New Elysium: Weapons of War (Book 2)

Playing Pretend Part 9

Dex read through the data as he fed it into the machine in front of him. The L-CC would synthesize a few of the parts he needed for the purple haired man Amy Larsson had brought in. It was going to be one of the biggest challenges he'd faced so far.

Nova's current augments were limited to just a few headpieces or his eyes. There were a few parts that even Dex couldn't identify the use for. He was a peculiar puzzle but as much as Dex wanted to figure out the use for the mysterious augments within Nova, the biggest issue was to get the upgrades to attach and work with his current augments. Namely catching any overload and diverting the excess electrical impulses to a different location.

As long as his brain was receiving the excessive electrical stimuli, the seizures would continue. Especially if he continued to use them to maintain his link to Amy. It was beyond the normal signals that many augments could use to talk with one another.

Nova was simply not equipped to handle them, but the remaining programs were there, never fully withdrawn. Dex was essentially preparing to turn him into an Augur.

Augurs were few and far between, the equipment was dangerous as well as fascinating. Dex's fingers flew over the keys as he worked, his excitement keeping him incredibly focused on the task at hand, he barely noticed he had a visitor.

A movement out of the corner of his eye startled him out of his work.

"Juni?"

The little girl stopped and one gray eye focused on him, she started blinking in confusion. "Dex?"

"Hey what are you doing in here?"

"I—"

"It's ok," he held up a hand, staring at her gray eye. He'd gotten the eye from Amy as well. Originally intended for Amy herself, Amy hadn't hesitated when one of her crew handed it over. He knew it was on her to do list to find another, even if Juni had insisted on a black one just like Amy's.

Even the eyepatch she wore to cover her eye was from Amy. He had been at work creating the eye she wanted but had had to put it aside for the more immediate problem of Nova's seizures. Upgrading him was going to be the most challenging thing he'd ever attempted.

Second most challenging, he reminded himself. The first had been convincing Jack that Juni deserved an eye augment that was up to par with what Ember and Amy had. Jack hadn't wanted him to waste resources on the little girl. Dex had convinced him that it would be good practice for him and so he'd started the eye under Jack's supervision.

And then Amy had brought Nova in.

If Amy Larsson hadn't been such a valuable asset, Dex knew Jack would never have allowed Nova on the station without checking him first. And he definitely would never have made it to the surface of New Elysium.

As it was, there was a host of problems that Jack had left Dex in the dark about, leaving him instead to focus on upgrading Nova to an augur on his own.

He focused back on Juni in front of him. Her hair had been cut to shoulder length when she'd come in, the blonde waves refused to stay pulled back behind her ears. She wore a slightly oversized white shirt, over blue pants, and her little boots were definitely a size bigger than what she needed.

She had been brought here, badly injured by Orion's Reach, by her uncle. Yet she was living in the orphan ward, because her uncle had been assigned living quarters at the other end of town, with no room for a child. Sometimes, Dex couldn't quite understand the logic behind Jack's decisions and the way he ran New Elysium.