Nellie and the Nanites - Bk3 - Ch.6

Chapter Six

Upgrades!

Nellie lay back and brought up the list of upgrades again….

Secondary Class choices available for direct memory download:

Commander -

War is hell; this class set allows you to download the combined experience and reflexive skills of three commanders who excelled in the art of battle.

Explorer - 

In new places, new threats lurk. Download the combined experience of three true pioneers of space exploration. 

Scavenger - 

Knowing the difference between rubbish and overlooked gold is the skill of the true scavenger. The class set includes basic and advanced knowledge of several crafting professions, as well as a preloaded catalog of valuable items.

Trader - 

This class set includes the combined knowledge and instincts of a true trader. Also includes advanced knowledge of body language and micro-expressions. Always come out ahead in the deal!

Hunter - 

No matter the prey, no matter the defenses, you will take down your prey.

Tracking, evasion, and killing techniques, as well as muscle memory for weapons use.

More memory modules will be available as experience and need dictates!

Please note only a single memory download is available at each stage of Nanite Fused Mind - choose carefully!

There was no use putting it off any longer. She was here, and she needed to choose one. Annoyingly, Lucy refused to help her choose, so Nellie would have to decide for herself.

How did you make a choice like this? It was so far out of Nellie’s experience that she had no frame of reference. 

Whatever she chose would download not just a bunch of memories but instincts, muscle memory, and training as well. According to Lucy, the process would be slow, almost like a leveling system from a game. The more she acclimatized to the knowledge and the more she used it and the other things it came with, the more it opened for her. 

It helped the brain not be overwhelmed, which was nice but also kind of crazy.

In the end, Nell decided to just roll with it and approach it like it was a class choice in a video game. It was the only way it made sense to her.

“Ostie,” Nellie sighed. 

Starting from the top… Commander.

At least this one was pretty straightforward. It was a battle command class that let her get a better grip on both space and land combat. She supposed that that would probably include some hand-to-hand and close combat training as well. Now if she had been given this option when she first crashed on the damn Hub, it would have been an easy choice. 

Was she planning to fight a war right now?

“Nope, moving on,” Nellie said as she examined the next class on the list.

Explorer would definitely apply to her life right now. They were in a completely unknown system and had already met an entirely alien race. She had a whole moon to explore, a new station being built, and from there… planets, the surrounding systems, you name it. The only thing that made her hesitate was the complete lack of information about what was included in the actual download. Did it help her navigate? Would it tell her how to spot trouble or escape bad situations?

The description, such as it was, did mention dangers lurking… did that mean it came with some kind of combat skills? 

“Seriously, they need to put more details into these things,” Nellie grumbled before moving on. Explorer was currently a likely choice… but she wanted to be sure before she chose anything.

Okay, so being offered Scavenger was sort of insulting. Yes, she and Lucy had done a lot of salvage and recycling of scrap, especially with the yard, but it wasn’t like they had chosen that. It was a matter of necessity. 

Which, now that she thought about it, was actually a good point. Over and over again, they had been forced to scavenge to survive or thrive. Hell, it had resulted in the incredible powerhouse of a ship she was currently sitting in, not to mention they were basically upcycling the remains of a space station right now.

The description was also pretty clear about this being a crafting class, allowing her to contribute more in a direct way than she had before. Paren and Nellie could even do projects together! 

A family bonding project would be awesome!

She had to be an adult about this, so she went on, already pretty sure she was going to take Scavenger at the end of the day. Family craft projects would just be too fun…

Trader was frankly irritating. She had less than zero interest in becoming a trader; buying and selling just sounded too dull. Also, let’s be honest here, the trading opportunities would be pretty limited for a while yet. All they had was a native population that seemed to consider technology beneath them and Duke’s people, who didn’t have anything she wanted anyway.

Which left her with Hunter.

Something deep inside her responded to the class. Nellie was pretty clear about being a survivor, and occasionally she had killed. More than that, she had hunted. She had hunted down Feds who abused their power on several occasions, and worse. In those moments, when her blood pounded in her ears, and her muscles responded perfectly… Nellie felt something like a blood lust stir within her. It was easy to understand how a girl who had grown up on the weak side of every situation would revel in a feeling of power, but this had felt like more than that. 

