The city's pulse vibrated beneath Adrian's boots as he moved through the shadowed streets. The early morning light of day break struggled to pierce through a thick haze. The air smelled of wet concrete, garbage, and blood. The metallic tang of blood is now an odor his heightened senses could pick up from blocks away. He could smell it everywhere, as if the city itself were bleeding.
Adrian was still hyped up from the alley fight and the bar brawl. Restlessness seemed to have become a permanent resident inside him. The increased energy had taken root in his body making every sensation sharper and more insistent than before. The nanobots in his blood were agitated and eager for more. More power, more action and more…evolution. His cat eyes caught some movement in a nearby alley. He peered in and scanned his surroundings around taking in everything, not missing any details. He saw the street light was still on like it didn't want to give up the night. He could relate.
He paused for a moment to catch his breath and reorient. The overlay flickered into his mind, unprompted, as he paused. The now somewhat familiar interface shimmered, its data stark against the chaos of his thoughts:
Nanobot Core – Status
Free Nanobots: 3,895
Available Upgrades:
Core Upgrade (Locked; higher thresholds required)
Strength Lvl: 1 Acquired
Speed Lvl: 1 Acquired
Intelligence Lvl: 1 Available
Healing Lvl: 1 Acquired
Senses Lvl: 1 Acquired
Replication Lvl: 1 Available [Description: ???]
His gaze lingered on Intelligence. The animalistic hunger that had consumed him earlier was now replaced with an equally intense hunger for knowledge. He needed to understand. He needed to know. Seeing that word there that promised the clarity he was craving. In a world growing murkier by the hour he needed every advantage he could get.
He now thought of his senses as razor-sharp, his body stronger and faster than any human's had a right to be, but his mind still wrestled with questions that had no answers. The ferals, human once, now twisted into something monstrous, were no accident. He had seen enough, and was jaded from his 23 years to know this was on purpose. Their coordination, their glowing eyes, the nanobots he'd absorbed from their corpses, it all pointed to a larger design. There was a conspiracy lurking beneath the city's skin. He needed to understand it. To see the pattern.
Intelligence upgrade was the key. "Initiate Intelligence upgrade," he commanded silently, his voice steady despite the pulse of anticipation in his chest.
A searing heat bloomed behind his eyes, sharper and more focused than the sensory overload of his previous upgrades. It wasn't the blinding chaos of enhanced senses or the raw power of strength, this was a blade, slicing through the fog of his thoughts. His vision blurred, momentarily the alley walls wavered as if submerged in water. A flood of fragmented data surged through his mind: schematics of chemical compounds, neural pathway networks, fragments of code. His knees buckled and he staggered into a nearby building. Nails scraping against the rough brick as he fought to stay upright. Pain lanced through his skull, white-hot and relentless, as if his brain were being rewired from the inside out. He gritted his teeth, a low growl escaping his throat, and forced himself to breathe through it.
Then quick as that his world was righted again. His thoughts sharper. Connections forming with an understanding that he'd never known. He could see the patterns now where he couldn't before. The ferals' movements and coordination they displayed. The manipulation of the nanobot core. His ability wasn't complete, not yet, but it was like a map unfolding in his mind, revealing paths he hadn't known were there. It was all part of one system, a design, and he was a piece of it, whether he liked it or not.
A new line of text shimmered into view under Replication:
Replication Lvl: 1 Available [Description: Generates 1,000 free nanobots per day, provided sufficient organic and metallic materials are available. Warning: Uncontrolled replication may lead to system instability.]
Adrian's breath caught, his newly sharpened mind racing through the implications. A thousand nanobots a day. The potential was staggering. Power, growth and evolution at a rate that could make him unstoppable. But what about the warning? That places a shadow over his excitement. Uncontrolled replication. The ferals flashed in his mind, their twisted forms and glowing eyes, their bodies driven by nanobots gone rogue. Were they the result of that instability? The thought sent a chill through him, but it was interrupted by a scream.
Sharp and desperate, the sound came from a street nearby. He moved without thinking. His enhanced speed carried him toward the sound in a blur. The city was waking, but the streets were still quite sparse. The scream came again, joined by another, higher-pitched, sounding of pure terror. Adrian pulled on his mask as he rounded a corner into a narrow street lined with shuttered storefronts and overflowing with dumpsters.
Two women were backed against a wall, their faces pale, eyes wide with fear. One clutched a torn purse, the other a phone that trembled in her hand. A feral crouched before them, its body hunched and twitching, blood dripping from its jagged teeth onto the pavement below. Its eyes glowed faintly, fingers splayed like claws ready to strike.
Adrian's pulse spiked, not with fear but with a dark, primal exhilaration. The nanobots thrummed, urging him forward, their hum syncing with the new clarity of his mind. He didn't draw his pistol, his body was the weapon now. His upgraded intelligence was already analyzing the feral's stance, its weight distribution. The subtle twitch of its muscles signaled an imminent attack. "Hey!" he shouted, his voice cutting through the air like a knife. The feral's head snapped toward him, hissing low and guttural, like a cornered animal. The women screamed again, one clutching the other's arm, their backs pressed so hard against the wall that the brick seemed to groan.
The feral lunged at Adrian. Good. Its claws slashed for his face, in a blur of motion he twisted, the air whistling past as the nails grazed his jacket, tearing leather with a sharp rip. His enhanced mind processed the attack, calculating angles and trajectories. He countered with a fist, driving it into the feral's ribs with a crack that echoed through the morning. The creature staggered, wheezing, but it didn't fall. Its glowing eyes narrowed, and Adrian's upgraded intelligence caught the subtle shift in its stance. It was protecting its injured side, adjusting its balance. It's learning, he realized, the thought sending a chill through him. This wasn't just instinct; it was strategy and it was deliberate.
