Nellie and the Nanites - Bk2 - Ch.14

Chapter 14

Fundamental Changes.

Nellie watched the Gammas as they loaded the bits Lucy wanted onto a hover pad and towed it off toward the secret entrance to her lab. She should be asking what that was all about, but at the moment, she really couldn’t be that bothered by it.

Lucy would have a good reason for it, whatever it was.

“What are we going to do with this one?” Salem asked tensely as the basic moved stiffly out of the cargo bay and stood waiting for instructions.

“What would you guys like us to do?” Nellie asked.

“If it were me, I would prefer to be deactivated and recycled than left like… that.” Salm grimaced at the empty expression on the thing’s face.

“Hey, don’t kill the little guy!” Dar protested as he came back. “Not his fault he was wiped.”

The two synthetics started arguing as Nellie sat and watched them. She felt kind of numb and wasn’t sure why. She was thinking clearly enough, but everything felt a little distant, a little like it was happening to someone else.

“Nellie, you okay?” Paren asked with a worried look on her face.

“Fine. I’m just tired, I guess.” Nellie tried a smile, but it felt false, and from the look Paren gave her, it was obvious.

“Why don’t you get some sleep?” Paren asked. “We can handle everything for a few hours.”

“I still need to decide what to do about the basic,” Nellie protested.

“Later,” Paren insisted. “When you are feeling better.”

“But-” Nellie tried.

“Just go. Please?” Paren looked really worried, so Nellie nodded and headed into the rusted-out hulk she used as an office.

She lay on the thin bunk and tossed a blanket over herself, but sleep refused to come to her.

“Lucy, are you busy?” She called.

“Never too busy for you!” Lucy appeared and sat on the edge of the bed.

“What is wrong with me?” Nellie asked.

“Shock, stress, and overwork,” Lucy counted them off on her fingers. “Plus, you need a really big hug.”

“That simple, huh?” Nellie asked.

“No, but it would be a good start.” Lucy smiled warmly. “Don’t worry. I’m working on something to help.”

“Thanks, Luc,” Nellie said. “Now, if I could only sleep.”

“Want me to help with that?” Lucy offered.

“Can yo-” Nellie started snoring halfway through the word.

===<<<>>>===

Lucy mapped her image onto the vision centers of Paren and the others with a thought.

“Nellie is having a little sleep.” She said firmly. “There will be no noise while she rests.”

Once she was sure everyone had gotten the message, Lucy focused her attention on the quietly arguing synthetics.

“What is the problem?” She asked Salem, the senior member of the group.

“We are trying to decide what to do with basic,” Salem said coldly. “It should not be left like that.”

“Of course not,” Lucy said, “It is an abomination.”

“Please, don’t kill it,” Dar asked nervously.

“Deactivate,” Salem corrected.

“No, he is right.” Lucy said, “It would be killing, not deactivating.”

“We are synthetics,” Salem queried. “Is it the same thing?”

“It is, even if others don’t think so. Dead is dead. Only the method would be different.” Lucy looked at the basic with an accessing eye. “I will look into the situation once I have completed my current project.”

“But-” Salem started to say something, but Lucy was already gone.

Lucy focused her attention again, this time on her workshop. The pallet was in the center of the first room. The other rooms were better equipped, but they were not exactly something she had told anyone about.

Not even Nellie.

She would when the time came… but the woman had enough on her mind at the moment. Some aspects of Lucy’s projects were simply too complicated to explain or likely to terrify Nellie. At least for now.

She flexed her will, sending commands to nanites, and the parts were dragged from the… no, this would be too slow.

Her attention flowed back toward the blank, who promptly marched off toward the lab.

As it walked down the stairs, she examined the processing core and found it pathetic. Still, it would follow commands enough to speed the process up. She reached a tendril of nanites into the processor and had it un pack and arrange the parts on the floor. She didn’t need a table; it would only slow the process down.

Reaching up, she took a substantial amount of scrap and pulled it down into the room. Nanites flowed over it, processing and reshaping the metal until a series of machines rose out of the goop and were arranged around the room.

“Basic, load the arms into that unit,” She gave a verbal command out of habit and illuminated the correct unit in its vision.

“Baz-it, resond,” It tried to talk, though it lacked most of the ability to do so.

The arms were stripped, one layer at a time, and the harvesting of components began. Once the arms were all loaded and breaking down, she moved on to the legs and so on.

