Ryan awoke slowly, his mind filled with cotton. After a few moments spent clearing his eyes, the Titan realized he wasn't in his room. Clean white tile floors and beige walls greeted Ryan as he looked around, a patient's gown on his body.

At first confused, the events of the previous night rushed back to Ryan all at once. The memories of all the pain, emotional and physical, overwhelmed the giant for a few moments and left him misty-eyed.

I'm probably in the clinic's Recovery Room. Does that mean it worked?

Unable to see himself beneath the gown and bedsheet, Ryan performed a test. The giant carefully began to twist his torso, almost like he was trying to pop his back. When he felt no pain or tight grinding, Ryan's heart started to beat wildly in his chest.

As Ryan sucked in huge lungfuls of air, he felt nothing. Excitement and joy crashed through the Titan as he began to thrash in his hospital bed, every movement delighting him.

It doesn't hurt!

That one thought silenced all others. Ryan sat up in bed and curled up, something he hadn't done since he was a child. Tears traced paths down the giant's face, at first slowly and then pouring out of him.

In the privacy of the Recovery Room, Ryan cried quietly.

Eventually, when Ryan came back to himself, he shifted his feet off the hospital bed. It was only as he prepared to stand up that the Titan realized his feet didn't hang off the end of the bed.

The clinic had exactly one Titan-sized bed for their giant patient to use.

Ryan shifted his weight onto his legs and struggled to stand. Every instinct in his body told him to hunch his back to avoid causing more pain.

The giant ignored those instincts and continued to straighten his back until he stood fully upright, resting his hand on the wall for support.

In his first few steps, Ryan stumbled and nearly fell. When the giant walked, even using the wall for support, his body wanted to walk with a pronounced limp. Besides the limp, Ryan felt like he was farther from the ground now.

Just as Ryan got to the bathroom door, the Recovery Room door slid open, and Dr. Kroner walked in.

For a moment, they stared at each other.

"You know, I really expected you to need some Physical Therapy to start walking, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised." Dr. Kroner chuckled at the giant as he walked into the room and pulled out the standard rolling stool doctors always have.

"Go ahead and get cleaned up, then we'll talk." Dr. Kroner shooed the Titan into the bathroom. In the meantime, the doctor sat at an AR terminal near the door.

Inside, Ryan relieved himself and washed his face. There weren't any clothes for the Titan to change into, so once he finished up, he carefully walked out and back over to the bed.

Once Ryan was seated, Dr. Kroner addressed him.

"First and foremost, congratulations. Although no one can ever know how we did it, the R.N.R. was a success." The doctor continued to explain that many of his balancing muscles were atrophied. "Even though you managed to walk without Physical Therapy, you will need guided training to reach a normal state."

"Are there any potential drawbacks from the procedure?" Ryan wasn't concerned with finding a trainer since he owned Musculo. Although he never saw income from the company, the Titan did have unlimited access to the amenities.

"The nanites are small enough to rest inside your cells, with a great deal of them already committed to your organs, bones, and muscles. Unless your body develops some auto-immune response to their presence, I think you'll be fine." The nanites were designed to give off electrical signals mimicking the body's natural hormones.

"You will need to take a supplement once a day to "feed" the nanites, which we will provide at no further cost. The only other side-effect will be your diet. Eat, eat a lot, and eat some more. The nanites need raw materials to work with."

The doctor also added that Ryan possessed double the normal amount of nanites.

"Once you can, if you truly push yourself, then you'll become a true monster. Because," Dr. Kroner stressed the word, "Your Titan Heart, your Rage, was activated during the treatment."

"Even though we didn't have time to analyze all the information, the nanites will have that time. They didn't just read your normal genetic code. They also read your "activated" genetic code." Dr. Kroner shook his head ruefully at Ryan, "Honestly, there's no telling what you'll be capable of. Last night made medical history."

Dr. Kroner explained that there was an unintentional division within the nanites themselves. The first round mapped Ryan's normal genetic sequence, while the second vat mapped his activated sequence.

