“I’m so nervous!” Nami said, fanning her face with both hands.
Caiden had a confident smile. It was like he knew subconsciously that it would work.
“Get the scanner ready again” he said.
“Got it,” Nami replied.
He closed his eyes. Beads of sweat trickled down Caiden’s temples as he sat perfectly still with measured breaths. Three and a half minutes went by and very little transpired. The four-minute mark came and went. After five minutes had passed, the twins observed a shift in the air around Caiden. It went from tranquil, to wild and turbulent in an instant. Just as they sensed this change, Caiden’s entire fist and forearm began to shake violently as it was encompassed by the turquois glow. Caiden opened his eyes. Both he and the twins watched as the powerful light physically broke down the gunblade. The gunblade’s surface area decreased until the tip of the gun’s barrel sunk beneath the dermal layer of his skin. The consistent glowing light subsided into softly-lit, pulsating intervals, until it stopped.
Caiden began huffing and puffing as if he’d been holding his breath.
“Oh my god, Caiden!” the twins said simultaneously as they rushed over to him. Hitomi went check him over to make sure he wasn’t hurt, while Nami held his right arm, rubbing it down gently.
“I’m fine,” Caiden said. The twins were in shock. They were worried for his safety. So, it came as a surprise when they saw his victorious grin. He laughed, almost hysterically.
“Um, Caide? You okay?” Hitomi asked.
“This is incredible!” he replied. He stood upright, and so did the twins, sticking close to him just in case he fell.
“Holy shit!” Nami exclaimed while pointing at Caiden’s right hand and forearm. Although faint, just beneath the surface of his skin, they could see a series of complex glowing lines starting at his fingertips and ending at his elbow. He moved his arm around, clenching and opening his fist while shaking his arm.
“Feel any different?” Nami asked.
“It’s hard to explain. It feels like my left wrist does, but it doesn’t feel any heavier,” he said as he shadowboxed for a few seconds.
“It took a little longer to assimilate the gunblade, but not much longer than it took to assimilate the holo-watch initially. Why is that?” Hitomi pointed out.
“It was easier this time around. Now I know how to access that particular function. It’s like the nanocells in my body communicated that to each other. That’s why it didn’t take as long to absorb the gunblade as it should have, theoretically. Plus, this gunblade just so happened to be made from titanium. For whatever reason, absorbing titanium is easier for the nanocells,” he said.
“Is it safe to assume that the gunblade will be made from a different substance when you materialize it from your arm?” Nami asked.
“Let’s find out,” Caiden said excitedly.
While still standing, Caiden closed his eyes while gripping his bicep with his left hand. After thirty seconds, his forearm and fist began to radiate light. The thin lines of turquoise light shot through his skin and rapidly began to shape the outline of his gunblade. The gunblade fully materialized shortly after.
“Oh my god! This is too much!” Nami said.
“Xandra, confirm material of the gunblade,” Caiden commanded.
“Titanium and nanocells present in the object, as well as an unidentified material. Closest match is a specialized polymer,” it reported.
“Xandra, record this in your systems for future reference. Label this material as a ‘nanopolymer’,” Caiden replied.
“Affirmative. Additional scans reveal the hardness of the nanopolymer rivals that of diamonds. Malleability and ductility surpass that of copper,” Xandra added.
Caiden hit the switch on the gunblade and it transformed into a blade. He skillfully swung it around. He then switched it back to gun mode and stood still. He rematerialized the gunblade back into his right forearm in less than fifteen seconds.
“You’re getting good at this,” Hitomi pointed out.
“You think so?” Caiden responded while still examining his arm.
“Yeah, it’s like you’ve been doing this for years,” she said.
“I still need a lot of practice to perfect the whole materializing and dematerializing thing,” he replied.
“Caide, you look like you have something else up your sleeve,” Nami observed.
“Why yes, I do. And I’m gonna need your help with this one too,” he said.
“Lead the way, mad scientist,” she joked.
CHAPTER 27
---usr/systems/server-x/NOVO OS---
“So, what is it?” Hitomi asked.
“All this insanity has got me thinkin’. There’s a project I’ve been working on for a while now. Something that would be helpful during the crazy stuff; whatever that may be. I’ve been trying to develop computerized contact lenses for a while now,” Caiden said.
“Oh, you mean like datashades, but something less conspicuous?” Nami asked.
“That’s exactly what I’m trying to do. I even bought a couple pairs of datashades and studied their OS. I’ve been able to create some semblance of an OS for my contact lenses, but I’ve been having difficulties with programming it so that they work properly. Any time I try them on, they power up, but the display only shows unrecognizable symbols and nonsensical code.
“We’ve collected some significant data from the experiments today; especially on how quickly and efficiently the nanocells in my body are able to interpret information. Using my brain as the control for this operation, I want to develop an OS that uses the nanocell enhanced functions involved in interpreting visual data and unreadable brain signal data into a readable, operable function,” he said.
“Hmm, I think I follow, but how would we do this?” Hitomi asked.
“Check this out. Xandra, bring in the large holo-display. Generate biometric findings for my brain. Zoom to nanocell level, please,” Caiden commanded his artificial intelligence unit.
“Generating holographic image for rendering. Scanning all documents from nano code for cross referencing as well,” Xandra responded. A three-dimensional holographic image of Caiden’s brain generated in the center of the hub. Caiden and the twins slowly walked around it, examining it in full.
“So, what are these?” Hitomi asked while pointing to the display.
“I wondered the same thing myself at first,
