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1Chapter One: Traitorous Flesh (Cast Aside)
2
3BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD
4
5Akaso was born on 8th Feb, 4506 in the depths of Nova-Tokyo, a city gripped by the Yakuza. Though they were, well, the Yakuza, they and their subordinated gangs kept the city running, laundering funds into their own pockets mostly under wraps.
6
7He was born into a small, albeit successful, biotech startup - simply named Akaso Industries. As quite a few others, he dropped out of school after he was no longer legally required to attend, continuing his education at home.
8
9Victor, his father, inadvertently drilled biotech into his son through exposure and interest, as body modification was picking up in popularity in the undercities at the time. He funneled all available funds towards improving products and furthering the development of his magnum opus, a possible solution to the drawbacks of classical body modification.
10
11THE EARLY YEARS
12
13From the moment Akaso showed interest in the field, Victor pushed his son to learn, and Akaso did so with gusto - the art of body modification was as deep as it was wide, and even niche businesses had plenty of customers. Despite the more than one and a half millennia since the Breaker of Dawn first made planetfall and the colonization of Novahome began, the Novahuman civilization had only established a complete grasp upon their home a few centuries prior.
14
15This, combined with the innumerable lost technologies and still unexplored areas slowed expansion to a crawl for most of the first millennium. Body modification had only started picking up in popularity in the last century, with many of the original survivors of the Exodus dominating the field. This was thanks to their memories of the journey and ingrained understanding of the arcane, and for centuries, impossible to reproduce Bioforges.
16
17Early on, he experimented with temporary mods as many other young Novahumans do, however by age sixteen he had already gotten his first permanent modifications.
18
19His delve into the depths of the art was spurred on by a simple accident - during his third major bodily reconstruction procedure, a hydraulic piston on the patient's new, extremely powerful arms had burst, the hydraulic fluid rupturing Akaso's right eye before he could get out of the way.
20
21It was more the surprise that shocked him than the pain, and even that faded into a dull, thumping sensation once his pain suppression implants kicked in.
22
23Victor finished the procedure, while Akaso pulled out the remains of his ruined eyeball using the same tools they used for ocular replacement. This sterilized and temporarily sealed the wound with a bioproof polymer, while Akaso rigged up an impromptu replacement using one of the notoriously short-lived “plug-and-play” implant modules that so many hobbyists used to experiment before committing to a more expensive build.
24
25Later the same month, he used the unencoded “Early Access” code from a seasonal demon-themed modification pack, which was distributed to supporters with the appropriate credentials under its in-development name “Lucifier”. It was distributed in a masculine and female variant, as it included changes to bodily morphology to resemble an idealized version of either gender, with sexually dimorphic traits emphasized to a certain minimum. Thus it was classified as a “gender modifier”, among many other, much cheaper alternatives.
26
27This was its least important effect, however - if one wanted a gender change, they could spent a tenth of the supposed selling price for the same effect. The primary function of Lucifier was, well, its name. It could be configured to give the user anywhere from one to three pairs of horns, reshape their ears to be pointed, anywhere from gremlin-like and stubby, to elfish and thin.
28
29The other options included change of eye colour, hair colour, blackening of the sclera, alteration of pupil shape, increased muscle tone, and genital modification to what the creators deemed to be “inspired by the mythical succubi and incubi of the Old World”.
30
31All of these configurations had a range of options within what the creators deemed to be demonic, and due to the modpack devkit's lack of major encoding it could be modified easily.
32
33As such, Akaso decided it would be a good idea to reconfigure the whole thing to grow a new eye, instead of bothering with submitting a user modification to one of the official eye mods and waiting for approval.
34
35A few dozen hours at the Bioforge,a few half-grown eyes thrown in the recycler, and it was finished. A simple epipen injection totaling about three deciliters of hormones, viral vectors, raw material, and innumerable chemicals that would positively decimate a normal human body, and his empty eye socket was itching like crazy for the few seconds it took the sensation-suppressants to take effect.
36
37It worked, as expected - with some side effects. A forgotten detail, a rookie mistake. He didn't bother shunting all the remaining code and assumed modifying the 'mod would cause an error and simply make the Bioforge only synthesize the eye-regrowth mixture.
38
39Oh, how beautifully wrong the young Novahuman was.
40
41By the time he realized what was happening, it was far too late to stop the process - he'd built his custom 'mod on top of the Succubus version of Lucifier, and all of the residual code was modified slightly by his alterations to the mixture. A pair of horns, bent backwards, which wasn't an option in the official pack.
42
43Blackened sclera to a slightly lighter shade than was officially available, orange irises containing bioluminescent compounds, which again, were not an option in the official pack. Pink hair, muscle tone specifically in the abdominal region, elfish ears and a girlish figure.
44
45Though unexpected, it was a pleasant surprise - he'd planned for his first 'mod to be a genderswap already, or at the very least one to make him androgynous in appearance. However, he couldn't hide it from Victor.
46
47A dread overcame the youth. Not for fear of punishment, no reasonable parent would ever even attempt to do something like that over an action that was legally considered to be a basic right of all Novahumans.
48
49No, it was the dad jokes.
50
51By the Void, the dad jokes.
52
53“Whoa there Lucifer, I ain't dead yet.” the old fart would chime in for a week straight every morning.
54
55GENETIC DEFECTS
56
57And thus, we come to the turning point. As a result of sheer bad luck, Akaso was born with a rare genetic defect which no amount of traditional genetic modification could fix. It was so pervasive within the bodies of sufferers, that only a full replacement of all bone marrow within the body could permanently remove the defect. Repeated removal on a genetic level was a temporary solution that lost effectiveness over time due to the hyper-adaptive nature of the re-engineered Novahuman immune system.
58
59Upon birth, every Novahuman is subjected to the Novahuman Re-Engineering Procedure, or N-REP. The process is hardwired into each Bioforge, and was at the time the only example of still-functional nanomachine technology. It made the immune system of all Novahumans exorbitantly adaptable and potent, along with infusing them with Void Energy to kickstart the process of becoming a Void Conduit and thus forming a Void Shroud - a necessary protective measure in a world plagued by Subdimensionals and powered by Void Energy.
60
61Unfortunately, after over one and a half millennia of rampant genetic and body modification, a minute defect in the procedure arose, seemingly in random individuals. A degenerative effect upon the immune system which made it attack the skin of its own body, rendering it inflamed, dried, cracked, causing it to weep, literally split open and bleed.
62
63It was triggered by genetic modification.
64
65In this excerpt from his autobiography, Akaso details the events that followed.
66
67EXCERPTS FROM THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF AN INVENTOR
68
69Thanks for buying - or as is likely the case - 'legally obtaining' my stupid little ego trip.
70
71In these voice logs I'm going to remove any semblance of mysticism or legend surrounding my upbringing, early life, and how I came to be, well, myself.
72
73My childhood was... Surprisingly normal and rather dull, actually. I did all the things a kid does, I slacked off from doing chores, I messed around with temporary 'mods, played games for days at a time, crawled around in the maintenance tunnels lookin' for shiny trinkets. Disappointing, ain't it? No tragic backstory, no motivation for revenge. It must go wrong somewhere right? There's gotta be a reason why I went through with imprinting the alpha swarm. 'Course there is, but that'll come a bit later.
74
75So teens, puberty, first permanent 'mods. Fun times. I don't think I've gotta go into details here, everyone knows the story behind how I look. Worked at the first of our clinics to make my keep, that's when I learned to work a bioforge. Victor would always buy a replication license for some brand-name 'mod, and we'd sit over it for weeks replacing the scrambled code and improving the design. That's right, the big bad 'Akaso Industries' started out making off-brand gene mods of nebulous legality.
76
77We needed the money, especially since Victor sunk everything into his 'big project'. His Magnum Opus. That revolutionary piece of tech that you, the listener, and everyone around you has coursing through your veins and keeping your body from degenerating like a Homo Sapiens would.
78
79Those precious, precious nanomachines that you have instead of bone marrow.
80
81Wanna know how they came to be? Well, there was this genetic defect, back in the day. It was a rare degenerative disease that affected a small portion of the population, and caused the immune system to react to benign materials and substances as if they were serious threats. An 'allergy' if you will. If you got it, your skin would start drying up in spots, reddening, and itching. Then it'd start cracking, weeping and bleeding. Even basic movement would cause discomfort, and the worst part?
82
83It was the only ailment of its kind that slipped through genetic re-engineering. It always emerged again no matter how thoroughly they went through your DNA to look for defects. The only way to get rid of it was a complete bone marrow transplant, and without nanites... Even with our tech it was exorbitantly expensive and took long to recover from. Even worse, it could cause permanent changes in body chemistry and personality.
84
85So as I'm sure you already know, I got it. When I was about seventeen, a little accident with the first version of a certain pair of “Piston Arms” took my right eye with hydraulic fluid. One thing came to another, I modified an unfinished version of the now famous Lucifier line, which at the time was not actually owned by Akaso Industries believe it or not. I used the ocular restructuring code to grow a new eye, the shunted code triggered slightly off forms of the intended effects, and, well… That is where my looks come from.
86
87A rookie mistake.
88
89This was my first major body modification, which triggered the genetic defect and my mental health kinda went downhill from there. Depression, anxiety, insecurity, what have you. I'd wear mostly covering clothes to hide my scarred, cracked skin. Victor started abusing stimulants, never slept, spent weeks in the bioforge. One day he told me not to open up the clinic and come see him in the back, that he had something to help with my skin.
90
91I don't think I've ever enjoyed pain more than that day, y'know. Nerve endings went first, then my brain. 'Ship of Theseus' sort of deal, to keep me going throughout the conversion even when my organs got tossed or replaced. Watching your own bone marrow getting mulched by ravenous nanomachines and rebuilt at the same time, and being able to feel it happening? It's an experience, let me tell you that.
92
93That day, I stepped into the Bioforge a broken, diseased, depressed Novahuman, and walked out something… Different.
94
95Victor died a few months later from a heart attack due to one of his veins getting plugged up with inert nanites, and that combined with his stimulant abuse caused him to just kinda drop dead. The marrow in one of his bones was partly converted. Mad bastard tested the nanites on himself until they worked.
96
97There it is. My 'dark secret'. I was unfortunate enough to be struck with an immunological defect and my obsessive, distant father saw it as an opportunity to prove himself. It felt so strange, looking at his grave. He was old, but it was still an early end.  And the goodbye letter… “If you don't get things right, someone else will get them wrong.”
98
99I hope I got it right.
100
101GRIEF
102
103Early on after his transformation, the combined mental trauma of his father's death and the changes in mentality and body chemistry caused by the transformation made him unstable. This resulted in the young Novahuman taking up bounty hunting and mercenary work, making heavy use of his ability to build up a large reserve of nanites and use them to break down and construct effectively any material to make more of themselves.
104
105His skin had turned into a semi-flexible matte-black exoskeleton, and he was not yet able - or even willing - to go out of his way to manufacture a dedicated replacement for a normal, soft dermal layer. As a result of this, he took to wearing a blank white mask and nothing else, his transformed body entirely lacking any genitalia to speak of, and only vaguely resembling the female figure in shape.
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107The local Yakuza, their compounds being the most common target of government-paid - and usually unsuccessful - mercenaries would quickly come to recognize the slim silhouette. The blank mask. The flaming orange eyes.
108
109The tears of black ichor that spilled from the mask every time he sicced ravenous waves of nanites upon those unfortunate enough to have a bounty on their head. The name of a hated mercenary spreads quickly in the criminal underworld, and if they have no name, one is created for them.
110
111Being the Yakuza, they came up with a nickname in a lowlife dialect of modern cityspeak, the root of which simply meant “black tears”. The name could be translated to “black smear” or “black wave”, generally fitting for the fighting style he used at the time.
112
113It was good money, it kept the clinic running and employees paid even when profits ran low. He was far from the most malicious mercenaries of his time - the era of the Yakuza was a dark time in the history of Nova-Tokyo. Its people lived fully and acted kindly not because of their situation, but in spite of it.
114
115He used much of the funds he had gained from the more lucrative of his contracts to purchase high-quality materials and numerous licensing rights. He needed something to satisfy the immense energy requirements of his body whenever he pushed it beyond its baseline output, and so hatched a plan.
116
117He'd taken to “appropriating” whatever was left of the bodies of his marks whenever he was contracted to, well, “dispose” of an individual that wouldn't be missed. Hacked drones. Proxy bodies. Criminals that managed to so thoroughly erase their own pasts they didn't even have system IDs, didn't even legally exist.
118
119Criminals are surprisingly inventive, and a certain gang had become well known for their usage of stable Void crystal as batteries, something only the higher-grade body modifications had at the time. They had an engineer. A very, very, VERY good engineer.
120
121One that was good enough to wipe himself off the face of Novahome.
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123One that wouldn't be missed if Akaso “appropriated” his body and used it for reference.
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125After all, even once he was sentenced, he wouldn't be given his body back. He'd have to live out a good few years without access to anything beyond civilian-grade 'mods, and even then, he'd be under heavy surveillance for the duration of his sentence. Even once a free man, he would have to rebuild himself from the ground up.
126
127He needed a power source, and simply lacked the means to produce a void battery. Thus, he repurposed the central battery of one who came to be known as “Rigger” and used it for himself. As he did not want to risk endangering himself with energy overload, he kept it isolated within a belt, forged using the same nanomachines that made up his body.
128
129At one point, Akaso was called up for an emergency job in one of the shopping districts - a new, unknown type of Subdimensional. His Void Shroud was above average in size and strength at the time thanks to the demanding nature of his abilities, and thus he was one of the first options for issues with reality warpers.
130
131ALKAHEST
132
133Akaso arrived at the designated site by means of a single-person monorail.
134
135By the time his transport had arrived to the district in which the beast was most recently sighted, it had long gone. Thankfully, it seemed to suffer from the same destructive compulsions as all of its kind. Akaso only had to follow the trail of destruction to find his quarry.
136
137The weakening weave of reality tipped him off to its presence in the vicinity as he made his way deeper into the still-evacuating city district through its deepest, most out of the way back alleys. The young merc made the decision to make his approach across the rooftops for the sake of high ground, planning to ideally drop down somewhere close by his target and ambush it.
138
139He climbed up the wall of a particularly old building, using his hardened exoskeleton to bite into the concrete with his fingers, and after a few hundred meters worth of parkouring across the rooftops, he laid his eyes upon the monster.
140
141It turned its split-jawed head towards him the moment he came into sight. It was at this moment he noticed that everything the beast destroyed appeared not just burned, but melted - and dodged for dear life as a huge mass of flaming, jelly-like substance burst out of the beast's maw at near-supersonic velocity.
142
143At first, Akaso thought it was a reward for good work, being given a one-time permit to release all limiters and a waiver for any collateral damage caused. Now he knew it was a precaution. Paying for reconstructive work on the body of a one-of-a-kind mercenary can ruin a firm, no matter how large.
