<P>Standing now in this bleak habitat made Tiberius extremely uncomfortable. He drew the pistol, feeling somewhat more at ease with it in his hand.
<P>
<P>"Put that away," said the translator. "If people see you with a gun in your hand, you will not survive long!"
<P>
<P>He wasn't sure that he was overly fond of the translator. The dark-haired little man spoke in short, snappy sentences and seemed to be constantly irritated by something. Tiberius wondered briefly if he was feeling the same sense of discomfort. Whatever the case, it made the task at hand much more difficult to deal with.
<P>
<P>Without saying much more, the translator began leading the way up the street, passing into the shadows cast by the monstrous, yet lifeless buildings that flanked their passage. It was difficult to see anything, and the moon cast only a vague light in the more open areas, which were few and far between.
<P>
<P>Tiberius thought he saw movement on one of the sidewalks. Straining to see, he began to wonder why Carson hadn't outfitted him with some sort of flashlight. As Tiberius stopped, the translator turned around impatiently and muttered something about promptness. He ignored his guide and focused on the spot where he thought he had seen something. His head was suddenly overcome by some sort of crawling sensation under his skin. At first he began to panic, brushing at his face with his hands, but to no avail. After only a few seconds, a beam of light appeared in front of him, illuminating a small cone in front of him. He looked over to the translator, shining the light on him as he did so.
<P>
<P>"What is that?" The translator's eyes went wide and he simply stared at Tiberius in wonder. "That cannot be natural!" Tiberius was inclined to agree, and started shaking his head, trying to extinguish the light. He tried to focus on putting it out, but nothing he tried worked. It stayed on and kept following his vision.
<P>
<P>"Ah, I see you've found another one of your augmentations," said Doctor Carson through the infolink. Tiberius screamed when he heard the voice, tripping over backwards and landing on the pavement. He sat up and pushed himself back on his hands. "Don't worry, it's just me. The light uses up bioelectric energy, so use it sparingly. I have no biocells to spare."