《Some Warpunk in Cybercraft [Fanfiction] (Repost)》


 Chapter 1

    A semi-bad band was still playing a series of covers of mostly 00s songs. If only they knew any good ones.


    I sat off in a corner, watching my younger sister Marie and her newly minted husband George dance. She was a vision of loveliness, in her elegant white gown, though I''d never admit it. She was to me, forever and always, the little brat who went out of her way to make my life harder than it had to be. George and I were friends, once, but we lost touch after high school. He went off to some ritzy college in New England, and ended up in finance. I stayed here and went to trade school. Now we had almost nothing in common now, except my sister.


    But I knew he was a solid guy, that much hadn''t changed. He''d take good care of my sister. She''d be great for him too, she had a knack for keeping things organized. Also it would help him deal with the lost of his parents a few years ago. Some drunk fool had crashed into them. Wish I could have been there for him.


    Actually that''s how he re-met my sister she was off at a program in New York, he had gotten involved in order to help take his mind off of things and that was that.


    I had already had the obligatory Big Brother talk with him, I knew Dad had given him the third degree as well. We were all laughing about it at the Bachelor Party last night, between all the beer and the rounds of pool. It was a good time for sure and nobody got lost nor was anybody''s tiger stolen. Surprising, I know.


    While being off on my own might look like I was being a loner, I was really just resting my feet. I had danced up a storm earlier. First with Mom, and then Marie. After that all the bridesmaids wanted a turn seeing how well I could twirl them. Then every lady who came by herself ask for a turn. I wasn''t so crass as to deny them.


    Sadly though that was as far as it would ever go. In all my 30 years of life I''d never even had one date. Not for lack of trying either. No matter where I went or what I tried not one had ever agreed to go out one a first date. Not a dance or my prom ended without every girl wanting a dance but not a one wanted to actually turn it into a date.


    I wasn''t ugly, and I was in better shape than most guys. I had bought and paid for my own house, and owned my car. Ran my own business and had plenty of money coming in, so long as you didn''t want to live like the 1%. Hell, I even tried self help books and speed dating. What a bunch of hooey.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    The one time I broke down and asked the lady I was trying to ask out, all I got was, "You don''t look like you need anyone." What the hell did that mean?


    Not one woman even tired to take advantage of me for my money. It was like there was a big sign that said, not this one, hanging over my head.


    It was the one thing my Mom continued to give me shit over. She wanted grandbabies to spoil yesterday and hated that I seemed like I wasn''t going to provide them. Well, I''m sure Marie and George would handle that now. They''d said they be trying for one as fast as possible. Which was my sister''s way of saying they had already been going for it.


    The music changed and Dad and Mom were taking a spin around the floor. You might think it was my Mom that had got me into ballroom dance but nope that was my Dad. He used to say it was the best way to get a lady. I believed him and got pretty good at it. My Mom she''s the one that got me into cars. I kept fixing the odd one up here and there for fun these days.


    It was good to see that they still loved each other after 32 years together. I hoped to find someone, someday. I didn''t like living alone.


    Work was good, I had been running my own business as a Electrician for about two years now. Demand was high, but I had held off finding another qualified Electrician or even an apprentice to help out. Something about inviting people I didn''t know into something I built myself just didn''t sit right with me. Always busy was good, less time to think, and the money was great.


    Dad hadn''t agreed. He was a Lawyer and some part of him still wanted me to go to College and pick up something similar to his path. Sorry Dad, the law didn''t interest me in the slightest.


    That was one of the surprisingly good parts of last night he didn''t say a thing about it and we had actually talked. He was happy to see me succeed, even if it wasn''t what he had envisioned for me.


    I thought about hitting the dance floor again when I saw Marie and George getting ready to sneak off. It was part of the plan, Mom and Dad would handle getting everyone and everything where they needed to be later.


    Well, I figured I at least could see them on their way.


    I snuck out and was waited by their limo.


    As they finally made their way out, they caught sight of me and we all laughed.


    That was the great thing about my family, we loved to laugh. "A sense of humor will keep you sane." Mom said it all the time, I couldn''t help but to agree.


    "Have a good Honeymoon in Hawaii." I meant it too. For all the sibling bullshit, I loved my sister. And George and I might just be able to become buddies again.


    "Bro, you need to take better care of yourself. Find a date while we are gone okay." She couldn''t help it, she and mom were more alike than either would admit.


    "Take it easy, Ryan." George shook my hand.


    "You too, George."


    Then my eyes widened, as I stood there holding the limo door open.


    A sedan had jumped the curve and was coming right for us, but they had their backs to it.


    I pushed them both out of the way. I felt just the barest contact with the front bumper. Then I was somewhere else.

 Chapter 2

    I found myself in a sterile white room, extending further than I could see in all directions. There were no noticeable light sources but it was almost too bright.


    "Fuck, did I die?" Even to my own ears, my voice sounded panicked.


    Shit, who was going to take care of Ruger, my German Wolfhound buddy? He had just turned 2 last month. He was going to be so upset. I could already see him stressing out.


    Maybe my parents could take him in. He was well behaved, and had just finished an obedience course. So they should have no problem handling him.


    "No, you actually didn''t die. Stop wasting time with useless worrying." A cheerless voice intoned.


    I spun around, I was sure there hadn''t been anyone or anything there before.


    "What the...Who are you?" Perhaps not the best approach in an unknown situation, but what else was I going to ask.


    A faceless, something, sat at a simple black desk, with nothing on it. A glowing human shaped being in a dull gray business suit, the lack of a face didn''t stop me from feeling stared at.


