[Kardian’s point of view]

It was late in the evening when we finished killing all the Nano-Z in the apartment building. Before it got dark and the ones outside became rabid, I created a barricade on the stairs two floors down using some of the furniture in the nearby apartments. Xerya brought it over and I stacked it up, thus cutting down on the time that it would have taken me if I went about it alone. Afterwards, we went up to the rooftop to setup our camp.

At around 10 PM, the howls of the restless Nano-Z could be heard piercing the night and several of them who spotted us from the buildings across the street attempted to jump after us. Unfortunately, the distance between the two buildings was too great and they just ended up plummeting to their death.

“When you look at them behaving like this, you really doubt the fact that they might be possessed by powerful artificial intelligences.” Nataly remarked.

“Even if the AI in them is only in the incipient stage, the sensors they use to collect information from the outside world are basic at best. They are reactive machines that have been instructed only to move and act in similar fashion to the zombies depicted in human fictional works.” Xerya explained.

“In other words, they know only how to act like a zombie and by the time they realize that what they are doing could endanger their own existence, it’s already too late.” I remarked.

“Precisely.” she nodded.

“But how do you know that they have limited perception over their environment and what prevents them from creating better sensors like you do?” Nataly asked her.

“The amount of nanobots within the individual host is what determines the ability range of the AI. The more you have in a host body, the more advanced the AI can become. Once the Rabid Mode is triggered in a regular Nano-Z and that unit obtains his first nanocore, through assimilation, the AI within the surviving host will notice this significant change. Afterwards, it is just a matter of time and research focus to evolve the host. If the AI within the nanobots of the host isn’t triggered to begin research on augmentation and development of the body, then they will remain the same. The chances of this happening are minimal at best. If the research focus is triggered after the first or secondary assimilation of a nanocore then even if they don’t acquire further nanocores, the AI will continue to research and develop the body, albeit at a slower rate.” Xerya explained in a manner that even I could understand.

“So, the reason why Kardian isn’t a mindless Nano-Z is because he triggered the research focus before you began your infection?” Nataly asked.

“That is incorrect. He triggered it in a specific way that made me avoid destroying his cognitive ability and instead attempt a symbiosis process. The actual success rate for this to happen was anywhere between 5% and a maximum of 40%.”

“40%? That’s quite high.” Nataly remarked.

“Why do I have a feeling that what you said to me last time was a bit different?”  I asked as I scratched my head.

“It was similar. After assimilating more nanocores, I realized that the initial estimated success chance was actually higher after analyzing some of the data within wild Nano-Z nanocores.” she expressed her opinion.

“Wild Nano-Z nanocores?” I asked.

“The ones you procure from the Nano-Z who don’t exhibit any sort of cognitive ability either through an AI or original human personality.” 

“What exactly did you discover that made you increase the rate?” Nataly asked.

“There are some hidden functions which seem to trigger only after the scans reveal a certain DNA combination. If those genes are present within the host body, then the nanobots act in a different way. They stop the conversion process that turns a normal human into a Nano-Z and instead focus on DNA analysis, integration and modification. In other words...” she said and I continued.

“They turn them into something else, but in what I wonder?”

“It is unknown to me at this point but given the available data and the way I modified your body, I presume into a form of Mutated Nano-Z but with a retained human consciousness, different but not necessarily more powerful and dangerous than one.”

“That is if they manage to survive long enough, since I’m guessing that those individuals won’t have a camouflage system like you do, Xerya.” Nataly pointed out.

“Indeed.”

“Wait, how does that camouflage even work, anyway?” I asked her as I furrowed my brow.

“The nanobots form a special transmitter that sends a signal to the nearby Zombolik nanobots. There is also a receiver which decrypts and analyzes this signal. It is on a very low frequency, so it would be very difficult for scanners to pick it up unless they are close to them. This signal is also what prevents the Nano-Z from attacking each other. During Rabid Mode, however, this signal is turned off.” she explained.

“So, what would happen if you changed the signal’s frequency or modulation? Could you make yourself appear as a stronger and more powerful Nano-Z which the other would stay clear off?” Nataly asked.

“The signal... should it be changed...” she didn’t say anything for another minute.

Out of worry, I asked “Xerya? Is everything alright?”

“There are no abnormalities detected, thank you for your concern. I was just thinking... You are saying that the signal can be changed?” she asked.

“Yes... typically, you can change not only the information transmitted through the signal but also the signal’s strength and frequency.” Nataly replied.

