TBoB - Book 7- Chapter 65 - Medical Care (Patreon)

“Well, it’s not perfect, but it’ll have to do for now,” I muttered. “I’ll have to cut the rest of my armour off once I get to the surface in order to get the last few shards out. At least I managed to get some of them out and stop the bleeding.”

If you had any common sense, you’d get a medical bot to cut what remains of that sleeve off and remove those shards now, Nyx said

“I’m a samurai; we all lack common sense,” I replied with a chuckle. “Seriously though, I know that there are probably better ways to deal with this problem, but I didn’t want to waste too much time in case those snakehead things somehow managed to penetrate our lines and attack me again. As long as I can move my fingers, and I’m not going to bleed to death, I’ll be fine.”

You and I should really have a discussion about what qualifies as ‘fine’, Nyx said.

“Nah, I don’t think that’s necessary…” I started.

And invite Jane to participate, Nyx said, interrupting me.

“Now that’s not fighting fair,” I muttered. 

If you didn’t do anything wrong, you wouldn’t be in this position, Nyx replied. We’ll talk about it later.

“Fine. It’s not like I can escape when you live rent-free in my head,” I grumbled. “Hey, Nyx, do I have anything in my catalogues that would be able to shrug off that breath attack of those things? Something I could carry?”You have access to plenty of armour, and even combat shields; however, even if you switch up your equipment, you’ll probably have problems, Nyx said.

“Oh, and why is that?” I asked.

Because that ‘breath attack’ as you call it is caused by highly pressurized liquid expelled at extreme speeds. It’ll wear down most materials when they’re exposed for extended periods, but the bigger problem is that anything it can’t cut through will be thrown around. You lack the mass to resist that force, Nyx explained.

“So it’s because I’m short,” I muttered.

No, it’s because you’re not in something that weighs several thousand pounds. You need something extremely heavy to withstand that attack. I can give you something that won’t immediately break when struck by the spit, but that’s about it.

“Well, I guess that’s good enough. I’m just worried about losing my arm again, and I don’t want to be stripping my combat armour in the middle of an active combat zone,” I said. “What options do I have?”

We have a variety of shields that can be strapped to your arm, both extendable and not, as well as a number of weapon and armour bracers, Nyx replied. It just depends on how heavy you want it to be, and if you want it to have any extra utility

“Extra utility?” I asked.

There are a ton of things that could help you in this situation. Area scanners, communication boosters, medical injectors, grappling hooks… Nyx said

“Grappling hook?” I said, interrupting my AI. “Would that actually work underwater?”

Of course, it’s a simple device after all. I could even include a subspace anchor in it so it doesn’t need a firm anchor point in order to use it, Nyx said. Why focus on the grappling hook over the other options? 

“I’ve re-established comms with the surface, and if I wander into the chaff there’s no guarantee that a comms booster will be enough to punch through the interference, and although a scanner would be useful, I don’t want to be looking at my wrist in the middle of a battle to see what’s happening,” I explained. “What I’ve lacked up to this point is mobility, and although a grapple isn’t the best option, it IS an option.”So are manuvering jets, Nyx replied

“Yeah, and I told you, I don’t want to be learning to use those in the middle of combat,” I said. 

You’ll also be learning to use the grapple in the middle of combat, Nyx reminded me.

“True, but if I misaim the grapple at least I know where the fuck I’m going to end up, and disengage it before I get in trouble,” I said. “I also need a new weapon because, you know, mine got destroyed. Again. I can’t believe I lost two different rifles after coming down here; the ocean’s the worst!”

I’m sure the ocean wasn’t completely to blame for those losses, Nyx said.

“Well, it contributed,” I grumbled. “Anyways, I’m done fucking around; The rifles I’ve been using haven’t been up to snuff. Can you give me something with a decent rate of fire, and enough punch to cause some real damage? I want to give those snake things a piece of my mind. Preferably delivered at high speeds and with an explosive ending. Oh, and it should be capable of both terrestrial and underwater combat, obviously.”

Obviously, Nyx repeated. You know, your linear accelerator weapons catalog includes a wide selection of different weapons, however, there’s one model that not only meets all your requirement, but is something that should be very familiar to you.

“Oh? Is it a coilgun?” I asked.

No. I’m talking about teh LCARS big brother, the HCARS. It lacks the stopping power of the rifles you’ve been using lately, but, as you know, it makes up for it with the aim assist and adjustable ammo types. Nyx said.

“I thought the LCARS effectiveness had fallen off,” I said.

It had, and admittedly the HCARS isn’t a massive improvement over the previous model. It has a larger ammo capacity, higher rate of fire, an ammo replication system… Nyx said

“Woah! Hold up, what was that last part?” I asked.

Are you really surprised? You’ve been molecular reconfigurators since Class I. It was only a matter of time until they got small enough to be integrated into your basic loadout. 

“Right…” I muttered. “So again, why didn’t you suggest the HCARS the last time I upgraded.” 

Because you purchased various missile catalogs and blueprints since then. If you’ll remember the CARS family doesn’t fire traditional rounds, but something closer to a mini-missile. With these added catalogs I can offer you some much more effective ammo. Includeing a round which can disperse M-17 inside a target, Nyx said.

“Let’s stick with the conventional ammo to start with,” I replied. “I’d really like to hear about all this new esoteric ammo I have access to, but I don’t think now is the time. I’ve been sitting here too long.” 

I made my way to the corner of the bear-a-cade wall and peeked out. Both Depthcharge and the bears had already pushed around the rock outcropping. I couldn’t see what was happening, but I could see the light flashes, and hear the explosions beyond. 

“I really need to get back into the fight, so we can get rid of those fucking things and resume our search for survivors,” I said. “So, give me the HCARS and that bracer. Oh! And drop some resupplies by the… Mooses? I’m sure they’re running low by now.”

Is that all?

“Yes… wait no! You said the HCARS could handle unique ammo. Is there a round that disrupts regeneration?” I asked.

There is. It’s a little more expensive, but it uses a highly aggressive nanite payload that only attacks antithesis flesh. Nyx replied.

“Excellent, let’s start with a full load of those. Hopefully they’ll make a difference against these stupid worms,” I said. “Come on, give em to me, chop chop.”I don’t know where the sudden enthusiasm came from, but very well. Hold out your hand, I’ll deliver the bracer out in front of you, and the rifle at your feet. Nyx said

As soon as the bracer appeared, I grabbed it. The thing looked like it was made of the same material as the rest of my armour, but had a clamshell design which allowed it to snap around my shattered armour. There was a section that stuck out in front, and it took me a second to realize it had slipped over my palm, giving me a way to control the device. It turned out to be fairly intuitive to use, and only took me a minute to figure it out.

When I was done, I reached down and scooped up the HCARS. It was much bulkier than the LCARS, it actually felt similar to the original CARS in my hands. It was familiar, comfortable. 

I shifted the weapon so it nestled into the crook of my arm and took a step towards the rocky outcropping which had sheltered me against the onslaught until this point. “Alright, lets see how you assholes deal with this,” I muttered. “Time for round two.”