    "Please sit, Mr. Crestwood. While I have more time than you could possibly conceive, you are on something of a clock." The thing gesture at a chair, that wasn''t there before it suggested sitting.


    Yeah, this was all kinds of screwed up. Yet, somehow I didn''t feel like I had a choice. So, yeah, I sat, while poking at my own skull to see if it had gone soft. I didn''t think I was insane, or hallucinating, but how would I know?


    "Please review the Offer Packet." Again it gestured at a piece of white paper that just appeared out of nowhere. The paper read: The undersigned will gain access to the SMC Store of Powers and Items, in exchange for employment.


    "Employment to do what? What kind of powers? Who are you people?" I was bordering on pissed off while still being half frightened out of my gourd.


    I kept asking for several minutes, and the only response I got back was, "Please Sign." It refused to answer what it meant that I didn''t die. It just sat there.


    In a surge of furious emotion I started ranting and yelling. No reaction. Despite that, once I had gotten started, it took a while to wind down. I felt a little better though.


    To tell the truth, I had no idea what to make of all this. I stared into the distance, risking blindness from the glare. My inner hamster wheel was churning, but neither of us saw another way out of this.


    Eventually, it sank in, nothing would change until I signed. But I still didn''t want to comply, I hated being forced into this. Whatever this was.


    I had thought a few times about attacking the Desk Thing, but each time some primal survival instinct screamed that would be the last thing I ever did.


    I tired hitting myself a few times. No reaction, and no change in the situation other than a sore hand. When I walked far enough away from the desk, it just appeared in front of me again. I tried running, same deal. When exhaustion set in, I went to sleep, sort of. However, long my fitful nap lasted, nothing had changed.


    "FUCK!"


    My mind was having a really hard time accepting this. Part of me thought I had died, whatever the Thing had said, and this was my afterlife. What had I done to possibly deserve this?If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    I sighed as a sense of fatalism set in. I didn''t see anything else to do, I signed the paper.


    "Please step through the door." The Desk Thing pointed to a green door that appeared behind me. Fine. Anything was better than this place. I opened the door and stepped through.


    The same type of room but in green. Another desk this time silver colored. Another Desk Thing this time wearing a black suit.


    Seems I was wrong.


    "What now?!" I yelled in frustration. I had thought I would be done with this. I wanted out of this place.


    "Please attach the Bonding Branch to your left wrist." It waved at a short and odd looking branch, with soft looking silver gray bark and nine purple leaves, jutting off of three smaller branchings.


    "How do I do that?" Not actually expecting an answer. Why should they start now?


    "Just place it near your skin, on your left wrist, it will take care of the rest." I gritted my teeth, but complied, certain I''d get trapped in the same fucking loop as last time if I didn''t. The branch wrapped around my arm of it''s own accord. Thousands of tiny green fibers burrowed into my skin, each intrusion was accompanied by pulsing waves of something I didn''t have the words for yet. I felt deeply distrubed.


    "What the hell?" I tried shaking it off my arm. Way too late for that. I only slightly calmed down when I realized it didn''t hurt, in fact it felt almost soothing.


    Several lines of golden letters, (Runes? Hieroglyphs?) appeared in my mind. They kept altering until finally...


    [ Welcome to the Great Tree System ]


    [ Please Think ''System'' to complete the bonding process ]


    Alright? ''System.''


    [ Name: Ryan Crestwood


    Class: N/A


    Race: Human (Terra 213,451)


    Body: 5 / Reflex: 4 / Tech: 5 / Intelligence: 3 / Cool: 3 / Will: 4 / Spirit: 6 (+2 Modifier)


    Company Points: 1000 / Tree Points: 0 ]


    [ Please note discrepancies may have occurred. System will be adjusted as User adapts to their new paradigm ]


    "What the fuck is this? A Game, I don''t play games. Why would you pick me for this?" I''m sure my face was burning red from anger. Was this some simulation? I''d heard they were working on things like this. But this was way too real.


    "Please step through the door." This Desk Thing pointing behind me. This time the door was red.


    "Fuck." I muttered. Some more twisted part of my mind noted I was saying that word too much, perhaps I should expand my vocabulary.


    Sure enough, a red room of the same type. This time the desk was gold. This Desk Thing was wearing a green suit.


    "What is going on, this time?" I was getting desperate to escape. The corners of my eyes kept twitching, a stress reaction, that I found terribly unpleasant.


    "Please select your starting package." It gestured toward two boxes on its desk, one was orange, one was blue. Other than the color, there was no discernable difference, that I could detect. I picked the blue one. It vanished.


    "Please step through the door." I almost told it to shove it, but I lacked the energy.


    Have you ever cried because you were that pissed off, or that emotionally drained? I was, and I felt no shame in it. I just wanted this to end.


    The door was silver this time, and so was the next room. The desk was green, and the Desk Thing had a Red Suit. What do all of the colors even mean?


    "Just tell me what is going on!?" I wasn''t doing so well, a well of nausea was building inside. My vision was starting to blur. My breathing was labored. Something was very wrong.


    "Please pick your Companion." Two Statues were on the desk. One a golden wolf. One a copper tree man? I picked the Golden Wolf. The statue vanished.


    "Please Step through the Door."


    A golden door followed by a golden room this time. The silver desk had a blue suited Desk Thing.


    "Please no more..." I was muttering. I''m fairly sure I was losing my mind, as well as my health.


    "Please Select your starting Factions. Roll the Wheels."


    That was different. Two gray Hexagonal Boxes on stands with crank handles. I tried spinning one. After it stopped, a ball fell out from a spout I hadn''t noticed before. The ball was blue with a golden W. The W had purple markings on it. It vanished.


