3G: the Glowing Green Goo

Zax could feel Aran and SG's meridians as clearly as if they were physically touching. Their profiles had started as they joined and were completed before he was done retelling his last few days. He couldn't tell how long it took, but it felt particularly short for all he had to say. He copied all their skills, of course. Guilt-free too, they had given their consent with the mundane skills.

He copied those too, along with what he could of his original programs that he hadn't recuperated after the experiment.

Finally, he copied some of his own skills in their own profile. Everything he had about environmental resistance. [Radiation resistance] and [Thermal regulation] were first on the list, followed by different kinds of [Metal processing], which according to cafeteria conversations he had heard, were a serious issue everywhere Outside. Toxic air, food laced with heavy metals… He didn't prioritise them, in case their situation pushed in another direction, but they would have an easier time developing them.

He didn't warn them, as it would require telling them about the cellborgs and what they could do. He kept this part hidden, but he shared his concerns about using them.

They had dealings with the Black Market during their adventures. They confirmed the higher ranks of the Shelter were as corrupted as the rest, especially the further away from the Main Computer's reach they went.

However, both sides had their share of decent people, and they all needed to play nice in front of the Main Computer. It still regulated the distribution of 3G.

Something can be done.

"If it's that awesome, giving it to the Black Market is the last thing you should do."

"Pretend it's from your own mutation or something, and make them pay a lot to use it."

"Dictate your own conditions."

"Demonstrate how awesome it is, make them want it hard, then paywall them even harder."

"But make sure they know only you can do it and that they can't force you."

"Which mean make sure only you can do it and they can't force you."

Their opinion was less radical than Migo's, even SG's, but they were still firmly negative. They didn't try to orient his choice or to offer reassurances, Zax noted. They gave their own personal experiences and, more importantly, practical advices. Solid ideas, he would do well to keep in mind.

Food for thought.

Days passed. True to form, Migo was helping, though more often than not he was sent with the Explorers. Pimp's orders. Zax still didn't understand this hostility, but the horned man denied everything in block.

Zax slowly but steadily completed his profiles and learnt more about the cellborgs. The more skills he copied, the more he realised how obsolete and wrong the mutant classification actually was. It had always seemed arbitrary, a choice had to be made to sort people, but now it was obvious those choices had been made to create a hierarchy between people, not to objectively classify their changes or abilities.

For fun, he set himself to [Learn] the skills he copied, in a specific order. Nothing special. A lesson plan made on a whim. General improvements and a specific shape he wouldn't mind getting closer to. The new option appeared only on the new skills he copied in his profile that weren't manifested yet. Logically, they should tell his next activation what to do when it happened. If it happened.

He had searched for it long and hard, but he found no option to activate himself. The option [Force activation] existed in other profiles, but not his. He didn't dare try it.

Maybe I can hijack someone else's activation?

It would fit. First with Aran's shock, then with Migo's cure, it seemed to be a recurring theme. The cellborgs should tell him when someone's activation was coming, so it wouldn't have to rely on luck at least.

He had found he could move infused 3G between targets via their storage page, just above the activation switch. Shocking, but not unexpected at this point. Even more shocking was the amount most Explorers had in store. He garnished his storage, some stolen units during his experimentation, most earned by gambling. Thousand units had felt like a fortune not that long ago, but it was pocket change now.

On a less personal note, he was more and more integrated with the Heartbeat's Explorers. He and Migo were invited to their meals, their games, their cocktails, their personal lives in general. It took a moment to sink in, but he was even accepted in ways Pimp wasn't. It wasn't subtle either; his boss was actively kept at arm's length. They had polite conversations, but only small talk or broad topics. They didn't touch as often outside their sessions. Purely professional relationships.

It was a jarring contrast. The bulky man was usually quite touchy with customers.

The little green man tried to breach the topic, but it was always brushed aside.

Eventually all the customers in the list had went and come. There was only one name left, and it was a doozy.

Zweikora-zon. The Big Boss of the Heartbeat.

Zax had heard a lot from Explorers, but she was still shrouded in mystery. The only confirmed information was that her name meant "Two Hearts", she was from the Arya Family oscillating between tortoise and turtle forms, and she knew how to manage her people. Her rewards were as longed for as her punishments were dreaded.

