22. Evangeline

22 – Evangeline

The autosurgeon was fast and sure-handed, and Hector hardly had time for reflexive tears to form as needles and blades descended. A microblade opened a clean channel to his natural lens, and a needle followed, flooding his eye with billions of task-loaded nanites. They went to work at once—replacing retinal tissue with a thin lattice of synthetic mech-cells, re-threading the iris into a programmable aperture, and lacing a signal interface through his optic fibers so his AI could talk to the hardware.

The needle withdrew. Another set of tiny digits slipped in, lifted his lens free, and a second tool seated the new nano-molecular one with a soft, wet click. A final injection of healing nanites, then a quick antiseptic mist, and the eye was done. All told, it took less than a minute. The clamps released, Hector blinked, and the autosurgeon moved to his other eye.

He felt his hands gripping the cold stainless bed, heard the squeak of his sweat-damp fingers sliding along it, but he didn’t let up; he had nervous energy to release. When the second eye was done, Pete’s face loomed over him as he peered into his eyes with a set of scope-like optics.

“Looks good. I’d say the nanites will be done with their part in about thirty minutes. The documentation on the augment said twenty minutes to an hour, so that’s on track. The autosurgeon encoded the biometrics from the little data chip.” He grinned, squeezing Hector’s shoulder. “Ready for the ears?”

Fifteen minutes later, the autosurgeon withdrew its blood-tinged digits, and Pete took a minute to swab out Hector’s ears with antiseptic before handing him a pair of headphones. His mouth moved, but no words came out, and Hector narrowed his eyes, growling, “I can hear Orin breathing, so quit fucking around.”

Pete chuckled and shrugged. “Come on! It was funny…” When Hector didn’t laugh, he sighed and gestured to the headphones. “Put those on and we’ll test the full range.”

Hector started to comply, but then a soft, feminine voice threaded through his thoughts:

//Thank you, Hector. It’s good to experience the material world again. As for his hearing test, you can dispense with that. I’ve run diagnostics on the new augments, and everything is optimal.//

It was his aura system or, more accurately, the AI that made it work, Evangeline.

Good to hear you again, Evie. How about the net link? Now that his auditory and visual nerve bundles were laced with nanites, Evie had a way of properly communicating with him. Prior to that, she’d been limited to the neurodeck’s ability to push messages straight into his occipital cortex, like subtitles burned onto the inside of his skull.

//Up and running. Working on these protocols. Things have changed since you were last awake.//

Hector handed the headset back to Pete. “No need.” He pushed himself into a sitting position, happy to feel that the earlier nanite infusion was already working; his muscles and joints were noticeably less sore.

“Um…” Pete glanced over at Orin. “Hey, I know you can hear and stuff, but there’s a wide range of functions we still ought to test because—”

“Everything’s working.” Hector nodded to Pete, and he slid off the table. “Good job.”

Evie, working on an AUI for me?

//Of course; just let me get this network situation sorted; I’d like to add a map and some other online functionality.//

“Well,” Pete replied with a shrug, “it’s your gear.”

“Okay, Doc,” Orin said, standing from a plastic chair with a grunt. “How about that money you owe me?”

While the two settled up, Hector picked up his coat and shrugged into it, already noting that the world was sharper and brighter than before. He wondered if the skin’s eyes hadn’t been twenty-twenty. As he buttoned his coat, he walked over to a small mirror the doc had hanging from a wall, no doubt so people like Hector could look at their new augments. His ears wouldn’t be changed, but his eyes were strikingly different.

They’d been brown before, but now pale blue stared back at him, and they changed his whole face—brightening it, sharpening it. Even his angry glower looked deeper somehow, as if the lighter color drew the gaze into the endless rings and whorls. Leaning close, he saw pinpricks of light chasing the edges of his irises—Evie tuning his AUI.

This the default setting for the irises?

//No. I changed them while you were putting on your coat; thought you might want at least a piece of you to look like your old self.//

“Hmph.” Hector brushed his hair back and then walked to the door. He paused for a moment, glancing at Orin. “Heading out.”

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“Hey,” Orin said, clapping Pete on the shoulder as he hurried over, “wait up.”

Hector opened the door, then he remembered that, while he might be on a mission that would end with his demise, it didn’t mean other people didn’t matter—didn’t have their own ends. He looked back at Pete and said, “Thanks, Doc.”

“Yeah, sure, Hector. See you around, right?”

He nodded and then slipped into the corridor. While he walked, Orin hurried to his side, so he looked up at the big man, making eye contact. “Not heading back to the club today.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Gotta keep my head down for a couple of days.”

Orin narrowed his eyes. “Why’s that?”

Hector tapped the corner of his eye. “Gotta wait for my new ID to hit the net.”

“Ah, man.” Orin shook his head, chuckling. “You don’t gotta worry about PKs scanning you around this neighborhood. Just stay clear of the big public transit hubs and stuff.”

By then, they’d returned to the little waiting area, and Hector picked up his scarf; he left the oversized hoodie on the chair. “Gonna head home for now.”

Orin glanced at Raven, then grabbed Hector’s shoulder. It wasn’t rough, and he didn’t mean anything by it, so Hector didn’t stiffen. He turned to regard the man, arching an eyebrow. “Do you think you can help me with Raven’s problem? I mean, tomorrow.”

Hector glanced at the girl, noting the way her violet eyes had widened at her mention. He looked back at Orin. “Why?”