Skills

I still remember when six-year-old Sora complained that the Night City public school was a mess. He looked inside the school library and found that all the chips containing various subjects were either corrupted or outdated. Sora grumbled that he couldn't find anything he wanted there.

When I asked him what he was looking for in the library, I was surprised. Sora was very smart but a rather restless child who liked to move, run, fall, and cry for joy instead of pain when he fell. That kind of thing puzzled me a little.

When Sora told me that he wanted information and knowledge about robotics and engineering, I was perplexed. I didn't expect Sora to pursue knowledge, given his typically restless nature.

When I reported this to Hanako-sama, she seemed a bit worried about her son's sudden interest in engineering. She nodded her head and informed me that she would send me a basic AI with all the knowledge Sora might need.

A few hours later, I received an email to my secure account with what appeared to be an AI containing a couple of petabytes of engineering knowledge, even beyond university level. This made me smile at Hanako-sama's generosity towards her son.

The chip in my hands was worth more than a degree from one of the best universities in the world because it could be reused. Hanako-sama sent it as casually as one would send a photo, despite it being a secure account.

Even recalling Hanako-sama's expression about her son's sudden desire to study engineering, I couldn't find anything wrong with it. Yet, I couldn't forget her expression, which held surprise along with some fear. Why is she afraid? How many more secrets does my grandson's body hide? I asked myself.

Hanako-sama informed me about the capabilities of her son's body shortly after telling me his name, and I could only stare in disbelief.

Sora possessed passive enhancements in cell division and improvements in muscle tissues. His muscles were full of fine fibers that, when gathered in large quantities, created muscle tissue.

Sora's muscle tissue fibers were braided, which, while seemingly trivial at first glance, increased the average muscle strength and speed of his body by 30%. His muscle fibers had the same shape as braided steel cables used in bridges and elevators, without changing the shape of the muscle.

His bones were plated with light alloys, making them more resistant and flexible, which in turn made them harder to break. His nerves were reinforced and could carry much more information, plated with an alloy with the best electrical conductivity.

This alloy was primarily made of gold, combined with silver and aluminum—the three metals with the best electrical conductive capabilities.

This enhancement allowed the electrical impulses of Sora's nervous system to move much faster, giving him greater reaction time. It was almost as if he was born with a passive Sandervista.

When Hanako-sama informed me about all this, I didn't know what to think. Was Sora still human after all these modifications? To make everything even more astounding, Hanako-sama hadn't yet told me about the nanotechnology she was so proud of.

When she finally did tell me about the nanotech, I didn't know what to say anymore. Hanako-sama got up and prepared tea while I sat there, my brain blocked, not knowing how to react to Sora's capabilities. She calmly sat down, finished making and pouring the tea, and started drinking hers when I finally managed to speak.

"Ha-Hanako, does this mean... he doesn't need any Cyberware? Just the code and composition, and his body would create it?"

Hanako-sama, having taken a sip of her tea, placed the cup elegantly on the table and told me, "Not only that, Musashi-san. He can't be hacked either. Let's take, for example, that Sora learns the software code from a simple Kiyoshi eye implant. By learning the software code, the nanomachines inside Sora's head would emulate the lines of code created by the Kiyoshi software. If someone tries to hack..."

Hanako-sama paused, her expression turning dangerous as she imagined the supposed hacking attempt on her son.

"Excuse me, Musashi-san. As I was saying, if someone tries to hack Sora through his eyes, once he knows the composition and code his body can recreate, the hacker would enter the emulation created by the nanobots. Upon noticing the security flaw, they would shut down that emulation and create a new one from Sora's memories of the original code, invalidating the hack or the attempt at it."

Hearing that, the 70-year-old Musashi Hatake, with 55 years of experience as a field operative, missions of infiltration, elimination, and asset recovery, being a veteran of three corporate wars, and a survivor of all four, was speechless. The potential of the child I had been entrusted to protect, raise, and teach as if he were my family was astounding. Sora had the potential to be the best battlefield operative anyone could have ever imagined—well, not anyone, as the woman who kept drinking tea as if nothing had happened knew. She watched my face in disbelief, as if watching TV or reading a book, not caring about the implications of the "improvements" she had made to her son.

"Musashi, don't let it slip your mind. Sora's cyberware recreation capabilities are limited. For starters, to create them, he needs specific materials and alloys that his body or the nanobots don't have.

These would have to be added separately, like the programmed vitamins he would need as he grows up. His enhancements also need to grow with him. To create them, he needs many hours of being unconscious or asleep.

To clarify, the nanobots cannot, by design, begin to replace Sora's body parts as they wish.

Only a necessity for survival can override the lines I have created to protect my son's body from the nanobots. Think of it as an imperative evolution for survival that would cut the nanobots' limiters."

"As for minor things like infections, poisons, or viruses, he's protected with the nanobots. Infections and poisons are eliminated if they are harmful in any way to the body.

Regarding viruses, the nanobots support the immune system so that the leukocytes or white blood cells can create antibodies faster and in greater quantity. About medications or drugs, the nanobots are connected to Sora's brain as an unconscious part of Sora himself.

If Sora thinks he wants them, the nanobots will examine the substance, and if it has no long-term danger, they will leave it in the system."

"I'm speechless. I really underestimated the saying that mothers will do anything for their children... But Hanako-sama, what controls the nanobots?"

"Musashi, are you there? Moshi moshi?"

Said Aoi, snapping me out of my memories of the conversation I had with Hanako-sama.

"Yes! Sorry, Aoi, I got lost in my memories. Don't worry about the boy... I have trained him well."

I said, hiding Sora's true abilities from Aoi.