144
145His synthetic musculature strained, a few strands ripping as he rushed the disengagement of internal limiters to dodge out of the way in time, his belt bursting to life with a flash of orange light. The several gallons worth of anomalous jelly impacted a larger building, simultaneously corroding away the polymer glass and superheating it to the point of actual melting. As he glanced at his target, he saw he beast's split lower jaw had widened to open up its mouth for more matter to pass through, and was now slowly closing up.
146
147Not being one for theatrics, he decided to make use of the most commonly known weakness that all subdimensionals had - their core organ, the very thing that allowed them to warp reality and ate away at their bodies if they didn't feed on the minds of conscious beings for a prolonged period of time.
148
149For some reason, it appeared that this particular, before unseen beast not only didn't actively warp reality, but could actually think for itself instead of blindly attacking like a thoughtless animal.
150
151When Akaso had his nanomachines try to consolidate around its legs and solidify, it knew to burn them away with that jelly instead of just thrashing about. When he tried hit-and-run tactic, it knew to attempt punishing him when he tried to retreat.
152
153By the time he'd figured out a strategy, the young Novahuman was missing his left arm, and was running low on nanomachines. Even new ones couldn't get to him, as whenever he commanded a swarm to break down material and reproduce, the beast would relentlessly pursue Akaso's position and stop him from recovering.
154
155Thus, he gambled it all on one shot. He'd caught a glimpse of the beast's core through its mouth after it had fired off a particularly long burst of what he'd come to call “Alkahest Napalm” in his mind, since it seemed corrosive to most materials anything and resembled the Old Earth incendiary compound in consistency and  incendiary nature.
156
157He had willed a large portion of his remaining nanites to consolidate within his right arm, in order to form an accelerator mechanism directly linked into his primary power conduits, along with reconstructing his hand into a large, three-fingered grasper appendage, a hole in the center.
158
159The added bulk of such a mechanism, combined with the cavity required for its projectile, rendered his right arm even more susceptible to damage. As such, Akaso went out of his way to put as much space and cover between himself and the rampaging beast as he could.
160
161He felt his muscles ripping every time he forced his body to move faster than it was normally able to, and allowed only enough nanites to be diverted into fixing them that he wouldn't lose mobility.
162
163At this rate, he'd have just enough material left to work with.
164
165Just enough.
166
167He'd closed the distance of over a hundred meters in a few seconds, nearly wrecking his legs in the process. The subdimensional had followed his path with a long spray of alkahest napalm, assuming he was going in for another hit and run attack and trying to cut off his escape.
168
169As its core refilled the ejection cavity with more of the iridescent jelly and the beast reared back to unleash another stream of the substance, its split lower jaw parted once more. The Novahuman lunged forward one final time, completely shredding the remaining musculature in his legs.
170
171His three-fingered arm dug into the chitinous flesh of the beast before him, its joints locking in place once a stable grip had been achieved. Within the span of a few seconds, he locked all of his joints to stop himself from collapsing, and began channeling the remainder of his nanite reserves into the accelerator cavity of his arm.
172
173As his reserves emptied, millions of nanites solidified into a hyperdense rod nearly six centimeters in diameter. Pressurized globs of alkahest napalm burst their way out of the beast's maw, melting away at Akaso's mask.
174
175An ear-splitting whine filled the air, dust and stones began to float off the ground as local graviton particles were absorbed by his accelerator's charging sequence. His belt shined so brightly its crimson light drowned out all other sensations. 
176
177The final pieces were in place, and the titanic rod that stuck out behind Akaso was long enough to run through the beast end to end and still have a few meters left. It was far in excess of overkill to do the job, but he didn't care.
178
179It wasn't as if he did the mercenary work for the money, the favors, the legal advantages. He was little more than a child, immature, mal-adjusted to adult life. He didn't know how to cope with the death of a loved one, or with the stress of being self-dependent.
180
181This was how he always de-stressed.
182
183Whether it was in VR or in the real didn't matter.
184
185He always put everything he had into a single strike, and this was no different.
186
187An overwhelming sensation of power filled his body as he willed the belt to dump all of the Void energy it still contained into his systems. A thunderous THUNK shook the ground, the supersonic barrier far superseded by the velocity of the massive rod. The young Novahuman exhaled a huge cloud of superheated steam, crackling with unrefined Void Energy. As he stared into the face of another hated enemy, he felt his right arm and upper torso go numb. Inert, burned out, some parts welded solid while others fell apart into nothing more than black sand.
188
189His legs and musculature, nonfunctional, he collapsed along with the impaled child of a betrayed God.
190
191As his consciousness faded, Akaso smiled for the first time since Victor's death.
192
193THE CHILD OF A GOD, IN CHAINS LIKE ITS PARENT
194
195He awoke to the numbness one experiences when their leg falls asleep, having completely spread through his right arm and upper torso. His synthetic musculature felt shredded to pieces, which, in effect, it was.
196
197It seemed that his body had, after all, weathered the extensive damage he caused himself without falling apart completely, and was now attempting to repair itself. He could feel a tiny swarm of still-active nanites consuming the metal wall of a nearby building, slowly growing in size. From his rather… Well, grounded point of view, he saw the towering, fifteen-meter corpse of his target, skewered end to end. Akaso's severed right forearm was still holding its maw closed with the vice-like grip of a machine whose joints have been welded solid from the inside.
198
199Akaso watched the beast's own alkahest napalm eat away at its iridescent hide, and for what seemed like days, he felt himself lapse into unconsciousness for hours at a time. 
200
201This sort of threat was always dealt with by evacuating the general area, and only allowing entry when the threat was confirmed eliminated, the operatives deployed contacted HQ, or three days passed since last contact.
202
203How long had it been? One? Two days? By the time he could feel his legs again, he couldn't tell. He didn't care - all that mattered was that he could move again. It'd take a while before his right arm could be remade, but his left had already partially been rebuilt while he was out of commission, so he decided to focus on finishing the job and getting it operational.
204
205With a pained grimace Akaso sat up, and using his stub arm as support, managed to stand shakily.
206
207He made the decision to attempt reclaiming whatever nanites were still functional within the wreck of a pilebunker that was once his right forearm, and potentially salvage what little material within it was still useable. After a good three hours of struggling to establish a connection, he found out that it was actually still functional - only the joints had been welded solid, and that could be easily fixed.
208
209He struggled and limped his way over to the corpse of his foe, pushing the now partially regenerated stump of his arm up to the disembodied elbow joint of the metal hunk. As he willed his near nonexistent reserve of nanites to attempt forming a connection, he felt a surge of sensory inputs scattered all throughout the bulky forearm and the rod it accelerated.
210
211Pushing his nearly broken body to channel a meager amount of energy, he roused the battered and overloaded gravitonic accelerator to life, painstakingly pulling the rod he had impaled the beast with out. With each pull, he could feel conduits burning out and regenerating, his nanites struggling to consume nearby material quickly enough to replicate.
212
213With each pull, he could tell he was pulling more than just the rod out of the beast.
214
215With the last pull, he knew the impaled, blue orb that he had just ripped from the beast would change him forever. But before that, there was work to be done.
216
217Damage to be fixed.
218
219Flaws to iron out.
220
221RECOVERY
222
223“What the fuck did you do?! An-an-and why are you lugging that thing around? Cores have been worthless for decades, you know that!” Quinton yelled angrily at Akaso, following him around as he downed liters of barely-legal stimulant mix on his way home from the agency. The youth drew quite a few strange looks, given the fact a large part of his right arm was missing. The huge, yelling old man with most of his body replaced by antique cybernetics wasn't exactly inconspicuous either.
224
225Oh good. The old fart was trying to give himself an aneurysm again. Akaso sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. By this point his left arm was back to full working order, while his right was still “growing” back.
226
227A path of inert nanites trailed behind him even days after the fight, his body still filtering them out.
228
229“I killed it. Wasn't that in my contract?”
230
231“You almost killed yourself is what you did, fuckin' idiot. You're supposed to call in support drones once you find the target!”
232
233Every time with the drones. The worthless things always got in the way more than they helped, with how much the agency cut corners. The only reason they wanted mercs to use the drones was so they could take a bigger cut. With a short sigh, Akaso broke into a sprint, pushing his freshly repaired legs to the brink. All he heard as he took off was Quinton yelling “Oh not this shit again!”
234
235The atmosphere of the city washed over him as he sprinted towards the nearest monorail station. The chattering of Novahumans going about their day. The persistent whine of gravitonic accelerator engines, from those on small personal transports to those on huge communal ones.
236
237The ever-present rainy weather of Novahome washes over his obsidian skin as the son of an inventor single-mindedly pushes through the paygate and gets in a single-person monorail, the credit deduction alert just white noise in the back of his mind.
238
239With the airtight seal of the monorail's cockpit serving to choke out all external sound, Akaso places the fist-sized orb - a chunk of nanite rod still sticking out of it - on his lap.
240
241It's worthless, financially speaking. All subdimensional Cores always decay within hours of their host's death, even if perfectly undamaged.
242
243According to the official report, this one should be just shiny dust before the day was out. Novahumans lack a lot of human traits, but lying is one they still have. It'd been a good few days since he actually killed “Alkahest”, as he'd come to regard the beast, and by now the core should've decayed.
244
245But it hadn't. Even in its impaled state, Alkahest's core radiated the reality-weakening energy that both powers and eats away at the subdimensionals.
246
247People could feel it, but nobody paid it any mind - a simple lie was all that stood between Akaso being known as “just another merc that likes jewelry made of shiny dust” and the luckiest bastard in Nova-Tokyo.
248
249While Akaso contemplated what he'd attempt once he got back to the clinic, the near-supersonic monorail quickly and quietly made its way through the titanic city. The grasp of civilization thoroughly penetrated the underground caverns below, as expanding vertically was almost as easy as horizontally, just far less scarring to the landscape above.
250
251The monorail began to slow down over the last few hundred meters of the journey, and came to a complete stop soon after. Akaso hastily got out, and sprinted the rest of the way to the clinic as quickly as his legs would carry him without breaking his limiters.
252
253He couldn't help but grin at the faces of his two employees when he burst through the doors. In part because of his more mangled than usual state, in part because of what he said the moment he had their attention.
254
255“You won't believe what I found.”
256
257DEFRAG
258
259“AGAIN!”
260
261The air screamed with plasmatic discharge, as did Akaso in his command for more.
262
263Inert nanites fell to the ground.
264
265Black tears ran down his face. Down his body and legs, forming a black puddle below.
266
267Akaso had the clinic closed down for the day, a grim resolve had overcome him. It only took one test to tease out the potential of a functional “Dimensional Coupler” as the  cores of subdimensionals were known.
268
269The same frequencies used in the first step of refining livingmetal from its organic form also resonated with the semi-organic crystal of Alkahest's D-Coupler. This caused it to rapidly lose its organic composition and begin outputting Void Energy seemingly without limit at the slightest provocation.
270
271Funnily enough, its impaled state made it easier to create a connection. All it took was replacing inert nanites with functional ones and building a dedicated Void Energy infrastructure.
272
273“AGAIN!”
274
275Four thick cables made of semi-flexible void crystal ran from the now-solidified core into the exposed insides of Akaso's torso. He had no visible organs to speak of, no bones, just an exoskeleton. 
276
277Akaso hanged from a pair of equally thick tubes wrapped around and plugged into his arms. One pumped freshly synthesized nanites in, while the other helped pull inert ones out.
278
279The whole apparatus was contained within the Bioforge's work area, with the core suspended in the center and Akaso hanging just outside the perimeter, facing it.
280
281”ONE MORE TIME!”
282
283With each power surge, fewer nanites burned out. Less time had to be spent to allow Akaso's body to repair using the virtually infinite supply of fresh nanites available.
284
285He could feel his body changing. New power conduits. Capacitors. Alterations to the base design of every single nanite, the very building blocks of his being changed themselves to deal with this incomprehensible amount of energy.
286
287The time was right.
288
289“Integrate!”
290
291At his command, the cables began rapidly retracting, pulling the D-Coupler out of the Bioforge's zone of influence.
292
293As the core slammed into place, Akaso's exoskeleton rapidly grew back over the exposed area.
294
295The tubes he hung by released with a hiss, and he fell to the floor. The puddle of black ichor came to a boil. Sparks danced across Akaso's skin. Muscles ripped, limbs broke, conduits burned out.
296
297Damage healed within seconds.
298
299Hundreds, thousands of new limiters formed within his body in the span of less than than a minute.
300
301A beastial roar eerily reminiscent of Alkahest's escaped his lips, and was instantly silenced.
302
303Even from beyond the grave, one of the few subdimensionals to develop a mind of its own fought against the will of its killer.
304
305Even from beyond the grave, Alkahest was enchained and made to serve. Rendered little more than a glorified battery.
306
307He couldn't help but stifle a laugh. It was like a curious fever, raging within his veins.
308
309Sparks coming off of his fingers. The telltale red glow of Vermilion Void Energy.
310
311It intermixed with the orange of Dimensional Energy, an incredibly rare form of Void Energy which only ever appears for a brief moment. Only when the full might of the Void annihilates a reality warper, for it serves to bridge the gap between reality and the great empty.
312
313To tell the truth, he expected the calm green of Orgone, or the clean blue of Void Energy in its raw form. Then again, Vermilion explained why the output was so ridiculous even at its weakest.
314
315Akaso stood up, smiling a smile of razor-sharp teeth. His skin was covered with a complex pattern of bright orange energy conduits. A mixture of his original, circuit-like conduits and outlandish, occult symbols. He could feel his body slowly cooling down as its newly-formed limiters forced the D-Coupler to an absolute minimum.
316
317As he walked out into the deserted clinic, Akaso caught a glimpse of his reflection in one of the display cases.
318
319He raised up a hand, staring at the matte black surface of his skin. The eerie orange glow of his conduits, the only thing to illuminate the darkened room. A realization slowly dawned on him.
320
321BIOGEL
322
323Another day. Another attempt. Another failure.
324
325It'd been months since he made any progress. Months. He'd regained the motivation to create that he was missing after Victor died, and now only had to forge it into something concrete.
326
327Time meant nothing, as he couldn't go hungry, become sleep deprived, or even age. Money was no longer an issue, as many of the failures still caught on as medical agents.
328
329Universal healing gel. Universal nutritional substitute. Bioproof, organic armor, indistinguishable from other cloned flesh.
330
331Even elements of his own nanite-based biology became just another export, another product to keep the company and his obsession with feigned normalcy afloat. Another “technological breakthrough” to be praised, patented, packaged and sold.
332
333Nobody paid it much mind, really. He wasn't the first gifted eccentric, and he wouldn't be the last. The authorities had neither the time, the resources, nor the manpower to afford hassling someone like Akaso - he claimed to have an impossible artifact, and seemed to imitate it decently.