"It's entirely possible that the second set of nanites will become active alongside your Rage, enhancing you in ways never-before-seen."

Ryan nodded along as the doctor began his patient discharge paperwork. He warned the Titan that although the paperwork was getting filled out, that the giant should spend a few more hours in the Recovery Room.

The doctor had taken the liberty of contacting Ryan's various teachers, so he was already cleared not to attend his classes that day.

"I'll have someone bring a change of clothes to your room. Try to lie down, okay?"

Ryan nodded, although he was thinking of doing the opposite.

Dr. Kroner hesitated before he added, "Your father would be proud of you, Orion. I don't think there are many Titans who would have survived, even with their Rage." The doctor decided that the giant didn't need to know how close his heart came to exploding.

If it weren't for the nano-weave already built around the organ, it might have exploded anyway.

Ryan hunched his shoulders on the bed and sighed, "You shouldn't use that name, Dr. Kroner. It will only get you in trouble." No one was supposed to know Ryan's real name. Even with just the first name, if the watch program caught the doctor or his team saying it on camera, they would suffer.

Last night was a last-ditch effort not to die. Otherwise, Ryan would never put someone else on his brother's radar.

Besides, after going by Ryan for so long, my real name sounds wrong. Ryan wondered if there might come a day when his real name felt right.

For now, it's not my name.

Dr. Kroner opened his mouth, shut it, and smiled sadly at Ryan before leaving the room.

*****

The doctor was true to his word. An orderly came to the Recovery Room shortly after and delivered a new set of clothes to Ryan.

They were a simple set of grey sweatpants and a pullover, but they fit. Ryan's own black shoes were returned to him, mercifully cleaned of blood. Unfortunately, the lab coat was a lost cause, so Ryan would need to get a new one.

It was around one in the afternoon when Ryan was left to his own devices. Per the doctor's request, Ryan spent the next four hours in the Recovery Room.

With nothing to do except experiment with his body, Ryan started some light stretches while he surfed Frontier Online's forum.

None of his friends got back to Ryan after his message last night, so the Titan busied himself looking at the top post on the forum.

[I'm Already Level 37!! (Not Really)]

[WTF Were the Devs Thinking? This Game is Broken]

[The "Testers Guild": Initial Stats Summary]

Ryan blinked at the radically different titles, nonplussed. The Titan suspected the content of the top post, but he opened it to confirm.

[I'm Already Level 37!! (Not Really)]

[KillRay: So I had this weird feeling ever since the launch announcement, and I'm sure I wasn't the only one. Monte talked like classes barely mattered. I've created and discovered around five abilities so far, but that wasn't all he was talking about!

Have you Discovered Feats?

It was just a hunch, but my friend and I decided to give ourselves an insurmountable task. We fought a monster five levels higher than us at level 3. The two of us prepared traps in advance, and I taunted an [Bear] into the rogue's traps.

Together the two of us poked it from a safe distance with spears until it died. The experience was sweet, even split between the two of us. We each received 623Exp from the kill, 20% of the way to level 4!

However, that's the boring part.

The two of us received a [Rare Teamwork Feat]. We were the second party to kill a monster five levels higher than us.

Check it out:

Rare Feat! The Harder They Fall

Congratulations! You are the second group of divers to defeat an enemy 5 levels above you. Like a mouse taking down an elephant, you proved that size does not matter! Rewards have been modified based on slain enemies.

· +5 Constitution

· +5 Strength

· +5 Free Points

· (Teamwork Feat)

Since then, we started hunting for "Feats" and have achieved several. It cost us leveling speed when we were hoping to keep up with the top players, but it was worth it!

Check out my Character Sheet:

Name

KillRay

Level

5

2540/9378

Race

Human

Class

Fame

50

Infamy

0

Health

600 (13/s)

Mana

200 (6/s)

Stamina

100 (13/s)

Free Points

0

Strength

65

Intelligence

20

Dexterity

60

Wisdom

20

Constitution

70

Charisma

10

Luck

0

Will

9

Skills: Hidden

Passives: Hidden

Feats: Hidden

I don't want to show my full hand (sorry), but look at my stats! And the first feat I got, it said we were the second group!

