“…right. I’m sure would’ve had a fine three days if you didn’t strain yourself like the way you did tonight.”

“Maybe,” I said firmly.

“Maybe” Rook scoffed. “If you keep burning throughout the slethe the way you are, eventually the slethe nanites will reject you and won’t be able to use neither your cybernetic arm nor eye, you know that?”

“I’m aware.” I lied.

“When you overextended your last arm, you know you burnt out the data chip that houses your Artificial Assistant right?”

“Of course, I know. You said you can’t retrieve anything because the chip has been burnt asunder.” I said

“Ahh right…we spoke about that…”

“…and no, I don’t want another Artificial Assistant. I want Nova.”

“Artificial Assistants are outdated Cypher for system mitigate. This is the thing right. Your cybernetic arm was an old model, you could’ve changed at any time. The Department of Cybernetics has free upgrades for former AFA soldiers. Why didn’t you just get one?”

“Didn’t care for an upgrade.” I lied, shrugging.

In truth, as much as Nova was an Artificial Assistant, I’d grown fond of her. The DOC offered a newer A.A. and that was something I wasn’t fond of.

You see, Nova may have been a bit glitchy in how she addressed at times, but the other Artificial Assistant I’ve tested felt as though I was talking to a machine, something I didn’t fancy. Nova, he had a charm to her, compared to other AA’s and since I didn’t have Hannah or Shin-Lee with me at times, it was best to stick with familiarity.

“Right…the firmware patch will fix everything. I’ll also install a new OS since you don’t want an Artificial Assistant. Your Cybernetic Eye will have a new HUD, you can adjust the brightness based on the feedback your SMB registers from your natural eye. It will also allow you to shift between X-Ray and Night Vision without minimal feedback from your SMB. Now, in the case of your cybernetic arm, an increase of 0.5% of mobility will be attained, and yes, the feedback from your SMB should be less strenuous in high-stress situations.”

“…and the price of this firmware update?

“There’s no cost Cypher.”

“I don’t believe you. I’ve had an SMB stapled to my skull for years. Each year, it feels like a rat gnawing on my brain, driving me insane. You say the firmware update won’t affect it, but I know better. I know that firmware updates for my cybernetic are always flashed onto my SMB directly.”

Rook’s eyes opened in surprise as if I had spoken a secret. I just shook my head and bit my tongue, trying to relieve myself of the stress that had been swelling in my chest.

“You’ve read my profile…yes?” I asked Rook. He nodded. “Then you know full well I’m no fool. I read everything about my cybernetics down to the screws used on the anti-armour plating. I’d like you to at least be honest with me.”

“I am being honest Cypher.”

“Bullshit…I don’t trust you, nor do I trust Mr Black.”

“Is it because of the tracker?”

“YES! For Christ sake, a tracker’s embedded into this arm you gave me. Hell, you didn’t even give me the firmware update immediately either. Just to watch me suffer from guzzling down slethe shots as you monitored me. What do you all take me for, a fool? Fuck Mr Black and Fuck you, Rook!”

Another puff from the humidifier tingled into my cybernetic ear, killing what silence had been built between me and Rook. The kid had placed his tools on the table after removing the Anti-EMP plating. He huffed a sigh, then placed his right hand on the table.

“I get it.” Rook said. “I get it…but it’s more than that.”

“More than what?” I asked, annoyed.

“Yes…Mr. Black did say don’t give you the updated firmware patch, but he wanted to ensure that the firmware update wouldn’t have forced your SMB into giving you an aneurysm.”

“Hold up…you gave me a Cybernetic arm that increases my SMB output, which could give me an aneurysm?” I asked laughing bitterly.

“It was the thing we could do!”

“Bullshit, you could’ve given me another arm!”

“…would you have taken a civilian-cybernetic?”

…I wouldn’t, I still needed to pay the bills I thought bitterly, “fine, I get it…”

“I don’t think you do Cypher, Mr. Black didn’t want to risk it, so he asked me to wait for when the patch is available…which was last months ago, but you never came in. You’ve felt the additional pressure your SMB has been putting on your brain whenever your slethe is low, yes?”

“Of course, I’ve felt it!”

