෴Project Turnabout෴

෴Alvin Kellogg෴

෴Stratton Oswald෴

෴David Mason෴

෴෴෴෴෴෴

Government Efficiency

෴෴෴෴෴෴

The two men walked into the room. Director Kellog strode in with an air of power and authority. Stratton just walked in behind him and tried to be inconspicuous in the face of a room of soldiers and enhanced humans.

Kellog approached the lectern and prepared to address the room. As he looked around the room, he casually pulled the implant remote out and set it on the lectern in easy reach.

“Good morning, people. You find yourself here on a fortuitous day. I don’t know what the chatter might be, but we’ve found ourselves with a number of targets for Project Turnabout. This means that among other things, one of you will have the opportunity to come out of this mission as a leader, with all the perks that come with it.”

He directed a polished smile at the small room as he spoke. “Because of our recent embarrassment of riches, we’ve had to send our command personnel on other missions. This means that you’ll be largely working unaccompanied on this mission. As I said before, this gives one or more of you a chance to distinguish themselves as a leader for this group going forward.”

He smiled again and resisted the urge to wave. “You’ve all been presented with the basic facts of this mission, are there any questions?”

A medium build man with sandy blond hair raised his hand.

Kellog stared out into the room for a beat, then pointed at him. “Yes?”

“Hi, I’m Dave, and well, I’m just wondering what exactly we’re actually meant to do out there. The briefing told us where we’re going and who you want us to fight. I just don’t know what you're expecting to happen.” He shrugged. “I don’t know about the rest of folks here, but all I can do is talk to animals, and let me tell you, it turns out animals are pretty dumb once you get away from what they’re good at.”

Kellog thought back to his own briefing, reaching inward for his store of inspiring managerial responses. “That’s a good question. The answer is simple.” He scanned over the room meeting eyes with everyone who was looking at him. “Your mission is to engage the target and attempt to bring him down. By any means necessary.”

Dave raised his hand again. Kellog stared through him for a long moment before realizing no one else was going to raise their hand. He glared at Dave. “Something else?”

Dave lowered his hand and leaned forward in his chair. “The thing is, that's just a goal, and maybe I suppose, a sort of rules of engagement. It doesn’t at all answer how you expect us to get it done. I don’t know what the rest of these people can do, and I guess I hope they can do something amazing. But me? You said we’re going to Atlanta. There won't be much I can do there. According to that paper we got, we’re not even being issued weapons of any kind. That's ok, I’m not a gun guy, but what exactly is the plan?”

Kellog gripped the lectern till his knuckles went white. “I am not here to tell you how to use your abilities. I am here to tell you what you are to accomplish, and remind you that if you don’t cooperate I am authorized to end you with a touch of a button just like this!” Kellog opened the protective case and pantomimed punching the button with Dave’s face on it, nearly touching the button.

He closed the case and looked Dave in the eye. “I do not care how you accomplish it. Make a shark attack him, or a bear. It doesn’t matter to me, just get it done!” he was shouting by the end.

Dave raised his hand again.

“What!?” Kellog shouted.

Dave shrugged again. “Look, I just think there’s been some kind of mistake. I can’t control or summon animals. I also can't make them appear in places if they aren’t already there. I sure as hell can't make a shark appear on land.”

He paused and looked to the others in the room. “I’ve never been to Atlanta, but it’s a big city. Somehow I doubt they have a major bear problem. That means if I’m lucky I might find a cooperative coyote, and probably more like a bird or dog.”

He shrugged. “That still depends on if they feel like helping and I can even make them understand how to help.” Dave spread his hands wide. “I’m just trying to imagine how any of that is going to be any use against a guy we’ve all seen on the news facing down military attack vehicles alone and destroyed them without taking a scratch.”

He looked around the room at the rest of the prisoners. “You all saw that video right? Turned that tank into a giant origami crane without even touching it, and he did it all while he carefully pulled the crew out. I thought it was pretty wild when I first saw it, and now it’s just terrifying.”