The feral charged again, feinting left before swiping right, aiming for his throat. Adrian's mind, now razor-sharp, saw the feint for what it was. He ducked, his senses tracking the movement as if in slow motion, and grabbed its wrist, twisting hard until bone snapped with a crunch. The feral shrieked and clawed at him with its free hand, nails raking across his forearm. Blood welled, hot and slick, but the pain was fleeting, the nanobots buzzed, knitting the wound closed almost as fast as it opened. Adrian drove his knee into the feral's gut, forcing it to double over, then slammed his elbow down on the back of its skull. The creature collapsed, twitching, but it wasn't done. It surged upward, teeth snapping for his leg in a desperate lunge.
Adrian sidestepped, his movements fluid and precise, and grabbed a rusted pipe from the ground, its surface cold and rough in his grip. He swung it like a bat, the metal connecting with the feral's jaw in a sickening crunch that sent blood and teeth spraying across the pavement. The creature crumpled, its chest heaving trying to catch a breath that it never would. Adrian didn't hesitate. He raised the pipe and brought it down, again and again, until the feral's skull was a shattered ruin, blood pooling beneath it like dark ink in the dim light.
The women gasped, their breaths coming in short, panicked bursts. "Go," Adrian rasped, his voice rough with exertion. "Get somewhere safe. Now!" They nodded, stumbling over each other as they fled, their footsteps echoed down the street and faded into the sounds of the night.
Adrian stood over the feral's corpse, his chest heaving, the nanobots humming with fierce satisfaction. The overlay appeared.
Free Nanobots Detected. Assimilate? [Y/N]
"Yes," he said, his voice steady despite the blood dripping from his hands. Silver mist rose from the feral's body, curling like smoke before rushing into his chest. The jolt of cold lightning surged through him, his muscles tightening as the nanobots integrated, fueling his transformation.
Assimilation complete. Free nanobots gained: 1,087. Total available: 4,982.
Adrian's eyes widened. He was close, so close, to the 5,000 needed for Replication. The thought sent a thrill through him, but it was tempered by the city's growing unrest. As he moved away from the corpse, he noticed the streets weren't as quiet as they had been just an hour ago. Sirens wailed in the distance, more frequent now, their echoes bouncing off the buildings like a warning drumbeat. Shouts and screams carried on the wind. The city was starting to feel the ferals' presence, even if the attacks were still uncommon.
Some storefronts were shuttered, their windows boarded up with plywood scrawled with graffiti: "STAY INSIDE," "THEY'RE COMING," "GOD HELP US." The scent of fear was becoming the city's regular perfume. He slipped into another alley, his mind racing with the new found clarity the Intelligence upgrade had brought. The ferals weren't random, they were part of a larger pattern, a design. And he could almost grasp it.
He was making the connections, figuring out the conspiracy. The nanobots, the ferals, the chaos. It was all connected, and he was at the heart of it somehow, whether by chance or design. His thoughts were sharper now, analyzing every detail: the ferals' coordination, the nanobots' assimilation, the way the city seemed to be holding its breath. He needed more data, more fights, more nanobots to unlock the truth.
The ferals might be out there hunting, but he was hunting too. He thought he heard something…. A low growl rumbled from the shadows ahead. His eyes snapped up, catching the glint of two pairs of glowing eyes. Two ferals, crouched low, their movements synchronized, their gazes locked on him with predatory intent. Adrian's lips curled into a feral grin of his own, his blood singing with anticipation. "Let's dance," he muttered, gripping the pipe tighter.
The nanobots roared in his veins, eager for the fight. The first feral lunged fast, its claws slashing. Adrian's enhanced mind calculated its trajectory instantly, and ducked, swinging the pipe in a brutal arc that caught the feral in the side of its ribs. That sent it crashing into a dumpster with a metallic clang. The second was on him in a blink, its teeth snapping for his throat. He pivoted, driving the pipe upward into its jaw, shattering bone with a wet crunch.
The first feral recovered, charging again, but Adrian was ready. He spun, using its momentum against it, and slammed it into the wall, making a satisfying smack. The creature snarled, its claws raking his shoulder, tearing through leather and flesh. Wherever blood welled the nanobots were fast at work.
The second feral circled, its movements more cautious. Taking the time to study him. Adrian's upgraded intelligence noted the shift, it was adapting, learning from its partner's failure. He didn't give it time to plan. He charged, feinting with the pipe before kicking its knee, the joint collapsing with a snap. The feral howled, falling, and Adrian drove the pipe into its chest, pinning it to the ground. The first feral lunged again, but Adrian was faster, his mind anticipating its move. He sidestepped, grabbing its arm and twisting until it broke, then slammed the pipe into its skull, ending it with a single, brutal blow.
The alley fell silent, save for the sound of his own breath and that of distant sirens. Adrian stood over the two corpses, his chest heaving. The nanobots flowed with a fierce, almost gleeful energy. The overlay flickered again.
Free Nanobots Detected. Assimilate? [Y/N]
"Yes."
The silver mist surged into him, the jolt stronger this time, pushing him over the edge.
Assimilation complete. Free nanobots gained: 2,143. Total available: 7,125.
The Replication threshold has been met. The overlay updated. The upgrade he has been waiting for is now in his grasp.