334
335Just another troubled youth with the means to play out his fantasies.
336
337Worst of all, he knew it was plausible. Organic heatsink alternatives were relatively new technology, but they worked. They just didn't look like skin, and were far outside the realm of civilian availability. He had to create a semi-organic, flexible tissue substitute that could both withstand extreme temperatures, and resemble flesh in how it reacted to physical force being exerted upon it. 
338
339He willed the Bioforge to save the current project and synthesize a few liters of the stuff. It wasn't good enough to withstand his body temperature when he released his limiters, but it'd have to do for now. A quiet whirr filled the room as a thick, translucent orange gel began slowly filling up the liquid product containment unit. 
340
341Akaso yanked the bulky, nearly arm-thick plug out of his neck. Its tip was smoking, glowing orange from the heat it had been exposed to. The standard cranial plug was long burned out from overuse, and Akaso had to replace it with one sturdy enough to withstand his newly obtained processing capacity, as well as the sheer stress it would be exposed to within his body. 
342
343It took him seven attempts to make one bulky and resilient enough for the job.
344
345It was still a bigger success than his attempt at creating himself false skin, let alone his experimentation into cooking. After all, the young Novahuman never had to live independently before his father's untimely demise.
346
347He stared at it for a few seconds, before letting it clatter to the floor as he lazily walked to the kitchen. Soon, the smell of pastries and dangerously powerful stimulants would permeate his home.
348
349The breakfast of a transhuman.
350
351BURNOUT
352
353“I don't care how quickly you think your body can adapt to the stress.” She scolded him. Her cybernetics whined under the weight of his limp body, black sand painting a crude mockery of a mandala on the polished floor as she carried him to the Bioforge. “I've got a life too, you can't just expect me to come running every time you give yourself burnout. What're you gonna do when I can't find someone to take the shift for me, huh?”  
354
355Though she had visibly cybernetic arms and legs, her entire body was mostly custom. The rippling, rock-hard musculature that her skin stretched over was just as synthetic as the fibers that moved her prosthetics, and her skin had long been stripped of the ability to produce hair or sweat. It was a series of synthorganic heatsinks that served as the cooling for her body, embedded within the undersides of her calves and thighs. 
356
357A sarcastic grin cracked his lips. His voice came out distorted, almost comically so. It sounded like the voice filter on a really cheap enviro-mask. “Guess I'll just have to use the test blanks to fix myself.” 
358
359True, burnout couldn't kill him. But as it stood, he couldn't recover from it on his own yet. His body just couldn't produce enough nanites in that reduced state to repair itself within any reasonable timeframe. The room within which the Bioforge was contained took up the majority of the building, containing numerous other biotech instruments as well as serving as the “vault” for Akaso Industries custom-developments.
360
361She chuckled as she lowered Akaso into the Bioforge. “Yeah, I can see you being impatient enough to do that. Hey, where's the interface gone?”
362
363Previously, she had used the archaic, visual interface to have the bioforge manufacture more nanites for Akaso to use in repairing his body, but it just wouldn't show up. She gave him a partly bewildered, partly concerned stare - have the sands of time finally caught up with the ancient machine?
364
365He shook his head. “Nah, I had to take it out 'cause of some new safety regulation. Who knows what they came up with this time. See the plug? Over there, on the groun- no, to your left-”
366
367“'This thing? Fuck, that's heavy.”
368
369“Yeah, exactly that. See this outline on my neck? The one that matches the shape of the plug?” He struggled even to crane his head and expose the faint depression in his exoskeleton. 
370
371As she struggled to push it in without damaging it, you could hear the slowly increasing amount of power she consciously supplied to her right arm. From nearly silent, to an audible whine of motors and synthetic muscles. “Just, just push it in as hard as you can. You won't break it.” 
372
373“Ow, fuck!” The sudden lack of resistance when she finally managed to push the plug into its slot caused her to trip over her employer's limp body and bang her head on the bioforge's inner ring.
374
375An audible laugh escaped his lips. The bioforge whirred to life as Akaso willed it to produce nanites. Thick, black tubes similar to the plug slithered out of ports within the machine like some sort of nightmarish snake, unceremoniously wrapping themselves around his arms. They lifted him up before they plugged themselves into his back. 
376
377Black sand would quickly form a small pile below him as burned out nanites were meticulously removed from his system and effectively sweated out. He sighed in relief as he felt his body being systematically rebuilt from the inside, even the smallest details better than the last time.
378
379“Thanks, Tira. Not many people can keep a secret nowadays.”
380
381“Mhm. So how did you overload yourself this time? What new thing are you working on, and how many favors will it take for me to get one?”
382
383Though she spoke in jest, there was truth in what she said. Tira's body was a veritable masterpiece thanks to the fact that she had access to Akaso's prototypes before anyone else did. In part because she helped him out around the bioforge, and in part because she was one of the few people that Akaso trusted enough to consider a legitimate friend. In a worse part of town, she'd have to carry a Delta-class firearm in case someone wanted a literal piece of her. Or several.
384
385“You've got me all figured out, huh. It's nothing short of an Alpha-class WMD, I'll have you know.” 
386
387Again with the sarcasm. As the bioforge did its job, one could see the tone of his skin shift in hue ever so slightly as new nanites replaced the old, even functional ones. Sparks of crimson danced across it as broken conduits were restored and sufficient Void energy began flowing into his limbs once more.
388
389His empty, blackened eyes slowly came to life with their telltale flaming glow, and he slowly turned his head to one of the many secure containers - embedded within the walls like body racks in a morgue, numbered from 002 to 475.
390
391“Three fifty-nine. It should be unlocked.”
392
393The container hissed as its airtight seal was broken. 
394
395Orange light flooded the room.
396
397The inside of the container was coated in bright orange crystal, at the epicenter of which an orange stone rested. It seemed to rage with a seemingly limitless amount of Void energy, spilling it forth at a constant rate even in its dormant state. Tira stared at it for a few seconds, before turning her gaze to Akaso.
398
399“Is this...”
400
401“A synthetic version of what's inside me, yes. I plan on using it as a throttling device, I should be able to use it to gauge how much I can handle and then draw from the primary core accordingly.”
402
403Tira raised an eyebrow. “And you can't just do that as you are? You need another WMD in your guts to do it?”
404
405Akaso lets out an almost apologetic laugh. “I would if I could. Remember the time I burned out my legs so bad I had to re-grow them from scratch?”
406
407“By the Void… I thought you were just complaining about the tolerances when you said the power output fluctuated.”
408
409“Yeah, it's bad. I actually called you here today for another reason, aside from helping me fix myself. Can you reach three ninety-five? Should be in the same column.”
410
411“Ninety-five, ninety-five… Got it! There's… Another belt, and some sort of… Weird rectangular device.”
412
413“Don't mind the gizmo, I just need the belt. Put the crystal inside and then push the two oval pieces together to integrate it. Just don't hold onto it for too long.”
414
415Tira hesitated before even reaching for the stone. Within less than a second, she snatched it from the container, placed it into the belt's compartment, and closed the mechanism - locking it within. The inside of the belt immediately began crackling with orange energy, several connection ports on the inside of the buckle lighting up. 
416
417Her right arm now had a coating of small crystals, with several larger ones growing where she directly held onto the crystal. She stared at it for a few seconds, then looked back towards Akaso - hanging above the bioforge, almost resembling some sort of pretentious art project.
418
419“So what now? I just put it on you?” 
420
421“Yeah, just put the main housing on my waist. I'll integrate it myself.”
422
423Her gaze wandered from the belt, to Akaso, to his arms - thoroughly wrapped around by the tubes he hanged from.
424
425“Uh… How?”
426
427“Look, just do it. The repair procedure is almost finished.”
428
429“Alright, if you say so.”
430
431Even as Tira approached Akaso, one could see the sparks that crackled across the belt intensifying, resonating with the ambient field of Void energy that surrounded him. As she reached up to place it on him, the exoskeleton of his lower stomach seemed to split open as several crystalline, tentacle-like appendages penetrated it from within, plugging into the ports on the belt and immediately retracting. The sub-exoskeletal power conduits that were usually invisible surged with a light so bright it was almost blinding, even to Tira's cybernetic eyes, only to simply… Stop.
432
433Both the belt and Akaso ceased to glow altogether, only for the light in his eyes to reignite a few seconds later. The tubes he hanged by released, accompanied by the hissing of escaping gasses. 
434
435Akaso fell to the floor. He sat there, hunched over, for a good half a minute. Tira neither dared, nor even thought to break the silence.
436
437He slowly looked down at the belt, its strap hanging loose… And started laughing. As he stood up, he placed the strap around his waist and buckled it together at the back. His laughter died down soon enough, and he looked at Tira with a mix of pride, joy, and the maniacal glee of a kid with their first gun.
438
439“Fuck me, I honestly didn't expect this to work without adjustments.”
440
441“You alright? Don't need my help with anything else?”
442
443“I'm good, thanks for getting here so quickly. I left something for you under the counter, feel free to use the clinic to install it.”
444
445At those words, Tira bolted out of the room into the clinic. One could hear the hissing of an airtight container being opened, followed by her yelling “No fuckin' way! You fixed the Rigger's cannon-arm for me?”
446
447Akaso chuckled to himself. Within the few seconds it took him to walk out into the clinic, Tira had already turned on one of the AugStations and took off her own right arm. The shoulder connector was a custom aftermarket module created specifically for easy exchange of parts, and was capable of adapting to a myriad of non-regulation connectors thanks to its incorporation of nanomachine technology.
448
449He stood in the doorway, watching her as she manually ran the cannon-arm through its paces before even attempting to install it on herself. It was over as quickly as it began - with a quick series of thunk noises as the arm's locking bolts slammed into place, followed by sparks dancing across its surface and arcing between its fingers as energy flooded its systems and a connection to a living mind was made for the first time since its original wearer's “arrest.”
450
451She flexed her new arm's synthetic musculature, smiling like a small child. She got up from the AugStation, and shadow-boxed for a few seconds - supersonic cracks reverberating throughout the clinic every time she punched with the Rigger's cannon-arm, far faster than anything a human eye could even see coming. Finishing with a punch containing all the power her new limb could muster, she sent a tangible shockwave of force towards the wall. Her arm vented a superheated mixture of gasses as she pulled back, engaging its limiter to bring it back down to a civilian level.
452
453“I take it you're going to the arena after this?” Akaso asked, bemused by the display.
454
455“Well, you're not giving me much of a choice with a gift like this. Would you mind putting my other arm in the original case?”
456
457“Why would I keep the case for a sold product?”
458
459“Come on. I saw you putting it aside when I was in the AugStation.”
460
461He chuckled again. “You really never miss anything, do you. Go on, I think I heard Akuma talking about how he'll beat your Beta-class record.”
462
463She bolted out of the clinic like greased lightning.
464
465A smile quirked his lips as he walked over to the AugStation to pick up Tira's arm. Once it was within its case safely stowed away under the counter, he returned to the Bioforge, and set it to automatically coat his body in a new layer of Biogel. With this new means of regulating his own power output, perhaps he could finally create a Biogel resilient enough to withstand his body heat in the heat of battle.
466
467BIOGEL: CONTINUED
468
469“You spent HOW MUCH developing this shit?!” Tira barged into the clinic, PDA in hand, in the middle of a busy day. Two of the seven customers were bothered enough by the commotion to look what was going on, while the rest were either preoccupied with something else or didn't care. Akaso himself remained perfectly focused on his work while he responded - coating cybernetics in Biogel is a delicate procedure, and the chrome itself often has to be modified so the Biogel film looks natural, usually stripping and replacing the outer plating, or putting seams where prosthetics with more complex functions move in ways that would rip the false dermal layer. There was a cup of the infernal swill that Akaso loved to drink so much, this time faintly green and fluorescent. It smelled like mint and heart attacks.
470
471“Thirteen million, five-hundred and two thousand, one hundred and eighty three credits. Out of that five-hundred thousand, six-hundred and nine credits was for patenting the composition, means of production, rights to modification and reproduction, and pretty much everything to do with Biogel on a global scale. Alright, I'm almost done. Go lay down in AugStation three, I'll be with you right away Tira.” 
472
473“Why do you think I'm here for anything to do with 'mods? If this doesn't become a moneymaker you're screwed!” She argued, but still did as asked. If she just wanted to yell at him she'd wait until the clinic closed down. The real reason she came was an appointment to get diagnostics done on her cannon-arm.
474
475“Alright, now the AugStation will coat the prosthesis in Biogel.” Akaso explained to the patient he was attending - a young man, with very few visible modifications besides several piercings in his right ear, visible datajacks on his neck, and fully cybernetic arms. “It will be detached so you don't move and mess up the gel before it sets, so just stay put while the station takes it off.” 
476
477The patient nodded, and Akaso willed the AugStation to start its procedure while he walked over to Tira, laying down in the AugStation right next to the one he was just attending. He pulled up the main display and began silently running diagnostics on her cannon-arm, murmuring to himself.
478
479She sat still for a good ten minutes before losing her cool and lashing out at him again. 
480
481“I mean, what are you gonna do if this doesn't work out? Sell the patent? Even then, you'll be in a hole that'll take you decades of mercenary to dig yourself out of!”
482
483“Calm down.” He muttered, just loudly enough to be audible.
484
485“What do you mean-”
486
487“It's already paid for itself.” He said, his gaze shifting from the display to Tira. She could swear that those flaming eyes could see more than just the physical, that sort of piercing gaze just wasn't achievable even with artificial replacements. It was like the fires of the Void itself raged behind the thin facade of matte black carapace. The eerily perfect visage that his Biogel skin gave him didn't make it any less unsettling, nor did his choice of clothing - or rather, the lack thereof. It wasn't unheard of for some people to wear the bare minimum, but Tira just wasn't used to it. 
488
489Not on someone she carried in her arms while his body was literally falling to pieces. Her train of thought was broken when he spoke again.
490
491“I've got licensing deals with Wolf & Raven, as well as most of the local clinics in our quadrant of Nova-Tokyo.” He smiled. For the first time in weeks, she saw him put on a genuine smile. “I could start giving procedures out for spare change and Akaso Industries would still be the fastest-growing business this side of the scrap fields. Alright get up. Diagnostics show no rejection symptoms and the wired reflexes are developing nicely.”
492
493She opened and closed her fist a few times, then willed her arm to open up and reveal the eponymous “cannon”. In reality, it was a graviton accelerator chamber designed to fire directed bursts of Void energy. While Void-based weaponry was not uncommon, this arm was a rarity in that most of its type used traditional projectiles. However, this specific one was modified by the Rigger with an impressive array of Void condensation glyphs that allows the user to at-will condense their own Void energy into a solid projectile within the chamber. The Void Arts were a rare field of study within Nova-Tokyo, and even the best rune-scribes could not achieve the results that the Rigger did. 
