“Nano-Engineers build them. They are built with Nano-Infused materials and can be controlled by anyone using their own Nanos to control them,” Ward explained.
“But how do they work?” I asked.
Ward shrugged, then said, “You would need to ask a Nano-Engineer. I don’t know how they work, just that they do.”
“And you’re comfortable with that?” I asked.
“For the most part anyway. For me, as long as the Nanotech has been proven and properly tested, I’m comfortable using it. Some heroes love experimenting with Nanotech, but they risk their lives every time they do,” Ward replied.
I wasn’t satisfied. I thought about some other common things that would be used daily. I asked, “What about your power grid? How do you keep the lights on in the city?”
“Nanos,” Ward answered again, leaving me completely dissatisfied with the answers I was getting. Worse, I was starting to get worried. It sounded like this culture was completely reliant on Nanos.
“Then what do you learn in school as children?” I asked, hoping to whatever deity ruled this world that they at least had some standard of education.
“Reading, writing, mathematics, history, and Ability Power and Control,” Light answered.
“What about things like the sciences of biology, physics, and chemistry?” I asked.
“Those subjects are briefly discussed in History,” Ward answered, then seeing my confusion he elaborated. “Who needs to study biology when people have the ability to heal others with a touch or a thought? What’s the point in learning physics when there are abilities that defy those ancient laws with the snap of fingers? Same for Chemistry, what’s the point when a person can use their ability to change lead into gold? Sure, some of that knowledge might help people with a power that relates specifically to their ability, but for the most part, the control of our abilities is instinctual.”
I wanted to laugh when he equated Chemistry to Alchemy, but another more serious part of me wanted to cry. “What about the Bioenergy Converter? Has anyone ever studied that?” I asked.
“Nano-Engineers have tried to study the Bioenergy Converters found in animals, but they have never been able to adapt them to the Nano-Tech we use,” Ward answered. “Most research into Bioenergy Converters is banned these days. The organ is too volatile outside of the body.”
I wasn’t satisfied with that answer. I needed more information, so I asked several questions at once, “I meant, how does the Bioenergy Converter work? How does it work with the other organs? How is it connected to the nervous system and other organs?”
Ward didn’t look uncomfortable with the number of questions. He looked more like he just didn’t know how to answer. And then he finally said, “I don’t know. Never needed to know.”
I was stunned. “Are you really telling me, no one has studied the Bioenergy Converter from the standpoint of biology?”
“Maybe in the past, but like I said, research is currently banned on anything to do with the human Bioenergy Converter,” Ward replied with a shrug. He must have seen my disappointment with his answer because he added, “I suppose, maybe one of the old governments did some research right after the Advent, but if they did, I doubt any of that research still exists.”
I still couldn’t believe what I was hearing. How could a society become so dependent upon something they didn’t fully understand? How could they trust in Nanotech when they didn’t even know how Nanos worked? The doctor in me was starting to panic. I had these microscopic machines, if they were machines and not some kind of biological agent, infesting my body and no one could tell me exactly how they worked or what they were doing to me. And worse, no one seemed to care or want to find out. They just accepted that this was the way things were and that was the end of it.
“What’s wrong?” Light asked.
The panic must have been clear on my face as I turned to look at him sharply. “I . . . I can’t . . . this . . . How does a society trust so blindly in a technology they don’t fully understand? I’ve been infested with these Nanos and no one can tell me exactly how they work, only that they can take on certain traits that enhance the body. Is it genetic editing? Or is it something else? Has anyone ever looked at a Nano under an electron microscope? Do you even know what that is?”
Ward and Light both looked at me worriedly before anyone spoke. And when someone did speak, I had the misfortune of hearing Hammer Jack’s voice.
Dragging one of the alpha quilldogs behind him, Hammer Jack joined us, barely pausing to drop the corpse and cross his arms, he started talking, “Stop your belly aching. Sounds to me like you came from a world that relied on technology. Do you know how every technology in your world worked? Are you a master of those sciences you just mentioned? Ward already told you, we have people that study Nanos, but most of us just know that they work and that’s enough. If you want more information, then stick around long enough to talk to someone that actually studies Nanos.” With that, Hammer took hold of the alpha quilldog again and marched ahead, dragging the large body behind him.
“Wow,” Ward said, staring after Hammer. “That was almost . . . eloquent.”
Light seemed to ignore what Hammer said, or at least didn’t let it get to him. He kept his focus on me. “Davis, I’m sure there is a lot you could learn from us if you give it some time. And I would guess there is a lot you can teach us. For now, I would suggest you focus on the mission. Just get through the mission then you can worry about everything else.”
Light spoke sense. Unfortunately, it did little to assuage my issues with the current status quo. “Let’s get back to the outpost,” I said, not interested in talking anymore.
“Alright, let’s go,” Ward said, leading the way.
I nodded and followed.
“What’s an electron microscope?” Ward asked surprising me slightly. Usually, Light was the curious one.
