Chapter 12: Enhancement II
The body inside the containment unit looked as human as possible and bore no resemblance to the metallic skeleton that had existed there before.
It was an exact clone of Richard's previous body, with no height difference or additional weight gain.
[Transformation complete…. Calibration in progress. Good luck to you, master,] Queen said, knowing that everything from here on out depended on him.
The challenge of soul transfer lay in ensuring complete compatibility between body and soul.
The rat's transfer had been immediate because it was into a genetic clone, but Richard was transferring his soul into an entirely different entity.
The calibration process was designed to quickly align his soul with the new body and facilitate his adaptation to it.
The room remained silent for hours, with Queen even disobeying her master's orders because she knew they could prove disastrous for him if carried out. She trusted the process would succeed; the only issue was the time it might take.
Loading his consciousness into a new body, or even back into his old one, could potentially create another Richard who might halt the entire procedure just to ensure his own continued existence.
Queen waited until the fingers of the new body began to move. Soon, the eyes of the new Richard shot open, revealing initially robotic eyes that quickly transitioned to those of a regular human.
Moments later, the entire body began to move in a peculiar manner, as if he were falling and falling...
Thud
"Shit!! I didn't think this through," Richard commented as he landed on the floor of the container.
"[Congratulations, sir. It took you five (5) hours and twenty-five (25) minutes to wake up,]" Queen noted.
"Thanks… Wait, you didn't follow through with my order, did you?" Richard asked, realizing the potential error in his directive.
[I think I've learned enough to know that such an order would lead to chaos,] Queen replied, her satisfaction evident in her voice.
"That's a relief then. The calibration process for this body turned out to be some strange instinct-matching procedure," Richard said as he climbed out of the chamber.
He felt an unusual strength in his body, far beyond what he should have felt. Despite this, he sensed no difference between this body and his previous one, other than an enhanced awareness of his abilities—technically, his X-gene.
[How do you feel?]
"Like a brand new car" Richard joked
[...]
"I don't know... This is just weird. The body doesn't feel any different from my regular one, but mentally, I feel like there's an entire portion of my brain dedicated to keeping me together... Well, that isn't new, but this is just plain different."
[As you said, it will take some getting used to.]
"Let's hope so," Richard replied.
The new body he inhabited was made from what he called Nanocytes—tiny machines subatomic in size. The entire metal skeleton and skin were composed of these nanocytes.
The liquid poured into the containment unit consisted of trillions upon trillions of nanocytes that his metal skeleton absorbed to create his new human body.
Despite becoming essentially an android or cyborg, Richard still considered himself human because his nanocytes perfectly mimicked human skin, organs, bones, and even cells.
This was why he looked exactly the same; the vibranium he had acquired from Klaue was used solely for its atomic structure.
Although he now mimicked human cells, he retained vibranium's qualities because he wanted to.
His brain had been remade to fit his body—a mind capable of processing trillions of pieces of information effortlessly, even on a subconscious level.
Richard had never considered himself a major intellect, but now he matched them in intellect, knowledge, and creativity.
"Exactly how strong am I?"
"[Well… let's find out,]" Queen replied as several nanocytes emerged from the floor to form a massive hydraulic press capable of exerting up to 100 tons of force.
"Isn't this overkill?" Richard questioned, unsure if he could handle even a ton, let alone more in his current human form.
"[Nope,]" Queen assured him as Richard positioned himself beneath the press.
"Set it to 500kg and then increase slowly," Richard ordered, raising his hands to catch the weight.
"[As you wish. 500kg and increasing,]" Queen responded as Richard felt the immense weight descend onto his arms.
Despite this, he effortlessly lifted it, showing no signs of strain.
"As expected, add more," he commanded, prompting Queen to continue increasing the weight.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
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