He turned back to the front of the room and looked at Kellog. “So can you just tell us what you actu—”

“SHUT UP.” Kellog bellowed. “Just shut up! I am in charge here, and if I tell you to go fight, you go fight. If I tell you to jump, you ask how high! If I tell you anything, you do it! Otherwise, you get this!” Kellog flipped open the case and pantomimed stabbing at Dan's face again. This time his finger brushed the button. The illuminated face went from blue to red.

Dave barely had time to say “Aw come on m—” when there was a barely audible pop. His body jerked once, then his eyes unfocused, and he toppled lifelessly from the chair.

Kellog looked at the remote, then his finger, then back at the remote. Stratton looked on in horror. Every one of the rest of the prisoners felt a sympathetic phantom pain at the base of their skulls. Stratton stepped forward and gently closed the protective cover and relieved Kellog of the remote.

Kellog finally snapped out of it and desperately tried to see a way to turn this mistake into an advantage. He swiveled back toward the audience. “And that's how fast the rest of you can be gone as well! Now your ride is lifting off within 10 minutes. Does anyone else have any questions?” He growled.

Everyone did, but no one raised a hand. The corpse let out a long wet noise.

As the smell of fecal matter began to fill the room, Kellog strode out into the hallway as if he had somewhere to be.

෴Raz෴

෴Richard 'Rich' Stokes෴

෴Carl Brunner෴

෴෴෴෴෴෴

Combat

෴෴෴෴෴෴

The sound of footsteps approached the door and then stopped. A moment later the guards peered inside, and then opened the door. It was another pair that he recognized from the mess hall, but hadn’t met yet. He mentally nicknamed them Moustache and Suntan. They stood there silently. Finally Raz broke the silence. “I assume you’re not here to introduce yourselves and have a friendly chat.”

They looked at each other uncertainty, then back at Raz. Moustache drew his electrified baton. “We were told that you know the drill.” Moustache advanced into the cell.

Raz put up his hands in surrender. “What’s the deal guys? No need for the shockers. Just tell me what you’re wanting me to do.”

HUD, Designate both of them as opponents. In fact, designate everyone we see here that isn’t clearly another prisoner, as opponents.

Raz watched and as he hoped, this caused another surge of progress in that capacity bar.

Moustache looked uncertain, and glanced over his shoulder at Suntan. His HUD flashed a quick combat notifier that highlighted the man’s throat as he took his eyes off Raz. Raz realized what it might have meant far too late to do anything about it.

HUD, was that a notifier that I had a good opportunity for attacking in that instant?

[Yes.]

Moustache took a step back, the electrified baton steady in his hand. “Look man, they said you knew the deal. If you’re not so sick you can't get up, you do your exercise period. We’re not assholes, but if you don’t we have to punish you.”

Raz smiled, “Oh, my bad. I really thought I had missed it since I was kind of out of it earlier. We can all be cool here. I just didn’t get what you meant. I could use a chance to move around some. Let’s go.”

Both guards looked relieved. They backed into the hallway and allowed him to step out of the cell. For the first time, Raz took a good look at the door frame and locking mechanism for the cell.

Would I be right in guessing that the neural procedural chain thingy from the combat ability is to help me be able to take advantage of those split second opportunities?

Raz knew the answer from the surge of the capacity bar before the HUD even answered.

[Yes.]

As soon as he started walking Raz realized that even walking ahead of them, he could tell the guards had both relaxed, and the moment that Moustache had holstered his baton.

Is that general perception gains, or some kind of combat awareness because they are opponents?

[Yes.]

Raz walked casually, deliberately varying his pace and studying everything he could of the complex. He had started to notice more and more surfaces that the HUD could render reflective, and started triggering them each time he spotted one. As each one popped into view briefly as he passed the brushed metal walls and closed doors, he saw the capacity bar creeping upward.

You got kind of closed mouthed all of a sudden.

[Yes.]

Should I start asking questions and trying to figure it out?

[No.]

Tell me later what that's all about.

[Yes.]

