3G: the Glowing Green Goo

"Interesting choice." Pimp raised an eyebrow at his prisoner-apprentice's choice. "I was sure you'd take the platypus."

"I don't understand how it can exist and I wouldn't know where to start. Maybe if I would if I knew more, but I doubt it. It reeks of indecision, but then it shouldn't work and in any case it's the opposite of what I try to cultivate."

"Fair point. Alright, we'll give you the details on paper when we get them. One of the customer's demands is no copy. There can be only one version, in his possession when not in use, and it can't be digital. You'll have to follow that too."

He?

"What? Why?" Zax raised a sceptical eyebrow. "Backups are one of the most obvious basic safety features. And even discounting my comfort, digital is objectively more efficient, cleaner and easier to organise, to keep track of, and to transmit. Even if they can't stand computers for some reason, we can simply print everything when we're done and voila."

"Reasonable objection, but irrelevant." Pimp nodded. "The client wants; the client gets. He's paying a lot, for little result so far. We can at least humour that much of his quirks. Don't worry, they'll make sense once you know the full situation. Ah, the digital thing is just for convenience."

"What?" he frowned.

"You'll see in the file." Pimp dismissed the issue with a wave of his wide hand and delicate claws.

"Are they anti-technology? I'll need my nanites. It's, like, my whole thing."

"Shouldn't be an issue. Just, wait for the file." The constant repeat was getting annoying, for both of them. "It may take a while to arrive; he can be hard to reach."

"Fine. That reminds me, I added personal thoughts to other cases. Technological alternatives. If their only issue is with surgeries, it can be a worthy venue of exploration."

"Hm? Nice, I would've never considered those." Pimp browsed the annotated list. "Some might accept. I'll transmit it to relevant parties. Can you implement all of these?"

"No, but I can learn. I'd still advise to consult an actual specialist though, at least for the most advanced applications."

"Right." His scoff made his Adam's apple jiggle. "Because a lot of Residents dabble in that kind of… technological support." He smirked sarcastically.

"Maybe, but dotters definitely do. My propositions are nothing illegal, and the main computer definitely knows about this."

The chuckle that threatened to get out was choked into stunned silence. Pimp blinked twice, warned he would be gone for a while, and left the room. Zax and Migo were left to their own devices.

What was that about?

Without answer, they could only get back to their activities. Zax was still focusing on understanding and manipulating meridians, but other projects were not forgotten.

Migo had greatly improved his mastery over nano-technology. He was still more adept with biological interfacing, but a twist had been added to it. Every hair on his body was now a conduit to get nanites in or out of his body. With the general improvement to his internal machinery, he could now manufacture any type of nanite without having to eat the components; he would make a solution seep through his fur. Compared to his original method, it was faster, with less wasted material and less strain on the body. An absolute win. His nanite constructs flowed out the same way, the product of each strand merging into its neighbours'.

"Spectacular, and impressive technically." Zax claimed after a demonstration, examining the barding his apprentice had literally grown on himself in seconds. "It looks like your creations are flowing out of your body. Like a living printer. Good quality too, the only flaws I see are in the design, not the material itself."

"Yeah, but I can't move while it happens, and the smallest draft could mess everything up, and my body limits the size." The wolf added his own thoughts.

"True, but a world better than using your digestive track."

Both shuddered at the mention of the original idea. Sounded great on paper, building the parts or the finished product in his stomach, his maw, or the opposite side, then expelling them naturally. The body had cavities to work in and orifices to empty them. When they realised the constructs, potentially girthy, sharp and/or pointy, would have to be peed, spat, puked or worse, they had shelved the idea. The human had, at least.

"Totally, that's better kept as an absolute last resort." Migo grimaced.

Or not at all.

Zax winced, but didn't voice his thought. Uncomfortable as it was, an option was an option, and they might need it at some point.

The prisoners didn't mention the more covert applications this fur-printing could have. Clothes were not the only item he could synthetise. On the other hand, his HUD hadn't evolved much; he was satisfied with its current state.

The wolf had also grown over the last weeks, from hardly a step above runt of his species to largely above average. It had been a gradual change, just as Zax's legs, but he hadn't activated, his meridians were the same, and his general diet and physical exercises hadn't changed.

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There could only be one explanation: the fleshy dough he kept eating, from the excess Zax wasn't working on or was done with. The gains in weigh, volume or size didn't match, but it had to be it. There was only one other notable effect from those appetizers, easily observable on the eating mice but extremely diluted in Migo.

It was hard to describe. The map was the same, not more stable. The branches were not harder to move or to break. The five types were all there, they reacted the same to each other, no new element to throw them off. Still, something in the involuntarily cannibalistic mice was unmistakably different. The meridians felt stronger, for lack of better word, and the egg more defined. Deeper, somehow.

Not sturdier though, manipulating the meridians was as easy as ever, and doing so without melting the subject or breaking the egg was as difficult as ever. When those mice melted, a larger mound of fleshy dough was made. Not quite double from the others, but not far.

