The cold monsoon wind breezed through the cavern walls, dripping a mixture of morning dew, sea salt and rain. He stood in the sepulchre, where she lay behind glass, looking like a lifeless doll. Suspended in the cryogenic chamber, it seemed to hollow her out despite the small amount of time that had passed. The years seemed like decades. She was almost perfect, almost except for the bullet hole in her temple shot from Lilith's pistol. And he had left it there. The bullet still in her brain. He froze her that way.
"Wyndy, sometimes I wonder if we are more man… or machine?" He spoke to ears that long ceased hearing, yet it had become a habit to retreat to the cave to remind himself of his seemingly pointless longevity. "If only you could see us now, molecules bonded together by sinew and steel, tendon and technology, extensions and parts that I, no we, all traded up for." A flick of his wrist against the chamber next to hers turned it into dust, "do you see what I mean? No of course you don't. This body is not human, not anymore."
Peter stared at the pile of dust he had created on the tiled cavern floor, noting that he would have to inform the scientists to replace the cryogenic chamber. Again. It was only these moments in the cave that he allowed himself to feel anger, vulnerability, despair at circumstances - in front of the Last Boys he was someone else. These moments reminded him that despite the enhancements, a part of him was still human.
A scuffling of pebbles broke his reverie as his second-in-command hovered in the shadows by the mouth of the cavern. "Pete, time to go." A flicker of dread went through Peter's eyes, not quick enough to have been caught. Although Tinc was his right-hand man, they failed to develop any sense of cohesion, simply moving along with the post-war rhythm and pace that had thrown them together.
"Okay, great. Thanks 2LT (2nd Lieutenant) Ge."
"Dude, seriously. I've told you before it's just Tinc. We're like brothers right, I mean Last Boys and all. No fancy titles or ranks here. I got your back. And you, mine?" he chortled like it was the funniest thing in the world.
If he could manage an eye roll, Peter's eyeballs would probably have fallen out of his skull - then again, eyeballs were on his list of replaceable parts. Not today but next time. Anything to keep the research going. "Right, Tinc. Lead the way bro."
Wyndy's cave was a fair distance away from the city, surrounded by coral formations that were not confined to the glass bubble like the Last Boys were. Peter made sure of that when he was searching for a suitable environment to house the cryogenics laboratory that would double up as Wyndy's new home. Boarding their separate Merlions, Peter jammed the acceleration propeller in the direction of the Merlion docks tunnels, giving himself a good head start towards the dome that was Tekong City.
It was hard discerning how long it had been since he moved to Tekong City. Living underwater in an artificial simulated environment made time difficult to differentiate. Sometimes the nights were long, sometimes there were days without darkness that went on for ages. A side effect of agreeing to live in the science and research district.
What used to be military training terra, Tekong City had taken a hit from the First Civil War and the island had started sinking back into the sea it came from. Only recently did the President take to reconstructing and re-establishing this new zone for the Presidential Underwater Initiative. Hidden beneath the glossy sapphire of the Temasek Straits, the domed city consisted of the main research centre building and a training centre of equal size. The docks that used to welcome ferries in the olden days were converted to Merlion docks. Thankfully the damage to the island was minimal and only minor repairs were needed. Entry and exit into Tekong City was only through pressure controlled TransitTubes that extended from the docks out one league into the Straits.
Adaptation to the underwater environment was easier than expected. Although most new Temasekians were Air City dwellers used to the 50Cel heat, the older generation were grounders back when the land was still called Singapore and climates varied from daylight to moonlight. The welcoming reprieve came from the coolness of the environment that contrasted the heat of the Air City which soothed their nerves.
A raucous cacophony streamed over the North dock, mingling with the scent of brined metal from sea air. An unmistakable buzz reverberated as he approached, watching the pulse of shapes; lean and lithe, gangly and gargantuan. The mobile trading centre had already been set up. Tekong City recruits raced ahead towards counters, a sight reminiscent of children exploring the junk of carnival stalls looking for gems. On the other hand, regulars strolled by expressionless.
Some saw this as a monthly routine, others still derived excitement from the luxury Trade Day provided for them to swap out and upgrade parts. You could tell who the real enthusiasts were by the tiny glint in their CarboneX sculpted eye - the glint was lasered on. Taking place on the last Sunday each month, Trade Day offered a respite from regular training and gave everyone time to adjust to their new parts. Training for the week that followed focused on heightening their sense of awareness and adaptation.
