Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Eight - Online Parts Shopping

The Orchid Lux rep gave me a link to a website.

The site was only reachable through some heavily-encrypted browser, and he warned me that it was best, and safest, to only use the internet through a pre-paid card on a burner, or to use public wifi on a brand-new device that I was going to trash.

The fact that this company that I'd never done business with before was this safety-aware made me feel a certain way.

I had so much to do today, mostly checking up on Fran and making sure she was safe, but... yeah, this was a nice distraction.

Since I didn't intend to keep the timeline where I spied on the gala, I went out, bought a new laptop, then bought a burner phone with some data on it. My little hacker setup wasn't anything special, but it was better than nothing.

I installed myself in a cafe a block away from the Seraph Headquarters.

That's where the gala was going to take place.

It was a swanky kind of building, right smack in City Centre, with a bit of a yard leading up to this kind of brutalist entranceway with huge, probably unnecessary pillars. The bottom twenty-ish yards of the building were all glass. The rest of it was a tall, grey pillar with a few windows to break it up.

The Seraph logo sat proud and shiny at the top, backlit in deep neon yellows.

It was easy to see that they'd set up for the gala from where I sat. The cafe was across the street, on the sixth floor of some mixed office building. I'd bullied someone out of the seat I was now in so that I could better spy on the event.

Cars were already out in front and a red carpet was rolled out. Security seemed pretty... present, but I wasn't sure if it was tight exactly.

I gave myself even odds of being able to break in with just ten or so loops.

But, ideally, it wouldn't come to that at all. I was just here to watch. Watch... and shop.

The link that the Orchid Lux rep gave me sent me to a site where I had to log in using a password he asked me to come up with on the spot. That was the only thing on the front page of the site. A prompt asking for a password.

I typed mine in.

CantCheatKarma

The site portal let me in and I leaned back. The site's UI so far had been uber-minimalist. But once in, it was really nice, clean, modern shit. Corpo to the tits, but also without any on-screen ads, no pop-ups, just clean thumbnails and everything laid out.

I licked my lips as I looked it over. There was a navigation thing to one side, with filters.

What did I want, exactly?

I opened the list and scrolled through, then clicked on Nerve-Threading. It brought up some half-dozen options, only two of which were Orchid Lux. I clicked on one of the non-OL options, out of curiosity.

Ex Y Nerve-Nine Combat Spinal Lattice

Manufacturer: Ex Y Defense Industries

Rating: Military Grade, Class-IV Neural Interface

Description:

Designed for high-speed neural conduction in field operatives. The Ex Y Nerve-Nine replaces the body's natural spinal relay with a carbon-sheathed fiber lattice, reducing lag between motor intention and muscle contraction to sub-10 millisecond response times. Integrated shock-dampening and EM shielding ensure stable function even under electronic warfare conditions.

Side Effects: Occasional phantom limb sensation and transient muscle spasms during calibration. Installation time is 8 hours. Three to seven days of sick leave suggested post-operation.

Price: $182,000

Installation cost: $17,000

Holy. I stared at the image, but it was really just a diagram of the nervous system down someone's spine.

Idly, I opened a new tab and posted the name in. The cyberware was made in China, and was currently intended for use in special-ops units starting next year. It wasn't field tested yet, or available to the public.

Damn, Orchid Lux didn't fuck around.

Bit too pricey for me, that. I did check on some others. Orchid Lux had their own nerve-threading which was a little closer to affordable. As in, I'd be able to buy and install it and maybe afford a taxi back home after.

Maybe not, then.

My shortlist of wants, as far as cyberware went, was simple.

Optics, sub-dermals, cochlear protection, skull plating, and maybe a bio-monitor.

I poked around the site some more and felt a weird frustration as I did so. It was so well-made that I was just now realizing that all of the other sites I'd used throughout the rest of my life were shit in comparison.

This was like someone who only ever ate compact protein bars having a home-cooked meal for the first time.

I glanced out the window. People were arriving at the gala. There were limos parked around the block, and some nice sports cars too. A few cameras were flashing, but it looked like the media was mostly relegated to a pen off to one side.

No explosions or violence yet.

I went back to navigating the site and drawing up a wishlist. It conveniently had all of my purchases to one side, with prices and thumbnails and placed them all within easy-to-read categories.

They had to give their IT people a raise, damn.

Optics was my number-one priority. Mine were trash, and I found myself not using them because they just weren't secure enough.

Orchid Lux had good optics. Maybe the best. But... I was on the fence as I looked through different options. Mostly because I maybe wanted something a bit more? Good optics weren't cheap.

