1 Build Up 1.1

...Just, how. How do I get myself into situations like this?

Then again, this one really takes the cake when compared to every other confusing and downright mind-boggling situation I've ever been in.

"Are you okay, Michael?" a voice brought me out of my thinking and I turned my eyes to an older man sitting across the table from me. He wasn't particularly memorable and part of me said I'd never met him before in my life, yet another part remembered him as 'Uncle Dan'. An all-around fun guy...or at least he had been before his wife died in a car accident. Hadn't seen him much after that.

But my eyes saw more than just his thin build and his slightly thinning dark blond hair. No, my eyes saw everything. I instantly knew he hadn't been taking care of himself, hadn't been eating enough or sleeping enough. His joints were worn down from both age and constantly working. His heart was alright for his age but it should've been better. I could see the problems in his eyes that make him need glasses. I could feel the imperfections in his bones, his nerves, the subtle and discrete rise and fall in his skin where he'd had cuts or acne.

More information flooded into my head, telling me how I could fix it. How I could make him brand new--No, I could do better than brand new. I could make him better than just new, I thought with something almost like disdain. I could make him more than just plain ol' Uncle Dan.

My eyes snapped back into focus as I absentmindedly noticed his lips moving, "...chael? Michael, kid?"

Realizing I'd just been staring at him, I blinked and shook my head a little to focus myself, "Yeah, I'm...I'm good. Just tired," I gave a pretty forced smile but if Danny saw it, he didn't mention it.

I turned back to the food on my plate. Just basic stuff, really. Chicken, some potatoes, some other veggies--basic. Yet I didn't feel hungry and I doubted I'd ever feel hungry ever again. In the back of my mind I could feel my body producing some sort of sludge. Pretty much a mass of everything the body needed and desired. Biomass. About fifteen grams of the stuff every second. Siphoning about ten grams of the stuff for a few minutes and I was full.

Still, I ate the food, my stomach instantly digesting the extra nutrients and converting them to Biomass.

Conversation or small talk obviously wasn't a massive thing in the household, but that suited me right now. I needed to think.

With that in mind I finished my food in big mouthfuls before getting up and putting the empty dish in the sink. "I'm gonna go get some shut eye, Danny," I muttered, mind still preoccupied and left without waiting for a reply. I caught sight of my cousin before I left. Taylor Hebert. She took a lot after her dad but with darker hair. Tall and thin, she could be described as gangly. She wasn't exactly beautiful but neither was she hideous. Part of me settled on saying she was cute in a plain kinda way and left it at that.

Something told me she was familiar. Important. I had no clue why...my power wasn't telling me anything, so it must have something to do with my memories. Or whatever memories I still have left. You see, I woke up this morning in the passenger seat of a car driving down from Boston to Brockton Bay. Memories, or rather pieces and shards of memories came to me. Told me I was in a new world, that I was here for something.

But other than feeling slightly more mature, I was still just 17-year-old Michael Hebert. I didn't suddenly have the memories of some government super soldier and neither was I a completely different person. Just me but with a little extra.

That extra part came with a few hunches, instincts, whatever you wanna call 'em. And they were all telling me Taylor was important. It'd taken me a while and I was pretty much a zombie when I met my uncle and cousin for the first time in a while because I was too busy guessing about how these memories could tell me Taylor was important but then it hit me. I was in a book setting. Like an isekai or whatever.

The hunches told me I was right.

The same hunches also told me I needed to be strong. Otherwise I was gonna fucking die like--

I pushed the feelings of panic, grief and sadness away and down. Couldn't deal with them right now. Instead I opened the door to the spare room of the house and entered, closing it soon after and sitting down on the single bed.

A week ago, I'd Triggered. Flashes of a group of men, the loud bangs of guns, screaming, begging, the scent of blood and used gunpowder flooded my mind and it was like I was back there. Back then. Again, I pushed the thoughts and feelings away, thinking instead about my powers.

Biokinesis, some sort of Biological Tinker and Biomass Generation. An almost perfect bundle of powers and what it lacked in terms of pure, raw power it more than made up for in terms of versatility and even then the lack of power was only a temporary thing. I turned my senses inward towards my own body, eyes drifting closed as I delved into the wonder that is the human body.

