A/N: and here is another chapter. Thanks to HowInMadeHowie for his great work and the bouncing around with ideas.
And if you looked at the summery, we are in the process on reworking the older chapters, to correct mistakes and catch some plotbunny's.
Also this chapter is a bit shorter, hope you all dont mind and like it nether the less. Stay safe.
When Harry slowly woke up, he noticed that he smelled breakfast being made so he knew the mutation was successful. When he heard Callie talking to him without his glasses, he smiled as this was now also possible. She told him that he was asleep for two days straight and would now need some sustenance fast as the drip-feeding could only do so much. Harry sat up slowly, as he felt a bit dizzy putting his feet down on the floor. After it got better, he pushed himself off the bed and looked around and saw he was in his bedroom. It was like seeing it for the first time, through new, sharper eyes. Still, the smell of food was calling his attention and he made his way over to his door.
While he walked down the stairs, he noticed that his suspicion about his senses were more sensitive than before as he could now hear that someone was in the kitchen, still preparing more breakfast by the smell of it. He had to ask himself if the others were worried on how long he would stay asleep, when the door to his right opened and John came out of his room looking down to Harry and asked him if he was all right. With a nod Harry gave him his answer and then walked together with him down to the great hall next to the kitchen.
As they walked John looked down at Harry with a raised brow wondering how the young wizard was coping having an AI inside his body, "And how does it feel, having an AI in your head? To be honest, when I was first introduced to Cortana it felt like my nerves were doused in ice water and I was even in my armor which would regulate the temperature. But after a while, you will get used to it. I even know that with the newest interface the AI can manifest everywhere where you are without a projector. But I would suggest that you do not try that as long as others are around, even if Miss Granger or Miss Greengrass are the only people with you. Do not forget that this technology is still top secret and even our friends here don't know how it works for real, only that it exists. As you are now equipped with this interface, you must watch what you are saying from now on. I even would allow Callie to shut you up as she could influence you nerves so you could not talk to anymore for a short while. For outsiders, it would look like you just forgot what you wanted to tell. Not really a lie, if you think about it." John was now opening the door to the great hall, where people were already sitting on the table eating breakfast.
Harry was happy when he saw that Geralt was also sitting with the rest and talking about his last job he completed. Harry wanted to ask him how the mutation, with better senses, would affect his daily life, and Geralt had them for almost his whole life and surely could give him some tips.
Geralt noticed that Harry was walking a bit different as the last time he saw him. So, his guess was correct, and his wife did go through with the mutation to get rid of whatever that horcrux was made from. As he could not feel any darkness anymore, he now could teach Harry the kind of magic a Witcher uses, maybe it would come in handy in the future. But first he had to do another trial, something he hoped to never see another do again. When Harry sat beside him and filled his plate, Geralt finalized his plan on how he should tell Harry about this test. It would be like the survival training he did with John, but this time without any help from anyone except his mind and his sword. That reminded him, the last thing Harry would need to become a Witcher was a silver sword, maybe there was still one lying around in the armory. Maybe even one of the Wolf schools.
While Geralt was thinking about how he could teach Harry in the future, Yen was looking at her son in all but blood and was proud of him for going all the way to become as strong he could to protect his friends in case Voldemort would return sooner than they thought. Harry even got that gate magic almost working flawlessly for emergencies, but she still had more to teach him. And as if she had read Geralt's mind, she knew that Harry would soon learn even more, but they only had two weeks until Harry had to go back to Hogwarts, as the next school term would start then. So, they had to prioritize what they wanted him to learn in those two weeks, while John surely wanted him to train even harder now as to test his new strength. Yen wanted to begin to ask the others about their opinion, when Catherine walked up to them and asked if Harry was finished already. She would like to check on his health after the mutation had time to quiet down a bit.
Harry did not mind, but somehow he became restless as if had almost too much energy now. Maybe after eating, his body could now process the nutrients better and give him more energy from his meals that he would need to burn through in his training. He would also need to get used to the sensory overload that he experienced while he walked behind Doctor Halsey. He asked Callie if she could regulate all this input, to which she replied that she already had it dialed down to almost non-existence according to her parameters. But as she did not want him to rely on her, she suggested that he would try it himself as when she was somehow put out of action, he could get overwhelmed if he was not prepared enough. Harry saw her logic and thanked her, so he tried to ignore all the unnecessary smells and sounds that would distract him from what he was going to do.
