Nellie and the Nanites - Bk2 - Ch.28

Chapter 28

Upgrades!

Nellie felt a tingle starting in her toes and spreading through her body, the intensity rising as it approached her head. When it finally covered her completely, she heard a ding.

Initiating Upgrade!

Healing, Sensory, Muscular, and Internal System Enhancement detected.

Initiating Skeletal System Enhancement (Mk1)...

Nellie felt a peculiar sensation, as if gravity had increased for a few moments before suddenly feeling a sweeping numbness that followed a faint sense of pressure in each area.

Complete!

All Mk1 upgrades completed.

Mk2 compatibility confirmed…

Implant detected…

Compatibility for Nanite integration confirmed…

Applying internal nanite conduits…

Completed.

Upgrading Nanite Forge to Mk2…

Completed.

Extra Sensory Mesh Receptor…

Completed

Nanite Fused Body - Mk2 - Complete!

Beginning Cerebral Enhancement…

Implant upgrading to Command And Control Implant….

Complete.

Memory Download Module Installed.

Comm module Upgraded.

Targeting Module Upgraded.

System Integration with Wetware Completed!

Exo-System Controls Installed!

Nanite reinforcement of mental pathways Completed!

Nanite Fused Mind - Mk1 - Command Unit - Completed!

PLEASE NOTE: ALLOW AT LEAST SIX MONTHS BEFORE NEXT MAJOR UPGRADE!

PLEASE NOTE: REMOVAL OF PERSONAL NANITES NO LONGER POSSIBLE!

Nellie honestly forgot to breathe for a few moments as she opened her eyes for the first time after the upgrade. The room was glowing with a strange color she had no words to describe. At the thought, the word appeared in her vision, a small tag pointing to it. Magenta. Huh, that was new.

“It will take a bit of adjustment,” Lucy said, sitting beside her. “You can sense a lot more now. Radio waves, magnetism, electrical fields. It will be overwhelming for a few seconds, but your new implant will filter it very quickly.”

Nellie reached out and took Lucy’s hand while she waited. She glanced over slowly, and gasped. A shifting aura of color surrounded Lucy, her skin glowing with an inner light.

“You’re so beautiful,” Nellie smiled. “I wish I looked like that.”

“Okay,” Lucy blushed a little. “Are you feel–” She stopped and laughed. “You’re seeing my body's radio emissions, magnetic and electrical fields. I forget you don’t see that side of me. Well, you didn’t.” She patted Nellie’s hand gently. “And by the way, you look like this now too.”

“I do?” Nellie grinned and tried to leap up and see, only to find herself flying across the room. Luckily, Lucy caught her in mid-air and gently placed her on the bed again. “Whoa!”

“You need to give yourself time to adjust; that was a BIG upgrade.” Lucy laughed. “You’re stronger, faster, more connected, more aware than you have ever been.”

“But I glow too now, right?” Nellie checked.

“Yes, you glow,” Lucy laughed again. “Why don’t you take a nap? When you wake up, your systems will have adjusted.”

“Too excited!” Nellie grinned mischievously, “I think I need to be tired out a bit.” Her face fell when she remembered she and Lucy were not exactly on top of the whole relationship thing yet. “Oh damn, we’re fighting.”

Lucy leaned down and kissed her, long, slow, and frankly mindblowing with all the new senses. “Remember when you told me to turn down the sensations? You should probably do that as well.”

“Can I do it later?” Nellie asked with a naughty giggle. “Like, after?”

Lucy laughed and leaned in to kiss her again.

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

Crush-Cha spent a long time deliberating about what, if anything, to tell Brix. In the end, he decided against it. There was just no way for him to tell how the big guy would react. He was having a hard enough time with everything going on as it was, so this might just be enough to break him.

It was best he consider the Captain a memory; that way, he could focus on what was in front of him. Leading the men had to come first. Not that Crush had any intention of abandoning his squad. They were his people, and he would see them through all this no matter what it took.

The question of what it would take was his main concern at the moment. Now that the depression had lifted with the news of Nellie’s survival, Crush was looking at things clearly. This planet was done. It was just done. Everyone needed to get clear. Now, if he knew anyone who was likely to survive, it was the lady who dodged an attack that decimated half a continent. He had no doubts at all that Nellie would have an escape plan; it was just a matter of whether his people had a better chance with the Captain or somewhere else. There was no point in even asking the Captain unless they actually wanted to go with her. On the subject of escape plans, he had someone he could talk to at least.

“You mean some way out of Fed sectors, or what?” Vicky asked, her top half buried in the suppression field generator’s internal wiring.

“I mean out,” Crush-Cha said firmly, “I don’t care where, just away from this planet.”

“Don’t you want to get back in the war?” Vicky asked, pausing in her work. “I thought you were some special ops die-hard.”