Countless years went into evolving the human form, shaping it and turning it into a piece of art only few could truly appreciate. So beautifully simple and yet frustratingly complex at the same time. One wrong move and it collapses like a house of cards trying to stand up against a hurricane. Yet it was those imperfections that almost made it more amazing. Almost. Despite how admirable it was to look at an imperfect design somehow still working, my powers told me everything wrong about it and I felt like if I didn't fix it, I'd go crazy.

My eyes snapped open - before I changed my own body, it'd probably be best if I tested my powers. I was pretty sure I could fix any damage I did to myself but 'pretty sure' ain't good enough when you're life is on the line. Last thing I need is to mess up and give myself a heart attack.

Holding my hand out, palm faced up, a red sludge began to pour out of my pores. About a kilogram of Biomass. I shook my head and absorbed most of it back into my body. I didn't want to go too big, too complex. Best to start off small. I had an odd hunch that wasn't a very bright idea but my powers were begging so hard to be used, I shrugged the feeling off and went about making something with the Biomass.

Head. Thorax. Abdomen. Legs. All made of chitin plates that allowed for movement. My Bio-Tinker ability giving me all the blueprints I could ever need and guiding me along on how to do so. Organs filled up the body, hemolymph came next, then nerves...a few finishing touches and I had an ant resting on my palm. I repeated the process, a few other ants popping up in much less time than the first.

The half a dozen leafcutter ants on my palm were stationary, however--Oh, right, need the final zap.

A single thought and all six of them burst to life, skittering around my hand and expertly moving around like they hadn't just been brought to life.

And then they stopped moving.

Frowning, I checked their bodies with my power and found nothing was wrong with their bodies. No suddenly broken legs or malfunctioning organ. Then I checked their brains and froze in my place. I killed the ants an instant later with a thought.

Someone had been controlling them, and that wasn't a part of my ability. Well, it kinda was but I wasn't actively controlling their bodies just then.

Absorbing the Biomass back into my hand, I looked around my room and made a hasty (or reckless, take your pick) decision and messed around with my eyes. I had an entire library of ideas but I stuck to the blueprints my mind already had - an entire animal kingdom to work off of.

My vision went fuzzy and for a split second I thought I'd fucked myself, then my vision snapped back to clarity way beyond what it'd just had. The darkness of the room also became much more bearable. My dynamic and kinetic visual acuity also skyrocketed. A hybrid between eagle eyes and cat eyes is pretty damn good.

I blinked a few times, getting used to the upgrade before my eyes scanned around my room. Bugs are everywhere and if some stranger is capable of taking over bugs I'd literally just created, they're either already controlling bugs in my vicinity or they're unable to decide when they take control of bugs and it just sort of happens whenever a new bug enters their range--was this what the hunch was warning me about? Right, listen to the hunches from now on. Noted. Fuck. Massive, humongous, colossal fuck.

Chiding myself soon came to an end when I picked up on the sound of someone standing outside my room.

My nose tingled, everything itching up a storm while my ears buzzed before everything went momentarily silent, then both senses came back online giving me those in enhanced form as well. My head hurt a little and I soon figured out why - I was having trouble taking in all that data. I tossed the idea of messing with my cerebellum and parietal lobe to boost my ability to process what my new senses were picking up. I nearly pushed my senses back down to normal levels but my hunch came back with a vengeance.

Gritting my teeth, I tuned up as little as I needed to for my head to stop hurting. My powers told me exactly how to do it without changing anything that made me me.

Head cleared up, I had just enough time to pick up on a lot of buzzing and skittering outside my room, inside my walls and under the floorboards before the door burst open and there stood my cousin. She bolted into the room and the door closed quickly but silently behind her. Not before a veritable hoard of bugs came with her though.

Cape. Taylor was a cape. Who could control bugs. My eyes picked up flies, wasps, mosquitoes floating behind her and a whole fucking bunch of spiders covered the ceiling.

...Jesus. She's a walking, talking showcase of why entomophobia is a thing.

Her face was set in a grim look, determination clearly burning in her eyes. When she spoke, it came out as a lifeless monotone, "Are you a cape?"