    I spun the other box. The ball this time was blue with a silver S. The S had blue markings on it. It vanished.


    "Please wait while we set up your starting point."


    I sat in the chair it pointed at. Too drained to care, I barely had any sense of self left.


    I thought ''System''. Thinking that maybe I could get some answers there, but nothing had changed. I sat staring at that screen trying to understand it by sheer force of will. All in vain, I was too unfamiliar with the base logic of games.


    I zoned out. My mind drifted seeking something it might understand.


    "Please Step through the Door." The door was just made of white light.


    I hurriedly stepped through, hoping this was over.

 Chapter 3

    I was looking at some kind of well. The gentle susurrations of flowing water filled my ears, otherwise I might have never guessed the structure''s purpose.


    My eyes had never seen anything like it before. Made of roughly shaped stones with, seemingly random, whorls carved deeply into their surfaces. I think I had seen something with markings like that on the History Channel once, a long time ago. However, I couldn''t remember what it was about exactly. Some of the engravings reminded me of the moon, in several different phases.


    The truly bizarre part was the water itself. This water was spilling over the edge of the well, into a small shallow moat. The moat had a stream leading off from it, which glowed with a silvery blue light despite still being translucent.


    There was some kind of blue flame at the top of the well, but I got the sense it wasn''t really fire. This was a small blessing at the moment, because, judging by the visible sky it was nighttime. The soft light allowed me to see some of my surroundings, keeping me from stumbling around blind in this new environment.


    The Branch on my arm gave a rustle.


    [ Adjusting...]


    [ A Moon Well linked to an extradimensional water source. The water inside is clean and pure, while being infused with the essence of Elune. Slowly infusing mana into the environment. This will provide mana, both to yourself and your troops.


    While in its vicinity gain +10 Mana Regen.


    Drinking the water straight from the well is not advised. ]


    Yeeeah. I was totally going to take a drink from strange glowing water. Not.


    None of the information meant a thing to me. I didn''t even know where to start. The fact that a floating screen was presenting description to me, was challenging to unpack to begin with. I didn''t even question the screen, because that was hardly the strangest thing going on right now.


    But at least the structure looked like something you''d call a Moon Well. So that was an easy adjustment.


    "What is mana?" I asked to no one in particular. The word sounded familiar, but I couldn''t quite place it.


    [ Mana, also known as magical energy, is the Fuel of Life. ]


    "Magic? Really?" Despite everything, I had a hard time believing that. On the other hand, The Well was glowing and that fire did look pretty odd. But just because I didn''t know how it worked, didn''t make it magic. An odd chemical reaction perhaps.


    I thought back to the Rooms, shuddering, maybe it wasn''t so insane to think that magic might exist.


    Forcing my attention back to my surroundings, the stream the glowing water flowed into had a cobblestone path running parallel. Both lead down an obvious slope. So I was on a hill, or a mountain? Could be.


    I looked back up at the night sky, searching for something familiar. I could make out a few constellations. Hey, that looked very close to the sky from home, except there were a couple of extra lights I didn''t remember. Satellites maybe? I could also make out the glow of a City''s lights bouncing off the sky in one direction, must have been a big one. Maybe I could get home if I found this city, or at least answers to why I was brought here.


    Later, let''s put a pin in that.


    That helped me frame out the horizon though, which lead me to the thought that I might be in a valley. I was surrounded by mountains, insofar as I could tell in the darkness.


    I looked at the path, well when in doubt follow the trail. There were stones standing next to the path, about waist high also with whorls carved into them. These stones had a hole toward their tops filled with more of that blue flame. There was something sad, but also cheery about them. Bittersweet. Like they meant something more than I could understand. I checked over  the closest one, and slowly placed my hand next to the flame. I felt something, but it wasn''t warmth like from a normal flame. Huh.


    Wait. I knelt down and looked more closely at the grass, there were two types. One type was blue, which was just right around the Moon Well. The other type of grass was purple, the vast majority of the grass was this type. File that away under the growing pile of other shit that I didn''t understand.


    Walking along the path I must of passed a hundred of those stones, when I came to a pond. The water filling the pond still glowed with the silvery blue light. What caught my attention here though was the tree growing on an island in the center of the water. I had started seeing it''s outline on the way down, but didn''t think too much of it. Now that I was closer to it, I was shocked. First it was pretty big. Somewhere over 50ft tall, and it would take maybe three of me with arms fully extended to surround it. I noticed the bark was silver and the tri-pointed leaves were purple, just like the Branch I had embedded in my arm.


    "Is that where you come from?" I questioned the Branch. It twitched but nothing else happened. I guessed that was a maybe?


    I found a bridge, leading to the island, and thought it might be interest to see the big tree up close. The bridge was made out of purple wood also covered in swirls and whorls. The anchor posts had small holes in them that also had blue flames in them.


    As I crossed the Bridge I saw a giant face had been carved into the tree. The face somehow conveyed a sense of timelessness and wisdom.


    My Branch rustled,


    [ This is Meadran, descendant of the Great Trees. He has agreed to act as your Tree of Life.


    The Tree of Life is the heart of your outpost. If Meadran falls, you lose any chance of achieving the Company Goals.


    Trees of Life produce Wisps of various types. Wisps have many uses, including building and resource gathering. ]If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    The eyes of the Tree began to glow.


    "HELLO YOUNG ONE!" A booming yet gentle voice filled the Valley. It''s echoes vibrated for a long time.


    "Ahh!" I tried to backup but fell on my ass.


    What the fuck?


