Ch. 13 - Tinea Act III; Floof-Noodles

"Becoming a Vanguard is kind of like reinventing yourself. But at the same time, you stay exactly who you were.

Maybe, it's just that you finally get to do something about whatever pisses you off?"

– Road Rash, during an interview with Samulyfe, January 2049

 

***

 

I yawned. I yawned once more, bigger this time, satisfied only when I felt my brain wake up a little. Then I tuned in properly as Tyna spoke again.

Additional eyes would improve your situational awareness, or your ability to see in low-light, or into the infrared or ultraviolet. 

The doll of future me gained more eyes, including some at the base of her skull.

"Yeah, no. That's the creepy crap I mentioned earlier. Can't I just improve the eyes I already have? Or at least, make new eyes look like they're…something else?"

Certainly. Technological cameras and drones will probably be most aesthetically…comfortable to use, then. And your natural eyes can of course be enhanced to see a broader range of lightwaves, but that would not, or only minorly, improve your situational awareness.

"Drones it is, then. Much preferable."

Understood. Some of the most common enhancements for your eyes are designed to support a specific type of weaponry. Lasers require shades, for example, or protective layers integrated into the eye itself.

"Yeah, that's more familiar. Sounds a lot like military aug-gear tech."

Indeed, there's rarely a need to reinvent the wheel, after all. Shall I earmark lightband extensions for your natural eyes, and then move on?

I'd be able to see more colors, huh? That did sound awesome. "Okay, sure. Ears, or nose?"

I have an idea for both.

Ears, or inorganic aural sensors are used for finer hearing. Although in your case, I wouldn't recommend more ears, but instead flight-oriented sensors to see air flows, that offer low-latency echolocation for spatial awareness, or, considering the aforementioned weaknesses of the wings, detect energetic dangers such as electrically charged fields. It strikes me as unlikely that you would enjoy flying into the invisible forcefields of another samurai, for example.

If we're using Class II augmentations, there is little reason not to combine all of those options. See the II 'Picket' Plumose Antennae, an organ that would serve as an additional set of eyes, ears, and noses…and tongues:

A large set of shimmering antennae appeared just above the hairline of my model, a meter-and-a-half long and bowing outwards. At first they seemed awkward and stiff, until Tynea animated them and showed off their flexibility. I had to suppress a smile—they'd turned into a pair of supremely fluffy, and extremely curious, two-dimensional ultra-long caterpillars sticking out of future-me's skull.

The stalks looked like peacock feathers—shame those birds are extinct, but I suppose they would've been easy food to catch for the Antithesis with that spectacular tail—with feathery, elegant hairs growing out the sides. Slim at the bottom, the feelers turned into a wide crown at the top, and another, longer sheaf of fine hairs formed the tip. Only the bottom third of the antennae had none, the stems covered by glittering scales.

The sensilla, Tynea said, shining a spotlight across the swaying hairs as the peacock feathers transformed and the bottom halves became wide fans instead, are all mobile. They can lie flat against the stem or extend to comb the air as needed. That'll be very useful to attenuate your sense of hearing, smell, and taste. They're rather more sensitive than your human ones and will need to be protected, Aden. Reducing the surface area by flattening them against the stem helps with that.

"Gotcha. Maybe we'll want additional protection?" I wondered, thinking of gunfire. These fluffy antennae were probably far more powerful than my human ears, but they seemed a lot less convenient to guard, too.

I can always sell you mufflers if you need them. There are very cheap options available that would suit.

"Good enough." I snorted. Sales-AI, indeed.

The bushel of longer sensilla at the very tip, continued Tynea, are the most sensitive—they're the fingertips of the antennae, you could say.

"Is it just me, or can they twist themselves? They don't seem thick enough to have muscle fibers."

They can, in fact. Their roots use static electricity to bend the hairs, not muscle.

"And the electricity doesn't interfere with their sensing?"

No, they're…calibrated, I guess would be the easiest term to explain it. Each sensillum can taste, smell, sense vibrations and temperature, as well as detect electric charges at distance because they employ that static electricity themselves. They're natural capacitors. They also allow you to test chemical composition by touch. They don't interfere with themselves or each other.

"I see…"

The stalk highlighted itself in red.