Warily keeping part of my attention on the veritable hoard she had in my room, I just stared at her for a few seconds before a hunch told me to be honest, "Not really, no. Skintight latex has never been my first choice of clothing," I tried to joke but got a blank stare in reply. Right. "I have powers, yeah," I forced myself to relax, hands put behind me to support my body as I leaned away from her. "Probably not the best idea to just burst in here with a swarm of bugs though. If you were wrong, you would've just given up your own secrets," I added as I weighed the benefits and negatives of just rushing her and knocking her out before putting it on the back burner.

I'd see how she reacted first of all. Her swarm was intimidating but as soon as they landed on me, and they would have to land on me to hurt me in anyway, I could just kill them with my powers. Even if she tried to clog up my airways (or other orifices, but I don't wanna think about that) I could just absorb them for Biomass.

I held the power here, I reassured myself, Taylor just doesn't know it yet.

Her slightly too big mouth set itself in a thin line, slightly turned downward in a frown as she regarded me with a look I'd usually reserve for people I was about to threaten--

"Are you going to hurt either me or my dad?" she asked out of nowhere, catching me off guard massively. Like, what? When had I ever given her the idea I was gonna hurt either of them? My thoughts were cut off as she continued, "Because if you are--" I cut her off myself just as her swarm crept closer to me.

"Woah, woah, no," I lifted my hands up in surrender - I really didn't want my first cape fight to be with my estranged cousin - "Why the hell would you even think that?"

I didn't get an answer, just her narrowing her eyes, "What were you doing in here? I felt some ants just appear out of nowhere."

Feeling mildly annoyed at the interrogation I was going through for exactly zero reasons, I brought my hands down and crossed my arms, "Why the hell should I tell you?" I somewhat petulantly replied.

Her raised eyebrow told me she thought there was nothing 'somewhat' about whether or not I was being petulant.

"Because you're living in my house, maybe?" she gave an annoyed answer, the first bit of emotion slipping through into her words and then it disappeared but the bugs around us became a little more agitated. Was she shuttering her emotions into her bugs or something? Hunch said I was right. Neat sub-power, I guess.

"It's your dad's house," I shot back with an annoyed tone of my own, "And something tells me you aren't gonna tell him about my powers because you haven't told him about yours." I got a flinch from that. Gotcha. But seeing her get even more tense and that her bugs were getting more posed for attack, I uncrossed my arms and leaned back again, a sigh breaking through my lips, "Pull up a chair, cuz. Looks like we've got some talking to do. But if I tell you about my powers, you're gonna tell me about yours. Sounds fair, right?"

"...Right," she said after thinking about. Her swarm, well, it didn't lessen but it did move away from me and more toward Taylor as she pulled the desk chair away from the desk and sat down on it.

We sat in silence for about a minute before I sighed. God, I knew she was a bit quiet but this is just...Whatever.

"So," I said, sitting up fully and steepling my hands, "I'm a Tinker, Striker and Changer. You?"

"Master," she replied, her voice still monotone and obviously pushing her emotions into her bugs. That just couldn't be healthy.

I gestured to the swarm and snarked, "With bugs, obviously," I ignored the twitch her left eye seemed to be developing and gestured to myself, "I'm a Biokinetic. That's where the Striker rating comes from. You've heard of Panacea, right?" I asked and got a 'Who hasn't?' look that was particularly scathing, "Well, I'm her but I can affect myself as well. That's the Changer part. Tinker part comes from the fact I'm a Bio-Tinker - I work with flesh and blood opposed to metal and oil...which sounds more gross than I was expecting it to," I winced and caught how her eyes wrinkled just slightly in disgust. I didn't blame her. I'd worded that horribly, no matter how accurate, and ended up sounding like an insane mad scientist.

Just a regular ol' Frankenstein. That's me. Totally.

Then, Taylor tensed up and narrowed her eyes at me. I was about to ask her what that was about before she beat me to it, "Did you change me or my dad?"

I barely stopped myself from rolling my eyes as I answered her, "Do you think you'd even think to ask that question if I actually did change you in anyway?" my question went unanswered because I didn't give her the chance to, "No, Taylor--seriously, I understand some level of paranoia, but where is this coming from? I get that we were never extremely close but we at least used to get along back when our families kept more in touch. I'm still me, you know, your cousin?"

