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Mandica starts looking for something to punch. She has only lifted heavy
things so far, but she is starting to get a sense of how strong she has
become. There are a ton of objects here for testing purposes, but she’s
eying something in particular. It’s the concrete ruins of a building. Has it
always been like this, or did they construct a building in the beginning of
a simulation, and visitors have been smashing it apart all these years?
After everything here has been destroyed, will they build it back up, or
find a new spot for newbies. “Follow me.” She leads Elysia and Reagan that
way, and approaches the corner. She pulls her arm back and—
“Stop!” Elysia demands.
Mandica built up too much momentum from preparing to strike the ruins. She’s
still not used to her muscle weight gain, and ends up tripping and bashing
her head against it. A huge chunk of concrete breaks off of the wall, and
falls the rest of the way to the ground with her. Fortunately, it doesn’t
hurt in the least. But it still freaks her out, because it’s not normal, and
doesn’t feel right. Even a pillow fight can cause dizziness. “What? What’s
the problem?” she asks.
Elysia steps closer, and takes Mandica’s hands. She rubs Mandica’s finger in
her own. It’s almost sensual, but also clinical. “Soft, just like mine
were.” She reaches into her back pocket, and pulls out two black gloves.
They’re either the gloves she wore when she was the Ravensgate Rescuer, or
an extra pair. “Here, try these.”
“I’m not becoming you,” Mandica starts to explain. “I just need to
understand how my body works now. I want data to help me find a way to
reverse it, or if not, go against my convictions, and transfer to a new
body; one that’s more like I was before.”
“Do whatever you want,” Elysia says, “but look at my hands. They’re nice,
right? Sexy. I didn’t wear those because I wanted to cover more skin. They
were necessary. You are profoundly strong now. Most transhumans don’t make
their bodies this powerful because it’s excessive, and comes with some
downsides. Plus, with backup streaming, they tend not to worry about dying,
just about dying permanently. You can still break, and if you punch
that wall without protection, it could shatter your phalanges. The suit did
not only represent my mystique as a raven symbol. It served a mechanical
purpose.”
Mandica nods. “Okay. Thank you.” She puts the gloves on, and punches through
the building like it’s butter. She can feel a ripple of energy as the force
is distributed across the gloves. She must say, even though she never wanted
any of this, it feels pretty good. It’s not like she thought transhumans
were crazy by pursuing all of these enhancements. She always recognized and
appreciated the appeal, and she never judged anyone for doing it. Her
reasons for staying human were personal. But now that a different way of
life has been thrust upon her, she’s questioning her whole philosophy. She’s
trying not to show it, but she is scared to death...pun extremely intended.
As Mandica is brushing the concrete dust off of her fancy new gloves, she
hears a crack behind her. More cracks as she’s turning back around. The
building is wobbling, and with little further warning, begins to topple
over. Mandica can only save one of them. She tackles Elysia to the ground,
and spreads her arms like she’s trying to deter a bear, taking every hit of
debris for Elysia. While it’s happening Elysia is just smiling up at her,
not scared at all. When it’s over, they stand to see Reagan still alive too,
balancing his sonic weapon against his knee, and pointing it towards the
sky.
Mandica notices that Elysia is still smiling at her. “What? Why aren’t you
mad? I screwed up, and could have gotten you killed. You’re in your regular
body. That would have been the end of it. You shouldn’t even be here.”
Elysia laughs heartily. “You think I came here unstreaming? Sister, I’m
always backed up.” Her eyes dart to the side. “That makes it sound
like I’m constipated. But it sounds like you have a lot to learn
about our subspecies. We don’t go anywhere without an exit strategy. I have
no fewer than three backup bodies at all times, and a dozen more virtual
partitions just in case, in addition to an airgapped duplicate that I update
periodically as a failsafe. She won’t really be me, but she’ll think she
is.”
Reagan nods. “Same. That’s standard procedure.”
“Oh. I guess I never really looked into how the system works,” Mandica
admits. “It’s never mattered before. I suppose it still doesn’t. I remain
just one person, and I can obviously still die.” She gestures towards
Elysia.
Elysia frowns, and looks over at Reagan for a second. “My skin was hardened.
I mean, it was soft, but hardened against attack.” She’s upset and confused.
“That sword should never have been able to pierce my skin. It hasn’t before.
I kind of feel like it was a different sword than the one she used a couple
months ago? But still, I don’t know what happened. I don’t know how to
investigate. Morgana may have come across something that bioscience is not
prepared for. I suggest you stay the hell away from her.”
“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that,” Mandica says. “I wanted answers,
and I think I got all the ones I’m going to get. She wants to hurt me. She
hopefully thinks she did.” She looks around at the handful of other people
training. Some of them are still watching the three of them and whispering
to each other. Knocking down a building facade must not be that common.
“Though, she probably doesn’t. So I’m still in danger, but I will not be
seeking her out. She knew that I was vulnerable. She knew that I could die,
and she took my eyes anyway. I don’t care what she has to say anymore.”
“I think that’s the right attitude,” Elysia decides.
“Me too,” Reagan agrees.
“But just the same,” Elysia goes on. “I would like you to see something in
my car. You don’t have to make any sort of commitment, but I want you to
know your options.” They walk back to the dirt parking lot where cars are
parked in random configurations. Elysia pops the trunk. Sitting there front
and center, folded all nice and pretty, is her Ravensgate Rescuer outfit.
“It’s up to you, but you’re not that much smaller than me, and I know a good
tailor who can take it in. I think you would look good in it.”
“You actually do want me to become you,” Mandica says.
“The Rescuer isn’t a symbol of hope, nor a brooding nightmare for
underworlders. She’s just a first responder. She helps you out of jams, or
stops you if you’re the one causing the jams. Anyone with power can, and
should, use it. That’s the point of my character’s persona. You’re not a
sunny optimist, and that’s not what this role calls for. It just needs
someone who wants to help; who wants to fight every day.”
“I know the bots have some worldview-protecting programming, but even
they’re not gonna be fooled by this. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m
black.”
Elysia laughs. “You wouldn’t be the first super-successor. No one will bat
an eye. You’ll still be someone new. Just think about it, okay?”
“Okay. I’ll consider it,” Mandica relents.
