Lair by Carl Stubblefield (recommended reading TXT) 📕

Gus shuddered again as he imagined himself buried alive underwater, slowly starving to death as the onboard resources of the suit slowly lost the ability to sustain the wearer. A living nightmare. He counted his lucky stars he was flung free or at least cleared the debris without tearing the suit or damaging the delicate mechanisms inside.

“Why do I feel so good?” Gus asked no one in particular, his voice sounding hollow as it reflected off his helmet visor. He felt like he should definitely not feel as good as he did, considering the crash. His energy increased the more he moved around.

As if in reply, a display appeared on the inside of the visor, depicting various bars and gauges along the periphery of his field of view. A message scrolled at the bottom of his field of vision.

Text flashed across the bottom of the display:

You sustained multiple injuries that activated nanobots stored in the suit’s host protection protocol. Sedatives were administered to enact physical repairs. 1.4 days later you encountered a bio-stasis field that stopped all natural life support and it was necessary to integrate nanobots on a permanent basis throughout your body, infiltrating into all of your body systems, nerves, musculature, and organs to sustain life and maintain brain function. Fortunately, your unique genetics enabled you to tolerate the procedure without killing you.

Gus knew that there was a very high rate of nanobot rejection when they were used to save someone’s life. It was usually the last-ditch attempt to save some old rich guy. Maybe it worked better with a younger body. But young or old, a failed attempt resulted in death, and the odds were so long that it was attempted only by the extremely desperate.

“What does that mean, permanently integrated? Am I like a cyborg now?” Gus asked. More writing spooled out on the display.

Technically, yes, loss of nanobot function will result in death. Due to the urgency of implantation, your nanobots specialized to the point that they have lost essential maintenance functions that will result in system failure and host death in approximately 14 days.

“What. The. Hell!? This day just keeps getting better and better,” Gus groaned as he slumped down into the slushy sand. “So I’m dead in two weeks, then.”

Not necessarily. Nanobots can evolve to increase in number and obtain additional functionality. This should be attainable in the allotted time.

Gus sat there, waves rising higher and crashing on his legs like they wanted to pile on the abuse as well. Whether it was bullies in parking lots or these uncaring waves, life just sucked sometimes. Most times. The fact that he could never get a break pushed Gus from irritation to a smoldering anger at the unfairness of life in general. Gus grit his teeth in frustration. Not this time. Not anymore. It was time to push back.

“Wait, what advantages do these nanobots offer? There have to be some advantages.”

As you develop your abilities, your nanobots will learn along with you. Beneficial actions result in a gain of experience, which will allow you to level up and your nanobots to evolve as you undergo this leveling process. With each level you will gain 5 points to increase any basic stat: agility, constitution, charisma, strength, perception, intelligence, or luck. Most humans develop superhuman traits during this process as they increase in experience and level. You are now what humans call ‘a super.’

Realization dawned on Gus. I am a super now. He had spent countless hours imagining what his life would be if he only had powers. He had made plans on what he would do differently if he only had the chance. Hope began to grow, and the despair and frustration lost their hold on him. He did feel different. He remembered the pain right after the crash, but now, he felt great. No sign of any pain or injury. A super! His mind began to race at the possibilities, and questions began to fill his mind.

He had settled into mediocrity, long ago accepting that despite any effort he made, life was going to stay pretty much the same. But now—now he could show everyone what he could really do. Everyone who had dismissed him flippantly and underestimated his worth. He knew it was petty, but he longed to confront his father and show him how wrong he had been. Or to find that group of thugs in the parking lot. He grinned evilly at what he could do to set things right. He cracked his knuckles, excited to begin. I’ll show all of you that I’m not the loser you took me for my whole life.

“Ok, so to evolve my nanobots and survive, I need to level up. How many levels do I need to do that?”

The first opportunity for nanobot evolution occurs when the host reaches level 10. At that time, a specialized ability can be chosen.

“And what, specifically, do I need to do to gain experience?”

Experience is granted as the host performs activities that are either innovative, life-sustaining, or considered training, as evaluated by the quantum server. Success in battle and improving skills through use also generate experience. As skills evolve past the need to be consciously focused on a task to perform it competently, the experience gained diminishes unless those skills are applied in new unique ways.

“Just like a game,” Gus whispered in amazement. He felt a sharp pang of hunger.

“Great. Looks like the first order of business is to get this obnoxious suit off,” his stomach grumbled as if in assent, “…and find something to eat.” Gus waded fully out of the water and walked up onto the dry sand past the waves and again the burden of the suit pressed upon him. These things really weren’t designed for non-space use. Feeling around the suit, he sought for some way to remove it, some catch or seal that could be lifted, but he felt nothing. Looking down at his own torso was