Along the way he picked out two other gadgets that would prove very helpful: a Geological & Structural Deep-Scanner. It was a handheld device that uses seismic and sonar pulses to map underground structures. This would be crucial for locating the Project Chimera black site and the gene-forging chambers without having to blindly navigate the ruins. After he absorbed it he used its technology to create a permanent, internal mapping system.

And the second was the Bio-Sampler & Sequencer. He placed the small device in his coat and let his nanites consume it. As the device's software and schematics were added to his memory, Synth felt a slight buzz in the back of his mind. He focused on it, and letters appeared in his vision—not the strange, incomprehensible glyphs of his own core programming, but normal letters, clean lines of code. The nanites were integrating the bio-sampler and sequencer into their main system, unlocking a new capability. So far, when he had consumed organisms, he only understood their physical structure, like a builder who knew how a brick looked but not how to make one. This new system allowed him to understand the blueprint, the DNA itself. He could now create perfect simulations of organisms in his mind. He no longer needed to consume a creature to use its design; a single DNA sample was enough.

His final stop was an underground pet shop, a place of humid air and the soft, chittering sounds of a hundred different exotic creatures. This was where he made his most significant purchases. He walked past cages of iridescent, neon-scaled lizards and genetically engineered songbirds whose songs sounded like glitching synth-pop. He glanced around, curious how their unique adaptations could be integrated into his own frame, but at the same time, he realized it was useless to try and buy them all. Project Chimera likely had a vault of genetic samples far more valuable—unique military genomes from the Geners themselves.

In the end, his choices were tactical. He bought a giant desert centipede for its useful multi limbed structure and exoskeleton, a mantis shrimp for its explosive power, and two of the largest dragonflies the shopkeeper had for their unparalleled flight mechanics. The purchase was a significant expense, but the real cost came when he haggled with the shopkeeper—a woman who was a startling fusion of human and feline. Her milky-white cybernetic eyes, devoid of pupils, gave her an unnerving, all-seeing gaze. Subtle synth-flesh mods had reshaped her face, giving her high, sharp cheekbones, a slightly flattened nose, and long, elegant whiskers that twitched with feline curiosity. A pair of pointed, black-furred ears poked through her short, sleek hair. She moved with a silent, fluid grace that was not entirely human. For a price that exceeded 100,000 credits, he walked away with the genetic blueprints of a cuttlefish, a peregrine falcon, a bat, a gecko, a chameleon, and an owl. All of these traits would be invaluable in his endeavor.

He had the tools. He had the knowledge. He was ready.

As Synth was leaving the market, his new gear secured and integrated, he was confronted by a trio of heavily armed gangers. No tattoos, no colors, they were nobodies.

Their leader, a woman with a chrome jaw and eyes that glowed with a cold, reptilian light, stepped forward, blocking his path. Her two enforcers fanned out, their hands resting on their holstered weapons. The usual street theater.

"New face," she purred, her voice a low, synthesized growl. "Everything that moves in this sector pays a toll. So, you're going to empty your pockets for me, and maybe, if I like your attitude, I'll let you walk out of here with your kidneys."

He let his silver eyes meet hers. As she spoke, he had already acted. Using his integrated Aegis X-9 deck, he sent out a silent, invisible wireless probe, a whisper of code that slipped past the shoddy firewalls of their cheap, black-market neural interfaces and their secrets revealed themselves to him.

He saw it all in a fraction of a second: their street names, their recent transactions, their known associates, and most importantly, their fears.

His voice, when it came, was a low, dangerous purr, using the cold, predatory calm of Ripjaw.

"That's a bold move, Amara."

The woman flinched. Her street name was "Hex," a name she had cultivated with blood and violence. No one had called her Amara in years.

Synth's silver gaze shifted to the man on her right. "You're still in debt to Yasha for that botched deal, Jax. They're not known for their patience."

Jax's hand, which had been hovering over his pistol, dropped to his side as if it had been slapped.

Synth's eyes moved to the final ganger. "And you, Cinder," he said, his voice softening with a false, pitying tone. "Your sister in the Midspire… she still doesn't know you're running with this crew, does she? She thinks you're working a clean job at a shipping depot. It would be a shame if she found out the truth."

Cinder took an involuntary step back, his face a mask of pure, unadulterated panic.

