Ripley's notes on his current ability to manipulate Implants.

Mutations. I think that's my next step, I was already beginning to work on understanding the molecular structure of Implants, but Soul Killer's Revenant Vial is proof that a BUG can be modified with Mutagen. I've begun to hit a plateau with Implants otherwise, what can I do after creating a module? How can I figure out a way to increase Compatibility, Grades, maybe even… modify Features? Fuck, all of this costs so much money. I need to take risks, make more complex Modules, and see how much meddling an Implant can take until they break.

Only then can I fix them.

October 16th

8:54 PM

Ripley

The back of Elsa's head settled into my chest, her fingers motioning across screens as she tried to explain to me how my new bank accounts worked. Apparently, it wasn't normal for a 22 year old unlicensed Shard Operator to possess over a million Shardyne to his name and the government would come knocking eventually. The last few weeks, she'd been building a system for me to prevent my ass from being hauled to the SIO over tax fraud…

I was technically now owning liquid stocks in a few different companies under an inheritance of a long-lost uncle. While at the same time being the winner of an anonymous lottery, and had made a little more cash with 'healthy' gambling and buying fine art. All technically legal, and Elsa said she could keep eyes off my funds as long as I updated her on my income.

"Did you get all that?" She tapped my head.

"Half of it, I have a scientist's mind… not a suit's." I cupped her chin, rubbing the side of her neck. "So, with this, I can now earn a steady income from 'The Ripper' Ego of mine?"

"As long as you divide it up between three different accounts all in different names, yes." Elsa turned around, resting her chest on mine as she scooted closer. "Also, never… ever… bring that guy up near me again. He gives me the creeps."

"The Ripper is a little odd, but that's how all geniuses are." I pinched her cheeks. "Like you, my adorable split-personality princess."

She looked at me like she couldn't tell if she wanted to slap me or kiss me, in the end she just wrapped her arm around my neck. For good reason too, I had to leave soon to Maiden's. "Stay a little longer?"

"You know I want nothing more than that, but I need to check up on Starlight and have to pay my… debt." I glanced aside. "I'm surprised Maiden forgave me so easily for killing one of her men."

Elsa tilted my head to hers, regret seeping into her gaze. "Hey, that wasn't your fault. I gave you shoddy info, not like I could gather much with Seraphim locking that place down… but the point stands. Had I known Maiden was Anissa, I wouldn't have sent you there, or would have at least given you a heads' up."

"Hey, it's nothing you couldn't beat if you put all of your mind towards it. Even though I have Starlight now, I'll never forget my first Artificial Intelligence insertion into my brain." I kissed her on the forehead. "Oh, yeah, by the way… you said Dreamframes were bad news and looked particularly afraid because of it. Why?"

"Skeleton." She sighed. "I didn't want Diana to know, but Skeleton's probably behind the Frames because of me. It means he's… ready to let go of the Data Delvers around him. Me, Dogwhistler, and any others under his service… it means he's creating a total lockdown on the Networks he controls."

"Okay, but how does any of that have to do with Dreamframes?"

"Well, at first I was thinking he was creating a mindless Proxy network by supercharging Development through the kids. A personal wall of broken minds that act as both human sacrifices and digital shields for his Net usage… but now? If I had to bet, he was having those children ready to ship to gangs. Either as tools or toys, by then, they'd have a MAL-seed waiting in their heads. The moment they're plugged into the gang's systems, even on a low-access level, it would be catastrophic. MALware are a Delver's worst enemy, and if there are more of these kids out there, he could destroy half of the criminal world's Delving capabilities."

"You didn't seem too shaken by them?"

Elsa averted her gaze. "I spent god knows how many years as a NeoCore Delver, you know that. MALware, I'm experienced with them, avoiding them, containing them. Direct code-based combat is a death sentence unless you're Gold or Titanium, but then that has the risk of your death causing a wave of unstoppable MALware from being spawned."