Unlike some people, I'm not afraid to help out the common joe!]

Ryan chuckled as he read the end of the post. The Titan suspected it part of the way through, but the end confirmed that the real purpose of the post was to get online clout. The guy was an attention seeker.

However, KillRay's posts still gained over twenty million clicks since it was posted.

Commenters underneath the post were divided into a few groups.

The first group, of which Ryan was a part, admired the poster for what they achieved but dithered about the grab at fame.

The second group was far more radical than the first. They were outraged that the posted feat said "second," implying that the feats were limited in quality, number, or both. These people pinged the moderators constantly, disputing uneven access to the feats.

The last group was a bunch of whiners demanding that everyone received a feat when someone got one. Otherwise, it was unfair. They wanted the original poster to show their skills and feats and explain how they got them so they could grab them too.

Ryan laughed at their childishness. Although, it did give him an idea about how to make some money in the game.

The Titan moved to the second place post.

[WTF Were the Devs Thinking? This Game is Broken]

[Sequester: The title says it all. What did Mon-Tech think when they released this game?

First and foremost, when I got into the game, I couldn't walk! Not just me, but thousands of "divers" could not stand up when we landed in the game!

I don't know about anyone else, but I died while still trying to stand up! The first thing I did in [Frontier Online] was taking a FIVE-HOUR TIMEOUT!!!!

Fine, whatever, bad luck, am I right?

F*cking Wrong!

When I finally manage to get a combat skill, [Broad Swing], I thought I would finally hold my own against the starter monsters. Boy, was I wrong.

Activating the skill was a waste of stamina. I missed it completely! There is no guidance system in this stupid game! I knew "how" to use the skill, but that's just to turn the damn thing on!

I, for one, feel like if I wanted to get my ass handed to me in a fight, I could just go walking around at night in the real world.

Is this even a game?]

Ryan sighed after he finished reading the second post. Although he understood the frustration with walking at the start and early death, the giant felt like this person was playing the wrong game.

What they are asking for is an automatic skill. Hit a button and watch your fireball hit the target every time, that sort of thing.

Ryan shook his head. Maybe it came down to a difference in taste, but Ryan wouldn't enjoy a click-and-watch-it-happen type of game. The abilities in Frontier Online felt more real than any of that immersion-breaking nonsense.

The giant glanced at the comment section before he ignored it. Even a cursory glance showed nothing but like-minded people. Either those who wanted automatic skills and combat to be easier or those who experienced the "walking" issue at the start of the game.

Finally, Ryan opened the third post.

[The "Testers Guild": Initial Stats Summary]

[Testicleez: As is tradition, whenever a new MMO comes out with ambiguous rules, we, the "Testers Guild," unravel the mystery behind the game's stats!

In [Frontier Online], the diver starts with 10 points in each of the main stats:

Strength

Dexterity

Constitution

Intelligence

Wisdom

Charm

This is the standard setup for most Fantasy-type MMOs. The Testers have gone through each ability and quantified the base stats and what they mean. The video attached to this post details the testing and results.

Here is the summary:

Strength: 10 Points in Strength allows the diver to lift 11.33Kg., or 25lb., at arms-length without consuming stamina. Lack of Stamina Consumption is considered "effortless" actions.

We conclude that each point of Strength adds 1.13Kg., or 2.5Lb., of lifting force at arms-length. (Tested at 10, 15, 20, and 25 points in Strength) The tests to confirm acting force are not included in the initial summary.

At this time, we are uncertain how Strength affects damage output.

Dexterity: 10 Points in Dexterity increases attack speed at an estimated rate of 2% per point. (Tested at 10, 15, 20, and 25 points in Dexterity) Attack speed values are further modified by the diver's equipped weapons (or lack of). The attack speed values for the weapon weights are not included in the initial summary.

Dexterity seems to augment movement speed at a rate of .5% per point in Dexterity. Tests were performed at the same stat values listed above. At 10 Points, a diver can "effortlessly" sprint 36.5 meters, the classic "40-Yard Dash", in 10 seconds.

