Nellie and the Nanites - Bk2 - Ch.32

Chapter 32

Never Eating Jelly Again.

Nellie made Jo wait as she remote-piloted the pod over to them, landing it just a few short feet away from where they waited. She had explained to him about the warning on the radio, but he seemed to think it was all some sort of joke.

In times like this, she wished that everyone already knew about her and Lucy. She could have just told him that she could see the clouds above teeming with the things and left it at that.

It could have been so simple, so easy. It also might have prevented him from what he did next. Nellie sent him ahead of her as she kept a wary eye on the clouds above, ready to step in if something dropped toward him. While she was scanning the sky, he slipped around the pod's side and ran for the bag he had dropped on the ground.

Nellie saw him as she traced a shape that had emerged from the cloud, shooting like a meteor toward the ground on the other side of the pod. Jo’s feet were just visible below the pod as he half ran/half limped toward the bag.

Time seemed to slow as she burst forward, legs pumping as she tried to get to him in time. She felt like she was running in slow motion compared to the thing blasting straight down toward him, its angle a perfect intercept course for where he was going to be. Nellie gave it everything she had and was only a couple of steps away, but out of time.

Nellie didn’t think, didn’t hesitate for a second. She threw herself forward and wrapped herself around the gangly teen as she dialed her shield up to full power and pushed the range out on the shield to the maximum, desperately trying to cover as much of JoJo as she could.

The next second, they were enveloped in the pulsing white flesh, the world outside faintly visible as Jo-Ban screamed. Nellie could see his arms and legs eaten away in real-time and felt the awful familiarity to when she was cloned.

This was a hundred times worse, and soon, his arms and legs were gone as the translucent white flesh turned faintly pink.

All the warning lights on her suit were on, bright, glaring red as the battery power dropped faster than she could believe. They had less than two seconds of power left, and the thing showed no signs of letting up. She could see the formless mass shifting and squeezing around the rapidly failing shield, which had closed over the melted stumps of JoJo’s legs and arms.

Panic flooded her, and she screamed in fear, drowning out the sound of Lucy, who was desperately telling her to do… something.

Her panicked eyes locked on her HUD but found nothing but bad news. Squeezing her eyes shut, she felt the nanites moving in her system, praying they would keep her alive.

Wait.

Nellie screamed again, instinct taking over. The suit needed power? Well, she had power to give. She felt the lines burst from her chest and slam into the power armor, a small army of nanites surging into the suit’s circuits, reinforcing and rewiring.

Upgrading legacy suit…

Power insufficient for current stresses…

Rerouting power supply from Nanite Forge (Mk2).

Warning!

The suit will be fused and rendered inoperative in the process…

Only shield functions will survive.

Warning Overriden.

Executing.

Nellie felt like a small sun had ignited in her chest as the power armor fused into a single piece of immobile metal. The flickering shield smoothed and then pulsed.

It grew, second by second, pushing against the thing surrounding them. The heat in her chest grew, and then the shield flashed again, the horrific creature exploding outward as the shield became a dome around them.

Nellie forced herself to remain calm as she waited for the nanites to cut the back of the suit open. Once she could feel open air on her back, she gingerly pulled away from the suit, feeling the cables pulling on her chest as they lengthened.

A careful minute later, she was free of the suit, long gray cables snaking from her chest and into the fused mess that used to be her favorite armor. JoJo was unconscious, clutched in the armor. The stumps of his arms and legs melted so severely they didn’t even bleed, which may have saved his life.

“In for a penny,” Nellie growled, jabbing cables into his neck and flooding his system with nanites.

Rebuild, Stabilize, or Convert?

Nellie chose to stabilize and began to drag the whole lot over to the pod, her remote controls offline as she was using all her power for the shield. There was the occasional surge of power draw as one of the things impacted the shield, which left her gasping each and every time.

Eventually, she was at the pod and lifted JoJo into the back seat. He had lost his tail as well, she noted miserably. Climbing in herself, she activated the pod shields and disconnected the suit from herself, the cables snapping off at her chest and turning to dust. With a weary sigh, Nellie snapped off enough of the armor to close the pod up and rubbed at her chest absently.

She put the pod on course to the yard and took deep, steady breaths.

“Nellie?” Lucy called softly.

“Sorry for ignoring you,” Nellie replied. “I kind of lost it there.”

“I’m so sorry, Nell.” Lucy commiserated. “We’ll get JoJo all fixed up, and then I’ll give you the biggest hug in the universe!”

“Sounds like a plan,” Nellie said, blinking owlishly as the pod flew along. “Lucy?”

“Yes, Nell? Lucy asked gently.

“What the fuck did I just do?” Nellie gulped.

“You took control of your own nanites,” Lucy said, sounding proud. “And used your new biology to save JoJo.”

“That heat?” Nellie asked, secretly terrified of the answer.

“It is called a Nanite Forge for a reason,” Lucy said calmly. “You were forcing it to supply way more power than it should.”

