As I walked along the route that Phil's map specified I should follow, I largely ignored the dilapidated buildings, the pock-marked and abandoned road surfaces which were now being overrun with natural vegetation, and focused much of my attention instead on my notifications.

Absent-mindedly, I tied my gloves to the waistband of my hospital slacks that I'd woken up in, realising for the first time that I was dragging around a set of clothing that was now far too large for my now ripped, lean frame. I was thankful I had not complained about the waistband being far too tight at the time I went under, because that was now barely holding my slacks up around my far smaller waist, but the lower legs, no longer having anywhere near as much horizontal girth to contain, were now a trip hazard I had to watch out for.

Why had Phil not commented on my state of dress, beyond the need to obtain clothing? I was puzzled about the reason for a moment.

Focus, Rick!

I opened up my notifications in my mind, and selected the mental health trigger that had been popped up before.

System Information: Mental health trigger 74a.

Subject 42.

When a mental health condition is met, such as a conflicted state of mind regarding a given situation, and that condition may trigger a mental instability in the near or far future, a condition-trigger is activated by the nanomachine cluster your body currently contains.

Your trigger was because you questioned the nature of the nanomachines attempts to moderate your fear stimulus and panic response. This is a predicted event based upon known information at the time your nanomachine cluster was provided to you.

This is a natural function of the nanomachine cluster under the directive specified within its' contingency programming. In the absence of any external updates to the core programming, contingency placed the nanomachine cluster in lockdown mode and essentially put the entire system into self-defence mode. The nanomachine cluster will ensure your ability to face any hostile situation, and that may include situations in which panic may be detrimental to your long-term survival.

If this is still an issue for you, then please seek the assistance of a mental health professional for immediate counselling at the earliest opportunity.

End of message.

I scoffed in my mind. That message seemed incredibly patronising. It was also clearly pre-generated before I woke up, because while the nanocloud had accepted the new designation I gave it, the message made reference to the previous name that Synergy had given the cluster of tiny machines in my bloodstream.

The notification that had sat in my interface had now disappeared, leaving one left for me to deal with.

1 additional function available.

Let me see, I told the nanocloud.

Visual Overlay Provides information about the surrounding environment to complement the visual capabilities of the host. Baseline Outline only. Visually identify any passively-detectable object for nanocloud activity. Level 1 Context-aware visual enhancement system. Relies upon processing from local nanocloud. Provides basic threat analysis and parameter information.

An upgrade already? I jumped at the opportunity.

Enable the upgrade, I told my nanocloud.

Confirmed. Function activated. Resource utilisation now at 94.21%.

What's the other function?

Unavailable function. Do you wish to see information on it?

No, I'm just here, asking for the details because I like having a fucking laugh, I exclaimed in my mind. More seriously, I told my nanocloud Yes. That's why I asked.

Confirmed.

Nanocloud Program Enhancements Baseline Enables recommendations for upgrade pathways, more detailed information on nanocloud functions. Future updates increase intelligence levels of the nanocloud depending on upgrade tier of the nanocloud units themselves, as well as access to information processing and storage.

ERROR: This functionality is currently outside of the ability of the nanocloud to run.

Can you tell me what I need to run it?

Negative. That is not a current function of the nanocloud.

I shouldn't have been surprised. While this nanotechnology was awe-inspiring in many respects, the artificial intelligence it was working with had probably been developed at the same time the AI used in modern search engines had been developed. In other words, it was very good at what it did, but not so much with context awareness, making intuitive leaps, or interpreting any information outside of it's very carefully-defined scope.

I dismissed it from consideration for now. It seemed like a bloody useful upgrade in light of what I now knew of the limitations of the AI, but I had to get to work on my situation. I continued on my way, bringing my attention back to the outside world.

The visual information I was getting now was a lot more useful. The outlines around various animals and plants persisted as before, but if I had encountered any of these creatures before, the name I had given them in my mind would appear in a dedicated space in my mind, tied directly to the outline. It was like having a hovering information panel over the organism itself, but because it wasn't on my visual cortex or overlaid on my eyeballs, it wasn't distracting or cluttered. Whatever information was presented didn't interfere with what I was actually seeing.