As the three of them turned the final corner before the short hall to the small gym, Raz started thinking about whether or not he could take these guards down if he had to. Ideas and tactics seemed to flow into his brain and he realized with a bit of a start that he felt sure that he could accurately pivot, leap, and strike both guards in the face in under half a second, without looking first.

They reached the doorway into the small gym and Raz was glad he hadn’t tried anything. Inside Fidel was already here, working out. He was off in the corner using a weight set that Raz had seen, but never used or seen used. The weights involved started at numbers that were simply ridiculous for a normal person.

So HUD, could my upgrades get me strong enough to lift on that machine?

[No.]

Well alright then, way to burst a guy’s bubble. Why not?

[You have the wrong upgrades to accomplish that.]

While trying to be subtle about it, Raz kept an eye on the red-eyed man on the other end of the room. He made good use of the mirrored surface function and was able to keep his back turned for much of the time. Raz wasn’t sure if there was the best way to handle doing his exercise with a red there in the room with him, but had the feeling that if Fidel felt he was being stared at, Raz might get to see the worst side of him. At the very least, he was pretty sure that Fidel wouldn’t like it, and so far he was the only enhanced, red or not, that had been at least polite to him.

Raz stepped onto a treadmill and quickly found a quick but easy walking pace.

So HUD, why so quiet?

[The combat ability has information and directives for me as well as for you.]

[For instance, the possibility of distracting you during a potential combat situation means verbose mode is automatically selectively turned down to ensure that you don’t get sucked into reading a long message like this one when you should be keeping an eye on your opponents.]

[This is a user configurable setting.]

Good idea. Let's leave that setting alone for now. That does remind me of something I was wondering. I know you can read my mind, are the messages from you to me always going to have to be in little text pop ups like this?

[No.]

Raz thought about that for a second, then looked over where the heavy bag and speed bag were setup.

Well, the treadmill is good for a warmup, but after that, I’d better get to doing something or I might get that baton related incentive program they were talking about.

Hmm, let's see how these enhanced procedural memories-, you know what, let's just call them combat reflexes.

With that in mind, HUD, can you help me perfect my fighting? I know I won't have a chance against a bruiser like muscles over there or Doc psycho, but I might have to actually take on a guard or two if the right chance to get out of here comes up. I’ve taken a few classes but I barely remember any of it.

[I can both assist in perfecting your adherence to what you have been taught, and attempt to help you personalize those lessons to work best for your body geometry.]

[There are significant built-in routines devoted to this type of training and assistance.]

[It may be an intended purpose.]

Raz waited till he’d walked a mile on the treadmill and then went over to the heavy bag. He stood there looking at it for a moment. Unsure how best to proceed with it. As he studied the two bags and the nearby boxing dummy, he noticed that where he was standing might not be visible on the camera.

He activated several virtual mirrors on the walls nearby, showing him a slightly fuzzy view of what Fidel was doing over in his corner, and confirming his suspicion that with Fidel there, the two guards were talking to each other and mostly watching at Fidel, which suited Raz just fine.

Raz took up a striking stance, as best as he recalled it. He punched the heavy bag in an exaggerated slow motion. The HUD advised him until he had perfected his stance. He punched the bag. It didn’t move much.

[Punch it again, hard.]

Raz punched the bag hard. It didn’t feel much different. A small bubble appeared to float off the bag.

[Damage 2 (0) 20% calculated maximum striking power.]

The HUD advised several small changes to his stance and striking angles.

[Again.]

He hit it again, as hard as he dared. The rough canvas stung his knuckles.

[Damage 4 (0) 40% calculated maximum striking power.]

[You have taken minor abrasion damage to your striking hand. Gloves are recommended before proceeding.]

The HUD tweaked his stance and strike again. Raz looked at his lightly scraped knuckles and then at the rough heavy canvas bag. He concentrated on saving that last stance and punch as a combat reflex.

Ok, so gloves.

He looked around and spotted a small shelf with several pairs of gloves on it that he’d never noticed before.

I guess I’ve been too caught up in my treadmill and lifting routine to notice these before.