“Did I damage it,” She swallowed, “Or myself?”

“No!” Lucy said immediately. “It can run at higher levels for short periods, and the nanites have already repaired any damage to it or you.”

“Good,” Nellie said absently. “Lucy?”

“Yes, babe?” Lucy replied.

“I’ve had enough of this fucking planet,” Nellie said with a depth of feeling she didn’t know she was capable of. “Fuck this place. I want out.”

“I’ve been working on something,” Lucy said happily. “We will need a few more pieces, and then we are good to go.” She hesitated, “We just need to figure out how to get past the other ships in the sector.”

“Duke must have a plan,” Nellie said. “We’ll just have to figure out what it is.”

===<<<>>>===

“Sir!” The officer saluted Ahern and held out a report with a trembling hand. “Urgent. Sir.”

“What now,” Ahern read the report three times and still didn’t believe it. “Has this been confirmed?”

“Yes, Sir,” The officer said, saluting again out of sheer anxiety. “Video of the event is available.”

“Thank you, Officer. Dismissed.” Ahern said, walking past the man without bothering to return the salute. Stalking along the corridors to the situation room, he read the report again. It was simply not possible.

“Bring the video up. Now!” Ahern said the moment he had cleared the doors. If anyone had to ask what video, he would have them thrown out the fucking window.

A technician quickly brought it up on the main screen, and Ahern stared in horror.

“Why did we have people out that far?” Ahern demanded.

“A group of suspected resistance members broke from the city and fled, Sir.” The technician read from a separate report. “Our troops gave chase to detain them for questioning.”

“Have the commander there reassigned,” Ahern ordered, keeping the suggestion they be reassigned to a corpse pile to himself. He turned his eyes back to the screen, seeing the shaky camera from a helmet cam come to a sudden stop as some partially translucent mass dropped on the man they were holding at gunpoint. The high-definition camera caught every detail of the thing’s dissolving of the poor man before it was covered in a shite, milky film that gradually turned pink.

“They are called Dansi’vores, according to local convention, Sir.” The technician said, swallowing as they went pale. “Coast life-form.”

“These were a known entity?” Ahern felt himself flush in anger. “Why wasn’t it in the briefing?”

“They were deemed unlikely to move inland,” The Tech said dryly.

“By whom?” Ahern said, his fingers unconsciously playing with his sidearm in its holster.

“You’d have to ask Chief Security Officer Danforth, Sir,” They replied.

“I plan to do just that,” Ahern said, tossing down the report on the desk and striding for the doors.

“Danforth! Get your ass into my office right fucking now!” He roared into his Comm.

Danforth was waiting in the office by the time Ahern got there. He was not alone, Ahern noted nervously. He had an escort officer with him, one in full armor… with a tail, Ahern noted with distaste. Just as he was about to shout for them to leave, they turned their head a little, and he recognized her.

Ahern smiled, knowing that this officer was on his side. Another mistake by Danforth.

“What the hell, Danforth,” Ahern said as he stalked into the office, returning Prit-Mal’s salute with a small nod. “You really dropped the ball on this one.”

“I’d never even heard of these things until an hour ago,” Danforth protested. “The junior officer preparing the reports never even reported these things existed.” Ahern could see the man grinding his teeth.

“They’re under your command; it’s your job to make sure they are competent!” Ahern spat. “People will die over this, man!”

“I have ordered a curfew in all cities,” Danforth said sourly, “What else can we do?”

“Now?” Ahern snapped, “Nothing! If we had any warning, we could have prevented any deaths at all! Damn it, Danforth, do the lives of our men mean nothing to you?” He saw Danforth’s eyes flick to Prit-Mal and allowed himself a small grin as he turned away. Danforth knew that he couldn’t call Ahern a hypocrite with Prit-Mal there. Ahern had made sure to leave the door open as well. Word would spread about that–

“If you hadn’t reassigned my people and replaced them with your damn bootlickers, this would never have happened!” Danforth replied, just as loudly, “You are slipping, Sir! People are dying because of it!”

“You fucking dare!” Ahern felt his pulse pumping in his forehead and forced himself to calm down. “That was dangerously close to sedition, Danforth.” He said calmly. He saw Prit-Mal’s hand go to her sidearm and felt a small amount of inner glee. She was willing to shoot the man down at his command!

“Sir!” Danforth said grimly.

“Dismissed, Danforth,” Ahern said with a shake of his head. “We may have to consider your position if this continues.”

“Sir!” Danforth growled, stalking out of the office with Prit-Mal a step behind him.

===<<<>>>===

As Chief Security Officer Danforth walked back to his office, he knew his time was done here. There was little to no chance of the Commandant allowing him to live much longer. He knew he could figure out where it had all gone wrong if he had time. Not more than a couple of weeks ago, they were planning how to survive this all together, and now there was no way they would both get off this planet alive.

