Bio-metal, a living, breathing metal, was something he had been working on for quite a while now. In a sense, the task was already complete; he had successfully created a substance that could reasonably be classified as metal.
The real problem lay in its strength and durability. While the material was highly malleable and responsive, it simply was not strong enough for what he had in mind. The underlying reason he still had not achieved his goal came down to one thing: the metal's internal structure.
More specifically, the lattice.
The lattice was what defined metal at its most fundamental level. Different metals possessed different lattice arrangements, and while he had managed to replicate something very close to a true metallic structure, what he ended up with was still only a soft metal. Functional, yes, but insufficient.
With enough time and research, he had barely managed to recreate simpler lattice configurations. Anything more complex remained out of reach for now.
Of course, lattice structure alone did not dictate strength or durability. Other factors, bond strength, electron density, and overall cohesion could turn two structurally identical materials into substances worlds apart.
Take tungsten and iron, for example. They shared the same lattice structure, yet tungsten possessed far stronger metallic bonds, a denser electron cloud, and greater cohesion, resulting in an entirely different level of strength.
In simpler terms, they used the same wall pattern, but with vastly different bricks and cement.
Victor let out an exasperated sigh. If his biokinesis worked on non-organic matter, he could have relied on direct observation and adaptation, accelerating the process exponentially. Instead, he was forced to work purely from theory. And theory, by its very nature, took time.
~~~
Early in the morning, Victor sat at his usual training spot, the soft light of dawn spilling through the forest greenery. Beneath a massive tree, he rested in deep contemplation. Today, his aunt could not make time for training; she still had her job to focus on. Thankfully, that also meant he could train alone, without observation.
"Finally."
Victor extended his palm, and the bio-material formed smoothly above it. Pitch black in color, its slick metallic sheen reflected the rising sun. Last night, he had finally managed a breakthrough, a considerable improvement to its fundamental design. The sleepless hours had finally borne fruit.
It was not as monumental as he would have liked, but it was usable. More importantly, it was stable. Since it could be refined later, it was time to move on to the next step, granting it consciousness.
Victor already possessed a solid understanding of how to create a split personality. Creating an entirely new consciousness was not that different; the underlying concepts were surprisingly similar.
The key distinction was that he was not dividing his own mind; he was giving the bio-material a true, independent consciousness.
The process itself was simple in theory.
The bio-metal was composed of specialized cells capable of collecting, analyzing, and reacting to environmental stimuli. Among the cells used in its creation were those derived from tardigrades, organisms renowned for their extreme environmental resilience.
Combined with characteristics from several other organisms, the material's core function became clear: adaptation.
Its primary purpose was to sense its surroundings and adapt in response, adjusting itself to survive whatever environment it was exposed to.
"First, a micro brain," he muttered, the solid substance in his palm turning malleable. The micro brain would handle calculations and react to external stimuli, adjusting in real time without his direct input.
The process dragged on. Trial, error, refinement, over and over again. By the time he finally stopped, noon had long passed and the sun was already starting to dip.
"Done," Victor said, nodding to himself.
In his palm, the bio-material wriggled. It shifted from solid to soft, using his hand as a medium. Then it started to cling to his skin, spreading, melding, adjusting, optimizing itself into a stable base state.
Victor did not guide it at first. He simply watched as the substance moved, crawling over his skin like liquid shadow. The sensation was strange, like thousands of tiny ants skittering under his flesh, a persistent chill threading through every nerve.
It began at his hands, slowly spreading, molding perfectly to his form. When it reached his face, it sealed over his nose and lips, cutting off his natural breath, but the armor absorbed and purified oxygen, not that he needed it.
His eyes were covered next, momentarily blinding him, before the material turned transparent, letting him see clearly. Inch by inch, it spread over his ears, chest, and legs, until every inch of him was enclosed.
The first few seconds were unstable. Its surface shifted constantly, slick and smooth one moment, jagged and uneven the next, before gradually settling into something in between. It did not feel like worn armor at all; it felt like a second skin.
