Point Zero by Aer-ki Jyr (christmas read aloud TXT) 📕

“Your size increase.”

“Thought that was my line,” she quipped.

“You hate it,” he said, getting to the point he had guessed back in the lab. “Your agility advantage is gone, partially supplemented by your superior body. But you can’t move like you used to, and you never will. You have to learn another type of movement, and even if you get it up to speed, your mass is going to be an issue on redirects.”

“Now that you mention it, I don’t really like that. I was hoping I’d train my way out of it.”

“You’re not going to train yourself to be lighter. You’re already up to 193 pounds, and you’re going to add another 15 in muscle minimum.”

“Guess it’s the tradeoff for all the extra goodies.”

“Have you considered losing some of them?”

Morgan blinked her eyes open, staring at Wilson’s midsection, but suddenly was not interested in the up close view. “Meaning what?”

“No need, you’re already working it out…and the stress is pouring off you.”

“I just got all this stuff, and you want me to bail on it?”

“If you want to be a jack of all trades, you need the extra body volume. That’s probably why it happened naturally.”

“Isn’t that the definition of an Archon?”

“What division of the military does your increased size help in?”

“Commando and swimming, with some minimizations in both.”

“Are you the top rated Commando?”

“No.”

“Swimmer?”

“No.”

“Aquatics, Mechs, Aerial, Naval?”

“You know I’m not.”

“What are you the best at?”

“Hand to hand dueling,” she admitted, not going to argue that Ginsi had an advantage. Especially not now with her new body, though Ginsi would be dancing all around her at this point…

“Right there,” Wilson said as she thought it. “You don’t want to be a jack of all trades. You want to be Fiora. The supreme duelist. And to do that you need to be smaller, not bigger.”

“We don’t fully understand these bodies, and I mean the medtechs. Shrinking me could do all kinds of damage.”

“Waiting until later would be worse. You’re already a mess and need to rebuild, but you can’t do that unless you abandon your duelist persona. What’s more important to you?”

“Losing my fitness with a shrinking process scares the shit out of me,” Morgan admitted. “But since I don’t have much fitness now to lose, you’re probably right. But I’m still scared of what could go wrong.”

“We’ve done it with Knights and Esquires,” Jarod commented.

“I know how it works,” Morgan said snarkily as she held still under Wilson’s head. “But you guys were crazy for taking the size enhancements in the first place.”

“Why is it crazy?”

“Because you weren’t designed for it,” Wilson said, reading her mind before she could say it. “And now you’re worried about messing with your new design and putting yourself into an unnatural state…but this is an unnatural state for you. Can’t you feel it?”

“I feel all kinds of unnatural now. Take your pick.”

“It’s your choice, Morgan. But now is better than tomorrow, and tomorrow better than the next day.”

“I’d have to get rid of some psionics to keep the new Jumat tissue…which I am keeping, because it’s awesome.”

“And that kind of feels like treason after all you went through to get them?”

“It’s like going backwards, and I hate going backwards.”

“Jumat is your go-to psionic. Has been since the beginning. Everything else is just a toolkit for you. Adjust the toolkit so it doesn’t get so heavy it slows you down.”

Morgan sighed, realizing the wisdom in that and kicking herself for not seeing it earlier. “I’m really glad you’re around,” she said to Wilson, then glanced at Jarod. “You I’ll get even with later. You tattled about something or you wouldn’t be here.”

“Be glad he did, because I didn’t see this. I knew something was wrong with all of you, and this is at least part of it.”

“All of us?”

“Yeah. You’re progressing as fast as normal people. What does that tell you?”

Morgan groaned. “I’m swimming in my own out-of-shapeness so much I don’t have a reference point. Just taking it one stroke at a time and knowing I’ll get there eventually.”

“There’s always a risk, but I think you need to take a couple of days and do a personal inventory, then do a cannonball into the deep end. Patience and caution do not suit you. You’re best when you’re wisely reckless.”

Morgan smirked. “Isn’t that an oxymoron?”

“You know it’s not. But if I said those words to others less experienced they’d get the wrong idea. Jarod tattled that you weren’t kicking his ass as much as you should have been.”

“Wish I could disagree, but all I could manage was a mild ass kicking against the four of them. My arms and legs move slow, even though I know they’re not. But my midsection is the worst. I feel so fat rather than nimble.”

“Pick a height that is suitable for you. Doesn’t have to be your original. Then see how much tissue you can fit into that frame, what you can keep and what you can’t. I can already sense your choice. Why 5’11”?”

“One inch more than Ginsi. But you knew that already. You just wanted me to say it out loud.”

“Feel better?”

“Yes. The Master is not going to be outdone by the Apprentice.”

“Rise, Master,” Wilson said, letting go of her head and seeing her stand up taller than him, which still seemed out of place after so many months, though at least her skin hadn’t changed color like some of the others had and she still had her taunting ponytail, for it was a definite disadvantage in combat, giving an enemy such a handhold on your head. But when you were agile enough to dance around your opponents, you could get away with it and scoff