Her body relaxed just a tad, something like guilt flashing across her face for a moment, before she stared down at my body, "You don't look like it, Michael."

My brows drew together in momentary confusion before I realized what she meant. I was what you'd call a late bloomer, I guess. I'd always been skinny and tall. Now? Well, I was still pretty tall but I'd filled out quite a bit and put on some muscle. Now that I didn't look skeleton-like, natural good looks were pretty easily seen and I could tell she why there was a disconnect in her mind between her nerdy cousin and the jock-like guy in front of her.

"Yeah," I huffed in amusement, "Puberty hit me pretty hard, didn't it? 'Bout time, honestly."

That got me a slight grin from her before it disappeared and silence came back to us. It was pretty easy to see she was still uncomfortable around someone who's power let them change someone with a touch. I understood it, at a base level, but couldn't help but feel insulted she'd think I'd do that to her. Estranged or not, she was family.

Looking down at my hands, I pulled my Biomass to them and other than a little more buzzing, Taylor didn't react when the red material coated my hands. The information in my head wasn't just for body enhancements or changes. Pretty much told me how to make anything out of my Biomass and I soon found what I wanted.

The red soon changed to black and then I was wearing skintight leather sheepskin gloves, "Send a bug over here, Tay," I used my childhood nickname for her, trying to get across I was still, somewhat, the Michael she knew, "I wanna test something."

To her credit, I only had to wait a second before a wasp was hovering in front of me. I held up a hand and it landed on said hand. I tried to effect it, change it, but nothing happened. Nodding, I looked back up to Taylor, "I'll keep these gloves on whenever I'm around you. They block my power. I'm guessing pretty much any piece of clothing between my hand and someone can do the same."

Taylor regarded me for a long moment, brown eyes searching my face for lies, but it seemed she didn't find any because she gave a nod and her expression looked a little warmer. More like the old Taylor I was used to when we were growing up but still encased in cynicism and doubt.

She was never the life of the party or anything, always okay just being herself and doing what she liked, but she was never this guarded. Never this paranoid.

Just what the hell happened to her? Her mom passing away could explain it, but it didn't seem...right, I guess? A hunch, but that was as decidedly unhelpful as not having one at all. Well, maybe not. It at least told me something had happened. Just means I'll have to find/figure out why the old fashioned way.

"Taylor?" I called out and her eyes focused on me, "What are your plans with...everything? You thinking of joining the Wards or something?" I asked, barely able to hold back my own distaste. The Wards Program wasn't horrible per se but it just wasn't for me. Helping people seemed nice, great even, but being so controlled and treated with the kiddie gloves just sounded stifling. If Taylor joined them, though, I'd have to get a promise from her to not rat me out. The Taylor I knew wouldn't do that but obviously I didn't know her as well as I thought if this whole situation is telling me anything.

She stared at me, obviously thinking before she shook her head, "No. I was thinking of going Independent until I'm 18 and then joining the PRT after I've gotten enough influence that they can't re-brand me however they want."

Well, that's the most she's said since I got here. Obviously, this means a lot to her. Regardless, her answer was both a relief and worrying.

"Independent? Have you not read the statistics about Independent Capes or?" I cocked an eyebrow at her and got one in reply, much more inquisitive than my own. I sighed, "They die, Taylor. A lot. Or they get press-ganged by some Villain to join their gang. Are you sure that's what you wanna do? Or rather, are you sure you wanna be a Cape at all?"

Her face set in a determined look I remembered from back when we were young and I told her she couldn't do something she obviously couldn't but was too stubborn to admit. Both glad and annoyed to see that hasn't changed.

"I'm still doing it. I want to help people," she said simply, a hard edge to her tone and a steely look in her eyes.

I gave her an exasperated look, "Why not just be a Rogue? You could mass produce spider silk or even better gather up a bunch of silk worms--people would pay out the ass for that, Tay!" I cut myself off from going any further as her determined look only got more determined. "Fine. Fine!" I threw my hands up and pulled off one of my gloves, ignoring her flinch, and held out my hand, "Give me one of your bugs again. If you wanna go all 'I must protect my city' I'm gonna make sure you can."

Another wasp soon landed on my palm and this time, without a barrier in the way, I instantly knew it's biology very intimately. I saw how it all worked. What it was best for, what it was shit at.