Synth's gaze returned to their leader, his voice dropping to a near-whisper, a blade wrapped in velvet. "You're worried about a tax? I hear the Iron Clade are offering a much higher price for the head of the person who skimmed one of their last weapons shipments. Your chrome jaw is… distinctive. Very easy to identify."

Amara stared at him, her bravado shattered. This was not a man. This was a demon who had reached into their minds and pulled out their darkest secrets. He had stripped them bare, exposing the terrified, vulnerable people beneath the street-tough facade. She took a step back, then another, a flicker of genuine, primal fear in her reptilian eyes.

She gave a single, sharp, almost imperceptible nod, and her crew parted, melting back into the shadows of the Sprawl.

All performance, no substance. He thought as he left Nexus Sprawl behind. They wear their power like a costume. True power needs no announcement.

Synth arrived at the apartment at 3:34 AM, a ghost slipping through the city's sleeping veins. He moved through the main room without a sound, his feet making no purchase on the clean floor. He laid down on the couch, not out of a need for rest, but to maintain the performance of humanity. The kids were sleeping. His enhanced auditory sensors picked up the soft, steady rhythm of their heartbeats and their slow, even breaths, a fragile symphony of life in the quiet dark.

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His thoughts drifted to Max. Selena was smart and capable. She could be left on her own for a time. But Max… who would feed him? Change his diaper? Who would be there to calm him down if the waking nightmares returned and he began to scream? A cold, logical plan began to form in his mind, a series of objectives to be completed. First, the legs. The physical restoration is the priority. Then, the implant. It would be less traumatizing for Max to have his new, organic legs attached before the procedure to wipe, or at least dull, the traumatic memories. One step at a time.

He closed his eyes and entered a meditative state, his consciousness sinking into the quiet, digital ocean within.

Time flowed, meaningless. A soft ping pulled him out of the meditation.

Wednesday, 23 June 2083, 6:00 AM

It was time to get breakfast.

He walked among the early morning crowds, a silent observer. Factory workers in stained jumpsuits and helmets, some already wearing gas masks against the morning smog, trudged towards their shifts. Corporate workers, looking like slightly different clones in their dark, impeccably tailored clothes and identical haircuts, moved with a brisk, almost frantic purpose. There were some exceptions, of course—beginners whose souls had not yet been crushed by the corporate machine, or high-level executives whose flamboyant, expensive fashion was a statement of their power. Even at this hour, the city was alive, a relentless, grinding machine.

He took the maglev train to the Midspire Hub. The restaurant was an anachronism, a pocket of the old world tucked defiantly between two towering, indifferent skyscrapers of chrome and glass. Its facade was made of dark, weathered synth wood, the grain rich and deep, a stark contrast to the sterile perfection of its neighbors. A single, old-fashioned lantern, its light a warm, inviting amber, hung above a hand-carved sign that simply read "Oma's Kitchen." There were no flickering neon signs, no aggressive holographic ads. He stepped inside.

The restaurant was a patchwork dream of two extinct worlds, resurrected out of synth-materials and stubborn memory. At first glance, it looked old—European tavern wood, Asian teahouse lacquer—but Synth knew better. None of it was real. The beams across the ceiling were not oak, but sculpted polymer with false grain carved so deep it almost fooled the eye. The "plaster" walls were nanofiber composites, carefully textured to mimic the cracking wear of centuries. Even the murals were simulations, projected pigment bonded into the surface, showing Renaissance saints sharing space with delicate kanji calligraphy as if the pasts of two continents had collided and fused into one false eternity.

The furniture carried the same lie. The heavy, dark tables bore the scars of "a thousand meals," but Synth recognized them as deliberate etchings, pre-burned into the synth-wood to mimic history. Beside them, lacquered low tables gleamed with too-perfect polish, flanked by chairs shaped in the Gothic European style but made from seamless carbon latticework. It was authentic only in its intent.

The light was warm but artificial. Brass sconces burned with steady flames that were nothing more than filaments programmed to flicker irregularly, while their stained-glass shades glowed with impossible koi fish swimming through panes of simulated amber and jade. Somewhere incense burned, curling smoke into the air — or rather, an atomizer projected molecules that reconstructed the scent of sandalwood and ginger in the nose.

There were no automated drones or robo-waiters. Synth could hear voices from behind a wall, the happy, chaotic clatter of real pots and pans, and the sizzle of food on a hot stove.

He was not here for the atmosphere; the food was what mattered. He walked to the counter and tapped the small, brass bell.