If the diver redoubles their efforts, they begin to Consume Stamina but can shorten the sprint to around five seconds (results vary depending on the diver). At 20 points in Dexterity, the same divers crossed 40.2 meters in the same span of time while "effortlessly" running. An increase of 10% compared to base stats.

Damage stats are not complete.

Constitution: 10 Points in Constitution yields 100 points of health. Every point in Con increases health points by 10.

Stamina Regeneration tests for physical stats not included in the initial summary.

Defense effectiveness and Constitution's effect are not included in the initial summary.

Wisdom: 10 Points in Wisdom award 100 points of Mana. Every point in Wisdom increases the Mana Pool by 10.

Mana Regeneration Stats not included in the initial summary.

Information on Intelligence and Charisma not included in the initial summary.

Further testing is required to determine if the base 10 stats are included or ignored in calculations. When testing Dexterity, there was a "jump" in movement speed after the first Point is added to Dex. This may mean that certain stats include locked modifiers until the diver commits to them.

Contact the Testers Guild to purchase more detailed information.]

Ryan proceeded to watch the testing videos supplied by the guild. As a scientist, Ryan admired how thorough the guild was. He envied their position, able to sell information for a premium. It wasn't impossible to figure it out independently, but people with money liked to spend it.

The Testers Guild fit into a neat little niche within the online sphere. Officially considered a Neutral Guild, messing with them was off-limits, punishable by everyone else.

After all, even the information they offered for free was helpful.

*****

Ryan continued to browse the forums until it was five in the afternoon. While he waited, the Titan remembered that Ronny helped him the previous night, and he last saw him sleeping in the clinic's lobby.

When Ryan used the intercom to ask someone, he was informed that Ronny left early in the morning, leaving a message that the teen would probably see him at home.

The giant was relieved that Ronny wasn't waiting around and felt guilty for forgetting about him.

When the Titan was officially discharged from the clinic, Dr. Kroner reminded one last time to eat a lot before they offered to get him a cab.

Ryan turned them down. He wanted to walk back to his home. Since he stilled sported a pronounced limp, the clinic provided a medical cane for him to use.

The giant would have to return it before the end of the month, but hopefully, he would stop needing it before too long.

Ryan relished the walk back to the elevators and down to Level One. The clinic wasn't far from Ryan's side of the city, so the public elevator dropped him near his home.

The whole time he walked, Ryan marveled at the lack of pain in his back. The Titan often twisted his arm behind him just to feel the smooth curve of his spine. The sensation was alien to the giant.

When Ryan reached his apartment, Ronny was nowhere to be seen, but that didn't bother Ryan. The giant waved his Com-Ring in front of the access panel and stepped into his room.

"Lights." Ryan changed his normal behavior and commanded the recessed lights to turn on. When they flickered on, they revealed the full disaster in Ryan's room.

Whoever Monte sent to deliver the capsule gave zero f*cks, apparently.

What little remained standing when Ryan initially left now leaned against the wall. A large swathe cut through the destruction, highlighting the dried blood all over the floor.

In their effort to exchange the capsule, Mon-Tech's delivery team shoved all of Ryan's belongings out of the way, making the mess in his room bigger.

The Titan slowly walked into the room, letting the door slide shut behind him. Memories of the previous night replayed in Ryan's head as he walked to the experimental capsule sitting in his room.

Unlike his original, the new capsule was black instead of grey. The same clean, blue lines of lights lined the device at its hinges. Differing from the original design, the new capsule was bulkier around the base. On the top half of the device were what looked like armored plates.

Outside of those few details, little changed about the device. As Ryan stood in front of it, the machine released a hiss and automatically opened on its invisible hinge.

Ryan hesitated to get in. The new capsule looked fantastic, but the giant doubted he would get to keep it for long if he didn't sign Monte's contract.

But it doesn't matter. I need Frontier Online to pay back my debt.

Ryan swallowed the rock in his throat and lifted the sweatshirt over his head, letting it drop to the floor as he reveled in the painless experience.

Time to get to work.