Was that a fox? I noticed it, and immediately, it noticed me, and sprinted away. The fox had been outlined in yellow over my eyesight, and the information panel informed me that it had a concentration of nanoclouds but could only estimate roughly between fifty and a hundred percent of optimal. I remember seeing these foxes before, and the identifier reflected that with the tag "Fennec Fox".

Then it was gone.

Eventually, I reached the trading hub. It was situated inside what I recognised as a spoke-formation shopping complex with four exits, each roughly in the direction of the symbols on the compass, and some of the signs that remained clearly alluded to this. I approached from what would have been East Walk when this place was operating fully in the days before the Outbreak.

As I continued to walk through the trading hub, I noticed that many of the old buildings had been re-purposed. They were now open-door bazaars and workshops, sometimes making goods on site, sometimes just operating as warehouses for the goods being sold out front. At the centre of this complex, the area was relatively clean, although obvious signs of disrepair remained. What might once have been an open-air zone with glass rain shields or a roof of some description, now resembled a skeletal spiderweb of rusting metal poles, the panes long gone, the elements clearly able to reach the ground.

This place was busy. Very busy. Even though I was sure it was well after midnight on this part of the planet, there was a flurry of activity, trading going on in multiple shops with many patrons.

Each store vendor was keen-eyed, and sharp-witted. Not a single store-front was left unattended, and no-one that stood in the front of these stores seemed to be bored or have any desire to be anywhere other than where they were. They clearly had a vested interest in making sure these stores ran well and made them a profit in whatever currency they dealt with.

I quickly walked on past many of these places, looking for clothing stores. Once I spotted one that seemed to have a variety of outdoor clothes, I approached the vendor to see what was available.

"What do you want?" The vendor asked in an enthusiastic tone that didn't seem like a used car salesman, more like someone pleased to offer goods that he had made himself. "I got T-shirts to tracksuits, to leather vests."

"What do you take in trade?" I asked.

The vendor eyes me suspiciously. "You don't look like you got any cash," he commented in a tone that sounded like he was dubious.

"No cash at the moment," I told him, pulling out my gloves and slipping them on in anticipation of having to trade data through touch. "Anything else?"

"You carry any nanomachine functions?"

"Yes," I answered. "Got any use for a visual overlay?"

The vendor eyed me suspiciously. "What's that?"

I shrugged, offering my hand. "I could show you?"

The vendor took my hand in my grip, and I registered a notification that a function description had been transmitted to the man. "Outlines of objects in the wild? Why not?" The vendor shrugged as he considered what I was offering. "I could always parse it into an upgrade."

Wait, what was that, now? I wondered at that mention of parsing functions into upgrades, and filed it away for future reference. That no doubt could be a useful tool for me in my travels. "So, what will it get me?"

The vendor frowned in thought for a few moments, and pulled some items out from under his desk. "You look about the right size for this stock underneath my bench here. Two t-shirts, one set of synthetic legwear, and a small vest for clipping items to. Anything else, you'll need to get me better stuff."

I looked over the items. Without actually wearing them, I had no idea if they really would fit, but I didn't seem to have much of a choice. I had very little to offer, and I needed time to acquire more resources. I nodded at the man, who took my hand again and shook on the deal.

As he did, I received data from him regarding a new function. I thanked the vendor, collected my new clothing, and moved on. Finding an out-of-the-way spot to change out of these hospital slacks and into something that fit far better, I quickly stripped, hopped into the new legwear I was given, and threw on the new T-shirt, strapping the new inventory vest over the top of it.

I had no fucking idea how the guy knew, but these clothes were almost a perfect fit for my new body, and I gratefully rotated my arms in appreciation for my newfound freedom.

Identify new function, I instructed my nanocloud.

Trade Hub Trading interface to allow selective transfer of nanocloud data, as well as authorise or decline trade selectively or as a whole. Baseline

Transfers enabled. Can accept or decline offered trades. When offering a trade, allows host to add and remove items or functions to trade. Does not allow adjustment of currency amounts when dealing in data credits or other forms of currency.