Crush laughed so hard that his ribs started to ache before he was done. He knew it was a reasonable question, but he was so far from the die-hard loyalist soldier he had started off as all those years ago that he could scarcely recognize his old self.

“I’ll take that as a no,” Vicky sounded amused. It was hard to tell with only her lower half on view, but it was a pretty nice lower half, so he wasn’t complaining too much.

“I was in this to help the people on this planet,” Crush said thoughtfully, “Now all we can do is save who we can and get the fuck off this cursed ball of rock.” He turned his head and spat, “As for the ones who abandoned us to this? Fuck the lot of them.”

“Well put,” Vicky said. “Look, I may have something. Can you give me a few days?”

“Sure,” Crush-Cha said. “But I’m not leaving my squad behind; they have to come to.”

“We might be able to take even more than that; just let me check a few things. See what is possible, okay?” Vicky paused, seeming to tense for a few seconds.

“Thanks, Vicky,” Crush said sincerely.

Never one to put off for tomorrow what could be done today, Crush-Cha moved on to the next part of his plan. It was time to find a way to contact Nellie quietly. He could just hop out the gate on his bike and head for her place, but he was very keen on finding a way not to get shot.

The more he thought about it, the more unlikely that seemed to be. Any way he approached her, the risk was there. If he came fully armed and armored? It would look like an attempt to kill her again. If he came with no armor? Easier to shoot him. He imagined various scenarios, and they all ended up with him being shot. To put it mildly, a direct approach was out.

His current plan involved offering to do some extra work around the place, but he didn’t want to be too direct about it. He had started to help with loading and unloading shuttles yesterday, and he was hoping to get invited to help out the next time Nellie came to get supplies. From there, it was just about trying to find a way to talk to her, like he was trying to be friendly.

That was where his plan broke down. He would have to wing it and try to find some way to steer the conversation towards regrets. Hopefully, he could then tell her how much he regretted his actions without admitting he knew she was alive.

It was far from perfect, but it was a start.

In order for his plan to work, however, he would have to make it past the guard dog.

“I thought soldiers were all disciplined,” Leo said with a sneer, “So how come you are always hanging around the docks.”

“Just looking to help out a little,” Crush smiled his best innocent smile. “Everyone can use an extra hand every now and then, right?”

“Yeah,” Leo said with a sarcastic nod. “So why don’t you take those helpful little hands of yours the fuck away from here and go find someone to help?”

“What’s your problem?” Crush-Cha switched gears, going for the direct approach. “You’ve been telling me to piss off since the moment I got here!”

“Yeah, I don’t like you, army boy,” Leo said, tensing a little.

“Why?” Crush-Cha asked. “Soldier fuck your mother?” He tried for a jokey tone and could tell instantly he had missed. That kind of language normally worked in the loading bays of the stations he had worked on, but it certainly didn’t work this time. Leo’s face seemed to turn to stone.

“Bea doesn’t like you,” Leo said. “Which means I don’t like you. I don’t know wha you did, but if that woman decides you're a piece of shit? That’s all I need to know about you.”

Crush thought quickly and failed to come up with anything other than a version of the truth.

“We used to be friends.” Crush-Cha said seriously, “I misunderstood something she did and acted horribly to her. I was hoping to get a chance to apologize, that’s all.”

Leo looked him up and down with the kind of accessing and critical gaze that Drill Seareants pray for and then shook his head. Then he just waved Crush away and turned his back to him.

“Well?” Crush-Cha asked.

“If she ever asks to see you, I’ll send a runner. A slow one. With one leg and a heavy bag to carry.” Leo didn’t turn back around. “Hey, do me a favor and hold your breath till I do, okay?”

Crush just shook his head and walked away. That was unexpected. Up until now, he had been free to go wherever he wanted. It wasn’t a variable he had considered, so he tried a couple more times by going around the problem. It didn’t work. Somehow, it was always the same crew that loaded or unloaded Nellie’s shuttle, and they had all decided he could not be allowed anywhere near her. By the time he was in bed with Vicky that night, he was out of ideas.

“Any chance I could meet this Bea?” Crush asked as casually as he could. Vicky was always happy to help, so he was reasonably comfortable asking. “I used to know her and want to say hello.”

“None,” Vicky said, uncharacteristically firm. “My brother told me you were trying, but no.”

Five minutes later, he was standing outside her quarters with his clothes in his hands, trying to figure out what happened.

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

“C.S.O. Danforth, I was told you wanted to see me, sir?” Prit-Mal stood at attention while Danforth finished off his reports and placed the completed pads in one drawer of his commandeered desk.

“Prit, for the last time, just call me Danforth, will you?” He looked up at his favorite local and smiled warmly. If there was one bright spot about coming to this place, it was her.

“It would be incorrect while on duty, sir,” Prit-Mal said, ever the professional officer. If he had a dozen more just like her, he could have this planet under control in a week.