It was the same feeling that made her tell Duke’s people to leave the native population alone or answer to her. The feeling of… dominance?

No, that wasn’t the right word, but it was close. Nellie enjoyed being powerful, and she trusted herself not to end up as some kind of villain, especially with Lucy to look after her. Still, Nell could not deny the feeling of rightness she got when acting as Captain of her ship. The very idea of a more democratic approach to running things felt idiotic to her.

She didn’t feel like controlling others, which was why dominance was the wrong word, but more like it was her duty to look after them. It was a responsibility. 

Hunter appealed to that side of her—the side that reveled in battle, making decisions, and challenging herself. Hunter was the path for that side of her, and there was no doubt about that in her at all. 

Which was exactly why she could not choose it. 

We all have our darker sides, and we feed it when we need it, but to choose that side too often was to make it who you were. Completely. 

Nellie liked the hunter part of herself, but it was only a part. Something to bring out when needed and not every time. That way led to someone she did not want to be. 

Nellie went through all the options again and ended up in exactly the same place. It all came down to either Scavenger or Explorer. Both of them met her needs at the moment but for different reasons. Scavenger was clearly a great option for allowing her to make stuff, while Explorer would give her a leg up on the future.

She was still leaning toward the idea of Scavenger until she thought about her crew. 

Explorer might make the difference in those edge-case decisions, and as she was the Captain… it could save lives.

It was a pity, as she really enjoyed the idea of crafting things with Paren and Lucy, but she was a Captain first and foremost, and a Captain puts her crew first. 

So, she did.

Explorer Chosen!

Beginning integration…

There was a strange floating sensation, followed by a feeling like falling backward into a bed… then pressure.

Integration complete.

Introductory experience ready….

Launching.

Everything went black.

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

Nellie found herself standing on a cliff top, overlooking a sea of pink water that shimmered where it broke against the rocks. Her feet were standing on a puffy material that looked like squashed marshmallows in pale orange. It was all a little disconcerting.

“Hi! Thanks for choosing to be just like me!” A bright and excited voice came from behind her.

Turning, Nellie saw a cross between a stoat and a man. He was wearing two vests and a pair of high-tech-looking blaster pistols around his hips, with the lower pair of arms resting on them while the upper pair did a little ‘ta-da’ motion. It was sort of funny.

He flashed a grin and bowed, an extreme action considering two-thirds of his body was above his waist, “I’m Wasta Brill, the donator of those skills and memories you are getting right now.”

“Nice to meet you,” Nellie said. “So, is this all a dream or?”

“Sort of,” he waggled one hand. The real me was used as a model for the little bit of perfection you are currently looking at.” She clapped both sets of hands. So, let's get started, shall we?”

“Sure,” Nellie shrugged. The world blurred and she was stood in front of a chair and table at an outdoor cafe. “Wow.”

“Yeah,” Wasta looked around fondly. “I have a whole chain of these things. Free drinks for Explorers, of course.”

Nellie took a seat as Wasta Brill clapped his hands, summoning a pair of long, tall glasses with something that smelled a lot like coffee in them.

“This is my newest discovery,” He grinned. “I’m going to call it HyberDrive.”

“No fucking way,” Nellie gasped. “You came up with HyperDrive?”

“You heard of it?” Wasta looked pleased.

“It’s my favorite drink!” Nellie said and took a huge sip.

“Well, well, well,” he sat back, looking smug as he watched her drink. “I suddenly feel like a celebrity.”

While they chatted, Nellie finally received an explanation of the introductory experience. The idea was to let people meet those who donated their memories, ask questions, and even get some guidance for the future.

All in all, it was the best way that she could have imagined doing it.

“So the description was really vague,” Nellie said. “Can you tell me what I am getting from the download?”

“That description is terrible, isn’t it?” Wasta Brill grinned. “Totally leaves out any idea what you are getting, right?”

