CULLER – REPORT FOR NANITE TRAINING

DO YOU ACCEPT YES/NO?

Mai sighed, accepted YES, and stood. She’d been writing her will. Not that she had much to leave her sister. Just the stuff in their apartment. At least with her death her debts would be wiped. Those were only passed on from parents to children. Not sibling to sibling.

To her surprise, she realised that she was actually excited about this lesson. She’d never been good enough at any of her jobs to receive the sort of nanite upgrades others had even in those mundane jobs. The upgrades she had received from the skills mistress had been better than what she had before, true. Yet, what she had attained here so far was turning out to be so much more than she could have imagined. Now she should be getting upgrades that matched the military, and as far as anyone knew for sure, this was the best there was. Maybe she would even get to learn how the whole nanite process worked since she obviously had neglected that part of her education if the skills mistress could be believed.

The guideline took her in a different direction than normal. It headed away from the open-plan hanger and to a door she hadn’t noticed before. It cycled open and she stepped through into a room with stern-looking bare concrete walls.

Only two other people were in the room. One was a culler, a woman in her mid-fifties who had refused to speak to anyone during their training. Even now she refused to meet Mai’s eyes and studiously ignored her polite greeting.

The other person was wearing a hazmat suit. The helmet had a clear full-face visor, and seeing how young her instructor was a shock for sure. Although appearance of age wasn’t necessarily an indicator of age due to various beauty treatments. Still, if the woman could have once afforded such things, she would have had to fall a long way indeed to end up teaching cullers.

She was white with brown hair and green eyes. On her left cheek was an Imperial tattoo marking her out as a mid-level scientist. Mai couldn’t remember what else it signalled. As usual she hadn’t really paid much attention whilst at school. She only remembered this tattoo because at the time she had thought it was pretty cool.

Strangely, the instructor didn’t have a glyph above her head. There was nothing which let them know who she was. She tried to view her SASS, even though she knew she risked angering the woman. Someone who was part of the instructor cadre was all she got. Nothing else. No SASS.

Just when I think I’ve seen everything; they throw me a curveball. It unsettled her to see someone like this. It broke all of the rules of society that she thought she knew. Her life had taken a massive step away from what she viewed as real life, which was fast becoming a faded memory, very much like the pictures of her parents. And even Li, now she really thought about it. She could still picture her sister, but the edges were blurred. Maybe they’ve put something in the water?

“Cullers. Today is going to be difficult. It might well be painful depending on your experience with nanites. It will most certainly be dangerous. Before we start, Mai Xio, what can you tell me about nanites?”

“Everyone is given them at birth. They allow loyal citizens to become more productive than they would if they hadn’t been granted them.”

The woman stood there, saying nothing.

“Umm,” Mai racked her brain for anything further. She knew the answer, everyone did, but she hated being put on the spot like this. Her brain literally emptied when she was caught unprepared for a question. Another reason she hadn’t done so well in school as she might have. “Oh yes. Nanites take up a lot of energy and so to use them correctly you must continue to fuel them by consuming food.”

“BIO-MASS to be precise. It doesn’t have to be food,” explained the other culler. “You could technically eat a flower, excrement, anything with the correct BIO-MASS and the nanites would be able to use that.”

A picture of mogwais biting chunks out of Andries sprang unbidden into Mai’s mind. There was no way she would be able to eat the flesh of a fellow culler. She thought she was going to vomit.

Bet that bastard, Sharktooth would be more than happy to eat his victims.

“Very good Smith. Anything else?”

“If you eat the wrong sort of BIO-MASS it will make you ill and any energy you might have gained will be lost as the nanites will then have to try and fix you.”

“Correct. And the final thing to remember is that if you’re in enough trouble, you can still use nanites. However, you will then be offering yourself up as the BIO-MASS. I don’t recommend it.”

“Pardon me.” Smith tilted her head quizzically. “But why are you wearing a hazmat suit?”

