On the High Frontier

4. Trick or Trap (part 6/6)

"Oooooooohhhh."  Maybe she should just lie here with her eyes shut. Kimiko's entire body's shaking with the effects of the shocks ... and the cold. There's no HUD! Even with her eyes open she can't see anything, it's all out of focus. She tries to stand, but her arms and legs just won't work. At least they feel like they're there, so maybe it's just the pulse. She manages to get her hand to her right ear and touch the earring. A slight buzz; Sayoko's not completely dead. It's worth a try. "Sayoko, deploy full sheath." Her mouth feels full of cotton wool. For a moment there is nothing, then, just as she feels ready to cry in frustration, there's the familiar tingle. The cold goes away and the familiar in-eye HUD is back.

"Aaaaarrgh!" It's the worst case of pin-and-needles she's ever felt. It's like something is remodelling her nervous system, with an arc welder.

"And you're back." Great, apparently whispercomms is working fine.

"Paaaiiin ... I'm in ... real pain ... here." She'd happily wring his smug neck if he was in range, and her arms were working.

"Well yes. It looks like your entire body is in spasm after the pulse. It would recover on its own, but the sheath is accelerating the process through the attunement." Oh good, this was Sayoko's idea of an invigorating massage. Spirits save her from friendly equipment. "Look on the bright side the sheath and the attunement protected you from the worst."

That was nice to know. Hopefully the non-attunement did not ... "Sachi!" She leaps up and looks round; the HUD and its overlays are in focus even if the rest of the world is still clarity challenged. Apparently Sayoko's ministering means she can move, as long as she ignores the pain.

A pale shape is curled against the wall. The telltales identify Sachi and Chloe. She runs over and collapses on the girl, with her arms round her. As she hugs Sachi there is a small moan and the girl twists slightly. She feels the swell as Sachi breathes in. She's alive! Kimiko lets out the breath she didn't know she was holding and the tears start. "Sayoko, the Chloe token is showing as active. If you invoke the sheath we can check her vitals." James being useful, miracles do happen. "The encapsulation routines can handle your proximity, you don't need to let her go." At her command the Chloe sheath envelops Sachi's unconscious form. "Hmmm."

"Well?" What's the matter, what isn't he telling her?

"She's not attuned so this isn't easy. The neural patterns are basically the same as before, but there's a lot of noise. It looks like the suit protected her, but without the attunement it couldn't protect her nervous system to the same degree. I don't think there is any permanent damage, but I'd guess coordination and short-term memory will be shot for a bit. All autonomous functions are fine." Kimiko doesn't know whether to laugh, cry, or shout her defiance.

"Thank you." The relief rolls over her and leaves her feeling numb. Then she remembers why they're there. "What happened?"

"Well the good news is that there is still a P2. Bad news all local power systems are now CRIT-1 as the loss of a main distribution hub is causing power shortages." Small victories. "That's all off the bureau status system, they're not giving out details at the moment. You were only offline for ten minutes."

"That long?"

"Only the neural buttressing allowed you to recover that fast. You couldn't have resheathed faster anyway. The tokens totally drained their reserves, and it takes that long for them to recharge to minimum level from the singularity."

"On a more mundane note the VE are probably on their way to you. I suspect they are having to cut through the hatches after the abuse the system has taken. Apparently the energy was spread out due to a large number of bypasses being locked, and a lot of things are fused."