Orchid Lux "Seraphim Veil" Bioptic Array

Stolen from NovelBin, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Manufacturer: Orchid Lux

Rating: Civilian/Military Hybrid

Description:

A luxury combat optic built for both elegance and precision. The Seraphim Veil replaces the sclera and iris with liquid-crystal membranes capable of displaying tactical HUDs directly over the user's vision. Smart pigment adaptation maintains a natural appearance when inactive. The user can change the colour of their iris with ease thanks to the Orchid Chameleon™ system. Optical nerve threading enables automatic focus tracking, target tagging, and microsecond light compensation.

Side Effects:

Mild vertigo in zero-light environments. Risk of temporary blindness if exposed to directed EMP.

Price: $214,500

Installation Cost: $21,000

Installation Time: 2 hours

I chewed on my lower lip. Too much. I could cheap out a little, get something that was second-best, but then... hmm.

I started to play around with options. I didn't need the best optics. I needed good enough.

In the end, I had a combo of three items that came in at... well, it would be a lot.

VaxOptic "Eidolon" Mk.IV Retinal Overlayer

Manufacturer: VaxOptic Defense Opticals

Rating: Class-IV Combat

Description:

A direct sheath retrofit over the natural eye, the Eidolon replaces organic corneal and retinal layers with a reactive diamondweave lens and synthetic photoreceptors. Designed for forward scouts and drone pilots, it allows full-spectrum imaging, magnification up to x12, and adaptive glare suppression. Optical feeds can be shared across squad networks in real time.

Side Effects: Temporary light hallucinations during recalibration. Requires daily lens rehydration fluid for optimal clarity.

Price: $69,000

Installation Cost: $3,800

Installation Time: 4 hours

That was a good set of eyes. It was current-gen from a military contractor. The software for it would be a bitch to work with, from what I could tell online from user reviews of the previous generation, but that also meant that it was a pain in the ass to hack into.

It wouldn't even change my iris, which was nice. No colour changes, though. So that'd be annoying.

Orchid Lux "Pulselet" Subdermal Health Band

Manufacturer: Orchid Lux

Rating: Civilian Grade

Description:

The Pulselet rests just beneath the skin of the wrist or neck, sampling blood flow, oxygenation, and adrenaline levels in real time. The display projects softly onto the skin surface, glowing gently when vitals drift outside optimal range. Integrates seamlessly with most personal devices and helmets.

Side Effects: Slight warmth at the site during exertion.

Price: $9,800

Installation Cost: $700

Installation Time: 45 minutes

Simple, but it could interface with the new optics. I'd have a real-time feed on my bio...stuff. The glowy bits could be shut off so that I'd just have a constant monitoring of my vitals. There were even upgrades available. The Pulselet was one of Orchid Lux's more popular items.

Orchid Lux "Lilt" Bio-Aural Enhancer

Manufacturer: Orchid Lux

Rating: Civilian/Military Hybrid

Description:

The Lilt enhances frequency discrimination and music-grade fidelity, favored by snipers, pilots, and audiophiles alike. Its sub-cranial filter translates ambient data—heartbeat, speech cadence, engine tone—into color-coded sensory cues overlayed on peripheral vision if linked to compatible optics. The implant replaces the user's natural cochlea with an advanced system. Designed for comfort and aesthetic subtlety.

Side Effects: Overstimulation in loud environments; mild vertigo during firmware updates.

Price: $41,000

Installation Cost: $3,000

Installation Time: 4 hours

That would cover my hearing issues. There was a neat little video that showed what the visual cues looked like. It would be nice for stealth, I supposed. Mostly, I was interested in the implant's ability to record stuff and save it for later. And it would interface with the bio-monitor. The Atyacus model F1R3 cochlear implants I'd gotten were... nine years older than this, and not even in the same ballpark for quality.

It was almost enough to make me want to have Orchid-Lux eyes as well, but... nah.

Once I removed all the other options, I was left with a final price. 127,300. Operation time of six hours, which wasn't bad.

More money than I'd ever spent on anything before.

Then there was a small informational pop-up that appeared. It was from Orchid Lux, informing me that all three items were currently available. The message also said that the stock would be set aside for me immediately, and that the costs did not have any hidden or additional fees. Also, there was a memo that confirmed that the bio-monitor and cochlear implant could all be connected to the new eyes without issue by some Orchid-Lux technicians.

I chewed on a finger. Could I... get more? I had my own funds for this. Maybe some sub-dermals? But the good stuff would blow my budget.

Skull plating? But that would easily push me past the 150K mark.

I decided not to. I pressed the 'purchase' button, and received a confirmation. Then a nice message from Orchid with a calendar attached, asking me when I wanted it all done.

Damn.

And that's about when the first explosion occurred just outside.

***