    "H-hello? Are you Mr. Meadran?" Well it would have been rude, not to return his greeting. I cringed at the thought that I was on my ass talking to a tree. A tree that had just punked me.


    "HO HO! I HAVE NOT GOTTEN TO DO THAT IN A LONG TIME." He had toned down the volume some, but as giant Tree Person, he had a massive amount of bass.


    A talking tree. A tree that can talk! That was pretty cool.


    "It was funny. I guess everyone where you are from knows about you?" I got back to my feet and brushed myself off.


    "YES. AT LEAST OF MY KIND. YOUNG ONE, I KNOW IT IS SUDDEN BUT TOUCH MY BARK, SO WE MIGHT BETTER INTERFACE." Huh? I kind of wanted to touch him anyway. A talking Tree!


    My hand already reaching for him froze as years of training kicked in. As an electrician, you don''t touch strange things without testing them first.


    The inner battle didn''t last long, I got a stronger sense of trustworthiness from Meadran than I had rarely gotten from any human I''d ever met.


    The bark was warm and gave off a current of the same kind of tingles as the blue flames. Was that Mana? Seemed like a safe bet that it was a related force at the very least.


    [ Adjusting...]


    [ Tree of Life Meadran is connected to the Great Tree Network.


    Options:


    Choose Class


    Raise Level


    Create Wisp ]


    ''Ah, better, now we can communicate like this, up to a distance of 50 miles.'' Now that it was in my head, his voice sounded kind of like my Old Gramps. It was bizarrely comforting. Gramps had been a skilled carpenter, so I had gotten along with him far better than I did my father.


    "That is much better, Thank You!" Maybe, I could start getting some answers. Below my calm exterior, I was frightened, pissed and confused in equal measure. I needed some kind of touchstone, a stabilizing force. Meadran seemed like he could be exactly that.


    ''You need not speak, Young One. With concentration your thoughts can reach me.'' I got a sense of amusement in his thoughts, that bubbled into the air around us.


    I sighed, trying to hold myself back. No, I couldn''t do it, I couldn''t hold back any longer. ''Mr. Meadran what is going on?'' I''m sure my frustration was carried over in my thoughts.


    ''Oh right, you were picked by { THEM }. They are always stingy with information, knowledge is power after all, and they can not bare to part with power cheaply.'' (This is going to be hard to describe, { } will denote Layered Words or Thoughts. You hear the word but multiple meanings are forced into the same space. Even this way of looking at it isn''t quite accurate. In this case the layered meanings are, Annoyance, Grief, Sorrow, Obligation, and faintly Hope. There won''t be too much of this, but it will contain important hints when it happens.)


    I wobbled this was like someone pushed me from every side, but in my head. ''Ouch.''


    ''Sorry, I forgot how the Elder Speech can affect the very young races. The Company''s agents are all like that. They just understand what they need to understand, just because they want to know something, and forget or can''t imagine that other species can''t do the same.'' He paused, I could feel a sense of loss in the air now. ''We, but mostly you, are here to Grow, Adapt and Propagate, in order to return Harmony to this Corrupted World.'' He was emphasizing those concepts as if they had a much deeper meaning, ''Mana and by extension Life must be spread and defended, so that the planet itself might Reawaken.'' A sense of sorrow from him, and disappointment.


    I could kind of see what he was talking about in my head, a verdant World full of massive trees and huge megafauna. I had the sense that it was a savage paradise, red of tooth and claw, but beautiful and majestic.


    ''So "Save the Planet" but for real?'' I tried to show him all the bullshit I had encountered in the past.


    He chuckled, that was a neat thing. A tree chuckled, in my head. ''Yes, exactly so. You have been given options for spreading Life, yes. But also you have been given options for war. I imagine the people of this world will not let you carry out your task peacefully.''


    ''War, but I''m an Electrician, I don''t know anything about war. I barely know anything about fighting.'' Panic, yeah that''s panic. I sat down. My mind noticed that the purple grass was very comfortable. Almost like a natural cushion. It also had a gentle mint-like scent.


    ''Fear not, Young One. We shall teach you.'' He projected peace at me, or at least I think that''s what he did. I started feeling better.


    [ You are not Alone. ]


    A vast forest existed within the greater context of reality, and for a brief moment I was a part of it. This forest was made up of all the versions of all the Greater Trees, in all the universes all at once. It was too much for my fragile human brain to remain connected to, but it had given me a moment of purpose.


    ''Now we have to get you a Class, and the rest of your Starting Package. Then you have to meet the other side of your forces.'' He seemed sad that these other forces were necessary.


    I accessed the menu by touching him again. ''Choose Class.''


    [ Class Options,


    Please note you may change your Class in certain circumstances.


    You may also Multiclass. This can be potent but it has draw backs. ]


    [ Druid of Balance


    +2 to Will


    +3 to Spirit


    A Druid of Balance keeps the natural world in order. Removing Corrupting Influences.


    Starting Spells: Moonfire, Blessing of Elune ]


    [ Druid of Renewal


    +1 to Will


    +4 to Spirit


    A Druid of renewal heals the land, and it''s creatures. Makes clean the polluted.


    Starting Spell: Regrowth, Blessing of Nordrassil ]


    [ Druid of Extremes


    +3 to Will


    +2 to Spirit


    A Druid of Extremes finds the Middle by adding pressure at the Ends. Often they become unstable themselves, while gaining great power.


    Starting Spells: Sunfire, Blessing of Terra ]


    ''So I''m going to be a Druid then? I mean I''ve heard the name, but I have no clue what it means.'' I felt like I was getting shoehorned again. A forced choice with limited information isn''t really a choice.


