Techno Fever [ONC II Round 1 WINNER | Asian Scifi | Complete]

Chapter 1

"Dodge this, loser!"

Meiha's head snapped round. A familiar sense of panic gripped her throat. There was a light whistle and a burst of orange light came from her right. She dropped her electronic notebook. All her belongings tumbled onto the ground; her stylus spun away. A sizzling overhead told her what she'd just avoided: a blast from the latest Bod Mod that Lai Waisan, the richest girl on campus, had acquired. A shrill giggle above her confirmed her suspicions. Waisan stood two storeys above her. She raised her smoking arm, which had been modified into a blast cannon -- the new Yandi model -- and blew the tiny blue tendrils emanating from the end. They were probably just coloured smoke for dramatic purposes. A toothy grin stretched from ear to ear. Her dark eyes -- one of which had a telescoping device implanted within, so that a pale blue electronic sheen swept across the surface every so often -- glittered with triumph.

"What do you think?" she called, leaning over the balcony and waving her modified arm. "This came out just last week! My dad's friends with the developer. He said I could be the first to test drive it -- pretty awesome, right?"

She aimed it at Meiha again.

"How about if I give your hair a light... trim?"

The Bod Mod whistled. Meiha tensed, watching the orange light. At the next blast, she leapt out of the way again. The potted plant that stood behind her was reduced to a crisp. She swallowed. This was military-grade weaponry, surely. It was at moments like this she wished she'd taken on the offer of a Bod Mod. She could afford it now, but...

"What happened to that Yanzhi model you had?" said Li yuka, Waisan's best friend.

"That old thing? In a box in my room -- someone will probably chuck it tomorrow morning," said Waisan with a sniff, admiring her new model. "I had to wait for two weeks for the nerve endings to mature. I couldn't get that latest system update for days. Can you imagine? Ugh!"

"Hey, how about if we turn up the power?" said Yuka, reaching over with her left hand.

"Don't scratch it!" Waisan screeched, yanking her modified arm back and pointing with her flesh hand at Yuka's outstretched one. Yuka's titanium fingers paused before withdrawing. She didn't even have her usual claws extended. "We had to import this from the USA!"

Waisan's Bod Mod emitted a light whistle again and orange light exploded from the end, shattering one of the large windows overhead. The students standing beneath it yelled, dashing away. Glass tinkered onto the ground.

"What the hell, Waisan?" Yuka yelled, stepping back with her metal hand raised. "Watch where you aim that thing!"

"I know what I'm doing, okay?" Waisan said, a light tremble betraying her surprise at the sudden release. "This thing's still new. I'm getting used to it -- but I know what I'm doing! This is the top of the series, the best of the best!"

Meiha took the opportunity to pick up her notebook -- thankfully it hadn't smashed when she avoided her death -- and stylus and slipped out of the door, thankful to escape the suffocating atmosphere that was her dormitory. The tall, sleek, steel-and-glass building stood forlornly behind her, one of the glass panes shattered by Waisan's Bod Mod just now. The midday sun did little to cheer Meiha up. Even though she and Waisan had completely different courses, Waisan made every effort to let Meiha experience the kind of Bod Mod that was available when money was not an issue. If Waisan couldn't control her latest toy, Meiha wasn't sure how safe her remaining days would be. Waisan wouldn't get into any trouble over it. Even though the university forbade the implement of any weapon-based modifications, if a student was rich enough, the faculty would turn a blind eye -- as evident by Waisan's casual attempts on Meiha's life that occurred on a regular basis.