“Amazing,” He smiled proudly. “Well, Prit, I am about done with the investigation, and it was all a lot of fuss about nothing, really.” Danforth knew about the fake commands; of course, he did. It was beyond sloppy for Ahern to let something like that slip into common knowledge; the old man was starting to slip. “I’ve got a few heads for the Commendant, so he’ll be happy at least.”

“Uh,” Prit-Mal looked concerned for a moment, then simply nodded.

“Speak freely, Prit,” He said, frowning.

“The Commandant seemed to think there was some doubt about how high it had gone, sir.” She hesitated again, “I don’t wish to overstep, sir.”

“Go ahead,” Danforth said seriously.

“I got the impression that he was worried it went VERY high, sir.” Prit looked uncomfortable with the admission; it clearly went against her character to admit it.

“How high?” Danforth asked.

“I couldn’t say. Sir.” Prit looked him straight in the eye and raised both her eyebrows.

“Ah, I’m sure you were mistaken,” Danforth smiled. “I’ve known the man for years.”

“Oh.” Prit-Mal actually smiled with relief. “That’s good to hear, sir.”

“I appreciate the concern,” Danforth grinned. “See you tomorrow, Prit. Try and take the night off for once, will you?”

“Yes, sir.” She nodded.

“Dismissed,” Danforth shook his head, already knowing she would spend the night reading regs or learning Fed law, like always. Prit-Mal was the most dedicated officer he had ever met. He would have sent her forward for her own command if she had only been a Federation citizen. Still, it would only take a few years until she was eligible.

He made a note to add another recommendation to her file. She was too preceptive to leave on this backwater waste.

She really was perceptive, wasn’t she? Danforth couldn’t quite let the worry she had shown for him go. It was clear she at least partially returned his feelings, but more than that, Prit-Mal was rarely wrong…

Danforth leaned back from his console an hour later and ran a tired hand over his face. He had held out for fifteen minutes after she left before he started to poke around in the command logs to see exactly what Ahern had been doing lately. To say it was not pleasant reading was an understatement. The longer he spent looking, the more he saw. Ahern, his leader, and long-time friend, was setting him up for a BIG fall.

Maybe worse, Danforth said as he noted the rapid-fire personnel transfer orders preloaded for the next couple of days. It seemed like the only people he could trust, his long-time commanders and Sec Officers, were all being transferred to the most distant of the three cities. The people coming to the Hub in their place were little more than sycophants who worshipped the ground Ahern walked on. It was clearly a move against Danforth, and he had to wonder why.

The only logical reason for that was if Ahern intended to make a move against Danforth for some reason. Did he really think Danforth was behind that Corporal showing him up, or was it more than that? Had he amended his little sacrifice plan to include his second in command?

Prit-Mal had possibly saved Danforth’s life tonight.

Quickly diving back into the files, Danforth was relieved to see that Prit was not on the list of reassignments. That was something he could work with. In fact, he entered his personal codes and upped her clearance for both information and weapons privileges. If Danforth failed to stop Ahern, Prit would be in a position to assist him.

His backup plan secured, Danforth started to make countermoves. He set up a second batch of transfers to the city, ensuring good supplies and better weapons would be waiting for his people there. He might even be able to ensure that his people could survive without Ahern’s help…

He started to make a careful plan to separate the city from the network while making a few encrypted calls to the ships in orbit to ensure that there was a change in alignment. He had to ensure the city couldn’t be hit from orbit, so he moved his command carrier directly over it.

His final act of the night was to attach a pair of trackers to Ahern’s movements and commands. Danforth intended to be one step ahead in this little game of theirs. One thing was certain: Ahern was not going to like how this turned out.

From now on, the only person in the Hub he would trust completely was Officer Prit-Mal.

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

Lucy’s fingers flew over the controls of the new machines as she input commands and designs in real-time. It was much less efficient than simply programming them wirelessly or via nanite, but she was determined to keep them clear from suspicion. They were about to start attracting much more attention, so an extra fifteen minutes per machine would be more than worth it in the long run.

As she moved on from each machine, it would come online, lighting up and beginning to hum with power. Each one was responsible for making a single part of their new creation, with assembly being done by their new workforce. Her initial plan had been to keep it exclusively operated by the basic worker model synthetics they had found, but to her surprise, their people were more than happy to work on anything asked of them.

Grams and Gramps had taken over as the de facto leaders of both groups, and their fondness for the synthetics had spread to those who came from the village. Their biggest worry had apparently been whether new units would replace the basic workers. It was met with applause when Nellie had firmly told them they would be fixed, not discarded.

To be entirely honest, Lucy was struggling a little to accept the locals welcoming acceptance of the synthetics. She could only hope it would last.

Lucy inputted the final design and sighed happily. It was done. Tomorrow morning they would produce the parts needed to repair all the damaged synthetics, including their new spy. After that?

After that, Lucy planned to make something special.