“You set it, didn’t you?” Nellie asked with a smirk.

“Well, this is some valuable knowledge,” Wasta preened. I can’t give it to any idiot with a nanite-infused brain. There would be thousands of me running around, and the universe is only so big.” He winked. “I bet in your time, every kid gets nanites in the womb, right?”

“No,” Nellie said with a grimace. “It’s just me now.” 

She went on to explain what had happened, at least as far as she knew it, to the increasingly irritated Wasta Brill. Eventually, he held up a hand.

“Stop, I don’t want to know,” He shook his head and sighed heavily, “All that matters is that there is still one left, and she chose me.” His grin returned. “So, lucky lady, want to see what taking a chance on old Wasta Brill has won you?”

“Please,” Nellie laughed.

“Coming at ya!” Wasta grinned.

Explorer Hidden Description unlocked…

Advanced Marksmanship

Unarmed Combat

Close Combat Training

Advanced Orienteering

Advance Survival Skills

Basic Crafting - Shelters

Basic Crafting - Traps

Repairs and Maintenance Skills

Diplomacy

Structural Analysis

Astral Navigation - Advanced

Basic Piloting - Land Vehicles

Advanced Scanner Analysis

Advanced Tactical Analysis

….

The list just went on and on… and on.

“Ostie!” Nellie said as the words kept scrolling. “My head is going to explode.”

“Don’t worry,” Wasta laughed. It all comes in nice, digestible chunks. But once you get it all… watch out, universe!”

“All bullshit aside, who are you?” Nellie asked.

“Depends on who you ask,” Wasta Brill grinned like a shark. I’ve been everywhere and done just about everything at one time or another.” He stood and gave her another beaming smile. “Only thing I never did? Have anyone to pass it all on to. Guess that is you, Kiddo. Good luck, and may the universe survive it!”

Everything went black again.

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

Nellie laughed as Lucy entered their quarters. There, she was juggling with the blaster pistols they kept on the rack in their room. It was perhaps not the most effective or productive use of her new download, but it was just easy now!

“Look!” Nellie laughed, “And I don’t even make a mistake when I’m distracted!”

Lucy nodded and clapped before pulling open her flight suit and flashing the grinning Nellie.

“Cheat!” Nellie laughed as the two pistols bounced off the floor.

“Maybe a little,” Lucy smirked as she zipped her flight suit closed again. “But it was certainly effective.”

“Come here, and I’ll show you how effective,” Nellie said with a dozen good ideas on how to follow that up. 

“It’ll have to wait, I’m afraid.” Lucy looked slightly anxious.

“What’s wrong?” Nellie sighed. It had been a very pleasant five minutes juggling, so naturally, something had gone wrong. That was just the way life worked.

“We found something on the station that you need to see,” Lucy said with a calming voice, which meant something was very wrong indeed. “I just want you to promise you will remain calm when you see it.”

“I promise,” Nellie said while she tried her best to calm her own rising anxiety.

Lucy nodded to the screen on the wall, where a picture feed from inside the station showed a light playing over a large painted logo.

I.E.S.

Interstellar Exploratory Service

We are in the service of caring!

Nellie stood calmly for a second, breathing deeply and calmly.

“Nell, that isn’t the answer,” Lucy sighed. “I can see you targeting the beam weapon on the station section, you know.”

“Fine!” Nellie let go of the weapons control and growled as she ran her fingers through her hair. “Lucy, what the hell was the I.E.S. doing here?” She looked up, “Shit, are they still here?”

“If they were, they would never have let the station go,” Lucy said confidently. “As for why they were here, I have no idea.” She looked again at the image that was still frozen on the display. “That is an old logo, however. It matches one that was retired before I was built.”

“Still,” Nellie said as she stood. “I want to search every inch of this system. Just to be sure.”

Lucy nodded, and they headed for the bridge.

Deep inside Nellie, a nasty little feeling of expectation was stirring. Maybe she would finally get to shoot one of the fucking people who dumped her and Lucy to die in a derelict.