I was relieved. Now, I had a trading hub that I could use to formalise trades, as well as get a good look at the item specifics of anything I wanted to buy. It would make a good companion to any visual inspection I performed on the goods themselves as I sought out what I needed.

I was also surprised that nanocloud machines could be used as trade items, and nearly dismissed such a use from consideration when I realised that, while the process was slow, my nanocloud was capable of building additional units to replace any that I'd lost.

Something to think about for another day, I decided.

I grabbed my hospital slacks and smock, bundled them up and shoved them under my arm before stepping back out around the other stalls. One of them sold travel bags, and within minutes, I negotiated a new 25 litre bag with an array of compartments and pockets, all for a copy of my basic HUD functions.

Now I need weapons.

No.

First, I need some damned food.

As I soon discovered, food was the easiest of the items I needed to obtain. I came across several vendors, one of which stocked a selection of dried meats, stuff that tasted like strips of beef, and a few containers of some vegetable broth. It wasn't much to write home about compared to what I grew up with in my old life, but while I had no idea yet why or how I knew, I felt like it would be enough to satisfy my nutritional needs. Surprisingly, I was able to re-sell my Visual HUD function for the goods. I'd think about that later.

As I interacted with the vendors I came across, my nanocloud had provided me a new trade-centric interface that sat out of my visual cortex but was still a part of my awareness. It was like having a heads-up display that didn't interfere with what I was able to see in my environment. As I began to discuss the cost of the food items I was purchasing, my trade interface provided suggestions for what the trade vendor would find acceptable. In this case, some of my nanocloud functions could be offered as trade.

My data-credit balance was resolutely zero, no matter what I wished.

No, what really proved difficult was obtaining any useful weapons. The only merchant that had anything close to weaponry was a travel provisions seller who specialised in hiking gear, backpacks, tents and so on, and the weapons on offer consisted mainly of hunting knives, long bows, crossbows, arrows and crossbow bolts, and an assortment of slings.

The costs floored me when I checked them via the trade interface. 1500 for a blade, 2500 for a longbow, 3500 for a crossbow, 4000 for a backpack, a one-person tent and a roll-up mat. Compared to the cost of food items, this was madness. 10 credits for a container of broth, three strips of beef cost 5 credits. To make things worse, the vendor refused to even entertain any idea I had of nanocloud-based functions from the selection I presented him with.

Dejectedly, I found myself trudging back to Phil's home, hoping he would have some tips on raising the needed credit. It took me mere minutes. My increased fitness had me jogging comfortably at 9 kilometres an hour the entire way.

Now, I stood at Phil's door again, knocking, stepping back to Phil could assess and see who was standing there. The door opened, and Phil cautiously stepped out. He barked a laugh at me once he recognised who I was, and held his arm out for a handshake. "Got some clothes, I see?"

"What little I could get for one of my nanocloud functions," I scoffed. "By the way, you forgot to mention how much things were priced at around here, and none of the money I had saved from the old world would do me any good here, would it?"

At least he had the grace to look sheepish, I thought in resignation as he shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah I should've expected that. Sorry."

I supposed I couldn't really hold it against the man. The whole world was new to me right now, but Phil had lived in it for some time, and likely this was the first time having to deal with someone like me, someone utterly clueless about how things were these days. "No harm done," I told him, hoping my tone would reassure. "It wouldn't be the first time I didn't think of something important. The problem is, I need to know how it all works, how to make credits, what items are good for trade. I saw hunting gear at the store priced at thousands of credits, and the vendor refused point-blank to trade any of the nanocloud functions I offered."

"Come on in," Phil told me without hesitation, and stepped into his home.

I followed, and found myself somewhat stunned. Unlike the outside of the property, Phil's interior was absolutely spotless, and clearly in an excellent state of repair. While the outer walls despite being structurally sound, resembled a dirtied, eroded and aged patchwork of bricks and cement, boarded up windows and reinforced doors, the interior was well-furnished, with vibrant colours on the furniture, a matching shade of carpet, and a light apricot two-tone colour on the wall and the ceiling. Every piece of furniture looked like it came out of an upmarket version of an IKEA furniture store (although less tacky and obviously far sturdier), and even the light fixtures looked like they came from an upscale fixtures store.