When they walked through the door to the laboratory Doctor Halsey pointed to the same bed he was on a few days ago, but this time there were no robotic arms standing beside it, only a scanner and a computer to analyze his blood to see if anything was wrong. As Harry laid down on the bed, Catherine used a small syringe to take a blood sample while the scanner began its work and moved slowly from top to bottom over Harry. Catherine put the sample in the designated port of her computer and waited until she would see the results. While she waited she heard a ping from the scanner, telling her that there was nothing unusual inside Harry's body. When she looked back to the screen where the blood sample was analyzed she noticed that some of the genetic augmentations were no longer needed as the mutation had the same results as her previous work. She took notes and would adjust the process for Harry when she had all the tools present.
"Okey, Harry, it seems that everything is in order. But I would like it if you would tell me when you feel something strange during your everyday life." Harry just nodded his answer to Catherine, knowing full well that she meant the best for him. So, he told her that he would have to get used to the sensitivity of all his senses, but he was confident that he would work it out. Catherine was glad that he was honest and suggested that he should talk with Geralt about that.
"That was my plan Catherine, but Callie still tries to help me out with what she can do. But I have one question, can she, as she has now direct access to my nerves, control my body?" Harry knew that Callie could tell him this too, but he thought that maybe some instances where so classified that she had no recollection of it. Catherine denied this, as he would have to be in a MJOLNIR armor system just like John and the other Spartans, as she would need more processing power as the small chip allowed and the system has the ability to boost it as it was built that way.
After the small talk, they walked back up to the great hall, where Geralt was waiting for him, so they could move out for his sword training. While Harry was accompanied by the aging Witcher, Harry was thinking if he should ask him now or later. But Geralt asked him first what he wanted to know, as the mutations also gave the Witcher such a good hearing that they could listen to the heartbeat of the person they were talking to.
"Well, if you could tell me how you ignore all those unnecessary information from your senses, that would help me a lot. I mean I even hear Hedwig eating a mouse up in the tower and it irritates me a bit. What if I even would hear other students in other classrooms while at Hogwarts? That would also distract me from my studies in the evening when I must listen to the older students doing their things. Could you teach me?" Harry was looking at Geralt, hoping he would help him find a solution for his problem. The Witcher just nodded and told him to sit down and meditate as it would help him to concentrate. While Harry did not like to sit still for a long period of time, he did what he was told and sat down and closed his eyes and slowed down his breathing.
"Now Harry, I want you to listen only to my voice, block everything else out. What I am now teaching you is the called Witcher sense, something we can control at will. When you master it, all your senses will dull a bit, until you concentrate on that sense you want enhanced. That way, you have all the control you need, but before that you must master it. And for that, you will need patience, because as soon you lose focus during those lessons, all the other senses will give you more information as you could handle. In the beginning, all of us did struggle with it, some of us even had months until they could function normally again. After all, hearing all the moaning from the grownups is distracting for a growing boy, and the others were not trying to be quiet at all. Luckily, those left in this castle do know how to behave themselves." When that comment left Geralt's mouth, Harry blushed a little, he was still a young boy after all. Geralt grinned, so he still had feelings, that was better than the hoped. Geralt only could feel happiness and lust after his mutations, only thanks to Yen he learned to love again. But Harry seemingly had still all those that where normal for a boy his age.
While Harry meditated, John was walking down to the FOB near the castle, he would need to maintain his armor while changing some parts that were worn down. For example, the shield unit had begun to flicker on and off; something he would like to have corrected immediately. Also, he thought that the titanium alloy would need to be checked if it was still in working order and still as strong as it was supposed to be. The few tests he did with other wizards had shown that he was completely immune to almost all the spells thanks to it, but Doctor Halsey told him that she was researching some countermeasures for the future. While he would be there, he would also get some new weapons as there was progress in this department even in peace time. Even if the power of those weapons would still be the same, they would be easier to handle for the everyday soldier.
When he arrived at the armor removal station, he asked the technicians if they could do the checkups with him present, as he wanted to make sure that the job was done successfully. They just nodded and asked him to move along with them, while a tray was floating beside them with all the parts of his armor on it. It then was going into a special structure that had ONI guards outside the door to ensure that everything inside would only be known to the individuals that had clearance. Luckily, John was among that group and was let through. Inside the entrance where more guards, with the ONI patch on their shoulder, checking if everyone had the proper clearance.
