those same items while he searched for any locator-based devices.

  Deckard had already run through all their software and cleaned them up while he was healing in bed the first couple of days. He had even taken the time to work on the Vinna-Kwoi personnel carrier. Trace had never swapped out the control modules or overwritten the owner’s information on the vehicle. That was something that Deckard had needed to do the old-fashioned way through system-breaching, which he had enjoyed.

  It had been a learning experience for him.

  “Any news from your parents?” Trace asked as he stood, standing somewhat stiffly.

  “As far as I can tell, they have left New Denver entirely. It seems they took an eVTOL from the top of the same tower you had been held in and went to the Denver International Airport. From there, they boarded a private Flight Wing, and I haven’t been able to discover where they went after that.”

  Trace carefully did a couple of light stretches, a scowl appearing on his face. “I don’t understand your parents, Deckard. From everything I have seen and been able to learn, all they have been trying to do is bring you back. But, as soon as you are revealed to be alive, they simply vanish without saying a word. I never knew my parents, but even to me, that seems cold.”

  The screen with the avatar flickered and went blank as Deckard abruptly canceled his visual representation. “As you know, I never knew my dad, my mom never even really talked about him when I was growing up. I can probably count the number of times she mentioned him on one hand. As for my mom… She loves me, I know that truly I do, but there is something about being in a braincase that separates you from your emotions.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “From what I understand, when you love someone in a romantic manner, in the way you and Ko do or are growing to, then the entire body gets involved. Your heart beats faster, it might even hurt, your chest does weird things, and then there are the obvious sexual aspects as well. In other words, your body’s hormonal and general chemical-induced responses. In a braincase, all of those items are controlled and dulled because the rest of the body isn’t there. I imagine synth-skin actually helps in certain things because of that.”

  Finally, Trace began to understand what his friend was getting at. “So, without the appropriate chemicals or the right program, you wouldn’t feel anything at all?”

  “No, not quite. There is still something there, a dull longing feeling, almost a shadow of a ghost of what it should be. I don’t quite know how to describe it. Regardless, don’t forget that all of these items were learned directly as a result of experiments done on my mother. From what I have been able to gather, she was also somewhat distant emotionally to most people even when she was fully fleshware. Being put in a braincase has only made her pre-dispositions worse.”

  “So, it’s sad, but also not too far out of character is what you’re saying.”

  “Yeah, something like that,” Deckard’s voice said, coming softly through the speakers.

  Thank you to all the people who have taken the time to rate the story and to my latest Patrons! I have other stories up on my Patreon, including my current WIPs. Which are now Created G.H.O.S.T. System(My Cyberpunk story), WetWorks2, plus The Restaurateur and His Daughter and DungeonFall. :)

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