I spent the rest of the walk back to the outpost explaining what I knew of electron microscopes and some other earth technology, including a more detailed explanation of computers and the internet and finally video games.
13
The quilldog steaks did not reward me with any points of Physical Resistance. Not for nothing, I did gain a few hundred Nanos but that was it.
Davis Malory
Aliases: N/A
Occupation: N/A
Alignment: Neutral
Milestone: 13th
Nano: 713,506/725,000
Body
Athleticism: 1
- Strength: Average
- Agility: Above Average
- Accuracy: Above Average
- Speed: Average
- Stamina: Average
Resistance: 1
- Physical Resistance: Average
- Energy Resistance: Above Average
- Mental Resistance: Above Average
Recovery: 1
- Physical Injury: Average
- Nano Energy: Average
Ability
Power: 13
- Time: Below Average (7/10)
Time Compression: 62%
- Space: Weak
Void Burst: 2-Uses at Maximum Size
Control: 13
- Time: Below Average (7/10)
Time Compression: 17-Seconds Uncompressed Time
- Space: Weak
Void Burst: up to a 20-Foot Range and up to a 1-Inch Diameter
After dinner, I didn’t much feel like talking to the others. I was too worried over the next day’s hunting. I didn’t know if I would be able to react fast enough. I didn’t know if I would be able to use my ability fast enough to kill in a split second. I felt the fear of not completing the mission creeping in . . . the fear of not going home.
“Get some sleep,” Hammer’s voice rudely interrupted my thoughts.
I frowned at the man but didn’t argue and began the walk toward the bunkhouse.
“You know, you’ve got the power kid. With time you might make for a great hero,”
Hammer said, surprising me.
Unfortunately, I heard what he wasn’t saying. So, I said it, “But I don’t have time.”
“No,” Hammer agreed, “You don’t. Or do you?”
What did that mean?
“Anyway, get some rack, I’ll be waking you up soon enough,” Hammer promised, walking back toward the makeshift commissary. It was actually more of a campfire, but it worked just the same.
I jumped just before I entered the bunkhouse, a loud boom startling me. When I looked back, the rest of the remains of the alpha quilldog were gone, no doubt disintegrated by Hammer.
I would love to say I slept well that night, but I didn’t. Every howl, growl, and cry of pain from an animal outside the compound had me on edge. And as promised, Hammer woke me up early. Early enough to see Light and Ward were both still sound asleep.
Hammer led me up to the top of the wall that surrounded the small compound, his eyes scanning the forest. I guessed he was looking for something, but I had no idea what, until his eyes narrowed and he grinned, pointing a finger at a small brown animal that had the upper body and head of a squirrel with the legs and fluffy tail of a rabbit, though slightly larger than both. It seemed all animals on this world were larger, some extremely so.
“That varmint is what we call a squirbit,” Hammer whispered, then elaborated, “They are the fastest animal on the planet.”
I looked back at the animal he was talking about. I was barely looking at it when it seemed to vanish, reappearing ten feet away from where it started.
“Teleportation?” I asked, looking back to Hammer.
Hammer shook his head. “No, pure speed,” he answered, then continued, “They are sadistic little buggers, always dodging attacks, like it’s a game. Taunting you when you miss. Anyway, you’re going to kill it by the end of today, or we’re leaving.” Then with a heavy clap on my back that almost pushed me over the wall, Hammer walked away.
I looked back at the . . . squirbit . . . the little brown animal with super speed. It was just standing there, digging into the ground for a moment before standing to its hind legs with an oversized grub or worm in its mouth, which was struggling to get free of the squirbit only to be devoured in short order. And then the little guy vanished again, appearing a few feet closer to me and digging once more.
“Sorry little guy, it’s either you or me,” I said, taking aim and charging up my shot. Given it was a small animal, I didn’t want to use too much power so I tried to make the Void Burst as small as I could, maybe half of a centimeter in diameter. As soon as the squirbit stood again with another insect in its mouth, I burst the miniature void next to its head. But there was no blood or guts.
Then I heard a chittering. Twenty feet away from where I attacked the squirbit, the little bugger stood, completely unharmed, a squirming grub clutched in its paws.
Okay, so maybe this wasn’t going to be as easy as I hoped. I took aim and fired again, keeping the Void Burst small, and again, the little bugger dodged effortlessly. This time when I spotted it again, it was slurping down the grub like it was a noodle, then smacked its lips as though it was satisfied. Then it vanished again, this time appearing ten feet closer to me and once more digging into the ground for its next meal.
I tried using a larger Void Burst and another miss. I tried using my largest Void Burst and missed. I tried to vary my timing, using Void Burst right after it moved and missed. I tried hitting it while it was digging, and not only did I miss, but the squirbit still managed to get its food. After the first hour, I resorted to attacking the environment around it, trying to trip it up with divots in the ground or causing dirt to fly up into its face to blind it. I even tried dropping a few trees on it but stopped after one of the trees almost fell on the wall. Thankfully, Ward’s barrier prevented that, and another Void Burst broke the tree in half so that the part resting on the barrier fell to the ground outside, but it was a little too close for comfort.