494
495It only made sense, given that according to his records from before he scrubbed his ID stated he immigrated to Nova-Tokyo from one of the few active settlements within the Scrap Fields.
496
497The gravitonic accelerator within her arm whined for a split-second before throwing a weak gust of air into empty space. She willed the arm to reconfigure into its default state, and got up from the AugStation. Even as she was getting up, she subconsciously did hand exercises and flipped back and forth between her arm's two configurations. A routine most Novahumans were familiar with by heart. 
498
499“So I'm good to go? No adjustments necessary?” She questioned once more, stretching to try and snap any worn out muscle fibers before they can snap when she needs them. 
500
501“All good. I'll see you next week for the permanent registration.” He said almost offhandedly as he returned to his patient to check on how their Biogel coating was progressing. As Tira was just about leaving, he looked back at her one last time. “And don't worry so much.”
502
503STRESS-TESTING
504
505“Welcome to the Chrome Dome! Please present your ID. If you have yet to register with our system, please prepare for a routine evaluation of your shell's capabilities.”
506
507The ancient building's archaic AI chirped in an obnoxiously cheerful voice. Akaso pressed his hand up against the scanner, vacantly scanning the cafe with his eyes while the venerable machine did its work.
508
509“Please proceed to the door at the back of the cafe for your evaluation. If you don't intend to participate in the arena using your own shell, please proceed to the terminal to your left to choose your preferred proxy shell.”
510
511It almost felt wrong, not getting sideways glances as he walked through the cafe. True, he didn't exactly stand out. Outwardly, Akaso only had some minor cosmetic mods, as compared to the bombastic builds most of the establishment's regulars showed off even outside the arena.
512
513Another ID scan. The door hisses as its hermetic seal beaks, and closes nearly silently behind him. The room on the other side is largely taken up by a basic biotech development and analysis suite, something that falls miles short of deserving the classification Bioforge. The whole setup was built with parts that decisively shouldn't work together, yet it had the same external output readings as his own medical-grade Bioforge. 
514
515Next to the rig, some guy with the most ingeniously cobbled-together cybernetics Akaso had seen was sitting plugged into it. To his left the pseudo-bioforge, to his right an ancient, rusted work desk with numerous drawers and cupboards, covered in tools, gadgets, and scraps, numerous faded, dust-covered posters and schematics covering the wall above it.
516
517The old man's hair was pure white, he had a rather impressive pure white beard, and bulging musculature so visibly aged it just had to be natural, covered in leathery skin.He wore an aged tank top with red and white stripes, and heavily patched up overalls whose top half was allowed to simply hang as an apron of sorts. You couldn't usually tell someone's actual age by how they looked, but only old-timers had bodies and clothes THIS outdated, especially in a place like Nova-Tokyo where you could get updated chrome for pocket change if you had the proper licensing. He had the vacant look of someone deep in VR. The room smelled like smoke and stimulant.
518
519Before Akaso could walk up to him to poke him, he blinked a few times. The glow in his cybernetic eyes changed from faint blue to a brilliant green, and a wide smile spread across his face. He scanned Akaso up and down, fixating on every little detail as he spoke. His voice carried the telltale distortion of a worn-out synthetic voicebox.
520
521“Ah, a new face! It's always good to see youngsters getting into the ol' arena. Coming in for your evaluation I take it?”
522
523The eagerness in his voice, the weird shine in his eyes, and the meticulous detail that seeped from every inch of his cobbled-together prosthetics made it blatantly clear. This man truly loved his work. 
524
525“Uh, yeah. I'm actually a friend of Tira's, she said you know her.”
526
527The old man's face filled with joy, and he almost stumbled over his own datajack cable trying to get out of his seat. He started rapidly typing in code after code into the pseudo-bioforge's archaic (and as of recently, against regulations) physical interface as he rambled in Akaso's general direction.
528
529“You must be Rubastax, right? Rubastax Akaso, Victor's son? Man, what a cryin' shame, he was so young…”
530
531A somber silence overcame him, and he almost seemed to physically droop as he even stopped typing - only to resume his rant soon after like nothing happened.
532
533“But nevermind that, why don't ya get in here so I can get some readings off ya. I'll ask you some questions while ol' reliable here does her job.”
534
535Akaso reluctantly stepped into the machine, expecting it to fall apart at any second. It whirred to life, holographic representations flickering across his body as its scanning suite struggled to breach past his skin.
536
537“Since Tira mentioned your body's a bit of a company secret, I'll just do a lil' surface level scan and we'll figure out the rest by word o' mouth. Sound good?”
538
539“Just fine with me.” He responded, remaining perfectly still within the scanner out of habit. He didn't even breathe - the fact he didn't need to made that much easier.
540
541Minutes passed, and for once the old man was silent - engrossed in what little data the machine's archaic tools could gather even from a surface-level scan of Akaso's body.
542
543“What in the goddamn…” 
544
545“Something wrong?” The younger Novahuman questioned, a tinge of concern in his voice. Did time finally catch up with the heap of scrap metal?
546
547He looked up from the display, his expression an even mixture of wonder and… Something else. Not quite concern, not quite fear. A strange kind of bewilderment one only experiences when faced with something impossible, yet indisputably real.
548
549“It's… It's nothing lad. I just… That there fake skin o' yours is the only organic thing about ye, ain't it.”
550
551Akaso raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, why?”
552
553“It's just that, in all my years - and lemme tell ya, I'm older than this city - I ain't seen fake skin that convincing.”
554
555Taken aback at the implication of the old man's age, Akaso blinks a few times, furrowing his brow as he looked into empty space for a moment in utter bewilderment. The old man laughed, though it sounded more like bursts of static. 
556
557“Ya better believe it, I'm an old-worlder. You wouldn't believe a tenth of the shit I saw back onboard the Breaker o' Dawn. No matter...”
558
559He turned his focus towards the analytics before him once more. “Goin' by yer ambient void field as well as all the limiters you've got listed in yer ID, I'll take a wild guess and say that you've got enough bang under the hood to demolish a building.”
560
561As he looks up,all the sense of light-hearted excitement is lost from his expression. What is left is the visage of one who predates the world he inhabits, and has seen horrors beyond what would break a lesser man. The face of a living relic, unbent, unbowed, unbroken by the ages. 
562
563“That sound about right to you?” Through his expression alone, Akaso could grasp the message he was trying to bring across. Lie. For your own good, lie, or the Yakuza will take your body, if you're lucky.
564
565“Not really, I'd say I'm more in the realm of-”
566
567“Beta-class it is. Can't quite bring down a building but can do some damage.” The old man interrupted, rapidly typing in the false Beta-class classification. It felt five kinds of fucked up to lie like that, not because Akaso thought lying was wrong to do, but because he came to the arena for a challenge - not for an easy fight against what is effectively a lower weight class.
568
569The Old Man's concerns weren't misplaced, however - Beta-class was common enough not to attract much attention, while Alpha-class and above was nearly impossible to get your hands on without numerous permits, power limiters, and extensive legal recordkeeping - most of which was not exactly obtainable for someone with as extensive a criminal record as most Yakuza.
570
571“Wait… Legally speaking, I'm an Alpha-Omicron. Please register me as Alpha-class.”
572
573The old-worlder's face filled with a mixture of disbelief, the kind of respect one has for something that can easily kill them, and… Could it be a tinge of hope? 
574
575“No way lad. Yer lyin'. There's no Omicrons in the whole wide Nova-Tokyo, let alone this shithole where even regular Alphas are a rarity.”
576
577He reached for one of the drawers on the desk and took out a finger-thick, and about as long cylinder of… Something. It was the color brown. He bit one end off it, and spat it into the garbage - then he lit a blowtorch and set the cylinder alight. He placed it in his mouth, inhaled through the cylinder, then exhaled the smoke. Was this some strange old-worlder means of stimulant delivery? Surely the tar and toxins in the smoke must damage the shell's lungs.
578
579“What? Oh, you've probably never seen someone smoking. Look, I know you don't think yer scared o' no Yakuza and ye want a good fight in the ol' arena, but no's a no. You'll get butchered into spare parts fer cryin' out loud. Dumped in the worst shell imaginable, made to slave away in some abandoned undercity for some bootlegger warlord.”
580
581Akaso sighed. He leaned against the inside of the pseudo-bioforge, facing the old-worlder, and willed his voicebox to change. Nanites flooded to his neck, and the energy conduits within it became briefly visible even through his skin. He aimed to replicate the distortion that the mask he used to wear during his time working as a mercenary produced.
582
583“Do you think they'd just ignore the hated black wave coming into the public eye?”
584
585“No fuckin' way. You're barely more than a kid. Black wave's been known to pull the shells of his marks apart and- Dear god. So Tira wasn't lyin' when she said she's got Rigger's cannon-arm?!”
586
587“So she couldn't help but boast, huh.”
588
589“She can never help but boast, you should know she's like that. Alright, I'll register ye as an Alpha-class.” With a tinge of resignation in his voice, the old man started typing code after code into the machine's interface. “You'll be fighting a Yakuza. Bursting Fist user. Take out his heatsinks and he'll melt alive.”
590
591A predatory grin flashed across Akaso's face. “Bursting Fist? You mean that heat-centric martial art Akuma came up with?”
592
593“Yeah, that's the one. Why, does yer shell have heat issues? I haven't booked the match yet, we can always call it off.”
594
595Akaso laughed the most arrogant, expectant laugh to ever come out of his mouth, punctuated by the distortion in his voice. He liked how it sounded, perhaps he'd keep his voicebox that way. “Oh no, heat's not a problem. I just find it a bit funny is all - you'll see why.”
596
597“Well, good luck to ye. Match starts in half an hour, go get yerself ready.” He nodded towards a door opposite of his seat, on the right side of the room, just in the corner. 
598
599“There shouldn't be anyone in the locker room, so take all the space ye want.” 
600
601Akaso nodded, his bare feet reverberating against the metallic floor as he stepped out of the machine and begun making his way into the locker room. As he pressed his hand against the door's ID scanner and waited for it to open, he turned to see the old-worlder once again.
602
603“I forgot to ask, what's your name?” 
604
605“Huh?” He almost jumped, snapped out of the trance-like state he managed to lull himself into in those few seconds. “Oh, it's Sigmund. Just call me Sig.”
606
607“Got it.” The younger of the two said just before the door closed behind him.
608
609STRESS-TESTING: CONTINUED
610
611Ten minutes to go. Akaso stepped into the insertion capsule labeled “Red”. It scanned his ID, and automatically sealed around him. He waited in the dimly-lit capsule, lost in thought, for a good five minutes before he heard someone else walk into the locker room.
612
613Another three minutes, and his opponent stepped into the “Blue” capsule right next to his.
614
615He could feel his capsule moving along a track, only to come to an abrupt stop a few seconds later. Its opaque viewport of polarized polymer slowly became clear, revealing the familiar visage of the circular arena, Void shields of immense power raging between its circular shape and the walls. The sheer amount of energy being pumped into their projectors was causing stray arcs of Void energy to create a half-meter danger zone on the arena's outskirts. There was a three-meter, immensely bulky door just below the observation window, in and of itself fitted with additional shielding.
616
617The obnoxiously cheerful voice of an AI announcer resounded through the arena. Some people within the cafe gathered near the semicircle of windows partially surrounding it, while others turned their attention to the many screens placed all around the cafe's interior, all having shifted from various live-streams and old serial re-runs to a variety of different perspectives of the arena, captured by everything from floating camdrones to tiny bug-like biomechs scuttling along the arena's walls.
618
619“Welcome to the Chrome Dome! Today's schedule being as empty as it is, the owner of our fine establishment has seen fit to accept an unscheduled Alpha-class match! In the Blue corner, a well-established master of the Bursting Fist style, Inoue “Hell's Raven” Nobumitsu!”
620
621Akaso saw the blue capsule descend into the arena. Its door unsealed, and the occupant kicked it open with a metal foot. Smoke and steam poured forth with every step he took into the arena. His body had not a shred of flesh visible, everything having been replaced with metal and circuit. Synthetic, rope-like musculature slithered and shifted beneath his polymer skin like some sort of infernal parasite.
622
623Numerous, elaborate heatsinks glowed upon him, embedded into his back. The charred, carbonized, reinforced remains of what was likely his original skull served as part of his head, with the calculating stare of an experienced mercenary in one eye, while a raging inferno of flame and plasma poured forth from the other. He had numerous microcameras and sensors embedded into his head, granting the illusion of supernatural awareness to his opponents.
624
625Inoue? Surely he wasn't the Yakuza that Sig warned him about. Of all people, Inoue talked shit about the Yakuza the most openly. Then again… It would only make sense to do that if you didn't want to be ousted as one of their ranks.
626
627His theme song began to blare throughout the arena and cafe. He boasted and postured for the fans and cameras alike - he was a well-liked fighter, known for his brutal style and custom-built body. Perhaps it was his involvement with the Yakuza that gave him access to such high grade modifications and parts.
628
629The announcer started talking again. “And in the Red corner, an unknown newcomer to the Chrome Dome! A wild card! What tricks will this new blood bring to the table? Please welcome Rubastax Akaso!”
630
631His capsule dropped into the Arena. Its door unsealed. He stepped out onto the cold sand.
632
633His opponent looked him up and down, his stance and expressionless visage almost mocking in appearance. 
634
635The buzzer sounded, and both the combatants had their limiters released.
636
637They stared each-other down for a few seconds, neither daring to make a move. Inoue finally spoke, tilting his head ever so slightly in a quizzical display of interest. His skeletal jaw remained fixed in place, while his digitally distorted baritone boomed across the arena with an imposing presence.
638
639“Have we met before? You look familiar.” 
640
641“Not as far as I can remember.”
642
643Akaso had hold himself back from laughing at the comically rough, distorted growl that came out of his mouth - his nanites had made further “adjustments” to his voicebox within the short time between his conversation with Sig and the start of the match. He sounded exactly like what one would expect from a mythical demon, much to his own amusement. 
644
645“Very well.”
646
647Inoue burst forward, breaking the sound barrier, ripping gashes in the sandy ground of the arena. Akaso struggled to keep up, attempted to see a pattern to his movements… But it was too late.
648
649Inoue struck from the right, his right fist glowing a bright white. The air screamed and ionized as he released the burst into Akaso's stomach, his heatsinks fading and the fire in his left eye dimming.
650
651The sheer force released was enough to atomize a building. Akaso could feel his skin melting off, his clothes disintegrating. From within the blinding flash, the black hand of a terror that once hunted members of the Yakuza like animals struck, breaking the sound barrier in the process, grabbing Inoue's fist. 
652
653Its vice-like grip was entirely unlike any synthetic muscles available, and its fingers bent and dented even his high-grade hybrid superalloy plating like sheet metal. Inoue felt himself being yanked like a ragdoll, and was swiftly thrown into the arena's volatile shielding.
