Untraceable

[Geno]

Boredom hit me like a bag of bricks to the face after I drowsily opened my sleepy eyes.

The last rays of sunlight of the day somehow managed to pierce through that stupidly tiny gap in the window's blinders, disturbing my slumber and finally waking me up.

My heads-up display turned on, as it passively monitored my blood sugar levels slowly rising while my consciousness came back to me. What time was it? The big numbers on the bottom left of my peripheral vision spelled "6:37 PM" in big blue letters. After a few more seconds, more passive diagnostics results popped inside my left eye, probably making my eye all glowy-like in the process.

Hormone regulators, check.
Blood sugar dispensation, check.
Masterdeck lithium coolers, check.
Augmentation integrity, check.
Myofibroblast regulators...

The few results came one after the other in quick succession, scrolling quickly in the display situated inside my eye, transmitting information exclusively for my noggin, one string of diagnostics after the other with no particular glancing error to report. I shrugged it off, like I usually do. After a few times of having to wake up to the same technical jibber jabber inside my darn eye, I grew accustomed to it, beginning to pay little to no attention to the medical scans at all. Besides, being back in the Technocracy also meant that I would finally get scheduled weekly free cybernetics check-ups. Convenient, as it meant that some other medtech nerd would have to do the thinking for me instead. If there was some issue with my body, it was now their responsibility to fix it.

I idly pulled my large pink tee down my waist to cover up my belly while my body slowly re-activated itself artificially. The draft around me felt a bit chilly, but comfortably warm.

"...I think I oughta close the window."

Honshu became something of a snorefest ever since I was forced to land here. I was confined in this little island for my own safety because my chief went ballistic over the umpteenth attempt of my life, one among many. His response to this event was to establish high security measures, which frankly felt a little overkill. Not just overkill, but also mind-numbingly boring. I stretched my arms wildly with a small groan, there was no one else in that little guest room but me, a few computers and a pile of assorted technological doohickeys, piled together inside a wardrobe with no doors thus allowing me to be loud to my heart's content. Aria was probably outside doing something else anyways.

Heh. Aria. A tolerable, amicable and sociable version of Raven. I was getting along quite well with her, probably due to that tube-grown innate charisma of hers. As I talked to her, I slowly overcame that visceral reaction of intimidation I would usually get by looking at her face, as it reminded me of her mom's non-flattering dried raisin fierce soldier features and emotionally unavailable one-eyed glare that ruined my life one too many times. She seemed down to earth, as well as something of an unreserved and chatty gal. She was pretty good at breaking the monotony of the curfew measures.

She reminds me of someone.

I shoved that thought aside, getting up from that comfortable cotton sofa, letting the pillow stuffed between my legs tumble down to the wooden parquet floor. I was quickly feeling a little more energetic as my grasp on reality solidified, the artificially induced energy I was feeling all of a sudden meant my blood sugar regulators were kicking in.

"Mmmrh. This really does beat the hell outta coffee."

Coffee. Ever since I installed my regulators, I never felt the urge to consume a warm cup of Sunbucks. The donuts were pretty damn tasty, though. It was more of a comfort food kind of deal, I had heaps of those boxes in college to share with my roommates.

After fully rolling up the blinds to let in the last bit of sunlight this room would see for the rest day, I glanced around the attic for something to distract myself with while waiting for Aria to come back for dinner, while idly looking at the dust particles fluttering in the comfortable indoors atmosphere. The very environment had a soft scent of wood to it, it felt almost therapeutic.

There were two portable computers on the table in the opposite corner of the couch. One of them was stuck on a login lock screen, Aria must've forgot to turn it off while hastily leaving to do her own things. The other one was turned off, the chief left it to my mercy and idle boredom. As tempting as it was, I wasn't exactly hankering to waste my time away, having my neck port stuck to a little computer while idly waiting for my masterdeck to download heaps of movies or the latest Major League Plasmaball tournament match reviews. Even though the lag between video and sound was sometimes infuriating, my masterdeck gave me the ability to watch shows at any given time, preserving my sanity while going through the dumbest thrashings other people like to give me.