There were doors leading off to different rooms that I could only guess the purpose of, and they appeared to be solid dark wood, hand-built by the look of things, with a deep varnish. The contrast jarred my senses because of how different it looked to the outside of the building.

"Not expecting it?" Phil's smile was wry.

I could only shake my head.

"With the state of disrepair outside, I expected people's dwellings to be of a similar state."

Phil shrugged a shoulder casually. "For some people, I'm sure it is. For me, my living space is where I feel safe. I take very good care of it."

I could definitely see where Phil was coming from, here. "I guess in this environment, it's far more important to do that."

"Like I said, everyone's different." Phil then took a seat in a very comfortable single-seat recliner. "Have a seat," he told me, so I selected another fairly comfortable single-seater. "I'll fill you in on as much as I can, then I'll see what I can do about improving your ability to trade with others. Did you read through the last file I sent you?"

I nodded. "Yeah, it was pretty basic, but it clued me in enough to know the world has changed."

"You have no idea how much," Phil sighed. "It's going to be a long night, but I'll see how much I can explain. First of all..." Phil's gaze seemed to stare off into space for a moment. "The population of this planet is far below what you might expect. What was the population when you went under?"

"Eight billion," I told him without hesitation. This was common knowledge.

Phil stared at me for some moments, seeming to process that number. "Fuck," he exclaimed. "Rick... Last time we had any census information for the entire planet was ten years ago. There were less than ten million people left alive..." he paused, waiting for me to absorb what he was saying. "Across the entire planet."

I felt sick to my stomach. This had meant that there were less than one in a thousand people alive from who had lived before. 999 out of a thousand dead, somehow. "What happened to everyone else?" I asked weakly.

"A loss of infrastructure was largely responsible," Phil shrugged. "Though that's only part of the story. When the nanocloud was first detected by governments around the world, people got scared of the implications. Anyone with nanomachines in them was targeted. It progressed through detentions, to experimentation, and eventually to outright extermination when they realised that no nanocloud has ever been able to be removed from a host."

This story was sounding frighteningly similar to so many genocides throughout history, I realised.

"It was horrific," Phil said to me, echoing my thoughts. "I was only a kid during some of those years, but I remember when governments around the world started deploying EMP bombs to try and disrupt the nanocloud in entire populations. Given how quickly nanomachines can enter a person's bloodstream and start replicating, it meant that the spread of the nanocloud followed a pattern similar to a virus. Just before the broadcast TV stations went dark for the last time, the nanocloud was portrayed as a deadly synthetic pathogen, despite every scientist disclaiming the media's remarks about the nanocloud killing anyone.

"Here's something you'll need to know. You get an EMP go off near your head, you could end up with your brain fried. EMP kills nanomachines if they're not specifically hardened against it, and the nanocloud interfaces with your brain cells. You kill those nanomachines with an EMP or something similar, they'll take those brain cells as well... So by setting off EMP bombs, they were killing off large numbers of people for nothing more than having nanocloud machines in their bodies.

"Not long after the EMP bombs went off, it descended into chaos. Humanitarian organisations started trying to shift large groups of people out of countries doing the bombing and into countries that set up safe harbour provisions, and then other countries started targeting those countries wholesale. War followed."

"Fuck," I whispered, my throat dry.

Phil continued. "Yeah... Some countries started launching nuclear weapons. Not that they're supposed to still have any except the G8... Then those countries launched in retaliation. Half of the planet would be considered a wasteland, but the nanocloud is nothing if not adaptable. People who have survived over there do not suffer any form of radiation sickness. Their nanocloud has adapted to be able to tackle ionising radiation."

"What is there left in the form of government now?" I asked, though the question seemed rather moot to me at this moment.

