“Your abdominal muscles will be sore for a week or so, but you don’t have to worry; they’re sutured well, and the stitches will dissolve shortly after the glue holding your skin together fades away.”
“Couldn’t the nanites speed things along?” Juliet groaned, pulling herself up from the reclining surgical chair.
“Slow down, Lucky! Let me raise the seat . . . Oh, never mind, you’re up.” Doctor Ladia shook her head, chuckling. She’d been very talkative while working on Juliet, and, more than once, Juliet had wondered at the wisdom of drinking wine before an operation. Still, the autosurgeon had done most of the work. The only part Ladia had handled personally was carefully removing each of Juliet’s eyes to apply the coating to the processors nestled near her optical nerves.
“Juliet, Ladia has submitted an invoice for the other half of the operation, forty-six thousand Sol-bits.”
“Yep, Angel. Go ahead and pay it.” Juliet tapped the side of her head. “My PAI is sending you the bits.”
“Excellent. Stop by the front desk, and Tricia will give you a packet of anti-inflammatories. I put a subdermal antibiotic tab near the incision; it’ll last a week, so be sure to eat some good probiotics.”
“Thanks.” Juliet stood and gingerly felt at her stomach. “Won’t the nanites help with the pain or swelling?”
“Oh yes. Honestly, I doubt you’ll need the pills, but I’m not one to deny a surgical patient some meds. Now, let me walk you to reception. I’ll put the order in for your arm today, and I’ve got your contact info. Remember, I’m going to need that payment right away; otherwise, I’ll have to cancel the order before it ships.”
“Not a problem, Doctor Ladia.” Juliet walked slowly, following the doctor toward the reception area, still moving gingerly. Her stomach was tender but not terribly; it felt sort of like she’d gone a little too hard on an ab workout. Still, in the back of her mind, she knew the autosurgeon had been poking around in her guts, and she felt like she had to be careful. Ladia stopped by the reception door and held out a hand. Juliet gently grasped it with her red, plasteel hand, pleased to feel the warm, firm grip the doctor returned.
“Thanks, Lucky. I’ll be in touch.” Ladia nodded, turned, and walked away. Juliet pushed the door open and stepped over to Tricia’s station at the front counter.
“I see you’re already all paid up. I’m glad the doctor was able to help you!”
“Me too, thanks.”
“One sec,” Tricia stood and lithely moved over to a stainless cube on the counter behind her. She tapped on it a few times as though waiting for something to happen, then it clicked and, in a small dispenser tray near the front, spat out a small blue plastic pill bottle. Tricia snatched it up, then walked over and handed it to Juliet. “Take one of these every four hours as needed. Don’t take more than six in a day, though.”
Juliet took the little bottle, surprised by the rattle of pills—it felt like the doctor had given her quite a few. “I’m all set?”
“You are! I see the doctor has an item on order for you,” Tricia said, her eyes unfocused as she looked at something on her PAI. “Your operator contact info will be all right to use?”
“Yep. If, for some reason, it isn’t, I’ll let you know.”
“Perfect. I sure hope you have a lovely day. Please don’t overdo it! Get plenty of rest.” Tricia waved, watching as Juliet turned to walk toward the door. She noticed another person sitting in one of the comfortable reception chairs, but he or she was entirely shrouded by the folds of a black coat and wore a wide-brimmed hat tipped down, which hid their face. Juliet shrugged, stepped out of the door, and sighed.
“That was a lot of money to spend, but I feel much better knowing I’ve got those nanites, Angel.”
“That and the EMP shielding. I feel a weight removed from me, knowing you won’t be knocked senseless so easily again.”
Juliet laughed, imagining Angel feeling relieved. How strange it must be to be bodiless! She supposed it wasn’t as strange for someone who’d never had a body to begin with. The laugh felt good—she’d been torn between wonder and depression ever since stepping aboard the shuttle heading to Luna. Though she still had plenty to worry about, Juliet felt that remembering to take some pleasure wherever possible was important.
She stood on the sidewalk, back to Doctor Ladia’s building, suddenly wondering what was on the upper floors. “Maybe residences . . .”
“Juliet, I’ve created a map to your next destination, ShipBound. Additionally, you’ll see a tab on your AUI—I’ve updated your status sheet if you’d like to check your financial and physical standing.”
“Oh, jeez,” Juliet sighed, turning to her right to begin following Angel’s map. Then she selected the tab, and a window appeared to the side of her AUI:
Juliet Corina Bianchi
Physical, Mental, and Social Status Compilation:
Comparative Ranking Percentile (higher is better - previous value in parenthesis):
Net worth and assets:
Sol-bits: 105,002
.73 (67.11)
Neural & cellular adaptiveness:
.96342 (scale of 0 - 1)
.91
Synaptic Responsiveness:
.19 (lower is better)
.31
Musculoskeletal ranking:
–
.33 (53.33)
Cardiovascular ranking:
–
.76 (68.76)
Cybernetic and Bionic Augmentation:
Model name and number:
Overall rating of the augmentation (Grades are F, E, D, C, B, A, S, S+):
PAI
WBD Project Angel, Alpha 3.433
S+
Psionic Lattice
Grave Technologies, GIPEL
S
Data Port
Jannik Systems, XR-55
C
Data Jack
Bio Network Solutions, 8840
C
Medical Nanite Suite
Horizon Medical Nanite Battery, 2105 model, ver. 74.19
C
Retinal Cybernetic Implant
Hayashi, Crystal Optics 3.2c - Customized Retinas, EMP Hardened
B-
Auditory Cybernetic Implant
Cork Systems, Lyric Model 4 - EMP Hardened
C+
Cybernetic Prosthetic Right Arm, bottom half
VitalityTek, Hercules
D
Programmable Synthetic Fingerprints
Ross Inc., Biomesh 9
C
Programmable Synthetic Hair
Tulip Co., Rainbow Strands, Version 12a
C
DNA Spoofing Package - Saliva
WBD - Custom Model
C
No other augmentation detected.
–
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