Chapter 85: Shadow Library - The Perfect Mutation (Patreon)

[Tera's Observation Log — Year Four]

[Day 1431. Rendering compiled data.]

Operator, wake up. Something's pounding outside the room. 

Her eyes opened; the surroundings were blurry as Napoleon leaped on her, his eyes flashing red like an emergency alert. She woke in her room, disoriented. “I’m up, I’m up.” 

A noise was coming from the library, and there was only one person up there.

"Cat." The Operator was out of the room in a second, Napoleon on her shoulder, taking the stairs two at a time. She hurried through the library toward the cocoon. “I’ve lost track, Tera. How long have I been waiting for that brat to wake up?”

A little over three years.

When she reached the cocoon, blows were coming from inside it, one after another, as something tried to get out.

She's awake.

“Thanks, Captain Obvious.” The Operator raised her fist, ready to hit the cocoon.

You’re going to break your bones once again.

“I don’t give a shit.” She threw the first punch, which didn’t break despite her strength. “Shit, that hurt,” she muttered. She threw a second and a third punch; on the fourth, the cocoon cracked. “Now I feel the pain. Ouch,” she exclaimed.

The nanobots are administering pain relief. You will stop feeling it shortly.

The final blow visibly cracked the cocoon’s top. With her uninjured hand, the Operator started removing the fragments, accelerating as more detached. Beneath, a membrane was revealed, and behind it, a liquid filled the space, with Catherine’s silhouette drifting inside.

The Operator froze, placing her hand flat against the membrane. On the other side, Catherine’s hand rose to meet hers, small against hers. “Don’t worry, Cat. I already did the hard part. There’s enough room for her to come out. Napoleon, cut the membrane. Cat, if you can hear me, stop touching the membrane.”

Catherine withdrew her hand, while Napoleon settled on the cocoon, warming one of his front legs. In a swift motion, he sliced into the membrane, causing the liquid to spill onto the floor.

The Operator reached into the cocoon with both hands and gently pulled Catherine out. The girl began coughing and expelled the liquid from her lungs.

She gently turned Catherine onto her side, supporting her back with one hand to help the liquid. It was then that she saw the transformation. The body she held no longer resembled the small five- or six-year-old girl from before. Instead, it appeared to be a girl of about fourteen or fifteen, taller and more developed. Her hands continued to assist with the girl’s breathing, while her eyes carefully examined Catherine’s face, as if seeking reassurance that the little girl was still inside.

The girl’s eyes opened slowly, unfocused, then found the Operator’s face. "I'm hungry."

Same voice, but older. She paused for a moment, her hand resting on the girl’s back. "Don't worry. The food should show up in the room any minute now." She picked Catherine up and carried her to the room.

Catherine devoured her meal as if starved for years, head bowed, unmoving and silent. Napoleon sat on the Operator’s lap, both silently observing her. 

The Operator got up from the bed, took a set of clothes with her good hand, and slowly approached her. “Let’s get you into these, okay? You can’t be walking around like that.”

Catherine sent the chair flying. In a flash, she was on her feet in front of the Operator, crouching and growling, with her hands raised as if ready to attack. Four long black stingers emerged from her back, one at each corner, tipped with silver, all aimed directly at the Operator.

"Cat. What are you doing?"

Napoleon leaped into the space between them, eyes glowing red, blades ready to strike.

The Operator crouched down and placed her good hand on him. “Don’t. Please. Don’t hurt her.”

Catherine’s growl gradually ceased. Her body remained rigid, hands raised, stingers extended over her back and still pointed at the Operator. Yet, a struggle was happening behind her eyes, fighting its way through. She blinked, and the blankness began to fade as clarity returned, and the girl slowly reappeared in her expression. Eventually, she looked at the Operator as if she couldn’t comprehend how they had ended up in this position.

“I don’t… I don’t know what happened. That wasn’t me, Operator. It just took over. I couldn’t stop it. I’m sorry.” Catherine started walking slowly toward the Operator, ashamed.

Napoleon remained firm. His eyes grew redder, and his legs started to turn. “I don’t like her anymore, Operator.”

“Please forgive me, Napoleon. It’s still me inside.”

The spinning on his legs stopped. He moved back onto the bed and remained there, keeping his eyes on her.

“I’m going to come take a look at you, all right? I just want to make sure you’re okay,” said the Operator.

Go ahead. I understand now. I believe the hunger was affecting me, and I wasn’t myself. It won’t happen again.

The Operator stepped in and rubbed the top of her head. “I know. Hold still.”

The Operator examined Catherine’s four stingers, but her focus shifted. A membrane covered her entire back, and the Operator started peeling it off. “God. What is this?”

“God, what is this?” the Operator exclaimed, stepping back and covering her mouth.

“What? I can’t see it. What are you looking at?” Cat asked, scared, trying to look behind her.

Working from behind, she slowly peeled back the membrane. “Don’t move. Please.”

As she gradually removed it, her entire back was covered with small octagons. Each one looked like a tiny, transparent cocoon embedded in her skin, containing a parasite inside. When she touched Cat’s back, the parasites stayed still, as if asleep, showing no reaction to her touch. 

“Can you feel these on your back?"

“Just tell me what’s on my back,” Cat demanded, voice rising. “Stop going around it and tell me what’s wrong with me.”

“Oh, Cat,” she said sadly. “You’ll have a tough time finding a boyfriend someday.”