“As I said, these lessons can be painful and dangerous. Sometimes my students end up spreading BIO-MASS around the room. I’d prefer to not get covered in it.”

Crap! People explode? All of a sudden the bare concrete walls made sense. All of a sudden, Mai was far less keen to participate in the lesson.

“Don’t panic.” The instructor made a calming motion with her hands. Mai met her eyes. “If you follow my instructions to the letter you’ll be fine. It will still hurt if you haven’t used nanites before, but you shouldn’t explode.”

Mai nodded jerkily. Could she read minds?

“There’s one other thing to remember. Skills. Whether your skills are active or passive, they’re still using nanites. However, those only affect your reflexes, speed of movement and so the amount of BIO-MASS required is insignificant. Today we’ll be shaping your body into the tools you require.”

Mai raised her hand and waited for the instructor to give her a nod.

“Is this how my friends were able to make their hands into weapons back in the sewers?”

“Yes, I expect that they had been given NANO TRANSFORMATION due to their experience. Did you form anything that became part of yourself?”

Mai shook her head, “No, I formed armour and hazmat suits, but I appreciate that’s really just manipulating the clothing I already wear using nanites. It depleted my BIO-MASS but was never actually part of me.”

“I assume you also had templates for tools?” asked the instructor.

“Yes. We formed them from templates. My survival staff was one per cent BIO-MASS.”

“There we have it. Perfect example. Template formations create things such as the staff from the BIO-MASS in your body. However, they don’t become part of you, even though you can then re-absorb them when not using them. What we're going to do is form weapons that are part of you.”

A dummy grew out of the floor in front of them. It was a simple thing with target rings marking vulnerable places on its body.

“Every culler is given a knife to use if they are unable to find enough BIO-MASS to shape the weapons they need. You’re going to shape a knife, and then use it to stab the dummy.”

FORM A NANO-KNIFE

DO YOU ACCEPT YES/NO?

Mai accepted and then looked at the instructor expectantly.

The woman walked over to her and lifted her hand. “First, I’m going to unlock your nanites. Most workers have to wait years before they’re given this opportunity, just as you asked before.”

She quickly formed her index finger into a needle, suit and all. The change was so fast that Mai barely had time to register what had happened before the instructor plunged the needle into her neck.

DAMAGE! @0.1%

As Smith sniggered, Mai clapped a hand to her neck, mouth opening in shock. The room spun and something moved deep inside her. It was as if her soul was changing. Dots floated across her vision and sweat sprung from every pore on her body.

One second she felt as though her blood was boiling, the next as if it had turned to ice. Her left foot felt as though it was stuck to the floor, whilst the right felt as if it would float to the ceiling when she lifted it.

“Apologies,” the woman didn’t sound too apologetic, “but it’s best to just have done with this quickly. Smith, come here.”

Mai could barely focus as the woman injected Smith. Seeing her fellow culler suffering just as she was, was cold comfort.

Gradually, Mai’s body returned to normal.

“That was fucking awful,” she whispered. Smith grunted. It was unclear whether it was in agreement or just because she was still suffering.

“Now, on to the lesson,” the scientist stood before her. “Make your fingers straight and stiff, like a martial arts knife hand. Now, I want you to see that hand changing into a blade with a spear-tip.”

Mai looked at her hand, actually squinting with the effort as she tried to make her hand look like a knife in her mind’s eye. Nothing. She continued trying to form the weapon as instructed, straining so hard that sweat ran down from her forehead. After five minutes she was trembling from the effort. Why is this so hard? In the sewers I was able to make my staff so easily, so why is this eluding me?

“Don’t worry,” the woman reassured Mai, gently laying a hand on her arm. “Have a rest. Smith. Your turn.”

Smith was just as unsuccessful. Mai was impressed at her colourful vocabulary as she vented her frustration.

“The harder you try, the more difficult it can become. Relax into the blade. Xio. Try again. Whilst thinking of a knife, try to not think of a knife. You’ll just confuse your nanites as they’ll see a knife and create a physical knife. Think, but don’t think.”

