Star Force: Sav (SF51) by Aer-ki Jyr Page A

taking the next logical step in the path they were traveling.
    “Meaning the more you get the more it will hurt,” Greg
said, cringing.
    “If you rush it,” Vortison added.
    “We don’t know which is which when they start,” Jace pointed out. “Instability is instability from our
point of view. Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever felt even the slightest
variation.”
    “Neither have I,” Paul said, thinking hard as Wilson
continued to study the holographic data.
    “Are you done here?” Bo asked, still lying down.
    “Almost,” Vortison said, getting back to the work at
hand. 30 seconds later he had it completed and up on a different hologram.
    Bo rolled out from under the scanner and stood up with
the others as they waited for the medtech to do his thing and translate most of
the mathematical gibberish they were seeing.
    “Interesting,” Vortison mewed as he altered the view
to a more traditional brain scan, with the various psionic tissues highlighted.
“There are minor variations in your
Sav.”
    Greg threw a look at Wilson, who he saw crack a smile
but say nothing. “Don’t suppose those will help you find its trigger?”
    “Probably not, but any information is better than
none. Right now I’m more interested in his Pren. It’s advanced further than any
I’ve seen to date, including those of you who’ve had time to train and develop
it.”
    “Synergy,” Wilson commented, still pulling through a
comparison of his datapad and the hologram.
    “I would agree,” Vortison said, shaking his head
slightly, “but I have no idea how. I thought the tissue growth was a fixed lot,
but if it can be flash grown variably…then this is a whole new ball game.”
    Paul looked at the more intricate holographic scan
that had just been done, seeing not only the Sav tissue but the Pren that was
spread out like a clump of fiber optic cables between his Pefbar and Lachka
tissues. There was already some interlinking there, but this added more onto
it…which Paul knew was like adding more shield emitters to a warship’s hull.
Upgrading the emitters was one way to get more powerful shields, while adding
more was another.
    In this case Bo had gotten an emitter count increase,
just as Paul and the others had done before. The thing was , he’d gotten a higher level version. Paul could see the difference, though not recognizing
all of the statistics at first glance despite the extensive study he’d done
into this area. Vortison was the expert, but still he could tell that this
wasn’t the same Pren as he had.
    “Wilson?” he asked.
    “From a functional standpoint it only makes sense that
the Sav would unlock higher processing capabilities that would aid the other
psionics. In order to do that there would be a physical restructuring needed above and beyond training adaptation. I’m guessing
that since Bo already had Sav those upgrades simply occurred simultaneously
with the growth.”
    “What are you basing that on?” Vortison asked,
glancing at his datapad.
    “Nothing more than a hunch.”
    “A hunch?” the medtech repeated.
    “You look on the body from a designer’s point of view, I look and learn as a user. We see things from a
different angle and trust our gut and experience, because we have no rulebook
to work off of except what we write and record as we live and learn.”
    “Gamers guide,” Paul said, understanding his metaphor,
as would the other trailblazers, he knew, for they were all gamers.
    “Can I get a copy of Wilson’s version,” Jace said in a pleading voice. “Please.”
    The taller man raised an eyebrow at him. “I record
everything in my logs.”
    “That just didn’t come from your logs,” Jace pointed out. “I can from your head and things you
would never write down because you’re uncertain of them. That’s the playbook I
want.”
    “We each have our own,” Wilson said, dismissing the
compliment. “We share when we can, but mine won’t work for you and vice versa
because