Codename: Freedom - Book 4 - Chapter 4

Instead of a mixed reality headset, I followed behind a purple flying orb. It was only the size of a small bird without wings, but this personal drone was being controlled by Destiny. Now that I had money coming in, I’d made a few quality of life purchases. This drone that my AI was now master of was designed to be far more durable than any common drone on the market. That wasn’t its only benefit.

The visual and audible sensors on this specific model gave Destiny a far clear picture of the world and much more information to crunch than she’d ever had access to before. The processing and battery life were also the latest and greatest. Listening to my AI when she’d first linked up with it made her sound like a child on Christmas morning.

I hadn’t completely unplugged, for the drone came with its own minimalistic earpiece that could extend out and offer visuals if necessary. What we mainly used the headpiece for was an audio channel in which we could communicate on without having to announce our conversation to the world. She also had access to the audible and visual sensors on the earpiece.

She was leading me through the hall of a local university. It seemed like a strange place to have a medical procedure done, but a DNA Cleanse wasn’t exactly illegal though it was frowned upon. There were exceptions to the rule, but one of the main philosophical differences between humans and the Ekseliksi was that humanity was against the changing of a person’s DNA for anything but necessary medical reasons. They believed that to change your DNA was to change yourself. It could negatively affect their children’s future, and even make them infertile. While the Ekseliksi believed that changing one’s DNA wasn’t just acceptable, but ethically the right thing to do. It could improve their children’s future. As far as I knew, they were both technically right.

If DNA changed too much, a person could end up as something other than human. That was the extreme, however. There were almost countless levels of possible change, and it was daunting just considering a fraction of them. And even if a change didn’t make one infertile their children could be or end up with countless unexpected side effects.

I mostly ignored the students as I took in the building itself. Everyone was fully immersed in the metaverse as they passed by, so they were missing the bright marble floors, grand arching windows lighting the way, and the rich wooden walls of this many centuries-old structure. It was from a time when architects didn’t rely upon the metaverse to enhance the design of their creations.

I wore a common hooded rogue skin that hid my features from everyone plugged in, so even though my presence should’ve caused quick the ruckus, no one noticed me. All they’d have to do is take a quick view of the world not filtered through the metaverse, but no one did.

As we reached the end of the hall, the hologram of a thumbs up appeared over Destiny’s drone before pointing to the side. It was there, across from one of the massive lecture halls, that an ornate wooden door was standing undisturbed by students.

Instead of waiting for me, the purple flying ball that was Destiny ran into the wooden door, bouncing off three times.

“You’re having too much fun with that,” I whispered.

She gave me an evil chuckle.

A moment later, the door cracked open. A person peeked out at about eye level when a deep feminine voice. “What is it?”

I smiled to try to come off friendly. “Uh. I’m Lucius. I had an appointment.”

Instead of responding, the person was suddenly gone. A few seconds later, the door began to open. I reapplied my smile as I watched with anticipation as the door inched open. When my eyes fell on the sleave of a white lab coat, I found myself inclining my head to look up. The woman who had opened the door was staring down at me with a cold expression. Her dark hair was done up in a bun on the back of her head, and she had strong features while still looking rather pretty. She had to at least be seven and a half feet tall.

“I’m Doctor Weis,” she said, reaching out her hand.

When I shook it, she grabbed ahold of me with a firm grip and a surge of psionic energy punched into my arm.

I immediately strengthened Petra, my walls, and forced the alien energy out of my body. Widening my stance, I was ready for a fight.

She watched me for a moment longer, but ultimately released her grip. “Good,” she said with a firm nod. “Take this.”

In her other hand rested a steel vial. When she handed it to me, I took it.

“Drink all of it in one sitting. No food for an hour afterward, and no psionic walls for the next two days. Stifling the flow of energy can hinder the virus from being able to spread. Other than that, drinks lots of water.” At that, she turned and started closing the door.

Stepping forward, I placed my hand on the door to stop her. “That’s it?” I replied.

“Yes.”

“What if anything goes wrong?”

“I used your DNA in the virus’s design. Nothing can go wrong unless your DNA has changed.”

I found myself without a response and didn’t resist when she pushed the door closed. “Is what she said true?” I asked Destiny.

