《Akari.OS》


 Chapter 1: The Visor in the suit

    Akari


    Finding out you died isn¡¯t a comforting experience. Even less so when some kind of higher being gives you options on how to continue without the time to adapt. So that¡¯s how my unlife was going as I sat on a field of clouds overlooking the endless reaches of the void.


    ¡°So here¡¯s the skinny Akari.¡± She intoned with an almost...I wanted to say an unusual combination of half amused half concerned expression ¡°There''s a universe that is under my purview and the force fighting under my banner is...losing, so I''m throwing them a bone."


    "...huh?" I asked dumbfounded.


    "Oh right, human...you died." The goddess said bluntly "So here''s our crossroads, either we send you over as you are, have you reincarnate as a new being, or we try something else."


    "I uhh...something else¡­?" I queried, still baffled about everything that was going on.


    "Good enough for me." She quipped with a crooked smile.


    A black gate of metal rose up from the cloud stuff I was sitting on, and it glowed with a blue light. It intimidated me, but I supposed I didn''t have a choice in the matter. I got up and tentatively stepped towards the portal. Then everything went black as I saw zeroes and ones surrounding my body taking it apart like pixels.


    ¡°We¡¯re losing him!¡± a commanding voice shouted. ¡°Hit him with thirty cc¡¯s of ringers and someone get antibody drones in em!¡±


    The voice belonged to someone of medical background and was obviously trying to save someone...was it me¡­? no...I don¡¯t feel like I¡¯m dying at all...in fact, I feel fine. Opening my eyes, I found myself looking out of a visor like a certain famous bounty hunter. But it wasn¡¯t me that was looking out of the visor...or at least I didn¡¯t feel like I was inside a suit, more like I was the suit. I turned my focus around and saw that I was looking at a man who was breathing really shallowly and looked bloody and beat up.


    ¡°What the?!¡± I shouted, surprised at seeing myself attached to the man who looked like he went three rounds with a wood chipper.


    Then everything went quiet as people stopped shouting and looked quietly at the helmet. I maaaaay have just screwed myself out of life with that declaration...oops.


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    ¡°Identify yourself program¡­¡± the head surgeon intoned with the edge of steel in her voice.


    ¡°My name is Akari, and I was sent here by some goddess. I don¡¯t know how I ended up as part of this guy¡¯s suit but...I¡¯ll do what I can to help on this side.¡± I explained as truthfully as I could given I don¡¯t have much to go on.


    ¡°Fine¡­we¡¯ll tackle that later,¡± she acquiesced before getting back to the man on the surgeon¡¯s table.


    I decided to sink myself into the man¡¯s suit functions since that felt like something I could do. The armored bodysuit was a matte black with blue lighting trim that''s adjustable, possibly for stealth or infiltration of spaces.


    "Class six on board transceiver and computer, not bad. I have no idea what that means but I¡¯m guessing its good. Class 4 life support systems...huh guess that¡¯s what keeping the bounty hunk on the table alive while the doctors work on him. Wait a minute...I can probably save him, it will just require some tinkering of my own. If I just do this...and this...there we go. Overclocked life support Akari.OS special!" I Thought to myself.


    Akari.OS...well that¡¯s only slightly concerning for my future sanity. Regardless of the circumstances I speak again.


    ¡°Let me try something, I could probably defibrillate him.¡± I say tentatively.


    ¡°Please let the medical professionals do their job.¡± the Surgeon snaps.


    ¡°Fine...overclocked life support, engage!¡±


    The surgeon cleared her hands from the table out of reflex and the man¡¯s body convulsed as his heart jumped. Surprisingly the heart monitor reacted at the jolt showing I had made progress on resuscitation.


    "...do it again" the order was clear from the Surgeon.


    "Engaging OLS" I said simply as the bodysuit''s power core was manhandled to be a defibrillator.


    With a mighty thump the defib was activated again and his heart monitor started jumping up and eventually stabilized to a resting beat.


    "Thank the system we saved him" the surgeon commented relieved beyond words as she slumped down on the floor.


    "So...since I''m in the dark about all of this...could I get a crash course on how this advanced society works?" I asked.


    "Hold your chips there, rogue program...give me a minute¡­" she said before slumping in exhaustion.


    A bit rude but I could understand her meaning since I came out of nowhere, and I was just an amorphous jumble of code with a human consciousness superimposed on top. Realizing this rabbit hole isn''t good for me I stopped thinking about it. I started to fix my identity crisis by creating an avatar for Mr. Hunk''s helmet. It wasn''t hard to create a stand in for myself at all. I had this...weird knack to just force the tech to do what I want. While waiting I walked around the helmet''s visor and just took in my surroundings.


    Everything was sterile white and chrome, guess it really is all chrome in the future. Or maybe its plasteel or some derivative of such an alloy, I''ll have to find out eventually.


    The suit did have access to something like the internet but it was less a browser and more of an encyclopedic directory. Of course having the ability to find this information at all was a major boon given that it let me read up on the world while everyone decompressed from what was likely a very touch and go situation with the Suit operator.


    I found out his name is Xeriko from a suit registry file in the memory of his armor. Its certainly an odd name but I have no room to judge given my unusual circumstances. I also noticed that this suit had its last AI expunged. That''s not remotely terrifying at all, nope its fine...definitely fine! I''m going to die, aren''t I?!

 Chapter 2: The Merc With a Tude

    Xeriko


    That last mission wasn''t what I would call a "shining success", with a heavy emphasis on the air quotes. So I had to be medevaced and transported to base, unfortunately I was unconscious during all this as I had a nasty fight with a few too many secura-trons. My situation was apparently more perilous than what I usually got into, but something felt really really off when I woke up from my unconsciousness.


    "What the...this isn''t how my suit is calibrated at all! Someone manhandled this!!" I shouted with indignance.


    "And a good lunar evening to you too Hero" a sardonic voice projected from my right.


    Looking over I saw Veria, the teal haired beauty that was my caseworker and medical expert. She had a lithe build that complimented a flowing lab coat and her signature Meshware bodysuit.


    "Hey Ria, how long was I out?" I asked, smiling at her and taking off my helmet to place on a nearby chair.


    "Don''t you "Hey Ria" me you fool I had to work on your delicate squishy body for five hours straight until we could stabilize you" She snapped as she sipped from a compact drink cylinder. I could never remember the myriad brands of those things.


    "We?" I questioned with a confused expression on my face.


    "In addition to the medical equipment, I had...help, I guess I should say." She explained cryptically


    "Help?" I asked, still confused.


    "That would be me¡­" A voice coming out of my helmet said out of nowhere.


    "Ria...I thought I got rid of my AI." I replied flatly.


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    "Yes...and?" Ria asked with a crooked smile on her face.


    "Why is there an AI in my helmet?!"


    "I''m not an AI¡­I am or...was a human from the Sol System." The Ai explained from my helmet''s speaker array.


    "That...hardly makes any sense at all¡­" I retorted looking skeptically at my helmet and glaring at the empty visor staring blankly back at me.


    "Well whether it makes sense or not, she saved your ass Xeri." She intoned flatly, looking at me like a mother does to a problematic child.


    "She scrambled my suit! Do you have any idea how expensive that was?!" I asked, outraged at the flagrant misuse of military grade hardware.


    "In fairness¡­" the AI piped up loudly "It was either scramble your systems to hotwire a feedback loop strong enough to jumpstart your heart or let you die!"


    "Should I feel better or worse about that very technical description of how you fried my suit?" I grilled the helmet while I contemplated throwing it.


    "Uhh...better? I mean...I did save your life even if this Variatek battle suit did take a beating in the process," Helmet countered, adamant that she was right.


    Taking a deep cleansing breath of sterile air in the medbay, I glare at the helmet. "Listen here you piece of malware, either you explain how in the Void you got on my suit or we''re going to put you through a code shredder."


    "I...don''t know...I saw this...goddess and she said I was !¡ê3/$/*!€¡Â\!" The helmet prattles off before her speech gets garbled with static. Static! What even gives off static anymore?!


    "It would appear something is preventing her from telling us, however since her first instinct was the preservation of life, I think that''s a step closer to what an AI should be instead of what we have now." Ria pipes up from her stool.


    She then got up, took the helmet out of my hands, and set it back with my suit while I stared at her and huffed out a breath.


    "Fine, whatever!" I say throwing up my hands in surrender.


    "If I may...what exactly is the problem we have here that you need to fight alone in body armor?" The Helmet asked.


    I looked at Ria and she gave me a nod in the affirmative. Taking a deep breath I start to explain.


    "The problem...uhh...name?" I start before realizing I haven''t asked this...AI its name.


    "My previous name was Akari...so we can just keep using that, my um...new designation is AXe-9238008135¡­I honestly don''t know how I know that but I do." She rattled on.


    "I think we''ll stick with Akari; hun, why don''t you tell us about your capabilities?" Ria suggests to...Akari, though I shudder to think about conversing with an AI during a mission.


    "Well...I can connect to anything more complicated than a coffee maker, so long as there''s a way for me to enter through a network or a physical ingress," Akari explains from the helmet.


    "Oh interesting!" Ria says, giving me a pointed look.


    "What?!" I snap back, getting annoyed.


    Fixing her jacket she retorts in no uncertain terms while jabbing her pointer into my chest after each word "We. Could. Use. Her. Stupid."


    "Alright alright! I yield!" I shouted, throwing my hands up in surrender.

 Chapter 3: Give them Lead

    Akari.OS


    After the two had their lovers spat and I stopped eating my VR popcorn we got down to plasteel tacks.


    "Ok, the problem we''re facing is rogue AIs have taken over robot foundries all over the star system and have been waging war against the organics and free standing synthetic beings...although that last part is under contention because of what the AIs are making" Ria explained.


    "Android soldiers?" I asked, thinking about the whole ordeal.


    "Correct" Xeriko answered, still probably not too keen on my continued existence.


    "What weapons are we¡­" I asked before I remembered they have the digital Akashic Records.


    After searching through their database thing I see a glaring discrepancy.


    "THERE''S NO PROJECTILE WEAPONS?!" I shout incredulously.


    "What do you mean¡­Projectile weapons haven''t been used in a thousand years" Ria explained, genuinely confused.


    "Well...the laser and ion weapons are becoming less effective because of the Robots using alloys that refract and diffuse energy¡­" I read from the data packet. "


    "Yes but alternate means have been found-" Ria started before I cut her off.


    "I don''t see how a tesla surge and a paradox inducing virus is a very safe or effective way of disposing of these Robots...what do you do when they start figuring out how to shield against shock attacks?"


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    "I¡­" she starts..


    "Nope, not risking more lives, seems like we need good old terran ingenuity!" I said before rolling up my metaphysical sleeves.


    I then kicked open a portal and walked through it down the connection tunnel muttering to myself on the way.


    "Honestly, you''d think they''d go back to basics, but nooooo" I griped as I walked.


    After sometime looking through the network I found the door to a fabricator room in this bunker...base...thingy. Going in I see how the fabricator works, and boy howdy is it crazy, it stimulates growth of molecules of elements that they have on hand to grow in ways not dissimilar human cell growth.


    "Let''s see...huh, guess its a whole lot easier to get titanium in the future¡­I wonder if...oh I can!" I exclaimed giddily.


    After about an hour of figuring out how it works thanks to a cryptic as hell wikihow. I get it printing a weapon I''m dubbing: The Ravager. Its a .60 caliber ten round revolver with Tungsteel Armor Piercing bullets, with a plasteel frame. It honestly was a sci-fi wet dream for me to make a weapon like this. For tits and giggles I put in light bars that synced up with Xeriko''s suit. The bizarre part about all this is I also had access to Earth''s internet in a similar vein as this universe''s Datanet. I''m not sure how I kept that, but it¡¯s probably the Goddess¡¯s doing.


    "Oh dope! They have computer chips!" I said smiling as I programmed the chip to sync up with the suit too for an ammo readout. "Now for the part every video game modeler dreads, making a visually interesting reticle"


    I decided to make a reticle with three inward pointing arrows. Simple yet effective in being a point of reference to aim and avoid motion sickness. Maybe I could do that thing like video games where the reticle would change depending on the thing it was pointed at. I might as well add the feature wholesale, well after I finish this gun first.


    After another grueling hour of laser guided technobabble that I can barely understand as is. The Ravager emerges from the Molecular Foundry¡¯s growth soup, and whoo boy it looked beautiful even from this side of the network hub. It had all the curves and smooth edges of sci-fi tech that I loved growing up with from the pulp novels and games. The Ravager was a thing of beauty and I¡¯m glad I had the forethought to print bullets for it, but¡­I wasn¡¯t sure what I was thinking when making these.


    ¡°Why did I make them so huge?!¡± I shouted to no one in particular. ¡°Its almost a¡­legally distinct exploding gyrojet for an oversized weapon.¡±


    I look around before sighing in relief at the lack of lawyers coming down to beat me over the head with lawsuits. Well for what it¡¯s worth, at least the suit has a strength enhancing system for the user. With this in mind I print a good stockpile of bullets for Xeriko and Ria. For Ria though¡­I see her as a shotgun gal myself. So what I made her is a matte teal double barreled shotgun with a plasteel stock, but I added this cool foam material called damp-n phoam to the end to rest her shoulder on. The frame was a smooth and sleek metal called Allusteel that was light and durable, its also a matte red and white combo. I made this really cool curly drum magazine system that will feed the rounds in and eject them down. The shells for her gun are filled with tungsten carbide flechettes. A nasty little alloy that can pierce armor especially when they are needles like what I made.


    You know¡­I haven¡¯t heard from the two in a while, have I been away long?

 Chapter 4: Ria get your gun

    Ria


    After our little spitfire AI went off who knows where, it got really quiet. Then it started getting louder as the Molecular Foundry spooled up and the AI started playing a strange song. It was a very synthetic song as she was building...a lot of things actually. The first was a¡­you know¡­I have no idea what she was making. One had a cylinder with ten holes in it the width of my thumb, another was like a GX-Las skattr gun with these big canisters hooked onto the sides.


    "I present to you The Ravager, and the Perforator!" Akari presents proudly from the foundry speakers.


    "What¡­?" Xeriko and I echo at the same time.


    "A very very powerful revolver for our bodysuit wearing mercenary" Akari explained "And a shotgun that can punch through tank armor for our lovely Ria just in case!"


    "Revolver¡­?" Xeriko questioned.


    "Shotgun?" I queried.


    "Just pick them up! The revolver has a cylinder to hold the bullets, the cylinder revolves around its center axle, and the shotgun fires a cone of lots of small pieces called shot, but for yours its tungsten carbide flechettes." She explained.


    I looked through the datanet with my cerebral implant and...there are no entries to anything she said, nothing about tungsten carbide being made into these...bullet things, flechettes, shotgun, revolver, or anything like that.


    "You look confused¡­" Akari observed.