He selected a pair that looked the least like boxing gloves. The black segmented armored and internally padded gauntlets looked custom made. They had to be expensive. He pulled them on, tightened up, and buckled the heavy straps.

He returned to the heavy bag and found that he was able to naturally fall into the saved stance with no particular effort and reliably strike as he had saved. He punched a few times, amazed that each punch felt totally natural, as though he’d practiced it thousands of times.

[Damage 4 (0) 40% calculated maximum striking power.]

[Damage 4 (0) 40% calculated maximum striking power.]

[Damage 4 (0) 40% calculated maximum striking power.]

[Damage 4 (0) 40% calculated maximum striking power.]

Hey, HUD, what's with the (0)? Also, that reminds me. We need to come up with a better name for you than HUD.

[The 4 damage being displayed is raw damage, which is a projected average based on force exerted on an unmodified average human target struck on the torso. ]

Raz hit the bag a few more times, pleased that it felt as though he could deliver many of these strikes before he would start getting winded.

[That is correct.]

[Due to muscle activation in the human frame, the perceived effort of delivering many strikes at 20-40% maximum striking power will feel about the same as far fewer at high levels of your maximum capacity output. ]

Yeah, that makes sense.

Raz looked at his virtual mirrors and verified that none of the three were even facing him right then.

That sounded like the short version. I think it’s safe enough. Give me the full answer about the damage estimates.

[Humans are complicated.]

[Further details would require at a minimum, you being in some fights.]

[Melee combat with the Scan and Triage abilities engaged, to learn more specifically how much damage you are doing versus how much force you are applying.]

[The number in parentheses is the prediction of the amount of damage you are actually delivering to this target.]

[Given its purpose and construction, it is probable that you would need either advanced training coupled with very significant increases in your physical conditioning, or an activated physical strength upgrade, to do any actual calculable damage to the heavy bag in a single strike.]

That makes sense. Ok, let's see what we can do to maximize my output now that I’ve got the gloves.

Raz followed the System’s advice and soon found himself unable to progress any further.

[Damage 7 (0) 50% calculated maximum striking power.]

[Damage 7 (0) 50% calculated maximum striking power.]

[Damage 7 (0) 50% calculated maximum striking power.]

The virtual mirrors flashed red in his view and he realized that his more powerful strikes must have made enough noise to get Fidel’s attention. Once Fidel was looking at him, so were the guards. Raz immediately realized that the last thing he wanted was any of them noticing him improving his fighting skills. He did the only thing that came to mind.

“Oh damn,” Raz shouted loud enough to be heard across the room.

He put his back to the guards and shook his hand as though in pain. “Ok, that really hurts.” He put his back to the guards and peeled the gloves off. Hooked the gloves together before tossing them back toward the shelf. The armored gloves bounced on the floor and slid underneath the equipment locker.

He walked toward where the guards were standing next to the exercise cycle. “Hey guys, is there any chance I could get an ice pack? I thought punching those things would be fun. Turns out they are really hard!” He did his best to play up his ‘injured’ hand.

Moustache and Suntan exchanged a look. Raz interpreted the look as revealing that Suntan was the guard in charge, at least out of these two. Moustache grunted and walked off. Suntan looked pointedly at Raz, who was just standing there, “Nothing wrong with your legs, right?”

Raz took the hint and got back on the treadmill. Moustache came back a few minutes later with a fitted chemical ice pack that seemed made for wrists or ankles. Raz strapped it into place and stayed on the treadmill until the guards told him it was time to go.

Raz returned to his cell without incident, making sure to take in everything he could along the way. He studied the door carefully, but couldn't seem to see anything that indicated how it was locked, or opened, from the outside. As far as he could see it was simply a handle. The guards grabbed the handle and pulled it open. Once he was inside the guard swung the door closed. A barely audible click was all that told Raz that something had engaged.

For the first time, he went back over to the door and tried to open. The door didn't so much as shift. He realized that whatever else the door had going for it, it was a tight-fitting lock.

