“Aegys, what’s the deal with the voice change?”
Leo paused in though, idly rubbing his throat. “No, I kind of like the difference.Though I’m not sure why exactly.”
Leo had mostly been lounging around the house for the past week, with the exception of joining his mom and her friends for some games of cards a couple nights. Getting a hefty bonus pay from the tournament in Vegas meant he and his mom didn’t have to worry too much about their bills for a couple months and could instead relax at home, and Leo wanted to take it easy during his nanite treatment.
“I don’t actually know. Now that the gene treatment is done I don’t really have a reason to stay home but what do I even do? I don’t have a gaming team to practice with anymore and I’ve already set up the funerals for Jess, Luke, and Echo. Plus, with the hazard payment I got from the gaming competition I don’t have to worry about helping with rent.” Leo sighed softly at the memory of telling his friends' families what happened. None of them blamed him, but he still felt like he was somehow at fault.
“I’ve heard of them, but I thought they were just another corp trying to get rich off of Samurai tech?”
“Huh, I guess I could check them out. I need some better clothes though since I don’t really want to head out in my full gear set. It’s a little flashy,” Leo glanced at his cloak which was hanging on a wall.
“Did…did you just sniffle at me?” Leo was in shock.
Aegys suddenly sounded entirely unbothered.
“You have any ideas for some clothes I could wear? Preferably something less flashy than my combat gear.”
Leo blinked owlishly. “You know what, I’m gonna trust you on this. But if you get something garish I’ll…I’ll…I don’t know, but I’ll think of something.”
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A large box appeared on his bed with a depiction of a phoenix checking out a denim jacket it was wearing. Opening the box Leo saw a full outfit carefully laid out in the box.
There was a dark colored zip-up sweater with a deep hood and some carbon fiber styling on the shoulders. Underneath that was a t-shirt of a similar color but with a subtle phoenix on the chest, looking like it spread its wings across the chest. The pants were classic tech-wear style with a couple straps and multiple pockets while cinching closed at the ankles with a soft looking elastic band.
Lifting the sweater and shirt out of the box Leo looked at the back. There were patterns of feathers that shifted on the back and were only visible under a specific angle of the light. They seemed to cascade from the shoulders and down the back and arms.
“You know, it’s not as bad as I thought it would be. I might have a pair of shoes that fit this outfit too, unless I got rid of those.” Leo tilted his head as he thought.
A soft thump interrupted his thoughts and he looked down to see a shoebox on top of the pants. This box had a phoenix that seemed to be sticking its tongue out at him. “You’re a little shit you know that?”
Rolling his eyes, Leo flipped the lid off the shoebox to reveal a pair of shoes that would come up to just above his ankles. The colors matched the sweater from the other box and they had wings sewn into the sides that tapered as they reached the toes.
“Look at that, you do know how to do subtle,” Leo pulled one of the shoes out and looked it over.
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“I suppose I could go wander the nearby mall for a bit, see if there’s anything I can’t live without,” Leo threw the new clothes on and grabbed his bike keys before pausing, “Wow, these fit amazingly.”
Leo thought about that as he made his way to the front door. “Mom, I’m heading out to the mall for a bit before meeting with the Family. It’s about time I start looking for ways to help and advance my gear. Especially since my treatment is done.”
His mom looked up at him, eyes wide, before settling into a resigned smile. She stood and made her way over to him and pulled him into a tight hug. After a few moments she held him at arms length. “Of course dear, though I would love for you to stick around longer I can understand wanting to get out and help where you can.”
She ran a hand through his hair briefly and brushed his cheek with a slight frown on her face. “Something feels different, You didn’t change your race with that treatment did you? I know some Samurai can do that.”
Leo chuckled and grabbed her hand. “Nothing like that, though I did change some of the way my body functions. Basically I don’t need as much oxygen and temperature doesn’t affect me nearly as much. Plus I don’t really have the same hair anymore.”
With that last comment he flexed his will a bit and smiled widely at his mom’s bewildered expression. Though he couldn’t see it fully himself, him and Aegys had practiced in the mirror he had in his room until Leo could control his new feathers with ease. At the moment his hair, which was now a bunch of fine feathers rather than hair, was shifting through various shades of red, orange, and yellow giving it the impression of being on fire. At the same time, his body hair had also been replaced by feathers that hugged his skin. He could only tell the difference if he raised them, another skill they spent a lot of time working on, or if he looked extremely closely. At the moment though, all he was doing was making them shimmer like holographic flames.
“All of my hair has been replaced with feathers from the race I get most of my gear from. I also added some bio-mimicry traits that let me change the colors slightly so they better blend in with my normal skin tone. Not enough to act as a stealth ability, but it doesn’t make me stand out too much.”
His mom looked him over and ran her fingers over the feathers for a few moments longer before shaking herself out of her thoughts. “Well, as long as it was your choice. You definitely seem happy with the changes.”
With another hug they separated and Leo opened the door. Just before he left though, his mom called out, “Oh, before I forget. While you’re out would you mind stopping by that bakery we like and grabbing a cake? Sheryl’s son has his birthday in a couple days and I’d like to get him something.”
“No problem. I’ll see you later!” he called out as he walked briskly to the building's garage.
Once he arrived he stepped up to the terminal and sent his building code using his augs. There was a whirring from the door as the system cycled over to his storage locker. The doors whooshed open and deposited his bike in front of him.
While it was nothing special, the bike was something him and his dad had worked on together. It had a few mismatched parts but everything managed to work properly, usually. There were a number of Phoenix decals stuck all over it courtesy of his dads enthusiasm with Leo's gaming career.
Leo pulled his helmet off the handlebars and hit the activation button. The bike turned over with a roar before suddenly sputtering and dying. Hitting the button a few more times only had the bike make a few clicking sounds and some concerning grinding.
“Well shit, guess I’ll have to take a look at this later. I was really hoping to avoid public transport though.”
“Huh, I hadn’t really thought about it if I’m honest,” Leo stood in thought before storing his bike in the garage system again. “What would you recommend?”
Leo thought for a moment. Do I really want to focus on aerial vehicle combat? I much prefer being on the ground.
“Do any of the vehicles have a limited AI function that would let me use it like a support drone if needed?”
“Let’s go with that one then. What options do I have for vehicles?”
A picture appeared in Leo’s vision showing a sleek hoverbike with a slightly wider body than normal. The body was colored a dark red with an underglow shifting between red, orange, and yellow similar to flames.
A wide smile cracked his face. “I like it, I was never much a fan of regular cars anyway. How much?”
“Do it.”
A swirl of flame formed on the ground in front of him, quickly growing into a small flame twister. Once it got to about twice the size of Leo, a phoenix formed with its wings wrapped around something. The phoenix lifted its head and winked at Leo before dramatically lifting its wings away and disappearing in a flash. In its place stood the bike Aegys had shown him.
“You know I’m the only one here right?”
“I didn’t say it wasn’t,” Leo shook his head at his AI’s antics, “Let’s go see what the Family has for me before you decide to start a rave.”
“I should just keep my mouth shut,” Leo sighed as he spun up the new bike and took off into the sky.