The woman’s a bloody zen priest!

Looking at her hand, Mai took a deep breath and held it until she felt certain her lungs were going to burst. As she blew the air out, she pictured her hand changing into a knife.

“Fuck!” she screamed. It felt as though her hand had been thrust deep into a fire. Dropping to her knees she clutched at it and screamed again as even more pain erupted in her other hand. The pain far outstripped what she was accustomed to when using templates to make things.

NANO-BLADE FORMED LESSON COMPLETE

NANITES – 2% DEPLETION

NEW SKILL NANO-TRANSFORMATION

Nano Transformation

Every member of society has been blessed by the Emperor's gift of nanites. Gifted in vitro, they allow productive members of society to become ever more productive in whatever role they choose for life, but only after they have been activated by a specialist.

“Well done! Oh, very well done!” cheered the instructor, clapping her hands.

Looking down, Mai saw that not only had she formed her right hand into a blade, but that it was so sharp it had sliced the palm of her other hand open when she grabbed at it.

“Marvellous technique. I shall have to remember that one” the woman said, her mouth quirked as she pointedly stared at the blood dripping from Mai’s hand. Mai said nothing and tried to pretend as if the cut didn’t hurt. “Smith. Give it a go please.”

Smith managed to not scream, but the pain still drove her to her knees.

“Does it hurt like this every time?” asked Mai as she struggled back to her feet.

“Not as badly as this. Lessons are usually taken at a much slower pace. However, we don’t have the luxury of time and so we push our students harder and faster. As this is the first time you’ve physically changed your body, the pain is considerably worse.”

Makes sense, explains why Fat John wasn’t forced to his knees with crippling pain during the fight against the Urbexers, thought Mai.

“Thanks for the warning,” Mai muttered.

“It would have made the experience no less painful,” replied the instructor, “and anticipating such pain would have made the process take longer. It’s best to just let students find out such things for themselves.”

“I hate this place,” snarled Smith. Her blade was a wicked-looking thing. Whereas Mai’s was a simple Bowie-type blade, Smith’s had spikes and curls projecting from it. Mai’s was a stabbing weapon. Smith’s was a tearing and ripping weapon.

I do not want to be on the end of that! What kind of fucking psycho creates something like that? The look on Smith’s face as she twisted her hand back and forth, taking in every detail of the knife was answer enough.

“Well, you chose to be a culler. You can’t blame anyone but yourself for that choice.” The instructor’s voice took on a cool tone.

“Some choice,” snapped Smith. “I lost social standing because I wouldn’t kowtow to my boss.”

It was an age-old story. People in positions of power naturally had more karma than anyone else and so bullies were able to absorb any potential karma loss better than those below them.

“Sorry about that. You don’t deserve to be here.” Mai hadn’t even realised she’d spoken until the other two both looked over at her.

This place is really changing me. The old Mai couldn’t have cared less about another culler’s past life. Now, she was surprised to know that she actually had a modicum of anger at the predicament Smith was in.

“You don’t think I fucking know that?” Smith sneered, jabbing her knife towards Mai.

And with that, any sympathy Mai had for Smith was gone.

“We’ll try something different now. Take a finger and try to change it into a screwdriver. Flat or cross-head. Doesn’t matter.”

Looking at her normal hand, Mai concentrated on shaping her index finger as instructed. She held her breath again and the finger changed as soon as she released it. This time there was considerably less pain than the first time. Is the reduction of pain because the screwdriver is so much smaller, or for a different reason?

“Nanites are like muscles. The more you exercise them, the more they get used to being exercised. As a result they will respond quicker each time until they’re essentially changing at the speed of thought.”

BIOMASS - 97%

“So we can essentially change parts of our body into anything we need to survive?”

“Indeed. So long as you have enough nanites to do so. The larger changes, like the one we’re going to practice later will still hurt. You’ll just get used to the pain.”

Mai didn’t like the sound of that. She’d hoped that they’d be able to form the tools and weapons they needed without having to suffer each time they did so.