    ''To be a Druid is to seek Wisdom. Understanding not just knowing is the goal of a Druid. For example, you know I am a tree, but do you understand what it is to be a tree?'' I had activated his teaching mode. Again images of my Gramps teaching me to work with wood filled my mind. He used to say that understanding the grain of the wood was critical.


    Being a tree. Well, no, I couldn''t say I understood a tree''s perspective. How would I even start to understand what it was like to be rooted in place, to breath through leaves or the draw in  nutrients with my roots?


    ''Seeking that understanding is the primary difference between a Druid and say a Wizard, Arcanist or Mage. Knowing is the Wizard''s struggle and passion. For a Druid, it is not enough. You might never gain the breadth of knowledge of a Wizard but you will live and breathe what you do know.'' Yeah, that kind of went over my head. ''Well it is better experienced than explained. That why the many awakened beasts follow the path of the Druid, when they find their minds expanded. So learning by doing is the best.''


    I was sure he was poking fun at me. I was okay with that. It was a normal thing in an abnormal situation.


    I was already sitting down, so I took my time and thought about it. Rolling the bits and pieces around in my mind. So far, I got that I was here to heal the World, somehow. So it seemed best to be a Class that was structured around that concept. It also sounded like I would get some kind of troops to protect me. Yeah, and if I don''t like it I could change it. Maybe.


    ''Druid of Renewal.''


    [Adjusting...]


    Green energy rose from the Earth and sank into me. Everything burned, but in that good way, like after a great workout. Of course, that was a little messed up when it happens in your eyeballs, and other places that don''t have muscles. Odd and disturbing but not completely unpleasant. It kept going.


    [ You have gained +1 Will


    You have gained +4 Spirit


    You have gained the Ability: Mana Sense


    You have gained the Ability: See Ley Line


    You have gained the Ability: Shape Mana


    You have gained the Skill: Ritual at rank 1


    You have gained the Skill: Concentration at rank 1 ]


    ''HA HA, Welcome Ryan Crestwood, the newest Druid of Renewal.'' Meadran sent his joy at me, and our sense of connection strengthened.


    I passed out.

 Chapter 4

    Meadran spent the next few hours showing me how to cast spells. It was easier than you might think, he created the images and feelings of spellcraft directly it in my head. In fact, that made me consider why Meadran would known how to use mana well enough to teach me.


    ''Wait. Does that mean that you can cast spells too?'' It was obvious in hindsight, but the words just spilled out of my mouth.


    ''Yes, but I have to be in my other form. Let us pray it does not become needed.'' He had another form, that sounded awesome. Though from the feelings he sent my way, that form was for emergencies only.


    Casting was all about shaping mana into specific forms, and then projecting it by will towards your goal. Shaping Mana was somewhat like shaping play doh but with hands that only existed in your mind. Mana''s texture was springy, like a firm memory foam. It didn''t like to change shape so you had to convince it, often through sheer stubbornness. As you managed to get it to change, the effect compounded, which meant that spells started slow but finished fast. This led to the phenomenon the further along a casting you were the harder it became to stop.


    We spent most of this time casting Regrowth repeatedly. Meadran suggested that this spell should set the foundation to all my strategies going forward. Which was fine by me because Regrowth was fun to cast. I cast it on myself and on Meadran and on the grass all around us.


    My arm branch had shivered several times, each time it showed me a listing for the spell.


    [ Regrowth A minor healing spell that grows with the Caster


    May be Channeled for increase potency


    Also Cleanses minor pollutants, and poisons. ]


    The repeated prompts had been annoying, but the branch seemed to calm down after a few repetitions.


    The sensation of Regrowth being cast on me the Spell was like a rush of water flowing through me, it''s green glow traveling from the ground up. My nerve ending tingled with a slight buzzing, a rather pleasant feeling actually. Meadran said it helped him to deal with some of the pollutants in the air and soil. According to him, it was some of the worst he had ever encountered, that wasn''t purely demonic in origin.


    That threw me for a loop. Oh, great, so demons were a thing. I could have lived a thousand years without know that tidbit, and I would have felt no loss over the lack.


    Meadran''s statement was reinforced when Regrowth was cast on the grass, which then visibly grew. I could even feel some of the crud gunking up the plants in the soil vanish. The spell gave me a rudimentary connection to its target, and their "nervous" system. This would, Meadran assured me allow me to diagnose issues in my patients.


    Abilities could be used just by willing it, or even in some cases without any effort at all. Like Sense Mana, which allowed a rudimentary ability to both see and feel the energies of magic. It also made Shaping a lot easier. Meadran said that it wasn''t absolutely required to work with mana, but it saved a ton of frustration. Without it gathering more mana was an exercise in gathering water with a sieve, while wearing a blindfold.


    Thanks to my ability Ley Line Sight, I could see the faint muddy yellow Ley Line running across the valley. This freak me out at first, the line was visible through the ground which was giving me vertigo.


    Meadran explained that Ley Lines were part of the complex exchange of living energy and mana, as well as acting as the life blood of an awakened world. A concept he didn''t seem willing to cover yet.


    This Ley Line seemed weak and almost exhausted, but where it passed the water from the Moon Well or Meadran''s roots, it spark a bright golden color as if it was gaining strength. Meadran assured me that as life returned to the Valley, so too would the line gain strength.


    After I seemed to develop my mana shaping skills to be able to cast every time I tried, Meadran called a stop.


    ''Here are your starting items.'' The blue box, I had picked in the Desk Hell from before, popped into existence. I opened it to find, a set of blue cotton clothes and a heavier coat-like green robe with a voluminous hood. Meadran said both would act like minor armor, due to the mana woven into them. There was also got a rather nice looking staff. It was covered in vining patterns and stained a rich and lustrous shade of brown.