John did find it just a bit annoying to be held up all these times, but even if the Spartan program became public knowledge, details about the armor was still a top secret, as the official memo only stated that the Spartans had a special power armor that would only work with them. So, the rumor mill was turning out multiple theories, one shrewder then the next.
One theory in particular did cause Cortana to laugh every time she heard it, as this source wanted to hammer down that the armor was remote controlled and the only thing that a Spartan had to do was to pull the trigger. Even with their advanced robotic tech, they could not make one move as fluid like a Spartan did on the battlefield. There was just no comparison to a real life, battle hardened Spartan.
John moved deeper into the complex where his armor was inspected by a single technician over multiple workstations, now even in company of two ONI agents together with one ONI guard. Whatever security this secret needed; ONI would provide whatever it deemed necessary. John even had to give them a DNA sample to prove that he was the one his identification said he was. In his opinion, it was a bit excessive, but he was just a soldier and followed his orders when given. Luckily for everyone involved, he was never given an order that he found inhumane enough to outright refuse it and take the one into custody that had given that order for questioning through ONI. John had heard rumors on how the interrogated their prisoners, and it was not nice what the rumors did tell.
"Well Master Chief, it seems that your armor is in almost perfect condition. At least the material is. It seems that your shield generator had a short circuit, and this is the reason why it only works from time to time. We need to replace it with a new one, luckily we have some spares with the supply ship in space. We will order it immediately, but it would still take two days to arrive and another to install it. Are you comfortable with leaving your armor so long with us? Please do not think that it is really necessary to leave it with us, you could take it with you again and just come the day after tomorrow again. But I would suggest that you take one of the spare GEN 2 armor we have and take the extra day of while we work on yours Chief." The technician handed him a data pad, so John could verify his findings. Seeing that everything was correct, he just nodded and handed it back, already walking to the equipment manager over in the other complex, giving the technician his answer this way. He always wanted to test those new armor sets, but until now he had no reason to change his out. He soon would find out that his Mk VI armor was better than those from the GEN 2 platform as he was invited to train with some marines and Spartan IV that were also stationed on this FOB.
Back in the castle, Harry begun to get an idea how he should work his senses, but he would still do more work with them. As the day where he would return to school, he would need to find a place on the campus where he could meditate in silence to master this technique. But for now, he must train with his swords for the rest of the day, where he noticed that his reflexes were now faster. He could give Geralt a bigger challenge now in contrast of their last training duel in the beginning of the summer break. The wooden swords clashing with each other, Harry tried to swipe low towards Geralt's legs, who just jumped over it. But before Harry could capitalize on the impossibility to evade when you're up in the air, Geralt made an overhead swing to which Harry had to defend himself with the sword over his head, trying to deflect the swing towards the ground so he could make an opening to attack. But Geralt did not give him that opening, as he kicked him into the stomach causing Harry fly back a few meters. Rolling over the floor after he landed, he did want to stand back up, but the pointed end of a sword on his adam's-apple prevented that. So, Harry gave up and laid back on the ground, groaning. "You have become much better because of the mutation Harry. It seems training so well before hand did provide you with the tools that you could accommodate to the boost in speed and reflexes in that short amount of time. But there is no hiding the fact that you still have problems ignoring the unnecessary information that your senses provide you. More than once I saw you look over to a small bird which took flight just as you were to make an attack. Until you have this under your control, you can't use all your power. Of course, they will become even greater when you become older. Now, all we need is to hide the changes in your eyes somehow, even if they are minimal." Harry's eyes were indeed, in contrast to the hope's they had with the ritual, a bit more catlike than they should be. His pupil was now a small eclipse, but luckily his eye color was still the same. But someone who was very observant could see the change, so they just hoped that the small upgrade that Halsey did to his glasses would work well enough to hide this fact.
Harry nodded, still remembering the lessons in secrecy he received from Yen and Catherine. He just hoped that he would not slip up and reveal to much of his gained strength that it would be suspicious. A small increase was to be expected after all over the summer when he would train more. Geralt helped Harry back on his feet, and they walked back to the great hall, where hopefully dinner would be as good as it smelled.