“I can’t say for sure, but from the literature I’ve read, such viruses are considered safe.”

As we were leaving the building, I pondered what had just happened. I wasn’t sure exactly what I’d expected but finding a giant Ekseliksi lady in the middle of a high-end university handing out customized DNA Cleanses wasn’t it. It made me wonder if Victoria had people everywhere, or if Dr. Weis was just an oddball.

I kept my own internal feelings to myself, fearing that Destiny would pick up on my reaction and it would somehow put myself, Victoria, and the Ekseliksi in danger somehow. There were two things I couldn’t deny. Destiny wouldn’t endanger me willingly. Secondly, she was extremely intuitive, especially when it came to reading me. The only option I saw that I had was to keep everything inside. Without Achilles’s lessons on mental discipline, I wouldn’t have even had a chance of keeping anything from her.

Once I was in our family transport, I sat back on the black syn-leather seat facing the opposing couch. The windows were completely tinted so that traffic wasn’t a distraction. The vehicle was rectangular in shape with a more aerodynamic nose at the front like a shuttle.

I didn’t wait to drink the fluid. It had a decent grape flavor. If only I could find a nutrition shake that tasted so good.

Destiny’s drone hovered across from me when all of a sudden a holographic version of her head appeared above the drone, and her body appeared beneath it. She wore a white dress with yellow flowers and had her hands sitting on her thighs, patting to an unknown beat.

She just watched me, giving me googly eyes as if just waiting for something unexpected to happen.

For the first half an hour, I felt nothing different. The drive home would only take an hour, so I was halfway there. I started to sweat ever so slightly but didn’t feel much different. If that were the worst side effect, it would be an easy one to deal with. I only had one commercial scheduled for later in the day tomorrow so I should be able to manage just fine.

The headache came a few minutes later. With it, the sweating increased. Body aches came with the fever, and suddenly I was very dizzy. The entire world spun.

When the spinning finally stopped, I found myself lying down in the vehicle soaked in sweat.

“Wakey. Wakey.”

“Destiny?” I said, my vision coming into focus.

She was standing over me, beaming down with a purple orb on her neck like a tight necklace. “Mmhmm,” she nodded.

“How long was I out?”

“Six hours. I contacted your parents and told them you were worn out and decided to stop at a friend’s house to take a nap. Thankfully, they didn’t need the car.”

“Thank you,” I replied, sitting up. “What exactly happened?”

Pulling up a nonexistent chair, Destiny sat down in front of me. “You had a fever that shot up to 102 degrees and you passed out. When your fever broke, you woke up a few minutes later. How do you feel now?”

“Good, I guess…” I had no headache, and my chills and body aches were gone. “Is it over?”

“Who’s to say. Your skin didn’t turn green, and I see no antennas growing out of your head.”

“Did any of my stats go up that you can tell?”

“I’ll only know that after seeing you in action.”

“That’s right.”

I rolled my neck. I hadn’t exactly been lying in a comfortable position.

She threw up a holographic panel to the side where both of us could see.

Status

Health: 2,198

Stamina: 4,540

Combat Level: Rank D – Level 99

Strength: Rank C – Level 22

Endurance: Rank C – Level 54

Quickness: Rank C – Level 02

Speed Rank C – Level 82

Psionic Level: Rank F

Psionic Energy: 260,819 (Units)

Psionic Power: 296 (Maximum energy use per second)

Psionic Recovery Rate: 3.15 (Units of Psionic Energy recovered per second)

She tapped her chin as she looked at it. “When you work out next, I’ll keep an eye on your physical stats and see if there are any immediate improvements. Only a week left until phase three. While you were out, they announced what they’re going to call it.”

Giving me a sly look as if daring me to ask.

I indulged her. “And?”

“Vanguard,” said replied. “Codename: Vanguard.” She stood up, giving me a stoic look, and began to speak at an ever-growing tempo. “In other words, you will spearhead the new wave of trailblazers as you explore and innovate at the cutting-edge of the human’s outpost in the Prime Simulation.”

I leaned forward and rested my chin against my knuckles. “Pretend I’m not a thesaurus. What did you just say?”

She straightened up as much as she could, trying to look ominous. “Codename: Vanguard.”