    [ Staff of Beginnings


    +1 Spirit


    +5% Mana Regen ]


    Apparently Spirit was the primary stat for Spellcasting and Rituals. Will helped to maintain concentration for Channeling or Long Rituals.


    Speaking of Rituals, they were like spells but took a lot longer and you used props, such as circles and items called foci to carry some of the burden and mana cost. You could generally only perform a ritual once per set amount of time, and only at certain points in time. Some could only be used in certain places and yet others could only be used by certain people. There was some crossover with religious practices here. Though Meadran didn''t think that adherence to any particular God was require for any of the rituals he knew.


    He taught me the Ritual of the Bright Moon, which could be performed any time after the sunset, and only once every day. A simple circle is drawn or scratched into the ground, with the moon in all of it''s phases drawn around the circle. You needed any mana infused object as a sacrifice. I used one of Meadran shed leaves. The ritualist and anyone within 25ft would gain eyesight that made the Night almost as Bright as Day.


    Wow, it really worked, I could see the whole valley now. Oh snap, what''s that? It looked like a brass colored pyramid with a blue Crystal floating over it.


    "What the hell is that!?" It looked alien in origin, though I was only going off of some half felt instinct. Aliens! I mean Magic was real, so, why wouldn''t there be Aliens.


    Meadran could sense my disturbed thoughts. I could felt him moving his awareness around the Valley. It felt like thousands of little gnats hit your skin all at once. ''Ah you can see the Khalai Nexus, now. Yes, you''ll need to go activate it after you get your companion. Sadly, like as with the Kaldorei, much will be restricted to you.'' Sometimes, I only understood a fraction of what he said, but I was getting used to feeling lost. I decided to wait and see.


    ''Here is your Companion.'' A giant golden wolf appeared. Giant, like I could almost ride him big. Golden like his fur was actually made of some type of golden metal. Wolf as in...awesome!


    ''Hello, Small Brother. I am called Lumiar.'' He chuffed a greeting while sitting. Correction, giant golden TALKING wolf! This day was really shaping up to be amazing. Magic and trees and wolves and aliens. It was a lot to take in, but I had to admit I was getting more excited by the minute. What other wonders would I see?Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Then my thought turn to Ruger, alone, probably wondering where I was. My heart sank, and I could felt the beginning of a deep depression stirring inside my mind.


    ''Worry not Young One. Your former companion will be well cared for.'' Meadran tried to ease my troubled heart.


    Lumiar added, ''He''s probably getting belly scratches and all the crunchy bones he can handle right about now, from beautiful Kaldorei Huntresses. I''m Jealous.'' Yeah, if I was a canine I''d be jealous too. For some reason, I couldn''t yet understand, I trusted these two to not lead me wrong. Not that I seemed to have other options right now.


    I offered Lumiar ear scritches, and he accepted.


    ''Well this isn''t so bad.'' His mind voice rumbled, ''You''ve obviously done this before. Nice. Still, I like the ladies, so don''t get any ideas.'' He huffed, with a canine grin. We all looked at each other and laughed, each in our own ways.


    Yeah, I guess this wasn''t so bad.


    Meadran sent me off to the Nexus, right around the time the Sun was starting to lighten up the sky. It took longer for my eyes to adjust to the new light levels, because of the Bright Moon ritual.


    The ambient mana levels had risen, and Meadran now had enough Mana stored for the next step. He had me queue up 15 Wisps, so that they would be ready when I got back. 5 of a golden variety, 5 silver and 5 blue ones. He said there would be even more types later, but it would be a while before we could get to them.


    Lumiar decided to stay and talk to Meadran, while I traveled to the opposite end of the Valley from where I started. To tell the truth, I was getting the impression that Lumiar didn''t really like me. At least, not in the way most canines seemed to, but maybe I was just imagining it. With so many things going on at the time, I filed my concerns away for later examination.


    The Pyramid was a lot taller than I had at first thought, a few hundred yards, maybe. That irregular Blue Crystal on the summit shone brightly in the early morning sun. I was a little worried it would attract attention.


    I hadn''t noticed until I gotten closer, but the Nexus was flanked by two large crystals encompassed by rotating brass colored rings, floating about 30 feet off the ground. The crystal seemed to glow on their own. My approach made me aware of yet another type of energy surrounding me. The crystals seemed to be the source of it. The energy wasn''t mana though there were some similarities. This energy felt lighter, more diffuse, but more active. Perhaps it could have been described as similar to the difference between a liquid and a gas. Mana being the liquid in this cobbled together analogy.


    The Branch on my arm twitched a couple of times but didn''t do anything else. No screen appeared. Hmm. That made me antsy.


    This whole area made me a little nervous. The zone around the Moon Well and Meadran was comfortable, alive and vibrant. Natural. This place felt more cold and empty, despite the more buzzing sensation of it''s energy. It felt all too... constructed. My senses warned that these buildings didn''t belong here.


    At the base of the elaborately styled Nexus, the path lead to a recessed area, that held the door. Two panels slid out of the way to reveal a mostly empty space inside. At its center a small floating crystal similar to ones outside but only the size of a basket ball. There was a large panel of transparent material bounded by a thick brass frame. It reminded me of a monitor, so maybe this was the control center?


    My mind quickly made the connection that I was suppose to touch the crystal. There didn''t seem to be anything else to interact with. I looked around again. Nothing. Again years of training argued against touching strange objects, but Meadran worked out to be a positive experience. "Fuck it." I placed my hand on top of the Crystal.


