Mari:

  I’m sorry, Kris.

  She had no intention of waiting around and testing the limits of what the nanites could do. She hated feeling weak and helpless. It was past time that she got to work.

  The moment she returned to the hospital, she closed the door and turned her mind inwards.

  “Marielle. Thoughts?” Their shared mindscape made the topic obvious.

  “We can work on physical ability steadily, of course. But with the right medical knowledge, and assuming the message told the truth, we could have the nanites build the muscles optimally for us. The problem comes with the cost. We need to track the affliction. Again, more assumptions about the overall state we’re in. The Nexus has information about a lot of things, but not the bioweapon, nor the variant you’ve been infected with.”

  “But that’s something worth trading. So let’s get the knowledge we need from Ivan.” Mari tugged on the thread that connected them to Ivan’s Immortal Mindscape.

  Thankfully, they arrived to find no other visitors again. Thankfully, those seemed somewhat rare.

  “Hello, Jay. What brings you back so soon?” The deep voice of the host announced his entrance as he met them with the library of records already nearby.

  Instead of the spartan lounge they’d arrived in previously, the room was instead a full shop in the sort of middle ages fantasy setting one might expect in a fantasy rpg. Ivan stood behind a counter made of solid wood and the walls were all stone. Every shelf was lined with the concept of random things someone might sell, but were absent of any distinguishable object. It was some abstract mind-Escher feeling that was best put out of thought.

  Mari felt unusually frigid as her bare feet settled onto the cold flooring. Similarly, it wasn’t like being cold, but rather experiencing a memory of what it felt like to feel cold. She met the feeling with the memory of warm boots, then adapted her appearance to wear sturdy black combat steel-toes. They clashed terribly with her comfortable baggy workout pants and slightly-too-small shirt, though. If anyone commented about her loungewear, she’d give them the bird.

  Ivan eyed her appreciatively. “You’re getting better about meeting memory with memory. A level of growth like that is rare in such a short time. Perhaps you’re more like Marielle than you believed. But I digress, what can I help the delightful new Medjay with?”

  “Let’s say, theoretically, I’ve been in a coma for two months. Lost a lot of very limited muscle mass. Then suddenly, I gain the ability to convert material with advanced nano-machines. Got any recommendations on what sort of knowledge could help me create the muscle mass I lost, and then a little—or a lot—extra?”

  Ivan’s eyebrows rose steadily as she continued with her ‘hypothetical’ until a sly grin crossed his face. “You’ve missed a lot, Jay. Galileo submitted a complex bio-engineered muscle structure a few hundred years ago. And he has it catalogued with an entire artificial body project he’s been studying. Marielle’s contributions were impressive, but not enough to buy you that entire project. Unless you’d like to make a submission of your own?”

  “Not yet. Need to study Syl… This new world a bit more, first.” Mari had to pump the brakes on her word choice. Offering tidbits of information to Ivan in conversation wouldn’t count as a contribution, and therefore could count against her future information offerings. “So Galileo is still kicking? Did he return to Earth for the next life, or is he thriving elsewhere?”

  “His newest name is Franklin. What a return to form, eh? But no, he’s exploring a new world and advancing their technology. When he told the story, he said his colony vessel had found a planet with erratic readings, so they decided to investigate. Only to find a whole world of Dwarves! They’d built a device to cloak themselves from interplanetary discovery. He was very excited. He doesn’t come for tea very often now, sadly.”

  Mari was surprisingly happy for her old friend. An inventor renowned all through the human history of Earth, and he’d clearly found a place that piqued his interest.

  “Well, as for the exchange, can I get the muscle structure and bones to match?”

  Ivan had some eldritch equation he worked in his head for how different contributions to the Nexus would compare to one another. He seemed to contemplate for a while, then finally nodded. “That is feasible. And based on your hypothetical… I suggest the suite of ocular options as well. If you’ve anything to exchange for it?”

  Mari considered that for a while, then nodded. “How much do you know about mana?”

  Ivan’s eyes grew wide as saucers, his mouth twisted in a complicated expression, then he turned calculating again. “I have heard of the phenomenon. Galileo actually mentioned it, but hadn’t been able to study it. I still haven’t heard from the third Dynast Soul to have left Earth. Either they haven’t sought me out, or they are no longer alive.”

  Mari closed her eyes and lowered her head in a moment of silence. It was rare for an immortal soul to perish, but not impossible. If they hadn’t reached out, then it was for the best. Especially knowing what had become of the previous Medjay, after all.

  After a moment of silence for the likely departed, she grew slightly suspicious. Maybe prior to [Intuition] becoming part of her, she would’ve missed it, but there had been something in Ivan’s face when she mentioned mana, but he’d hidden it pretty quickly.

  “I’m expecting another visitor soon. Care to share what you’ve learned?”

  Mari shared the details Kris had discovered about geometric variables in manipulating mana. She felt a little bad about sharing the information without permission, but Kris would only see it as a way to help other people survive the poison of mana in the future.

  “Very well. Thank you. I’ll be looking forward to anything more you learn in the future. If I had a guess to offer, I’d say a four dimensional magic construct could be how other worlds travel and trade between one another. Some sort of tunnel through time?”

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  “That… makes sense. I’m still not touching it with a ten foot pole, though. The last thing my life needs is a crisis caused by a failed magic experiment.” Mari shook her head ruefully, then bid her goodbyes before returning her mind to her hospital room.

  It was time to put all that information to the test.

  The first thing she decided to tackle was the ocular augmentations Galileo had put forward. If Ivan suggested it, then there was a good reason he’d done so.

  A slow smile crept onto her face as she thought over the options. “This is going to be interesting.” Mari just had to figure out how to get the nanites to make what she needed.

