“You’re sure they’ll accept?” asked the bio-Bob smoking a cigar opposite him. John and Vic’s apartment in the Bunker was fairly bare bones. Most of their possessions had been lost in the attack on their house at the Topping and they’d not really gotten round to replacing anything more than the essentials. The chairs were comfortable, the rooms well ventilated and warm so John couldn’t complain too much. The lack of a bowling alley was an irritant though.
“I think it’s a decent choice. They can heal, buff and kill in equal measure. The only issue is what it’ll do to John''s ego to be constantly called Saint.” Vic called, she was busying herself in the kitchen area making drinks. She hadn’t really stopped and settled since the team had committed to going off-world.
“The twins will agree if John asks them nicely,” the bio-Bob grinned at him. John felt himself try to curl up, hunching his shoulders slightly but he fought the urge off.
“I’ll speak to them later today,” he grumbled. Being treated like a religious icon had pros and cons. Generally in his experience the cons outweighed the pros by a considerable margin.
“Well you’ll need to find the time. We’ve got upgrades with Pete and Life this morning then I’m issuing new armour this afternoon,” said Bob.
“Aren’t we already as enhanced as we can get?” asked Vic, bringing through three cups of coffee and putting one down in front of each of them. She sat down with a sigh as she took a deep inhale of the aroma. “I’m going to miss this,” she said regretfully looking at her cup.
“Nah, I’ll pack the stash to the gills. I’ve cut down the manufacturing area a fair bit, I still want that capability while we’re off on our jollies, but I’m already cramming Doris to the gills with essentials. Coffee is on the essential list!” Bob added hurriedly as Vic gave him a look. “Apparently Life and Pete have found their abilities are quite complementary and they can do a lot better than what we’ve had before. Your eyes are stuck that way, according to Life, but the rest of you are in for a treat.”
They chatted a while longer, John fishing for advice on handling the twins and receiving little more than jokes in return. Once they had finished their drinks John blipped them over the entrance to Shelly’s nest under Wayfaire.
Bob led the way, knowing exactly where they needed to go. It was a good job as well. The dark and dank corridors had expanded greatly since John had last visited. The main corridor wound down in a spiral with expansive rooms off to either side. The darkness made it hard to judge the exact size but glittering multifaceted eyes watched them pass from the depths of the birthing rooms. The glints of light suggested these new birthing rooms were vast, hundreds of metres long at least.
They took a turn off the main passage and began following slightly narrower tunnels that spread out horizontally for half a mile. The side rooms in this section were all sealed with sphincter like biological doors which was actually a relief after the thousands of eyes that had watched them pass earlier.
The only sounds they could hear was the occasional dripping coming from the vein-like tubes running along the ceiling and the soft squelches of their footsteps. The oppressive atmosphere of the nest settled in around them like a cloak, leaving them silent and on edge.
A sphincter-door opened ahead of them and Shelly, or a Shelly at least, emerged on clattering feet that broke the soft noises and made them all start.
“Time for the Maker to show his power!” she chittered happily. “Follow. Follow!” she skittered off ahead of them and they increased the pace to keep up.
“Maker has given Shelly wonderful permissions! New creatures for the hive! Wonderful creatures!” she said. She stopped and spun round lightning fast to nod her head at them before turning back and moving on. “Keep up!”
They followed the giant arachnid through the tunnels, taking several turns that would have left John bewildered before he’d received his “gift” from the King of Magic. Now he could see straight through the walls to where Pete’s primary body and the man known as Life were waiting ahead of them. He tried to keep the distance he could see to something akin to his normal vision, it became disorienting to look through hundreds of miles of stone.
They emerged into a large hall, the roof disappearing into the distance only slightly helping John’s sense of claustrophobia. The Dragon waited for them in the middle and it raised its head as they emerged from the corridor.
“Excellent! Now we can see if this works!” he rumbled as he uncoiled and moved towards them.
“Not sure I like the idea of ‘seeing if this works’,” said Vic with an angry look at the giant lizard. “I’m not a lab rat!”
“It will work. Pete is new to this kind of adjustment but he has demonstrated his understanding on several Nagas and I am here to correct if anything goes wrong,” said Life. “Hello all. Will the rest of the biological members of the team be joining us?” he asked.
John sent a quick teamchat message and as he received an affirmative response from each of them he blipped them into the dank chamber a mile beneath the surface of their world. They exchanged greetings and turned their gazes on the Dragon who somehow looked a little sheepish.
“So… Who wants to go first?” Pete asked.
“What, exactly, are you planning to do?” asked Evie as she crossed her arms.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“It’s amazing really!” the Dragon gushed, all nervousness forgotten now he had an opportunity to discuss his plans with a captive audience. “Life has some extremely potent templates. You’re looking at increasing muscle efficiency by 30%, sensory feedback by 15% and considerable hardening against most physical damage. The starfish organ is particularly impressive, but I think the best part is the enhanced nervous system. Pain dampening, emotional suppression, stamina recovery. It all adds up to making you as perfect as we can!”
“Starfish organ?” asked Raoul. “What the hell is that? And will this even work on me?”
“You might be a tricky one due to the transformative nature of your ability but I’m confident we can make most of the enhancements work for you,” Life cut in. “The starfish organ is something I cooked up while we were away. It lets you regrow limbs and internal organs quickly. Not in minutes or anything like that but in hours or days. It’s not useful in combat, although it will minimise the trauma, but after a few days you’ll have grown back whatever you lost.”