654
655When the smoke, steam, and plasma of his blast cleared, Inoue let out a beastial growl, only to throw himself at his opponent once more. The sheer amount of volatile Void energy that he had come into contact with caused small crystals to start forming upon his surface, while flooding his system - causing his secondary heatsinks to become superheated to the point of one burning out, now just an inert piece of molten slag.
656
657Akaso felt himself grab Inoue's fist once more. Heard the supersonic crack of his right arm breaking the sound barrier. Felt the rush of energy, the physical damage as his body absorbed his opponent's punch. Grains of black sand fell to the ground, and Akaso tightened his grip. 
658
659The pure hate contained within the Yakuza's stare felt almost personal, but he couldn't figure out why. A right-legged kick to the side of his torso, Inoue using the centrifugal force and a mental command to decouple his hand at the wrist. Akaso countered with another supersonic grab, this time grasping his knee just as his leg impacted. 
660
661The shockwave sent a cloud of sand flying. The Yakuza's handless left arm opened up to reveal the release point of his body's heat distribution system, and fired off a huge blast of heat and light directly into Akaso's face.
662
663Between the moment he decoupled his hand and fired the blast, less than a second passed. Akaso was fast enough to react if he knew Inoue could do it, but the factor of surprise caused him to falter, loosening his grip just enough for Inoue to rip himself from his grasp and reposition to the other side of the arena. He left a piece of plating in his opponent's hand.
664
665Damage. Actual damage to his body. He felt something rise from within. A strange heat, like liquid fire in his veins. He felt the pinpricks of volatile Void energy crackling across his skin. A gut-wrenching pain shot through his right arm as his exoskeleton parted, and something pushed its way out and into his hand.
666
667Inoue stared in bewilderment, but managed to retain self-control and not attack. His glare was like that of a rabid beast, waiting for an opportunity.
668
669Two seconds. It took two seconds for the pain to subside. In his hand, a stake of crimson, raging with the power of the Void. Not the clear, cyan purity of raw Void energy, or its smooth curves. This one was jagged and thorny. Deep crimson in its hue, partly transparent. 
670
671When did he lower himself into this beastial, nearly quadrupedal stance? 
672
673How did he know to hold the stake like that? 
674
675Akaso neither knew, neither cared. 
676
677Somehow, this felt right. 
678
679He heard himself speak in that growling tone. 
680
681“Clock Up.”
682
683Why did he say that? He didn't intend to use it here. 
684
685It was supposed to be the command to release the limiters placed on his primary core and flood his system with the maximum amount of power it could handle before global burnout occured. 
686
687A laugh escaped his lips. It felt like he was on fire, but it didn't hurt. He was the fire. 
688
689Akaso threw himself at Inoue. He heard the supersonic crack. Felt the air resistance. The roundhouse kick hitting his stomach. He felt himself hit the Void shields at the outer ring of the arena, felt their energy raging against his skin.
690
691A supersonic crack, accompanied by a cloud of sand. 
692
693Another. And another. And another. For once in his life, he lived up to the nickname he was given. In that very moment, the young Novahuman truly became a black wave, burned-out nanites trailing behind him and mixing with the sand he kicked up.
694
695The Void shields of the arena only served as bounce-pads for his confusing onslaught, their powerful energy discharges dancing across his skin like tiny lizards made of blue lightning. The sheer amount of sand constantly floating in the air jammed up many of the camdrones, and obstructed the view of all others. Though Inoue reacted to this in the best way he could - by staying near the edge of the arena while trying to remain in motion - he couldn't see or feel anything. Even his high-grade sensors only penetrated about a meter into the artificial sandstorm his opponent's movement had created.
696
697From within the storm, a stake of crimson flew, clashing with the arena's shields. Its polarity was directly opposed to that of the shields, destabilizing both the stake and a portion of the Void shield around it. The result, a violent detonation of destructive plasma-like energy and crimson shrapnel. The telltale glow and resonant ringing that precedes such an explosion gave Inoue time to get away… But not quite enough.
698
699Inoue was hit by precisely seven pieces of jagged, vermilion shrapnel, each digging a solid inch into his body upon impact. Too deep to pull out.
700
701He put his hands together, stumbling along the edge of the arena to try and reposition. Perhaps he could use the arena's shielding as a power source and discharge it all at once, to proverbially “glass” the artificial sandstorm Akaso had created. 
702
703Another stake ripped a path through the sandstorm, aimed just above Inoue's head. He had the good sense to jump out of the way once it impacted, however still caught four pieces of shrapnel to the back, the rest joining the sandstorm.
704
705Though individual shrapnel didn't do much damage, he'd get whittled down at this rate. Instead of trying to come up with a plan, he gave into instinct.
706
707The Hell's Raven briefly stepped back, allowing the raging Void energy surrounding the arena to consume his left leg for but a split-second. In that moment, his visage was that of a hellbeast born in flames. His head was entirely consumed in flame, the heat even softened the nanite superalloys his skull was made of, contorting it into an infernal grin.
708
709The sand below and around him began to melt, causing a thin layer of molten glass to begin building up on the right half of his body. He slammed his arms together, locking their joints. Everything he had, everything he was, condensed within a single strike. The culmination of the Bursting Fist style.
710
711A reactive-coolant tube within his right eye socket ruptured from the heat, causing a stream of fluorescent blue to run down his face. The substance could effectively cool vital systems at temperatures up to 1712.48° Celsius before expanding in such a way. 
712
713He opened his mouth, and roared loud enough to deafen a normal human. Loud enough to be heard even within the sandstorm.
714
715“BURN, KUROHA!”
716
717A blinding flash. 
718
719The arena fills with light and fire. 
720The storm of sand turns to a storm of molten glass. The sheer force exhibited by the blast of heat causes enough air movement to knock Akaso off his trajectory, forcing the hated black wave to the ground.
721
722The sheer amount of heat that went through his body in that final attack caused Inoue's joints to effectively weld themselves shut, his synthetic musculature scorched and nearly nonfunctional. 
723
724All he could do was stare. 
725
726Stare as the matte-black visage of a hated mercenary stood up, a storm of molten glass raining down within the arena, even covering him, little drops of glass hanging off the edge of his singular eye socket clouding his sight.
727
728Before it could begin to cool down and solidify on his body, Akaso allowed his body to heat up to its natural, glass-meltingly high body temperature, causing it to drip off him as he walked towards Inoue. 
729
730An arrogant smile stretched across his face.
731
732Crimson sparks crackled across his skin.
733
734Another stake pushed its way out into his palm. 
735
736Inoue saw him rear back to throw. 
737
738He felt the stake embed itself in his torso.
739
740He heard the whirr of Void crystal destabilizing before a detonation, both from the stake and the shrapnel embedded within him from earlier.
741
742He lost consciousness as his body was ripped apart at the seams. As his thoughts faded, he heard the announcer's ever so familiar, obnoxiously cheerful voice, counting down toward his defeat.
743
744STRESS-TESTING: AFTERMATH
745
746Akaso couldn't help but stare. He was utterly bewildered that a user of the bursting fist style managed to hone that single, gimmicky martial art to the point where they could hurt him, and not only that, but completely and utterly flash-melt hundreds of kilos worth of sand. 
747
748When he looked down, he saw the arena was filled with nearly a foot deep layer of liquid glass that was slowly cooling down. He felt his body cooling off, residual Void energy discharging in the form of localized lightning-like sparks dancing between its surface and the molten glass around his feet. 
749
750Inoue stood there, joints welded shut, the light in his eyes gone out. A gaping hole within his chest, ripped out by the directed explosion of a crystalline stake, one Akaso meticulously constructed to detonate in such a way. Dotting his arm and back, smaller holes of ripped out material, the result of the shrapnel within him detonating as well. 
751
752Akaso found himself standing idly within the arena, even as the hovering recovery drones entered. Even as they pulled Inoue out of the semi-solid glass and removed him from the arena. Kuroha. He hadn't heard that name in a solid year. Not since the Rigger contract. He ripped his legs one after another, from their glass encasement, sending shards flying as he did so. The arena's shielding powered down the moment he was pronounced the victor. 
753
754As he walked to the titanic gate, his movements still broke pieces of glass off his body. The gate's titanic mechanism clanked and hissed as it slowly unlocked its numerous locks. His flaming eyes gazed upon the holographic writing above the gate's arch. It said: Enter ye who are victorious, and may none stand in your path this day.
755
756“About as tasteless as I expected.”, he thought to himself.
757
758As the door slowly parted, a staircase came into view. Akaso stepped in, and not long after beginning to walk up the stairs came to a split hallway, illuminated with plain pseudo-neon, its walls and floor just plain metal and concrete. 
759
760Upon the wall, two plain signs - one pointing to the right, read “Cafe”. The other, pointing to the left, read “Diagnostics and Repairs”.
761
762It surprised him just how much space there was within the cafe's walls, even more so considering he walked for a solid minute before finally reaching another stairwell ending with a door, once more labeled “Diagnostics and Repairs”. He left a trail of black sand as he walked.
763
764He placed his hand on the ID scanner, and the door chimed with the announcer AI's obnoxious voice. 
765
766“Congratulations, newbie! I honestly didn't expect you to walk away in one piece, let alone fuck up old Inoue as badly as you did! Oh, you probably want me to open the door, don't you.” 
767
768The door slid open, and on the other side, Sigmund. The old-worlder was smiling ear to ear, leaning back in his chair, that weird brown cylinder still in his mouth - less than half of it remaining.
769
770He bellowed out a hearty laugh, getting out of his chair to greet Akaso. The younger Novahuman stepped through the door. It closed behind him, its locking rods slamming into place.
771
772“Holy hell kid, I honestly though ye were full o' shit. Really did a number on ol' Inoue over here, it'll take me weeks to get his body walkin' again. Go on an' take a seat while I finish up 'ere.”
773
774He moved out of the way, leisurely walking back to his seat. The antiques he had for legs audibly whirred with every step. He had put a folding chair near his work desk, with an unobstructed view of his pseudo-bioforge's interior.
775
776The first thing that caught Akaso's attention was Inoue's body, laying on Sig's work table, already partially disassembled. The second thing was a short woman with short black hair, sitting nude in Sig's pseudo-bioforge.
777
778She had one thick cable plugged into her back and one into her neck, both connected to the machine. Her right eye looked like a standard hybrid replacement, a faint glow behind the green iris, while her left was a mechanical prosthesis, likely embedded within the bone of the skull. Its orange glow resembled flame. 
779
780Beyond her eyes, she had no visible modifications.
781
782She stared daggers through Akaso, even as he sat down. Sig worked the interface for a minute or so. The cables the woman had plugged into her body hissed as they disconnected, their ports quickly closing up and becoming just skin-colored hard surfaces.
783
784Akaso wondered if this was a new fighter, and if so, if she knew him or just saw him in the arena. He figured she probably disliked him because she was a fan of Inoue. 
785
786She stood up, walking up to his seat… And held out a hand for a handshake. Her voice sounded completely inappropriate to what she said. She sounded like she was fighting herself for the ability to even say what she did.
787
788“I understand mercenary work isn't personal. I'm certain my angry outburst only sealed my loss. You defeated me in fair combat, and deserve respect for your capabilities as warrior… Regardless of the comrades I've seen imprisoned because of your actions.”
789
790Wait, it was Inoue? This was his backup shell? And why was he this open about being a Yakuza? Akaso wanted to ask him a lot of things, but decided against it. He stood up, and reached out to shake his opponent's hand. The skin of Inoue's backup shell was… Soft. Too soft to be natural.
791
792Akaso nodded in the most respectful manner he could muster. 
793
794“Your combat shell is a masterpiece. If it's any consolation, I'm not exactly proud of my mercenary career.”
795
796He hated this kind of formal, stilted interaction. He was never good at it, and it always felt like something he said was wrong.
797
798It was after a few seconds of awkward silence and exchanged stares that he was saved from that limbo - Sig cleared his throat in an attempt to draw attention to himself. Both Inoue and Akaso turned their heads in surprising unison to look at him, letting go of eachother's hands in the process.
799
800“Well I'm glad to see you two aren't tryin' to build some sorta pro-wrestling rivalry, but if you wouldn't mind, pinkie over here probably needs fixin' up too. Oh, one more thing. Inoue, couldya take yer stuff and leave? You know my policy surrounding prizes.”
801
802Inoue nodded, and without a word made his way to the locker room. Akaso couldn't help but admire how smoothly integrated all his cybernetics were into the organic base body.
803
804Sig made it a point to wait until the door closed and sealed behind Inoue. 
805
806“Now, normally I'd have ya get in the bioforge, run diagnostics. Fix what I can on the spot and maybe even re-shell ya 'till yer main shell is back in workin' order. Obviously I can't do that, so I'll need ye to sign this waiver right 'ere.” 
807
808He pulled a small, but vintage-looking holoprojector out of his pocket, and threw it to Akaso. It started projecting mid-flight, and he had to shake it a bit before its internal gyroscope stabilized and selected the correct lens orientation. The projection was a contract, stating that the signer is willing to forego post-match shell maintenance.
809
810Akaso signed his name with a finger within the hologram, mentally approving the network authorization request. He threw the holoprojector back to Sig, taking great care not to throw too forcefully.
811
812The old-worlder caught it without even looking at it, and swiftly placed it back where it belonged. Wired reflexes, no surprise there. He took one last toke of that strange cylinder, snuffed the stub out on his arm and threw it in the garbage bin next to his desk.
813
814“Alright. Now, as I mentioned earlier, for yer prize.” 
815
816Sig leaned forward in his seat. His expression and demeanor became serious at the drop of a hat. Akaso couldn't help but pay his full, undivided attention to the old-worlder.
817
818“I'm contractually obligated to give ya a cut of all the donations and betting money that we raked in from yer match. Now, you'll get yer pay -  should already be in yer account in fact. But here's the thing - I've been waitin' for someone like ye to come along for a long time, ever since the Yakuza took over. Watch close and keep quiet, I gotta focus.” 
819
820
821He ripped a poster off the wall above his desk, revealing a piece of smooth metal, its surface covered in etchings of arcane symbols surrounding a central one. It had no meaning in any language on Novahome, yet it conveyed the intention of its creator on a subconscious level to any who saw it. It was a lock, one only its creator could open. A Void Circuit.
822
823“Haven't done this in decades…” Sig muttered to himself.
824
825Akaso knew he shouldn't be surprised that an Old-Worlder had knowledge of the Void Arts, yet he couldn't help but gawk. He didn't know much about these things, but he knew that every Void Circuit had an associated mental pattern that activated it, and that most users of the Void Arts made heavy use of mnemonic devices and autohypnosis to easily summon the correct mindset.
826
827He heard Sig mutter something under his breath in a language he couldn't quite understand, though some words sounded familiar. 
828He felt the surge of Void energy within the old man, its cyan glow flowing out across his right arm like a series of headless snakes, wrapping around his hand and fingers. 