The central stem comes in two versions. One has an internal spine, which stiffens the antenna against kinking in strong winds or against attack, but introduces the risk of bone fracture. The other version relies on tissues and bladders filled with blood and gasses instead. The total range of movement is greater and allows for tighter curling, but this set is structurally weaker and injures more easily. Movement of the antenna is controlled by pressurizing or depressurizing the bladders, as well as a sheath of tubular muscle. 

I used the sliders to get an idea of the antennae's range of motion and the shapes they could take. The soft-tissue ones were a lot more mobile, and considering that neither version would survive a real whack…

"I can see how the spine might be useful, but it seems to me like if I broke it, I'd risk severing the nerves running through it. I…don't need a repeat of my disconnected legs, really."

Indeed, the spined version is mostly used by very fast flyers, or those who add further modifications to the antenna and need the strength of bone to support their weight. The spine could be added later, though it's a process that disables the antenna for the duration.

"Hmm. How long of a process?"

Your viral editing method would take perhaps a week. Somebody specialized in mutative combat might take only a few seconds. It also depends a lot on the complexity of the chosen modification. 

"A week doesn't sound so bad, if you can prepare for it. Say, how fast is very fast flying?"

Well above your projected top speed. The wings I suggested are meant for maneuverability and quick efficient dodges, not fast travel. Fully extended, they allow you to "grab" a lot of air with their great surface area and accelerate instantly, but they can't push particles fast enough to send you beyond the sound barrier. You would want a vehicle from one of my catalogs to cover distance, even if you could match a hovercycle for speed.

Thinking, I played around with the antennae a little more, moved them into various positions, or changed their colors. Hovercycles, huh? They aren't slow, exactly, but they also aren't jets… 

"Okay, it sounds like I'd prefer the unspined antennae after all. They can fold back for protection…" I trailed off as I kept playing with the sliders.

Hmm. These won't be disguisable like the wings. No way I can make them look like a hat or anything.

They'd certainly get people looking at me…which I didn't really want the attention. Or so I thought, until I gave the doll's body another look, and realized that maybe I wouldn't mind the attention once I managed to stop having a distaste for my appearance.

And attention's different from being bothered by people. Yeah.

I was a samurai. These antennae would be additions to my person. They were exactly what you'd expect from a Vanguard. A little out there and full of character, but not strange by samurai standards. I'd seen the modifications my older colleagues went for, and antennae were about as tame as a funky mohawk.

They look really ticklish, though.

I'd heard that insect antennae were incredibly sensitive and could pick up pheromones from kilometers away, and I wondered what that might mean for the other senses they had. 

I guessed it was something to learn through direct experience? Time to move on.

"Tynea, you said there's better skins?"

Yes, and a particularly vast array of them. To narrow down the options, do you have any wishes, any conditions?

"Well, I'd want to still look human. I'd like to be able to change hair colors and grow it out on command." I looked down at the back of my hands. "And make it fall out on command."

A worthy consideration. Tynea's chuckle bounced around my skull like an echoing chime. There are still other, more important ones. Would you want to be resistant to piercing? Able to change skin color? Radiate heat? Secrete toxins? Be fireproof? Vibrate to create sound?

"Uh. Resistance to piercing is probably a really good idea. That was one of the weaknesses of this silk cocoon, right? I imagine any silk garments I weave as armor would share it?"

Yes, though weaving techniques to make puncture-proof textiles exist, along with others. You'd benefit from learning these. But having more durable skin will always be a good idea, especially if you need to toss some armor together quickly and don't have the time for detailed work.

"So, I want the un-stabbingness. Then, I want to be able to change the color of my hair, and I guess it makes sense to be able to change skin color too. As well as the color of the scales of the wings. I guess it could serve as visual camouflage while I'm holding still? Having at least some resistance against temperatures sounds smart, especially if I'm gonna be flying. The sound thing seems interesting, but how would that work? Wouldn't I need some sort of resonance chamber?"

Resonance chambers are useful to shape the sound for certain qualities, or to passively amplify it by multiplying soundwaves with themselves. They aren't necessary, though. Most non-specialized options just allow you to use your skin like a loudspeaker, which is really nice if you lose the ability to speak or need to yell louder. Streaming music is another popular reason to have vibrating skin.