Two years of monthly visits filled Peter with a sense of ennui, which he attributed to a possibility that each upgrade stripped off fragments of his humanity. The scientists however, would have disagreed with him.
Flexing well-worn fingers, he remembered when he first marvelled at how LikWidSkin mimicked the human flesh construct. Now it was an aberration - molecules bonded together by sinew and steel, tendon and technology, extensions and parts of a body that was neither human nor machine, sentenced to serve the military's secret force.
Sure, he was relieved from the clutches of Changi Prison, given freedom to roam around Tekong City and maintained his rank. They even let him train the new recruits. Yet it still felt like he was a prisoner in his own body. This must be what they called poetic justice.
A familiar board hung from the entrance of the blue zone he passed.
Level 1 implants: CarboneX3000/Fibrex Titanium - lightweight, basic daily use (replace after three months).
Level 2 implants: Qwartizen - moderate, daily use involving regular training (replace after six months).
Level 3 implants: Kolrazium - heavy, daily use with strength and resistance training (replace after nine months).
Standing in front of the materials board, Peter saw an unknown figure in a lab coat watching two scrawny boys pause in awe at the crowd. He couldn't help overhearing the worries and wonders of new recruits who unlike him, transferred from various divisions into the military's secret program by choice.
"Eh, which counter to go to? Why so many?"
"You never pay attention during briefing yesterday? Sir said what, new recruits all go to the ones in the blue zone," the recruit pointed to the neon markings that lined the dock in segregation. "We have to do consultation, after that surgery to remove the parts we want to constantly upgrade. Then there is the healing time…" His comrade's face paled the moment surgery was mentioned.
"Can I back out now or not?!"
"Can. Sure you can. You wanna back out, break the bond and pay back the five million cubits they gave you?"
"Cannot! I think my parents used the money already."
"Huh? They used all the money in a month?"
"Ya, they upgraded from ground dwelling to houses in Temasek Air City. You know lah, only rich people can live there. Walao eh, remind me why we decided to transfer here from Infantry again?"
"Because... we wanna be Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger." Peter gave a mental roar of laughter as the recruit quoted the title of an old song from three decades ago.
"Oh look, see the green zone? Those are the newly recovered recruits from the last batch. Go see!"
He didn't have to take the cue to know what was going on in the green zone - his ears would tune in the conversation from where he was standing. Squinting through the crowd he could make out a group huddled around a Facial Upgrade counter.
A beefy recruit was having bandages removed from his eyes as his buddies peered at him in a mixture of elation and doubt. That was the one upgrade Peter couldn't bring himself to go through.
"Ke yi kan ma? Huang, ni kan dao shen me?" one yelled into his ear in heavily accented Mandarin.
"Oi! Don't shout la! He's temporarily blind not deaf." A tiny female recruit about 4'8" exclaimed, with an unusually shrill voice.
"Guys, stop huddling! He can't see anything if we're all standing in front of him."
"Spare me the details please, I want to see for myself also." A bandaged recruit sitting nearby waiting for his turn called out.
Silence overcame them for a few moments before Huang shouted, "OH! GUYS! GUYS! Wo kan dao le! I can see each individual strand of hair and pore on your face. Even the scales on that clownfish in the sea. The range distance of these eyes are amazing!"
"Ok Huang," the consulting scientist nudged, "you have to see how well they function tonight when you activate night mode. Come down to the lab tomorrow if it doesn't work."
"This is like being in a VR game!"
Peter laughed to himself again, he had never felt like any of these recruits and he was doubtful if he could ever. Still it was definitely a young boy's dream come true, no doubt about that.
He saw the young boy in the lab coat turn green and race in the direction of the upgrade centre in the yellow zone he was headed to. From that distance he saw a familiar face signal to the boy while gesturing animatedly, pointing to a table located at the back of the booth.
"Oi Peter! New upgrades for you?" a gravelly voice called out as he reached the yellow zone. "I see you very long never change anything. You know the contract say you need to test out at least 24 new parts every year." The voice paused to tap a few keys on his Holocom and admonished, "Wah! Lieutenant Peter Shi… 20 parts to go and already half the year gone. Tsk."
"Nice to see you again Mr. Hock." Peter turned towards the boy next to Hock looking up nervously at him. "New assistant? What happened to the old one?"
