Status Unbound
The alley reeked of… absolutely everything. Burnt ozone, recycled water, the faint metallic tang of overworked servos food and human life in general. Jackie's footsteps hit the cracked pavement like a soldier going off to war as she ducked under a hanging sign. The two thugs rounding the corner didn't pause—they had eyes only for the cybernetics grafted into her body, hungry for the parts that made her more than human.
Their only thought – how much each scrap of metal and each component can bring them. Their eyes raked over her cybernetics with unabashed Greed.
Jackie's eyes flashed. Her thoughts returned to Gregor's last words to her.
"Keep your head down. Don't get distracted by the unknowns."
"Unknowns? What unknowns? My arm is a cannon!" she had muttered, teeth gritted, already calculating trajectory angles with her ocular implants.
Her system stirred, quiet and alive in her skull, overlaying her vision with faint silver tracers.
"Weapon-ocular integration detected. Neural pathways adapting… potential trajectory optimization available. Observational nodes active: tracking two unknowns."
Jackie paused mid-step. Two? Her heart kicked. One pulse she recognized instantly—the Nexus Directive, always watching, always measuring. The other… faint, elusive, almost ghostlike. Her system pulsed again:
"Unknown entity: code name Kieran. Observing. Motion, heat index, signal data… all mapped. Suggest: non-engagement for observational calibration."
Her pulse raced. "Great. I'm being watched again," she muttered. But there was no time to dwell; the thugs were closing fast, knives glinting under flickering neon.
Jackie let the red glow of her cybernetics wash over her vision. The usual warning lights screamed, signaling critical strain—but something inside her moved differently this time. Her ocular implant pulsed, her weapon arm twitching in response, and a new interface flickered faintly in the corner of her vision.
"Would you like to open status window?"
Jackie blinked. Status window? Isn't it already open?
She ignored the question. Survival came first. She pivoted, spinning her arm like a whip, as she did it almost instantly transformed into a cannon, sending a pulse of energy across the alley. Sparks flew, bouncing off the walls. The first thug went down with a mechanical scream as circuits overloaded.
The second lunged, and she felt it before it happened— her system's whispered calculations threading instinct with computation. Her arm twisted, at the shoulder, the cannon rose, and she fired two rapid shots. The energy slammed into the asphalt with a thunderclap, and her body moved quickly, of its own accord, when flames moved toward her.
White hot shots of information flew through her brain from her right arm, fire lancing up her neural interface and brushing her skin. But her system was alive, weaving around the Nexus directives monitoring her systems, shielding her. The voice whispered again:
"Neural overload imminent… ocular arm integration complete. Evolutionary protocol active. Suggest system override… would you like to enable full operational status?"
Jackie gritted her teeth. She didn't fully understand what that meant—but instinct screamed yes. The air around her shimmered faintly as pulses of energy traced the outlines of the alley, mapping trajectory vectors for every incoming movement. Her vision split into layers: heat, motion, energy. Her cybernetic arm twitched, responding not just to her thought but to her system's whispers of prediction.
"Two threat signatures detected. Unknown entity remains observational. Potential advantage: weapon-ocular integration unlocked."
Jackie's jaw clenched. "Fine. Let's see what you've got, system."
The thugs charged. She pivoted mid-air, cannon-arm spinning at an impossible angle, firing not just bullets but guided energy bolts she didn't know she could control. As they burst forth connector wires pulled free at her elbow joint. One energy bolt went wide, ricocheting into a wall; the other hit one of the thugs square in the chest, sending the him sprawling into a dumpster.
Pain lanced her eye as her ocular implant pulsed violently, adjusting to the new tracking algorithms. She gritted her teeth, staggering back as her vision flickered with the red warnings of system strain. Sweat ran down her face, mingling with oil from her strained ocular unit.
Gregor's voice snapped into her comm. A hint of worry lacing his voice. "What's going on?! Sensors report you used your weapon."
She couldn't speak. There was just too much going on at once.
Her system whispered softly:
"Neural override active… weapon-arm interface stable… ocular fusion complete. Unknown entity remains… recommendation: observe after engagement."
The last thug lunged from the shadows, and instinct took over. Her right arm rotated violently, her cybernetic arm firing two energy shots. Both landed aquare in his chest and knocked him off his feet. Sparks danced across the alley, metal twisted, and her cannon finally gave a shuddering cough, smoke curling from the barrel, the ends of wires glowing red hot.
Everything went silent for a heartbeat. Then came the pain. Her head spun, vision pulsed, and for the first time, she felt it—her system waking up, asserting itself against the cold, commanding voice of the Nexus Directive.
"Anomaly detected. All systems critical… but usable. Evolution ongoing… would you like to open status window?"
Jackie's thoughts were scattered, torn between exhaustion and awe. Open status window? Isn't it already open?
She staggered back, trying to catch her breath. Her cannon-arm sparked, wires curling like metallic snakes as her system's whispers danced beneath the directive's watchful gaze. She collapsed against a wall, vision flickering, body burning with the aftershock of neural and ocular evolution.
And then she saw him.
A figure in the shadows, tall, lean, observing her from a distance. His eyes were hidden beneath a hood, but his presence radiated calculation. Her system pulsed faintly in recognition, mapping heat, motion, and subtle energy signatures.
"Unknown entity: code name Kieran. Tracking patterns suggest observational purpose only. Recommendation: maintain awareness."
Jackie blinked, confusion flaring through pain and adrenaline. "Who the hell…?"
Before she could react further, her body finally gave in. Darkness crept in at the edges of her vision, the alley melting into oblivion as her consciousness slowly slipped away.
The last thing she felt was a heavy set of boots approaching. Not aggressive, not friendly. Just measured. And then, a hand—large, firm, almost human in its intent—hovered near her shoulder.
Her system flared to life once more.
"Life signature read:
Dax Calder Diamond Diamond Cyborg
Third generation
Current assignment: military
Threat level: unclear
Proceed with caution."
His presence alone made the alley feel smaller, the threat she had just faced receding under his shadow.
Her vision faded completely.
"Would you like to open status window?" Her system whispered one last time, almost mockingly, as the city hummed faintly around them.
Jackie's awareness slipped away, but just because she was no longer aware did not mean that her systems did not always know what was going on around her.
Her ocular implant whirled to life, her cybernetic pupil expanding and contracting and, like that, Dax Calder was in crystal clear focus.