"Like how Starlight got hurt and caused that Bronze to become Silver." I sighed, pulling out the Implant I'd received from the MAL.

Features: Technician; Integration; Analyze

Possible Tendencies: Spark, Earth, Fire

It was a pretty good Implant. An online calculator put it at a value of 3.3 Million Shardyne, in fact… It was the perfect Shard Operating BUG. You could Analyze Shardware, strap on external tools like an Arachne with Integration, and Technician was self explanatory.

But when I'd tested it against my mother's Compatibility…

Estimated Compatibility: 18%

It might elongate her life by about a month, but then she'd have other issues appear. Warp Poisoning was bad, but Warp Rejection? Her Implant would turn against her, like a mental cancer as its incompatibility would only find ways to break her more. This was the issue with having two previous Implants, only one-in-every-forty Implants would be above 50% compatibility.

Even with gene-prepping technology, a difficult treatment that would see her injected with tens of different medicines specific to each Implant, it would be painful months to only give her maybe another 6% compatibility. And it was expensive, for a Silver, it was around 700,000 Shardyne. It was the only known way to increase Compatibility, but instead of altering a BUG, you altered yourself.

I had a way to circumvent that, the Rewrite Protocol of Data Mimicry.

And Rewrite is exactly what I did. Streams of Gold flowed into the Implant, commanding the three Features to act in one tandem, to become a Module. There was only one Feature I absorbed, Integration, for purposes no other than I didn't need external tools the way Maiden did. My Arachnodyne had been the best tool, and it was internally bound to me.

Instead, I gripped a Bronze Implant I'd bought earlier in the day. Technician and Network. I sent the Network Feature over into the Silver, while the rest of the Bronze cracked away as it was absorbed by me. The reason for Network? It was a Feature I lacked use for, but one I thought would be useful for Starlight to help me with Shard Operating if I could create a system of drones to help me. Maybe even with coordinating my Nanomachines.

Focus to Shardweave and Data Mimicry. Implant Manipulation.

Shardweave V.1.06 has updated to V.1.10

Effects:

Increased efficiency of Warpcode creation from Warp Energy.

Slight addition of Warpcode to the effects of

Shardweave.

Increased ability to control rate of Implant Degradation.

Warp Energy is slightly more efficient at stabilizing Implants during the

Rewrite

Protocol.

Data Mimicry V.3.02 has updated to V.3.04

Increased Module Stability.

Slight instinctual understanding of Compatibility.

Module Created; what would you like to name it?

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Droneforge.

Droneforge Module Created: [2S/1B]: Technician/Analyze/Network

Capabilities:

Provides minor increase to creation of Shardware.

Provides minor Analytic capabilities on Shardware.

Increased cohesion with low-Capacitance External Shardware connected through the Net; allows increased synchronicity of control of numerous drones.

The Network Feature, although Bronze, was highly more developed than the Silver Features which came from an utterly unused Implant. Ironically, it was more powerful than either of them. Right now.

I wasn't done yet, pulling out a few Bronze Shards, I decided to test my ability to upgrade a Module past its original state. Clutching them tight, Elsa watched me with a curious eye as their Energy dissipated and became Warpcode under my grasp, feeding into the Implants.

I had a theory. R0N1N's Unique Feature, OverMind, wasn't possible for me to mimic. Presumably because I didn't have the Fragment from its associated Source-Shard… which I was able to identify as the Shard of Release from The Typhoon. However, I had been able to scan of the original Hypermind Prime to create an imitation in the Hypermind Modules, albeit… at a loss of stability.

Hypermind Prime was the Silver BUG I'd used at the Shandian facilities, and it was currently at what I estimated to be at two-thirds of its lifespan. Since then, I created some more Bronze imitators named Alpha, Beta and Gamma based upon the Prime Silver Module.