"In this country? Not much," Phil said to me, causing me to wonder about that. Were there other countries that fared better? I stored that oblique reference away for later as Phil continued. "Everything has calmed a lot over the last twenty or so years. You'll find yourself having to deal with local councils, but there's no longer any central government oversight. Parliament collapsed thirty years ago, and no-one has stepped in to replace it with anything, so this entire island is now split into different counties, all with their own rules. There's still an attempt to keep order, but the nanocloud has changed everything on that front too."

"How so?" I asked, curiosity getting the better of me.

"You'll see when you start meeting other people," Phil replied. "Many of us have different abilities depending on our nanocloud, and there are some people out there who have what you might call superhuman ability."

"What's yours?"

Phil shrugged. "Nothing special. Increased speed, heightened senses. I never really put much into developing my abilities before. Too many other things to worry about." He stopped talking then, his face taking on a faraway, pained look.

Well, shit, I thought to myself. Obviously someone, or several people close to Phil, were no longer among the living, and it was clearly cutting deep. "Sorry about that," I said lamely.

Phil seemed to return to the present, and waved me off in disclaimer. "You weren't to know." I waited to give the man time to collect himself. "The important things you'll need to know. To make credits for trade, you can do it in any number of ways. At your starting point, I might suggest you go out and start foraging and hunting. It's not glamorous, I know, but you'll be doing two things in the course of your hunt. First, you're collecting animal meat that you can sell for credits or cook and eat yourself. Second, every time you find and kill something with a unique nanocloud you've never encountered before, you'll take some of those machines into your bloodstream. Do that enough, and your own nanocloud can start to fashion an upgrade to its' own units."

I nodded, and though I had yet to kill anything that would confer such benefits, I had an idea of what would happen, based on my own understanding of certain game mechanics after playing all those RPGs I had on my PC back in the old world. "I'm sure I can manage the upgrade situation," I told Phil.

He gave a one-sided smile. "Good stuff. You don't have to wait for it to complete if you come across an even further improved nanomachine design. The cloud pushes the update to every machine, which sets about making the upgraded version as part of its' replication program. Have you noticed there are times you are extra hungry yet?"

"Not ravenous, no."

"You will," Phil said to me with a one-sided grin. "Nanomachines use blood sugars for fuel. Not only that, but they convert carbons into other elements so they can build more of themselves. You'll start to notice it soon."

"Notice what?" I asked, my curiosity still piqued.

"Twice a week, maybe two or three days apart, you'll feel the draw to eat far more than usual. That's normal. Your nanocloud is encouraging you to eat more raw material that it can use to construct more nanomachines from. It tends only to happen when you are in the middle of an upgrade and you don't have any spare flesh to provide to the nanocloud."

I snorted. That had never been a problem for me in my past life. "Forty years ago, I would have had plenty of spare flesh."

Phil raised his eyebrows. "That's a story you'll have to tell me sometime. Maybe the next time you travel through this town?"

What? I was still trying to find my feet in this world. "Travel?"

"Sure. You don't want to stay in one place. Going out and hunting will take you all over the countryside as you collect and sell off your provisions. Eventually, your ability to absorb functions and data into your nanocloud will increase exponentially, and then it will outweigh the sale value of anything you hunt in the wild. Not long after that, you'll find it a lot easier to trade for items you need rather than hunt for food. Plus I'm sure you'll want to find out more about the world, and the best way to do that is to travel around and meet others."

Phil had a point, I realised as he continued to explain. For one thing, I wanted to try and find out more about what had happened. Were any of those I once knew still alive? The odds were against the possibility, but even if they weren't, I still had a compulsion to find out what had happened to them, possibly even meet any others that might have survived in the same manner I did myself.

Before I could do that, I needed to be self-sufficient, and I needed to find my way back to Synergy's headquarters in the hopes there would be information lying around that could help.

"You're right," I admitted. "I do need to try and find out what's happening, but you've been a big help."

"You're welcome," Phil said to me as we both stood, clearly ready for me to depart on my new mission. "Just remember to let me know if you come across anything interesting in your travels whenever you do pay me a visit. And do pay me a visit, Rick. I'd welcome it."