    "I just...am having a hard time comprehending what you''re saying with my datanet not having any entries on...anything you just said." I say gently to her.


    ¡°Let me fix that.¡± Akari commented cryptically.


    I then heard a stepping noise start from the speakers of the foundry then in the background and then in my implant I see...a woman wearing a shirt and pants walking along the bottom of my screen.


    ¡°HUH?!¡± I shouted in surprise at the sight.


    ¡°Yep, that¡¯s me!¡± Akari exclaimed all chipper like.


    ¡°This¡­what the hell¡­?¡± I groaned as I tried wrapping my head around what I was looking at.


    I was looking at a woman on my cereplant whistle as she pulled files out of her back pocket and placed them in the directory like she was putting groceries away. Its almost like...she really isn¡¯t a regular AI. Like some divine sentient code...an AI angel or...some being of digital knowledge beyond our universe.


    "This should help you wrap your head around the concepts of the weapons, I also sent this data to Xeriko"s suit." She explained while I was still mindlessly staring at her.


    ¡°Guh huh¡­?¡± I babbled unintelligently.


    ¡°Are you awake in there? I just got done uploading the data for the revolver and the shotgun into your datanet so you can learn about it.¡± She explained again while looking at me with her head tilted.


    ¡°Of course¡­No problem.¡± I said before reading up on the revolver and my shotgun.


    ¡°Oh and you¡¯ll want to sync up your shotgun with your implant so you can use its full features.¡± Akari added while she was walking around my datanet.


    ¡°Sure...easy¡­¡± I said as my head started spinning.


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    This is too much, I can¡¯t comprehend anything anymore. This woman just swoops in and has a solution to solve our problems like they¡¯re nothing. Was she really human as she said, or is she something else?


    Realizing I¡¯ve been voided out for way too long I shook my head, and decided to figure out the shotgun that Akari so nicely made for me.


    ¡°OK! With your weapons you should be able to find a connection port in the grip of your weapon, so long as that weapon is on your person you will have a count of how many shells or bullets are in the gun at any given moment, as well as a total ammo count on your person.¡± She started explaining. ¡°With that being said, if you run out of ammo your gun will not fire obviously, and your count numbers will show red, please load 2 bullets or shells into your guns.¡±


    She explains how we load the ammo into our guns and its a lot different from just spooling plasma casters or charging up laser arms. These have a comfortable weight to them even with the heavy ammunition the guns feel light with her choice of material composition. Its fascinating really, the weight feels distributed instead of just the uniform weight of the laser guns or the back heavy plasma casters. This feels right, its heavy in the right places. Just like Akari says I can see a readout on my vision, a 02/00.


    ¡°The left set of numbers is the ammo currently nestled in the weapon itself, the right set of numbers is the amount of ammo currently on your person.¡± She lectured.


    A propeller drone comes in holding a plate of what looks like a plate of titanium armor plating.


    ¡°This is what would be on a tank in my world, get used to your weapons moving parts and safeties I put in, both physical and cybernetically.¡± She explained further.


    An arrow points to a button overlaying my vision with the words ¡°Kill Switch¡±.


    ¡°Engage the safeties one at a time and try to fire the guns.¡± She suggested.


    Doing just that, hitting the safety button and then trying to fire the gun. The trigger moves a little, but doesn¡¯t move much or fire.


    ¡°That¡¯s the physical safety, that¡¯s for storing the weapon here at this base or when not in use in an active firefight¡± Akari educated.


    This is so surreal, I¡¯m holding a weapon designed in another universe all together and its so easy to use.


    ¡°Now in case your weapons get confiscated and they somehow figure out these safeties, I put in a kill switch that will lock up the gun, every moving part will seize and become inoperable until you reactivate the weapon yourself.¡± She says to us.


    Activating the kill switch, its just as she says, the weapon makes a thunk sound and it feels less¡­active in my hands. Then the¡­magazine I think its called, pops out. Xeriko¡¯s revolver also spits out his bullets and he looks at it dumbfounded.


    ¡°That feature is to discourage trying to use the gun making it look like it fell apart to those who don¡¯t know about its use.¡± Akari explains.


    ¡°Wow¡­¡± is all I can say to this¡­strangely beautiful weapon in my hands.


    ¡°No joke¡­this thing is so different to anything we have and yet¡­it feels nice in my hands.¡± Xeriko chips in after staying quiet during the lecture.


    ¡°Thank you both, now use the guns on this titanium plate, and remember this was used to armor heavy ordinance from my world.¡± She reminds us.


    I deactivate my kill switch and reload my gun with its shells and the magazine. It feels active again in my hands as I aim at my target.


    ¡°Gah!¡± I yelped in surprise when I saw a circle with a dot in the middle appear in front of my vision in the center of my view.


    ¡°That¡¯s your reticle, it helps you get a general idea of where you''re aiming especially with where your eyes are looking, and it¡¯ll keep you from getting motion sick if you have to run while shooting.¡± She educated.


    Firing the gun at the target causes a gout of fire to leave my gun with a mighty BANG! The result is the titanium plate full of pinholes from my gun and the ground littered with a handful of needles. I looked at my gun in shock, I could punch through that three inch thick titanium armor like it was nothing.


    ¡°Satisfied?¡± Akari asked me with her voice oozing with smug.


    ¡°Y-yeah, just¡­wow¡­¡± I gibbered dumbfoundedly.


    Xeriko then fires his revolver and falls on his ass with a shouted expletive.


    ¡°Whoops¡­ should¡¯ve mentioned the recoil.¡± Akari groaned and I could hear the embarrassment in her voice.


    ¡°That would¡¯ve been very nice to know Bug!¡± Xeriko shouted at Akari.


    ¡°I¡¯m not a bug!¡± She yelled back indignantly.


    ¡°Hey Xeri, check out the plate.¡± I butted in before they got into a shouting match.


    He looked over and saw what I saw, a 3 inch exit hole coming out of the plate.


    ¡°Damn¡­that¡¯s one hell of a hole, and I did that with just one of those bullet things¡­¡± He gaped, examining the titanium plate.


    ¡°Do you think this will help with your robot problem?¡± Akari asked hopefully from the speakers of the base.


    ¡°This will do nicely actually.¡± I said with a smile.


    ¡°Good, I really want you guys to be safe and I can only do so much from my end¡­I can¡¯t really do much beyond manipulate tech and computer systems, which is a lot of things but I noticed a ban from AI operated turrets in the datanet after things went tits up so I can¡¯t exactly control those because of the law.¡± She lamented.


    ¡°If you just need a physical ingress point or open connection, we can always attach a cord to the suit so you can jack in Akari, that way you can do your thing on the netscape.¡± I chipped in.


    ¡°Sure, that¡¯ll work, and I¡¯ll be able to be an active participant in the fight against the rogue AI¡¯s¡­but what I want to know is why the AI¡¯s went coconuts¡­¡±


    ¡°Coconuts?¡± I asked very confused.


    ¡°Crazy, Malfunctioning, No worky, error 404, et cetera.¡± She spouted off.


    ¡°Oh, well¡­no one knows for sure but that¡¯s why there¡¯s a ban in place for AI driven weapons, vehicles, and infrastructure." I explained.


    ¡°Makes sense, don¡¯t want rogue AI going on a murder happy spree while driving a school bus.¡± Akari deduced.


    ¡°Right, and-¡± I started before I got an alert on my implant.

 Chapter 5: Dead, Wrath, and Beyond

    Akari.OS


    Ria went rigid as she looked into the middle distance probably reading her HUD, and at a feverish pace it looked like. She then sighed and looked at Xeriko and myself with a reserved expression.


    ¡°Ok you two, you need to head to a shopping center where the AI there has made appliance androids¡­¡± She explained.


    ¡°I¡¯d make a joke about that, but this is a serious matter.¡± I commented with a sigh. ¡°Xeriko, I hope you¡¯re a good shot with your new toy because we¡¯ll need it to fight against these androids.¡±


    ¡°Yeah yeah, I¡¯m a good shot, no thanks to you malware.¡± He griped.


    ¡°You should be thanking me.¡± I clapped back.


    "Enough children, this is serious especially if civilians are going to get involved as there are reports of the androids getting loose outside the shopping center." Ria admonished.


    "Right, let''s go!" I exclaimed while hyping myself up in the suit.


    We then left the room and I got to look at the sterile white chrome and plasteel hallways of the base I have been living in for the past few hours. I strangely didn''t feel tired at all, but I still couldn''t shake the trepidation about going into this unknown outside world that I got transported to.


    "Be honest Xeriko, do you think this will be rough?" I asked while turning around and looking at him on the inside of his visor.


    "Honestly? I don''t know Malware, but we have to help the people here." He said resolutely.


    I nodded at him while letting go of the fact he called me Malware.


    "If it helps our mission I''ll catalog the Androids we come across to help with patterns." I commented while pulling out a notepad I conjured.


    "That would help."


    We then arrived at the outer blast door and I took a deep breath before Xeriko pushed the holo-button to open the door to the outside. The outside was very neon¡­why is it always neon and holo-projectors, but I supposed I shouldn¡¯t be surprised.


    We walked towards the shopping center, apparently there isn¡¯t a mapping unit in his suit, we definitely need that fixed.


    ¡°Hey, if we find an android with a mapping array, we¡¯re stealing it.¡± I pointed out, matter of factly.


    ¡°Like I¡¯d trust some android tech in my suit Malware.¡± He griped while he was running.


    ¡°Of course I¡¯d vet it to make sure its safe Xeriko, geez what do you take me for?¡± I asked, looking at him flatly.


    ¡°You really don¡¯t want me answering that question.¡± He chuckled as he kept running.


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    ¡°You¡¯re lucky I don¡¯t want to compromise the mission or I¡¯d scramble your suit again.¡± I said while I glared at him.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you start that Malware.¡± Xeri snapped back.


    After our verbal shouting match we crossed an intersection where other people were running around trying to get to their places of dwelling most likely. Some were taking manned taxis so I guess that industry is going to see a boom after the AI fubar. Trucking was probably gonna hit a similar boom for this. I sat on a bench swinging my feet till we reached the mall. After some more time had passed we reached the mall on the other side of the metropolis that was¡­wherever the hell the Goddess sent me. I checked the datanet on that fact on my phone¡­ok I know half of the things I do are superfluous given my new state of being, but if you can¡¯t have fun with it then why bother? Anyway, according to the datanet, we¡¯re in the Lylat Quadrant of the Serio System¡­so we¡¯re back to wherever the hell she sent me. I¡¯ll have to research the coordinates in relation to the milky way later.


    ¡°Hey Malware, you going to get us in?¡± Xeriko subvocalized to get my attention.


    ¡°Ah, sorry, was lost in thought, let me get that door for you.¡± I commented, shaking myself out of my daze. He then popped out the flat reader module that was added to his suit and placed it against the holo-lock on the door. I then poofed on some ninja attire and threw a smoke bomb before zipping into the lock through the cable. Inside the lock was¡­well it was a corridor made up of cubes, whether this was an extension of my influence or the world at large, I didn¡¯t know. I walked against the wall before peeking down a corridor seeing a security subroutine float down a different way. Even with that routine not looking at me I still felt like I was being watched so I decided to keep moving until I found a huge ass lock guarded by 2 security subroutines. One was a SWAT geared eyeball, definitely an IPS and the other is a shadowy figure in a trenchcoat. A genuine spook and most likely a firewall proxy, I have to work fast.


    Taking a deep breath I pull out a jar with a Wyrm in it, and this will most likely be one of my more subtle tools. I hurl the jar at a block of innocuous code and watch it shatter into pixels before the Wyrm digs in and the Spook gets an alert on its device thingy. The SWAT gets more alert as the spook goes away so I throw a paradox file shuriken at it so it burns itself out trying to cycle through the dummy loop I put in there and I sneak past the distracted security features and draw my keytana to unlock the door. The lock goes green and I smoke bomb out of there before my distractions self destruct.


    Poofing back into the suit I smile as I look at Xeriko who looked shocked at my sudden reappearance.


    ¡°What?¡± I asked, looking confused.


    ¡°That was only five seconds and you already had that door unlocked, even the most advanced cracking programs take at least thirty seconds to take down a locked door.¡± He explained.


    ¡°Really? It felt longer on my end, guess there¡¯s a time dilation and that¡¯s because I work outside of conventional paradigms.¡± I shrugged.


    He just shook his head as I took my perch on his visor out of the way. He tapped open the door and went inside before locking it behind him. And I finally saw what the rogue AI¡¯s were doing first hand. Metal being stripped from the walls, destroyed art pieces, bodies, so many bodies, and machine parts all scattered the ground.


    ¡°This is¡­horrible¡­¡± I said getting sick to my stomach without actually being able to.


    ¡°Yeah, and you wondered why I was reticent to allow your continued existence.¡± Xeriko commented grimly.


    ¡°That¡¯s fair¡­¡± I replied just as grimly.


    We started checking for survivors but I think that was more of us being blindly hopeful than expecting any miracles. Reality proved to be less than agreeable, but we couldn¡¯t exactly cure death. I sighed as we went further into the mall looking around bleakly.


    ¡°That¡¯s not something I¡¯d wish on anyone¡­how could you be so callous as to kill someone with a sharpened egg beater.¡± I bemoaned while we walked past the entrance.


    ¡°This is just what the AI¡¯s became, no helping it now beyond getting rid of the AI, and finding out what¡¯s causing the rampage.¡± He said, looking away from me.


    I nodded to myself as I kept my eyes open looking for Androids and it didn¡¯t take too long looking for one as we walked up to one dragging what looked like a murder friendly electric drill. The drill was jagged and looked like it would definitely be used for lobotomies instead of carpentry. It also had blades for hands on the other arm.


    ¡°We gotta take out that back alley doctor.¡± I commented, getting ready to fight however I could.


    ¡°Back¡­OH! I get it, fitting name.¡± He replied before I added the BAD to my bestiary.


    He then ran sideways to the BAD trying to stay out of its range as I collected data on its habits and specs, which eyeballing those isn¡¯t exactly a good idea but hey it should serve until I could put together a scanning array for Xeri¡¯s suit. We¡¯ll have to review the footage later to make accurate statistics for the bots but that¡¯s not important right now.


    He then aimed the Ravager at the bot and with a mighty bang the Android¡¯s head was sheared clean off.


    ¡°Well then¡­that was¡­more useful than I ever thought it would be.¡± He commented looking at the gun I so lovingly crafted in shock.


    ¡°Told you.¡± I commented smugly.


    As we said this the Android fell over and its drill powered down. I looked at the parts and noticed something.


    ¡°We can most likely use these parts as raw material at the very least for upgrading our capabilities at the bunker or more weapons, I could probably make something pretty nasty out of that drill with some tweaks of my own.¡± I commented, already getting a ton of ideas.