829
830“Open!” He proclaimed in the same strange accent as his mutterings beforehand, pressing his palm against the Void Circuit's gleaming surface.
831
832The energy he summoned from within almost slithered its way into the circuit's etched surface, granting it the very same cyan glow. The gleaming surface opened outwards with a snapping motion, splitting down the middle.
833
834He reached in. Through the room resounded beautiful, sing-song metallic tones as he slowly withdrew an object. Ever so slowly, bit by bit, into view came a magnificent plume of livingmetal, four inches wide and thirty inches long. It was like innumerable metallic, scales resembling those of a mythical dragon, feathering out across its flattened surface, perpetually shifting in form.
835
836Sig was visibly displaying a range of emotions, between nerve-wracked, anticipant, and enamored with the nearly invaluable artifact he held within his hands. Its innumerable damascened surfaces flowered like waves upon a metal sea.
837
838He put his foot on a dust-covered reinforced case that stood under his work desk, the shape of a long cuboid, shoving it along the floor and out into the open air in front of him. Its surface was almost entirely black, with the exception of a polished circle upon one side, into it etched the very same symbol as upon the safe embedded into his wall.
839
840“Open.” He proclaimed, again in that strange accent. A wisp of Void energy slithered out of his arm and into the case. The etchings upon it lit up. The polished circle spun around its own axis, and numerous locking studs pop out of the sides of the case, its lid opening of its own volition to the sound of escaping air.
841
842With a visible sense of reverence for the artifact, Sigmund placed a prized possession within the case. The moment his fingers were out of the way, it snapped shut. One by one, the locking studs slammed back into place, the etched disc spun back into place, and its glow faded away, the energy it took in stored within its confines for all eternity, strengthening the lock - or until its creator sees fit to recall it.
843
844He sat back up, not taking his eyes off the box. He put his foot up against it, hesitating for a moment - and shoved it across the floor towards Akaso. It bumped into his feet. 
845
846“Yer prize. I trust that you know what it is, how to use it, who to use it against. The box will only open with huge amounts o' three different Void energy frequencies. Oh, and 'ere.”
847
848He once more reached into one of the many drawers of his desk, pulling out what looked like a smushed up piece of black polymer fabric, and threw the ball to Akaso. A cloak, the kind that arena fighters wore when they didn't want their backup shell to be seen in public after a match.
849
850An almost sad smile spread across Sigmund's face.
851
852“Try not to prove this old man's delusions wrong.”
853
854THE VOID ITSELF AS A HAMMER
855
856Dash through the cafe, out onto the smog-filled streets of Nova-Tokyo. The rainfall pours down in thick curtains, sliding down his cloak's synthetic fibers. That hooded pair of flaming eyes, those backwards-pointed horns, the secure box within his hands, the sense of urgency in his movements.
857
858He would've drawn all too much attention if he didn't know how to get into the maintenance tunnels. Sure, it was illegal to use them, but what consequences could he suffer? A fine and a reckless self-endangerment record. He'd met exemplar citizens with worse criminal records than his.
859
860Akaso slinked into an alley near to Chrome Dome. He tapped the fifteen-digit code into the ancient keypad that served as the lock to the maintenance tunnel, holding the box under his other arm - what idiot throws out a broken maintenance drone without wiping its memory? 
861
862He dropped into the tunnel, and the trapdoor slid shut behind him. The tunnels ran in the cardinal directions, following the layout of the city, with far smaller auxiliary tunnels branching off, ones big enough for drones, but too small for even particularly small Novahumans. It gave the walls the appearance of being covered in bottomless holes.
863
864He managed to get back to the clinic faster through the tunnels than he got to the Chrome Dome by going above-ground, and the young Novahuman mentally scolded himself for considering using the maintenance tunnels as his main means of travel. This time he just got lucky that he didn't come across any drones, or even worse, actual maintenance personnel.
865
866As he climbed out of the maintenance hatch in a back alley just twenty meters down the street, the rain was slowly beginning to subside. 
867
868Akaso stepped out onto the deserted street, pulling back the hood and allowing the rain to hit his face. The ambient heat of his body, even at rest, caused steam to rise from him. 
869
870He loved the rain. He felt that it was part of the very spirit of his home, along with the smog, the mist, the neon, the fashion. It was… Calming. Serene.
871
872
873
874
875
876
877
878He knew he didn't have the time to just stand there and contemplate, and soon hurried to make his way to the clinic. It was unsurprisingly deserted, given that he hadn't even opened up before he left for the arena that day.
879
880Rainwater trailing across the floor, he rushed through the clinic, into his living quarters, and to the reinforced door that led to the lab. First, pressing his hand against its ID scanner, then, typing in three different eight-digit access codes.
881
882As the door closed and locked behind him, the cloak given to him by Sig was discarded onto the floor, the secure box placed within the Bioforge. 
883
884The bioforge's neural plug clicked into his neck surprisingly easily this time. He stepped into the Bioforge, and activated its shielding to prevent his body heat from damaging anything - it looked like a shimmering bubble of light blue, small sparks jumping between it and surfaces outside the bioforge.
885
886The young Novahuman willed his internal limiters to release. The belt upon his waist slowly glowed to life, flooding his system with a progressively intensifying flow of Void energy. 
887
888“Clock On!”
889
890Sparks of crimson crackled across his skin, his power conduits became visible, resembling a mixture of circuitry and runic symbols. His core spun up, and his body temperature begun rising. At first, barely above the boiling point of water. Within a few seconds, his skin was hot enough to melt lead. 
891
892“Clock Up!”
893
894Burned-out nanites started dropping to the floor, tiny black grains. He willed the bioforge to begin producing nanites and supplying them through the neural plug's auxiliary ports. His body temperature was rising even further, beyond the melting point of aluminum, then brass, steel, then sand. 
895
896Out of the Bioforge's many ports, three thick cables slithered like snakes, outfitted with high-quality power conduits, capable of shouldering immense power output - far beyond what even Akaso could, but also far too bulky to ever be used within his body. 
897
898Akaso felt… Excited. Anxious. Alive.
899
900What looked like localized crimson lightning roared all around him, his matte-black form almost resembling a tesla coil. He aimed the three cable-tendrils at the locking disc of Sigmund's box. Three more cables, their tips resembling much bulkier versions of the neural plug's complex interface, slithered out of the bioforge and plugged into Akaso's back.
901
902The sheer amount of energy flowing through these tendrils of technology could be seen with the naked eye, as even their surface glowed and crackled with the very same sparks that covered their user.
903
904It was nearly instant - between the moment Akaso willed much of his power output to be routed into the cables and the moment three continuous geysers of strange, plasma-like energy erupted from the tips the three tendrils, a scant few milliseconds passed.
905
906But to him, it was like an eternity. Every minute variable had to be accounted for. Stability, polarity, the meticulous counteracting of burnout with the correct number of nanites at the correct time. 
907
908The geysers struck the disc, and it absorbed them as if it was nothing. The energy didn't simply collide and disperse of condense, it was wholly absorbed by the ancient rune. But it wasn't opening.
909
910And so, Akaso did what he expected he'd have to do - he started cycling the polarity and stability of each tendril's output. It'd massively shorten the lifespan of the components, but buying replacement parts wasn't an issue. 
911
912Over the course of minutes and hours, he burned away at his own body and the precious components within his equipment. Burned-out nanites piling up around him, he discovered the correct frequencies, one after the other, one stranger than the last.
913
914The kind of frequencies only used in highly specialized, archaic livingmetal forging techniques. Ones devised for the forging of livingmetal strains that only existed in sufficient quantities early on after the first Novahumans stepped foot on the “new world”.
915
916Nearly four hours later, Akaso was standing knee-high in a pile of his own burned out nanites. The etchings upon Sigmund's box were glowing a bright red, and the circle was slowly turning.
917
918One of the tendrils burst, sending its primary lens flying. Akaso's body caught it in the right hand without him even consciously focusing on it. Six power conduits branched off from the primary infrastructure within his right arm, pushed their way out through his exoskeleton, and connected to the lens, quite literally growing a connection between their crystal and the lens.
919
920The very same amount of the very same frequency of Void energy that the burst tendril was broadcasting flowed through his body and into the lens.
921
922Before the locking circle could turn back more than two degrees, the third stream was re-established, and the unlocking sequence continued. It took another seventy minutes. Akaso expected the box to open, but it didn't.
923
924It burst at the seams - five of its plates flew apart with surprising force - one bounced off Akaso's legs, while the other four were stopped dead by the bioforge's containment shielding. The visible shockwave was a sufficient sign of success to Akaso, and he stopped channeling. His limiters re-engaged, primary core spun down to its minimum power output, body temperature slowly started dropping.
925
926Where one expected a piece of invaluable damascened metal, feathered and gleaming, there lay a magnificent blade - more a cleaver than a sword, its structure entwined by innumerable crystalline veins down to the molecular level. Completely plain and without decoration, yet beautiful in its simplicity.
927
928Even laying there, it seemed to emit a barely audible hum, as if calling out. A newborn.
929
930Four thick cables released, their tips glowing so brightly they almost looked white. They thumped against the bioforge's floor. 
931
932One step forward, and the pile of black sand he'd been standing in parted. 
933
934Two steps, and the stress of the last several hours began showing. His exoskeleton, cracking and crumbling at the joints, exposing the tightly-wound synthetic musculature that moved his body. Thick crystalline cables seemed to snake within every tiny gap, serving as both the vascular and endoskeletal structure of Kuroha's body.
935
936Three steps, and the Unbroken One fell to her knees.
937
938She reached out. Arcs of crimson jumped between her fingers and the living weapon before her. 
939
940A song of living steel resounded as her black fingers wrapped around its handle. The cleaver shifted before her very eyes, adopting a more concrete shape, one that looked like something was missing. Akaso could feel the blade was designed to be wielded as an amplifier for the light of the Void, yet had no way to funnel her own power into it… Ninety-three. 
941
942The notches in the blade perfectly matched the Type-3's energy relay module. The blade had knowledge, had agency. 
943
944Within its sing-song tones, Kuroha perceived a desire. A desire to be made a tempering conduit for the light that raged within her.
945
946Ninety-Five.
947
948It received, and Nova-Tokyo was never the same.
949
950Chapter Two: Remnants of the Old World (Cast Aside)
951
952HUNTER - HUNTED: PRELUDE
953
954“You want a contract for all of 'em?”
955
956“All of 'em.”
957
958“And you're willing to entirely forego payment?”
959
960“That's right.”
961
962Quinton sighed heavily, closing his eyes as he held the bridge of his nose. On one hand, if the kid fucked up and got killed, or even worse, got caught, the Yakuza would raise hell. Normally he only issued contracts vetoed by the mafia's higher-ups, contracts for loose ends and members who'd fallen out of favor.
963
964But this kid, barely even twenty cycles, came asking for a sanctioned permit. Sanctioned permits existed only for one purpose - so independent bounty hunters could seek out wanted individuals who didn't have an active contract - usually because they were a cold case, or the bureau just didn't have the cash to fund a big enough team traditionally.
965
966But with a permit, he could allow a bounty hunter to do way more than just incapacitate and detain the target. Oh, so much more. If you got a permit, it was all on you. No help from the bureau, no state-sanctioned pay, no free bodily reconstruction insurance.
967
968No restriction on what you could confiscate from the target.
969
970She had a history of near-suicidal confidence in her own abilities, that much was true - she almost killed herself in her most recent contract. On the other hand, she almost killed herself destroying a greater subdimensional in a single attack.
971
972There was also the fact she utterly humiliated a Yakuza in an arena match, breaking his years-long winning streak and completely ruining his primary shell in the process. Sure, Inoue was one of the most sportsmanlike fighters Quinton knew, but his mobster butt buddies wouldn't just let her get away with something like that.
973
974The Yakuza would inevitably come for her, and Quinton had an inkling that she knew. 
975
976“Oi, are you listening to me?”
977
978His train of thought derailed, the Second-gen blinked a few times to stop himself from zoning out again.
979
980“Oh yes yes, where were we? Your sanctioned permit, correct?”
981
982She nodded, not breaking eye contact. By the Void, those eyes. It felt like she was staring straight into his soul. On a more heavily modified person it didn't look nearly as unsettling, but when someone who looks like they might as well be unmodified doesn't blink… It just looks wrong. For crying out loud, she didn't even breathe!
983
984Quinton shifted in his seat, reluctantly typing in several ten-digit codes. Some to initiate the filing process, another to request a sanctioned permit, and several more to access Akaso's System ID and associate it with the permit.
985
986Alpha-Omicron. She's an Alpha-Omicron. In the spur of the moment he tried accessing further details, only for the the system to lock him out of her ID. What the fuck did this kid discover?
987Quinton was always honest with himself - and to be honest, he didn't particularly believe that someone with less total life experience than he had in mongolian throat singing alone could single-handedly dismantle the Yakuza presence in Nova-Tokyo, alone, without any backup, just because her body was overspecialized enough to classify as an Alpha-Omicron in one or two aspects.
988
989Sure, maybe she had some extra fancy one-shot one-kill weapon that could destroy multiple buildings, but knowing what he did, Quinon was not fond of gimmicks like that. Too bulky, too demanding, too dangerous to the user.
990
991As far as he was concerned, Alpha-Omicrons were either youngsters with stars in their eyes and not enough common sense, or delusional Old-Worlders, First-Gens, and even Second-Gens trying to make a modern shell stand up to standards set by ones made in the First Bioforge.
992
993As far as he was concerned, he had an alibi. If she got caught, he could claim he expected her to get caught. If she did some damage, he could shift the blame onto the lower echelons of the gang for being incompetent.
994
995“The request's processing, give it a minute.”
996
997No verbal response, only a slight nod. As far as he was concerned, there was no way this could go wrong for him. Either the Yakuza get wiped out, or the Yakuza get their hands on some shiny new tech and think they have him to thank for it. More importantly, he didn't really have a choice in the matter - there was no objective reason for refusing her the permit, and he'd never hear the end of it if he turned away a proven professional for being too young.
998
999He couldn't help but follow the visual cues that signified each step of the approval process being completed on his one-way holoscreen, and he couldn't help but shudder on the inside a little bit when, the very moment he got confirmation of the permit's approval, Akaso's eyes briefly pulsed in brightness, only for her to just get up and leave.
1000
1001Whatever happened, it was in her hands now.
1002
1003HUNTER - HUNTED: The Interrogation
1004
1005[Stardate:  4524; Oct. 7th; 18:27]
1006[Suspect Physical Description: 183cm; Born Male; Original Shell; Sixteen(16) Gamma-Class Modifications; Four(4) Beta-Class Modifications; Light Shell Damage incl. the forceful removal of the left index finger and three(3) spots where it appears some sort of directed explosive ripped a chunk out of the suspect's protective plating.]