    [ Adjusting... ] My branch was trying to sync up with something, it''s shaking was subtle but distracting.


    ''En Taro Adun, Executor!'' A feminine voice entered my mind. ''This Outpost stands Ready.'' En Taro what now? Lost again, but I did grasp that this was an outpost. Whatever that meant.


    Also, I was starting to get worried that way too many things seemed to be able to speak in my head. I mean I didn''t think I would be embarrassed by anything going on in there, but why take chances?


    [ Khalai Nexus has been connect to the Great Tree Network


    Options:


    Choose Class


    Raise Level


    Create Probe ]


    Probes? The aliens had probes. I couldn''t help it, I started laughing at the absurdity of that realization.


    "Should I build Probes?" My voice vibrated with my chuckling amusement.


    ''It is not for me to dictate strategy to you, Executor.'' I was getting the impression the voice was like an AI, mostly cold and remote feeling responses.


    "What do I use to Build probes?"


    ''All Khalai construction is centered around minerals and vespene Gas. This Outpost has 500 Minerals Stored. Further resources must be harvested by Probes or converted from native resources. Probes need enough energy from Pylons to be activated but are autonomous after that.''


    I nodded, alright, this was making sense. Whereas Meadran''s folk were magical, these Khalai were technological. Even though I could barely grasp how crystals would be responsible for all of this. The Pylons, the AI mentioned were probably those large brass ringed crystal things outside. The probes needed them to activate, did that make them an energy generator?


    I found myself eager to find out. A new type of technology to play with fascinated me.


    I queued up two Probes. That used up 100 Minerals. Now we are cooking with gas. Heh. Well not yet, but we''d get there.


    A blue light hologram appeared of a somewhat round, almost fish like shape. Fish like because that''s what the fins reminded me of. I had nothing else to compare it to. The construction process finished pretty quick, just a few minutes. It had almost been like watching my old 3D printer work.


    The Probe was obviously a robot, with a single large blue eye like sensor. It could float, which was interesting, how did it do that? There were no noticeable signs of a propulsion system. The Probe made a noise that I could tell meant, "Ready." Though I had no clue why I could understand it. I wanted to take it apart to see how it worked. I actually started reaching for it, before I managed to restrain myself.


    "Okay Little Robo-Buddy, can you look around for these resources that we need to build things?"


    It beeped at me which I thought meant, "Sure thing!" and zoomed outside much faster than I would have thought. I repeated the command when the next Probe was finished. I had no clue if I should make more now or wait, but maybe I should try to satisfy my curiosity.


    "Outpost can I get schematics for the Probes?" That way, I wouldn''t have to take apart one of the Probes. Which for some reason, seemed like a cruel idea now.


    ''Placing on screen now Executor.'' The images I was looking over meant almost nothing to me, their methodology was too alien to my training. If I wanted to learn what made them tick I''d have to spend ages learning to decipher the Khalai approach to tech. So I was back to the disassembly option. I queued up three more Probes. When they were done, I started to reach towards them.


    NO! They were too cute, I couldn''t do it. With a sigh, I sent them off to help their friends.


    Then I asked the Outpost AI to show me any lessons on the History of the Khalai. I had to admit that was pretty epic stuff. They seemed like real badasses. I wondered if I could get some of them to help me out? I asked the AI who I had started calling Alina, if that was possible.


    ''Negative Executor, there are no Khalai within detectable range. We will be limited to robotic units only.'' Well the Khalai seemed to be excellent in the field of robotics, so that would be great.


    "What is the detectable range?"


    ''A five mile radius around the Pylons. Until construction of a Fleet Beacon is completed. Then we will have scanners capable of reaching out several hundred light years.'' She continued to explain how the Pylons worked. Void field disruptions created some kind of friction in the fabric of reality, then some form of harmonics was utilized to capture and convert the energy released. Yeah, that was the part that I sort of understood. The rest was way beyond my ability to process.


    I was a little bummed out by not being able to call on the aid of a squad of Khalai, a handful of those awesome warriors she had shown me could probably conquer half of my old planet before breakfast.


    One of the Probes returned, it beeped at me. "Found something useful." I followed it to a modest hole in the ground, it flew inside. I managed to squeeze through, the space thankfully opened up into a cave system. I didn''t want to go exploring just now, though I was tempted. I had always enjoyed visiting caves back home. Still, I needed some spelunking equipment before I started played at journey to the center of the earth.


    The Little Robot knew the way, so I followed. A couple of minutes later, we came across the rest of the Probes. They were zapping, what looked like a large Quartz formation, with plasma? Something like an arc welder maybe? No, the zaps were too sustained for that.


    I asked the Probe that led me here, "Are these the minerals we need?"


    It sounded out a longer series of Beeps, "No, but these materials can be converted at the Outpost."


    I nodded. "Alright, four of you harvest this up, maybe widen and improve the path to get to here between trips. One of you keep looking for the gas we need or something we can convert into it."


    Yeah, this was really starting to be understandable. I was digging it. Haha!


    I decided to head back to Meadran and Lumiar and check out what the Wisps could do.

 Chapter 5

    I had gotten swept up by all of this. I wasn''t putting much though into my actions because, it was easy to lose track of just what was going on. So many new and fascinating things had been presented to me. Magic was real, and I could now make little Robo-Buddies! Very exciting.


    It almost made me wish I had played whatever games they were from.


    Amazing as all of these things were, none of it changed the fact that I had been at the very at least stolen from home. Maybe I had even died, and this was all some twisted version of an afterlife. Or possibly, it was all a fever dream while I was in a coma.