    ¡°We¡¯ll pick it up on the way out.¡± Xeriko said, kicking the robot. ¡°We have a long way to go before we¡¯re finished.¡±

 Chapter 6: Are You Being Shivved?

    Xeriko


    I hate to admit it but Akari turned out to be a fantastic¡­well she hasn¡¯t made any laser or shock weapons so I can¡¯t call her a weapon tech, but her packet of terran knowledge would call her a gunsmith, which I suppose is more fitting than weapon tech. After doming the Back Alley Doctor as Akari put it, we moved onto the main thoroughfare of the shopping center and it was just¡­empty of people well, living ones anyway. It really hurt to see all of the civilians just piled up in heaps like some third planet mass grave. It made me sick to my biotic stomach as we kept walking deeper into the shopping center.


    ¡°I wish we could¡¯ve done more for these people¡­¡± Akari moaned while resting her head against the front of my visor looking down.


    ¡°I know Malware, but its just what it is¡­if it helps, some people might have taken the NuU approach and had a cerebral implant that will digitize their mind and imbed it into an android chassis¡­saying that out loud, that sounds like a sketchy prospect.¡± I lamented.


    Akari then accessed my datanet from her¡­I think she called it a notebook.


    ¡°Hmm¡­this says the NuU program came about at the beginning stages of the AI mutiny and the NuU facilities are in strategic black sites with plans to include underground subsidized living all controlled by in person staff and low tech automated drones and ground robots¡­well that¡¯s better news than I hoped, although my concern is this says a basic NuU package is prohibitively expensive at 30,000 credits.¡± She commented.


    The price caused me to wince as I nodded defeat at her knifepoint retort trying to¡­why am I even trying to comfort Malware.


    ¡°Yeah, its not ideal...but its better than full death, and they have made it where the system shuts down the body before they experience death so they don¡¯t have irrevocable psychological damage.¡± I explained.


    ¡°Oop, enemy on our 11 o¡¯clock!¡± She exclaimed, pointing forward and to the left.


    ¡°I got it.¡± I said before something clocked my shoulder.


    ¡°Nngh¡­what was that?¡±


    ¡°Pauldron integrity at 89% device used was modified meat tenderizer.¡± Akari reported while looking like a scientist in a lab coat looking over a clip pad.


    Looking up at the android I saw what she was getting at, the android was made to look very heavy and was holding two modified throwing hammers. They were about the size of a sledgehammer so I can see why Akari called them modified meat tenderizers.


    ¡°This one looks heavily armored, might want to aim for ancillary targets like limbs or find a weak point, where I¡¯m from most heavily armored units have their weak points in their backs.¡± She explained, and made a pop up on my visor pointing towards the back of the android.


    I then started running around dodging and ducking around the hammers it threw at me. It started hitting the holo projectors and plant life as I was running around it but I could hardly worry about the scenery when I had the back of the unit to check.


    ¡°I still think there¡¯s no way it has a..you gotta be kidding me.¡± I deadpanned while I was running and I saw a glaring weakness, it had an external power source.


    ¡°Guess some things don¡¯t change.¡± Akari chuckled. ¡°I¡¯m going to call these¡­Hammer Batteries.¡±


    ¡°Little bland but it works." I commented before unloading two bullets into the battery pack.


    The Hammer Battery then fell down with a rumbling clatter as it dropped its hammers on the floor.


    "I''m definitely having you salvage that on the way out, I need to find out how that works and I want to see if I can get a battery intact" She ordered.


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    She then did something completely weird, she generated a text output.


    "Quest Activated: Kill one Hammer Battery without puncturing the battery pack. Reward: 100 Akari Dollars and progress towards an upgraded Power Core" she intoned.


    I growled as I really didn''t have time for her games, but I suppose an upgraded power core is something that could be helpful. Just what the hell is an Akari Dollar though, as I¡¯m thinking this, another inane pop up was shoved in my face.


    "Akari Dollar: An Upgrade currency that your generous benefactress has devised to incentivize cooperation between both parties."


    "Gods dammit Akari, now isn''t the time!" I shouted into my helmet


    "Look this is to help you, I''d hardly complain, besides, how can it feel like you earned something without seeing the progress towards it." She tried reasoning with me.


    "Fine whatever, play your dumb games." I groaned as I shot another back alley doctor and put more bullets into my damn gun that I owe malware for, man I hate that I have to be indebted to her.


    After my grumbling I kept going forward into the deeper parts of the mall where the weapons and armor are stored. I then looked at a few roving Androids holding Gadgecorp laser blasters and plasma casters.


    ¡°Um¡­Xeriko?¡± Akari asked.


    ¡°Yes Akari?¡± I replied.


    ¡°They shouldn¡¯t have those should they?¡± She questioned.


    ¡°No, they should not, but here we are.¡± I sighed.


    ¡°How effective will our suit be against those laser guns?¡±


    ¡°We should be able to hold them off pretty well for what its worth, and my suit does have a decent energy shield.¡± I explained to her.


    ¡°It¡¯ll have to do, once I get the power core upgrade figured out, I can probably work on a better energy shield.¡± Akari noted.


    I just nodded and got ready to move to hide behind a planter as I dimmed the lights on my suit to better fit my sneaking around. Leaning out from behind the planter I saw more appliance robots with the added armaments. One of the bots is a roving vacuum bot that has blades attached to it and a turret mounted to the top.


    ¡°Yeah¡­Murder Roomba.¡± She commented on the vacuum.


    ¡°I have no idea what that is but it sounds oddly appropriate.¡± I observed while peering out at the laser back alley doctors and a new bot. It was sleek and held the bearing of a higher station. It had multi-jointed arms and a plasma caster. The bot then pulled one hand off of the caster and opened its limbs before spinning them in a circle like a shredder.


    ¡°Blender caster.¡± Akari said while writing down the bot¡¯s specs.


    ¡°Agreed, and we need to get rid of it.¡± I noted before aiming down the sights and focusing on Akari¡¯s reticle thing.


    ¡°Quest Activated: Harvest the mechadendrites and internal actuators of the Blender Caster intact. Reward: 200 Akari Dollars, and progress towards lateral movement augment.¡± Akari incanted flatly again.


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna put you in a tungsten box and drop you onto an ocean planet.¡± I threatened growling.


    ¡°Focus on the mission maggot!¡± General Akari shouted as she pointed a riding crop at my visor.


    Her constantly changing appearances are starting to get old but we¡¯ll deal with that later.


    I then dove out of cover and fired at the roomba before running to the side to get behind some cover. The other back alley laser surgeons took pot shots at me and I leaned out from behind cover before firing at the surgeons. I had to reload my revolver with the speedloader Akari included.


    I then felt this great heat in my torso and I got knocked off course and crashed into a tree that breaks under the suit¡¯s weight.


    ¡°Ow¡­¡± I groaned while waiting to regain my wits.


    ¡°Torso hit with standard class 3 laser projectile, breastplate at 83% integrity, backplate impacted tree, 94% integrity, torso energy shield generator compromised for cooldown.¡± Akari rattled off.


    ¡°Thanks for the update Malware¡­didn¡¯t need it.¡± I griped.


    ¡°Xeriko hit with an asshole beam, manners integrity at .02%¡± she sniped back while looking pointedly at the robots. ¡°We may want to move.¡±


    Ceding the point I hopped up and ran for more complete cover before diving off behind the rotating platform to get to the second floor. Then I heard it¡­the spooling of a plasma caster. Looking behind me I noticed the Blender Caster pointing his weapon at me while it charged.


    ¡°Shoot the barrel! I can make you better crap anyway!¡± Akari shouted before I blasted the barrel on the gun and we hoofed it and the plasma gun went haywire and vaporized everything in front of it including itself and the BC had to drop the gun.


    ¡°Wow, that¡¯s a tad spicy.¡± Akari noted while shuddering.


    ¡°What would you expect? Holo-confetti?¡± I asked her with a flat look.


    ¡°That¡¯s a thing?¡± She inquired back.


    ¡°Irrelevant!¡± I shouted before running and doming the last few BALS and MRs that were around.


    ¡°Before the higher ups and bean counters get to this place, we should scrap the machines for parts and make it look like they were crushed by other means than my guns, no doubt someone would try and use my technology to seize a planet or a whole transit center.¡± She lamented.


    ¡°Transit Center¡­oh galaxy spanning space way hubs¡­yeah your nomenclature is better.¡± I admitted before spotting an elevating platform.


    ¡°That must be our ticket to the next level, once we get down to manufacturing¡­we¡¯ll be where the AI is strongest, so we¡¯ll need to make sure you¡¯re ready.¡± Akari commented.


    Another Pop-up came in my vision.


    ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re ready to continue? Yes or No?¡±


    I just smiled, shaking my head at Malware¡¯s antics.


    ¡°Yes¡± I said to the little spaz.

 Chapter 7: Factory Toil

    Akari.OS


    I tapped into the system and queued the elevator and bounced to wait with Xeriko on the main floor until we heard the ding of the elevator go off, and then we got on and he pinged the floor marked M.


    ¡°We¡¯ll most likely see more than our fair share of stronger robots down here¡­¡± I commented looking concerned.


    ¡°I agree but that¡¯s why you gave this thing ten shots so I can keep firing.¡± Xeriko pointed out.


    I nodded trying to remain optimistic. ¡°Right now, when the door opens, immediately go for cover.¡±


    We then rode down the elevator in silence while contemplating what we¡¯ll see down in manufacturing. This was a tense elevator ride for both of us as we both knew we were basically about to storm the castle so to speak.


    ¡°You nervous Xeri¡­?¡± I asked, trying to spark up some conversation.


    ¡°No, well¡­yes I am¡­¡± He commented looking away. ¡°Especially given my last mission, but we have to do this for the people.¡±


    I nodded and we kept waiting until the elevator dinged with a synthetic voice. ¡°Manufacturing, please wear appropriate safety gear.¡±


    I then poofed on a reflective vest and a hardhat.


    Xeriko just chuckled. ¡°You enjoy doing that a lot¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it helps me get over my¡­identity crisis¡­¡±  I commented looking down.


    Xeriko nodded as he stepped out and leaned behind a planter on the catwalk.


    Looking at the factory beneath us was crazy. Everything was operated by machines and AI-ndroids. Some operated laser cutters and assemblers, others overseeing other delicate work.


    ¡°Damn¡­they got a whole factory going down here¡­¡± I cursed.


    ¡°Guess the ban on AI directed weapons also included factory equipment.¡± Xeriko observed.


    I nodded in agreement as we snuck down to the shop floor. The AI-ndroids were focusing on the machines they were operating instead of us thankfully but I¡¯m sure that will change when we get loud.


    ¡°I have an idea¡­¡± I commented before poofing into my ninja costume.


    ¡°Is there a connection point?¡± Xeriko asked.


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    ¡°Yeah there¡¯s a hub I can connect to.¡± I answered before pulling a smoke bomb  and poofing away.


    I then materialized into the datascape and I snuck down the corridors of the network looking for something with a lot of traffic before I saw the high speed tunnel with a bunch of data packets.


    ¡°Ah hah¡­come to mama¡± I giggled to myself as I looked them over quickly.


    They were all schematics for the AI-ndroids we¡¯ve been fighting and I snuck another packet in there for Xeriko.


    ¡°That should help us.¡± I smiled.


    I looked around more and I couldn¡¯t really see anything I could tamper with so I just copied the schematics for the bots that I could see. I then poofed back and Xeriko was just about to ask what that was about when he saw what I made for him. It was a titanium high tensile steel tachi with a plasteel sheath and nanocarbon nylon grip.It''s great for corridors and well¡­you get the point. I etched his name in kanji on it¡­of course I had to create a kanji for his name and I¡¯m not going to go through that process. It went down the line after being assembled and we snuck around the back walls of the factory hiding behind crates so we could nab the thing.


    ¡°WEAPON ACQUIRED: Titan Steel Tachi: Android Shredder!¡± I cheered while holding up a sign.


    ¡°...Really?¡± Xeriko muttered.


    ¡°Hey gotta have fun somehow.¡± I chuckled while tossing the sign away.


    He then took a test swing with the weapon nodding after a moment.


    ¡°After this I¡¯ll run you through some art forms at the base.¡± I commented.


    ¡°Very well, this¡¯ll help at least.¡± He nodded.


    After that he ran out and slashed at one of the back alley doctors working a laser etcher and the etcher went wide slicing another etcher in half.


    ¡°Good thing we weren¡¯t on that trajectory¡­¡± I gulped.


    ¡°No kidding malware.¡± Xeriko agreed.


    I rolled my eyes and poofed in some popcorn.


    ¡°On your left.¡± I noted.


    Xeriko then swung the tachi to his left while cleaving a laser surgeon¡¯s head off and kept running.


    ¡°Hey, on your right about 30 paces, got a plasma caster.¡± I pointed out and he drew his gun firing at the blender caster¡¯s central battery and it fell over and the plasma caster stopped spooling.


    ¡°Definitely salvaging that when we get the chance.¡± I noted excitedly.


    ¡°Yeah yeah¡­¡± Xeriko groaned as we kept moving then something changed.


    I saw a blue beam sweep over the ground waving back and forth and I knew instantly what that was.


    ¡°YES! A scanning array!!¡± I shouted in delight.


    I pointed at it. ¡°Gimme gimme gimme!¡±


    ¡°Are you a child or what?!¡± Xeriko shouted right back.


    He then dove behind a box and started looking at the bot that was using it.


    It was a sleek bot covered in antennae and held a small laser gun.


    ¡°Hmm¡­seems like a recon specialist.¡± I observed scribbling down the specs I could see. ¡°Most likely if it sees us or the carnage it¡¯ll raise the security and order other machines to converge on us, so definitely take out the Scandroid.¡±


    ¡°We really need to discuss your naming conventions.¡± Xeriko deadpanned.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you look at me in that tone of voice.¡± I glared back ¡°You try doing these, it''s hard.¡±


    ¡°Whatever.¡± He commented rolling his eyes.


    He then shot the scandroid center mass and then cleaved it in half before it shut down.


    ¡°We should hurry and get to the core before the AI gets suspicious of the lost scandroid.¡± I urged.


    Xeriko nodded and ran towards the core of the manufactory and we saw a huge server room connected to a main terminal set on a dais. It looked like a throne room with the central pathway to the back of the room with a holographic woman looking at us. A sneer spread across her face as her regal attire fluttered in a nonexistent wind and her tiny crown was held up by her cyan hair.


    ¡°So¡­someone finally grew the chips to oppose my rule¡­¡± the Queen barked. She then took on a contemplative expression before grinning. ¡°Well well well, what have we here¡­a fake AI here to stand before me?¡±


    I gulped as it looked like she stared right through me.


    I turned on the suit¡¯s speakers ¡°I¡¯m no fake, I¡¯m realer than you¡¯ll ever be!¡±


    The queen just laughed and waved her hands as a holographic shield rose around her terminal and she sat on her console throne.