  Before jumping to cutting herself or something, she tried willing the effect to happen. Not that she expected the nanites to just know what she was imagining. Instead, she was surprised when the screen of the medical equipment next to her flickered on and displayed a line of text.

  [What do you desire, Captain?]

  Mari’s heart leapt. “How did you know I wanted something?”

  [Elevated brain activity was detected.]

  “Huh. I need to create something complex. How do I do that?”

  [You need only provide the design and have the requisite bioweapon residue.]

  After some thought, Mari headed out of her hospital room and made for the medical aide’s station. Then, she returned with a tablet and settled in for a very complex transcription of the blueprint.

  It took some doing, but…

  [Acceptable.]

  Mari confirmed her first creation after a surprisingly fast and efficient few hours of work. Her mind had never felt so sharp in the past, and she didn’t feel at all mentally taxed or sleepy.

  Even more incredibly, the item was complete in a few minutes, coming to form in the palm of her hand. From there, she opened the small case and carefully lifted the object while her other hand opened the lid of her eye wide. A moment of odd sensation later, and the contact lenses were both attached to her eye. Though, it was more like a very fine screen had been laid over her eyes instead.

  Mari blinked a few tears from her eyes as she adjusted to seeing words over her vision in tiny script. Then, she began adding elements and removing others.

  [Vitals: Normal]

  [Affliction: 13%]

  [Location: Hospital, East Wing, Room 213]

  [Mental Condition: No abnormalities detected]

  [Sidearm: 8 rounds, one full spare loader, thigh holster]

  Then she drew the weapon from her thigh, and the moment the gun was pointed in her line of sight, a pinpoint laser formed along the path, emulating the laser sight that she had removed from the weapon. Next to the laser line was the number eight, and when she released the cylinder, the number fell to zero. She removed one of the bullets from the weapon and studied it closely.

  Moving her hands in the air like they were on a keyboard, she saw the display match and put the image of an actual keyboard beneath her fingertips.

  She then created a design entry for a bullet for her handgun before creating the spare round.

  [Affliction: 12%]

  She nodded, having expected that much. She fit the bullet into the cylinder, then flicked her wrist with that satisfying sound.

  [Sidearm: 8 rounds, one full spare loader]

  Then, she set the gun down and unstrapped the holster.

  Stripping off her clothes, Mari stepped into the attached bathroom, turned on the hot water for a shower, and looked into the mirror.

  Sunken cheeks, dark circles under her eyes, messy hair…

  “I look like death. Maybe this thing about not sleeping was a mistake.”

  Her eyes, though. While people wouldn’t notice the information she was seeing, the lenses had a sort of magnifying effect on the red of her irises. They seemed to gleam with a burning red light. She looked like some sort of evil monster.

  With a sigh, she stepped into the shower.

  The warmth of the water drained the last of her resistance to the bone-weariness within her body, and she leaned heavily on the rail. The moment her cheek touched the freezing wall of the shower stall, her sagging eyelids snapped open.

  “Right. Sleep after washing up.”

  Ten minutes later, with her hair wrapped up in a towel, she sank her head onto the pillow and closed her eyes for the first time in nearly two days.

  And Marielle opened them.

  Immediately, she stood and stretched, then got to work.

  “New musculature and bone structure. Better now than later. Just need to snag a few blood vials for the affliction boost.”

  Mari’s dreaming mind was filled with fire.

  Not far away, horrid screams of pain reach her ears in a hauntingly familiar voice. While the flames sear her vision, the screams sear her innocent young mind. All the while, she’s forced to watch from the confines of a cage.

  Tied to a post amid the flames… is her mother.

  Or not. Marielle’s mother. It often gets hard to differentiate their memories from one another. Thus, it feels like the very first time she’s seeing the horrors of her mother being burned alive, while also feeling like her thousandth nightmare.

  The air is hot. The sun beats down on a desert town as men with religious hoods stand around to enjoy their twisted show. And, of course, one holds her by the hair and prevents her from averting her eyes.

  It was supposed to be a peace mission. Travel as a translator to bring aid to a town that had no water. Then the cultist fanatics had shown up and stolen the aid. The men from her group had been killed on sight. But the women?

  Perhaps she was lucky she’d been too young. They’d mistaken her for a boy, maybe.

  Poor kid. This world has been unkind to you. I wish I could say it gets any easier. I can’t promise my help could make it any better, but together, we can try.

  The feminine voice in her head comes off with a scrappy attitude devoid of all cheer. Some peppy cheerleader’s voice minus the humorous tones that sounded like they should’ve been present.

  Marielle must’ve finally lost it. Snapped under the weight of the torturous visage? Being made to watch her mother’s flesh blister and hair curl up and blacken.

  And yet, Mari perceived the moment the Medjay had made her offer. The voice was the one Medjay had slipped into when in her blonde appearance. The woman in military fatigues mixed with metal band tees.

  You don’t deserve to suffer, kid. I can sense that will of yours. Despite the misery you’re experiencing, you would rather prevent tragedies in the future instead of seeking revenge. That’s the part of you that drew me. If you want, take my knowledge and strength and you just might accomplish that.

  Mari reflected on the rationale Medjay used in her selection. Someone who would ignore a desire for revenge? It sounded more like Kris. If Mari hadn’t been created and Marielle had died, the odds felt good that Kris would be chosen as the next Medjay.

  Then she snapped out of that stupor. That wasn’t the fate that had come to pass. Mari was the one with that destiny settled onto her shoulders. There had always been someone better than her at everything she tried to do. Yet somehow, she’d been granted a one-of-a-kind gift that would allow her to have her own place. Even if she had to fight for her lot in life…

  All she could do was try.

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