Imperfection after imperfection. My power became unsettled, energetic and wanting to change it all, make it better.

I clamped down on the urge to make a biological super weapon and encased the wasp in a bunch of Biomass and then killed it just in case the sensations of being bio-tinkered would effect Taylor. Then I got to work.

Bigger, harder yet lighter exoskeleton. Improved hemolymph for improved nutrient and oxygen delivery. Improved digestion to support the bigger body and cut down on food needed and waste produced. Stronger wings and the physiological mechanics involved, plus a tertiary pair of wings for better maneuverability. Wait a minute--"Can you sense things through your bugs?" I asked, still keeping the majority of my focus on the wasp. I was pretty sure she could but it never hurt to be completely sure.

"Yeah," Taylor replied and I nearly jumped at how close she sounded. Looking up I saw she rolled over on the desk chair, her curiosity overwhelming her earlier apprehension to get too close to me. "But it's pretty hard to actually make sense of it. Why?"

Jeez, just talk about bugs, capes and whatnot and she opens up but wanna talk as cousins who're gonna be living with one another and she's about as talkative as a brick wall.

...Just makes me worry more about what happened. Probably had something to do with her Triggering. I know sure as shit that whatever mental baggage I have now has a lot to do with mine.

"I'm trying to fix that issue," I grunted, focusing back fully on the metamorphosing wasp in my palm.

Compound eyes are good, but only at certain things. That's pretty much how it is for all kinds of things, actually. Large view angle and good at detecting fast movements but terrible image resolution and not good at focusing on singular things. That last part has a lot to do with a bug's brain though - which was disturbingly easy to fix. Just gave the wasp a scaled down version of a human's visual cortex. Then I let the compound eye focus in on things with a bunch of toggle foveae. Had to make the wasp a little bigger, strengthen the wings and increase the strength of the exoskeleton that made up it's head to support the buffed brain and eyes.

I drew back the Biomass and it showed a wasp that looked like it'd been on growth hormone since it hatched and somehow set up the first wasp gym in existence alongside hitting up the library, "Try that out. Tell me how it feels," I said and kickstarted the wasps life once more.

It unsteady climbed into the air, six wings beating out of tandem for a little while before something seemed to click and it began hovering just as normally as before. Taylor's eyes were wide and her mouth open like an 'o', looking between me and the wasp. She took the little blighter for a test spin and it zipped around the room like an insect version of a race car. In the end it settled down on Taylor's hand and she looked at it like it was the answer to all her prayers.

"It's perfect," she nearly whispered, looking up at me with a somewhat grateful look in her eye. Ugh, you try and do something nice for somebody..."Apart from not being able to see red," she gestured to the t-shirt I was wearing, "It's pretty much the same as my vision but, you know...wider," she trailed off lamely.

I nodded along, expecting as much, "Well, I've got one last thing to do, so," I held up a hand and the wasp was in it in a flash. "Someone's eager. Not a scary Biokinetic when I can super your bugs up, am I?" I joked and got a scowl that was obviously trying to hold back a grin.

It was nice to see her display some emotions.

Cutting the wasps life off again, I covered it in biomass and made one last change. She'd probably love it. Unless she was a crazed serial killer-God I hope she's not a crazed serial killer.

My cousins possible bloodlust aside, the last change was quicker than all the others and the wasp was soon back to life, hovering in front of Taylor.

"I scrapped it's venom and replaced it with a potent neurotoxin. It could knock a full-grown bull on it's ass with a single sting," I said and saw the growing excitement in her eyes, "Best part? Because it's a tinker-derived chemical, it can't kill or otherwise cause an overdose. Sound good or what?"

She held the bug in her hand now, almost cradling it like it was made of gold. Her eyes gazed down at it as she answered, "This will be...helpful. Could you, I don't know, make another? So I can breed more of them?"

The hopeful look in her eyes as I shook my head, "Yes, I can make more. No, you can't breed them."

"Why?"

"Because if people figure out you control super bugs that breed and can make a sustainable swarm, you're on a one-way track to having a leash put around your neck by someone," I explained, then added on when I saw her scrunched up face, "Believe it or not but even without me giving you super bugs, you're a walking biblical disaster granted you can get enough bugs. With them? Even worse. Not worth the trouble in the end. When it comes down to it, when someone asks, just say you paid a bio-tinker to cook them up for you and you have to pay for more of them," I shrugged, "That should keep the heat off of you. Just don't say it's me, please."