“So why is Magic still a stub of a person?” John asked.
“I didn’t have it when Magic lost most of his body. The spells he used to keep himself alive made it impossible for me to alter his body again. Unfortunately he is trapped that way forever,” Life said sadly. “Come along, form a line and touch the Dragon!” he blinked at his own words. “Not something I ever thought I’d say outside of a DND game!” he muttered as he waved an arm in Pete’s direction.
The team eyed each other for a moment then Reg shrugged, swore colourfully and stepped forward to slap a hand on the nearest leg of the Dragon. He swayed lightly then stepped back, bringing his hands to his head and grimacing.
“Feck me! That’s nae any fun!” he grouched.
“Are you OK Reg?” asked Flash worriedly. He trusted his brother, despite the horrific changes from little boy to Dragon that Pete had endured, but this was a huge change even compared to the enhancements they’d received before.
“Aye boy. I’ll live. And keep yer fecking voice down!” Reg almost-whispered in reply.
“I was just talking normally?” grumbled Flash as he stepped up and laid a hand on his brother''s scaly arm.
They all went through the process and were all equally impressed with the results. John’s vision remained unchanged but he could hear the susurrations of Shelly’s pet monsters for half a kilometre despite the sealed doors. He blipped himself in place as rapidly as possible and noted a considerable increase in his reserve usage. He must be getting close to two or three hundred blips a second now. He made a note to run some experiments later. Maybe get Bob to do some measurements?
“It all seems to have worked out fine!” Life said cheerfully making the team wince. “You’ll get used to the auditory improvements quickly!” he lowered his voice slightly in deference to their newly enhanced hearing.
“Did it get warmer in here?” asked Evie, looking around.
“Don’t ask me,” said Vic quietly. “I haven’t noticed temperature changes that I don’t cause for years.” She glanced about, reaching out with her power then shrugged. “Nope. Same temperature as it was before I think.”
“Well how about we go see your next surprise then? Might as well get it out of the way then John can go and have a nice chat with Gemini!” said the bio-Bob who had also received the strange changes the Dragon and the Monarch had cooked up for them. John scowled but nodded. Bob sent him a location via his implant that still somehow worked despite the mutilation of his eyes. They said farewell to the two biotinkers and John blipped to their next destination.
They all breathed a quiet sigh of relief to be away from the oppressive atmosphere of the deep nest. They had appeared in a brightly lit expanse, spider drones and flying machines darting around them as they ran or flew back and forth carrying supplies, machinery, bits of other drones and god alone knew what some of the more esoteric looking things were. The cacophony of clangs and whirring noises had them all reaching for their ears.
“Right over here!” said Bob as he hurried them towards a rectangle of light that they were all familiar with. John paused. If that was the access to the stash then that meant it was next to Doris’ foot. He panned his head up slowly as he adjusted his vision to see through everything again. His jaw dropped open.
Doris was now gargantuan. She stretched over a hundred metres above them. The five metre high roof barely left her ankles exposed to the room. She was an intricate web of struts reinforcing the heavy armour plates over her entire surface. Various sealed ports hid a dizzying array of projectile and energy weapons, covering large sections of her outer armour. Beneath those ports was more armour to cover for the weaknesses introduced into the outer shell. He blinked his ruby eyes as the aural assault hit him once more and he scurried forward into the portal to the stash.
It was relatively quiet in the stash. The old fashioned machine lines had long been replaced with what amounted to magic fabricators and they had largely been removed and set up in the depths of the Bunker. Drones flew back and forth and metallic tentacles dangling from the ceiling shuttled back and forth over a third of the kilometre square space. The rest was full of crates stacked in neat racks stretching for hundreds of metres across nearly half a kilometre of the stash.
“Never heard of travelling light?” asked Evie as she nudged the bio-Bob.
“Better to have something and not need it-” Bob began.
“Than need something and not have it,” the rest of the team chorused.
John scowled at his friends. “I know I say it a lot but it is good advice! So let’s see the new armour then,” he said, turning to Bob.
“Spoilsport! Only you and Vic knew what it was. Follow me!” He bounced along cheerfully, the drones and arms passing around them like synchronised swimmers. He led them down one of the storage bays and John took stock of what Bob had laid in as stores for their journey. Tons of food and raw materials of every description filled the space, enough to last them for years. He expanded his vision and saw the medical facilities at the rear of the chamber had been expanded and enhanced. There was also a living area with small rooms set aside so they could sleep in the stash if needed.
His eyes found their destination and he suppressed a grin. Bob had certainly outdone himself, if he had leaned heavily on well known aesthetics.
“Tada!” said Bob, waving a hand at a bulky enclosed section of the stash. A door split it down the centre and out marched something none of them had seen before. It resembled an eight foot armoured knight with massive pauldrons covering its shoulder and almost reaching the same height as the helmets. From within the shadow cast by the comically large shoulder plates twin red eyes gleamed.
The entire body was covered in articulated dragonmetal plates, all a dull silver-grey. It didn’t stomp or clang like you would expect, moving almost silently as it settled into a stance, legs spread and arms held at its sides. A bulky pack was built into its back, making it look as though it was sporting a large metal rucksack.
“How do we get in?” asked Evie.
The machine peeled apart, expanding strands of yellow metal keeping the parts connected as it broke itself open to create a gap at the side big enough for someone to slip awkwardly into.
“This one’s John’s. The rest are on their way,” Bob grinned as the compartment split once more and another set of battle armour walked out. “Well, hurry up and see how they fit!”