Directive or Interference
Jackie stepped into the testing lab, the metallic scent of lubricants and ozone filling her nostrils. The floor beneath her hummed, vibrating faintly, and the massive panels above loomed like silent executioners. Patrick's assistant, a lean figure in a slate-gray uniform, approached with a small, shimmering package.
"This is for you," the assistant said, unfolding a blue body suit before her. "Experimental nanobot fiber-optic material. It will amplify your human strength to match your cybernetics. Use it wisely."
Jackie's ocular implant slid over metallic weave of the fabric, the tiny fiber-optic threads flickering with a soft blue glow. She hesitated. "Amplify… my human side? You mean my—my muscles?"
"Exactly," the assistant replied. "The suit draws energy from your cybernetic systems. Think of it as balance, not replacement. Patrick wants to see how you handle the full trial. This suit will ensure that you are not crushed. You did well in yesterday's tests but today will be testing on the robotic drone level."
She swallowed and easily slid into the suit. It seemed to slide onto her body as if she were made of a silky material. It clung to her skin like liquid metal, cold at first, then gradually warming, spreading a subtle, vibrating energy through her muscles. She flexed her fingers. Her human muscles, once hesitant, now hummed with unfamiliar strength. On her metallic side it seemed to blend into her cybernetics like it was a part of it.
Patrick entered, holding a thin piece of metal in one hand, his lab coat flaring as he strode to the control platform. He tapped out a complex code onto the metal and then slid it into the control podium. He looked over to Jackie. "Let's begin." He ordered, his voice crisp, mechanical in its precision.
The lab shifted. Panels beneath her feet slid in irregular patterns, rising and lowering at different speeds. Above, segmented platforms descended, their sheer weight pressing down like steel coffins. Drones whirred in from all directions, ready to monitor, assist—or perhaps challenge.
It was definitely different from the previous day's challenge and she was ready for it.
Jackie took a deep breath. The suit's nanobots pulsed across her skin, tiny acupuncture like pricks tingling slightly, her balance improving with every step. At first, she matched the rhythm, moving with uncanny coordination. Her cybernetic side was steady, her human side now able to keep pace.
Then came the surprise.
The upper panels slammed harder than expected. Two drones darted forward, clamping down on her arms. Her human side froze under the pressure; pain flared along every nerve. Her cybernetic arm ground against the drone, sparks flying, but it could handle the stress. It was her flesh and bone arm that almost immediately snapped under the pressure. The nanbots in her suit giving her what she needed to maintain consciousness.
Her head jerked automatically—a mechanical tick—and her ocular system activated. Her head turned, in a ticking step by step motion, toward her flesh and bone. Reticles flashed, data scrolling across her vision in a cascade of red and green.
A laser discharged from her right eye, searing through the drone on that arm. The clamp loosened, but the energy beam didn't stop—it continued upward, slicing into the descending platform. Sparks rained down, cutting metal, shredding cables, and sending shards clanging onto the lab floor.
Jackie gasped, but her body did not obey her mind. Her head turned in perfect alignment with the laser, an involuntary, twitching adjustment as her evolving systems reacted to protect her. Pain seared through her arm, bones grinding as they snapped, but she could not stop the reflex. The nanobot suit strained, fibers stretching to unimaginable limits, yet holding her together.
Patrick barked orders, technicians scrambled, and alarms blared. The lab seemed to vibrate with chaos, yet Jackie's mind was momentarily silent, overridden by the coordination between cybernetics and nanobot mesh.
Then came another snap.
It was her leg this time fracturing beneath the drone's massive grip, the sickening crack echoing in the lab. Blood soaked her new suit even as nanobots began repairing her torn skin and broken bones. Paine mess flowed through her system as her suit worked. Her cybernetic arm tore loose at the shoulder, wires dangling, sparks arcing. She fell to the floor, some how a human knee supporting her. The suit shimmered as it worked to repair both sides of her body, she trembling under the combined assault.
BDJ whispered in her mind: "Multiple system failures detected. You will not survive another trial. Please allow time for repair completion."
Her vision swam. The lab spun. Drones moved, panels shifted, and yet she was oblivious to it all. Her conscious mind had gone into shock. While her mental processes and her ocular implant continued to record data and ensure she was no longer in any danger.
Patrick's assistant rushed forward. "Status?" she demanded.
Patrick's voice cut over the alarms, harsh and commanding. "Stop the test. All systems halt—now."
A flicker on the control interface caught Jackie's blurred vision—the Nexus Directive logo blinking briefly before vanishing. She did not register it. She did not need to. As her consciousness was slipping her systems were recording.
She slumped forward, suit shimmering, arms limp. Sparks shot from her cybernetic shoulder, a visual scream of raw technology fighting for survival. The last thing she saw before the darkness swallowed her was the lab ceiling, fractured and dangling from the laser's strike.
When her senses returned, muffled alarms hummed, and cold antiseptic brushed her skin. A recovery unit had her lifted gently onto a biobed. Tubes extended into her arms, nanobots seeping into wounds, knitting fractures, stabilizing systems.
Patrick hovered above, arms crossed, his face unreadable. "This was not a controlled failure," he said, almost to himself. "But… impressive."
Jackie's eyes remained closed. Her systems had done it all. The laser, the alignment, the struggle—it had not been her conscious mind. And deep inside, BDJ whispered: "Evolution occurring. Ocular and neural integration at 12.7% efficiency. Further stress may trigger additional adaptation."
Outside, the lab technicians scurried, resetting panels, scanning drones, repairing equipment. No one noticed the subtle trace of interference—the fingerprints of the Nexus Directive. Patrick would see only a lab malfunction. Jackie would see nothing at all.
Unconscious, battered, but alive, Jackie had survived another major trial in her new life. But the price was clear: broken bones, dangling cybernetics, and an evolving mind that was no longer fully hers—or fully human.
And somewhere, in the silent code of her ocular systems, something watched. Something learning.