The Spine of a Shooter

The Neural Linkup Enhancement was never meant to look human.

But it did.

Segmented black vertebrae.
Artificial nerves.
Needle-thin tines that buried themselves into the shooter’s back.

The Department called it optimization.

Most operators wore their rigs constantly.
Sleeping. Walking. Drinking in the quiet awe of civilians.

Atriya kept his in a cabinet.

Because the question wasn’t whether the linkup made a shooter faster.

The question was what it slowly replaced.

Power is easy to plug in. Discipline isn’t.