Implementations described herein may include a system for manipulating implants coupled by a cord. The system may include a tensioner and a counter tensioner. The tensioner may include a nose assembly and a cord lock assembly for applying tension to the cord. The nose assembly may include a piston having a lumen extending therethrough for receiving the cord and a spring positionable in contact with an indicator region of the piston. The counter may be releasably coupleable to a head of an implant at a proximal end thereof and may guide the cord to a port proximate the distal end thereof, the port for receiving the nose assembly. The counter tensioner may enable translation of the implant relative to another implant implanted in an adjacent or nearby vertebrae. The indicator region of the piston may be visible through a window in a tensioner main body and may indicate cord tension when the nose assembly of the tensioner is coupled to the port of the counter tensioner and engaged with the cord.