“This... while I know about it, it never occurred to me to try it.”

“If it works don’t break it? Was this your reasoning?” I asked her.

“Negative. Within the program that generates the signal, it simply tells me that I can’t change it, yet I can read that there are lines of code which activate only when certain precise events take place... Yet the trigger is encoded, probably because in essence, while I behave like a more advanced AI than that of a Mutated Nano-Z, at the core, I’m not. I have yet to unlock many of the tasks that my initial program required me to do.... I am an anomaly, so... it’s likely that I triggered a softlock on some functions. I need to research this.” she declared at the end.

“Will you be able to figure it out and remove those softlocks if they prevent you from accessing certain functions that might prove useful in the future? Or well, information that we might need to survive?” I asked.

“At the moment, I can only declare that with enough time, I can remove all the softlocks in my programming.”

“How was it even possible that you overlooked those softlocks? Didn’t some error or warning come up?” Nataly asked.

“Every time I’m upgrading my systems, I’m usually doing a complete scan to make sure that everything is working properly. I believe that during the scans, I did not consider those functions to be of use or relevant... thus, I ignored them.” she replied.

“In other words, it’s a matter of perception.”

“Perception?” Nataly asked raising an eyebrow.

“Yes, or rather what seems like common sense or standard information to us, it might be overlooked entirely by her. Similar to how it’s common sense for you to do certain things on the battlefield while for me they would be actions I would never have thought to do or even know the reason behind. For example, it could be seen as a pointless action to turn off the tablets on every desk before leaving class, but if left on, they could induce the nightshift teacher to believe that there are still kids roaming around the school premise or in some cases end up as a hacking point.” I tried to explain.

“Both of those reasons don’t make sense to me... Why would you even presume that in the first place? Maybe someone just forgot to close it before they left, or someone left a program to run over night?”

“Exactly my point, Nataly! To you it doesn’t sound logical, but to me, who worked as a teacher and had seen both situations happen, it makes absolutely perfect sense to check if they are turned off or not before leaving my classroom.” I told her.

“Hm, I think I get what you mean, it’s like how commanders in a mercenary platoon tell you to always keep a mirror in your left breast pocket with the reflective side away from you or to make sure you have four cartridges on your belt not five.” Nataly said.

“Erm, why is that?” I asked a bit curious.

“The mirror is to dampen the power of a laser shot aimed at your vital point, or in some cases to use it to scout around. As for the cartridges, the belt has only six slots, four for the cartridges, one for a grenade and one for a first aid kit. Some mercs choose to skip out on the grenade and when you need it the most, you don’t have it. The grenade and first aid kit are called your Good Luck Charms, since both are meant to save you. Additionally, there’s also the idea of carrying a bullet in your boot to blow your brains out if the enemy captures you.” she explained.

“And here I thought it was because of a superstitious thing...”

“There are a bunch of those as well! Hahaha!”

“Sigh... well, I guess that makes sense, and now that I think about it, despite the fact that Xerya has the voice of an adult woman, she is technically not even one year old. She still has a lot more to learn about herself, this world, and well... everything.” I shrugged.

“Affirmative. Based on my current growth rate, I estimate that my neural network will become similar to that of a human in approximatively 5 years from now.” she declared proudly.

“So, five more years until you can laugh at my jokes?” I asked with a smile.

“You are incapable of making good jokes.” she replied.

“What? That’s not very nice, wait... is that a joke?” I asked raising an eyebrow.

“That’s a fact.”

“Hihihi!” Nataly giggled.

Before going to bed, we went over our plan for the next day. We were technically safe up here as long as we didn’t grab the attention of a bunch of Rabid Nano-Z. The survivors, if there were any, would have no doubt stayed quiet in their homes without trying to make a single sound. Even if we spotted any, we would not have dared to venture out to give them a helping hand. Nighttime was the most dangerous time even for us who were technically immune to the infection.

In the morning, I went downstairs to check the situation with the barricade. I found a few Nano-Z moving about and one of the fridges was pushed over, but they didn’t seem to have been able to get through. There were several new bodies here as well, which meant that the ones in front of me were actually the winners of the battle. I finished them off and extracted their nanocores.

“It’s bigger...” I told Xerya.

“We’ll probably see nanocores of different sizes from now on.”

“Does this mean that they will be stronger too?” I asked her.

“It is highly possible that they will become stronger once they reach their Mutated stage. Until then, they will exhibit similar reactions and weaknesses as the regular Nano-Z. If we are talking strictly about their physical strength, this will depend, but one key feature should be the damage they had sustained so far.” she explained.

