(Rewritten) Ch. 5 – New Plan

"Sometimes samurai find themselves stuck, unable to act for reasons that have nothing to do with a lack of points or gear.

That's not surprising, considering the environment they are born in, the tasks their status sets them, or the actions certain greedy entities will take against them.

Mental strain is as common among the samurai as it is among emergency workers, soldiers, and police forces combined. That is also of little surprise—are not the samurai all of these in one?"

– Dr. Stephen Vance, academic professor and psychologist, September 2030

***

I was sitting heavily, with my head bent and my face resting in my hands, carefully regulating my breath. Tynea's voice rang ephemerally through my brain.

I could offer temporary relief in the form of drugs, which would allow you to continue to function despite the new fear. There is the danger of psychological addiction, though.

The hairs on my nape stood up and my shoulders tensed. My hands became fists.

"No drugs, Tynea," I said with clenched teeth. "No mindfuck pills."

…Understood, Aden. Does this have to do with the period of time before your crossing of the Atlantic? I do not have any data available on it.

My jaws ground back and forth. "Yes."

Tynea paused. Perhaps computing how to best proceed? Then she continued:

The most immediate option would be gradual exposure to the height, to step onto the roof with slow intent. Your brain learned to equate height with pain. Intentionally facing that trigger may help you find a healthier equilibrium. Or it might backfire and make things worse.

Another, perhaps more involved solution, may be to take to the streets instead, and fight from lower ground. That would more directly expose you to attack, however. But combined with a dream-therapy module, you could let the trauma heal in a guided manner after the battle.

The final, long-term option might be to adjust your DNA to reduce sensitivity to stress-related reactions. That would be permanent in perpetuity across all traumatic instances. This does not use…"mindfuck" drugs.

"Wait." My eyes popped open wide. I forgot all about the yawning depths of the stairs in front of me that kept me a prisoner sitting on my bum. I forced myself to calm down, to pay exacting attention.

"Adjust my DNA?" I asked. "You can do that?"

Of course. Even at Class I there are catalogs that allow you to fundamentally change yourself. At Class II, you could choose to become an entirely different species at will, in seconds. The moment that you became a Vanguard, you gained the ability to be anything or anyone.

The world stopped for a moment. A bunch of thoughts crashed through my mind, collided, and left me reeling. I'd have sat down if I wasn't already sitting.

"Anything?"

Yes?

"I…" I stayed still and tried to gather my thoughts.

I've wanted to be a girl for about as long as I could remember. I'd been working so very hard at being happy knowing that wouldn't ever be an option for me. But now it suddenly was? But should I? Why not?

Everything I'd learned and thought about that topic was turned upside down. I could. Why shouldn't I? What would it mean if I did?

"There's no way I'd not, is there? Damn the consequences, if there even are any." I whispered.

What, Aden?

"Become a woman." My mind settled itself within my new reality.

Oh, that is fairly easy. Though your male body does offer you a strong muscular advantage this early in your life as a Vanguard.

"I really, really don't care about that. Guns and all."

Understood. To change your sex you will need to unlock Class I Genetics and Class I Viral Editing, at minimum. Your Class I Medical Utilities contains methods to manage your body as it goes through the changes and to deal with resultant complications, as well as the pain such swift growing brings with it. This most basic method would take several months, but you may remain active throughout and it would cost you a few hundred points total.

If you also unlocked other suitable Class I catalogs, you could shorten that time to as little as ten days, by utilizing biological or inorganic methods of metamorphing. You would sleep during this time, and a swarm of nanites would break down most of your body and support the medical viruses as they edit your DNA, and finally rebuild you according to your new blueprint.

You would wake up entirely changed and would need to adjust. That could be eased with dream-learning. Your brain would remain intact throughout the procedure, and experience only gradual changes small enough that de- and reconstruction would not be necessary. Ten days of constant sleeping would offer you a lot of time to absorb new knowledge, and you could also fully integrate a vast variety of entirely new organs, grafts, or limbs.

