Mod Superhero

Monday morning, Athena was already out looking for more scrap, and Clara was still sleeping.

So Emmett tested his theory.

He commanded the kitchen table to disintegrate, then consolidated the entire swarm together. Afterward, Emmett was left with a single mass of nanites. 

Mass was a very loose term. The swarm was roughly ten pounds, but the swarm could twist itself into almost any shape Emmett could imagine, including making sheets only a few nanites thick. He could stretch it across the room or compress the swarm down and hide it in the storage canister in his torso. 

It was hard to wrap his mind around just how malleable the nanites were. Even if he poured all his energy into learning how to use them, Emmett doubted he could find all their potential uses. 

But right now, he only had one thing he needed to test. 

Emmett concentrated and focused on the swarm on the floor. The blob stretched and expanded until it was a waist-high square. The surface quivered like liquid. 

As he and TINA theorized over the weekend, they’d come up with several mental commands for Emmett to use. She would help translate each command to the swarm, but these commands would act like shortcuts and reduce the workload for both of them. 

Scattered around the floor were bits of leftover scrap from making servers. Emmett concentrated on those and issued his first command: 

MULTIPLY SWARM

The swarm collapsed, the blocky structure burst like a bubble. Nanites splashed across the floor, spilling out in all directions. For a moment, the swarm reached out toward pieces of scrap like an octopus. 

This part wasn’t much different from turning scrap into servers. Only instead of making servers, they were making more nanites—more subtypes. If everything went well, the overall mass should increase without straining either Emmett or TINA too much. 

Emmett watched the black swarm split and cover the ten separate pieces of scrap, then focused his attention inward. Just as he could issue silent commands to the nanites, he was beginning to feel feedback from them. It was subtle, but once TINA pointed it out to him, Emmett couldn’t miss it. 

As the swarm worked, Emmett smiled. 

It was working. 

Manufacturers converted metals, plastics, and the rest of the raw materials into more versatile nanites. Emmett could feel the swarm expanding. In his mind’s eye, he pictured a cup full of black water. Slowly, the water level rose until it bulged slightly above the lip of the glass. 

CAUTION — OVERFLOW

NANITES 105% CAPACITY

The nanites shouldn’t have been able to grow out of the cup. The bulge—the meniscus—should’ve spilled over the edge. Those extra nanites should’ve fallen inert and out of Emmett and TINA’s control. 

Instead, the cup expanded to accommodate the swarm. With each bit of raw material, Emmett watched the cup expand in his mind’s eye. 

NANITES 110% CAPACITY 

NANITES 115% CAPACITY

Finally, the swarm calmed and coalesced again at his feet. The swarm formed again into a roughly waist-high block. Only this time, the surface was clearly agitated, like someone had thrown a stone into a pond. 

Slowly, Emmett relaxed. 

“How’s it looking, TINA?”

“The swarm is stable at one hundred and fifteen percent capacity.”

Emmett sighed and smiled. “Is it really one hundred and fifteen percent now? Shouldn’t this be the new one hundred percent baseline?”

“Currently, nanite capacity is based on how much you can store in your canister. This figure was already optimized and nanites were already compressed to maximum capacity.”

“Will these nanites be stable outside of the canister?”

“These nanites are stable in a general atmosphere, though they won’t retain power forever. You would need to cycle nanites into your storage container to keep them charged and ready.”

Emmett nodded. “Something to think about for later.”

Emmett and TINA ran the newly grown swarm through a battery of tests. Emmett stretched and maneuvered the swarm across the living room, folding it into various shapes. TINA recorded data on its speed and responsiveness, though she didn’t tell him until they were finished. Unless TINA directed him to do something different, Emmett focused on the feeling of the nanites. 

And there definitely was a difference. Emmett could feel the difference in his concentration. It felt like he was lifting just a little bit more weight. It was a barely noticeable difference at first, but as the tests went on, the difficulty became more apparent. 

When TINA finally let him relax, Emmett checked the time on his phone. Only fifteen minutes had elapsed, but it had felt like twice as long.

“How do you feel?” TINA asked. 

Emmett wiped a bead of sweat off his forehead, then recounted his experience. 