Zax still didn't trust himself to try and alter his friend's meridians, but he was running out of things to try on the expandable subjects. He was down to the long-term experiments. Which had started relatively recently, ironically enough.

Three batches of mice were left.

One was constantly dosed with the smallest nanites he could give; C-nanites, the swarm. His supply was limited, so he made sure every individual machine counted. Migo's lesson had been invaluable to extract them from waste before it was naturally evacuated. Different amounts of nanites, meaning different levels of saturation in the body, called for different strategies. The current one was to replace the intercellular matrix; they'd be blocked by natural borders while still allowing for direct interference with most biological processes.

Daring, and only possible with a frankly ludicrous amount of nanites per head. His supply was running low. He would soon have to either reduce the number of subjects or dig into his own actively used C-nanites if he hoped to continue the experiment. Manufacturing his own would be ideal, but the requirements were still beyond his current level.

This issue might be solved soon, however. This batch was effortless study and allowed tremendous progress in its direction.

The second batch of mice was regularly fed fleshy dough and kept alive. It was all some were allowed to eat. Most slowly grew over time like Migo, but some displayed other changes. Better senses, higher intelligence, some with birth defects had them fixed. The mixed diet specimens changed slightly faster, but not enough to be scientifically significant.

When melted, the amount of dough yielded was proportional to the total amount ingested during the whole lifespan. Proportional, but not equal. A longer wait between last ingestion of dough and melting seemed to give less, and even less if they were not fed at all during that time.

Whatever was gained from the dough, it was somehow stored by the organism and slowly consumed, but only if necessary.

The last batch of mice combined the two other experiments; the subjects were fed fleshy dough and nanites. Any scientist worthy of the name only changed one variable at a time, but the Resonance had proven the 3G and nanites synergised too much to ignore it, and time was not on his side.

This batch gave the most immediately useable results. Their meridians were the easiest to visualise and manipulate, mapping was a child's play and simulations much more accurate. Zax was weary about changing their meridians at first, but mistakes were also easier to see and prevent or fix. Later, it turned out melting didn't affect the infused nanites. They merely went dormant and out of reach, therefore unusable, until the dough was consumed and the helpers were back in a conventional organism. For this reason, the fleshy dough from this batch was only fed to the rest of this batch.

"I don't think you can hide your legs much longer." Migo stated one day.

"Me neither." Zax sighed. "I'm surprised he didn't notice already."

His feet were fully digitigrade, with no more changes for a while now. His body had caught up with his meridians. He had calluses that could be called pads if one stretched the definition a bit. It was strange to see a complete paw without claws, fur or scales, but not uncomfortable. The opposite, really.

I have paws. Hehe.

Zax was still giddy about it.

They were usually hidden by his custom footwear and pants, but not during the practical parts of his activation lessons with Pimp. So far, he had made do by playing with the sheets and the lights. They were close to the end of the syllabus, but there was no illusion it would stay secret this long, and Zax still had no explanation to provide.

Spreading information freely was deeply ingrained in his upbringing. He still knew for a fact he wouldn't, he couldn't give his true research to the Black Market. No matter how trustworthy Pimp proved himself to be. Zax would transmit it directly to the main computer or to the Core, or he would bring the knowledge in his funeral plaque.

His soul whimpered in anguish.

Still no escape plan in sight either. They had compiled a list of who and what to look for or avoid. Guards, places, and hideouts. Resources, maps, food, disguise. Transportation had its own tab. There were a multitude of points to keep in mind, but they had made zero progress in securing any of them. They were firmly in the core of Pimp's territory, with no allies to contact, limited in their movements, their supplies and themselves constantly watched by an irrationally hostile Hip.

Too far from anything to devise anything.

Solving the first obstacle was straightforward; Hip still had inactive nanites in him. It would be simple to make him sick or asleep. No matter how unpleasant he became, Zax refused to downright poison him. Doing so without raising an alarm would be more difficult, but possible. Afterward? They had no idea of what was immediately outside the lab; the few trips they did were in a vehicle at least for the first part. For all they knew, it led right through armed guard training grounds.

Their biggest trump card was Migo's hidden sapience, but there was a limit to how much and how often they could pretend he was got randomly lost outside their assigned area. They couldn't tell if Hip and Pimp were cautious or simply frugal, but all he found was their living space/bedroom. Barely a furniture or a decoration in any other room.

No, they were stuck, and they would stay stuck until something changed drastically. As dreadful as the idea was, Migo's plan to "just improvise as we go" seemed more and more unavoidable and reasonable.

Not yet though, their routine was too set. They would only have a chance if something humongous shook the situation. Nothing short of complete chaos would help them.

Pimp took a long time, but he eventually came back, with an incredible order:

"Get ready, we're going Outside."

"Outside? You don't mean…?" Zax blinked in confusion.

"The one. Your long-term assignment wants to meet you in person." The giant's gaze was unmistakably serious. "It shouldn't last long, but we're leaving the Shelter."

For real? Why?

Wait.

An actual Explorer!?