But the fact that I could make a Module imitate a Unique Feature was key. I could mimic Data myself, but what if I made the Module mimic me? I felt the tide of Shardweave's information spill into my head, and through the Consciousness Link Protocol of Database, I merged my mind into that of the Module.

It was a difficult and messy task, I was using architecture I barely understood so I supplemented the Bronze Warpcode with my Gold Energy… aiming to emulate a second process. To turn Bronze into Silver, just like how the MAL had upgraded itself.

I still couldn't create Gold Warpcode from my Energy, it was far too complicated, but Silver should be possible. If barely. My internal stores washed away like a tide ripped off the coast by the moon's pull, my breath going shallow and my head throbbing as the BUG surged with a Golden light and muted Bronze.

Slowly, they merged into a Silver candescence, and under my Tendency swam up and filled the dry reservoirs of Shardweave's architecture. Elsa held my spare hand while doing this, her violet eyes reflecting the changing mirage of colors as they settled into a single metallic luster.

A single crack formed on the Implant, but as my energy faded, that was the only damage that had remained.

Droneforge Module [3S] [Technician/Analyze/Network] has been modified:-

This module allows increased understanding of structural organization of Shardware and the integration of Warp Materials into them; increased analytic capability of Warp Materials and Shardware at a macromolecular level; increased cohesion of multiple Net-connected External Shardware for the purposes of Shardware modification.

Perfect.

With my brain recently tested against a new task, now was the right time to force another few updates through. Elsa was already on task, pulling out a Warpcube she'd done some personal work on at my request. It was filled with Dataweaving, Jailbreak and Network Warpcode collected from her and her Persona's delves into the Net, harvested by her habit of slaying and stealing the Warpcode of anyone who chanced to come across her. With a smile shared between both of us, I absorbed a healthy amount of brain-frying Data.

Focus Primarily to Data Mimicry. Secondary to Shardweave.

Data Mimicry V.3.04 has updated to V.3.07

Effects:

Increased ability to measure Stability of Modules

Increased ability to modify Modules post-creation.

Increased ability to alter Modules according to a Source-Shard derived Engram.

Shardweave V.1.10 has updated to V.1.13

Increased ability to upgrade the Grade of foreign Warpcode.

Increased ability to upgrade the Grade of foreign Warp Energy.

Increased ability to convert Warp Energy into Warpcode.

My nerves felt scorched with my recent endeavors today, and all I would have for rest would be an hour-long transit. At the very least, I could simulate some-

Psyche V.3.10 has updated to V.3.11

Minor increase to foreign psychic intrusion by utilizing the Personality Editor as an interference countermeasure.

I blinked… while the Psyche update was good, when did it get to V.3.10? Thankfully, one of Starlight's recent changes to my system allowed me to keep track of my Updates in a log.

Update Log:

Psyche V.3.10 [October 14th; 2:43 AM]: Personality Editor effective output increased to compensate for lower output threshold.

Huh, strange. That would have been around the time I fell asleep next to Diana…

Well, I guess I had one way to mitigate that, opening up my settings, I tuned down the Matrix to compensate for it's compensation.

Personality Editor Output: 80%

A shiver ran through my body, and Elsa leaned in closer as my body briefly took a sudden wave of… panic. "Everything okay, Ripley?"

"Yeah, just… reduced the output of the Personality Editor." I said.

"You sure that's… a good thing right now?" Elsa's touch grew warmer, more tentative. "I don't want you becoming any more crazy than you already are."

"Last thing I want to lose to is my own mind." I joked. "I'll be careful with it, I was already warned not to turn it off too quickly. Or else Psyche might just become a Personality Editor itself… is there a Protocol with that power?"

"You kidding?" Elsa scoffed. "You already have one, Rip. Alter-Ego. But I suppose the one you'd really want to look out for is Mindweave."

Mindweave. "Why does that sound like it could also be used against others?"

"Because it can." Elsa's hand got tense. "In the hands of a Dataweaving Adapter anyway, I'm not sure what the Protocol's effects would be on a Psyche wielder, but maybe… maybe you shouldn't worry so much about the Editor. It's just a tool."

