"Be too dumb to quit and too stubborn to back off."~Steven Pressfield
Medical wing
Ben had fallen asleep in the waiting room.
He was having that weird dream again.
He's surrounded by this...fog(?) Or mist(?) He couldn't tell. He could see through it but it was like stained glass.
He saw...something far away but somehow right just past his fingertips.
He swam/flew through it but no matter how hard his body pushed he got only a little closer and everytime he had this dream he was farther away then last time.
"Tennyson." A voice echoed.
Ben saw a fairy staring at him and he said "Dr Vector?"
"Interesting dream. Do you often have this one?" She asked.
"Yeah I'm trying go that way." Ben said pointing toward the thing he couldn't ever remember what it looked like. "I wanna get to that thing but I never do."
"How about I help." She said taking his hand.
He was moving towards it at a very noticeable pace.
When the had gotten close, closer then he ever did a jolt knocked him out of his dream.
"Oof." Dr Vector was embedded in the wall as if she was just thrown.
"Dr Vector!" Ben said walking over.
"Don't help me! I'm not a galvan. I don't like being carried." She said pulling herself up and dusting herself off "That was one weird dream."
"You saw it?!" Ben said excited "What was the thing? I never remember what it looks like but if you saw it."
"I...I don't remember." She said "That's never happened before. I always remember a dream I enter. Nevermind let's get you to The Chair."
Ben sat in a lounge chair and his whole body was scanned. A hologram of his skin floated up then faded to his muscles then his skeleton and finally his nerves.
"Woah." Ben said.
"Yeah that was my reaction when I walked in here and saw they had a factory new one." Dr Vector said.
Ben's hand reached for it but stopped before he got to it.
"Go ahead." Dr Vector said "I tried to touch it first time I saw one."
Ben's hand phased through it.
"Yeah you spend your childhood thinking about holograms you can touch and teleporters but it turns out they're basically as advanced in those fields as modern Terran cellphones." Dr Vector said "Now wanna see what your own brain looks like?"
"Hell yeah!" Ben said.
A few clicks the hologram showed Ben's brain and separated into lobes and highlighted all the connections.
Ben saw it flash as he was getting more interested and he was testing it by pinching his arm and
"Huh." Dr Vector said "They aren't connected to what they should be. Your HUD is wired directly to your visual cortex and the temporal lobe is linked to the auditory receiver and the Scanner in your optic nerve but they aren't wired to your motor cortex."
Ben looked at them and started thinking about what that was and a inner part of his brain started glowing on the hologram.
"Huh." Dr Vector said "Pull up your HUD."
"It is up." Ben said.
"Could you show me?" She asks.
"Uh...hold on." Ben pulled out his phone and blinked suddenly the screen was mirroring his HUD. He handed it to her and she saw his perspective
"Ok now show me Everything this can..." She started as Ben started shuffling through the entire thing with ease.
"What in the fresh hell?" Percilla said "Can you even understand all this?!"
"Sure. Face ID, GPS, Vitals, My 'Who is that again?', Speech to Text, Voice recognition. " Ben listed off everything without hesitation or any difficulty.
"And that's my Omni-Charge Meter it tells me exactly how long the transformation has before I turn back and that last one is the selection bar." Ben said.
Dr Vector rubbed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Are you seeing ALL of this at a time?"
"You said show you everything." Ben said "Usually it's just the clock and whatever I'm doing at the time."
"Well the only weird thing is why it isn't your motor cortex that is moving all this." Dr Vector said moving the hologram "GOOD GOD!"
She zoomed in to his Chest Core and when it showed 'Nerves' it looked like he had another Lobe in his ribs.
"Is there a problem? It's meant to be a Memory Backup and a Neural Elasticity Corrector." Ben said "If I'm ever under mind control or get amnesia it auto corrects my brain."
"Would you let me test that?" She asked.
Ben nodded and she threw a puff of a weird dust out of nowhere at his face.
The hologram showed the core increased activity and Ben's HUD activating Auxiliary Core.
"Yeah that thing isn't coming out." Dr Vector said.
Ben had a increase in fear and Dr.Vector calmed him down. "No no no I wasn't trying to take it out."
Ben breathed and something popped up.
"Well I made sure to add everything that could be useful for work." Ben said "To keep myself from getting distracted and keep my training at the front of my mind."
The hologram made a wire frame of Ben's Auxiliary Core and she saw the Polymorphic Crystal and said "I'm not a mechanic but from what I can tell it's biologically safe in your body."
She followed a Nerve to his left arm and saw a Core in it. "This is the actual rig correct?"
Ben nodded and was asked if she could see it.
She watched a swarm of nanoscopic machines exit his bones and leave the green lines of the tattoo manufacturing the actual device.
Dr Vector let out a weird chirp/purr noise when the hologram had actually saw the device as part of Ben. It was flesh in all but form.
She had zoomed in to see Ben's other as a needle drew blood. The machines had seem to intentionally self destruct when they weren't in Ben's body.