She couldn’t think why anyone would want to do their job so well that they’d accept the constant pain required to do it. Maybe she could in the case of soldiers, but in her old cleaning job her supervisor had been able to shape his hands into tools, even create a mask at the blink of an eye one time when there had been a chemical spill. She hadn’t realised it had hurt him each time. Unless she was still missing something, because the screwdriver had hurt a whole lot less. So maybe size and or complexity played into the pain? She decided she would just have to experience it herself.

“Take your nano-knife and play with the dummy. Smith, there’s another just behind you.”

Mai faced up to her dummy. Lifting her blade she looked closer at it. The edge was finer than anything she’d seen, and the blade had four fullers. Looking closer she realised the fullers were where the gaps in her fingers would normally be.

It felt odd to not actually be holding a knife. She tried a few practice cuts, getting used to how having a weapon actually attached to her affected how she could stab, slash and chop.

Smith grunted each time she struck her dummy. It was a bestial noise, full of anger and hatred. Mai wondered whether the true reason Smith was here was because she’d done away with her boss and reached a Culling station before the authorities could arrest her.

“Good. I think you’ve both got the idea as to how to stab someone to death with your hand. Now, look at your retinal monitors. You’ll see a small “n”. That’s your nanite menu. Call it up”

Mai did so and gasped as a menu sprang into life. Option after option presented itself and she blink-clicked on the close-combat, bladed weapons options.

Celestial faeces! Weapon after weapon was displayed, each with an image of what it would look like as well as a cost in nanites.

KNIFE

THROWING KNIFE – 0.5%

BOWIE KNIFE – 2%

PUNCH KNIFE – 0.5%

SURVIVAL KNIFE – 1%

AXE

TOMAHAWK – 1.5%

WOOD – 2%

UTILITY – 2.5%

WAR – 3%

SWORD

GREAT SWORD – 5%

CLAYMORE – 3%

ZWEIHANDER – 5%

JIAN – 3%

LONGSWORD – 3%

BROADSWORD – 3%

RAPIER – 2.5%

EPEE – 1.5%

SABRE – 2%

SMALLSWORD – 1.5%

ARMING SWORD – 2%

MORTUARY SWORD – 2%

The list was extensive, there was far too much to go through right then. She blinked it closed again. This is just like my templates menu, yet so much more. She focused back on the instructor with what must have been a shocked look.

“I can tell from the looks on your faces that you’re impressed with the weapons you can form. I suggest you take the time to learn how to navigate the menu quickly. For now, select RANGED, FIREARMS, SHOTGUNS.”

“Now we’re talking,” chuckled Smith. She really seemed to be enjoying the lesson. Mai on the other hand, was distinctly uncomfortable at the idea of using her body to make tools. Especially tools such as throwing knives. She was literally going to be throwing pieces of herself at other people. And now, when she came to think of it, any gun she formed would do exactly the same thing. Each and every bullet would be formed from her BIO-MASS reserves. If she had no BIO-MASS reserves left, then she’d be shooting literal pieces of herself into other people.

This is a real mind fuck! The room spun for a moment as she tried to parse just what she was going to be expected to do. Forming from a template was as if instead of having to carry around each tool in a never-ending backpack, she could just form and re-absorb them at will. But this was different. Her body was going to be the tool. Her body was going to be the weapon. Form a knife, plunge it into someone else. The intimacy of such a thing was shocking.

“Mai, please do as instructed,” the woman said whilst Smith snickered.

Doing as she was told, Mai blink-clicked her way through the menu and selected a shotgun. It was a pump-action, meaning that she’d have to use both hands to use it, but she liked the look of it. Out of all the firearms they’d been trained in, shotguns were her favourite. With a massive punch, and a spread of shot that didn’t require too much accuracy, they were exceedingly effective at close range. And, from what she’d seen in the training, it was expected that most culls would be made at close range. Something she really didn’t relish.