"It used to be." I said dryly. "Until it began erasing my memories, I… sometimes I have glimpses. Whispers."

"Whispers?"

"Of names…" I shuddered. "And colors — a color. Just one… pink."

Elsa held me closer, almost taking me by surprise. "The mind, as much as we believe it to be infallible, is nothing but subjective thoughts turned into memory, Ripley. Maybe you've forgotten something, maybe you're only thinking you forgot something. It's complicated, I have experience with thoughts not being my own… eventually, you learn to live with them. You have to choose what's real to you — reality is the real illusion sometimes."

"Yeah, you're right." I buried my face into the crook of her neck. "You know, I was about to do something stupid."

"Oh god, what?" She pulled away, already prepared to smack me.

"I was thinking of putting together a Dreamframe myself… but now that I think about it, I don't want to be stuck to a wall for the rest of my life." I pushed the hair off her eyes, but she had an intense look in her eyes.

"You don't have to be stuck to a wall just because you have a Dreamframe." She said with her eyes not meeting mine.

"Really? When did you have more Shardware knowledge than me?"

"Since… well… I don't have the technical understanding of how it works, but I have a… practical understanding." She muttered under her breath.

Realization painted into my face. "Do you… have a mobile Dreamframe?"

"I… well… you remember how I told you I got my hair weaved in? Let's just say, you're not the only one with a metallic skull." Her eyes escaped into the couch cushions. "The Neuroframe on my neck is just a port, it's not where most of my processing happens."

Biting my lip, and my curiosity, I held her arm. "That… makes sense. Four minds in one skull, you'd need a pretty hefty computer for that."

"I know, I know… I just, I didn't want to tell you because-"

"Because the Shardware on your body is only for you to know, that's what a decent Shard Op' would say." I happily said. "I don't probe in on those who are close to me, just… those who try to kill me. Though-"

"No, I didn't want to tell you… or anyone else… because my Shard Operator was Skeleton." She bit down on her lip. "I- but not anymore! Not with what he did to those kids! I- I'll only go to you from now on, I promise!"

I pulled back a bit, slightly startled but not exactly surprised. "Okay…"

"Okay?"

"Okay." A grin grew on my face, one stemming from another Ego within me. "Here's how you're going to repay me, from now on… I'm the only one who gets to see your body."

"Uh-" A deep scarlet misted across her face. "That- I- You're already the only-"

I pushed her deeper into the couch. "Which means… your body is mine. To study. To look at. To… unravel."

"Ripley…" She buried her head in her arms. "I can't tell if you're freaking me out or turning me on."

"I'm just saying, what's wrong with a little bit of roleplay?" I drew the edges of my claw-tips along her steel limbs, delicately tracing the seams of her joints. "After all, I'm the Shard Operator here… and you're my client, aren't you? It's only fair I get to see everything you have from now on, from skin — to bone — to blood and steel."

"Ripley…" Elsa hammered hot breath from her chest out. "I swear to god if you're saying all of this just to look at Skeleton's operations then…"

"What?" I teased, "you hidin' something?"

"You can't play that with me!"

"But I am." I sunk my claw's tips into her elbow joint, a spark of my gold tingling up her nervous system — producing an effect I had very much perfected. She gasped, her face captured in a portrait of hot and heavy.

"F-fine! My… I'm yours. Everything."

"You promise?"

"Forever." She said, her face softening and staring deep into mine. "I- I love you, Ripley. I really do."

"I love you too, Elsa." My lips captured hers, and she surrendered whole-

Incoming Message from Maiden

[Brat. I want you here in an hour.]

I sighed, she never warned me on time. "Uh, sorry to cut things shor-"

"Ripley fucking Donovick." Elsa gritted, her nails digging into my steel and even denting it. "You are not leaving until I get what I want."

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