Taylor's shoulder's slumped and she rubbed at her eyes with her free hand, knocking her glasses up as she did so. While that happened, I put the leather glove back on. I'd rather make her feel comfortable even if I had absolutely no motivation or want to do anything to her with my powers.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone, a cheap touchscreen flickered on and showed the time. It was getting pretty late and I realized she wasn't rubbing at her eyes due to annoyance or anything, but because she was tired. A quick scan with my powers via my eyes told me as such as well.

"You should get some sleep either way, Tay," I softly said to her, smiling slightly, "We can talk more about what bugs you need me to create tomorrow. Maybe make a list of what you want? Either way, we've got school, so..." she flinched and tensed up at the mention of school and my eyes narrowed momentarily before I relaxed.

Something's happening to her at school, then? Bullying? Hunch confirmed it. My jaw flexed, locking into place as I thought about my cousin getting bullied.

The girl in question nodded after a few moments of pretty obvious panicking about school and turned to the door. She got a few steps before stopping and looking over her shoulder at me, "Why...why are you helping me? I barged in here, I haven't even talked to you the entire day, I've been a paranoid bitch," she shook her head, seeming to stop herself from continuing, "So, why?"

I rolled my eyes at the questioning, "You've 'been' paranoid?" I questioned and she had the good grace to look a little guilty considering she was, right now, still trying to assess my non-existent agenda. I huffed, shaking my head before continuing, "Beside making sure you don't get yourself killed?" she grunted and I stopped my eyes from rolling a second time, "Because it's the right thing to do. I don't think I can save or help everyone - that's naive," she frowned but I continued, "What I do think I can do, however, is save or help whoever's in front of me. You're in front of me, Taylor, and you obviously need help, so I'll give it."

She just stared at me, some unreadable emotion flittering across her face before she let out a sound of amusement and turned away.

The hoard/swarm around her dispersing, however, said a lot even with her not speaking.

By the time she got to the door, the flying portion had vacated through the gaps under the window, the spiders scuttling out the same way while everything else that didn't leave just followed after Taylor.

"...Thanks, Mikey," she said in a low volume and I gave an miffed grin.

"Didn't I tell you ages ago how much I hate that nickname?"

All I got in reply was a low chuckle as the door closed. Looking at the door for a few moments, I just decided to let it be and shook my head. She seemed to trust me now, at least a little bit. Pulling off the gloves, I put them down on the desk next to my bed and stood up. Kicking off my shoes, I undressed until I was in naught but my boxers. Looking down, I saw the moderately fit physique I'd been sporting ever since I took up MMA classes a year and some change ago and had my growth spurt.

...I can do better. I can do so much better. Not feeling particularly tired but deciding there was no better place to do it, I lay down on my new bed and settled under the covers before delving back into my body.

Organs first.

It was pretty simple to make a secondary heart after I got rid of my digestive tract and bladder. I mean, why keep something I didn't need? My stomach digested stuff near instantly all on it's own and I didn't produce any waste. Byproduct of that decision? I no longer had a backdoor downstairs, if you catch my drift.

Anyway, secondary heart. Right. Needed a back up while I worked on my main one.

An itchy feeling spread throughout my body as I began changing my heart and the blood vessels of my body. Stronger heart, stronger blood vessels equals more stamina and the ability to put up with the superhuman body I'm going to craft for myself. Just thinking about it makes me wonder how I'd have dealt with doing this without my bio-tinker power. I'd be taking stabs in the dark and...you really don't wanna do that when it concerns biokinesis.

I mentally kept my new heart from beating at it's full purely because the rest of my body couldn't handle that type of pressure or force just yet. Just for kicks I removed the secondary heart and remade it in the image of the primary heart, just smaller. More stamina and less stress on the primary. Also better to have a back up and not need it, than to need it and not have it.