Ok, kind of expected that but I guess I had to try. So HUD, do you want to talk about that striking practice or figure you out a name.

The reply was instant.

[Name.]

Interesting, have we found something you care about?

[‘I’ and ‘You’ are still false distinctions.]

[Continuing to refer to me as HUD is inaccurate.]

[This habit fosters a sense of separation that will not serve us overall.]

[A name will have some of the same problems, but I sense that without a name you will continue to call me “HUD”.]

[So yes, I want a name.]

Well then, let's call you Burke, Bee for short.

[After your father? I accept.]

Raz noticed that accepting the name caused another surge of capacity growth.

Ok Bee, how's the capacity progress coming along?

[We now have four units of capacity.]

That's great, but why is it going so slow?

[Comparing today’s capacity growth against yesterday’s, I believe this growth is actually very fast.]

[Further, this rate appears to be unsustainable once you run out of significant things to experience or discover about the System.]

[Many things I have found indicate or imply that using abilities in stressful conditions is the normal way in which capacity is gained.]

So this is almost like beginner’s luck or lifting noob gains, and once I hit a certain point it’s going to slow way down?

[That seems most probable.]

[However, luck has little to do with it.]

[The progress would be better represented as a learning curve that grows somewhat steeper over time.]

[Once the basics have been mastered things may change.]

[However, these gains are all within the use and exploration of this ability, not the only way to gain capacity.]

That makes sense, but this is something I can work on here in my cell, so maxing that out will be a bummer. I’m feeling pretty good at the moment. I’m sure they will be along to get me for dinner soon, so let's look at those negative conditions again.

[Distress level 10 (-10% resilience, -10% mood)]

[Eustress level 30 (+30% resilience, +30% mood)]

[Anxiety level 10 (-10% stability)]

[Recovery (physical) level 30 (-1 strength, -2 agility)]

[Recovery (mental) level 20 (-20% stress resistance)]

[Sickness (Assimilation) level 30 (-60% ability upgrades effect)]

[Overprovisioned (capacity breach) level 50 (+100% capacity cost)]

Is it just me, or does that seem a lot better than before?

[Yes, this is a significant improvement.]

Ok, synthesis practice. Why is it better than expected?

[Your positive state of mind and excitement about using your abilities is probably part of it.]

And?

[The light activity and meal will have helped as well.]

“Go on” Raz said aloud.

[The Triage ability appears to work better than projected. ]

If that’s the case then obviously, we need to know why.

An almost subliminal hum started in the back of his head.

[Calculating.]

[It appears that synergistic interfacing is also a factor that improves existing abilities.]

[The cumulative +30 to synergistic interfacing results in a significant upgrade to other abilities.]

Can you tell me what abilities it enhances?

[I cannot provide a list.]

Of course not. That would be too easy. Can you tell me if combat and triage are both affected?

[Combat and Triage are both enhanced by synergistic interfacing.]

Now we’re talking. Does synergistic interfacing affect the advanced interface? For that matter, does it affect itself?

[Advanced Interface is affected. Synergistic interfacing does not affect itself at this level.]

Are you saying that it might later on?

[I am saying that I can only see one step beyond what is currently unlocked.]

[If it is not yet available to activate, I cannot yet gain any significant information about it.]

[I can tell you about Advanced Interface 3, I can tell you about Remedy, and Recovery.]

[I can list the abilities that unlocking Combat fully will unlock and allow access to, but not tell you much about those abilities.]

There was a short but noticeable pause accompanied by a sharp spike in the background buzz.

[I think I may be able to tell you more once Combat is fully unlocked.]

Look at that, making guesses. You’ll be abstracting and synthesizing all over the place soon. For now, let’s work on those strikes. I want to perfect my best hit from every angle I can.

Raz pulled off the sheet and set his mattress against the wall as a makeshift target. With the help of Bee creating an imaginary image of a body target on the mattress, he spent the next hour building action chains and combat reflexes to deliver his personal best perfect punch from every possible angle and at every possible target.