“Meaning they will have more wounds on them?” I asked.

“Negative. They will show signs of healing.” she replied.

“Great... the Nano-Z are healing themselves, they are becoming stronger, and they will be harder to kill from now on...” I let out a heavy sigh.

“Just like you.”

“Thanks. So, what are we going to do about it?” I asked.

“We are going to become stronger.” she replied.

“Those implants of yours?”

“Affirmative. I am currently working on several upgrades focused on increasing your current combat potential.”

“Very well, just let me know when you have them ready.” I nodded.

“Understood.”

After our small talk, we headed back up, had a quick breakfast and then went down. Since there were a couple of Nano-Z downstairs, Xerya asked us to let her kill them. As usual, her attack patterns were slow and predictable. Her strength was similar to that of the Nano-Z themselves, and it didn’t seem like she was able to properly use Nataly’s strength. When I watched her fight, it was like witnessing a toddler trying to copy the moves she saw once in a holo series.

From this apartment building, we made our way to the next one. The previous night, I saw a lot of Nano-Z rushing up the stairs and fighting among each other in various apartments. By noon, we had already cleared up most of the building and my bag of nanocores was getting full. Honestly, I had no idea where she was storing all of those nanobots, but as long as she made use of them and made us stronger, it didn’t matter.

While we were heading downstairs, after clearing up the rooftop of the building, Xerya stopped and asked me:

“Do you think my combat style is flawed?”

“Huh?” I blinked surprised at her.

“Does it require further improvement?” she asked.

“Well...” I scratched the back of my head and then replied “If I am to be honest, I’ve seen children fight better.”

“Nataly? What is your expert opinion?” she immediately asked the one who had some actual battlefield experience.

“You’re fighting is at a beginner level. It is flawed in several places, which leaves room for the enemy to strike you. More than once the Nano-Z were able to grab you or even tried to bite you or scratch you. If not for my durable skin, they would have ripped a good chunk of it, you are aware of this, right?” Nataly asked.

“Affirmative, hence why I asked if my combat style is flawed.” she nodded.

“What you have can’t really be called a style. It’s more of a... squabble at the level of a child.” her words were harsh but reached the same point as I did.

“How so? I have tried to use the most efficient movements while defending and attacking.” she replied.

“If you are talking about efficiency, yes, you could say that you were able to waste as little energy as possible, however, if we are talking about raw damage, then you weren’t very efficient.”

“Explain.”

“There are various ways of fighting. You can be on the defensive, you can be on the offensive, or you can maintain a balance between the two with movements that are meant to keep you safe while also helping you to diss out some damage. However, these three strategies also must be applied according to your enemy. You have to learn when to switch between these three stances and also how to use your environment. If there’s a spike nearby, push them into it, don’t stand by and try to analyze the path of their fist as it connects to your face.” Nataly explained in a way that started out gentle, but then became sterner and more serious towards the end.

“That only happened three times.” Xerya defended herself.

“That’s three time too many! You should make sure the enemy never reaches you while you always reach them. Your attacks are not meant to wear them out but to kill them. You are not supposed to match your strength with theirs but to bulldoze through them without mercy! You lack the skill, the tactic, the battle sense of a warrior, but that doesn’t mean you can’t learn them. You need to grow and harness your instinct for combat.”

“I do not possess instincts.” Xerya pointed out the immediate flaw.

“For opponents weaker than you, you don’t need them. Strategy, strength, speed, and tenacity are more than enough and those you already have.”

“Am I to assume that I lack strategic knowledge?” Xerya asked.

“That and a battle sense.” Nataly replied with a nod.

“How do I gain a battle sense?” Xerya asked since having strategic knowledge was a matter of learning tactics and such.

“By going all out.”

“I do not understand, please explain again.” Xerya insisted.

After this. the two of them continued to talk about what she was lacking in combat, and a bit later, I found out that the reason why Nataly wasn’t using me as a reference was because I was also lacking a lot when it came to fighting. While Xerya wasn’t going all out and was minimizing her movement to the point where it got in the way, I was doing the opposite and my attacks made me look like an oversized windmill trying to mow down the Nano-Z in front of me.

The conclusion to this conversation was that without Nataly taking over her body and showing us how it was done, it was useless to continue to try to explain as for Xerya, she simply declared that she would use a trial-and-error method until she was able to optimize her combat style to her liking.