I awoke with a start, jumping straight from unconsciousness to full awareness without the usual groggy intermediary step I was used to. I could make out the roof of my cabin with extreme, frightening detail: every rivet, scratch, and imperfection.

  The last time I’d undergone a bionic upgrade, I’d woken up a little sore; this time absolutely everything hurt. No, it wasn’t just that it hurt; it was that I was keenly aware of every part of my body. I could even feel my hair, which I found a little disconcerting.

  “Nyx, how long was I out?” I croaked as I slowly levered myself into a seated position. It took much longer than I expected and my muscles felt like jello right now.

  The initial installation process took twenty-four hours, seventeen minutes, and eleven seconds to complete. Since the process was done in several stages, it’ll take several hours for your systems to sync up and stabilize.

  “Why didn’t I suffer these side effects the last time I upgraded?” I muttered. My lips felt rubbery, and I slurred my words slightly, but I’m sure Nyx got most of what I was saying.

  The Class I bionic upgrades focus on augmenting and improving your existing systems, while the Class II begins the process of replacing the more… inefficient parts of anatomy. It’s a much more intensive change.

  Fingers trembling, I reached up and feebly grasped at the heavy metal and glass device that was strapped tightly to my arm. When I’d attached it, there had been twenty different vials filled with different anesthetics to keep me asleep during the process, bionic reconfiguration serums to perform the change, nutritional supplements and system boosters to keep me stable, and finally a stimulant to wake me when it was over. The injector had an array of electronics, which had allowed Nyx to both monitor my status and remotely trigger the injections to optimize my transformation. The device could have been set up to handle the process automatically, but that would have taken several more hours, and I really didn’t want to waste that much time.

  It took me a couple seconds to finally undo the clasp and carefully maneuver the device to withdraw the array of needles from my skin. Once it was out, I casually chucked it towards the desk on the other side of my room, ricocheting it off the wall before having it slide to a stop in the middle of my desk. Exactly where I wanted it.

  Despite the perfect throw, something felt odd. I glanced down in confusion, the color of my skin seemed off, and when I slowly ran my fingers over it my fingers dug into a thin layer of grease.

  “Nyx, what the fuck is this?” I grumbled. I was already gaining both feeling and better control of my lips, so I didn’t slur this time.

  It’s a collection of various amino acids, fats, and toxins that were purged from your system during the upgrade. They needed to be removed from your body as quickly as possible so they didn’t disrupt the later processes.

  “It smells like shit!” I hissed. “And it’s all over me!”

  As I pushed myself to my feet, I struggled for a moment, as my sheets stuck to my back and tried to pull me back down. When they finally let go, I twirled around and stared at my bunk. There was a sickly brown Evelyn-sized stain where I’d been lying.

  “Aww… This was a new bed,” I groaned. “You could have warned me.”

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  If I had, you would have wanted to lie on the floor, and it’s easier to burn and replace the bedding than it is to clean the laminate.

  “Gross,” I muttered. “Please tell me I can just wash it off in the shower.”

  I’ve already placed the proper soaps and solvents in the bathroom. They were included in the procedure. Make sure you use the bottles from left to right. The purple ones are for your hair.

  “Great,” I huffed as I stormed towards the bathroom. Either my sense of smell was getting better the longer I was awake, or the stench was getting worse. My feet created a disgusting squelching sound with each step, and they stuck to the floor for a second when I tried to move on. I could not get into the shower fast enough.

  Just before I reached the stall, I started shucking my nightwear, which I had to literally peel off my skin. I’d originally planned to just throw them into the laundry basket, but when I finally held the soiled nightshirt in my hands, I hesitated. It had to be twice as thick as before with the layer of grease on it.

  “Nyx, I’d like a garbage bag please, and send some bears in here to collect both my bed and this shit. I don’t want it sitting around any longer than necessary. If the stench spreads, it’ll make the kids sick,” I said as I shoved my clothes into the materializing bag.

  They’re already on the way.

  “Good,” I muttered as I tied the bag closed and threw it back towards the bedroom.

  With that done, I stepped into the shower and flicked the water on as quickly as possible. The spray ran down my body, warming my body and causing the stench to increase, but doing little to dislodge the grime.

  As my eyes began to water, I desperately grabbed at the first container on the shelf in front of me, squeezing out a thick gel, which I immediately started liberally applying to my body. Thankfully whatever solvent Nyx had provided was effective, and the thick grease began to peel off my skin, pooling at my feet for a moment before finally being dragged down the drain.

  I spent a good ten minutes methodically scrubbing every possible inch of skin, scraping the grease off. My muscles might have still been a little weak, but they were way more flexible than before, so I didn’t have a problem cleaning the middle of my back. When that process was done, I moved on to the second bottle, which was a little more fragrant. When I applied it to my skin, whatever residue was left slipped off, and the stench was quickly replaced with a much more pleasant scent. I breathed deeply for the first time in several minutes.

  With my skin taken care of, I swapped to the hair care products. The shampoo seemed to cling to the grease, encapsulating it and causing it to slide off in long goopy strands. I silently swore as it dripped down my body until I realized it wasn’t sticking and just slid right off. Something in the previous two treatments must have made it hard for the grease to stick. Wrestling with my unruly hair, I managed to get most of the grease out before switching to the conditioner and finally clearing the residue.

  When I finally shut the water off, more than half an hour had passed, but I felt much better. I swept my wet hair out of my eyes and stumbled out of the stall, grabbed a towel, and headed back into the bedroom.

  The bears had already cleared most of the mess, leaving an empty bed frame in the corner. As long as the stench was gone, I could always replace it later.

  While running the towel through my hair, I wandered over to my closet and browsed through the selection of clothing before finally deciding on a simple hoodie, undershirt, and jeans. My usual choice for casual apparel.

  After pulling everything on, I wandered over to the mirror and gently ran my fingers through my hair, trying to organize it a little.

  “Hey Nyx, you said it would take a little time for my biotics to stabilize. Do you have a more precise number for me?”

  I could make a guess, but it depends on a number of external factors, but it’ll be done before we hit Vancouver.

  “Good. I’d hate to still have wobbly legs when I went down to visit Goo and her friends. Hard to make a good impression when I’m struggling to walk straight.”

  Do you want a full breakdown of the improvements now? You kind of brushed it off earlier.

  “I know what you did: improved my bones, muscles, and healing, right?”

  Well, that, and replaced most of your organs, including your skin and sensory organs. Since you already had biotic organs due to that unfortunate accident in Jasper, I went ahead and improved them and added a little redundancy. You’ll be exceptionally resistant to toxins now, and you’ll be able to survive much longer without food or water. Your senses will be much sharper, allowing you to discover antithesis at much longer distances, and your skin is now exceptionally hard to penetrate. Not enough to go without armor, but it might be enough to make a difference against a dangerous target.

  “Fuck… anything you didn’t replace?”

  The thing you needed the most help with: your brain.

  “Har de har har, very funny,” I grumbled as I stepped away from the mirror and turned towards the door. “Guess it’s time to check on the family. I did tell Jane I’d watch the kids when I was done. Hopefully they managed to find something to keep them occupied while I was gone.”

  Oh, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised…

  Discord!

  Check out my Stories:

  Support me!

  Finally: Big thanks to all those people that review my draft, the chapters would be a lot rougher without your feedback!