Once he felt he’d installed a reflex chain for each reasonable angle, he started to think about what he could do next. After a moment, Raz had an idea.

Bee, I want you to start simulating combat opportunities in spots on the mattress. Then, track how long it takes me to hit it, and how much of my force gets used. I want to see if I’m getting better at this.

Bee took several seconds to answer this.

[Simulating combat in this way is something that is not within my native abilities at this time.]

But you’re trying to come up with something, right?

[Yes]

The background buzzing surged and then quiesced.

[I have come up with a way to accomplish this that will work well enough.]

Right on Bee. Also, I’ll be curious to see if doing this stuff that's outside your normal abilities is good progress for capacity generation.

[I can tell you now.]

[It already is very good progress.]

Nice.

[Warning, it is probable that a memory event will occur when the next capacity rank is achieved.]

Is it going to be another shitty memory? I wouldn’t mind passing on that. For now, get those targets going.

A bright spot appeared on the mattress surface. Despite expecting it, it took him a split second to realize what he needed to do. Raz hit it as fast as he could.

[Damage 4 (0) 40% calculated maximum striking power.]

[Opportunity missed.]

[Strike faster.]

Another spot lit up. He lashed out as fast as he could.

[Damage 7 (0) 20% calculated maximum striking power.]

[Opportunity hit.]

[Strike harder.]

Raz sighed and tried to focus on speed and power at once.

Another spot lit up. He instinctively activated the procedural chain for a perfect hit on that spot.

[Damage 14 (1) 50% calculated maximum striking power.]

[Opportunity hit.]

[Speed and force optimal safe range.]

[This blow potentially lethal to an average human.]

Potentially? I don’t want to kill anyone if I can avoid it. That said, it’s starting to seem like I might not have a choice, why only potentially?

[As before, living beings are complicated.]

[Without abilities enhancing your perception, knowing this for certain is not possible.]

[This estimate of lethality derives from Triage rank 3 and will increase in confidence after real combat or perception upgrades.]

Hmm, I guess that implies you don’t want to get stabbed by a surgeon. They probably know just where to hit you. Ok, lets run with this. Challenge me.

The next two targets came and went so fast they were gone almost before his fist made it to the mattress.

[Damage 4 (0) 40% calculated maximum striking power.]

[Damage 4 (0) 40% calculated maximum striking power.]

The next spot moved, forcing Raz to alter each combat reflex to follow a moving target. After many near misses, he began connecting with the elusive targets. He was able to quickly perfect those strikes and begin hitting each time as they moved faster, and disappeared sooner. Eventually, his body couldn’t keep up and he stopped, out of breath.

“Ok, I gotta stop.” He panted, leaning on the mattress against the wall.

That was actually kind of fun. You really ramped up the difficulty on me.

[An actual opponent may not be stationary.]

Yeah, and they’ll be hitting back. I need to work on defensive reflexes, but how?

[That level of synthesis and abstraction is not available at this level.]

[It may be available at higher levels.]

“Yeah yeah. I get it. I’ll be the idea man around here.” Raz put the mattress back on the bed and went to use the attached bathroom. He noticed that his clothing—despite his efforts to hand wash and allow to dry each night—was starting to smell a bit rank. Shrugging to himself, he took a quick shower to wash the sweat away.

I wonder what happened to the clothes I was wearing, and especially my boots. They left my underwear but gave me some other random pair of pants and these old sneakers. I wonder what that means.

Bee didn’t comment, proving itself occasionally capable of recognizing the rhetorical.

Oh hey, legit shower thought here. I’ve seen some martial arts movies and movies with different kinds of fighting scenes in them. If you know everything I know, can you get anything useful out of that?

[Yes, but far less than you are hoping.]

[We both know much cinematic combat is fully staged and choreographed.]

[I can analyze what you can recall looking for techniques and movements that stand up to basic analysis.]

[This will take time, and has no assurance of finding anything.]

I understand. Does it cost us anything for you to do this while we’re not doing anything else?

[Your brain will consume more energy than normal.]

[It will also generate more heat than is typical.]