“That is in line with my findings. A difference of fifteen percent mass is not much in the beginning, but the strain will only increase.”

“Will it get better with training?”

“Yes, you will see some benefits from training, but the biggest gains will come from increased server capacity. For now, please take a cautious approach to training your capacity.”

Emmett smirked. “Understood. …TINA, can I take these extra nanites with me?”

“They’ll need to stay affixed to you in order to conserve energy. Traveling separately would take too much power. Of course, there is a limit to how many nanites you can conceal on your person.”

Emmett ran through quick calculations in his head. His canister could hold ten pounds of nanites when they were compacted. He could conceivably spread another two canisters’ worth of nanites across his clothes. 

Out of curiosity, Emmett commanded the swarm to cling to his clothes. The versatile nanites couldn’t camouflage themselves, so they covered him like a coat of black oil. Emmett waved around his arms and legs. Nanites stuck in place. But when Emmett threw punches and kicks, nanites scattered across the room. 

“TINA, can we layer these under our disguise nanites?”

“Yes, that will hold up slightly better than the current configuration, but disguise integrity will be compromised.”

“Okay. So, I can always keep my regular stash of nanites hidden in my canister. But If I have too many nanites, I won’t be able to hide them once the fighting starts. I can work with that…”

Emmett trailed off as he got another idea. This had started because Emmett wanted to find a way to use his nanites without the bullets as a delivery system. He wanted a stealth option, and had assumed he would need to carry the nanites on his person.

…What if he didn’t need to carry them?

Emmett concentrated on the swarm, once again corralling them into a waist-high mass. Then he sent another command. 

SATURATE ENVIRONMENT

The nanite swarm quivered and collapsed. This time, it spread evenly across the floor, coating the kitchen tile in a thin sheen of black. Emmett continued pushing, willing the nanites to spread themselves thinner still. The black coating stretched out across the living room until the color started to fade. 

Emmett kept pushing, and another bead of sweat dripped off his forehead. Finally, the nanites disappeared from view and he let out a sigh. Emmett scanned the floor, but couldn’t find any trace of the nanites. The floor looked a little dusty, but otherwise normal. 

Emmett focused on the couch. He should probably practice saturating the environment and recalling the swarm—practice one thing at a time and get a grasp of the basics… But he wanted to keep going. 

“TINA, can we designate the couch as an enemy?”

“Yes. I’m ready when you are.” 

TINA didn’t sound the least bit hesitant, and that settled things. Emmett gave the next command. 

SATURATE ENEMY

In Emmett’s mind, he could feel the swarm shift. It didn’t look like anything was happening, but it felt like the wind had shifted. If he squinted, he could just make out hair-thin streams of nanites flowing across the room. Soon, the pattern on the couch wavered like tiny ants were crawling across it. 

INCAPACITATE ENEMY

The surface of the couch shimmered with activity. The black sheen appeared as nanites coalesced, focusing on the faded flower pattern on the couch. 

When the couch’s flowers were all turned black, Emmett laughed heartily. One, that it worked. Two, that TINA had designated the flowers as weak spots. 

“I can’t believe that worked,” Emmett said.

Clara stumbled out of the back bedroom, wearing one of Athena’s oversized T-shirts. She pushed the hair out of her face and wiped her eyes. 

“What are you going on about? …What did you do to the couch?”

DISPERSE

SATURATE ENVIRONMENT

Clara watched in silence, mouth hanging partly open, as the nanites seemed to vanish. She probed a couch cushion. “Where did they go?”

REGROUP

The swarm trickled toward Emmett from across the floor, reforming into a waist-high blob. Clara jumped and took a step back. 

“Are you doing that or is TINA?”

Emmett shrugged. “The world may never know.”

Clara punched him playfully on the shoulder. “That’s going to take some getting used to.”

“What is?”

“Controlling tech with your mind. It’s like you’re an actual technopath. Dad would be jealous.”

“We’ll show him. One day.”

Clara leaned against his shoulder. “You sound so certain.”

Emmett wrapped an arm around her shoulder and squeezed her arm. “I am certain. How’s your training going?”

Clara chuckled nervously. “Yeah. About that…”

~ ~ ~