More specialized versions can focus the soundwaves and turn them into weapons. Low level applications of that would be to melt Antithesis flesh…slowly. Higher level applications might be destructive enough to turn concrete into dust.

Typically, you would support such weapons with similarly specialized catalog unlocks.

"I don't want that. Having built-in loudspeakers sounds funny and useful, but I'm not going to start investing in yet another new thing. Also, sound's easy to create in mundane ways. If I need a speaker, there's plenty around at any time."

Understood. The Mark IV 'Mimicry' Battle Skin appears to be a good solution. It allows you to shift skin and hair color quickly, lets you grow keratin or chitin saeta as hair, fur, fuzz, spines, quills, scales, et cetera, and is very resistant to puncture damage. It even absorbs blunt damage far better than your Armored Overall via subdermal hardening plates and shock-absorbing gels. It insulates well against temperatures from as low as negative one hundred to as high as two hundred degrees Celsius. 

Another very useful feature for you in particular is that it can change its cellular surface structure. That'll let you glue yourself to your sticky silk and yet instantly drop on command by tuning your skin to match the protein key you programmed the silk with. If you recall, that would usually require a different silk-gland. You can match the texture of any item, or any other number of ideas you might imagine. This adaptability lends itself to minor, visual stealth, even.

"Minor? That sounds pretty good already!"

Well, you could still be detected by heat, by sounds or air disturbances you cause, via weight, smell, and of course, touch. Specialized stealth systems would deal with those, as well as offer faster and more accurate veiling.

"Oh, yeah, okay. That does sound even more amazing. But…again, I don't want to get into too many things at once. I think it'd be nice to have even just a basic ability to remain hidden. Let's put that battle skin on the list."

I have done so.

"Was there anything else external?"

No, not unless you wish for more additions. 

"Nah, that's a lot already. And probably expensive enough, yeah?"

Certainly. Shall we move on to your existing senses, then? Improving those is one of the cheapest options to look at.

"Yes, please."

I would suggest fairly straightforward improvements across the board. For your ears, sensitivity and range of hearing, as well as a better system to locate yourself in space, with fewer modes of failure. 

"But don't the antennae cover that already? And the wings with the avionics thing?"

Yes, but two organs working together will always create a picture incomparably greater than the sum of its parts, and your ears would work with both your new antennae and wings. I would consider improving your ears more than any other of your current senses. Except perhaps for your eyes, but luckily both are very cheap enhancements.

"I…see. Well, I guess I'll find out for myself, then."

Understood. Low-light vision and much improved acuity at distance for your eyes, as well as heat-sensing and an expanded color band. 

"Sure."

Done.

If you wish, a greater sense of taste and smell. Changes to your nose or tongue would affect your palate and may mean that you would no longer enjoy previously liked foods. 

"Oh, won't the antennae already have that effect?"

To an extent, yes, but if your nose is still recognizably your nose, then that'll mitigate some of it.

"Leave it for now. It's probably something to sort out later. Uh, do samurai cook?"

Some do, some don't.

"Personal tastes and hobbies, huh? But that could be an exciting avenue to discover. Later."

As you wish. Your nose could use ways to filter the air, however. Your new antennae may be able to test and analyze the composition of the gasses surrounding you, but that's little help to you if you can't do anything about it.

Your Class I Esoteric Defense Systems catalog offers great items to deal with this, as does your Class II Organic Moonsinger Augmentations catalog. The first would be more flexible but prone to failure due to user-error, the latter, permanent and more expensive.

"I've used masks before. Add your suggestions for the senses to the list, but leave the tongue and nose, please."

Added.

"Thanks. Would the filters have allowed me to survive even with no access to air at all?"

There are certainly options for that. Some increase lung volume, some use heavily oxygenated tissue to alleviate temporary asphyxiation. Hollow bones to store air inside. Nature has found some very fascinating means, spread across several different organs and functions in the body. Increases to efficiency everywhere, usually. It might be simpler to rely on inorganic features, at least until you've had time to settle into your new body and decide what else to invest in.

"Let's stick with the tools I can already access, then. What's next?"

 

***