13 Enhancements

After the battle, the survivors returned to the military base. Burns was eager to rake in the rewards and headed off to see what kinds of magical or cybernetic implants he could get. Most of the surviving Jacks ended up thinking the same way he did, trying to get their rewards redeemed from the base's quartermasters.

Upon glancing through the implants he could have installed, Burns found a couple interesting ones he decided would be worth selecting. The First was the Bio-Mechanical Integration Procedure. This one procedure was extremely expensive, just it alone would cost too much for other Jacks who'd survived to purchase.

The Aceron researchers who'd created this procedure had hoped to use extremely powerful and intricate technomancy, as well as other types of magic, to allow individuals to interact with machinery in an unprecedented way. After a successful procedure, one would possess all kinds of abilities. For instance, the procedure would have a far more profound impact on one's DNA than a simple gene mod. It would actually become possible to use the body's natural ability to regenerate to repair machines.

That was just one of many features that would become possible if the implant could be installed successfully. In truth, the potential of this procedure was mind-boggling. If it didn't have major problems, it would've opened the door on a whole new realm of technomancy.

The first problem was that the success rate for the procedure was quite low. Gene mods already posed a threat of monstrification which grew with every usage. Most people's bodies' simply couldn't handle the constant changes to their DNA, especially if the genes being changed were magical in nature. In the case of this procedure, that risk was far higher than the risk of installing a few gene mods. Worse still, many of those who survived the procedure were driven insane by the changes they experienced.

The second main problem was that the procedure wasn't cost-effective. Even though those few true successes proved to have impressive abilities, they were too rare. If successful procedures were more common, Burns had no doubt Aceron would be seriously using this procedure to create incredibly powerful technomancers.

Although it seemed dangerous, Burns planned to use this procedure. Based off of experience, he was confident he'd survive the procedure. He had Iron Will after all. Reflecting on that fact, Burns found himself sinking back into that netherworld he'd visited when the Third Shift hit.

As he suspected, he was able to enter this . . . place, on command. From within the nightmarish halls of Crimson Valley, Burns headed to his old cell. Unlike most children who were born only a few years before the first two Shifts, Burns didn't develop any magic at first. Back then, such people were exceedingly rare. Thus it was no surprise that Aceron snapped him up for use in their experiments. It wasn't till years later that his first magic, Iron Will, was born.

Burns remembered the day clearly, although he was able to see it again here, in phantasmal recreations of the original event. After his friend, the child used to create Nobodies, had killed himself Burns had found his resolve to live extinguished. He'd already spent most of his young life as a lab rat whose only purpose was to be poked and prodded. In the end, he'd decided to take his life in spite, the only act of rebellion he could conceive at the time.

It was then, when he made the attempt; that Iron Will activated for the first time. His desire to end his own life had vanished as if it never was and his thoughts had turned towards surviving as long as he could. Even though he knew he'd changed, this change didn't alarm Burns. He'd simply accepted the transformation and moved on.

The Crimson Valley scientists noted his change and studied it for over a year. They were surprised at how long it'd taken his magic, an Internal Magic they named Iron Will, to activate. In the end they never decided why it had been so delayed. Of course, Burns had his own theory about that.

His understanding of Iron Will was far greater than that of Aceron, especially now that he'd lived with it for so long. Iron Will had two simple effects, each of which shared a common purpose. The purpose was simply survival. Iron Will existed to keep Burns alive. It did that through its two effects, Adaptability and Stability, as Burns defined them.

Adaptability allowed Burns to accept changes. This effect allowed him to survive gene mods, to survive becoming an Erratic, to alter his behavior in any way if it meant he'd be more likely to survive. Since he'd awoken Iron Will, his sense of fear had been elevated, his pain altered to be more acute without hampering his ability to act, and several other changes had also occurred. The way he felt and thought went through a metamorphosis of shocking scale. The impact Adaptability had on him was constant and unrelenting.

The second effect was Stability. This effect had some overlap with Adaptability, as for example it too aided in his ability to survive gene mods. Still, it also had some effects that were notably different. Stability was what ensured Adaptability didn't cause any self-harm for one. No matter how Burns changed, his sense of self was never shaken. No matter what foul deed he committed, no guilt ever surfaced. No matter how many times his DNA changed, his body never suffered. Even when he became an Erratic, Stability affected that too. His External Magic was ruled by the effects of Iron Will, acting in the way best suited to Burns' survival.

In truth, Iron Will was both a very strong and very weak magic originally. It could exert massive change on Burns but only when combined with other forms of power was it actually very useful. After all, Iron Will wasn't the reason he escaped Crimson Valley. If he hadn't become an Erratic, he'd likely have died there.

Now though, more than the two enhancements he was entitled to, Burns was interested in his magic. It'd changed clearly and the best way to learn how was by exploring the secrets of this place. Somehow, this netherworld was connected not only to his magic but also to his past. Rather than continue his investigation though, Burns left the netherworld behind. Exploring his magic could wait but the procedures couldn't.

The Bio-Mechanical Integration Procedure was a long one, requiring more than twelve hours to be completed. Although he'd decided on his other enhancement, one he'd come up with personally, he'd need this enhancement first before trying that one out. So, once a spot at a specialized medlab capable of supporting the equipment necessary for the Bio-Mechanical Integration Procedure became available, Burns tried his luck once more.

Like before, he took precautions. Burns knew all too well how untrustworthy Aceron was, so only after Jimmy had confirmed multiple times that everything checked out was he willing to go under. Of course he stashed his Onyx Flood power armor and Sunfire 000 plasma rifle in the medlab, just in case. He also made sure to notify Donovan and Hayashi he'd be out of touch for a while, after much consideration. In the end, they were less likely to harm him than Aceron, if only by a small margin.

Once he was out, the medlab's specialized mech got to work on the procedure. Over the next several hours it worked with tireless precision, making the Jack even more dangerous. Meanwhile, the unconscious Jack found himself in the netherworld yet again.

This time he was slightly surprised. The first time he'd expected something to happen because of the Third Shift. The second time he'd suspected he could enter the netherworld if he tried. Still, he didn't expect to appear here by simply losing consciousness. Would he appear here whenever he slept from now on or was this just a coincidence? Burns didn't know but he intended to find out.

The Erratic Jack attempted to retrace his footsteps and eventually succeeded, appearing where he'd seen the chained giant. The giant was gone but something new was appearing.

A pulsing heart of metal, plastic, and ceramic was slowly growing solid where the giant had once been. The translucent heart spewed orange blood throughout the cavern and into the dark tunnel Burns had come from. Rather than taking on a liquid form, the blood wafted away like a gas, passing right through Burns.

In the shadows, the Erratic Jack could see chains lurking, moving like sharks circling bleeding prey. Watching the scene before him, he began to wonder. Iron Will seemed to be the same as before. If it could have any impact on the world, he hadn't seen it yet. So how had his magic changed?

As far as he'd seen, the limits between Internal and External magic had been broken. If that was the case, why hadn't he seen Iron Will have an impact outside his body? It had always regulated his other magics and that didn't seem to have changed. As the procedure continued, Burns considered things he wanted to try when he awoke.

He also thought about the giant he'd seen before. If the heart before him now represented the Bio-Mechanical Integration Procedure like he thought, did that mean that the giant from before was his External Magic? If that was so, what did the chains dragging the giant into him signify? He was confidant these chains were representations of Iron Will. If that was so, did that mean it was his External Magic which had changed after the Third Shift and not Iron Will? Burns felt both eager and frustrated as he considered the many questions he now had. He'd find answers eventually, till then he'd just have to wait.