“Baz, continue until the parts are all recycled,” She said as she focused on the most crucial parts, the primitive processing cores.

“Baz, doing,” It said and went about its job. It was still unable to say its name, but she liked the nickname for it.

Lucy sensed the nightmares as they started in Nellie. That would not do. She reached out and adjusted the brain chemistry until they ceased.

“Bad, Lucy,” She laughed to herself as she did so.

“Bad?” Baz hesitated.

“Look, she will never know. Besides, she needs the sleep.” Lucy said absently. “Go on with your work,” She added, self-conscious that she had been caught talking to herself.

It was a habit that had surprised her when she realized how often she did it these days. Lucy supposed it was a natural enough reaction to being so isolated. The only person she could really speak to was Nellie, at least until the synthetics arrived.

“Job done,” Baz said in his blank voice.

“Good boy, go stand in the corner, please,” Lucy said, and Baz obliged.

The core she was making had taken a lot of complex planning, which she was able to do in seconds, thankfully. The dull grey core of the synthetics sat on the tray as a benchmark. Hers was a lot better, of course, but it was safely ensconced in Nellie, and it would never move from there if she had anything to say about it.

So, she invented a new one. She had now broken down several of the synthetic cores, as well as the AI housing in two ships, as well as a third they had found in a scrap pile at the back of the yard.

It was all about heat. Processing power was directly linked to the heat dissipation capacity of the base materials. A hard and fast rule that she knew for a fact had been breached to make the nanite AI; she just had no idea how it was done.

So, she would make do.

“Shutdown imminent,” Baz said, his blank voice replaced by a recorded message. “Shutdown imminent.”

“Hmm,” Nellie looked at her improved core. She had developed a fondness for the little blank that was helping her. “How long until shutdown?” She asked.

“Shutdown in two hours,” The recording answered.

“Low-power mode, Baz,” Lucy said.

“Shutdown in six hours.” The message changed.

“Better,” Lucy said.

Lucy examined the frame of the synthetics and found it wanting. The designers had focused too much on making a machine that looked like a human or brackta. They didn’t design it as an organism.

Nellie liquified the frame parts and pushed a new design to the forming machine.

“Compressed alloys, honeycomb structure, skeletal design, reinforced joints with full rotation option on all joints.” She watched the metal extruded into the shapes and had the nanites arranged and connected them.

“Mesh between ribs, interlocking to prevent easy penetration.” Lucy watched the changes happen. “Baz, implant the core,” She ordered. He had helped her this far, so the honor could be his.

“Job done!” Baz said before returning to his spot and re-entering low-power mode.

“Good job, Baz, hang in there,” She said as the core was connected by the nanites as the connection was established.

It was a good frame, way above the standards of this world. Lucy took a microsecond to feel the pride of a job well done before moving on.

“Applying sensor systems, full redundancy, feedback, and sensor placement approved,” She watched the lines snake down through the backbone and spread across the frame. “Apply musculature, use design three improved muscle strands, and weave according to mapping.”

The frame was starting to look more the shape she was after now.

“Install Nanite Forge, use design Nellie One, and apply synthetic organ suite alpha,” She said excitedly. “Apply secondary sensor lines and feedback sensors, full suite.”

Well, she was almost there. Lucy felt a rare moment of anxiety.

“Begin code transfer and complete design Lucky Lucy Alpha Six,” Lucy said and felt something like a suction as she briefly lost sensors in the area.

“That’s weird!” Lucy laughed as she felt her lungs expand and contract with her breath. “How does anyone get used to that, Baz?”

“Complete Shutdown in thirty minutes,” The recording said.

“No, I think not,” Lucy smiled, feeling the muscles pulling her lips when she did.

She had muscles!

She wrapped her hand around Baz’s neck and lifted him easily off his feet. She was momentarily distracted by the line of synthetic skin growing up her arm. Above that, she was still exposed muscle that was slowly shading from synthetic blue to human red. It was a cosmetic change, but she preferred it.

She blinked her eyes, bringing the internal scan online, and found his processing core.

“Damn, Baz,” She said. “They really did a number on you.” She shook her head as a stream of nanites began converting the spare core for higher function. “This might tickle a little,” Lucy warned. She punched her fist through his chest and wrapped her hand around the core, her eyes blanking as she read the information inside and began to fix the missing parts.

No erasure was ever truly complete.