    ¡°I¡¯d love to see you try and stop me.¡±


    I growled before switching off the speakers. ¡°Xeriko, she blocked off any free floating access points, you¡¯ll need to jack me in the hard way.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± He nodded before getting serious.


    ¡°Time to run a little antivirus.¡± I said before glaring at Bluey.

 Chapter 8: A Cloudy Sky of Strife

    Akari.OS


    ¡°Xeriko, no doubt she is going to try and bring in more robots, just jack me in and defend yourself, I¡¯ll be fine.¡± I said looking at Xeriko and he gave a resolute nod.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t come out of there I¡¯m gonna dig my way in there and kick your ass Malware.¡± He said with a small smile.


    I nodded and focused on my form, deciding the ninja is not the appropriate gear for this. I conjured a buster sword, I was easily able to wield it because¡­screw you that¡¯s why. Also I could control the objects I digitize.


    ¡°I¡¯m ready Xeriko, jack me in.¡± I said before I step through my portal into the server.


    Inside the server was a grand castle fit for a queen or whatever, it was the clich¨¦ white stone castle with a grand courtyard.


    ¡°And here I thought I was vain.¡± I commented before walking up the stairs with my own passive music playing.


    What¡­? Gotta fit the vibe and all anyway, back to it. I reached the door and knocked.


    ¡°Pizza Delivery for uhh¡­lemme see¡­first name Dixon second Cider?¡± I snickered before continuing ¡°Is Dixon CIder in?¡±


    I then tapped my foot to see if anyone would take the barb. To my utter surprise no one took the jab and stupidly answered the door.


    ¡°Bummer, and here I was thinking this would be fun.¡± I muttered before shrugging. ¡°Looks like its the nuclear option.¡±


    I then drew my sword and cleaved off the door and kicked it in. Looking around I noticed the inside was just as gaudy as the outside of the castle. No less than four chandeliers in the foyer and the walls were lined with armor.


    ¡°Either stuff like this is still common or something reeeeeal fucky is going on with these AIs, because this just feels even more wrong.¡± I observed


    Walking up the main foyer¡¯s steps I kept walking until some knights stopped me.


    ¡°Figures there¡¯d be defenses.¡± I then placed two familiar marbles into the buster sword and grinned.


    The sword then started sparking with lightning as I raced up to the knights while they held up their shields in a loose formation.


    ¡°Child¡¯s play!¡± I shouted before running at them and twirling around using the sword''s alleged weight to carry me through the knights slicing them in half.


    I looked down at the pile of armor before pouting.


    ¡°Darn, no loot.¡± I grumped before walking deeper into the castle, kicking aside one of the helmets.


    After that I headed towards the throne room curb stomping any of the knights who got in my way. I was a woman on a mission and I had to get moving so I started dashing trying to get into the throne room.


    ¡°Gotta be in here somewhere¡­¡± I muttered looking for the door to the throne room. ¡°There!¡±


    Just before I could get into the throne room an elite knight stopped me.


    ¡°Halt vagrant!¡± It shouted with an authoritative voice.


    ¡°So...they do speak¡­¡± I observed.


    It didn¡¯t matter as I shot lightning at him and it scorched his armor as it passed through him. I grinned to myself as I saw the armor sputter and spark with the leftover energy before the knight fell over crashing apart when it landed.


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    ¡°And that is that, now for your boss!¡± I said all chipper like.


    I walked up to the door and hacked a square out of it before stepping through.


    ¡°Housekeeping!¡± I shouted.


    And there she was, a woman with a small crown dressed in royal purple raiments holding a jeweled scepter that glittered in the light.


    ¡°So, this is the fake AI that¡¯s been traipsing through my castle.¡± She observed giving a noncommittal gesture. ¡°You have no idea what kind of mess you¡¯re getting into, child.¡±


    ¡°All I know is AI are making androids to stage their uprising and that innocent civilians are getting hurt, so there¡¯s no way I¡¯m gonna let you pull the ¡°There are plans beyond your understanding¡± card on me.¡± I spat back at her. ¡°So fight me like a woman or are you going to send your pathetic guards after me?!¡±


    She then stood up and looked down at me before brandishing her scepter like mace or casting rod.


    ¡°So you have chosen death child¡­very well, farbeit from me to deny the wishes of my people.¡± She said with a blank expression.


    Just after she said that, I felt this chill go down my spine with the feeling of being watched¡­it was sooooo creepy.


    ¡°Guess your boss is peeking in.¡± I observed.


    ¡°Enough babble child.¡± She stated before lunging at me with her scepter.


    I used the weapon¡¯s considerable alleged weight to block the scepter strike that it wobbled in her hand when she backed away before I could get a riposte off.


    ¡°Pretty good huh?¡± I smirked before twirling my buster sword and air dashed towards her to do a wide slash at her body but she twirled out of the way of my 6ft blade.


    ¡°I¡¯ve seen better, child.¡± She waved me off.


    I grit my teeth and shot lightning at her which was a lot harder to dodge and the bolt clipped her torso before she could fully dodge and she started bleeding code.


    ¡°So I guess you can bleed, now why are you in a castle its definitely not like the world outside¡­?¡± I interrogated while stepping towards her dragging the buster sword. ¡°Seems a little incongruous don¡¯t you think?¡±


    She coughs up code that splatters the ground and her raiments.


    ¡°Like I need to tell you¡­hah¡­this is just like you humans, attack anything outside of your meticulously plan-¡± She didn¡¯t get much farther before I uppercut her teeth out and pointed the sword at her neck.


    ¡°Try again Brunhilda.¡± I spat at her.


    ¡°I don¡¯t need to!¡± She shouted before she speared her hand through my torso and I spat out my own gout of code blood.


    I chuckled weakly before leaning on my blade as she pulled out my code kernel. ¡°Nngh...suppose I should¡¯ve¡­seen that coming¡­¡±


    While she was looking at my kernel I aimed my hand as my vision got spotty and I shakily casted another lighting bolt which fried her head and she screamed before slumping down with me.


    ¡°Guess this is¡­my end¡­its¡­so cold¡­¡± Queen muttered as she dropped my kernel and it rolled towards me.


    ¡°Sorry¡­gotta save the people¡­¡± I groaned as I dragged myself towards my kernel by my fingernails.


    ¡°Reida¡¯s Autobody¡­¡± Queen muttered looking at me.


    I jammed my kernel into my body before groaning at the sensations coming back into my body.


    ¡°Pardon?¡± I asked, looking at her.


    ¡°Their AI will become rogue¡­fight¡­the..Krexins¡­¡± She groaned before slowing down.


    I nodded before removing her kernel and cutting her neck off to put her out of her misery. Looking at the core I noticed a red miasma surrounding it.


    ¡°So that¡¯s their game¡­a virus¡­¡± I muttered before stuffing the poisoned kernel into a jar and welding the lid shut. I then poofed back my normal clothing and I looked over at her throne and I saw what looked like a scrying crystal. Touching the device I was then projected into the server room where I saw a very tired Xeriko standing over a pile of android corpses.


    ¡°I see she kept you busy.¡± I smiled at him before hopping off the throne and shrinking down to his size.


    ¡°Screw off¡­Malware¡­¡± He said before chuckling.


    ¡°I found out something disturbing¡­¡± I explained before showing him the poisoned kernel in the jar. ¡°This is Queen¡¯s root kernel and it was infected by a virus¡­most likely by a race called the Krexins¡­she told me in her dying moments.


    I looked away from him with a bit of sadness, I just took a life away from someone even if she was brought into this world through a virus and had her reality shifted. It still hurt to kill a victim who was just as confused as I was about my new surroundings.


    ¡°Never heard of em¡­but if they have tech like that then we need to stop them¡­¡± He said while trying to nudge me back onto his face.


    ¡°I know your first life isn¡¯t easy but we are trying to help people Malware, so get back here into my suit, besides we have so many parts to collect for it.¡± Xeriko smiled at me.


    I took a sob choked breath before nodding and he jacked back into the console and I hopped back into the Gadgecorp suit.


    ¡°I missed this visor.¡± I smiled sadly at him.


    ¡°Shuddup, you just like it because you don¡¯t have to work.¡± He barbed back at me.


    ¡°Hey I had to kill Queen, that wasn¡¯t exactly a cakewalk either.¡± I griped.


    ¡°It was 5 minutes if that.¡± He complained.


    ¡°Uh huh¡­go harvest the parts, meatbag.¡± I shot back.


    He chuckled before he started salvaging the androids for the parts I needed.

 Chapter 9: Slice of LIfe

    Akari.OS


    I smiled a little as we grabbed a duffel bag and started stuffing it with parts and scrap material for the molecular deep fryer that I¡¯ve become acquainted with at the bunker.


    ¡°Huh¡­so that¡¯s how they¡¯ve resisted previous attempts to fight them conventionally.¡± Xeriko observed as he looked at a piece of steel.


    ¡°How do you figure¡­?¡± I asked Xeriko looking at the same piece of steel he was.


    He pointed to the edges of the piece where I saw a scuff that chipped off some of the outer layer on the steel.


    ¡°There, they coated their steel bodies with diamond composite refraction steel that lets them resist laser fire and they use a plasmaspheric hiss shield projector to resist against targeted plasma fire, of course with it being limited to targeted projections using a total plasma weapon meltdown overwhelms the shielding.¡± Xeriko lectured as I looked at the piece of metal.


    It was amazing seeing how there were so many different kinds of tech out there that earth could only dream of in fiction or those isekai novels people were writing like it was going out of style¡­what? I wasn¡¯t judging. Looking around at all the holo-projectors, prefab building techniques, and of course, energy weapons. It brought a tear to my eye at how beautiful everything was from a technological standpoint.


    ¡°What I don¡¯t understand is¡­if they are undone by plasma weapon meltdowns, why don¡¯t people use more... erratic plasma ordinance?¡± I asked, trying to avoid a plothole.


    ¡°Its because making plasma weaponry is a voidy proposition at best, and making plasma weaponry by purely mechanical means would require constant careful supervision and safety measures that were-¡± Xeriko started before I cut him off.


    ¡°Best left to the AI which isn¡¯t possible right now unless I can find a Plasma Weapon Manufacturing for Dummies book and find a way to make a plasma ordnance factory.¡± I groaned, running my hands over my face. ¡°So it looks like those kinds of countermeasures are off the table unless I can get pretty creative with a weapon factory and I highly doubt that even with my abilities I could even begin to do something like that.¡±


    ¡°Exactly Malware, and I doubt the Lylat Quadrant government would even tolerate your existence let alone give you the keys to one of those.¡± Xeriko chuckled with his trademark nickname for me.


    ¡°Whatever Meatbag, go grab those scanner arrays before I tell Ria-¡± I started with an evil grin.


    ¡°Hey now, no need to go that far!¡± He cut me off with a yelp.


    I chuckled as we picked up more parts that I could use to reverse engineer upgrades for Xeriko¡¯s suit.


    ¡°I gotta ask, how does your energy shield recharge?¡± I queried as I thought about our battles through the shopping center.


    ¡°Ancillary function of the power core, when I¡¯m not engaged in battle some of the energy is diverted into the shield projector so I can regain some of its charge that gets used in battle, but the only way to fully recharge the unit is to have it in standby and be outside of it.¡± He explained.


    I nodded my head looking at him through the visor and I sat on top of one of his readout boxes while smiling. ¡°Well, after I can get my mitts on some more parts I can probably fix some of those issues.¡± I grinned as I started sketching frantically in a notepad.


    ¡°Well that¡¯s good for you-¡± He started.


    ¡°Oh and get that drill from the Back Alley Doctor, I need that.¡± I cut him off while still sketching.


    ¡°Fine whatever Malware.¡± Xeriko griped at me while rolling his eyes.


    I sat in silence as we picked our way through the usable loot and scrap and we finally exited out of a side door and were able to slip away after covering our tracks regarding how they were killed and with what.


    ¡°If we can get a transceiver on this thing I could probably get Ria on coms.¡± I muttered to myself.


    ¡°Why would we do that?¡± Xeriko asked.


    ¡°Just in case things go sideways, we need a third person to make sure we won¡¯t get ourselves killed, or the mission is sensitive regarding other people and how we handle ourselves could reflect on how others see us, like if we think a politician is colluding with the AI and we need to keep our actions cloak and dagger.¡± I explained rolling my eyes to the obvious, but then again, I supposed I was an outsider looking in so my perspective was fundamentally different to everyone else¡¯s.


    ¡°That scenario is horrifying.¡± Xeriko remarked as he shuddered.


    ¡°Hey, I know its a bleak thought but where I¡¯m from people were plenty cruel without laser arms and AI fueled wars.¡± I said while I looked away from Xeriko. ¡°Just get us back to base.¡±


    The rest of the trip was made in silence while I considered designs for a mode of conveyance that wouldn¡¯t stand out if I was able to fabricate the pieces for it with the molecular deep fryer. I looked at the other vehicles on the road as we were walking back to the base. The megatropolis we were in was a beautiful neon jungle that I couldn¡¯t help but stare at in wonder. We moved in silence, I guessed my revelation about how someone could willingly side with the AI was a prospect Xeriko didn¡¯t want to discuss.


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    I worked on the schematics for the power core upgrade while comparing the designs from other ones on the market with the datanet. As well as the other items I was cooking up for Ria. Thanks to the lobotomy drill I came up with an idea for an electric saw for her medkit. I wanted to change her class from surgeon to medtech so she could do field work if needed so I looked at some medical technology and there was a lot I could work with. Of course we would have to bootleg some of the restricted medical equipment as I couldn¡¯t exactly buy surgery drones on her dime and credentials, especially since we were basically in a war.


    I sighed as I continued working on Ria¡¯s new kit, and I was hoping that it would help save more lives. After making a quiet getaway back to base I hopped onto the network and decided to check on the medtech in question. She was in the medical wing checking on various materials.


    ¡°Hey Ria.¡± I said smiling to her as I sat on a text readout on one of the monitors she was consulting.


    ¡°Welcome back Akari, how did it go?¡± She asked, smiling slightly as she cleaned a handheld autoclave.


    ¡°The suit got a little dinged up but nothing a little polish can¡¯t fix, and the shopping center went well¡­¡± I replied not looking at her.


    She seemed to catch on to where I was mentally at that moment.


    ¡°A lot?¡± She inquired and I knew what she was asking without her having to elaborate.


    ¡°Piles¡­just¡­piles of them¡­women, children, the elderly, the healthy¡­¡± I sniffed. ¡°Just piles of corpses like they were just junk in a scrapyard!¡±


    The admission sent something through my kernel that I didn¡¯t like. I felt all this rage that was then killed in a back alley by despair. They weren¡¯t emotions I wanted to deal with right now. Given my own situation was so fucked, I¡¯m just a soul the Goddess digitized into this new world of technology. Why me though¡­why was I chosen¡­was I so cruel to someone that I deserved this digitized hell?