By this time, I was starting to see what Hammer meant about the little bugger taunting him. I swear, the chittering after the last tree fell almost sounded like laughing, but I was sure that was just my imagination. A delusion induced by frustration.
Having come to accept that none of my well thought out plans were working, I decided to try something else. I needed to be faster. I needed to form and collapse the void my ability created in an instant, and I needed to control it.
So, I tried again with the smallest Void Burst I could make. I just focused on making it much faster. My goal was to form and collapse the void in the time it took for me to snap my fingers. My first try took about ten snaps of my fingers. By my tenth attempt, I was down to eight snaps. At fifteen attempts, I had something of a breakthrough. I don’t know if it was just gaining comfort with the ability or perhaps muscle memory, but I got it in three snaps.
I aimed for the squirbit with every attack, but, as I had come to expect by then, I missed every time. And when I got it down to a single snap, I still missed. But that didn’t stop me, I kept at it. I tried to use them rapid fire, using three or four Void Bursts in a row, chasing the squirbit all over the field. Eventually, I used twelve of the minimum power attacks in a row, exhausting my power in an attempt to exhaust the squirbits power. The squirbit won that battle. It wasn’t all bad news, I learned that if I used my minimum power, I could use Void Burst twelve times before I couldn’t use it anymore, or at least until I rested and recovered. It suddenly made sense as to why Light was interest in increasing his Recovery.
Around noon, Light brought me some rations but didn’t say anything about the squirbit hunt. He wouldn’t even give me any advice on the matter. Just saying that it was something I needed to figure out for myself.
I spent hours more, trying to kill that furry little bugger to no avail. I was beginning to feel desperate to kill the thing, especially once the sun began to set. I started firing of Void Bursts again, trying to combine everything I had done earlier. I tried using the Void Bursts to drive it into a corner, but the thing was just too fast.
“Alright, times up,” Hammer said, loudly from behind me.
“No,” I said desperately turning to face him. “I need more time,” I said, then froze. I needed more time. More time was something I could actually give myself.
I turned back swiftly toward the squirbit and activated my Time Compression. The squirbit was still faster than I thought possible while my Time Compression was active, but I could suddenly see it moving. I knew my time was ticking by, so I needed to act quickly. I saw the path it was taking. Without deactivating my Time Compression, I fired off a Void Burst. I saw the squirbit’s eyes widen a fraction before its head nearly exploded in slow motion. Thankfully, my Time Compression ended suddenly when I ran out of power and time resumed its normal speed, preventing me from having the watch the rest of that in slow motion. I was more than a little satisfied when the little rodent from hell finally died.
“Yes!” I shouted, raising both hands, fists clenched, into the air in celebration, giving my best Rocky pose.
“What?” Hammer asked, sounding confused and pushing me out of the way. Much louder and with much more surprise, he repeated, “What? You . . . you . . . how the hell did you do that? I’ve been trying to kill that little demon for years . . . years I say. And you got it in just a day?”
Ignoring the fact that it sounded like Hammer had set me up to fail, I was overjoyed at my success.
Hammer though, jumped off the wall, landing effortlessly next to the squirbit. He knelt down next to it and picked it up, shaking his head in disbelief as he did.
Hammer grumbled something I couldn’t hear. “Alright, cultivate your winnings. To the victor go the spoils. I’ll cook this up for you. Too bad there isn’t enough for all of us. I bet you’ll get a few points of Speed from this thing.”
I wasn’t about to jump off the wall. I didn’t have Hammer’s strength. Instead, I ran through the compound and out the gates to where I killed the squirbit. Using Ward’s
cultivation technique, I quickly gobbled up the Nanos. I don’t know what that little thing’s Milestone was, but I was stunned by the number of Nanos it let loose into the atmosphere. I cultivated 537,441 Nanos. And if I would have had more Time Compression left, I would have gone back for seconds.
Congratulations! You’ve reached the 16th Milestone. The Nanos have accumulated within your body to a point in which it is now possible to enhance your Nano Evolved Body or Abilities. Be intelligent with your decisions as all choices are final.
You may now open your Status and apply two points of enhancement.
With that one kill, I jumped three Milestones. And more importantly, I had the points to bring my Time Power and Control both up to Average.
Davis Malory
Aliases: N/A
Occupation: N/A
Alignment: Neutral
Milestone: 16th
Nano: 1,250,947/1,400,000
Body
Athleticism: 1
- Strength: Average
- Agility: Above Average
- Accuracy: Above Average
- Speed: Average
- Stamina: Average
Resistance: 1
- Physical Resistance: Average
- Energy Resistance: Above Average
- Mental Resistance: Above Average
Recovery: 1
- Physical Injury: Average
Planet Hero- Civilian Page 9