Prit-Mal was a reassuring presence at his side, the last person in the HUB he could trust. He had caught her move when Ahern had accused him of sedition; she had been willing to shoot Ahern at his command.

That was the kind of loyalty he would need in the coming days. He just needed to act before the old man could countermand the order.

“Prit, I need you to accept some orders here and now,” He turned his screen so she could see it and sent the transfer order through to her. “I’m leaving for another city where my people are in control, and I want you to come with me.”

“Of course, Sir.” She said, immediately signing the orders as read and accepted. “Permission to go and pack, Sir?”

“Of course, Prit, thank you.” Danforth nodded to her and then called out as she approached the door. “And Prit, I saw what you were willing to do. I appreciate that.”

“Sir,” She nodded and hurried away.

===<<<>>>===

“Put him on the table,” Lucy’s voice played over the speakers in the facilities building. Her body was still over at Duke’s, but she was on her way as soon as possible.

“You can save him, right?” Paren-Far asked Nellie as she lay the unconscious teen on the metal table in the center of the production room. It was usually used as a collection point for the parts produced for the Centrum units.

“He’s already saved,” Nellie said numbly. “I made sure he was stable, but I dosed him with painkillers. He doesn’t need to see all this.”

“Yes, he does,” Lucy replied sternly. “We need to let him make his own choices. He has a right to that.”

“He’s just a kid, Luce,” Nellie protested.

“If it was you, you would want to choose,” Lucy replied calmly. “I’m five minutes out, coming in hot.”

“I would,” Nellie nodded. “No skipping steps, right?”

“No skipping steps,” Lucy confirmed as she cut the comm line.

“Convert him,” Paren said the moment the line was cut. “That’s what you did to me.”

“We have more options now,” Nellie insisted. “Don’t worry, he’ll be okay.”

“I’ll do it if you don’t want to,” Paren-Far said. “If he was like me, then I wouldn’t have to hide it from him.”

“No converting people,” Nellie said sternly. “Besides, he would be your drone then, not your boyfriend.”

“I never said boyfriend,” Paren protested. “Quick, before Lucy gets here!”

“You know I am literally right here, right?” Lucy’s amused voice came over the speakers.

Paren’s eyes went wide. “Shit, I, uh, I mean, of course I know that.”

“Hah!” Lucy laughed. “Liar.”

While Lucy distracted Paren with some light teasing, Nellie got her implant to work analyzing what was left of JoJo’s arms, legs, and tail. It wasn’t much, and it looked like a lot of nerve damage had been done. The sarcastic little ball of energy that was JoJo looked like a child as he lay there, blank-faced in his sleep. Without his trademark sneer and scowl, he almost looked innocent.

She looked up as Lucy came in, her face tense with concentration as the various machines started to hum.

“Let’s see,” Lucy scanned the boy and compared the scans to the ones Nellie had taken. “Okay, three options. We can build prosthetics for him with these machines but leave the rest untouched. He won’t have full movement or sensation but will be okay.”

“Don’t love that one,” Nellie said.

“Next option is to remove the remaining parts of the arms, legs, and tail and fit him with a synthetic suite. He can sense and feel everything. Full movement, maybe even better than he was before.” Lucy said, her eyes flashing as she watched screens painted on her eyes. “It will be better than option one, but he will take a long time to adapt to it.”

“Better,” Nellie sighed. “And option three?”

“We give him an implant, marry synthetic and nanite-built tech to create something that adapts to him, rather than the other way round,” Lucy said with a faint smile. “It would be a massive improvement over the other options, and would leave no nanites in his system at all.”

“That sounds great,” Nellie scowled. “What’s the catch?”

“The catch is he would know what we are. Even a basic implant would detect it.” Lucy said.

“Would it be a bad thing if he knew?” Paren said quietly. “I mean, he’s not going to tell anyone, are you Jo?”

“Wait, what?” Nellie and Lucy looked down to see Paren stroking JoJo’s head as he looked blearily up at them.

“I thought you were monitoring him?” Nellie hissed at Lucy.

“I was designing three different sets of prosthesis on the fly,” Lucy said sourly. “Sue me.”

Nellie just gaped at Lucy. She had a good point, and to be fair, she hadn’t exactly been paying attention either.

“What’s happening?” JoJo asked, trying to sit up.

“You were badly hurt,” Lucy said, her voice becoming soothing. “We managed to get you back here and are now figuring out the best way to fix you up.”

“Oh, dragon balls!” Jo’s eyes went wide. “I remember that thing.”

Nellie watched his heart rate shoot up as he tensed.

“It hurt so much!” He was almost panicked.

“It’s dead,” Lucy said severely. “You survived, and we are about to make sure that can never happen to you again.”

That seemed to break through his panic, his eyes locking onto Lucy’s.

“We have three different ways to do this,” Nellie said calmly. “We can–”

“Never again, right?” Jo asked. “I want the best. Please.”