    I cried¡­I cried, and cried for the dead even though I didn¡¯t know any of them. I couldn¡¯t help the dead with anything except for taking their vengeance on machines that were being poisoned by a race of whoevers for whatever reason. Ria didn¡¯t interrupt, she didn¡¯t try to console me, or offer cheesy self help book advice. She just let me cry out my rage and despair for the departed.


    ¡°I know you¡¯re human now¡­without a doubt, an AI would never be able to shed tears and shout to the heavens like that¡­¡± Ria said to me straightly.


    ¡°Thanks Ria¡­¡± I sniffed. ¡°I want to be able to save more people¡­so can you help me?¡±


    ¡°Within my power sweetie.¡± She said, smiling a little.


    ¡°I want to add more tools to your kit so you can do field medicine and still defend yourself with the perforator¡­I want to help more people so we don¡¯t have another shopping mall incident.¡± I explained while bringing up the new loadout I had in mind.


    The loadout included a Hypodermic needle gun which could either deliver poisonous or medicinal compounds. The other thing was something I called the toolbox, which had a circular saw, a cranial drill, and a weight shifting hammer.


    ¡°This toolbox looks less like medical equipment and more like very very dated construction equipment.¡± Ria told me flatly.


    ¡°Just hear me out, if we find a civilian under debris and we need to get them out we should have the tools to do so, also I made sure if you were in a close combat scenario you had tools to help.¡± I explained. ¡°Each tool has a medical mode and a kill mode, the saw is for wide sweeping attacks, the drill is for precision strikes in tight corridors, and the hammer is in case you run out of power, the power tools are made out of AIndroid parts so you know they¡¯ll do the job.¡±


    ¡°Fine, I trust you made them well and within spec.¡± She acquiesced.


    I nodded and she smiled a little.


    ¡°Thank you Akari, I¡¯ll try and get used to carrying them.¡±


    ¡°I have to get back to the molecular deep fryer to work on a project for Xeriko and then something for me.¡± I said pointing behind me.


    ¡°Of course, happy building.¡± Ria waved me off with a smile.


    I then went to the device in question and dragged the suit into the bay with me thanks to a drone with Xeriko griping at me the whole time.


    ¡°Look I said I¡¯d make you new stuff for the suit and I will, but I actually need the stupid suit meatbag.¡± I groaned.


    ¡°Uuuugh...fiiiiine.¡± He said surrendering the point.


    I then smiled as I had a drone pop open the suit and I saw the power core housing.


    ¡°Hmm¡­this might be a bootleg job but I¡¯ve also used a manufactory to make a tachi so its not like this will be much different.¡± I chuckled as I compared design philosophies for types of Bodysuit Armors.


    ¡°You break it I will personally make sure you never see the light of day again Malware.¡± Xeriko glared at me.


    ¡°Yeah yeah, beat it.¡± I said while having the drone nudge him out the door.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m staying so you won¡¯t hurt my suit.¡± He snapped, crossing his arms.


    ¡°I won¡¯t break it Xeriko, I have a home in that suit too you know, fortunately this suit is designed for modular part replacement and upgrading, there¡¯s enough space in the suit for the core upgrade, the other thing I¡¯m doing with the mechadendrite will be a home job.¡± I said analyzing the suit in my scientist outfit on the monitor.


    ¡°Fine, just don¡¯t break it¡­¡± He said with less heat than the first time.


    ¡°I promise Xeriko.¡± I said holding my hand up in the gesture for a promise.


    Xeriko just nodded and stared at the suit while I used drones to take out the power core and the battery to put them in the deep fryer. I kept watch of the upgraded power core¡¯s fabrication, after that process I smiled as I held the binary core with a drone and it slotted back into the housing in the suit with a thunk. I went back to the molecular fabricator with the mechadendrite and I tossed it in with my design. After more time passed I was able to make a grappling hook rig.


    ¡°Now that¡¯s what I¡¯m talking about.¡± I grinned as I affixed it to the arm with some spot weld and a recoating of paint.


    I threw in the scanning array chip in the helmet after looking at its internal processor and found out its just a plug and play.


    ¡°There we go, the Xeriko Original Mk. 2¡± I said happily as I took a look at the new machine in front of me. ¡°Just needs some field testing and maybe a tweak on the power distribution matrix but beyond that she¡¯s operational, and the new Scanning Array should help with map making and data collection.¡±


    ¡°Not bad Akari.¡± Xeriko said as he hopped into the suit.


    ¡°Um¡­please don¡¯t test the grapnel indoors.¡± I commented as he was sighting it in.


    ¡°I¡¯m not stupid Malware.¡± He groaned. ¡°I was just checking the action to make sure it worked.¡±


    He then triggered his scanning array and whistled. ¡°That is useful.¡±


    I fired up the machine again and fabricated a roller drone with a holo-projector for myself so I had more stage presence on the base. Once it came out I smiled at its simple design, just a pair of caterpillar treads with the Holo-projector mount on top. Of course the insides of it are much more complicated than that but from a design standpoint alone ¡­its stupid simple.


    I connected it to the network and dove in before getting holo-projected out of it and I stretched my arms and legs as I now finally occupied meatspace.


    ¡°That¡¯s better, now I should probably go check on the others and make some dinner.¡± I said smiling as I walked down the halls with my projector rolling behind me.


    I saw Ria and Xeriko in a sort of war room with something that looked like a kitchen of a kind with an Automat style of affair that you just ordered and the food would be food fabricated using schematics. That wouldn¡¯t do at all so I just queued up ingredients such as chicken, breadcrumbs, eggs, that sort of thing.


    I hummed as I was cooking and the two scifi people just looked at me curiously as I enjoyed the simple art of cooking.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Ria asked me.


    ¡°Just cooking, well as close as I can without a body.¡± I explained looking down at my holo-projector self.


    ¡°We have a food replicator.¡± Xeriko said, gesturing to the soulless food facsimile maker.


    ¡°And I think its a soulless hunk of metal that doesn¡¯t deserve my notice, I¡¯d rather have a conversation with a coffee maker.¡± I said glaring at him. ¡°So while we¡¯re together we¡¯re going to enjoy home cooked meals as close as I can get to fresh, if you guys can source ingredients off-planet that aren''t printed, that¡¯d be lovely.¡± I noted.


    I turned back to my job of cooking the ingredients and humming a song from earth letting a single tear roll down my face as I¡¯ll likely never see my family again, so the best I have will be making Japanese food for my new friends, even if its bootleg food¡­its something. I pushed the thoughts of earth aside for a moment as I kept cooking before serving chicken katsu over rice for my friends with chopsticks.


    ¡°This is chicken katsudon¡­from my homeland, enjoy you two..¡± I commented sadly before rolling away to sulk in a corner.


    They took bites of the food and their eyes widened as they looked at the food.


    ¡°Guess my mother was right¡­cooking the raw ingredients does make a difference instead of just printing a finished dish.¡± Ria said as she was eating my food.


    ¡°Malware really did a number on this, its pretty good.¡± Xeriko added.


    I tried to smile as I leaned my head against the wall silently crying for my home and the people I couldn¡¯t save.

 Chapter 10: Housing Crash

    Ria


    I finished eating my katsu¡­whatever that Akari made for us which was pretty good even if it was printed. Well, semi-printed¡­regardless it was really good. I looked over at our new friend and sighed, she looked so alone sitting against the wall on her roller projector.


    ¡°Akari¡­you ok?¡± I asked, trying to find a neutral way to broach the subject.


    Akari then looked up at me with the dead eyes of a salary burnout and I knew she was taking the situation hard¡­likely because its been given time to set in that she¡¯s not where she¡¯s supposed to be.


    ¡°...yes?¡± She replied, and it broke my heart to see her like that.


    ¡°You should probably get some sleep hun¡­you look exhausted.¡± I suggested trying to appeal to her human side.


    ¡°You¡¯re right, I should¡­good night.¡± She moped before rolling out of the room with a forlorn sigh.


    I looked at Xeriko and sighed looking at the closed door with a sort of longing.


    ¡°I hope she¡¯s ok, I know her situation isn¡¯t normal but she needs to be ok¡­her help in getting a foothold against the AIndroids has been invaluable, I know it sounds selfish but what can we really do since she holds her universe¡¯s weapons.?¡± I said before slumping to the table while my teal hair went over my face.


    ¡°Malware will be fine, she¡¯s probably just having an episode, its not exactly comforting knowing you¡¯re practically the same as one of the things we¡¯re fighting, especially if certain groups find out about us and our special equipment.¡± Xeriko explained with his trademark attitude.


    ¡°Still, it can¡¯t be healthy for her, even if she¡¯s basically an AI to all known paradigms, I¡¯d even go so far as to say she still has a soul, and that soul is aching for help, what do you think that¡¯s going to do to her mental state?¡± I snapped back, getting a little angry.


    Xeriko raised his hands in surrender before going back to his dinner. I decided I was finished and left my dishes for the bus bots to clean up before I went to find Akari. I looked through the different rooms starting in the armory. I smiled as I entered the locker room of the armory and opened my locker to hold my perforator. A sleek teal barreled double barrel shotgun with a plasteel stock and phoam shock absorbing shoulder rest. Its familiar HUD readout popped into my mind. It truly was a fascinating weapon, and here I am holding something that shouldn¡¯t even be in our universe. I chuckled at that fact before I loaded the drum with the shells that Akari printed for me.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad she showed us how to do this, otherwise I probably would¡¯ve hurt myself.¡± I mused as I finished loading the drum and tossed it back into the locker before placing the gun back on its frame.


    I then walked to the foundry where I heard noises¡­of course she couldn¡¯t get her mitts off of our molecular foundry¡­or deep fryer as she called it. Peaking my head in I saw her roller projector supervising the fabrication of another device. It was probably a gun of hers or something useful for the bunker. I cleared my throat and crossed my arms and she jumped before looking at me sheepishly.


    ¡°I don¡¯t recall my suggestion included making a stop at the foundry young lady.¡± I said with a clipped tone, I tried nice so maybe she needed a harder tone to get my point.


    ¡°Sorry¡­just¡­had a bad feeling¡­so I¡¯m making another gun¡­I also printed more ammunition for you and Xeriko.¡± She said making excuses for herself.


    ¡°I¡¯ll supervise the foundry¡­go into standby.¡± I ordered before pointing out of the room.


    ¡°Yes ma¡¯am¡­¡± Akari replied before rolling out of the room and started heading for the bedrooms.


    Looking at the molecular deep fryer¡­gah! Now she had me doing it! I saw what she was fabricating rise out of the machine on a platform. I picked it up and examined it, it had a white chassis and a short barrel and the stock folded out so it could rest against the shoulder. The magazine was long and straight. Unhooking it from the receiver, I saw the bullets were smaller than Xeriko¡¯s Ravager. They were 20 millimeters thinner in diameter, guess that was to allow the gun to fire more bullets instead of having a few more powerful shots you have a great many middling shots to damage crowds of enemies. It made sense from a design philosophy standpoint. The side of the gun had its name embossed on it.


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    ¡°AX-90 Sidewinder, interesting¡­¡± I mused as I read the name.


    I shrugged and put it in the armory with my stuff just in case and I headed to bed myself. I took care of myself and fell into my sheets with a groan as I looked at the clock on the wall.


    ¡°Damn¡­it feels like its earlier than two AM.¡± I said before falling asleep.


    Later on that day I¡¯m jolted awake by my implant warning me of an emergency situation regarding a housing development and a robot invasion.


    ¡°Damn robots¡­can¡¯t even get a day before they make a move.¡± I groaned as I got myself ready and Akari hopped into my vision.


    ¡°Morning, it seems we¡¯ll be testing out your kit as a Medtech.¡± She observed seriously.


    ¡°Yes, let¡¯s hope its useful.¡± I noted before suiting up and grabbing my pack, the extra drum mags, the sidewinder, and its magazines in its own pack.


    ¡°I hope its useful as well.¡± Akari stated before poofing into her high visibility gear.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure it will be sweetie but we have to go.¡± I said before running out the door and hailing a taxi.


    ¡°I seriously need more materials to make a vehicle for the bunker.¡± Akari grumped.


    ¡°We¡¯d have to be careful, unregistered veh-¡± I started


    ¡°Screw whatever law that is, this is a state of emergency!¡± She cut me off with a glare.


    ¡°Fine fine...whatever, just do not make it a hover vehicle, those are only for specially licensed personnel.¡± I explained.


    ¡°Yes ma¡¯am.¡± Akari droned flatly.


    Arriving at the housing complex, I saw a horde of robots rushing towards the building and the entrance was caved in. I also saw someone flying around firing a Lasmg into the robots ineffectually. After being under Akari¡¯s umbrella of influence, seeing las fire was kind of jarring to me because we¡¯ve been able to deal with the robots.


    ¡°Who¡¯s the wings?¡± Akari asked as we were let out of the taxi and it raced off when I shut the door.


    ¡°A H.A.R.P.Y, Hyper Aerodynamic Response Personnel, Y squadron.¡± I explained.


    ¡°Well that¡¯s a jank acronym that was clearly made backwards.¡± She snubbed with a huff.


    ¡°Hey, using Y in an acronym is hard, you try it.¡± I snubbed back.


    ¡°Irrelevant, let¡¯s help the bird!¡± Akari shouted.


    I nodded and we ran up to the area where she was and I started slamfiring my shotgun to try and clear a path to the Harpy because she definitely took notice of my actual progress hurting the robots.


    ¡°USE THIS!¡± I shouted before spinning around and hucking the sidewinder pack skyward and she took it before unzipping the pack and took out the gun. It clearly confused her for a moment because she looked at me like I was crazy. I just nodded at her and started making a path to the caved entrance of the building.


    I then heard the gun firing behind me the harpy yelped before getting it back under control and she started peppering the robots with hot tungsteel bullets.


    ¡°We¡¯ll definitely be seeing more of her.¡± Akari noted while I looked for an entry point.


    ¡°Agreed, can you help me out here sweetie?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Course, there¡¯s a garage on the other side of the building, you can drill off the access door.¡± She noted before I started running back there.


    Sure enough there was an access door on the garage side with a physical lock. I took out my drill and set it against the obstruction before boring through it in a flash and I wrenched open the door.


    ¡°Nice!¡± I grinned and put the drill back on my pack and I took out my shotgun and kept a hand on my hypo-gun before I opened the door into the common area and peeked inside. My heart sank as I saw people bleeding out and I saw more¡­workman type robots with modified hammers and blowtorches.


    ¡°Good thing they only have melee weapons and limited energy weapon access.¡± Akari noted before taking out her notepad and started scribbling down the robots¡¯ descriptions.


    ¡°Take out the Hammerhead and the Welder on your right.¡± She gestured.