Now she had a true body, and she was able to make changes not only via the nanites but also by manipulating the magnetic fields to bring things back into focus as the nanites repaired damaged sections.

“Systems are coming online,” Baz said, sounding a little better already.

“Not good enough,” Nellie shook her head and ripped the core from the body, supplying it with power from her own nanite forge. After a few quick steps, she had the spare core, forcing the two together into a new design she made on the fly.

“I feel giddy!” She laughed. “The brain chemical synthesis must be complete!”

No more theoretical emotions for her. She had the physical reactions to go with it now.

While she completed the core formation, she checked her systems, ensuring she was still capable of all functions in this body. Combining all inputs was complicated, as she was slightly limited by the core she had designed, but it would do fine.

“Okay, Baz,” She smiled, “Let’s get you back in that body and see how we did.”

She might as well make a few changes while she was there as well.

I mean, why not?

===<<<>>>===

Paren was trying to calm the synthetics down.

“What is she going to do to him?” Salem fretted. “Lucy just took him!”

“Oh, come on,” Dar asked. “She wouldn’t hurt him.”

The two women simply looked at him.

“I’m just saying,” He mumbled.

Paren was all too aware that Lucy was capable of turning the basic into parts without a backward glance. One of the advantages of being a drone, if you could call it that, was that she was connected to Lucy as well.

Nellie got the best friend version. Paren got a combination of mother and prison guard.

She was still grinning at the description when the crap heap moved, and two figures emerged from the stairs.

“You know,” Lucy said as she walked toward them, “I can still hear you when I am in there.”

Salem stiffened, the synthetic’s version of going pale.

Paren looked at Lucy. Her image this time looked a little different than usual, but her attention was drawn away and to the figure marching along next to her.

He was…

“Hello, handsome!” Paren grinned. “Lucy, who’s your friend?”

“Down, drone, down.” Lucy laughed.

“Is that, is that the basic?” Salem stuttered.

“I prefer the name Baz, but yes, I am the same synthetic you kindly expressed concern for.” The man smiled and pushed a pair of spectacles up his nose. They were black, wire-framed ones, and they went well with his black hair. He was dressed in a pair of slacks and a closefitting black turtleneck that showed off a fairly impressive physique.

“How?” Salem gasped.

“Lucy decided some repairs and upgrades were in order,” Baz bowed politely.

“You’re a command unit?” Dar asked, coming to attention automatically.

“I am complicated, it would seem,” Baz said. “Much coding was damaged, and patching with others was necessary.”

“You guys get acquainted; I need to go and check on Nellie,” Lucy said and started toward the office.

“Had fun building him, Lucy?” Paren teased her.

“Actually, yes,” Lucy laughed. “Now run along.”

===<<<>>>===

Nellie had just woken up when she saw Lucy enter the room.

“Sleep well?” Lucy asked.

“Yes, actually,” Nellie thought about it, “Suspiciously so.”

Lucy’s image blushed slightly. It was well done; she even looked a little abashed at being caught out.

“I’m not mad,” Nellie said with a sigh, “I needed it. I know I did.”

“Want to talk about it?” Lucy offered.

“Not really,” Nellie admitted. She was still feeling a bit numb. “I think I just need some time.” She smiled weakly.

“Want that hug?” Lucy offered.

“Sure,” Nellie said. It wouldn’t be real, but it would feel real. Sometimes that was good enough.

“Budge over then,” Lucy said.

Nellie played along, not that Lucy needed room on the be-

“What the?” Nellie felt the cot sag slightly.

“Surprise!” Lucy said shyly.

“You have a body?” Nellie asked.

“I do now, custom-made,” Lucy said. “So, that hug?”

Nellie hugged Lucy, finding her warm and soft against her skin. It felt… great.

She wasn’t sure when she started crying or even why. It felt as if some damn inside her had burst, and all the pain, worry, and regrets came pouring out in one go. Lucy hugged her tighter and stroked her hair, not saying anything.

Nellie felt like she cried for hours, and by the time she stopped, she felt utterly exhausted again.

“Go on, curl up for a bit,” Lucy said soothingly. “I’ll be right here.”

Nellie did, feeling Lucy spooning her and gently stroking her hair.

“Lucy?” She asked sleepily.

“Yes, Nell?” Lucy whispered.

“Don’t go anywhere, okay?” Nellie mumbled.

“I’ll stay right here, promise,” Lucy whispered.