The Deviance

Part 3 - Hardwired

Bastion needed someplace to think and plot his next move, he wasn't sure how much access the Authority had to his brain and memories either and that was frightening not being safe in your own head. He had to find a solution to that problem before he could do anything else, and so be began doing a hard analysis of his cybernetic structure to find a way to beat the system.

His cybernetic implants were never something he really inspected before, all humans were basically implanted with them from birth and expanded their augmentation to their needs and functions as the crew. They also worked in tandem with the genetic modifications they underwent after puberty to slow down their physical aging, inoculations, and to enhance whatever physical attributes they required. Tampering with the cybernetics that basically ran your body was dangerous and could result in horrible mutations and death.

As a genetic manipulator himself, his particular augmentations both physical and cybernetic were tailored to being able to observe, assess, and alter organic materials. One thing that did check out with the offer he received by Crimson however that would aid him in his next steps was that he was both a proficient technopath and geneticist. From a young age, he was able to process and manipulate any kind of machinery with prodigious skill, his parents would often comment that he was a human-computer himself, and when he began his career that skill seemed to bleed into that work as well.

This problem needed him to visually understand each part of his cybernetic infostructure first, then to establish its impact on him physically, he checked on his access to the lab facilities and thankfully he still had top clearance. While he was sure he was being monitored, he had to take the risk of using their diagnostic tools, accessing the system he found some previous footage of himself at the machines for about two hours, and fashioned a false footage file that he could easily bypass the surveillance system with. He then logged some downtime for the web during this process for "personal reflection", he felt that it would not spark any real curiosity, usually when offered a promotion of this importance would require some quiet time away from the buzz of the net.

His decoy and his disconnection covered he proceeded to his diagnostic laboratory implemented his plan. "Welcome Bastion, what will we working on today?" the female AI who assisted in the lab chimed in, he walked over to his station in the exact spot that his loop video would have him and issued the mental commands to his labs AI to cut the internet access and upload the video to the cameras and lock down the lab from any outside access. All commands were successful much to his relief.

"Online systems deactivated, what can I assist you with today Bastion?", said the AI, "Thank you, please commence a full Cybernetic Implant Scan, subject – Bastion Bourin-Kalina" he removed his lab coat and shirt then proceeded into a diagnostic pod for his scan. A small silver hose extended from the back of the pod, moving slowly like a tentacle it connected itself into a small round bio-port which located on the small of his back on top of his spine. The connecting process was painless, but it did make all of his muscles involuntarily flex as the computer had direct access to his implants and biological nervous systems.

Holographic forms of Bastion began compositing in the work area of the lab, each one detailing a different facet of his body both biologically and technology-wise. "Scan completed, please step out of the pod Bastion." the AI chimed. Stepping out, he quickly redressed and focused in on the first hologram.

"What are the full cybernetic components and their access to my brain?", he asked, "System 1: Ocular, System 2: Auditory, System 3: Brain CPU, System 4: Spinal and Nerve Tap, System 5: Endocrine Modulation, System 6: Nanite Repair" As the computer listed each system holographic projections of each rippled backward from the main projection with complete lists of all parts of the system adjacent.