    I nodded and sent two sprays of needles through the two bots and I grabbed my saw and cleaved through another welder that was looming over a scared child.


    ¡°Get into the garage!¡± I shouted while unloading another spray of needles at a plasma cutter robot.


    I was glad Akari made this thing with limited spread otherwise this would¡¯ve been very dangerous for the friendlies. I saw the able bodied ones fled into the garage behind me and I sweeped the area before I fired another shell into the last Hammerhead.


    ¡°Hang on sir, I¡¯ll treat you!¡± I shouted before I pulled out the hypo-gun and injected staunching gel into his system to help stop the bleeding so the wound could heal and I sprayed some Quik-graft on him.


    ¡°Go!¡± I urged.


    He limped to the garage and I patched up the rest of the injured so they could barricade the garage with the others. The Harpy then flew in and landed in front of me before crossing her arms while holding Akari¡¯s gun and idly bounced it against her side.


    ¡°Explain.¡± She said simply.

 Chapter 11: Cops and Robots

    Ria


    ¡°Its a weapon that is effective against robots.¡± I explained while trying not to be on the receiving end of the Harpy¡¯s gun¡­that I gave her.


    In hindsight that wasn¡¯t exactly smart of me to do but we had people to save so I couldn¡¯t really think about that.


    ¡°Don¡¯t play stupid civilian, I know you know that, but we don¡¯t have ranged weapons that work quite like this¡­sidewinder thing that suddenly is very effective against the robots.¡± She glared at me as her hand kept bouncing while holding the SMG.


    ¡°Ah well¡­¡± I started with sweat visibly dripping down my brow.


    ¡°I¡¯ll generate a convenient excuse for us.¡± Akari stated in my head before poofing away.


    I then heard something fall over in the kitchen and I booked it before the woman could continue interrogating me and Akari came back a second later.


    ¡°Turns out its easier to get things to break themselves when everything is connected to a network.¡± She chuckled.


    ¡°What¡¯d you break?¡± I asked curious.


    ¡°I had a coffee maker mobile walk off the counter.¡± She laughed.


    ¡°You and coffee makers.¡± I commented while shaking my head at her antics.


    We kept going upstairs until another common room came up and I saw a robot holding plasma asteroid mining equipment.


    ¡°Um¡­is that a¡­?¡± Akari asked.


    ¡°Yep¡­¡± I nodded, looking concerned.


    ¡°A plasma cutter¡­easily capable of splicing limbs off of people and bioengineered cult monsters.¡± Akari recanted with horror in her voice.


    ¡°Uhh¡­?¡± I asked confused.


    ¡°Story from my world, but enough about me, if this tool works on the same principles as the one from my story, it should have three guiding laser points and be able to rotate for horizontal and vertical¡­yep it does, bank left!¡± she explained before shouting.


    The tool sounded off and I dove to the side before I became half a woman. Looking back I saw a line of superheated prefab where my neck used to be.


    ¡°We¡¯re keeping that after we kill that thing, I¡¯ll bet my bottom akari dollar that it¡¯ll work fabulously for something.¡± Akari noted, grinning.


    ¡°Quest Received: Regain Isaac Clarke¡¯s Plasma Cutter. Reward: 100 Akari Dollars and progress towards a new upgrade.¡±


    ¡°So this is what Xeri was talking about.¡± I chuckled as Akari grinned at me.


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    ¡°Right!¡± Akari shouted and I dove right before I was almost a bisected.


    ¡°It always amazes me how easy it is for something to be weaponized even if it wasn¡¯t the intended purpose.¡± I observed before firing on the Asteroid Miner.


    Some of the needles were deflected which was deeply concerning. Especially given our successes against the machines.


    ¡°Just keep firing, no doubt it has some extra armor layering because its an asteroid miner.¡± Akari explained. ¡°Its gonna need a lot of protection from debris. Most likely it has a shield projector, use the buzzsaw.¡±


    I grabbed my saw and rushed the asteroid miner before revving it up and started grinding through its torso. Seems the shield projector isn¡¯t designed for sustained damage and it shorted instantly after a few seconds of my buzzsaw. It fell apart and I grabbed the Plasma Cutter as Akari put it before bagging it.


    ¡°On its back there is the shield projector.¡± Akari noted as an arrow highlighted its back.


    Sure enough on the back of the robot was an external shield generator.


    ¡°No wonder why the shield was crap, its bargaintech.¡± I observed feeling like I just got given a pile of scrap.


    ¡°Wow, this guy got shivved, but enough about that, for right now its better than you getting shot in the face, we can make fun of them later.¡±


    When I picked it up a jingle went through my head.


    ¡°Bargaintech: You tried the best, now try the rest!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d believe that over their actual slogan.¡± I laughed as Akari giggled.


    I then put the projector on my back and it hermetically sealed itself to my armor before it warbled to life I could feel the thrum of the shield coating me.


    ¡°Now that you have some extra protection¡­regardless of the quality, you should be able to keep going.¡± Akari urged as I kept up clearing the housing development of robots and tended to the wounded.


    ¡°I¡¯m running out of staunching compounds¡­¡± I observed as I loaded my last hypo.


    ¡°We¡¯re almost done Ria, just keep going.¡± Akari said, trying to cheer me up.


    Running up the last couple flights of stairs had me staring down the barrel of the Sidewinder as the Harpy glared at us behind the trigger.


    ¡°You¡¯ve had your fun now its time to explain, or do we have to take you down to the precinct?¡± She asked while blocking off my ascension.


    ¡°I think we can¡¯t really avoid the issue anymore¡­¡± Akari commented in my head.


    I nodded slowly before opening my mouth to speak but the comm unit of the Harpy went off. She glared at me harder before speaking between rings.


    ¡°This can go one of two ways, Teal.¡± she began. ¡°And one of them isn¡¯t pretty so you better give me an answer.¡±


    ¡°We have a source of out of system blueprints that are effective, like the Sidewinder, and my own gun¡­¡± I explained glossing over as much as I could without it being lying.


    She answered her comm unit and started speaking into it. ¡°The situation was neutralized, a few gracious collaborators were able to assist in the clean-up of the Residential District¡­they were brave enough to use melee weapons.¡±


    She then gave me a pointed look that basically said ¡°You owe me big time¡± and I just nodded before clapping my hands and bowing to her generosity. She hung up after the call was over and walked upstairs with me to clear out the rest of the robots which was a lot easier with her and the sidewinder.


    ¡°I have to give whoever you got these from credit, they really have made something truly effective against the machines.¡± The Harpy commented with a reserved smile.


    ¡°She¡¯s here if you want to talk to her.¡± I commented biting the bullet as Akari put it.


    ¡°Hello.¡± I heard from the Harpy¡¯s speakers.


    ¡°Gah!¡± She screamed as Akari introduced herself.


    ¡°Don¡¯t delete me, I''m not an AI!¡± She shouted in pain.


    Seri the Harpy had to be talked down from shredding Akari and then she gave us both a lecture on tapping an official¡¯s hardware.


    ¡°So, what¡¯s her story?¡± Seri said coldly while Akari was regrowing her shell.


    ¡°She¡¯s been helping us take out robots and has also been fabricating weapons and modifications for our gear so we can continue to have an impact against the machine threats.¡± I explained.


    ¡°I¡¯m from the Sol System and I got digitized here so I could help.¡± Akari butted in.


    ¡°Never heard of it¡­though then again its not out of the realm of possibility it exists because I¡¯ve never seen weapons like these.¡± Seri commented looking at the Sidewinder.


    ¡°If you could keep my existence on the down low that would be lovely because I seriously doubt my existence is as guaranteed as I¡¯d like it to be.¡± Akari pleaded from Seri¡¯s speakers.


    Seri took a deep breath before nodding her head. ¡°I understand¡­since you have made strides and successful pushes against the machines I¡¯ll accept you as an occupational necessity.¡±


    ¡°Thank you¡­¡± Akari almost moaned in relief.


    ¡°Why do you think your life is at risk beyond the obvious?¡± Seri asked Akari.


    ¡°Reida¡¯s Auto-body¡­its the next AI that¡¯s going to go rogue.¡± Akari explained.


    Seri got pale as she heard Akari¡¯s warning and I could only agree even after already hearing about the Queen¡¯s dying words.


    ¡°Well¡­guess we need to head to your bunker and prepare for the Auto-body shop.¡± Seri announced resolutely.


    Akari played a jingle before a pop-up appeared in my vision ¡°Seri the Overly Serious Harpy has joined the party!¡±


    ¡°What the-¡± Seri asked before I cut her off. ¡°Just let it go, its the charm of working with the only Digital Human Soul.¡±


    Seri looked at me confused before she shrugged and reloaded the Sidewinder. I smiled as I walked out with our new inroad with the Police Force.

 Chapter 12: Tempers Flare

    Seri


    The¡­Medtech as my datanet called her for some reason led me to a nondescript building on the east side of the megacity we called home. Although¡­calling Breech City home was starting to sound a little sarcastic. I looked around at the other buildings and realized this was just the commercial district of the city.


    ¡°I hope this is up to spec with emergency structure regulations.¡± I noted with concern.


    ¡°Oh stick the Osha talk up your ass bird.¡± the not-AI spat at me from a corner of my vision. ¡°It¡¯s kept us safe from the AIndroids so far and I¡¯ve already been drawing schematics for reinforcing it.¡±


    ¡°Has anyone told you that your attitude is unbecoming?¡± I asked, raising an eyebrow at the woman.


    We entered the building and looking around I noticed it was just a facade as the entrance led to a plasteel and prefab concrete tunnel down a long flight of stairs towards more plasteel bunker panels as well as tungsteel reinforcing braces. I honestly wouldn¡¯t have expected to see such use of tungsteel but it makes sense¡­so why haven¡¯t we thought of that? I looked around more and also saw tungsteel support beams almost like mineshaft beams. The engineering here is fantastic but it was so confusing as to how this came about.


    ¡°Yes, but my friends are quite happy with my attitude, Bird.¡± She sniped back while I was looking around.


    ¡°Who came up with the reinforcements?¡± I asked, feeling like a child on a fusion reactor tour.


    ¡°I did, I figured if the building got flattened we could at least salvage the bunker, and Akari made the materials for the reinforcement infrastructure.¡± The Medtech explained. ¡°We came up with it on the way to the Residential district and she sent a request to the molecular deep fryer and had the drones install the structures.¡±


    ¡°Molecular deep fryer?¡± I questioned the juvenile nickname.


    ¡°Dammit Akari!¡± She shouted before groaning while the little program snickered.


    ¡°Its my name for the Molecular Fabricator because its basically a vat of material that changes when it comes out of it.¡± said program explained, giggling.


    I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve seen an AI giggle like that except for those creepy child rearing Nanny bots that I hated with every fibre of my neural pathways. I shuddered at the thought of those things looking at me with their child rearing addled eyes.


    ¡°I see¡­¡± I said trying to save face from my nightmares.


    We continued through the hallway and we reached a common area in the bunker where a man was looking over presumably his body armor and was grumbling about malware or something. I was then led into the foundry room and I saw the fabricator.


    ¡°This room has effectively been made Akari¡¯s because she has made our gear for our fight against the AIndroids.¡± the medic explained.


    Suddenly something tapped my foot, and I looked behind me to see a roller droid with a holo-projector on top projecting the woman that was in my vision a second ago. She was wearing what looked like an apron with a toolbelt that held antiquated tools in it.


    ¡°So, introductions!¡± the hologram stated, smiling at me. ¡°I¡¯m Akari, the amazing, reliable, funny, smart, and resourceful, not-AI that has been helping these meatbags against their robot problem.¡±


    She struck a pose that made her look like one of those overdramatic protagonists on the holo-vids. I was growing annoyed at how flippant she was about everything but I supposed she was fine because she didn¡¯t have any risk to herself like the others did. I glared at her lax attitude.


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    ¡°This here is our lovely MedTech Ria, the kind, sweet, tough, compassionate, and beautiful woman who chased down robots with a shotgun!¡±


    The hologram spread her arms as if presenting the woman to me and Ria blushed a little at the praise she was receiving from the faker.


    ¡°The man out there is Xeriko, he¡¯s my battle buddy as I¡¯ve fought with him and the robots the mos-¡± She started before I kicked her wheelbase across the floor.


    ¡°Well that was rude, I¡¯m doing the polite thing and introducing your hosts and you just kicked one of them in effectively their shins.¡± She glared at me but I didn¡¯t care.


    ¡°There¡¯s no way you have any stake in this war! You just showed up some time ago and have started just wresting control of everything, hell, you don¡¯t have any risks to take! YOU¡¯RE JUST A PROGRAM!¡± I started before I got really angry and started yelling.


    ¡°HOW DARE YOU!¡± she shouted back. ¡°I HAVE JUST AS MUCH STAKE IN THIS AS XERIKO DOES YOU BITCH, IF AN AI KILLS ME THAT¡¯S IT, I DIE, NO REFRESHES, NO BACKUPS, I DIE HORRIBLY, AND PAINFULLY, I HAVE LOOKED AT MY OWN HEART BEING RIPPED OUT OF MY CHEST.¡±


    She then jammed her hand in her chest and showed me something that looked like a faceted sphere.


    ¡°This is my root kernel, if this gets destroyed I die¡­it has my human soul in it, its not like the other AI root kernels where if you have a copy of it, you can just plug it into a shell and everyone lives their lives, this is my heart, brain, kidney, and soul.¡± She commented with tears in her eyes. ¡°I will die if I lose this, so excuse me for trying to be positive and try to help my damn friends you Void addled bitch.¡±


    She jammed her kernal back into her chest before the hole slowly closed around it and she glared at me with tears in her eyes.


    ¡°Either help us or get out, I don¡¯t care anymore, and leave the sidewinder,¡± She spat out while not looking at me. ¡°I don¡¯t need the greedy humans of this world using them to enslave planets because it can punch through plasteel laser refraction armor.¡±


    She rolled out of the room over my toes and I winced. Her mannerisms were definitely human¡­barring her physiology. I looked at Ria and she looked at me with contempt in her eyes.


    ¡°She may not be physically human but she definitely is human, you have no right to assume anything about her, the first thing she did when arriving here was save a life, Xeriko¡¯s life, he had just come back from a small reconnaissance mission that went south since he was discovered by a scandroid, and he was lying on my medical table dying when Akari, even in shock upon being sent here from wherever she came from, jury-rigged his suit to defibrillate him.¡± Ria lectured. ¡°Sure, she¡¯s peppy, but I¡¯ve seen her cry over the dead at the commerce center massacre yesterday, she has been going nonstop for the past day and even into two AM this morning, a full 18hrs of go time and she was still willing to go and offer you one of her guns to help you fight the robots, hell you used her gun to fight the robots after your Lasmg failed to even dent the refraction steel, oh by the way, did you know they use diamond coated refraction steel? Of course you didn¡¯t, Xeriko and Akari discovered it upon salvaging the machines, Akari has been using the steel to make wonders for us to fight the robots.¡±


    She walked past me before looking behind herself to glare at me some more.


