[X] Keep it working on the Invisible Umbrella (199/500 Condition).
A quick tap of a holographic key keeps the Priority Repair System's focus onto the Invisible Umbrella System.
Roll 1d100 Priority Repair = 82! Invisible Umbrella Condition is now 199+82!!
*
[X] Ask Sochie if she wants to experiment with Pressure while you learn an advanced Discipline.
--[X] Channeling.
Channeling, as I have explained to you both, is the act of contacting someone who has died and drawing on their power and knowledge.
Vestige has been lecturing you since you sat down, explaining the mechanics of the afterlife while Sochie practices her sixth sense outside in the White Doll's palm. White your odd mentor has indeed mentioned it before, the idea that there is a verifiable afterlife, one that you can just reach into and ask the dead for favors no less, boggles the mind.
The main issues for you is that you need to have some sort of connection to the one you are calling, and that the person on the other side must agree to lend you their power. The first issue can be compensated for with enough power, but you still need to have an idea of whom you are targeting.
It takes most of your free hours, but after a dozen practice runs where Vestige guides your Pressure to show you how it is done you think you are ready for your first real attempt. Only…
"What about the connection? I don't know that many dead people…"
Vestige waves their hand.
Do not worry about it. I can let you piggyback on my own connections if you do not want to contact someone you know. Well, they are Kreis' connections, but I have inherited them. Just think of one of the Turn X's systems and I will handle the rest. Just remember that you cannot force the dead to give up anything, with one exception.
Interesting, but... "Do blood relations count as a connection?"
Vestige shrugs.
They can, but I guarantee nothing if you have never met the person in question. Why?
"Just a though." You mumble. Vestige looks away as you think about who to contact.
[] Contact someone you know.
--[] Mr. Heim.
--[] Teteth Halleh.
[] Concentrate on a White Doll System (weapons, defenses, Bloody Siege Mode, etc).
--[] Write in.
[] Concentrate on an action.
--[] Write in.
[] Try to contact your father.
*
[X] Spend time with Vestige.
--[X] About your changing body.
The next day finds you visiting Vestige again.
Hello, Loran. What brings you here today? Want to try contacting someone else?
You shake your head. "No. I wanted to ask about my body?"
Vestige tilts their head.
Eh?
"There has been this…tension in my body since the day before yesterday. It doesn't hurt all that much, but with the aches it is starting to get really uncomfortable."
Vestige giddily claps their hands.
Great! That means that you are ready for me to ease up on the nanotherapy. Lose your shirt if you want to see.
You open your blue pilot jacket and the shirt underneath, observing the structured grey discoloration where Vestige has put medical nanomachines into your body to prevent it from damaging itself after the Limiters were removed. As Vestige holds their hand up to your chest and pulses their Pressure the grey mass recedes a little, and with it all the tension in your body. The grey pattern still marks you skin, but much less so than before.
And you feel incredible.
Vestige hums in satisfaction, smirking at your reaction as they scan your Pressure.
That is right…do not forget this feeling. You are feeling good now, but it is only going to get better. Think of it as a building undergoing renovation, a section has just been completed so we can remove the scaffolding and open it for business.
Speaking of business, let us get down to it:
You spend the rest of the day putting yourself through the paces, both inside and outside of the White Doll. And yet you only feel winded, as if you had gone for a jog instead of cramming a day's worth of training into a few hours. Strength, speed, flexibility, reflexes, and even the functions of your brain if Vestige is to be believed, all of them have been honed to the point of peak human performance.
Peak human as someone from the Moonrace would understand it, that is. Vestige still considers you too frail to be called a full First Human just yet.
??? becomes Body Recovery! Body Recovery = 1(Peak Modern Human)! +1 Piloting Level! Pilot Level is now 6! Massive progress in Loran's NT Development!
You didn't just test yourself during today's efforts, that would have been a waste. You took the opportunity to take some of Vestige, Corin and Arisa's lessons of fighting to heart.
[] Unrelenting. (Retargets spare Melee Attacks onto a new Target within Close Range after defeating an enemy)
[] Blitz. (If at Medium/Normal Range or more from an Enemy, add 1/2 of your Speed bonus to all Melee Attack Hit DCs for the first Turn)
[] Marksman. (Cuts Long Range and Very Long Range penalties by half)
[] Ambusher. (Doubles the Ambush bonus to your Hit DC when ambushing)
[] Alpha Strike. (Ranged Weapons get their full possible number of Attacks during the first Turn of combat, but non-integrated weapons must take the next Turn off to reload afterwards)
*
[X] Spend time with Sochie.
A possible downside to your new body rears its ugly head as you stride down the Gallop's corridors: People are staring, and your powers tell you why. You move differently, enough that the militiamen crewing your land battleship subconsciously notice the change and become unnerved. Even your officers, Ladderum, Lieutenant Dana, and Chief Horace, are affected, answering your entry onto the bridge with a trio of questioning glances until you open your mouth. Hearing you speak blunts the dissonance a bit, and after a few minutes into discussing the plan for the day they are back to acting as normal.
Corin and Arisa though…
Corin is the first to spot you, and when he does he freezes in place. Shock, joy, realization, fear, shame, all of them speed through his mind in the space of a moment before he turns on a heel and walks off in another direction. Arisa goes through the same an instant later, but she stays long enough to give you a mumbled apology before she turns to follow Corin.
Ugh. You understand that there are some things that they cannot talk about, but them feeling this way is still a massive downer. Luckily you know just what will cheer you up.
Sochie isn't hard to convince to join you in the White Doll's cockpit when you go out to escort the Gallop, so when you take to the air it is with your girlfriend (together for more than a month and yet it still feels odd to refer to her as that) in your lap.
"It was strange at first," She admits as you discuss your recent changes. "but I'm getting used to it."
You can't help but smile, absently making some minor corrections to your flight path. You haven't seen or felt any trace of Gadget, or anyone else for that matter, so there shouldn't be anything to worry about.
"Thanks. The others will get used to it too." Through force of habit if nothing else.
You should reach Headquarters the day after tomorrow, unless Lord Guin has decided to load it onto the Borjarnaught. That would be a sight to see. But for now, you will just enjoy the peace and quiet you can get.
