⫸ [ TIME: 19:15 LOCAL PLANETARY TIME ]
⫸ [ LOCATION: HORIZON SEEKER – MEDICAL BAY ]
⫸ [ STATUS: RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT ]
The Medical Bay was the only room in the ship that still smelled like the Federation. It carried the sterile scent of antiseptic and recirculated air. This clashed violently with the smell of wet fur and copper blood that now filled the room.
Elian stood over the steel operating table. On it lay the corpse of the Giant scout he had killed. The grey skin of the creature looked like granite under the flickering emergency lights. The massive chest was cracked open where Elian had removed the "Totem" which was the rib bone of a Magma-Salamander grafted into the sternum.
"A.R.C.," Elian said. He wiped grease from his hands with a rag. "Begin structural analysis of the graft point. I want to know how a biological organism accepts foreign tissue without rejecting it."
◤ BIO-SCAN ACTIVE ◢
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
⬢ Subject: Bipedal Hostile (Type-1)
⬢ Focus: Sternum Interface
⬢ Anomaly: Viral Protein Chains
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
[ Analysis: The bone graft is not passive. It is parasitic. ]
A holographic projection flickered into the air above the corpse. It showed a wireframe of the Giant's chest. The Totem was not just sitting in the bone. It had grown thousands of microscopic roots like black veins. They dug deep into the Giant's nervous system and wrapped around the spinal column.
[ The Totem releases a viral agent into the host. This virus suppresses the immune system and rewrites the DNA of the epidermis to mimic the donor beast. ]
[ Side Effect: The virus is aggressive. It eventually consumes the frontal cortex. This explains the aggression and the rotting flesh we observed on the leader. ]
Elian looked at the gruesome roots visible in the open chest cavity. "So they trade their sanity for armor. It is a crude transhumanism. It is dirty science."
He turned to the workbench. Sitting in a glass beaker was the Totem he had harvested from the leader of the raid. It pulsed with a faint heat.
"I need the heat resistance," Elian muttered. "But I do not need the brain rot. We need to filter the code."
[ Proposal: Viral Vector Isolation. ]
[ If we can extract the virus we can spin it down to isolate the specific protein sequence responsible for thermal regulation. ]
[ We can discard the neuro-degenerative waste. ]
"A genetic firewall," Elian nodded. "Clean science versus dirty magic."
He looked around the ruined Med Bay. The advanced genetic sequencers were smashed. The pristine lab equipment was glass dust on the floor. He had to build a solution from scrap.
He walked to the life-support vent on the wall. He pried the cover off and ripped out the high-speed fan motor. He grabbed a plastic sample bucket and a roll of duct tape.
"A.R.C., calculate the RPM required to separate viral density."
[ 12,000 RPM. ]
"Easy."
⬡ ─── ⬡ ─── ⬡
⫸ [ STATUS: PROTOTYPING PHASE ]
An hour later the room was filled with a high-pitched scream.
WHIRRRRRRR.
The makeshift centrifuge spun violently on the table. Elian had bolted the fan motor to the table and taped test tubes to the rotor blades. Inside the tubes was a mixture of the Giant's blood and the marrow extracted from the Salamander bone.
Elian watched the vibration. If the tape failed the glass shards would turn into shrapnel.
"Steady," he whispered.
The motor whined and spun down. Silence returned to the room.
Elian carefully removed a test tube. The liquid inside had separated into three distinct layers.
The bottom layer was a thick black sludge. That was the parasite. The rot.
The middle layer was clear plasma.
The top layer was a shimmering gold serum.
"There it is," Elian said. He held it up to the light. "The Thermo-Regulation gene. Isolated and pure."
[ Caution: Theory is unproven. I strongly suggest a control test before systemic injection. ]
"Agreed. I am not suicidal."
Elian took a scalpel and sliced a shallow cut into his own forearm. He collected a few drops of his blue-tinged blood onto a petri dish.
He used a pipette to draw a single drop of the Gold Serum. He dropped it onto his blood sample.
HISS.
The reaction was violent. The blood in the dish bubbled and turned black instantly. It coagulated into a hard rock-like scab.
Elian stared at it. His face paled.
"It clotted," he whispered. "It solidified instantly. If I had injected that my heart would have turned into a stone."
[ Analysis: The viral load is too potent. Your current physiology cannot process the rewrite speed. ]
[ Solution: We need a buffer. Dilute the serum with the Scuttler acid to slow the bonding process. ]
Elian's hands shook slightly as he mixed the second batch. This was the reality of bio-engineering in a cave. One decimal point wrong and he died. If he died then the battery on Alara's pod would eventually run dry. She would wake up alone in the dark.