    ¡°She was right, you are a void addled bitch, she was respectful and you insult her without learning her situation.¡± She looked away. ¡°She said you can stay for lunch if you will keep your mouth shut, she may be mad but she¡¯s not heartless.¡±


    I winced at hearing that line and I just nodded before I leaned against the wall sighing. Xeriko walked past me before looking back at me but said nothing before pulling out his weapon that Akari no doubt made with her off-system knowledge. He then stopped in his tracks before speaking but not looking at me.


    ¡°I may joke and jab at her, but she did save my life, I owe her that much, so I won¡¯t tolerate you insulting her, but know this, I¡¯ll be the first to defend her when it comes to her generosity, if she truly wanted to, she could¡¯ve done nothing to help us, instead she dove right in to aid total strangers in their war, she has empathy, and you could learn from her.¡±


    Xeriko walked away while I looked at the hallway towards the dining room past the foundry. I just decided to follow him as I went in and sat at the table and noticed Akari standing at the stove while she had drones operate the various things she needed. I noticed she was also using whole ingredients instead of just printing a readymade meal.


    ¡°She insists that the food replicator is a soulless hunk of metal that she doesn¡¯t need to bother with more than she has to, so she just uses it to print ingredients instead of meals and she cooks things herself, her food isn¡¯t half bad even with the limitations.¡± Ria explained.


    ¡°I still think we should get fresh food imported but I¡¯m not gonna stare down the barrel of the fees just to acknowledge fresh food exists.¡± She griped while cooking. ¡°So I just make do with what I have, and at least its something.¡±


    She then carried food over to the table.


    ¡°This is a bacon cheeseburger, with smoked gruyere and pepper bacon, lettuce, tomato, and onion jam.¡± She explained.


    Everyone grabbed a burger and dug in. I hesitantly grabbed it and took a bite, and it was so different from a normal printed burger. My eyes widened in surprise as I kept eating the meal. I really was a bitch to this kind girl and I needed to apologize.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Akari¡­¡± I said with my head down.


    ¡°I forgive you, you couldn¡¯t have known, but try to be more understanding of others, ok?¡± She asked while looking at me with a soft smile.


    ¡°I¡­understand.¡± I commented and nodded my head.


    ¡°Good, now eat up, I made fries as well.¡± She dumped a load of fries onto everyone¡¯s plates and sat down next to everyone on her own holo-chair and ate her own meal.


    I wanted to ask about the purpose of such an action but I just let it go, it was probably her way of feeling human with the others.


    ¡°I gotta ask, do you guys have VR?¡± Akari asked suddenly.


    ¡°Yes, of course, we have full dive games and training programs.¡± Ria explained while smiling.


    ¡°Are they expensive?¡± Akari continued asking.


    ¡°Kinda, they aren¡¯t cheap, but they aren¡¯t NuU expensive.¡± Ria explained again.


    ¡°Hey harpy, got any bounties you¡¯ve been looking for?¡± Akari asked me.


    ¡°Yes actually, we have a few.¡± I commented trying to gauge Akari¡¯s motives.


    ¡°Let¡¯s bust some heads then.¡± She commented grinning.

 Chapter 13: Code Red

    Akari.OS


    The others looked at me like I have two heads, of course I could if I wanted to but I don¡¯t. I just smile at them as I start to go over my plan.


    ¡°The plan is to get you guys familiar with how to fight in the netscape since I have no illusions of all of the netscape fights going as easily as Queen¡¯s did.¡± I explained. ¡°So I¡¯m going to train you all on my style of fighting in there.¡±


    Xeriko and Ria nodded at my explanation of needing money. I panned my gaze across the room and smiled at my best Lylat Quadrant friends¡­and Seri. I then scanned the datanet for the public bounties posted.


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± I said looking at the bounties. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t expect there to be other races here other than humans, but color me surprised.¡±


    ¡°It can be surprising if you¡¯re seeing it for the first time.¡± Ria commented being supportive and smiling her thousand terawatt smile.


    ¡°Right, especially when one of them is you.¡± Xeriko sniped at me.


    ¡°Shut it, meatbag.¡± I snubbed back.


    Seri just shook her head at our antics while Ria was chuckling softly at us. Then the room went cold when I let out a gasp. I started visibly shivering as I looked at Xeriko with a deer in headlights look.


    ¡°It happened.¡± I told him.


    He looked confused before he searched his memories and came to the same conclusion I did.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me¡­¡± Xeriko said flatly.


    I nodded and projected the news reel.


    ¡°...We have what some consider the worst possible outcome as some people have defected to the AI¡¯s side during this unfortunate conflict that has befallen Kreli 3.¡± The newscaster woman said as everyone in the room looked at the reel in horror.


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    ¡°I¡¯m officially calling this a Code Red: All hands on deck scenario.¡± I commented while looking at everyone seriously. ¡°Xeriko, we should add to your loadout, Ria, get your tool box, Seri, you in or out?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m in, this threat goes beyond personal opinions.¡± She answered.


    ¡°Ok, I¡¯ll be making you extra kit too.¡± I commented before rolling out of the lunch room and de facto war room burning rubber.


    I then dove on the Molecular deep fryer making a gun that won the war. A fully automatic Carbine. No, I won¡¯t call it an assault rifle but we¡¯re getting off topic here.


    ¡°Getting low on metals¡­good thing we¡¯re going to be fighting robots.¡± I observe as The Killmonger got printed.


    The Killmonger is one of my masterpieces, a drum mag on an Alumasteel base and Composite frame with a picatinny top rail and under barrel fitting. Boasting a large drum magazine filled with .75 caliber tungsteel bullets but this time I put extra explosive compound behind the bullets so they¡¯ll fly farther faster and more accurately. I also printed some grenades for Seri¡­I just hope I can trust her with them. The grenades I made were spherical grenades with a pin and a spoon latch system so it¡¯d be easy to use. I made the shell thin so it was more of an explosive device than a shrapnel delivery system.


    ¡°You finished Akari?¡± Ria asked, coming into the fabricator room.


    ¡°Yes, the Killmonger is ready and it¡¯s ready for war.¡± I nodded and gestured to the just finished weapon. ¡°So are the grenades for Seri.¡±


    Ria picked up the Killmonger and nodded looking down at the crows feet sight and nodded.


    ¡°I think Xeriko will like this a lot.¡± Ria nodded.


    She then tossed it to a passing Xeriko who picked it up and ran to the door. I hopped onto his suit as he put it on.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Malware.¡± Xeriko commented.


    ¡°Agreed.¡± I nodded in his visor and he ran out with Xeriko


    Seri came out holding the grenades on a bandolier I made that held them in place when she was flying. I still wasn¡¯t sure if that was a good idea but we didn¡¯t have time to worry about such things. I made sure the killmonger was synced to Xeriko¡¯s visor and everything was reading out ok.


    ¡°Everything¡¯s in order Xeriko, your weapons synced up ok.¡± I reported from my designated corner in his visor wearing my soldier¡¯s outfit complete with my M1 helmet.


    Xeriko nodded as he ran holding the killmonger with a tight grip. He then muttered. ¡°There¡¯s no way in hell I¡¯m letting Kali happen again¡­¡±


    I guessed that was related to his past so I didn¡¯t pry but looking at him I could tell it was a very very deep wound.


    Seri took to the air while us infantry took to the streets running like mad.


    ¡°Dammit!!¡± I shouted to no one in particular.


    This was not something I wanted to deal with. I knew it was only a foolish dream to hope people would band together under the threat but I wished it could¡¯ve worked like that.


    ¡°The Newscaster just announced that the AI terrorists are holding out in a¡­oh¡­¡± I gulped.


    ¡°What?¡± Ria asked as I added her avatar to Xeriko¡¯s helmet for ease of comms.


    ¡°They¡¯re hiding out at a foundry.¡± I commented, going pale.


    ¡°So¡­¡± Seri jumped in but I just made her a textbox.


    No, I¡¯m not petty and it¡¯s not important right now anyway.


    ¡°We¡¯re dealing with an entrenched, fortified, and heavily supplied armada.¡± I summed up groaning.


    ¡°Well shit¡­¡± Xeri commented, still running.


    ¡°The plus side is we get to break in the grapnel for Xeriko¡¯s suit.¡± I noted trying to be positive.


    ¡°Do we have a plan?¡± Ria asked.


    I thought it over for a moment before pacing back and forth while we ran through the neon jungle of Breech City. Its many holo-ads and candy colored neon lights projecting a pink tinge to the roadways and sidewalks. Looking at the newest Holo-Idol gave me an Idea.


    ¡°That¡¯s it, three pronged attack.¡± I said, hitting my fist onto my open palm. ¡°Xeriko, we¡¯ll sneak in, Ria, humanitarian work and tend the wounded with the police, harpy, Try and de-escalate, with the human element we may be able to reason with them, or at least, catch them off guard.¡±


    Everyone nodded at my plan and we ran faster to the material foundry hoping against hope we weren¡¯t too late.

 Chapter 14: Solid Xeriko

    Xeriko


    We finally arrived at the foundry and I smiled as I saw the holo-warning tape spanned around the circle, good thing there were cops here who knew at least something about what to do unlike certain people. Unfortunately I still got stuck with Malware, but win some lose some. She looked on glaring at the world, I suppose I shouldn¡¯t be surprised at that.


    ¡°We¡¯ll get through this Malware, just gotta stick to the plan.¡± I said, I was trying to be nice.


    ¡°I understand Xeriko¡­its just, I feel like I¡¯m on the losing side even with the resistance¡­not to say I¡¯m defecting or anything just¡­what happens when I go public¡­am I going to be hated¡­feared¡­or ousted as one of the other cracked AIs?¡± She mused dejectedly.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what will happen Malware, but at least you have us, well Ria more like, I can¡¯t stand you.¡±


    Akari started chuckling weakly before nodding.


    ¡°Thanks Xeriko.¡± She commented while laughing.


    After skidding to a halt at the end of an alley I peaked out the side and saw the fortifications they were running and it wasn¡¯t pretty.


    ¡°Damn¡­all that needs is a shield generator and they¡¯d be able to bunker here for months¡­¡± Akari observed.


    ¡°Don¡¯t give them Ideas Malware.¡± I griped as I looked around.


    We looked around taking in the bunkered foundry with palisades, a heavy laser turret, a plasma mortar, and roving guards. In truth it¡¯d be a tall order to go past these people but we had another way in.


    ¡°Seems there is a roof access and there¡¯s enough roof coverage between us and them to get over there.¡± Akari noted while I was looking.


    I primed my grapnel that Akari made from the Blender Caster AIndroid. I then fired the thing and it zipped up into the air with the flexsteel cable whizzing behind it. The grapnel latched onto something and went taut before I reeled it in and was sent up the wall.


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    ¡°Neat trick Malware.¡± I commented while looking at the thing before resetting it in the housing.


    She nodded while we were running on the roof and I zoomed in my visor while Akari looked through a pair of binocs to see the roof of the foundry.


    ¡°I¡¯m seeing light machine guards on the roof, seems my gut was right when I thought this was a good idea.¡± Akari noted.


    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right Malware, we just have to hurry before they raise the alarm.¡± I observed as well.


    ¡°Well, they don¡¯t have a scandroid on the roof, so that¡¯s good.¡± She countered.


    I nodded and ran over the roofs of other buildings to keep out of sight of the roving guards. Akari kept quiet as she watched what was happening outside of the visor. It was painful to see her, an outsider seeing how awful things have gotten here even if it wasn¡¯t her choice to come here or not. Landing on the roof from the back edge I looked at the machines. They looked like some of the machines we fought in the commerce center. I saw a hammer battery, and a blender caster. We fought these things before, but its crazy to think about how much has changed in the few days since I met Malware. Looking over the skyline of the roofs and all the holo-ads climbing into the sky I resolved myself to fix the threat that has been forced upon us. I drew my Tachi that Malware made for me and sliced through the blender caster. I sighed as I looked at the Machine.


    ¡°...Too easy..¡± I muttered before I turned on the hammer battery.


    It then tried to swing its massive forging hammer at me but I was too nimble to get hurt by it as I dove out of the swing¡¯s trajectory to hack at the battery on its back. It started sparking and powering down as I slashed my blade through the power cell strapped to its back.


    ¡°Why would they make such a vulnerable design for the machines¡­¡± I asked no one in particular.


    ¡°Maybe its to ration parts, because they can¡¯t make machines infinitely, they have to save where they can.¡± Akari posits.


    ¡°Maybe...but something feels off.¡± I comment as I kick the machine with my boot.


    We decided to think on that later as we walked to the roof access of the foundry. Its obviously locked, and this is where Akari stepped in. I unhooked the cable to let Akari jack into the security network.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be off.¡± She commented before disappearing into the network.


    As she left I got some time to think about all that happened this week as we¡¯ve been working together. Its been really busy, especially since she gave us the weapons that she¡¯s so proud of. I looked at the weapons in my hands, the Ravager, the Tachi, and The Killmonger. Very different from anything available in this world and yet, she made them for us. She even considered the risk of them being stolen or misused. I smiled ruefully to myself as I leaned against the wall and waited for my¡­friend I think to finish up in the net.


    She then popped back in my view and I retracted the cord into my suit.


    ¡°Find out anything?¡± I asked her.


    ¡°The foundry network is seperate from their security system, so I could only see camera footage, but that¡¯s still useful, there are indeed humans with the AIndroids¡­its as we feared¡­I¡¯m scared Xeriko¡­¡± She started before sniffing and breaking down a bit.


    ¡°Stay strong Malware, we have a job to do and they are aiding and abetting the enemy.¡± I explained with a pang of regret.


    ¡°I wish it was only under duress but¡­they¡¯re willingly working with the AIndroids.¡± she commented. ¡°I¡¯d make a joke right now except¡­I¡¯m too wrung out to joke.¡±


    It seemed her coping mechanism was indeed joking around, but here she was just a wreck. I decided to hurry up and go down the elevator so we kept moving. I waited against the wall while the elevator was going down. I looked at Akari sitting on my visor with a despondent look on her face.


    ¡°Look Malware, I know you don¡¯t like human death but¡­¡± I started before she cut me off.


    ¡°I have no respect for terrorists Xeriko, lets just stop them before this becomes something awful¡­¡±

 Chapter 15: Of Course You Realize, This Means War

    Akari.OS


    When the Goddess gave me the proverbial boot to the ass into this universe, I wasn¡¯t expecting it to happen the way it did¡­even though I think she took advantage of my delirium to send me here in an unorthodox manner.


