I wonder if that's how my guardians felt.

Zax couldn't resist the smile tugging at his lips, watching his apprentice and friend grow as a person. He knew how difficult it had been for her to fix her choice. Now she was set on her path, so his task was to support her.

Maybe he could customise a screentime counter, to measure when she was favouring one of her bracelets? He would mention it later. For now, she deserved the revel in her moment.

Checking his commands for the day, his eye naturally fell on the Core's message. The reward could only be delivered when he defined what a "full set" was. He would get there, eventually, but it would take time. Frustrating. It made him want to focus on that experiment, but recent events had led to major, more immediate breakthroughs.

SG's free running skill pattern kept eluding him, unlike the others he had looked for. Finally, he knew why: it was never a "free running" or "acrobatics" skill; it was an "acrobatic fighting" skill. He was looking for the wrong things in the wrong parts! His desperate attempts at sharpening what he had were working, at least. This new mindset made defining a clear pattern a breeze. It took less than an hour, including the final checks and re-checks. He had been so incredibly close! She had just never used the full scope of her abilities, which was the one requirement he knew he needed from the start. It was the cleanest pattern he ever measured too, probably because of all her practice and experience over the years.

It could hint she was better at her thing than he was at his. His pride would have taken a hit if nanotechnology was useful for anyone else.

Incidentally, it also proved his theory about an actual "start" and "end" signal in the patterns. He would know what to look for in the future; where they were and where they were not, for sure.

In addition, he confirmed that teaching a skill revealed its pattern, but less cleanly than personal training, itself less clear than actual, practical use. In this case, having true opponents probably helped too, and would have helped more if they had been better fighters.

Not surprising, but good to confirm.

With the pattern so easy to read, preparing the "skill book" for Aran was a no-brainer. After his previous work, the "parkour" part of the skill was more prevalent than the rest. The next training session would show if it worked as planned.

If it did, it would revolutionise teaching and learning.

For those willing to have nanites in their brain.

Bummer.

It might be further improved by the other breakthrough from the event: the resonance.

Now better able to identify neural patterns, the recordings from all three dotters during the altercation were effortless to read. Now if what he read could be as straightforward to understand…

The first instance had been detected just as SG had been hit in the face, while Aran and Zax both had a fresh head wound. It only lasted a second, but at that moment, all their nanites were… not in synch; they ran their identical programs on their own, according with their host. Not connected either; the programs still ran independently and there had been no interposition or transmission.

All three of them had the same issue: "How do I get (them) out of here?", but only Zax had actually sent a query to his nanites. Out of habit, and without expecting an answer.

For some reason, all three of their brains had reacted as if their helpers were analysing the question. Which didn't make sense; the expert confirmed they were operating normally, no change in their behaviour or their programs.

It was almost like, in addition to their brain and the nanite processor, there had been a third brain in each of the dotters, ignoring the nanites but interacting in similar ways with the organic brain. Which didn't make sense.

Zax knew anatomical weak points. Aran was at the back and could still see everyone, which had given their relative positions. The resulting solution matched SG's fighting expertise. Merging all those, the result could be explained. Which meant those ghost brains had also all worked as one, pooling the trio's perception, knowledge and resources together. Which didn't make sense.

The results were there.

The phenomenon shared similarities with the meditation effect he was studying on mice, but the relation if there was any was not obvious. That resonance affected nanites directly and nanites only, and was a known property of nano-technology.

Even without the "how" explained, once he knew what to look for the trigger conditions were plain to see. Relatively speaking. The brawl had had many brief instances of that "super-resonance", some with no obvious common points, and many occasions that seemed identical but didn't trigger anything.

First, Zax had to actively be soliciting his nanites, even if for an unrelated task. Second, all three had to be in a similar enough state, physically, emotionally and mentally. Third, at least one had to have the other two in their field of view.

There might have been others, more subtle, but those were the standouts from his analysis. He did quick experiments on the mice he already used to study the effects of meditation and basic resonance, but they didn't give conclusive results. The super-resonance was difficult to detect; he couldn't mark success or failure.

Considering the similarities and differences between the resonances, he renamed the basic version he knew and understood as "echo", feeling "resonance" was more dramatic and a better fit with the mysterious effect. "Ghost brain" was too speculative, and just plain creepy.

I can't believe it.

It was crazy and insane, it still didn't make sense, but the data had spoken. Examples outside the brawl matched. Aran's surprise somersault, back during their first free-running session. She had mentioned occasional surges of inspiration when working on her WIL add-on; they fit the pattern of borrowing his skills. Same with Zax and wins in games beyond his level, and SG's handling of difficult clients.

They all had, at some point, displayed a friend's skill beyond their own budding level. What more, they had noticed, but it hadn't felt abnormal at all. Merely lucky shots, stroke of genius and sudden inspirations.

Figuring everything out had taken some time, mostly because of all the checks and re-checks and redundant analysis. He couldn't help it; nothing explained the barely detectable phenomenon and it irked his scientific mind.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Inexplicable but consistent rules. Can be used but not understood. Why… why does that sound familiar, suddenly?

The hobbyist frowned, but brushed it off. He was alone, so it had to be his own feeling. There were a lot of unanswered questions left. The path out of the brute lady's grasp had appeared spontaneously, as if he had known all along. It had been so obvious, so… natural. He was actively looking for an exit, but the thought had appeared on its own, naturally.

Not even a thought, more like… a compulsion?

No. He hadn't felt like he had to follow. Merely like it was the obvious thing to do.

An instinct? Something he knew in his guts to be right, for no reason…

Better, but not quite.

He hadn't reflected enough to look for a reason. It had just felt fundamentally right.

And it wasn't how SG usually saw the world. He had checked.

Creepy. Soooo creepy.