"Grafts? Limbs? Is that comparable to, like, prosthetics or something?"

Certainly. Fundamentally, both organic and inorganic prosthetics and other devices are subject to the same rules of physics. It follows that if your technology is good enough, anything that one can do, the other can, too. The differences lie in the method of integration, complexity, and method of use.

"What's that mean, exactly? Those differences?" I asked.

Inorganics are much simpler to add to your body. They are made of materials that your immune system would tolerate, and even the most invasive integrations essentially just add to, or replace tissue. No matter how fine your technology, application is always a little…brute. It's the choice of materials that make it possible. The use of these prosthetics or implants tends to evoke the sense of using a tool, rather than a body part. Some prefer that.

Organic additions must contend with the full complexity of your body, and will change the rest of it as well, so that the new organ may be supported. But such additions feel more natural in use.

Either way, your brain gains new extensions to use new functions, with all the advantages and consequences therein.

My eyebrows scrunched together and I sat up. Then I spoke slowly, "That sounds a little creepy. Wouldn't a change to my brain change who I am?"

No, no more than just having a third arm and being able to consciously control and feel it would. You'd see a physical change to your body and you may subconsciously alter your image of yourself as you get used to it, but there would be no alteration to your personality—unless that is explicitly wished for, of course.

Remember also that Vanguards are chosen for specific personality traits. It would be counterproductive to endanger those.

"Oh yeah. I remember, I guess. And anyway, if you had nefarious plans for me, I'd be fucked anyhow, what with you already being in my head. It makes sense to assume good will. What are those consequences you mentioned?"

Violent loss of fully integrated organic modifications is subjectively comparable to a violent loss of your natural limbs. Loss of inorganic modifications feels less personal to most Vanguards.

"Ah. Well…that's not the most unfamiliar situation to me. And adrenaline is a powerful combat drug, anyhow."

Yes. A Vanguard has many tools to quickly deal with such injuries, as well.

"Mm. Yeah, I'm comfortable enough with the organic stuff. I mean, if I want to change my body down to the DNA, it'll fit right in anyway, right? What kind of point investment am I looking at for a sex change, and what other stuff should I go for while I'm at it? That dream-learning stuff sounds useful."

If you wished to use the fast method and gain maximum advantage from it, I would take the opportunity to add several biological modifications. For example, we could harden your body, and greatly increase strength and flexibility, until no free fall could harm you. Blunt force would only damage your body if you were flung into an obstacle faster than your own terminal velocity.

Other additions might be sensory organs to recognize threats even where you cannot see, or reactive skin to protect against injury. Mobility upgrades that allow you to run faster, jump higher, or even fly.

"Flying!" I grinned. That was a thing samurai did! Oh, I'd absolutely deal with this trauma. No way was I gonna let that stop me.

Tynea noticed my reaction and continued:

Dream-learning offers a bunch of interesting courses, from aerial maneuvering to help with controlling falls, or flying~

I ducked my head and smiled at the soft tease in her voice.

There are plenty of other training plans available, too. Piloting a variety of craft, to advanced weapons usage. Tactical maneuvering. Even a minor, rather exhausting version of parallel thinking can be learned this way, though the full effect requires an actual upgrade of the brain.

Would you wish to use that biological method of morphing?

"Um… Yeah, I think so? No particular reason not to, right? And I can decide later anyway, can't I?"

Certainly. And yes, there's no particular advantage or disadvantage. It lines up rather well with other organic upgrades, if you select any. You'll want to have at least three hundred points, or so, for a fast sex change. That includes several Class I catalogs, ten day's worth of medical utilities and sustenance, and the Moonsinger 'Chrysalis' Spinneret to weave a cocoon with.

"Is that cheap or expensive?"

Cheap. Organics tend to be much less expensive than comparable inorganic solutions, because they extract a price in time and careful integration. That's a problem if you need something in the middle of combat, and is one of the reasons many Vanguards stick to cyber-gear.