"Interesting." She said "They seem to be intentionally destroying themselves outside your body."
"Is that good or bad?" Ben asked.
"It is for the ones that are gonna wanna study these." Percilla said.
The wire frame finally went down to bone and Ben saw a hive of metal and marrow. Dead Nanites layering themselves into his bone structure as if they were noting but another cell in his body.
"Where did you get these?" Percilla asked.
"Jumped into a universe where they were in the atmosphere." Ben said.
"I swear if it wasn't in your file you are from another universe I'd send your ass off to therapy or suspicion of being part of the Digit Assassin Order."
Sotoraggian. Ben would be sure to scan one of those numbernumber's next time.
Afterwards
Ben walked out to see Patelliday waiting. "How is he doc?"
"Healthy." Percilla said signing Ben's paper "Please stop by anytime. I love using The Chair."
"Good boy now Benny boy I need you in my office for an assignment." Magister Patelliday said.
Ben nodded and followed.
Patelliday entered his office and seem to be taking deep 'Breaths' of water.
"Now Benny I know what I said this morning..." Patelliday started.
"Permission to speak sir?" Ben asked raising his hand.
"Speak freely." Patelliday said.
"What did you do and How much money is it?" Ben asked leaning in.
"The Vreedle Brothers." His Magister said "They passed basic but they still have the 3 month field training review."
"So you agreed to be their Magister." Ben said getting a nod.
"I've got 5,000 Tayden saying those boys can pass." Patelliday said.
"What's the pool?" Ben asked.
"Every Magister in the base is betting on it." Patelliday said "totals about 75k."
"How many say you can?"
"Me, Max Tennyson and Hulka."
"How long do you have left?" Ben asked.
"2 weeks." Patelliday said.
"15k ain't worth it. I need a favor...no scratch that 2 favors that I can call in." Ben said.
"If those boys pass you got a deal." Patelliday said.
Ben sighed and said "Call the Boys in... I really didn't wanna use this guy."
Range
Octagon and Rhomboid Vreedle were at the range with the explosives stored very out of reach of the two or any way the could hit it.
They seemed nervous.
"Excuse me boys." Magister Patelliday said.
The brothers stood at attention and saluted. "I've been thinkin' how I can get you two into shape for your test."
"Sir we ain't so sure we got it in us." Octagon said "We ain't exactly the sharpest Spoon in the drawer."
"And when people see a Vreedle they usually panic and reach for their valuables." Rhomboid said.
"How's we gonna pass that test?" Octagon asked.
"Hey now I know for sure you two got it in ya." Patelliday said "And I know a Vreedle can make it far in the Plumbers if they stick two it."
Boots walked in with confidence and poise.
"Officer Decagon Checking In sir."
"Boy's meet one of my most Decorated Alpha Officers." Magister Patelliday said "Officer Decagon these two are your new underlings."
The Vreedle Brothers jaws hit the floor "You...your..."
"That's right fellers." Decagon said shaking each of their hands "Never met another Vreedle my self."
"You..." Rhomboid started.
"Your..." Octagon stammered.
"Now Decagon is gonna be switching out with Ben for the next 2 weeks to help you prepare for the exam." Patelliday said.
"Yall catchin' Flys over thar?" Decagon asked.
The brothers shook off their shock and asked "What part of the Vreedle family are you from?"
"The Plumbers have been the only family I've ever know." Decagon said.
"Alright boys you get some range time in while I go take stock of the coffee room." Magister Patelliday said as the three saluted till he was out the room.
Targets were hung and blasters were loaded.
"Are you really Alpha rank?" Octagon asked.
"Yes sir." Decagon said.
"Youse must be smart er sumthin." Rhomboid said.
Decagon had chuckled "Gentlemen I am dumb as a sack of hammers but my daddy told me even a sack of hammers know how to put a nail in a wall." Shooting 5 direct shots at the targets.
"All this Plumber business is..."
"Boys let me give you some knowledge about this job." Decagon said "Your only job is ta do what ya told and follow the rules."
"Youes really think Dat we's got what it takes?" Octagon asked.
"Boys life's about fuckin up." Decagon said "ya are gonna fuck up. And the important part is ta keep at it and learn somethin from fuckin up. I member someone forget how to discharge a plasma grenade in basic. He lived, he never made that mistake again and now he's a Beta rank posted in Orion."
The three talked and shot until Patelliday had given them more orders.
"Look, you're not too dumb for this job."
"That is-" Octagon started but was stopped.
"You wanna call yourself dumb? The dumbest thing you can do is quit." Decagon said "You passed basic Sounds pretty stupid to quit doesn't it?"
"Yeah your right."
Decagon eyes flashed and he put his hands on the twos shoulders.
A green flash had the two going through a Genetic Resequencing with Ultimate Decagon's DNA.
"Just remember. Never make the same mistake twice." He said as the light faded.