Victor smirked in satisfaction. It was not exactly what he had envisioned, but it was good enough for now; the material could always be altered later.
By the end of the day, he decided against making it fully conscious. There was no particular reason for the choice; he simply chose to hold off for now. Even so, it was still capable of basic decision making.
Just then, a flock of birds flew overhead. The armor reacted on instinct, the bio-sense he had integrated granting it sight.
That was the problem; he had not given it any predetermined commands. To the armor, the sudden movement registered as a threat.
An appendage formed in an instant. Needle-like projectiles fired like rounds from a barrel, striking with pinpoint precision. Almost the entire flock fell from the sky in a heartbeat.
Victor quickly issued a mental command, reining in the sudden impulse. It caught him off guard; he had not expected that reaction, a clear lapse on his part. He sighed, facepalming, before making rapid adjustments, transferring basic knowledge: do's and don'ts, threat parameters, reaction protocols, and more. Only after confirming it would not go haywire again did he steady himself.
He then walked over to one of the injured birds and gently sealed its wounds, restoring it to full health. He did the same for the rest of the flock. They quickly rose to their feet before taking off in a rapid, panicked escape from the scene.
Afterwards, he began testing the armor's abilities, slowly adjusting to the unfamiliar sensation. At a thought, the material responded. With his palm extended, it flowed over his fingers, shaping itself into curved, razor-sharp claws before retracting just as smoothly.
He flicked his arm in a casual motion. Several needle-thin projectiles launched outward, striking a nearby tree with pinpoint precision and turning its trunk into a pincushion.
Moments later, the weaponized fragments dissolved and streamed back into the armor; it could recall any part of itself at will.
A nice bonus, but compared to what he actually intended to accomplish, it was child's play.
He was only just beginning.
With the armor still wrapped around him, he sat down and allowed himself to relax. Then he started transferring information. The first data package contained the fundamentals of durability enhancement: structural principles, stress distribution, and the lattice design he himself could not yet perfect. The armor would continue attempting it on its own, refining the structure through trial and iteration.
Next came genetic data, every meta, animal, insect, and microorganism he had ever acquired, even the ones he had never used. He did not restrict the transfer. The broader its genetic library, the faster it could adapt when confronted with unfamiliar threats.
At his chest, a core began to form, a centralized databank meant to store and organize every strand of genetic information it accessed. The material shifted in real time. Its surface rippled like disturbed water before settling again, outwardly unchanged.
But beneath the surface, transformation was already underway. Microscopic armor plates interlocked like pieces of a puzzle, an adaptation derived from the ironclad beetle, an insect capable of withstanding up to thirty-nine thousand times its own body weight.
Inside Victor, his vast energy reserves, usually at a constant peak, began to dwindle. Solar radiation, thermal energy, even trace amounts of dark matter were drawn in and consumed, converted to rapidly fuel the armor's growth and evolution.
It combined, disassembled, and generated new genetic strains at a pace that made Victor's eye twitch involuntarily. He was deeply engrossed in the cascade of optimizations when his eyes suddenly widened.
His body, once firmly tethered to the earth, lifted a few inches off the ground, gravity seemingly losing its hold on him entirely.
"Why did I not think of this?" Victor could not help but marvel, conveniently ignoring the fact that it had taken thousands of internal trials to reach this point.
Yet the evolution was not finished. Flight itself was merely a byproduct, a consequential discovery born from the armor's pursuit of resistance. Thermal resistance was the first threshold it successfully crossed.
As the adaptations locked into place, Victor felt an old reflex surface from a past life.
Thermal resistance acquired
Thermal absorption acquired
Radiation resistance acquired
Radiation absorption acquired
Electricity resistance acquired
Electricity absorption acquired
Blunt force resistance acquired
Pressure resistance acquired
Vacuum resistance acquired
Kinetic resistance acquired
Gravitational resistance acquired
Corrosion resistance acquired
Energy absorption resistance acquired
Vibration resistance acquired
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