Shadow Of The Scorpion by Neal Asher

Author:Neal Asher [Asher, Neal]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction, General, Short Stories, Adventure, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Fiction - Fantasy, Fantasy - Short Stories
ISBN: 9780330478779
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Published: 2010-08-14T23:00:00+00:00

"This is standard issue," said the medic. "I'd advise you to stick with it."

Cormac gazed at the augmentation lying on the plastic tray affixed to the side of the pedestal-mounted autodoc. It looked like a two-inch-long broad bean rendered in chrome. The aug was optional for most of those in the military and he'd seen many soldiers wearing them, but he had not been inclined to try such an invasive technology himself. Perhaps it was silly, but he felt a deep aversion to anyone tampering with what lay between his ears. He did not know where this aversion came from, and he had not noticed it in others. However, to become one of the Sparkind, wearing one of these things was now compulsory.

"But I have sufficient funds to pay for something more sophisticated," said Cormac. He still didn't like the idea of this, not one bit, but if he was going to have an aug, then he intended to have the best available.

"I give that advice every time," said the medic, "and mostly it is ignored."

"Then explain to me why you advise so."

"You understand that the aug makes nanofibre synaptic connections inside your skull?"

"Who doesn't understand that?"

The man grimaced. "You'd be surprised how many but, be that as it may. Up until recent years it hasn't been possible to disconnect those fibres or remove them from the skull. It is of course possible to remove the aug itself, but the fibres remain in place. They don't cause any harm, well, not much. This also means that the only kind of upgrade possible has been to the aug itself, not the fibres."

"Then surely that's a good reason to get the best one you can?" suggested Cormac.

"You'd think so, but no." The medic sighed, obviously groping for the best way to explain something complicated to this stupid soldier. "Methods of extracting the fibres are just becoming tenable, and meanwhile the sophistication of aug technology is advancing very fast. Within a year it will be possible to completely remove an aug like this one, however, it won't be possible to remove one of the more advanced ones presently available."

"Yes," said Cormac, not entirely sure what the man was driving at.

"What I'm saying is that for military purposes, the standard aug is more than adequate. You don't need to do any sophisticated modelling or need to put together an assault plan for an entire army, and I'm presuming you're not conducting any genetic research or studies of U-space mechanics?"

"No," said Cormac, still not entirely sure what point was being made here.

"Well," said the medic, "what I'm driving at here is that if you have one of the more sophisticated augs now, it will be outmoded within a few months and you won't be able to replace it. If you have this aug, it will be possible to remove it completely when you have decided, having used an aug for some time, what your requirements are, what aug you want. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I understand,"

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