In Marrakech, Welga had lived without a kitchen or car that could handle itself. She’d seen people with mechanical body modifications pushing the limits of human appearance, especially the al-Muwahhidun soldiers. Her own military enhancements were internal, and they included a permanent-resident WAI, but the electronics in her body were tiny, unnoticeable. The Machinehood operative’s guts—and the person in Nithya’s colleague’s video—seemed to have smart-matter that interfaced with their bodies on a macro scale. The reports on the maturity of that technology had mixed results, but the consensus said no, not possible in a walking, talking human being. Could the al-Muwahhidun have figured out a way to advance VeeMods beyond anything in the rest of the world?

“Incoming call request from Nithya Balachandran,” Por Qué said.

“Accept.” Welga rounded the park that marked the halfway point in her run and slowed so she could converse.

“You’re awake early,” Nithya said.

Her image floated in Welga’s display, superimposed on the real world. Carma stood in the background, wearing a game rig and jumping over invisible obstacles.

“I’m warming up for a busy day,” Welga said. “What’s going on?”

“I wanted to tell you what I’ve found about your condition.” A series of drawings and chemical symbols appeared next to Nithya’s face. “This is a model of what I think is happening to your muscles based on the data I have. See this?” Red circles appeared around some areas. “It’s a form of long-term synaptic fatigue. My best guess is that the zips trigger something in your DNA that then affects potassium ion channels. It’s also stimulating activity in your mesolimbic system, which I don’t fully understand. I need more time to make sense of it, but you must stop taking zips and not resume until we resolve this. That much I’m certain of. I’ve sent you the results so far. Did you find any specialists to take on your case?”

“No luck. I’m not offering money for someone to look at my data so I suppose it’s not surprising. And you know I can’t stop taking the pills, not now.”

Nithya frowned. “But you’re risking your health, possibly your life.”

“I’ve been using zips for years. It can’t be that bad.”

“Maybe it’s something in the newer designs. I don’t know. I’m trying to get more information, but I can see that your motor and limbic systems are involved. Those are fundamental, Welga, and potentially pointing to an addiction. Whatever you have is an undocumented side effect, one that’s likely triggered by something specific to your genetic makeup, and it’s not my area of expertise. It’s going to take a long time before we have all the answers, especially with no one funding our effort.”