Turtle and tortoise didn't seem so different, but they were, at a fundamental level. At any level of mutation, amphibious mutants were rare. Rarer than purely aquatic mutants. It made her the only link between the surface and whoever lived inside the lake their activity was built around. The whole point of the Heartbeat was to trade goods between the two environments, which made Zweikora-zon the most irreplaceable part of the Heartbeat. Without her, the whole place would shut down until a suitable replacement was found; possibly for years, probably forever.

The former dotter, used to streamlined systems made to outlive their components, had taken a long time to wrap his head around the idea.

The lake itself and its inhabitants were another mystery. The water was highly acidic and opaque. Acid or chemical resistance was a common skill among local Explorers, but it was only enough to handle the occasional accidental splash or short dive. Most were in the dark, and those in the know didn't share.

Part of what they exported required a resource from the lake, and the lake required some of their unique resources too. "For the same reason" was the obvious speculation, but the secrecy made it a breeding ground for conspiracies. Explorers made their fun how they could.

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Zax hadn't expected the big boss to let him examine her body, but she practically demanded it. Staying professional had never been so difficult; Zax slipped more than a few times. It was… quite the experience. She didn't mind the nanites either. She even seemed amused at the idea they could damage her.

She was casual, but seriously assertive. She knew who and what she was, and she expected immediate compliance from everyone. Rightfully so, certainly, but it was different to experience it first-hand. Most intimidating.

Guess being immune against radiations, extreme temperatures and acid that give others nightmare will do that.

She bounced his questions with her own. It was conversational, but she queried about his hobbies, his family, his education, his past in general. Her questions were clearly directed too; she was constructing her own model of who he was in the same way he was piecing together how her body worked. She was surprised he never activated in the normal way, but she took it in stride better than most and quickly followed with appropriate questions.

You can't be a high-level Explorer with mutation alone.

He had heard this saying a few times recently, but it had never made sense to him. Now it did, she was a different beast regardless of her mutations.

She was the first who asked about him since his kidnapping. It may not be the best idea, but he answered truthfully. Pimp had expressly never asked about his past, but he hadn't instructed to hide it either. Plus, something told Zax she had cleared it with his boss.

Nothing came out of it, so Zax put it and his disappointment at her indifference out of his mind. He didn't expect a highly advanced mutant to try and right wrongs anymore, but it still hurt to see one of his childhood heroes ignore his ordeal and the blatant corruption of their home. His home, at least.

Soon enough, he was too busy to keep it in mind. The prestation she had bought included Pimp, Hip and even Zax, for an undefined duration. "Until the customer gets too tired or bored" was the description. It was their priciest offer, thought it rarely meant "several days in a row".

Her preferences included being at least half-submerged and a natural setting. Whether it was the cause or the consequence or her mutation was debatable. At least she didn't care about the water's temperature. She wouldn't feel it until it near boiled or froze, so they could keep it to their preferences. Silver lining.

Their solution to satisfy her demands was simple and elegant. Their experience showed, especially Hip's. They made a giant aquarium, covered everything with wooden planks, the sides with wood and stones, part of the bottom with sand and the rest with fast-growing moss. Surprisingly comfortable under the feet. Zax had never seen or stepped in a natural pond, but when they were done it looked similar to the ones in medias and the artificial ones in parks.

The days of prestation were physically and mentally taxing, but the smaller man found a way to stay grounded and motivated. Physical contact was naturally near constant and way deeper than usual, and the water and moss made a constant connection to all the others, even if quite weakened at times. Profile scan had never been so fast.

Fortunate, as all three advanced mutants had quite an array of skills. Even Hip, whose rare but seemingly simple mutation was actually one of the most complex skill set he had seen so far. Even Pimp's skills were faster to read. The conditions were the most favourable Zax could imagine for scans, but progress was frustratingly slow. It motivated Zax to participate as much as he could in their activities, in order to maximise contact. His gusto surprised Pimp, but he was quick to use it and adapt.