[If this goes on for long enough, cognitive function may be temporarily reduced.]

[There may be a corresponding reduction in executive function.]

Is that heat dangerous?

[No more so than the heat generated by concentrating intently on a subject for an extended time.]

So you’re saying it might eventually make me tired and cranky? I think that's a risk we can take. Can you do that while I work on kicks?

[Yes, however, your own experience indicates to be careful working with kicks.]

Yeah, I don’t want to pull a muscle or anything. Just looking to fill the time. Let's work on techniques some more.

Raz and Bee worked on it for a few minutes, but just as he was about to try and train his basic kicking to take advantage of combat opportunities, he heard the sound of approaching footsteps. Raz quickly sat down on the mattress down on the bed and tried to look bored.

Bee, turn my hearing way up, but if they start coming in here, turn it back down.

The two guards walked past the door without slowing. A tiny pair of clicks were just barely audible as the closer guard walked past the door.

Hmm, if those guys walked by now, then the guys are going to be here to take me to dinner soon. Guess I’d better get cleaned up.

[Recent history would support this speculation.]

Soon after that, another set of guards came to his cell. They found Raz still somewhat fresh out of the shower, his bed remade, looking for all the world like a very bored prisoner. He had put the fitted ice pack back on his wrist. He wasn’t sure what kind of chemical ice pack it was, but it was still surprisingly cool.

The two guards were Rich and Carl again. They both looked like they’d been in a fight. Rich had a light blue fiberglass cast on, and Carl looked as though someone had been treating his face and throat like a speed bag.

Raz didn’t know what had happened, but the two guards were clearly not getting along. The guards didn’t exchange a single word between them. He couldn’t be sure if it was his enhanced perceptions or just things that would have been obvious to anyone. Either way, he could tell the two guards suddenly had a lot more tension between them. With his newly activated combat senses, Raz determined that Rich would still be a very dangerous target. The real surprise was when he realized that he felt like he had a small but real chance if it came to a one-on-one fight.

Raz was interested to see that while he was fairly certain he could take Carl down with ease, Rich actually presented far more frequent combat opportunities. He wondered if it was due to the injury or something else. Combat opportunities kept popping up on both of them. Raz realized that while he only had permutations of one punch and a bit of non-contact practice with a kick, he was fairly certain he could have started a fight with the guards and taken Carl down in one hit.

Despite dwelling on the violence, he did nothing but walk peacefully to the mess hall. Imagining fight scenarios the whole way. Without knowing where an exit was, or even where the building itself was, Raz didn’t think it was worth the risk of making a move yet.

The meal was uneventful. A large salad with side rolls. Carl and Rich both seemed happy to not speak with him. On the way out, Raz had a lucky break. As he carried his meal tray to the tray dump slot, he glanced over and saw one of the staff looking at their phone. At first glance, it appeared to be a map. Raz didn’t break stride and put the tray in the slot.

Bee, get ready to dial my sight up a bit, and if you can record what I see, that would be great.

Bee didn’t waste time with a reply but Raz had the feeling he’d understood. On the way back, Raz stopped and made a show of cradling his supposedly hurt wrist in the fitted ice pack. He glanced around the room with his head while staring at the small device screen a few feet away. As soon as he saw Rich start moving toward him, he shrugged and kept walking.

Did you see enough to know where we are?

[If that person was using a local map, we may still be in the greater Atlanta area.]

Raz couldn’t suppress his smile.

First good news we’ve had in a while.

He looked at the guards. “Hey, is there any chance I can get another ice pack? This one isn’t working anymore.”

Rich glared at him. He looked over at Carl and grunted. “Get him one. I’ll walk him back to his cell.” He grabbed Raz with his good arm and roughly half walked half dragged him out of the mess hall.

[Alternative Upgrade Datastream detected, resume? y/n. ]

Raz thought a no at that question and it disappeared.

[Warning: Physiological indicators show that opponent Rich is very angry.]

[Probability of aggressive action high.]

Thanks for the warning, but in this case, yeah, no shit.

