Just testing the water to see what people think. The next chapter is halfway done. I really wanted to do a classic
Knight Saber raid on a facility in this chapter, but I may pass until
the next one. I've just got too much ground to cover here.
A teaser to test the water...
Those who fear the darkness have never seen what the light can do.
Knight Saber raid on a facility in this chapter, but I may pass until
the next one. I've just got too much ground to cover here.
A teaser to test the water...
Quote:Yoshida took a deep breath to steady himself, and gestured at the image---
on the screen. "I recognize that, of course. It's the Leontophonous
virus that freed boomers. But what's it doing in my head?"
Silver shook his head. "Actually, it's not. It's close, mind you, but
there's subtle differences. What you're really looking at there is
technically Leontophonous-B. It's based on two source materials: The
nanite tech which freed boomers worldwide, and the nanite upgrade
technology Katsuhito Stingray gave to his daughter so he could map her
mind.
"The difference, however, is that Leontophonous-B isn't designed to free
anything. It follows the pattern of the original nanite infusion,
replacing key nodes in the human brain, which can theoretically lead to
enhanced mental development, greater intelligence, and so on. But with
the addition of the modified Leontophonous nanotech, it also allows the
programmer to institute mental blocks. They can even program behavioral
modifications, all without the beneficiary being aware they have them."
The image shifted a few times, showing clusters of them in the human
brain. "Get enough of them in one place, and you have an effective
replacement for the Overmind Control System. Not only do you have a
technology which can be used to institute boomer-based mind control on
the human populace, but you can use the same Leontophonous-based virus
to reinfect the boomer populace with a new kind of mind control program
they can't stop. Especially since Leontophonous-B seems to have a kind
of antivirus program running in it which recognizes the Alpha variant
and neutralizes it on contact."
"So... What was it doing in my head?"
Silver smiled and shook his head. "You're obviously still in a lot of
pain, or you'd have realized it by now. *You* were the test subject. The
boomers you sent out on the mission... I know what you know, and I know
that our benefactors wanted the mission boomers to include the
Leontophonous nanovirus. I'm sure they told you they were using the
Alpha variant, and that they wanted to see what you could do with
unshackled boomers. But what they were *really* doing was testing the
dependability of the Beta version under combat conditions, where boomer
brains are most likely to slip the leash. If Leontophonous-B remained
firmly in control of the boomers even in the middle of a losing fight,
it would give them an ironclad grip on whoever they gave it to."
Those who fear the darkness have never seen what the light can do.