My idle curiosity led me over the overwhelming pile of numerous rigid discs and raveled extension cables overflowing at the bottom of the wardrobe corner, as my hand idly fished for some old tech to needlessly analyze and gawk over.

The more I dug around in that cursed little corner forgotten by God, the more my enthusiasm faded as it soon dawned on me that most of the assorted things left there to rot by the various guests of the Tower were actually very old data discs utilizing discarded BTA port technology, meaning that if I ever wanted to be slick and snoop around in the guest room's old data storage I would also have to find a matching BTA reader somewhere in there as well as a
matching cable. Unfortunately, I could not find a thing for the life of me. Those readers were discarded years ago in favor of new advancements in proximity wireless technology that could easily transfer entire petabytes of data without a single wire in the way.

"Darn. That's too bad..."

After a very disappointing dumpster dive ended after only a few minutes of rummaging, a little chromatic, mostly orange glimmer caught my attention from under a snaking pile of cables and wires. A sticker, attached to some kind of white box buried under a handful of relics from the past.

I moved everything aside, and to my surprise, the somewhat tiny package did not look like it belonged in that museum of a shelf at all, it felt more like someone misplaced it. I turned the palm-sized box to find a title or anything that could give away what exactly I was holding in my hands.

A LMVR game - the kind that was put off the shelves four years ago or so because of one particular title that caused a lot of controversy by frying one too many neurons. Apparently, this genre of holo-tainment on steroids is still going strong in Kusari, probably thanks to their higher degree of scrutiny on this kind of technology. Nevertheless, finding this gem on a random shelf in a guest room was not something I had expected.

The box art presented a flashy red title in a sharp font that looked like it was straight out of some kind of action flick, slapped over a depiction of some kind of cybernetic warrior. For an action game cover, it looked pretentious and maybe even a little over the top.

The massive chip disc inside the white box felt heavy on the palm of my hand, kind of like a small block of lead. The silvery connector pins and the plastic switches on the sides indicated that it required a pretty hefty VR reader, not exactly the kind you can find around your local tech markets, but rather the top-shelf pricey ones that people with big money usually trample others for, sometimes literally.

As it turns out, the Techies aren't really called "Techies" for nothing, as the VR training machines we keep around usually share Kishiro components, sometimes modified to hell and back, to give the user an accurate simulation by using a ridiculous amount of tungsten multiplexor. Sure, they are bulky as hell and require their own coolant filtering systems and ventilation and frequent maintenance, but they certainly make sure that most feelings the human body is capable of experiencing is passed down through the cerebral interface by sending the right neural impulses in the right spots of the brain, sometimes even telling it to secrete the right hormones at the right time.

I felt ecstatic to finally try a Limited Movement VR chip all for myself. I dived under the couch to reach for my slippers, and took the pearly white elevator down to the VR rooms.

-

Unlike the comfortable breeze of the guest room, the basement was damp and cold, unkempt and used mostly as a storage for cleaning supplies and gardening tools, dimly lit by green neon lamps. It looked more like a bathroom, really. Definitely not the right time or place to be around in slippers, baggy shorts and a t-shirt. But cold be damned, I was ready to put this little crown jewel to the test. I went around the corner, going past four VR pods stacked next to each other neatly, finding the best candidate that could effectively run Untraceable.

"Aha. There she is!"

A floating blocky beast of steel and red monitors welcomed me, as it hung by the ceiling aimlessly, suspended by multiple chains and dedicated fixtures. The plethora of wires ranging in all kinds of colours ran across the chassis of the Engine, both within and without, making the mess of wires upstairs look like a joke in comparison. There was no doubt about it - it was a Kishiro HIMOROGI model, tuned to perfection with the help of a few extra ducts connecting the thing to the ceiling, leading to the cooling room situated upstairs. The best of the best in modern VR replication tech, a cut above all the portable versions they ever produced. An ominous cerebral wreathe status interface blinked to life, glowing in scarlet red as it gave me simple enough instructions on how to properly use it.