Then came the lungs. I made the new pair in my lower abdomen and I'd just replace my old pair when I was finished. These lungs would expand much more than the previous set and have four air sacs situated underneath them like that of a bird's - it'd help clear out all the 'bad' or leftover air in the lungs for the next breath which they'd also help with. Alveoli amount per lung was tripled and the alveoli themselves were made more efficient and effective, allowing for more oxygen to be diffused into the blood and more carbon dioxide to be released. These lungs will be able to keep up with my new hearts.

New lungs slotted into place like a jigsaw piece. Perfectly, that is. A deep breath later and I knew they worked. It was slightly weird feeling because I could feel the air sacs helping the inhale and exhale motions but I'd get used to it.

What next then...

Kidneys and liver were easy enough. Just make them better at cleaning/filtering my blood. Of course they became the best kidneys and liver a guy could ask for. Spleen was easy too. Just tweak it to become a supercharged version of it's old self. My lymph nodes went the same way and together with my spleen, I'd be surprised if any harmful germs could ever survive in my body again. My white blood cells pretty much just got turned into an army of mini-Terminators, all fitted up with sunglasses, a leather jacket and a catchy one-liner.

I turned my sights deeper. Inside my bones lay my bone marrow. It was pretty easy on deciding what to do and I had plenty of ideas on how to do it. First off, I made the bone marrow denser, packing as much of it as I could into my bones and when my bones began to limit that? I changed my bones.

Taking the protein, collagen, and minerals, especially calcium that made up the bones, I rearranged them into a stronger material that was more like metal than anything biological while keeping their flexibility unimpeded. I made the bones overall a bit thicker but especially my spine, sternum and pelvis - it'd provide the foundation to a much stronger core.

Then I lined the bones with a protein matrix - a mixture of goethite and a protein polymer - like that of a limpet's teeth. And bam, I had bones that were nigh-on impossible to break. Well, I mean, I'm sure there's plenty that could break them. You'd just need an ungodly amount of force.

All while keeping the bones the same weight as they were before. Man, I'm pretty fucking good at this.

Right, bone marrow. Once it hit the density I wanted it to hit, I ramped up blood and red cell production and dipped into the blueprints for the red blood cells themselves and turned up the amount of hemoglobin per cell from millions to billions. White cell and platelet production was also sent through the roof with similar enhancements to them.

Then came the big boy tune ups.

Muscles.

I kept the same origin points because, you know, I still wanted to look humanoid and everything but I messed around with their insertion and attachment points before settling on the ones that gave the most. Most of my muscles are attached to their origin points diagonally now, instead of directly, for better leverage and mechanics and I upped the cross sectional surface area as much as I could. All of that enhances the amount of force they can exert by contracting. I went through the muscles and changed up their material composition to an uber effective and advanced version of what they once were. Then I lined the muscles with a smooth muscle that layered through each fiber and gave them increased durability, helping them withstand the force they'd be putting out.

With that I turned off the limits my brain put on my muscles, so I was using 100% now.

Obviously I bulked up my muscle mass. Not to bodybuilder levels but I did look like a guy who'd been in the gym working out with a routine split between hardcore calisthenics and extreme weightlifting with an equally insane diet. I had bulk, for sure, but with a high amount of definition and a finishing touch of leanness that just finished the look and brought it to greatness.

To finish off my muscles I upped their density to around two times that of a gorilla (still keeping them roughly the same weight as normal human muscle) and pumped them full of myoglobin - about fifteen times that of a normal human - and did one last look over my physique, tuning it up for aesthetic reasons. Gotta be symmetrical and all that jazz.

What? A guy can't wanna look good?

Nervous system was arguably the easier of the whole bunch, all I needed to do was line the nerve cells with a biological hyper conductor, change how much control I could exert over my body so I didn't end up ripping doors off their hinges and crushing people's hands which was really just about tweaking the electromagnetic activity needed to regulate such powerful muscles--and bam. Done.

Once the last change slid into place, I took a deep breath and let my mental control over my heart wane, the cardiac muscle begging to go at full throttle.

It was hard to describe how amazing it felt. The power, the goddamn rush of strength and senses and how everything suddenly felt better. Despite not really touching any of my senses beyond what I did before Taylor burst in, everything seemed more vivid, more real.

I decided then and there that Brockton Bay should get ready.

Because tomorrow night, I was testing this new body out.

I went to sleep with a wide, wide smile with far too many teeth showing.