Education [2]

A hundred yards up the side of the valley, hiding in a small copse of trees, Liam sat watching the spectacle unfold below him.

Liam was able to clearly hear the conversation below thanks to his nanite augmentations which improved all of his senses.

"What the hell are they saying?" <How would I know, I learned how to talk from you and NANO?>

"Useless idiot. I hear traces of English, Cantonese, Mandarin, Hungarian, Spanish, French, Korean, Russian… is that…DID THAT FOX GIRL HAVE A SOUTHERN ACCENT?" Briefly, a cute fox girl with a cowboy hat and chaps on appeared in Liam's mind before he squashed it.

<I saw that. You really are lonely. I could probably make her that outfit if you want.>

"Focus idiot, we need to figure out what's happening here."

<It appears that all the languages of the 21st century have been merged into one language. It's tough to interpret with all the hisses and yips interspersed but I can work on a translation algorithm.>

"You can do that? I didn't think you would have the processing power to create new algorithms and protocols. Who knows, you might not be an Idiot in the future."

<Ignoring that. But yes. I am able to absorb a lot of free processing power since NANO's core operating procedures to control you have been eliminated.>

Liam watched as the serpent warriors behind the fox suddenly rushed back to the side of their leader.

"Did they just say something about a Shinigami?"

<That sounds correct, I believe in English that would be a Death God.>

Liam was confused for a moment. "Idiot, I have all my memories back right?"

<Yes you big dummy. They are probably not referring to you specifically killing people, but rather the automated defenses set around the perimeter before you ever were placed here. According to NANO's memory, there were 11 solar defensive turrets mounted on both ends of the valley. They convert the solar energy into pulse fire organic particle accelerator blasts.>

"Holy shit that's nasty. I guess they really wanted to make sure nothing disturbed me. I guess it is a miracle that deer got near me."

<Yep. It sounds like the big baddie is finished with his monologue now, why don't you go down there and eat him?>

"Let me ask you. Are you able to operate my body the way NANO did to turn it into an indestructible nightmare fuel machine?"

<Ah well…about that…>

"No?" <No…> "Figured as much. What kind of soup sandwich did you plan on me getting involved in? I can't roll in there like Zorro and beat them all with a sword!"

<OOH YES!> "What are you doing?" Before Liam could say stop he felt a small twinge in his head. Suddenly information poured into his mind as he felt thousands of different sword styles pour into his head. One that stood out the most was one paired with a whip…

"Did you just?" <Yup! I downloaded into your mind all the archival data on swordplay I could find on the Starlink! Don't get too excited, I can only retrieve Starlink's archives right now, I don't have active search permissions or access to the extranet. -Last Ronin Protocol- has been created.>

Liam's face brightened before dulling again. He really wanted to see if he could find out what was happening with the Daedalus project. Since Starlink was up and running, he had hopes that it might point him to a potential contact with Daedalus.

"Lot of good it's going to do me to have all this sword fighting knowledge and no sword…" Just as Liam was about to grumble again, he felt his left arm tingle and suddenly a blade appeared aligned with his forearm from the back of his elbow.

Liam swung his arm a few times and found the blade to be neatly balanced and asked "How much control can you give me over this?"

<Hang on…Done. -Myriad Weapon Protocol- created. Good to go, just think about it now!>

As Liam focused on his arm blade, he realized he could vaguely change its composition. He made it dense and heavy. Then a Rapier. Then a broadsword. Then he made a shield grow out of the middle of the broadsword.

<What kind of sword is that supposed to be?>

"The kind that won't get me sued. I categorically am not Zorro, a musketeer, King Arthur…" before Liam could continue his rant he heard, <But no one can sue you now!>

Liam took a deep breath and didn't let that obvious fact rattle him. "The world is completely populated with snake men, fox women, apparently toad people who probably came from the Navy, dog men and bird people. I am sure there is probably rat men who operate as lawyers."

"Lets go exercise some Castle Doctrine."

<Still determined to defend yourself in a court aren't you?>

"Shut up. I Just got out of a 10,000 year prison. Great view but I have no desire to return to another one."

<You're technically still here.> "…I need you to make a mute protocol." <Nope!>

Liam argued with the perky nanobot AI in his brain as he silently worked his way closer to the valley floor. As he moved forward he noticed that the Fox girl seemed mostly healed now, and he saw that the eyes of the leader of the snakes had grown sharp.

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"So, Saintess. I gave up my post and came after you. Because the Gene power I can harvest from you alone is enough to put me in contention for a generals position in the Conquest." Baofa's words startled not just Luna, but every other one of Ipili present. She quickly scanned the group and saw the light of greed in the serpentine eyes drilling holes in her.

"Your gene energy should be mostly recovered by now. I don't want to consume it when your core is empty, so I've given you ample time. I must say this place is wonderful. If you surrender I will spare your life. Otherwise, you'll be recovering your energy with no arms or legs."

All this time, Luna thought she was buying time and giving the floor to the Ipili leader to let him ramble while she closed her wounds. Her face dropped as she realized she had been playing into the big Ipili's hands as well. He knew exactly what she was doing.