[End of entry]

[Tera's Observation Log — Year Four]

[Day 1451. Rendering compiled data.]

Disassembly Field was active, and parts of Napoleon floated inside. She had him on the table in front of her, assembling him carefully while wearing goggles because her eyes weren’t as strong as her skin. “I could teach an entire doctorate on how to build and fix cybernetic spiders.”

When you return to the evolution zone, consider opening a shop with a large sign that reads, “We build and repair your cybernetic spider.” It’d be a huge hit.

“The question is whether the Guardian and the Great Realm Portal will let me keep the rights to the business. They’d probably ask for an eighty percent commission on sales.”

Better that the commission goes to them than to the System.

The Operator collected the remaining parts from the Disassembly Field and reassembled them into Napoleon’s body, making adjustments and preparing him. She then leaned back, stretched her arms overhead, and rolled her neck to release the stiffness after all the work.

“I did it. Napoleon now has Technological Sense. I could put him together and take him apart with my eyes closed. Too bad I don’t have the materials I need to make more upgrades. Okay, a couple more adjustments, and we’re done.”

She adjusted the parts so they fit, and when she set the last one, her right arm started to glow.

“My Saga?” she whispered, holding her breath as the letters floated from her arm and started moving around Napoleon, going into him.

The nanobots are tracking changes in your body, but they’re not detecting anything unusual. It’s as if the Saga doesn’t exist.

Then, on the right side of Napoleon’s chassis, blue letters appeared in the Saga’s language. They read Operator. “A signature?”

The Saga came off Napoleon and returned to the Operator’s arm. “It’s clear it only works on machinery I’ve built. But I don’t understand what it does.” The letters on her arm slowly stopped glowing.

"So everything I build is going to have a signature? It's going to show up when I finish building something? Why don’t all these evolutions and Sagas come with a damn manual?

Why does it bother you? So far, it’s only done you good.

"I don't like things I can't understand. I don't want to think about this anymore. Let's activate Napoleon and run some tests."

[End of entry]

[Tera's Observation Log — Year Five]

[Day 1641. Rendering compiled data.]

“It’s the fight of the century. On the left, we have the mini Operator, weighing in at… I have no idea. And with the formulas installed, Body Reinforcement, Muscular Density Enhancement, and the new ones, Bone Densification and Kinetic Acceleration. A round of applause for her, the most beautiful clone in the whole universe.”

The Operator’s clone raised its arms and began waving to the audience. Catherine, sitting there, clapped excitedly as she listened to the Operator call the fight.

“And in the other corner, we have one of the most powerful warriors in the universe. He’s fought the mighty Vaekk and evil creatures from another dimension. A round of applause for Napoleon.”

Napoleon lifted his front legs and began sharpening his blades, as cannons emerged from his back and started spinning, with his eyes turning red.

“Alright, the show’s over. I was joking, Napoleon. I can’t let her hit you. I don’t know her strength or how much damage she could do.” She handed Napoleon a piece of metal.

“You’re going to hold this in front of you and take the hit from my clone, and we’ll analyze the result. I don’t want you to take any damage.”

Napoleon looked down, disappointed. "I really thought I was going to fight."

“Don’t worry. A few more tests, then we can play, okay?”

Napoleon began bouncing in place. “Thank you, Operator.”

“Alright, let’s get started. Napoleon, raise your shield.”

He placed the metal in front of him and used his body and legs to hold it.

"Alright, the hit lands in three, two." The clone assumes a fighting stance. "One. Now."

It shot forward, fast and directly at the metal. Its fist struck with force, causing Napoleon and the metal to fly across the room and crash into the pillow pile the Operator had prepared earlier for this test.

Any pain?

She didn’t answer, first looking down at her hands, turning them over, flexing her fingers, waiting for the pain to come. All while the clone was doing the same movements at the same time.

“No pain,” she said softly, almost hesitant to believe it. Her face suddenly shifted. “No pain. The mutation is perfect.” She stood up now. “THE MUTATION’S PERFECT.”

She got up holding the clone and began repeatedly tossing it into the air, laughing. Close by, Napoleon shook himself off and started bouncing along with her, his lights flashing. Catherine watched from her chair, smiling through tears. “Congratulations, Operator.”Five years, it was done.

"I think I've earned a few days off."

Cat lit up. "Really? Then can I show you these books I found? They're the most interesting thing I've read in the library, especially everything about this one world, and..."

“I need rest. I’d love to, but my brain’s on strike and refuses to learn anything new at the moment. How about giving me a week off? I promise I won’t attempt to learn any new formulas during that time. After the break, I’ll be entirely available to see everything you’ve found.”

“Yes! Great, I’ll prepare my favorite books to show you.”

“That sounds perfect, Cat.”

The Operator placed the clone down, and both of them grinned at each other. Then she let herself fall back onto the floor, arms outstretched, gazing up at the ceiling. “God, I’d love to have these formulas in my body right now. The compounds I left outside would’ve expired in here a long time ago anyway."

Catherine was midway up the stairs when she heard it. She paused, turned around, and then came back down. “Mmm. You’re missing the compounds,” she said, tilting her head. “And you want them in your body now, right?”

That’s the plan, but I want to spend more time here testing new formulas on the clone. We'll need to wait and create them after we leave this place.

The four stingers slid out of Catherine's body, their tips a metal color. "So what if you teach me how the perfect dosing works, and we give it a try?"

[End of entry]