Even someone who had put billions of machines in his own body, willingly, was deeply uneased by the idea of foreign thoughts spontaneously appearing and mixing with his. Even a friend's. The nanites were made by himself, at least, and he could get them out anytime.

So frustrating. There were so many questions left! Any limits on how many people could be involved? How similar did they have to be? Complexity of the task? Distance? Duration? Cooldown? Overlap? What else could it do? Were nanites required at all?

Screw full sets.

Any idea of following the Core's incentive was utterly gone; understanding resonance was an absolute priority. He had to understand the phenomenon, without delay. What if it affected more than their minds? He didn't fancy remotely moving his friends' bodies. Or fainting because someone took sleeping pills. Or his dreams giving others hallucinations.

Or stopping someone's vital functions.

"It's unlikely to go that far, but I'm not willing to take the risk." He explained at the end of the work day, keeping the last thought to himself.

"It would be pretty funny tho." Aran answered.

Zax eyed her askew. He didn't fancy perusing the movie scenarios she was imagining.

"It helped us. Often. A lot." SG stated.

She wasn't wrong, but it didn't mean it always would, or couldn't be used against them. Still, the reminder helped him take a step back, away from his dark thoughts. It didn't change his priorities, but he didn't feel the same urgency anymore. It never hurt them, and nothing hinted it would start.

"Glad you agree! Now, how are we doing this?" Aran closed the discussion to the more immediate concern.

The afternoon was supposed to be filled with appointments in the little dot, but all the new applicants had cancelled one after the other. If someone said it wasn't related to the previous day's events, none of the dotters would believe them. Today's trip might be different than usual, even if not a violent one.

"I still need to meet with yesterday's applicants to get their templates and my nanites back, so I'm going. The Enforcers took everyone who didn't flee, so it should be safe." Zax cut any objection before they could rise. "I should at least talk with Azar; we're clearly missing something. The community centre still owes me at least four templates for my help anyway, and I'm not leaving my equipment or my nanites there."

The girls deflated, recognising they would not change his mind. They could have tried for only the templates, but not templates, civility and nanites.

"You still don't have to come. Our contract doesn't involve either of you. They don't owe you and you don't owe them."

"I want to, say goodbye, at least." SG defended. She had enjoyed her time with the children.

Today was not daycare day, though.

"I'd rather not leave you alone. And you just gave one more reason not to. We need to be together to resonate."

"Don't start relying on it, it's not a crutch." Zax warned, frowning. "We can't make it happen, and we don't know what it'll do if it does."

"Clumsy weapon. Hurts the wielder." SG vigorously nodded her agreement.

The tailed girl incomprehensibly blinked between the two, but nodded her assent.

The trip to the little dot was uneventful. Expected, but still reassuring.

Things were strange when they arrived though.

"Go away!"

"Get lost!"

Nobody wanted to talk with them.

"We won't help you. Please leave."

"We want nothing to do with you."

Not all were aggressive about it, but most didn't even open their doors to shout at them.

One opened the door, growled at them and slammed it shut.

"Go back with your friends!" One even said with venom in her voice.

"They are right here?" Zax gestured to the women at his sides with a confused but even voice.

Hurried shuffling noises were heard, followed by the door being opened ajar. A woman's worried eye appeared in the spilt, frowning as soon as she glanced at them.

Progress, but is it good progress?

"Not them, dumbass."

"They are the only friends I'm still speaking with. The others left long ago."

"Don't play dumb with me, boy." She squinted.

"I can assure you I don't." She was adamant, but Zax was even more. "What's going on? Why are you suddenly breaking our contract?"

"I don't care about that contract! Ask Azar!" She screamed and slammed the door at his face.

"By the stars, what kind of weird bug bit them all?" Aran was flummoxed.

"No idea, but at least we have a lead now. We were almost done with yesterday's applicants. Let's skip the others and go straight to the community centre."

"Good idea. I hope he can explain. It's getting on my nerves."

"Creepy." SG added, turning with everyone to go down the stairs back in the street. "Conspiracy?"

"Against us specifically? What would be the point?"

"She talked about 'friends'. Do they think we're elated to 'the troublesome ones'?"

They kept discussing the mystery on the way to the community centre, but found no explanation.

"What are you doing here?" Cera, the receptionist, seemed shocked at their presence, then irritated.

Here too?

"I know our next appointment is in two days, but today's candidates all cancelled their appointments, and yesterday's refused to talk, so I couldn't get my nanites back. I don't think I'll have better luck tomorrow. One of them advised to see Azar for an explanation. Is he available?"

"No. He's busy fixing your mess." She frowned.

"My mess?" Zax blinked. So it really was something he did. "What mess?"

Her frown turned in a glare, but she didn't answer.

"Is someone sick because of my nanites?" It shouldn't be possible, but it would explain the sudden hostility.

Still no answer from the girl at the desk.

"We'll wait for him." Zax nodded, holding back a frown. "They also mentioned friends of mine that are not Aran or SG." He pointed behind him. "Do you know who she was talking about? You seem… sour, too."

"We thought you were a friend; we welcomed you with open arms, and you went and brought trouble in our midst." Azar's voice came from the side.

It was more explanation than before, but still unclear. The dotter was mentally preparing for an annoying game of worm-it-out, but the answer was walking with the red-haired man. Azar's neutral face was broken by an unfriendly twitch, while behind them Agni was openly glaring at the newcomer.

Tall and lanky woman. No obvious mutation. Her mid-length hairs were died bright blue to look like it, but the effect was ruined by her visible black roots. Had she taken a less contrasting colour, Zax would not have noticed right away. Her polite smile didn't reach her eyes, and her lifted chin betrayed haughty thoughts.

They had no idea of who that woman was, but her uniform was unmistakably an enforcer's.

If that's the trouble, how am I the one who brought it here?

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