Chapter 31: Imperial Tech, Mind-Shattering
Dorio stepped forward next.
As someone with a past steeped in brutal ganger conflicts, her path to augmentation had relied heavily on chemical stimulants to push her body beyond its natural limits, combined with extreme physical conditioning, resulting in immense muscular power and resilience. This granted formidable combat strength but left her body burdened by severe drug toxicity and metabolic strain. There was also a perceptible lag in signal transmission between her nervous system and the hyper-stimulated muscle groups.
Joric's scans delved deep into her metabolic and endocrine systems.
"Your augmentation path relies upon chemical catalysts and the systematic overdrafting of biological potential. The current pharmaceutical regimen is inefficient, and its toxicity accumulation rate is unacceptably high."
His mechadendrites accessed several specific nerve clusters and metabolic regulators via micro-ports along her spine and abdomen. "I am adjusting your hepatic enzyme secretion efficiency, renal filtration rate, and neurotransmitter balance. This will significantly reduce residual drug toxicity and enhance your metabolic clearance capacity. Simultaneously, I am optimizing the transmission protocols between your neural signals and the augmented muscle groups to reduce command latency."
He then retrieved an auto-injector from a cryogenic storage unit on the workbench. It contained a newly synthesized compound that glowed with a faint luminescence.
"This is a composite-adaptive formula, recalculated based on your current physiological parameters. It will stimulate your muscular potential with greater efficiency, while its metabolic byproducts will impose seventy percent less strain on your system. Your future training cycles must be adjusted to synchronize with this compound. Projecting a peak-strength increase, without adverse side effects, within four standard weeks."
Next was Falco. Joric meticulously recalibrated the mismatched array of sensors and reconnaissance gear cobbled onto Falco's frame. He adjusted not just the hardware parameters but, more crucially, upgraded the core data-fusion and processing algorithms.
Falco found the information displayed on his visual interface becoming clearer than ever before. Data from disparate sources was perfectly layered, correlated, and prioritized. False environmental-interference alerts dropped by nearly seventy percent. The speed and accuracy of his effective data acquisition surged.
Even Pilar's newly repaired shoulder received a secondary micro-adjustment. Joric optimized the power-transmission response curve, boosting its reaction speed by another percentile, making the limb's movement feel utterly seamless.
Rebecca's new cyber-eye was uploaded with a more efficient, custom-written target-recognition and background-filtering algorithm, significantly reducing visual clutter and false positives in the chaotic light and shadow of Night City.
Finally, it was Sasha's turn. Joric's approach with her was the most delicate and cautious. His mechadendrites moved with an almost absolute, slow stability as they interfaced with the high-grade data-port at the base of her skull.
"Your neural network is your most valuable asset, but its complexity renders it exceptionally vulnerable." Joric's synthesized voice seemed even lower now, minimizing any potential interference. "Executing deep-level diagnostic scan. Purging accumulated neural cache-fragments, repairing micro-level data-stream corruption, and reinforcing the active-response logic of your cognitive firewall. I am uploading a modified neural-signal stabilization and buffer protocol. It will provide approximately five percent additional stability-redundancy during high-intensity data-intrusion or counter-intrusion cascades, mitigating the risk of neural-overload."
Sasha kept her eyes closed, her long eyelashes trembling slightly. She could feel a cold, absolutely precise, and stable force operating within her most sensitive implants, meticulously untangling the complex neural currents that even she couldn't fully control. The process wasn't painful; instead, it brought a strange sense of clarity and lightness, as if static blurring the edges of her thoughts had been wiped clean.
When Joric had completed the calibrations for every crew member, a brief silence fell in the manufactorum. Each of them was immersed in the novel sensation of their bodies operating at a new, systemic optimum. This wasn't the crude boost of a single, powerful implant; it was the profound feeling of their entire system achieving a state of high harmony and perfect resource allocation—a deeper, more comfortable, and more controllable strength.
"This... this is just from tuning and software optimization?" Falco stared at his hands in disbelief, feeling an unprecedented connection to his gear. "You didn't swap any hardware?"
"The true essence of technology lies in the deep comprehension and synergistic optimization of existing systems, not the blind replacement of components," Joric replied calmly, his words resonating with absolute mastery over the machine. "The most efficient solutions are often found in the reintegration and potential-extraction of available resources."
Maine took a deep breath, fighting to control his excitement. As leader, he saw more than just individual improvements; he saw a quantum leap in the crew's future potential.
"Boss, this is just calibration... What if... what if we wanted to go further? Real hardware upgrades? Like Rebecca's new eye." His eyes burned with the hunger for more power.
Joric's crimson optical lenses scanned each of them. "Certainly."
He moved to the main control terminal and brought up several complex blueprint summaries—upgrade paths generated in real-time based on the deep scans he had just performed, tailored to each individual's biometrics, neural tolerance, and combat style.
"Based on your biological foundations, neural-stress thresholds, and tactical roles, I have designed a complete hardware ascension-path for each of you."
For Maine: A plan focused on a vastly stronger internal skeletal structure, an enhanced power core, and advanced impact-management systems.
For Dorio: Further optimization of her bio-chem metabolism and muscle-response synergy, coupled with schematics for superior combat-stimulant synthesis.
For Falco: A highly integrated, multi-spectral, multi-modal environmental awareness and data-processing suite.
For Pilar: Comprehensive upgrades to his neural interfaces and stabilization systems for unparalleled fine-motor control and weapons handling.
For Rebecca: A plan to safely and efficiently integrate much heavier, externally mounted weapon platforms directly into her nervous system.
For Sasha: An exceptionally advanced implant-suite focused solely on top-tier neural defense, data-encryption, and processing velocity.
Each proposal was bold, elegant, its technical specifications and projected performance far exceeding anything available even on Night City's bleeding-edge black market. The blueprints spoke directly to their deepest desires to transcend their limits. They stared, mesmerized, their breathing quickening.
"This... Is this tech even possible?" Dorio's voice held a tremor.
"With the correct bio-matter, sanctified alloys, power cores, and the necessary fabrication rites... within my technological paradigm, augmenting any biological entity far beyond its current limitations is... feasible," Joric stated, his tone carrying the calm assurance of absolute technical certainty. "The theoretical limit... is sufficient to approach..."
His voice hitched for a near-imperceptible microsecond. The crimson optics seemed to refocus, becoming deeper, colder. The very atmosphere in the manufactorum felt as if it had suddenly solidified.
An almost inaudible venting sound came from beneath his faceplate (though he likely had no need to respire), a sound that sent a strange, inexplicable chill down the spines of everyone present.