"Aiyah boy, it's Uncle Hock. How many times I tell you already? Oh you know lah, the last one went to test drive a new Merlion pod then … BAM! Explosion! So I got new one." Hock laughed and gestured to the boy.
Peter knew it was an outright lie but he didn't call Hock out on it considering the new assistant looked positively frightened after the exchange. It was good to keep newbies on their toes. Also, he noticed Hock's previous assistant Sim Ee from two booths away glaring in their direction. It was probably a conflict of personality what with Hock being so personable and unnecessarily friendly with names instead of honorifics.
He decided to try some friendliness and offered his hand out to the boy. "Hello, I'm Peter."
"Jamal, Sir. Peter." An awkwardly returned handshake. This boy seemed afraid to be here and Peter wondered what his motives were for choosing to work with the Initiative.
"Well, the arms and legs are fine Uncle Hock. Here I'll trade my CarboneX fingers and toes…" in the midst of making his decision Peter had already detached his toes and fingers with no help from the upgrade assistant. Improvements like this, he wanted in on the whole process, another way of torturing himself to remember why he ended up there in the first place. "For Kolrazium ones. Right, that finishes my 20 parts for the year." There was no emotion in his voice hinting either excitement, or dread that would give away how much he despised himself for this. No glimmer that he used to be a boy who clung to old ways, refusing the technological progression of society.
Peter watched as Jamal brought over a long silver case which Hock unlocked, eyes flitting from left to right. The Kolrazium bone joints were laid out on the counter a piece at a time, while Hock carefully admired the work that had gone into crafting each anatomical part.
"Do you need my help Sir?" Jamal offered. Peter waved him away casually while slightly fumbling as he picked up each part and snapped them into place much to Hock's wide-eyed fear that they would end up damaged due to fragility. Grabbing a LikWidSkin #03 Medium spray, Peter coated each part with flesh, forming the fingers into slender nibs.
He stared at Jamal when he noticed that the upgrade assistant had missed something.
"Oh sorry sorry." The panicked boy turned around to carry the Finaliser over to the table. "Please look into the scanner here."
Once the retinal scan confirmed Peter's identity, Jamal pulled up the fingerprint profile and entered the command to initiate completion of the procedure.
Now came the most uncomfortable part of inserting each finger and toe into the Finaliser where a precision trimmed nail was implanted at the top and his prints lasered into the artificial flesh.
"Well I guess that's it for today Uncle Hock. I'll see you around."
"Looks good, boys. Next time you two can take over my job already. Ha. Ha. Ha. Any problem, you know where to find me." Hock chortled, laying a hand on Peter's back.
"By the way Uncle Hock, have the team send over a replacement cryochamber tomorrow. I broke another one." Hock seemed unsurprised by this news, and nodded in agreement. He was probably well aware of Peter's tendencies to hide his emotions but never brought it up a single time considering that this was the 26th chamber that had to be replace in the last two years.
Peter thanked the scientist and headed to the sprinting track. Racing among the trainees, it seemed that he was too swift with his movements, strangely feral without being robotic but at the same time, unhuman. New parts always made him uneasy. The whole Initiative made him question moralirt - soldiers orphaned and abandoned from one of the many civil wars or just ballsy recruits from Temasek's Air Force who wanted a life-changing experience came here to contribute as test subjects in furthering the research for developing a substantial, stronger military force. Technologically the Initiative could create and improve just about anything - only lacking in the ability to recreate conscious intelligence.
It was awhile before Peter heard the pounding of crushed asphalt behind him. He slowed down to let the shadow catch up, though it probably would have reached him not a moment too soon. He knew next-to-nothing about Tinc Ge. He came to Tekong City the same day as Peter himself, quickly rising through the ranks. It wasn't that Tinc was the perfect recruit, it was his ability to draw the crowd with a magnetism that seemed to embrace even the misfits. Lean at six feet tall he stood out like a sore thumb with his height and the way he counteracted the dress code - boots glinted with camouflaged urchin spikes, mantle and holsters were crafted out of stingray hide. Where most trainees kept a close cropped crewcut; (Peter himself preferred a tapered cut with some fringe), bowl cuts, dreadlocks, mohawks and fauxhawks, lightning bolts shaved in repetition around his crown - Tinc had done it all. It was not in Peter's nature to judge a person's choice of self-expression but he had never seen a man so queer in his life. Receiving the news four months ago that Tinc was to be his second-in-command displaced his sense of rationality and order. Peter did not like chaos.