1007[Suspect Criminal Record: Six(6) Counts of Grand Larceny; Fourteen(14) Counts of Petit Larceny; Nine(9) Counts of Blackmail and Extortion, Three(3) Counts of Wanton Shell Destruction; Two(2) Counts of Resisting Arrest.]
1008[Interrogator Notes: Suspect was released from rehabilitation shortly before “The Incident”, and if he's telling the truth, Kuroha did the guy a favor. Suspect has agreed to voluntarily undergo a mind-scan under the condition that he be placed into protective custody and relocated to a place of residence no less than a thousand (1000) kilometers from the site of the incident. His requests were agreed upon, under the condition that he give a vocal account of the events for record-keeping purposes. It was explained that mind-scans can't be legally recorded under the Mental Privacy Act of Thirty-Six Fifty-Nine (3659), and the suspect agreed to do so. The following is a transcript of the session.]
1009
1010The interrogator walks into the room, carrying two 0.3L cups of pumpkin-flavored Gamma-class StimMix. He places one cup within reach of the suspect, then sits down opposite of him. Suspect almost immediately reaches for the StimMix and takes a sip, suggesting a level of trust in law enforcement officials despite his criminal past.
1011
1012Interrogator: “This is officer [OFFICER PERSONAL DATA REDACTED] of the Nova-Tokyo police bureau, district six, interpersonal relations department, interrogating suspect…
1013
1014The interrogator looks at the suspect, nonverbally prompting them to provide a name.
1015
1016Suspect: “M-my name is Ryoma. Sugimoto Ryoma.”
1017
1018Interrogator: “Very well, Mr. Ryoma. Now, I'm going to ask you a few questions. Answer truthfully and go as in-depth as possible. What exactly happened during the events that transpired on the fourth of October this year?”
1019
1020Suspect: “By the Void, it… It came for them from the drone tunnels! Slaughtered them like animals… I saw it pull out my boss's CCU and swallow it like a piece of meat!”
1021
1022Suspect enters a state of panic attack and begins hyperventilating. Secondary oxygen intake implants mitigate the episode, but not enough to avert oxygen deprivation. Implants either sub-standard or damaged during incident, likely both.
1023
1024Interrogator: “Calm down, you're safe here. Take another sip of your drink. Alright, now take a deep breath, and slowly exhale. Good. Now tell me, what did this thing look like? You don't have to speak if you don't want to right now, we've got all day.”
1025
1026Suspect nods, and remains quiet for one(1) minute and thirty-six(36) seconds.
1027
1028Suspect places hands on table and leans over it, likely attempting to close the distance between themselves and the Interrogator.
1029
1030Suspect: “You already know I am - I was - part of the Yakuza. Didn't have a choice, y'know. Made a few bad choices and just like that, they owned me. Didn't have enough dirt on 'em to get into witness protection, didn't have enough clout with 'em to get a good position.”
1031Suspect develops a facial twitch beneath the left (cybernetic; fully synthetic) eye. Suspect mentally requests permission from the network to activate ocular hologram projector, permission granted.
1032
1033Suspect sits back in chair, left eye begins projecting memory recording. Scans show no direct transference, suspect likely consciously recorded the events using the eye.
1034
1035Projection displays a first-person view from a sitting position, right arm (Cybernetic; Beta-class Plascannon; Enhanced Synthfiber Musculature; Reinforced Plasteel Plating; Custom Cryst-Acrylic Decals; Otherwise Stock Type-1) non-visible,  likely temporarily removed.
1036
1037Left arm visible; affixed to table via fabric strap. Index finger missing, stump bleeding profusely, standard flashfab utility knife stabbed into table. Several individuals recognizable as wanted Yakuza members are visible within suspect’s field of vision. Suspect’s surroundings perfectly match the design of a maintenance tunnel junction - 10x10x10m room with four human-size tunnels splitting off in cardinal directions, and several dozen drone-size tunnels covering the walls.
1038
1039The full audio transcript of this projection is available in the form of an attachment for this transcript. What was stated over the course of its duration suggests suspect had transgressed and the forcible removal of a digit symbolized that he'd been punished in accordance with the Yakuza's honor system. Names and other data associated with wanted Yakuza members are available in the appropriate registry, please input your copy of this transcript into the system if you wish to access their files.
1040
1041After the projection ended, suspect requested to be given privacy and a meal. Request was granted.
1042
1043HUNTER - HUNTED: In the Thick of It
1044
1045His head was thumping, the pain of his unceremoniously chopped-off finger nipping at his mind like an obnoxious advert. He couldn't even feel his right arm, and when he turned his head to look, sure enough, they'd taken it off, just left it laying there on the table. At least the mount wasn't damaged.
1046
1047As far as he could tell, they hadn't done anything beyond chopping off a finger… Then again, they'd probably do some truly fucked up shit if he actually got the finger replaced. Yakuzas were real pissy about their traditions like that.
1048
1049As far as he could tell the suited dickheads in front of him were pissed about something, but he couldn't quite make out what they were saying. It was like some sort of white noise clouding his perception. The most he could make out was one of them yelling about how they gave him too much of something so now they'd have to wait for it to wear off.
1050
1051He'd almost drifted off back into unconsciousness when something snapped him back to awareness. A faint sense of… Wrong. Even through his half-drugged stupor he could tell that the Yakuzas were feeling it too, by how fidgety they seemed.
1052
1053A distant sound. A sickening crunch, followed by shuffling. One of the gangsters got out of his chair, presuming it to be one of the bizarre creatures native to Novahome that sometimes found their way into the maintenance tunnels. He might've believed it, if he didn't see what came next.
1054
1055Out of one of the drone-sized maintenance tunnels slithered a matte-black, contorted humanoid, joints bending every which way and body stretching in every painful manner imaginable. First the arms, then the head, torso, and lastly legs.
1056
1057Without so much as a noise, the figure's seemingly half-limp body solidified, joints popping into place as its feminine form rose. He couldn't keep it in focus for any extended period of time, the color of its skin blending into the darkness of his surroundings nearly perfectly.
1058
1059The only thing his eyes could reliably make out in the darkness was a pair of embers for eyes, and the trail of black ichor that the figure left behind.
1060
1061Its right arm seemed to melt as the figure approached the Yakuza still watching over him. It instantaneously snapped into the shape of a blade, accompanied by a resonant, metallic noise as it was swung. 
1062
1063The mobster's head whipped around… And fell to the floor. The figure's left arm plunged itself into his stump neck, reaching for his unconventionally-placed Consciousness Containment Unit as if it knew exactly where to look. 
1064
1065It gripped the iridescent object in its palm, and a grin of pure white, razor-sharp teeth spread across its barely-visible face. Its mouth seemed to open far wider than what any human should be capable of, as if its jaw didn't even hinge upon an endoskeletal joint.
1066
1067Gulp.
1068
1069It swallowed the first mobster's CCU… And its gaze shifted towards Ryoma. Those flaming embers it had for eyes drifted to his restraints, to the empty mount of his right arm, and to his arm itself.
1070
1071Ryoma couldn't quite tell, but he thought he saw the creature smile. Not grin, but smile. It walked over to him, and raised its blade-arm. He closed his eyes.
1072
1073That resonant noise again, the clang of metal on concrete. Again, and again. The pain of blood returning to his limbs. First in his arm, then in his legs.
1074
1075When he opened his eyes, the black figure was gone, and he could hear screaming echo through the tunnels.
1076
1077HUNTER - HUNTED: Aftermath
1078
1079At the top of one of  Nova-Tokyo's skyscrapers, within a lavishly decorated office, there are two men. Former friends. One, an immensely successful businessman, old enough to remember the Old World. The other, a former champion of Novahome's most well-renowned battle arenas, fallen on dire straits. Desperate enough to get in league with the Yakuza, just for another shot at regaining his former glory.
1080
1081“So what you're telling me here is that some chucklefuck upstart from the undercity just waltzed into one of our maintenance outposts and purged the fucking place-” 
1082
1083He snapped his fingers.
1084
1085”-just like that?”
1086
1087He didn't think he'd seen the boss this angry in… Well, ever. He'd need to weigh his next words very carefully, especially since this was his only workable shell at the moment.
1088
1089“As far as we're aware, yes. It seems the intruder somehow gained access to the drone tunnels and...”
1090
1091“...And what, huh? And just squeezed through them, somehow magically placating the drones and avoiding all the alarms?!”
1092
1093Inoue didn't even need to respond. The look on his face, his posture, the simple fact that he even dared to insinuate such a thing, it was all proof enough. That, plus the security footage that had been sent just moments prior, and arrived in that very moment. 
1094
1095A cheerful “ping” tore Igarashi's face away from staring him into the sofa. He stomped over to his terminal and opened the file. Mere seconds into watching the footage he went from angry to absolutely livid. Inoue could see a corner of the old-worlder's mouth twitching, a quirk of his psyche which seemed to carry over in some form no matter what shell he was in. 
1096
1097Inoue saw the footage himself - there was no doubt about the intruder's identity. He knew it was Kuroha - more importantly, he knew it was the same youngster that destroyed his combat shell back in that arena. 
1098
1099He knew, and he chose to stay silent. 
1100
1101He chose to instead weather the barrage of expletives that was coming his way. 
1102
1103He had neither the clout, nor the firepower to bring down the man-creature his old friend had become. 
1104
1105Perhaps Kuroha did.
1106_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
1107
1108“H-how many CCUs did you retrieve again?”
1109
1110”Thirty-four. I also secured and tagged a sizeable haul of bootleg biomods for retrieval, plus several gigabytes of internal communications - not as encrypted as they should be, might I add - and rescued some lower-ranking thug with no major record they had strapped up to a table. I'd prefer a physical credit chit, network's been acting up lately.”
1111
1112Quinton couldn't help but stare at the secure container of iridescent crystals laid on his table, containing everything from little green-blue orbs, reddish pink ovals, even some with tiny specks of orange. None were bigger than an inch and a half in diameter, which was usually the minimal CCU size for active users of the Void Arts.
1113
1114He looked back towards the younger Novahuman, almost tempted to tell her to wipe that self-satisfied smirk off her face. A sigh escaped his lips. He reached under his desk, swiped his hand against a hidden ID scanner. A small holoprojector revealed itself from the tabletop, projecting a simple holographic interface.
1115 
1116Quinton tapped in several obscenely long codes, scanned his ID once more, and placed a blank credit chit against the ID scanner. 
1117
1118An almost innocent smile spread across Akaso's face when he handed the chit over. It wasn't that much - a few hundred thousand, tops. The chit didn't even contain any credits, instead it held the bounty data and the recipient, and only once redeemed would it be legally considered taxable income. She was considered the seller, the bureau the buyer, and the convicts the goods. It would've been considered human trafficking anywhere else, but in this one specific case, it was legally allowed so that bounty hunters working on sanctioned permit could still get a payout on any CCUs they collected. Of course, the appropriate cost would be docked from her pay for every CCU belonging to an innocent person.
1119
1120Still, it was a good payout for someone so young. A decent jumping off point for her to start accruing more funds, reaching out to new contacts, obtaining influence and footing, just as so many young Novahumans once did. It was also a good chunk out of his personal account - the CCUs wouldn't go to the bureau. They'd be going straight back to one of Soh's compounds for re-shelling.
1121
1122He honestly hadn't expected her to fulfill the bounty. 
1123
1124“Give me another one.”
1125
1126Wait, what?
1127
1128“Another one?”
1129
1130“Yeah, another one. C'mon Quinton, there's no way those were all the known Yakuzas in the city. This pays well, it's not that hard, and I'm a small enough fish that I could seriously hurt their command structure, maybe even topple it.”
1131
1132Suddenly, the jovial tone drained out of her voice, and she stared at Quinton so intensely he could've sword she was performing a deep-scan on him.
1133
1134“C'mon. You've got contracts on way bigger fish than some local mafioso just hanging out in the open, what's the hangup? You've got a government-issued Alpha-grade Void Field generator and no less than three trained mercs constantly covering your ass - good work fellas, by the way - it's not as if your life is at risk here.”
1135
1136Oh, if only she knew. His life wasn't in immediate danger, sure, but unlike the big far-off warlords, he had the Yakuzas breathing down his neck - his bodyguards all had ties Yakuza, and even though they would never kill him, they WOULD kill off a meddlesome young upstart, even if it meant their shells were catastrophically damaged in the process - they were remotely piloted combat proxies, after all. Thankfully, they couldn't actually do anything while he was in his office - thanks to security concerns surrounding situations exactly such as this, they had no way to see, hear, or sense in any way shape or form what was going on inside until he broadcast a heavily encoded signal, be it distress or otherwise. They could easily fake a disruption in the thought-stream and get off on saying their shell got hijacked. Hell, he would probably lose a finger even if he brought the CCUs straight back to Soh after this.
1137
1138“Akaso, I-”
1139
1140She sighed. Oh no. 
1141
1142“Alright then. If you don't give me any tips, I guess I'll just have to do my own detective work.”
1143
1144Fuck Soh. What's a finger or two? If she does topple the Yakuza, he'll just get them replaced anyway. He was too damn old to let some corporate piece of shit parade him around.
1145
1146“No, listen. Sit down. I do have a lead.”
1147
1148She listened. Oh, thank the Void, she listened. 
1149
1150“I'm listening.”
1151
1152“It's… Look. You won't do any damage trying to pick them off from the lower levels up. The paper trail's too well covered for that. The mafia's separated into lots of smaller cells, but cut off the head and the whole thing comes tumbling down.”
1153
1154“...So you've got a lead on one of the higher ups?”
1155
1156He nodded.
1157
1158“Not just any higher-up, but the whole reason this mess started in the first place. There's this businessman, Igarashi Soh. He's an ultra-traditionalist Old-Worlder. Obsessed with the Old World. Don't get me wrong, he's as wealthy as he is for a very good reason, guy's a genius.”
1159
1160“He's the only reason the operation hasn't fallen apart years ago - take him out of the game and they'll start turning on each other the moment the news spread and the Yakuza collapses like dominoes.”
1161
1162“If you can get to him, you can get to his dirt. Get to his dirt, you can get his CCU sealed and shelved for a very long time, plus seize pretty much everything he owns as underlined in your sanctioned permit.”
1163
1164She went quiet for a solid minute before responding. Probably didn't expect the filth to run that high, Quinton thought to himself. Akaso simply nodded and moved to get out of the seat, but Quinton stopped her before she could leave. There was…
1165
1166“...One more thing. My bodyguards are under Soh's thumb. Two of 'em are Betas, one is an Alpha. The moment you leave, I'll give them info on what path you're taking and they'll try to take you out in a secluded spot. Can you deal with 'em in the maintenance tunnels?”
1167
1168She nodded once more, and just up and left. Just like that. Quinton had felt a sort of coldness enter her being the moment he mentioned Soh, as if she entered a single-minded trance the moment she was given a clear objective.
1169
1170Quinton sunk into his seat, willed his cortical implants to connect to the local network. 