He dropped the diluted serum onto a fresh blood sample.
This time it did not boil. It simmered. The blood turned a dull grey color and the texture changed. It looked faceted like microscopic scales.
[ Reaction Stable. ]
[ Predicted Success Rate: 89%. ]
Elian loaded the refined serum into a hypospray injector. He looked at the needle.
"What about pain?" Elian asked. "Last time you broke my bones."
[ I have sufficient power to dampen the nociceptors in your nervous system. You will not feel the sting of the rewrite. ]
[ However I cannot violate thermodynamics. ]
[ The genetic rewrite releases energy. Massive amounts of waste heat. Your blood will reach near-boiling temperatures before the new skin stabilizes. ]
[ I can block the pain signal. I cannot stop you from cooking. ]
Elian looked at the large metal tub in the corner of the room. It was used for chemical baths. He had filled it with water from the ship's reserve and dumped bags of coolant gel into it.
"So I have to ice myself to keep from melting," Elian said.
[ Precisely. ]
Elian stripped off his undersuit. He stood naked in the cold air of the Med Bay. His body was a map of scars and grey metallic skin. He stepped into the tub. The water was freezing. It bit into his skin.
"Let's do it."
He pressed the injector to his neck.
Click-Hiss.
◤ MUTATION INITIATED ◢
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⬢ Serum: Thermal-Lattice (Viral)
⬢ Host: Elian Vance
⬢ Status: Rewriting Epidermis
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
A.R.C. cut the connection to his pain receptors instantly. Elian did not feel the needle. He did not feel the burning in his veins.
He felt the Heat.
It started in his chest. It felt like he had swallowed a star. The water around him began to steam. Within seconds the freezing bath was lukewarm. Then it was hot.
Elian gasped. He could not scream because he could not feel pain but his body was reacting to the thermal shock. His heart rate spiked to 200 BPM. His vision swam in a red haze.
[ Core Temperature: 40°C... ]
[ 41°C... ]
[ Venting heat through epidermis. Hold on Commander. ]
The water began to bubble.
Elian gripped the edges of the tub. The metal warped under his fingers. He watched his own skin ripple. The grey matte texture shifted. It cracked and reformed. Tiny hexagonal facets appeared on his arms and chest. They interlocked like the scales of a lizard but made of organic biological metal.
His brain felt like it was expanding against his skull. The heat was a pressure that threatened to pop his eyes out.
"A.R.C.," he wheezed. "Coolant."
[ Injecting emergency stabilizers. ]
The fever broke.
The heat rushed out of him in a final wave of steam that filled the room. The water in the tub was scummy and hot.
Elian lay back and panted. The air felt freezing against his new skin.
He lifted his arm. The skin was different. It was darker. It had a subtle geometric pattern to it. He tapped his chest. It sounded dense.
◤ UPGRADE COMPLETE ◢
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
⬢ Trait Acquired: Thermal-Lattice Epidermis
⬢ Effect: Heat Resistance up to 300°C
⬢ Mechanism: Efficient Thermal Dissipation
⬢ Side Effect: Reduced Tactile Sensitivity
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Elian stood up. Water cascaded off him. He felt powerful. He felt less human.
He walked over to the Bunsen burner he had used earlier. He turned the flame to high. A blue jet of fire roared.
He stuck his hand into the flame.
He saw the fire touch his skin. He saw the blue light wrap around his fingers. But he felt only a mild warmth. The hexagonal scales on his hand shimmered as they absorbed and dispersed the energy.
"It works," Elian whispered.
He turned off the gas. He looked at his reflection in the polished steel wall. His eyes were glowing brighter blue now. His skin was a suit of armor he could never take off.
"I can enter the reactor," Elian said. "We can fix the ship."
[ Commander. Priority Alert. ]
Elian froze. A.R.C.'s tone had changed. It was urgent.
[ Seismic sensors are detecting movement. ]
[ Direction: North. Distance: 5 kilometers. ]
[ It is not a scouting party. ]
Elian grabbed his datapad. The screen showed a mass of red dots moving through the jungle. Hundreds of them.
[ The Tribe has found the bodies of the scouts. ]
[ They are not scared. They are mobilizing for war. ]
Elian looked at the dead Giant on the table. He looked at his new hand.
"Let them come," Elian said. His voice was cold and mechanical. "I have a kill box to build."
[END OF CHAPTER 6]