"Race you? 20 miles clockwise around the island starting from the docks."
"What's in it for me?"
"Forgiveness."
"Excuse me?" a puzzled look crawled across Peter's face as they jogged to the docks. "Forgiveness for?"
What sounded like conspiratorial laughter erupted from the lanky giant that towered two-thirds of a foot over him. "Four Guinness bro. Loser pays for drinks at The Wild Coral." Before Peter could respond, they had reached the docks and Tinc was already off and running. The momentary confusion lost him a five second head start and he was pretty sure that his partner had said 'forgiveness'; as sure as his ears were upgraded the year before.
Lucky for them, a trade day meant freedom from duties and learning to readjust to new parts. A race around the island could probably shave a maximum two hours off his day and boy was it a hot day. Breezes were not enabled on the weather simulation lately - power was in short supply and the scarcity meant that little luxuries such as snow and rain were shelved. It was five miles in before Peter had finally caught up and matched pace, puzzled as to how Tinc could be lightning swift considering he didn't seem to have any upgraded parts.
"Three quarter of the way to go and I've only just caught up.” Peter wheezed while running alongside Tinc. “You're giving me a run for my cubits aren't you? What upgrades are you on?"
"None."
"No? How is that possible?"
"I like the torture, I crave the sensation of pain searing through every nerve in my body as I push harder than everyone else. I battle the sensations of unconsciousness seeking to overwhelm me, and I push." Tinc paused for dramatic effect, "why change so much of who you are? This is who I am." It seemed as if the atmosphere turned dark from Peter's unassuming question. The sound of Kolrazium was unmistakable as Tinc tapped his chest for emphasis. "This is what I am. An upgraded heart. That was all they could give me, all my body could take."
"Right, sorry I asked. It just occurred to me that I had never seen you on the docks for the past four months at trade day."
Silence succumbed to circumstances and gripped hold of both runners. Tinc stopped mid-run and turned to glare at him in defiance. "Hey bro? Don't think for a moment that I am weak or insane. I am just as human as you are. If you think you are."
If Tinc had intended to strike a nerve, the last remark had done exactly that as it sliced through Peter's heart, setting off a mild irritation and anger that was threatening to bubble to the surface of his throat. What appeared to be a friendly challenge was starting to turn into a standoff. "Tinc, whatever you want me to call you, look. Firstly, stop calling me bro. I barely know you or what you're about. It's only been four months, stop pushing it. Secondly, don't insinuate my humanity. And we will get along just fine."
"Dude, you need to chill. I know a dealer with the most potent urchin needles that shoot straight through the veins to your heart. And he has the best girls around. If you know what I mean," he sniggered. "There is of course a special deal if you get both instead of one. There was this one girl..."
In the midst of a grin, Tinc failed to see the fist that connected with his pronounced jaw that sent him slamming backward onto the ground. "You mad bro?! I was just kidding about the urchin. Not the girls though."
"Mad? You are mad. You are incredulous! I know people who have overdosed from urchin needle shots, I have seen people use urchin needles to KILL THEMSELVES and here you are talking about it like it's a good thing. If anyone is mad, it's you. Do you even look at yourself in the mirror?"
"You can diss what I say Pete, but don't. ever. diss. me. Are you looking for a fight? Come on, hit me. Give it your best shot with your Kolrazium fist. You think that just because you're strong that makes you capable? Well guess what, you are a dick. That pretentious act isn't fooling me. Just a nobody trying to be a somebody, I know exactly who you are, what you did and why you came here. We all know. Just because you have a higher rank, it doesn't mean I respect you. I abhor you. I curse you. I blame you. And this."
Still hopped up on rage, Tinc pushed himself off the ground and shoved a knuckled fist back at Peter, catching him in an uppercut nearly throwing him off balance, "this is for her. I loved her. Maybe more than you could ever love anyone, probably more than you ever will. Eff this shit, I'm done here. This race is over."
He spit in Peter's bruised face "Forgiveness? You don't deserve it. It's going to take a lot for you to regain forgiveness. And you are never getting that from me."
Rubbing his chin, Peter was glad for the fact that Tinc was not hopped up on upgrades - even though the punch seemed to have dislocated his jaw which he easily but painfully realigned with his new hands. He had no idea what this was about but clearly there was more to Tekong City and its inhabitants that he had been led to believe. Watching the angry 2LT retreat down the road, Peter only had a single conclusion. He hit me for a girl? Well he's not queer then.