"Oh, yeah, that's a problem. What if I need combat gear quickly?"

You may choose to use inorganics first, and let organic replacements grow in while the temporary gear wears out. Or, you could select to install a new organ via a Combat Graft.

"What's that?"

Graft adapters are inorganic puzzle pieces which serve as a socket for the organ or limb. They handle physical isolation, metabolism, and manage the new organ's use and function for your brain, like an implant would. As the new limb or organ properly grows in, that management is progressively relinquished. Eventually the adapter is entirely dissolved as all functions are naturalized and the modification is fully integrated.

These adapters are usually as expensive as the inorganic solution would have been, on top of the new organ. But inorganic solutions can rarely heal themselves…

"Trade-offs and compromises, huh? Say, what did the 'moonsinger' bit mean, from the spinneret?"

The items we AI offer have usually been designed by other sentient beings. In this case, the Moonsingers.

"Oh, aliens?"

Yes, Aden. Aliens. They are an insectoid species responsible for a wide variety of organic designs. They're some of the best geneticists around, owed to their natural ability to instinctively splice the genes of their offspring. They've turned that art into a science, and their science into art. I suggested the Moonsinger's model due to the vast variety and quality of the designs in their catalogs. They are rather more expensive than most, but the value you get is superlative.

They are also one of the few known species to enjoy music, much like you humans.

"Oh, is that unusual?"

Yes, most species will explore audio wave harmonics and rhythms, but not for the purpose of enjoyment. Those that do, like you, have brains that are stimulated in specific ways. Everybody else just uses harmonics for multiplexed communication.

"Huh. I mean, that sounds reasonable, but also so very strange…"

Perhaps it will make more sense if you consider that humans also communicate via music. But the additional layers of information are entirely emotional.

These other species will instead code non-emotional facts into their sentences. They might share a blueprint's specification via words, but add a link to download it in rhythmic code, for example. Then share their personal opinion simultaneously via tone and harmonics. It works because their interlocutor would not be moved by the music and only extract the actual information.

"Hmm… kinda sounds a lot like some of our communications technology, huh? Radio and cable, especially. The Moonsingers? Why the Moon in their name?"

Their planet has several moons in exceptionally complex orbits and their earliest civilizations revered these. They're not quite as religious anymore, but tradition still plays a major role and their calendar remains shaped by the many, often confusing, phases of their moons.

"They sound like a fascinating people. Will you tell me more about them? Uh, some other time. When I'm not reinventing myself?"

Certainly. I even have recordings I may share with you.

"Oh, that's cool! Yeah, I'm looking forward to those. Now, what about those sensory upgrades?"

The cheapest options would be additions to already existing senses. A reflective layer behind your retina, for example, to gain cat-like night vision. Better ears, better nose.

Of course, entirely new sensory organs are available.

"Let's stick with the cheap stuff there. Improve what I already have first. Dream-learning?"

I would recommend therapy for acrophobia, training for combat mobility, and aerial maneuvering for controlled falling, as well as general vehicle control. Your Sentinel already handles weapon control and it would be wise to invest in innate learnings when you have a better idea of your future specializations. That would be twenty-five points for Class I Dream Therapy, one hundred for Class I Dream Learning, and twenty-five for the therapy and fifty to one hundred for each course.

All in all, you would need to earn roughly six, seven hundred points. Another four hundred on top, and you will have considerable upgrades to all your senses in your head. One hundred points to replace your aug-gear with a much better organic equivalent. Yet another two hundred if you also wish to harden your body against blunt force enough that you could walk away from any fall no matter the height and gain improved physical strength beyond even your current body.

Around two thousand points would more than cover the basics.

"Huh."

That was manageable. I'd made almost as much before becoming a samurai.

I breathed in, breathed out, and in again. Held my breath.

For the sex change.

"Okay. All of that. For the Grand Plan. Let's do it."

***