A moment later, a woman in her late sixties walked through a swinging door to the left. Her features were a beautiful, striking mix of Germanic and Filipino heritage—high cheekbones and warm, brown skin, her eyes a startlingly light blue that crinkled at the corners when she smiled. Her graying hair was pulled back in a neat, tight bun.

"Good morning," she said with a beaming, genuine smile.

"Good morning," Synth offered with a wave and a small smile of his own.

"Just wait ten minutes, the food is almost done. My husband and I were having a little argument this morning about what the menu should be today," the woman said, waving for him to take a seat at one of the small, wooden tables.

Ten minutes later, the woman walked to him with a tray holding six bento boxes.

"Thank you," Synth said as he started to place them into a thermo-insulated bag. He transferred the credits. The sum was significant, but it was well worth it for the quality of the food.

"See you next morning, sir," the woman said with a warm smile as she waved at him.

He walked back to their apartment. When he arrived, it was 8:00 AM. Still an hour or two before Selena should wake up. With this in mind, he walked to the couch, but he didn't meditate. Instead, he entered a digital simulation.

The place was a simple empty simulation of a large city. An open source map used by developers to create games. He checked his arms, which were slightly bulked up as both of his arms housed his Arachne Weave deployers. His usual clothes dissolved as a tight, black acrobatics one-piece costume formed over his body.

Right now, he was standing in the middle of an empty street, but it would not be for long.

He aimed the deployers, one left and one right, both shooting a thick web of filament that gripped the buildings on either side. Then he walked back, the web tensing until the nanite cord sang with stored kinetic energy. He walked back until his processors confirmed he had reached the theoretical limit of the building's structure, and then he lifted his legs.

Wisshh.

The improvised slingshot catapulted him into the sky, a silent, black projectile against the simulation's gray canvas. For a heart-stopping moment, he was just falling, plummeting toward the digital asphalt. Then his processors, fused with the new acrobatics skill shard, kicked in. Trajectory lines and anchor points bloomed in his vision, painting the air with a web of possibilities.

His left arm shot out. Thwip. The filament hit the corner of a skyscraper, and his fall became a breathtaking, gravity-defying arc. The city blurred below him into streaks of light and shadow. At the apex of his swing, he let go, tucking into a tight forward somersault. For a split second, he was weightless.

His right arm snapped out, another filament line catching a lower girder. The jolt of momentum was immense, but his nanite-frame absorbed it effortlessly. He swung low, skimming just above the empty streets, then used the momentum to launch himself upwards again. This time, he didn't aim for another swing. He aimed for a wall.

His feet hit the sheer glass facade of an arcology, and the Gecko data kicked in. He ran horizontally, his feet finding impossible purchase on the smooth surface, his body parallel to the ground a hundred stories in the air. He ran for twenty meters, a gravity-defying blur, before leaping off, twisting in mid-air, and firing both web lines at once, catching two separate buildings and pulling himself through the gap like a bullet.

A laugh escaped his mouth, a sound of pure, unadulterated joy as he flew around, when he missed a pole or when he barely managed not to crash.

A ping alerted him that Selena had woken up. He closed the simulation and opened his eyes.

Selena had pushed the plasteel panel of her improvised room aside.

"Morning!" she said cheerfully.

She rushed to him, sat on the couch, and wolfed down the food he had brought.

"Go… feed… Max," Selena said with her mouth full, her cheeks puffed out. Synth chuckled. She couldn't wait to ride the bike with him.

He did as he was told.

After she ate, she rushed to her room, and barely a minute later, she emerged, wearing her day clothes.

"Can we go now?" she asked impatiently as she stood next to the door.

Synth walked to the wardrobe and took out a black helmet, which he gave to Selena.

In the back of the apartment building, the bike waited for them. Selena's eyes darted around, as if it could disappear at any moment. He helped her put on the helmet and saddle the bike.

The electric motor engaged, and they slowly drifted into the main streets.

"Boring," Selena murmured half an hour later.

Synth turned his head to her.

"Is that all this thing has?" she shouted over the wind, her voice laced with playful disappointment. "I've seen sanitation drones with more acceleration. I thought you had a speed demon, not a... a cautious snail."

A slow, dangerous smile, a look she had never seen before, spread across Synth's lips, easily seen because he wasn't wearing a helmet. He didn't comment, just changed their route, guiding the silent bike onto the on-ramp for the main arterial highway.

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