1171
1172“I gave her a false trail. She's going through the maintenance tunnels again.”, he transmitted to his bodyguards.
1173
1174A sigh of relief escaped his lips as the mercenary trio departed from their posts.
1175
1176HUNTER - HUNTED: Cat and Mice
1177
1178Once more into a side-alley, into the maintenance tunnels. The pitter-patter of her bare feet, accompanied by crystalline tones as she focused the energies of the Void into her hands, meticulously forming crystalline stakes. She left behind a trail of dry spots on the tunnel's perpetually damp floor, her body temperature having risen high enough to evaporate small quantities of water with a touch.
1179
1180She finally came upon an intersection, rushing into the chamber and embedding the six needles she'd managed to form just past the entrance, out of sight.  If her memory of the layout was correct, this was the only vector of approach Soh's lackeys could reasonably use to chase after her.
1181
1182Excitement filled her as the power of the Great Empty coursed through her body, almost a sort of adrenaline-like body high. She knew of its intoxicating properties, heard the tales of particularly skilled mercenaries purchasing implants specifically designed to throttle these reactions, but she hadn't truly known what it was like until now. Another stake. And another. And another. Soon enough her sensors picked up the electromagnetic signatures of her pursuers, and Akaso begun reducing her body's power output as low as possible, only to break into a sprint… And stop when she was certain her heat signature is gone. 
1183
1184Instead of running and trusting her crystalline claymore trap to deal with Soh's lackeys, she put her arm into one of the many little holes lining the wall. Then, the other. Her exoskeleton twisted, compressed, contorted itself as she pushed through the opening, even her energy conduits realigning to fit. Once inside, she further realigned her body so she could see into the intersection. At this point, as long as the Dimensional Coupler within her chest could fit through an opening, so could Akaso.
1185
1186From within her hidey hole she watched, a pair of embers in a dark hole.
1187_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
1188
1189“She's masking her heat signature, looks like she's trying to cover the trail.”
1190
1191“Affirmative. We'll set up a CCU tracker at the next intersection.”
1192
1193All systems nominal. Weapons ready. Alpha-1 felt good about this. His new body was faster, stronger, tougher than anything he'd used before. It was a huge gamble on Soh's part to do that kind of thing for him, and he didn't want to disappo- 
1194
1195He crossed the threshold of the intersection chamber. A high-pitched resonant ringing sounded for a split-second. A flood of Void Energy overwhelmed his sensors, and before he knew it, hundreds of crystalline shards had ripped his Shell into several pieces. 
1196
1197In particular, his head was stuck through with an especially large shard, yet still functional. He could even see out of one eye. He could see her.
1198
1199Those two little embers for eyes. The matte-black exoskeleton. The horrific contortion of her shell to fit into a drone shaft. 
1200
1201He wanted to call out to warn his comrades, but found his comms transmitter jammed. They probably thought it was a one-shot trap and it was safe to enter. But even his voicebox had gone mute, its circuitry shredded by jagged crystal.
1202
1203Beta-1 and Beta-2 walked into the chamber exactly as procedure dictated - they were sure no hostiles were present. After all, there was a trail of residual Void energy leading out of the chamber and past the corner, and no signatures beyond their own in the immediate vicinity.
1204
1205Beta-2 ran over to Alpha-1's mangled body, while Beta-1 stood watch.
1206
1207“Don't worry, I have body repair training and plenty of spare parts. You'll be back at full functionality in no time.”
1208
1209Beta-1 thought he saw something move in the corner. He decided it was just the shadows playing tricks on him.
1210
1211Beta-2 methodically performed scans of Alpha-1's systems, using his cognition enhancement implants to automatically compare them to his body's template, assess the damage, and determine the ideal course of action.
1212
1213The wild, panicked flicking of Alpha-1's eyes led him to believe that he had suffered some sort of mental shock, and that it'd be best if his fight-or-flight response was disabled temporarily, at least until they completed the mission. It was tremendously illegal to do such a thing, but they weren't exactly government-sanctioned operatives. Their vitals weren't being recorded or transmitted for post-mission analysis.
1214
1215A crystalline ringing sounded through the chamber, from the corner where Beta-1 saw something. A surge of Void energy. A pair of crimson needles, as long and half as thick as fingers, moving just barely faster than sound.
1216
1217Faster than either of the Beta-class mercs could perceive. Slow enough that Alpha-1 could see in excruciating detail the many-edged pieces of arcane crystal entering the heads of his closest allies. Destabilizing within. Painting the walls purple with a mixture of their synthetic blood and brains, the shockwaves lodging pieces of polymer and metal in the ancient stone.
1218
1219Alpha-1 could do nothing more than watch as that thing slithered out of a hole in the wall meant for a drone, horrific popping and squelching noises echoing all around as her body shaped itself into a human likeness. She was like an octopus. It was as though if the solid parts could fit into an opening, so could the rest of her body.
1220
1221He expected her to gloat. To laugh maniacally. To rip the remainders of his body apart piece by piece, even to simply put a neural bolt into his head, to torture him. It wasn't out of fear or panic, merely a reality of life within his field - there weren't many people simultaneously brilliant enough and sufficiently lacking in restraint to use technology so bleeding-edge, so experimental, that it information about it wasn't even accessible in official government archives.
1222
1223Those that had all those things were often… Not quite mentally stable. Most often as a result of existing predispositions towards such demeanors and the mental effects of experimental body modifications.
1224
1225She walked towards him, and each step felt like an eternity. Her still-reforming body left behind a trail of 
1226black, ichorous fluid on the ground. 
1227
1228With each step, the water around her feet evaporated, the black ichor slithering up her legs and somehow melding back into her body through her skin.
1229
1230As she came closer to him, he began to notice a psychotic grin forming upon her face. Getting wider and wider with each step, her numerous, uncomfortably pointy teeth glistening in the baleful orange light that seemed to shine from somewhere within her throat.
1231
1232She lunged towards him. He was ready to die. Her hand smashed into the wall besides his head, and he could feel a tangible pressure radiating from her. Not just in the form of the heat which resulted from her body's extreme power output, but also something different. 
1233
1234It was like the barely-restrained growling of a savage beast, as though she had locked away some incredible source of Void energy within herself, chained and shackled it in limiters and adaptive power management systems, yet it wasn't quite enough. Even now, burned-out nanites would occasionally drop away from her exoskeleton. They were replaced instantaneously, but this clearly wasn't an intended function. 
1235
1236It was as though her body was using its unique construction to compensate for a source of Void energy tremendous enough to instantly overwhelm any normal user of the Void Arts, to turn any normal Novahuman into little more than shiny, crystal sand.
1237
1238Her eyes stared into his, the two baleful embers felt as though they were burning a hole in his very being. As though she was looking into him, not at him.
1239
1240He saw her left hand approaching him.
1241
1242Black fingers wrapped around his head. 
1243
1244Pulled it off the crystal shard affixing it to the wall. 
1245
1246Crushed it into scrap metal, like an empty can.
1247
1248She plunged the fingers of her right hand into the remains.
1249
1250Ripped from within a small round blue gemstone, roughly the size of a ping-pong ball. 
1251
1252It wasn't entirely opaque.
1253
1254Alpha-1's Consciousness Containment Unit. Anemic and underdeveloped for how powerful his body was. 
1255
1256She swallowed it.
1257
1258He was probably even younger than her.
1259
1260She extracted and swallowed two more CCUs - both slightly larger than a ping-pong ball, and both a strong blue in color. 
1261
1262Fully developed, completely opaque. If either of these men were given the superior body instead of Alpha-1, there would've been a fight.
1263
1264The pitter-patter of bare feet echoed through the maintenance tunnels as she made her way to the clinic.
1265
1266
1267HUNTER - HUNTED: Singing Steel
1268
1269EVERYTHING PAST THIS POINT IS STILL BEING WORKED ON OR REWRITTEN ENTIRELY. LARGE PORTIONS OF IT ARE OUTDATED OR EVEN ENTIRELY NONCANON.
1270
1271Thus began the work on the Overlord Driver to help tame the power of the D-Coupler, and alongside it the Biogel project to afford him a semblance of normalcy. There is not much to say here, the project was largely successful.
1272
1273Over the course of several years, the Akaso Industries Headquarters would be proverbially scuttled and all hardware moved to a new site located in the scrap fields on Novahome, the property being dirt-cheap to the point where he bought out almost half of the continent upon which the scrap fields were located, and raw material as well as valuable tech being more than bountiful.
1274
1275Now, Akaso Industries exists in the form of an undisclosed, heavily fortified facility deep in the scrap fields, its existence only proven to the outside world by the massive amount of proxy-shielded network traffic going in and out of the fields.
1276
1277THE FIRST SUBDIMENSIONAL AFTER TWO DECADES
1278
1279After a long twenty-three years, Akaso was alerted to the presence of a growing subdimensional instability - the telltale sign that a Greater Subdimensional has appeared somewhere and is wreaking havoc.
1280
1281He used it as an opportunity to test his newfound abilities,  tracking it down with little to no effort and fought the beast in hand to hand combat. Despite its additional pair of limbs and unfathomable strength for its size, Akaso pushed his then still developing body to its limits and crippled the beast, ruining its joints by bending them backwards. 
1282
1283The still-living, but powerless reality warper was then taken to Akaso Industries HQ, and placed within a containment tank, perpetually being exposed to just enough Void energy that it survived in a state between life and death.
1284
1285Data obtained from the body of this Hyperbeast served as the building blocks upon which the synthetic D-Coupler cores were built, and made way for the development of Type-03.
1286
1287THE TYPE-03 PROJECT: DESIGNATION ALKAHEST
1288
1289Aside from the manufacturing portions required to improve upon the previous design and its performance while separating the core and blade physically, a significant alteration to the Overlord System was discovered during maintenance.
1290
1291It was found that Akaso, in his attempt to take control over the Overlord Driver, had the still-living Hyperbeast Core installed in place of his heart instead of the manufactured duplicate, which was instead placed into the Overlord Driver.
1292
1293This way, the Overlord Driver can not function without Akaso nearby as the link only works over a short distance, while Akaso suffers no negative consequences as he appears to be capable of utilizing the Hyperbeast Core just as easily as a manufactured version.
1294
1295Of course thanks to this, the aggressive evolutionary tendencies of Mechafract have caused him to develop an exceedingly effective Voidlink interface, removing the necessity for creating one from scratch.
1296
1297It was also discovered that the Hyperbeast in question - Alkahest itself, in fact - had overtaken the base programming of his Mechafract, and was the root cause for the existence of Type ZERO.
1298
1299Speaking of which, by this point the original strain had gone extinct as a result of the fact that Akaso is the primary Body Modification Manager firmware update server, and the Hyperbeast strain has caused a significant increase in self-defense cases.
1300
1301The improvements and changes to the functionality of the Overlord Driver that stemmed from the Type-03 Project had rendered Vermillion type One obsolete, granting an end to the era of transformation-reliant heroics.
1302
1303THE TRIUMVIRATE
1304
1305https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Y0KUgUxMfz9ogpDTi4IISrcCksjSyGuxcWX3iO6MmrI/edit?usp=sharing
1306
1307Following the invasion of the Faith and the ensuing usage of the Absolute Decisive Supergigantic Humanoid Weapon for the Preservation of Mankind, otherwise known as Triumvirate, Akaso had an epiphany.
1308
1309He would elect to remain at the landing site of what remained of the combined headquarters of the three largest megacorporations on Novahome, and build a fortress of his own design around it. Its relative vicinity to the continent upon which the Scrap Fields were located made it a popular stopping point for scavenger expeditions, with many using their salaries at Triumvirate to purchase bleeding-edge body mods and try out new and exotic stimulant mixes.
1310
1311Unfortunately, its closeness to the Scrap Fields made Triumvirate a prime target for the Tribal Subdimensionals that lived there. Early on in its life, before a high-powered Void Field perimeter could be erected, Akaso had to personally lead his constructs in defense of the fortress against numerous Composites, who strangely enough summoned angelic and demonic creatures using their reality warping abilities.
1312
1313The Type-3 couldn't keep up with daily overloading by Akaso's newly evolved abilities, and eventually burst at the hilt from stress.
1314
1315The fortress quickly blossomed into a bustling city, breaking record after record in industrial growth and urban development. Presently, Triuvirate is the beating heart of cutting-edge body modification technology, and those that visit it often leave their old bodies behind when they leave.
1316
1317IRONSONG AND ALKAHEST
1318
1319At the heart of the Triumvirate, a great bioforge roars, one of such scale and power so as to single-handedly fuel the titanic god-machine in all-out combat against foes capable of rending the fabric of reality asunder like it's paper.
1320
1321The body of the great weapon now inert, rebuilt to serve as the new headquarters of Akaso Industries - unsurprising, given that the original HQ actually makes up the central core of the god-machine.
1322
1323The Bioforge roars in spite of that, for a gigantic plume of livingmetal is being worked within it. Bombarded by extraomniversal energies of such power, the veil between realspace and the Void seems to no longer exist within the apparatus.
1324
1325The Unbroken One stands before the Bioforge, rough, crystalline Vectors wildly growing from the savage core of her Dimensional Coupler, unceremoniously wrapping like the tentacles of an eldritch deity around the apparatus.
1326
1327Great bursts of focused, meticulously calibrated Dimensional Energy strike the near-perfect plume of livingmetal, the very forces that predate even existence itself forcing the hellish steel into a shape to withstand even forces that would break apart the base laws of physics, into a shape of near endless potential.
1328
1329The Type-03 was manufactured from the best materials money can buy, with the best technology money can build.
1330
1331Ironsong would be forged in the fires of the Void itself, imbued with the same Dimensional Energy that courses through its creator.
1332
1333It would be a shard of the Void itself given form, a living weapon that grows with the power of its wielder, not one that shatters the moment its wielder surpasses it.
1334
1335It would not be alone in serving the Lord of Shards.
1336
1337While Ironsong could handle Akaso's raw power, there was a combined need for a ranged weapon that didn't require the usage of Clock On, but was also able to serve as a powerful conduit for the energy that Clock On could provide.
1338
1339The potential of Livingmetal is endless, and even though unfit to serve as material for Ironsong, a particularly viciously regenerative Plume was perfect to serve as the primary ammo block of a ranged counterpart to Ironsong.
1340
1341Its name would be Alkahest.
1342
1343DIMENSION BREAKER
1344
1345The most prominent evolution resulting from his piloting the Triumvirate would be a full nanite firmware reprogramming. The shattered consciousness of Alkahest that was contained within Akaso's D-Coupler was roused from its dormancy by the threat of its host dying, and inserted a compacted version of itself into the firmware of Akaso's nanites.
1346
1347This resulted in their evolutionary coding to gain the ability to even evolve itself, and quickly started overwriting old systems and failsafes. From creating entirely new power conduits on the fly, to using the Type-3 Belt as an ignition key to access the unrestricted power of his Core D-Coupler.