It was close, but Zax managed to copy all three complete profiles. Zweikora-zon was, as expected, the most complex. Not only were the skills complex and took time to read, but they called out to each other. Support, hindrance, signal for another to advance… Zax had to re-work his classification a few times, but he did it, which led to a new type: Meta-skills.

Every skill affected the body, so they inevitably affected each other in some way. It was only natural. Some skills were required to make others possible, to give a solid foundation and build on each other. Zax's own mutated chlorophyl was such an example, it required another mutation to make him produce normal chlorophyl in the first place.

Meta-skills were different; they only affected other skills, not the body. Anyone or anything with chlorophyl could have it mutate directly, without the preliminary mutation or skill. Meta-skills didn't relate to attributes or body parts, they could not exist without other skills, and all the skills they related to had to be scanned before they could be.

In Zweikora-zon's case, it seemed to be the defining trait of the Arya Family.

[Sliding Profiles (2): Allows the target to express a pre-defined skillset at the exclusion of another. Can currently balance between two (2) skillset.]

Skillset A: [Define]

Skillset B: [Define]

Applicable to target

Related skills: N/A (Skillset A to define) (Skillset B to define)

Related attributes: N/A (Skillset A to define) (Skillset B to define)]

In the case of the reptilian woman, each profile included skills changing her to the landlocked or aquatic version of herself, but not the skills making her reptilian in the first place.

How do they define the profiles without interface?

Zax's nanites flagged something; Zweikora-zon could only be at ease when both profiles were at ease simultaneously. This realisation made her way easier to please and increased Zax's contact time.

Interestingly, there was no mention of a conscious control over this skill. Every skill pushed their set forward, and the most pushed profile had its skills more expressed, reducing their push until a balance was reached naturally. They most likely figured the conditions to move this balance with trial and error, with the more advanced mutants having more skills per profile, probably with a more finnicky tipping point.

No wonder Arya Explorers are so scarce.

Once the skill was scanned, Zax had the option to redefine the profiles. Zweikora-zon was lucky she ended the prestation less than three seconds after he completed her profile, because he had never been as tempted to do something stupid to see what would happen.

She left the pond with a satisfied spring in her steps, leaving the three exhausted people trying to catch their breath. There was a reason she went last. They rested a while, drained and unmade the tank and got rid of the filter's unspeakable gunk.

When they were done, it was time for the guests to leave. They went to Zweikora-zon's office to officialise their departure, but Pimp and Hip kept glancing at each other and avoiding his eyes. Zax had Migo join them as they walked. Something was happening, and he had no clue what.

He found out.

After the "peapod incident" as they called it, Zweikora-zon wanted him. Her instinct told her whatever he had done was more than it appeared. She had already discussed price and payment with Pimp.

Zax felt a bitter taste in his mouth. He had no say in the matter. He wasn't asked; he was told what would happen next. He had forgotten again, but he was still the Black Market's property.

And now the Explorer's, apparently. Even knowing they relationship with the Black Market, he would've never thought they indulged in such practice.

"We don't." His new colleagues defended. "By joining our teams, your past is totally erased."

"You're granted a new identity, totally legit and official."

"With a hefty salary and official employment contract."

"There are opportunities you won't meet anywhere else."

"You'll be protected and out of the reach of whoever had you taken in the first place." Zweikora-zon concluded.

It wasn't stated as such, but it was implied to be his best shot at finding and punishing the responsible ones, if he so desired.

Migo had a choice, at least. Or rather, Zax could chose if Migo would stay with him or go back with Pimp. The hooved man could use him but didn't care to; it would be a difficult path. Zweikora-zon had kept the option open in case he was important for Zax's experiences.

Zax let the wolf decide, to the surprise of the advanced mutants. They discussed the pros and cons as they could, but they didn't have much time. In the end, the wolfman decided to go back to the Shelter. With Zax out here, it would be his best shot at revenge.

And that simply, Zax was left behind again. Only this time, it didn't feel like he was falling behind. It felt like progressing with his friends, in another direction.

A new name. A new home. A new direction.

New friends. New foes.

New paths. New obstacles.

It was merely the first step.

The first step of the life of Zackariah.

THE END