The pain as she formed it was intense, stars exploding before her eyes. Yeah, I think it has to do with what we form as far as the level of pain goes, she thought as she pushed through the unexpected pain level.

BIO-MASS 88%

“Interesting choice,” snarked Smith. Mai looked over at Smith’s weapon. It was in direct contrast to the woman’s earlier attempt at making a knife. Sleek, coated in chrome, it was a single-barrel design projecting from just below the woman’s elbow. A crescent-shaped blade hung beneath the barrel.

“Shiny,” taunted Mai. Smith’s eyes narrowed. Shiny was both a descriptor and slang. As slang it could either mean good or bad depending on the speaker’s tone. Mai had kept hers deliberately neutral.

“I don’t like you,” Smith sneered, pointing her barrel at Mai. “I hope we meet in the arena.”

“Enough!” the instructor’s artificially enhanced voice filled the room, driving both of the cullers to their knees with the force. “Smith. Threats, implied or otherwise will not be tolerated. I will cull you if I need to.”

Turrets suddenly rose from the floor, targeting lasers appearing on Smith’s chest and forehead.

“Are we clear?” asked the instructor.

“Perfectly,” Smith leered in Mai’s direction as she answered the instructor. Apparently the weapons didn’t faze her one jot.

Mai sighed. Yet again her smart mouth had got her into trouble and made an enemy.

“Excellent. Now then. Shotguns, and guns in general, are nothing more than clubs if you don’t have projectiles. Those projectiles will also be formed by nanites in your body. There’s a menu for shotgun shells. Just pick the birdshot one please.”

Mai blink-clicked her way through the menu again, mentally cursing at how slow the process appeared to be. Just as she was about to select the birdshot she noticed a small flag to the far right of the menu and blink-clicked it.

BIRDSHOT BOOK MARKED

Smith was cursing to herself. Still blink-clicking her way through the menu. Smiling, Mai kept her discovery to herself. She knew now why the instructor had advised them to practice outside of lessons.

There’s probably any number of ways to quick-select weapons. She decided that she’d be spending most of the night picking the tools and weapons she most liked the look of and working out how she could form them at will rather than scrolling through a menu each time.

“Now, all you have to do is think of the ammunition you’ve chosen, and it will form. Everything, the shot, even the propellant, will be created by the nanites.”

Mai concentrated, using the picture the menu had given her to shape the ammunition. There was a twinge, more like a muscle twitch than actual pain, and she felt the shotgun shell form inside her weapon arm. Yep, pain level has to be related to size and complexity.

“Xio, you’re going to have to pump the action in order to load. I suggest you go for a different model next time. You’ll be able to shoot faster.”

Mai raised her arm and pumped the slide, grinning as she did so. “Agreed. But damn if that isn’t a satisfying noise.”

Still holding onto her arm, she lowered it and took aim. “We fire with a thought?”

“Precisely that. You should already have a shotgun skill. If you activate it, it will assist with your accuracy.”

Mai activated her SHOTGUN skill. When it was passive it enabled her to use a shotgun, as well as name all the parts should she be unable to form one and actually have to use a non-nanite version. Every-day, mundane stuff. When active, a reticle appeared on her retina and she was able to specifically target weak spots, target boxes marking where she should aim for maximum efficiency.

BOOM! She practically jumped out of her skin as the shotgun fired, the noise filling the small room. Having only fired them on the open range, she hadn’t expected her ears to be left ringing. Dust and filling flew from the dummy as the birdshot tore into it.

HIT! 30% DAMAGE

Man, I bloody love shotguns! Granted, they didn’t fire as quickly as SMGs, but their single-shot damage more than made up for it.

Whilst an SMG was also good for suppressing targets, shotguns often caused their victims to stagger. Which meant that the shooter could get another shot off whilst they tried to recover. If the STAGGERED effect was applied again, it gave the shooter the chance at another unopposed shot.

Keep hitting, keep staggering them, keep them unable to fire at me, she thought as she fired time and time again.