Zer0's eufiber tendrils withdrew from the power terminal and his eyes opened. The room smelled more than faintly of ozone. Not surprising given what had been happening only moments before. Eufiber truly was a miraculous substance, as a living colony not only transmitted information at a mindblowing rate, it was also a conductor for electricity like few others in the world.

This was helpful when one was so inclined to power down a lab that generated enough power to fuel a small town and channel it into one's own body. Any baseline that had attempted what had become a daily ritual for the former human known as Zer0 would have been left twitching and gibbering on the floor, best case being dead, worst case being a vegetable, messy in either. In his separation from his baseline reliance on things like 'food', 'water', 'oxygen' and other trivial matters, he had come to require one simple thing. Power. Not in any metaphorical sense, electricity. The thing that allowed modern society to function. It also allowed him to function at full capacity and he was going to need all the power he could muster for his next task.

The tendrils retracted and melded with his clothing, ever-so-briefly disappearing into his outfit before extending outward again and wrapping his hands in an electronically sleeve. The numbers and symbols that streamed ever-so-slowly over the orbs that served as eyes increased exponentially as Zer0's focus shifted to the cybernetic workspace where he set to work designing his newest creation.


Subject: "Contessa"

Action: "Complete medical diagnostic, create digital replica within given workspace."

Parameters: "If data gaps, treat as similar structure to baseline of identical appearance. Points of importance - Skeletal, Circulatory, Respiratory systems and major muscle structure. Lymphatic and Nervous systems irrelevant. Retry simulation until Accurate to .00000001 nm"



Lights throughout the chamber dimmed, or at least seemed to to Zer0 as a holographic image appeared before him. To any one else in the room, Zer0 would seem to be reclined in a fairly comfortable position. To Zer0, though, the entire room faded to white, allowing him to walk freely while his cybernetic mind recreated the vision of a female that he had so recently discovered combing the OpNet.

As the image became clearer, it was apparent that he would be unable to truly replicate the individual known as Contessa through simple digital technology. Such was the power of the Quantum energies that flowed through each and every nova. Zer0 simply looked at the image before him for a moment. Most individuals in this situation would be marveling at the inhuman attractiveness that was radiating from the woman, even in digital form. Zer0 was searching for flaws. Something to make it better...


Action: "Apply variance of 23% from base model, extract dimensions and properties, cross-reference with all reports of novas demonstrating 'increased cosmetic appeal', make adjustments to structure as necessary."

The image before him began to morph and change, ever-so-subtly as information streamed from the opnet through his network and applied itself to his design, making changes as it went.


Action: Continue alterations to physical design in background. Estimate gross materials required for duplicate of skeletal structure. Order of priorities: size, weight, strength. Assume duplicate forged from as strong and light a material as possible within known financial restrictions. Estimate gross material requirements for polymer synthskin creation of sufficient quantity to replicate subject. Compare with time requirement to generate same amount of material through nova with quantum increased stamina. Estimate final cost of materials, display cost and model on screen 7"


As Zer0's world returned to the facility that he called home, he took the time to regain his bearings and stood, taking in the vast resources and equipment that he had acquired over the years. Equipment that had been dormant for so long, waiting for the day to come when it would be set to the task for which it had been designed...

A number and human figure flashed up on Zer0's screen.

A day which had finally come.

TO BE CONTINUED...

It was with a small amount of cynical amusement that Zer0 looked at what could only be called the 'schematic' for a human being. With a physical representation of the individual systems that he had requested, as well as a full-sized hologram of what the 'finished product' would look like. Zer0 was pleased as he put on and activated a head and handset that would allow him to manipulate the display in 3 dimensions without too much reliance on his power.

The end result actually only barely resembled the nova image that had stood there before. On top of that, the only portions that actually did resemble her were only the more 'choice' parts. The final product was actually a dark brown haired bombshell, highlights and curves in all the right places. Zer0 frowned only slightly. It was beautiful, to be sure, but was still only as fair as a human could be made. It would take more than a simple design schematic to improve on this. Still, even before perfected, she would go over very well as a 'first contact' point between him and the rest of the world.

Beside the image hovered read outs of various sorts. Each with a means of overlaying the information and structure it displayed on the diagram. One showed exactly how much material titanium would be required to make a skeletal structure that met the weight requirements as well as the strength. Another showed the blood vessel pathing and the heart's beats per minute when rested, as well as its capacities for stress. However, the part that interested Zer0 the most was a rather unexpected figure.

The amount of relative realism that would be lost by continuing down 'accepted means' of creation was staggering. Despite all its glories, polymer synthskin just wasn't the best option. The computer also assumed that since the parameters had been set, that Zer0 had access to a sufficient quantity of skin of the sort that he would want for this operation. A grand assumption, that.

Zer0 waved through the image and it vanished except for the skeletal structure. Titanium, who would have thought something so simple. Zer0 analyzed the information and diagrams as he slid back into his chair, eufiber tendrils extending from his arms and back and plugging into various terminals and machine ports. As Zer0's eyes started to dart around the doom, the symbols and numbers that covered them started spinning out of control. As he did this, Zer0 accessed the program that controlled the machinery in his chamber. A sheet of this incredibly strong metal was drawn from a stock a number of floors below and transferred upward by pincers and mechanical hands of all shapes and sizes. As the first cutting irons made contact with the metal, the sparks flew and shined brightly. Fortunately for Zer0, he was already gone, his consciousness inside the machine, controlling and altering its programming as he saw fit, making small adjustments as he went on with the creation process.