After turning the ventilation systems online and installing the hefty chip in the creature of steel, it whirred to life with an ear-grating noise, about as loud as that of an hovercar's engines. I sat down, after applying the dedicated cerebral wreathe on my head, the wires tangling with my ruffled mane, and the biomon cable attached to the port situated under my right ear.

The interface was fully functional. Several warnings were displayed to me in rapid succession through my optic. Nothing I didn't know about already, safety protocols that would activate in the event of a short circuit, blackouts, bodily ailments and every other risk which comes with stimulating trillions of neurons at the same time very quickly for a prolonged period of time. Symptoms such as nausea, sensory loss or even loss of consciousness are to be expected if this software is operated on powerful operating systems. I went through them as quickly as possible, paying them little heed as my excitement nearly made me giggle in anticipation.

"Okay... no pressure, Kristoff. You are using one of the most advanced VR engines in the entire Sector, used exclusively for highly realistic combat scenarios, just to play on an LMVR sim for... ehh, probably a few hours. But hey, it's compatible! I might as well give it a go."

I tried giving myself a little pep-talk to soothe my nerves. I felt like I was on the edge of a cliff, the prelude to a fall into the rabbit hole. I tried VR before during my training sessions, but I never had the opportunity to be plugged to high-end machines like these ones. Sitting under the machine wasn't so bad. The exhaust ports kept me warm, and the air of silicon being worked to exhaustion always made me feel confident in what I was doing. Until the wreathe's connectors activated, stinging the inside of my brain incessantly. A log of reports cascaded endlessly within my left eye, as my head began to spin rapidly. The dive had already begun.

LINK STATUS: ESTABLISHED
TERMINAL NODE: X9 MAINFRAME (STATUS: OPERATIONAL)
VERIFICATION IN PROGRESS...
VALIDATED MAINFRAME INITIATION P
ARAMETERS ATTR = 0X0A4F8000
BLOCK ADDRESS = 0X02FDC400
ROOT SYSTEM TREE START ADDRESS = 0X0A6D2200
TREE SIZE = 0X07B5A800
SYSTEM CODE IDENTIFIER 0X1A45B700
INTERNAL MACHINERY ID NOT ASSIGNED.
USING DEFAULT MACHINERY ID: 0X193F70A8
FROM SYSTEM TREE X9/root/BRMTK/PBBMK/00000000
FOR MEMORY REALLOCATION PHASE 1
TRANSFERRING MEMORY TO 0X0C600000... COMPLETE
CHECKING BODY STATUS
RESETTING COMBAT LOGS
ID AUTHENTICATED
XIFF SYSTEM ENGAGED

RECALIBRATING NEURAL SEQUENCE

MEF2C
SATB2
TCF4
NCX
mRNA-seq1
mRNA-seq2
mRNA-seq3
mRNA-seq4
mRNA-seq5
mRNA-seq6
RNA INTEGRITY NUMBER
SMALL-RNA SEQUENCING
smRNA-seq
SINGLE-CELL RNA SEQUENCING
scRNA-seq
FRONTO-PARIETAL NEOCORTICAL
MID-FETAL NEOCORTICAL PLATE
ADJACENT SUBPLATE ZONE
SINGLE-NUCLEI RNA SEQUENCING
snRNA-seq1
snRNA-seq2
snRNA-seq3
snRNA-seq4
snRNA-seq5
snRNA-seq6
DORSOLATERAL PREFRONTAL
CORTEX
DFC/DLPFC
DNA CYTOSINE METHYLATION
ADDITIONAL EPIGENDMIC DATA
CHROMATIN
SATB2
FEZF2
SOX5
TBR1
GWAS
SCZ
HISTONE MARKS H3K4MR3
HISTONE MARKS H3K27MR3

My senses numbed.


Static in my eyes. Static all around me.


A skull that felt hundreds of times heavier.


Stronger than a panic attack.


My tongue felt dry.


The sweat on my body was freezing cold.


So very cold.


I could feel my legs collapsing.


Detachment from my body.


The balance in my body shifted into nothing.


Tiredness hit me like a bag of bricks to the face.




Complete darkness followed. Null ouroboros.




C o n s c i o u s n e s s‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎f a i l e d‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎m e .