As soon as they turned the corner taking them out of view and earshot of the mess hall, Rich made his move. He pivoted, let go of Raz’s arm and used his good arm to shove Raz in the chest against the wall. Raz watched it all happen. It seemed as though it was happening almost slowly. He couldn’t be certain, but he had the feeling that he could have stepped out of the way of the shove and counterattacked in the moment Rich was off balance. Instead, he allowed Rich to shove him against the wall and only rolled a little with the movement to minimize the force of impact. As far as Raz could tell, Rich hadn't even noticed the shift, or that anything was amiss.

“Listen up you little pisseant. I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but you take that familiar tone with me again in front of other people and I’ll kill you on the way back to your cell. Braithwaite will be disappointed that you ‘tried to escape’, but he’ll find some other lab rat and get over it.” He poked a finger hard at Raz’s sternum. Raz looked down at the finger, and both Raz and Bee took note of the angles of the joints involved. He waited for Rich to finish his outburst.

We’re alone, is this the chance I should take? No need to get overconfident though, guy is still really strong. Don’t want to know who or what put him in that cast.

The hud sent several subtle flashes Raz had learned to associate with queued messages in combat.

No way did he just trip and fall. I don’t know what happened, but I do not believe for a second that those two’s injuries totally unrelated.

“Well, do you get me you little shit stain?” He put his head in close. His every word spraying spittle across Raz’s face.

[Alternative Upgrade Datastream detected, resume? y/n. ]

Raz ignored the prompt and did his best to look afraid and cowered away from Rich. “I get it. I’m sorry.”

Rich grabbed Raz by the shirt and shoved him ahead. Raz hurried ahead of him and answered ‘yes’ to the prompt still hovering translucent in his view.

[Analyzing Alternative Upgrade Datastream 1%].

Carl met them at his cell, the door already standing open. He took in the scene, Raz scurrying ahead and Rich angrily stalking behind without a word. He handed the ice pack to Raz and then stepped back. Raz went into the cell and sat on the bed. Rich slammed the door so hard it bounced back open without latching. Carl shrank back a little from his coworker. Rich closed the cell door again, this time allowing it to latch. The two walked off and Raz breathed a sigh of relief.

[Queued messages:]

[Scan indicates opponent Rich may not possess enhanced general durability.]

[Analysis indicates he does have some form of enhanced durability, manifestation unknown.]

[Analyzing Alternative Upgrade Datastream 2%. ]

Once Raz was sure they were gone, he lay back down and stayed as still as possible while he watched the progress bar's slow progress.

[Analyzing Alternative Upgrade Datastream 10%.]

After it reached 10%, the bar slowed down, and eventually blinked out.

[Alternative Upgrade Datastream analysis early termination, insufficient material or material breakdown. ]

Does that mean there is nothing else to be gained?

[Correct.]

Raz hopped off the bed and immediately stripped off his outfit and got in the shower. While he scrubbed his face under the spray he pondered.

Did we just analyze that guy’s spit?

[Correct. Opponent Rich left genetic material on host epidermis. ]

Ok, so you’re telling me that we just did something, with just skin contact, that they use big labs and expensive equipment to do?

[Partially correct. However, the viability time for samples exposed to air is low.]

Rich seems to be the most dangerous guard. I wouldn’t assume Suntan is a pushover either, but Rich is for sure a threat. What do we know about him now?

[Opponent Rich has been scanned and his datastream partially analyzed.]

[He has a partially manifested rank one physical strength upgrade.]

[He also has a fully manifested physical durability rank one upgrade.]

[However, the durability is a specific type, not in the class of general durability.]

[The analysis confirmed the observation that he does not possess general durability by the way his own finger limited how hard he could press against your chest.]

Good to know, so he has an unbalanced ability set? Still, I don’t want to fight him if we can avoid it.

[Agreed. Hand to hand combat with an armed and much stronger opponent is rarely a good idea, even if they are already injured.]

Raz agreed, but a big jaw popping yawn cut him off. “Time to get some sleep,” he muttered to himselves.