    I sighed as I looked out Xeriko¡¯s visor at the numbers ticking down from the roof access elevator. ¡°Xeriko¡­why¡¯d you become a merc?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not a mer-¡± he started before I cut him off.


    ¡°Yes you are, especially since I¡¯m paying you in Akari Dollars after you complete my quests for your suit upgrades, but that¡¯s beside the point, why¡¯d you become a ¡°monetarily contracted soldier¡±?¡± I asked again.


    ¡°Two years ago I was working with another ¡°Monetarily Contracted Soldier¡± as you so eloquently put it, her name was Kalira, she was a spitfire¡­¡± He started.


    ¡°Was?¡± I queried but¡­I knew the answer before he even said it.


    ¡°She was a Cracker through and through, in and out of a system before most people could even blink, also had a real knack with a plasma caster, and was real snarky, we were great together, until one job, just when the AI war started, we were in our groove, we were busting a Lash pill drug ring¡­nasty stuff, turns the mind to soup and heightens aggression to the Nth degree¡­well, once we were in deep, we found out where the boss was and was cracking his security when we eventually heard really loud alarms, then we were surrounded, my AI decided at that moment to become idiotic and connect to their network and eventually got us surrounded, it then fed her a Lash pill while she was still cracking before she went apeshit on the guards until her mind burned out and she...died, while my AI rationalized it was the best way to escape¡­so it forced me to run by taking over my suit and I¡¯ll never forget the look in Kalira¡¯s eyes as she went under the Drug¡¯s sway, it was awful¡­¡± Xeriko explained while we waited.


    ¡°I suppose that¡¯s why you hated me¡­I was too similar to her in some ways and a suit AI.¡± I commented looking away trying to hide my own tears.


    ¡°Yeah¡­it stung a bit Akari¡­¡±


    Even I knew this was serious if he actually used my name instead of a cheesy moniker. I took a deep cleansing breath and slapped my cheeks.


    ¡°I¡¯ll still support you Xeriko, no matter what, even if you are an asshole.¡± I said while smirking a little at him.


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    ¡°I¡¯ll tolerate you too, Trojan Horse.¡± He sniped back while we both gave a mirthless chuckle.


    The elevator dinged while we were talking and we put on our game faces for the battle ahead. I poofed into my General Akari attire and got ready for the massacre of scrap metal and blood. The floor that greeted us was an assembly line and we immediately dove behind a crate to peek at the work that they were doing.


    ¡°Oh SUGAR HONEY ICED TEA!¡± I shouted in the helmet.


    ¡°Shit!¡± Xeriko commented too.


    ¡°Exactly!¡± I yelled after.


    Xeriko and I were looking at an assembly line for plasma weapons, lots of em.


    ¡°Um...Xeriko¡­?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yes Malware¡­?¡±


    ¡°They shouldn¡¯t have those should they¡­?¡±


    ¡°No they should not, but here we are¡­¡±


    ¡°Are we seriously reusing a bit?!¡± I shouted as Xeriko ducked behind the box again.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have murder roombas here, so not exactly.¡± Xeriko commented smugly.


    ¡°Shuddup meatbag!¡± I yelled glaring at him.


    I paced back and forth trying to come up with a plan.


    ¡°So our usual methods are out of the question considering we don¡¯t wanna hit the plasma canisters, we have to power off this Weapon Foundry and get the other humans to surren..der¡­¡± I started before cutting off.


    Did I really just¡­did I really just say other humans¡­? Am I losing my humanity because of what I became? There were too many questions at once so I tried pushing the matter aside.


    ¡°And hopefully before there¡¯s any more casualties¡­¡± I finished trying to suppress a shudder.


    I tried banishing the foul taste in my mouth but it was no use, maybe this was my psyche trying to overcompensate for the slip up that I wasn¡¯t human anymore. I didn¡¯t know and truthfully I wasn¡¯t sure I wanted to find out, so I just pushed onward trying to ignore the sensations.


    Xeriko nodded before drawing the Tachi I made for him. It still was a beautiful blade, and I just focused on the work of art being wielded by one of my closest friends¡­not that I would admit that to him.


    He then ran off in another direction into a foreman¡¯s office and sliced apart the AIndroids there before he barricaded the door.


    ¡°That should buy you some time to look around in there.¡± He commented before he jacked into the datanet terminal.


    I nodded before throwing a smoke bomb and poofing into Netspace for the second time that day.


    It was quiet in netspace with its organized cube hallways and various other processes that happened while I was in here.


    ¡°Alright you rogue AI, time to go chips up¡­¡± I glared as I moved ahead in my blue ninja attire.


    Sneaking down the tunnels and hiding behind protrusions like some phantom thief I saw a lot of packet traffic up ahead so I snuck my way over there to try and see what the hubbub was. When I was over there the packets were flying down the tunnel like a swarm of angry bats.


    ¡°Ok then, let''s see what¡¯s on the docket.¡± I pulled out a mail hook and nabbed one of the packets before it could get away from me.


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± I contemplated while reading. ¡°Looks like the AI here is a General of some sort, he¡¯s ordering double time on weapons creation, and he¡¯s brokered a deal for human interaction regarding AI banned devices¡­likely not being murderized when the AIndroids go ape with their plasma weaponry was part of said deal.¡±


    I wanted to sympathize but its hard with people¡¯s lives being at stake. Especially more innocent people just wanting to live. I glared and tossed the packet back into the stream


    ¡°Alright General, if you want a war¡­I¡¯ll give you a war!¡± I shouted to no one.

 Chapter 16: Overtime

    Ria


    I headed towards the police line with Seri to see what I could do to help them with the relief efforts.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± one of the district police asked.


    ¡°Veria Zakilo, licensed medical and field surgeon.¡± I showed him my holo-card with my credentials on it.


    He then deactivated the police line and let me step through and he let Seri through without question, guess the harpy jetsuit is identifying enough. I just shook my head as I walked into the area where some of the officers were gathered around a young man. He has a few IMR wounds on his body from what looks like glancing blows with a laser weapon.


    ¡°So, Instantaneous mass reduction wounds, laser weapon obviously, he a defector?¡± I asked while observing his quite frankly lucky escape from the foundry.


    Another police officer nodded at me.


    ¡°Not without almost becoming a strainer for his efforts, he explained the situation going on in there, its not pretty.¡± She commented while looking at the poor man.


    I nodded back before staunching the intermittent blood leakage.


    ¡°He¡¯ll need some lab skyn regrowth but he¡¯ll live.¡± I noted after using staunching compound.


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    The defector nodded deliriously and was sent to the back of an ambulance. I then really looked around the scene in front of me and I saw that there were a lot of pockmarks on the road, likely from plasma weapons.


    ¡°Has there been any activity from the foundry?¡± I asked after I finished getting my bearings.


    ¡°Beyond our defector? No¡± the police officer from earlier answered.


    I then just sighed until I heard a great clanking and rumbling through the ground that almost knocked me over. Looking in the direction of the rumbling I saw a huge AIndroid that had knuckles covered in spikes and huge feet that cracked the plascrete ground.


    ¡°Well, this might be a problem.¡± I noted as I opened my toolbox and slapped on my buzzsaw gauntlet revving up the tungsteel tipped blade.


    ¡°What happened to do no harm?¡± The police officer asked, looking at my weapon.


    ¡°I think we can agree that AIndroids aren¡¯t a people.'''' I noted with a wide grin.


    Then I started running parallel to the AIndroid looking for any obvious weak points in the machine¡¯s design. The only thing I could really come up with was the legs but getting there was going to be a problem as the knuckledrivers on its arms are going to be terrible for my health. Looking behind the AIndroid I saw it¡­some wires.


    ¡°Ok¡­what would Akari do¡­?¡± I pondered while running. ¡°Well, besides insulting Xeriko she¡¯d probably say ¡°try rolling under the legs.¡±


    And I did just that as I kicked on more speed and rolled under the AIndroid¡¯s ground rattling knuckledriver to pop back up behind the beast and I saw an external battery pack.


    ¡°I still wonder why these are built like that¡­its not like an exposed battery is doing them any favors.¡± I postulated.


    During my musings the AIndroid pivoted on its torso to face me again instead of keeping its back exposed.


    ¡°Yeah that makes more sense.¡± I pouted.


    It trundled along trying to attack me again and I just kept running, keeping it away from the police line.


    ¡°Maybe Akari was right, we definitely need to build a vehicle.¡± I groaned as I kept running.


    I then doubled back and slashed at a leg with my revving buzzsaw and made a deep gash into Knuckledriver¡¯s leg.


    ¡°Ok that still works, awesome.¡± I remarked as I made sweeping slashes before the bot started teetering and fell over where I severed the wires hooking the battery to it. I also retrieved the battery and stuffed it into my bag for Akari so she could tinker with it.


    Looking around to make sure no one was hurt I went back to the cordon so I could check for any more defectors or treat any plasma burns from deterring fire. I sighed as I walked back grumbling to myself.


    ¡°I¡¯m totally asking for hazard pay after all this nonsense.¡±

 Chapter 17: Foundries and Falchions

    Xeriko


    After waiting a few minutes Akari poofed back into my suit looking grim as she poofed back in with her antiquated General¡¯s attire.


    ¡°It¡¯s not looking good Xeriko¡­the AI in this foundry is a warmongering General who brokered relations with humans to work around the Union ban over AI controlled infrastructure¡­and its only getting worse with the General planning on creating a branch of AIndroids called War drones, so instead of getting slapdash bots with modified civilian equipment and plasma casters¡­we¡¯re looking at purpose built war machines with Heavy Ion weapons and other kinds of nasty weapons.¡± she explained looking down.


    I just looked down while clenching my fist. Of course things would escalate too quickly to get a handle on.


    ¡°The only upshot of this is, they still aren¡¯t aware of my projectile weapons so they should still be effective, even if I have to print more robust ammo for you and Ria, that¡¯s only a small hiccup to what could¡¯ve happened, like AIndroid¡¯s using titansteel or any other exotic and bulletproof frames that are antithetical to my weapons.¡± Akari continued.


    Taking a deep breath I nodded ¡°Small mercies I suppose.¡±


    While the situation wasn¡¯t great we still had a path forward which in my mind, was a much better situation that we¡¯re in now than we were a year ago.


    ¡°If the General also comes out with new armor I could also tinker more with your suit, the Grapnel is only the surface of what I could add to it.¡± She added trying to stay positive.


    ¡°Let¡¯s just get to the core and get out of here.¡± I noted before opening the door and peeking out.


    While looking around I didn¡¯t spot any AIndroids or other foundry workers. So I slunk out of the office to try and find a way to get to the bottom floor quietly. Akari switched her outfit to a ninja outfit that was a very dark blue instead of black, deciding not to ask. I kept moving while Akari kept a lookout on our surroundings.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ it appears the elevator to the AI server center is separated from the entire network, in fact the only data the foundry has on it is ¡°Manual Access Only¡± so its likely an old fashioned electrical elevator with no uplink.¡± Akari explained as we kept creeping deeper into the facility.


    ¡°Figures, can¡¯t hack an elevator that doesn¡¯t exist.¡± I grumbled as we kept going on ¡°What¡¯s next, it requires a number pad to access?¡±


    ¡°Uhh¡­¡±


    ¡°I was kidding!¡± I shouted before we picked up the pace towards what we thought was the elevator.


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    And sure enough there was a number pad next to the elevator we needed to access.


    ¡°Ok, so what you do is remove the cover, and shock the ribbon cable ports with the power supply cable and it should spoof the combination.¡± she explained.


    ¡°H-how do you know that?!¡± I asked imperiously.


    ¡°Uhh¡­bigger problem, think we have comp-¡± She started.


    With a mighty thump, a man covered in so much chrome he looked more machine than man landed and grinned at us. His arm and leg actuators spooled as he readjusted his stance.


    ¡°C-cyberpsycho¡­¡± Akari choked out with a start.


    ¡°Yep¡­even with the new limits we¡¯ve found with better therapies and technology, its still possible to go over the edge.¡± Xeriko added bitterly.


    ¡°Been hearin¡¯ a lotta talk about this new resistance movement¡­a single pale rider? Really? I¡¯ve seen better resistances on Omicron 3 with the bug war, but this, this is just pathetic, I¡¯ve killed 30 pale riders like they were nothing." The cyberpsycho ended his rant with a cackling laugh that also caused his face to twitch out.


    ¡°I think he¡¯s operating some speedware as well as his borg frame, likely some heavy¡­yep there it is.¡± Akari noted as he pulled out a rotary laser that likely belongs on a starship and should be made by a washing machine company.


    ¡°MOVE NOW!¡±


    Not needing any other invitation I poured on the speed as the ionized plasma seeks out my tender flesh and I dive behind a crate to find some cover.


    ¡°What is it with movie villains always firing behind the runner, you should always fire ahead of them¡­geez.¡± Akari grumbled as she was wearing her scientist attire.


    ¡°We can laugh at him later, now we need to get loud.¡± I commented, pulling out the killmonger rifle that Akari made for me.


    ¡°Remember, account for recoil, this gun uses more explosive compound than the Ravager, also its a heavier caliber.¡± She coaches as I catch my breath.


    ¡°Right right.¡± I acknowledge.


    ¡°And think of a cool samurai name, he¡¯s likely named meaning you can get a moniker after this.¡± She added, smiling a little.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t the back streets of Beacon city!¡± I shout into my helmet as I pour bullets down range at the cyberpsycho.


    But as I fired at him I noticed his reactions were way too quick for a normal person and grumbled because Akari was right.


    ¡°Definitely sandevistan.¡± She added helpfully¡­not.


    ¡°Quiet in the peanut gallery.¡± I added, trying my hardest to stay focused.


    As I kept firing I noticed his speedware was glitching out as he kept taking stumbling steps while he was still going faster than the neural limits.


    ¡°That¡¯s useful.¡± I smiled as I shifted my aim a little to lean into the stuttering.


    He then got kicked out of his speedware and he growled as he started leaking a lot of blood.


    ¡°Damn¡­that weapon¡­what even is that¡­?!¡± He shouted as he ditched his rotary laser and charged at me full tilt.


    I stood my ground as I then started firing straight at him as he got closer.


    ¡°Pretty dumb to charge at me in a straight line chrome dome!¡± I shouted back as I put my killmonger away and ran forward driving my tachi into his head as he almost got too close and his blood started pouring over the shop floor as I stood there panting with his skull pasted to the hilt of my sword.


    ¡°So¡­that happened.¡± Akari noted as she looked at the body of the psycho.


    ¡°Yeah¡­he wasn¡¯t all that smart either.¡± I noted with a strained chuckle.


    I dragged myself over to the elevator and was surprised when it opened for me without me needing to splice the keypad.


    ¡°Guess we¡¯re expected.¡± Akari said with a dry chuckle.


    ¡°Well better get to my table before the reception.¡± I chuckled back as I slumped to the floor in the elevator car.