Several hours after he had begun, Zer0 paused for a moment and looked on with his "normal" eyes at what could only be described as a metallic rendition of a human skull, only without the imperfections and minute dents and nicks that a normal human had. They were flaws, why replicate flaws in the design?

Zer0 settled back into his place and returned his focus to the machine world that had become his playground. What would become his greatest triumph had gotten underway.

TO BE CONTINUED..

ATTENTION -- If you are disturbed by scenes of torture, stop reading. Otherwise, have at. -----------------------------------------------------

Her name was Olivia Grayson. She had spent the past week playing games with a cute boy. It was always so fun to see how long it would take them to muster the courage to speak to you. He had finally asked her out on a dare from a friend of his. What had begun as an innocent little chat had turned into so much more. She was honestly happy. Or at least she had been. Before a fateful April night took a turn for the worse. April Fool’s indeed. Now her name was Number Three. She was blissfully unaware of her current designation, but at the same time, was all too aware that something was wrong. It could be the hood-like creature attaching itself to her face that made her aware of ther; the creature with leathery flesh being pushed against her face and over the top of her skull; the creature that had razor sharp barbs on the edges of its biologically impossible body digging deep into the flesh and injecting their toxin. That could be it. It could be the fact that there wasn’t a lot she remembered beyond April first. She knew it had been some time, she just didn’t know how long or what had happened to her. That could be it. Or it could be the fact that she had just felt her leg being sliced open and the flesh around her thigh and calf being removed like a perfectly toned sock and she could not muster the power to scream.

Zer0 was barely paying attention as a eufiber tendril wound itself around her upper thigh, just above where he had made the incision and cut in a perfect circle around her perfect and pristine leg. It would provide a suitable tourniquet until the device he had created began to work its wonderful craft. No, his attention was focused on carefully removing the skin from its former host. It would not do to damage this at all. He had been very picky in choosing the subject that would give the appearance of life to his creation. Only the most perfect and beautiful of individuals would do. This young girl had been in the prime of her life, barely over seventeen years old. She was the vision of beauty. What better individual to provide the mask of life to his creation?

As he gently tugged, he carefully the leg other parts that had been extracted previously. The perfect skin of her arms, her back, even her perfect chest. All had been laid out and attached to the now-polymer frame of his creation. There would be other parts added, but at the moment he was taking the time to make absolutely certain that he had what he needed to form the most important part of his machine. This one needed to be absolutely indistinguishable from a living human. As he put the flesh in place, Zer0 extended a tendril of eufiber into small tank of gel and withdrew its inhabitant: A leathery creature which he had given life to just recently. There was three of them, total. Their relative simplicity in comparison to some of his creations from the past made their crafting fairly simple. He had been able to engineer them in three days. Not bad for three creatures. They were hampering to his Quantum reserves, but such was the cost of science.

Zer0 attached the creature to the flesh strips and they suddenly began to knit themselves together, Quantum energies flowing from Zer0, through the filter that was this creature, converting them into life-giving energy. Not enough to give true life to the parts of the body, but enough to knit them together in an effort to do something along those lines. Soon the flesh had regenerated fully and Zer0 inspected his work. Not a blemish, not a scar. He left the creature in place as it would be needed at full capacity for the next step. Looking back at Number Three, Zer0 smiled. She was regenerating, thanks to the wonder of the creature he had placed over her face. Like its counterpart, it could and would regenerate its host to the best of its ability. If utilized by a nova, it would be much more effective as it would have a pool of energy to draw from. However, if that was not the case, it did indeed have its own reserves. Because of these wonderful beings, in the unlikely event that a mistake was made, he could always wait and gather more.

Zer0 turned away from this patient and stepped through a small dividing curtain to subject Number Six. This young man, who had a sheet over his entire body and an wallet and ID that said “Zachary Michaels” on a metal tray next to him had at one point been a very proficient runner. Both distance and sprint. So much the better as his well trained cardiovascular and respiratory systems were the prime examples of what baselines were capable of in their youth, before the wear of age began to set in. Zer0 turned a number of levers and switches and several machines surrounding Number Six hummed to life. Suddenly his body’s vital systems seemed quite redundant as there were systems tubes and lines entering his chest and throat from all around him, supplementing the flow of vitality through his system. Their purpose was to provide blood and oxygen to the body in the event that the natural devices the body had for that purpose were to fail for some reason.

Zer0 was fairly certain, as the two tendrils he had extended withdrew into his coat and reformed as a bone saw over his left hand, that they would be needed fairly soon. “I am sorry, young man. My work is simply more important than you are. I do not expect you to understand and that is okay. Your suffering is for a very good reason.” Zer0’s other hand withdrew the sheet, revealing the third and final healing creature, latched securely over Number Six’s face. The sound of sawing and crunching bone was audible throughout the chamber as Zer0 set to his dark work.

TO BE CONTINUED....