“Right…this Cybernetic arm you have is a prototype, it was made for the specific purpose that only Mr Black knows. It can’t work without and on top of that the Elicen Battery that has the tracker in it, is the only thing that’ll power it.”

“So I’m a walking a proto-type, that’s what you’re telling me.”

“…yes.”

“Which means, the tracker in the battery is to track the battery as well, not just me.”

“Correct.” The Rook said.

“I never accepted the job he gave me, this shit wasted on me.”

“It doesn’t work that way with Mr Black. If he wants you for a job, you take it.”

“Bullshit,” I growled.

“You’re free to think that, but you’ll see.” Rook said.

The kid picked up another tool and began to slowly work the edges of the EMP-Plating, freeing them, far faster than he did last time. Once the EMP-Plating had been freed, the sombre glow of the vector lines of my arm was shown with the Ecin-Battery pulsing like a heartbeat.

Rook took then got up, flicked the switch at the back of my neck, turning off my cybernetic eye, leaving one available to watch him work.

He then flipped the switch, within my cybernetic arm, shutting off the power completely. The pulsing lights of the arm dimmed, then dissipated. Rook then unclipped the wires from the leads within the pocket and took the battery out.

Next to the lamp on his right, was a small cube, which he twirled within his fingertips before slotting it into my arm, then attached, two of the eight wires to the leads within my arm.

He flipped the switch and the battery began to glow somberly, but yellow instead of green. He got up, fetched an analogue keyboard from the backpack nestled in another chair, attached it to my arm and began typing when the hologram pulsed into existence.

“Good.” He said after a few minutes. “You’re highly compatible.”

“Compatible?”

“Yes, the compatibility rate for cybernetics is 8% throughout the Federation”

“I’ve never heard of that.”

“You aren’t supposed to…I assume that’s why you received your cybernetics after that botched mission.”

“What do you mean? I’ve seen hundreds of soldiers with cybernetics.”

“Yes…but how many do you think to have an Advanced-SMB? Biochips don’t correspond with humans as easy you think. Hell, slethe is such a foreign additive that we add to our body that it could affect our hearts and lungs.”

“You have cybernetics?”

“Yes.”

Rook pulled his left pants leg up, showing a cybernetic leg. The leg was metallic and skeletal in design, with wires snaking around the “bone” and climbing up his thigh. I wasn’t a fan of it. He could’ve at least provided a shin sleeve, I said to myself.

“A bit shaky, dontcha think?” I asked.

“We’re in the Waste…I don’t need it for anything else.”

“I’ll remember that,” I answered.

Rook continued typing away at his keyboard, then stopped at a few minutes. He slouched in his chair and went silent, as he stared at the ceiling.

After waiting fifteen minutes, his keyboard chimed off. Forcing him to correct his posture. He nodded after reading something on his holographic screen, feeling pleased with himself. Then pressed a button on his keyboard.

A tingling sensation ran down my spine, starting from my brain, then ending at my feet. “What the hell was that?” I snarled. “Your SMB sending signals to your brain.”

“I don’t have any slethe!” I hissed.

“Really?” Rook said, pointing towards my pocket.

Shit…I forgot. I fished the slethe nanites from my pocket and slowly turned the tube in my hand, Then I jammed it into my leg, feeling the prick run up my leg.

“It should take an hour to multiple.” Rook said, “in the meantime, let me show you what the arm can do.”

“What do you mean ‘what the arm can do?”

Rook laughed, shaking his head, unplugging and shifting his keyboard to the side. He picked up Ecin-Battery, which now had a sombre blue glow. Then began linking the remaining wires to the leads. Once he was finished, he rested the battery in its pocket and fastened the lid.

He plugged in the keyboard to an auxiliary USB port. I felt a tingle in the form of ants running across my brain as my SMB came alive when my Cybernetic eye pulsed into existence.

“How was it…has the feedback from your SMB lessened somewhat?”

“Yes, it’s not as intense” I admitted, begrudgingly.

“Good…now, initialise!” Rook said slapping his keyboard.

My SMB clutched my brain, sending a sharp pain across my brain, which dissipated as fast as it came. It wasn’t painful…but it felt…different, like a heartbeat instead of a vice grip clutching my brain. It was light, delicate and much better than the whoreshit I’d felt the last few months.