    Yeah, I remembered what the Desk Thing stated. That I hadn''t died, but how could I know that was the truth?


    Then there was the constant worrying about people I''d left behind, and the things I had left undone. What was my family doing? Was my Sister okay? Was George? Sure, Lumiar said Ruger was being taken care of, but how would I know that? Even if he was being properly cared for, I still missed him. What would happen to my business and my house? What about all my customers?


    I was on the verge of tears, but I choked them back, that was no way for a grown man to behave. I had to get a hold of myself. The only thing left for me to control right now was myself, so I tried to hold it all together.


    I started gulping air rapidly, uncontrollably. What was this? Some kind of panic attack? I forced my mouth closed and gritted my teeth. I bore down on my breathing and tried to steady its rythym, once I had begun to calm down I tried taking long deep breaths. My diaphragm muscles kept spasming. I started getting dizzy, light headed.


    I did the best I could to cast Regrowth, thinking maybe it would help. Perhaps the worse Regrowth I had cast to date washed over me. My breathing slowed and my head seemed to clear.


    Shaking myself off, I chastised myself. Yeah, this behavior wouldn''t do. Whatever any of this meant, whatever was going on, I had to face it on my feet, and with a rational mind.


    I had to be more like those Khalai Alina had shown me, no fear, no hesitation. What was it they said, "My Life for Aiur." Awesome, complete dedication to getting the job done. If I wanted to take control of my situation again, that''s the attitude I had to cultivate.


    Of course, they had something to believe in. Something to fight for. What did I have?


    I''d like to think Meadran, Lumiar and I were getting along pretty well. I could also see the theoretical importance of cleaning up a World. To be fair, I lacked any connection to this world, and its people. That should be one of the first things I changed. Was that going to be enough? It would have to be, at least for now. I''d make it work, I''d always managed to find a way to fix things before.


    I could do this. I started walking again.


    The air was even thicker with Mana by the time I got back to the Tree of Life.


    Lumiar was resting with his head on his paws, eyes closed. His breathing was soft and untroubled. I found myself jealous of his canine sensibilities. To them their was no reason to worry about the future.


    There were little balls of light dancing through the air. The patterns they forms were complex, even appearing random at first. Yet continued observation revealed an organized system. Mesmerizing. I shook my head in an attempt to clear it. I was only half successful.


    ''Young One, I trust all went well with the Nexus?'' I explained what I found there. ''Ah good, we shouldn''t need to cross purposes. It is time to teach you about Wisps.''


    A long story made short, the Wisps were kind of like the Kaldorei version of a Probe. They were Mana formed with purpose, or maybe even cleansed spirits of departed ones. The Kaldorei themselves had never reached any kind of consensus on the matter. They seemed whimsical, almost childlike. Yet they had no problem performing repetitive tasks, with consistent results. They seemed friendly, but had no problem leading enemies to their deaths. They could and would fight for their forests.


    The Golden Wisps were for growing trees and harvesting wood. Four of them could combine together to form a tree. A Golden wisp could form a bond with a tree over time to slowly but safely harvest wood from it. The tree even benefited from this by growing larger and faster than it would have otherwise. Once there was harvested lumber the Wisps could build Kaldorei structures and buildings, as if by instinct. Later they could be trained to build other types of buildings.


    Sometimes the Trees they formed would become Treants or Tree People, but it was rare maybe a 1 in a thousand chance of it happening. Later as our abilities improved, they would gain the power to turn trees into Treants or "wake them up" as Meadran put it.


    The Silver Wisps would work with stone and could entangle, with a kind of ethereal root system, already established mines for Gold and Other Metals. I could see some synergy there with the Probes, the Probes could find and build a mine, and the Wisps could wrap it up. While slower than conventional mining, it was far more ecologically sound. Elder versions of these Wisps could even slowly regrow metals, though no one understood how they did it.


    Silver Wisps could build infrastructure like cobblestone paths, the stone lights and even gateway frames. Later, they would be able to build certain important command structures.


    Ten silver Wisps could combine into a new Moon Well, to spread Mana and water. Magical Irrigation, what a boon that would be for farming


    Five could combine into a kind of moving statue. While they were rooted in place, they could throw minor Mana Bolts at things. So a defensive structure then? That could be useful. Also, other Wisps could bond with the Statues to change their effects and make them stronger.


    Blue Wisps existed to spread Mana. They could do this slowly by just dancing in an area, or rapidly by exploding. The explosions were quite potent for such a small thing. That could be a useful tool for defense as well.


    Five Blue Wisps could combine into an Elder Wisp. These were more focused. They could travel and leave their forests. Best of all they could go unnoticed for as long as was needed. Only a potent Mage or Druid could sense an Elder Wisp, if it didn''t want to be found.


    That lead me to a decision that these would be some of my first backup troops, as I explored the World. Something I was rapidly becoming more eager to do. If I could have a higher degree of safety, all the better.


    I asked Meadran if he could direct things while I explored, after all, it would be ridiculous to waste that time with production sitting idle. ''I can spawn Wisps on my own every so often, but nowhere near as fast as under your direction. Of Course, I can order the Wisps to build things, and if you give permission I can even order the Probes and the Nexus.'' Yeah, that was probably a good idea.


    I had a burning itch to leave soon to find out more about where I was. To fully understand the scope of the task before me.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    ''Nexus can you read me?'' Connecting through the Psifield generated by the pylons was a simple act of will. It was almost too easy.


    ''Executor. Awaiting Orders.'' Feeling the psychic voice of Alina through the Psifield was interesting. Everything about her seemed less cold and mechanical, when filtered through that lens.


    ''Add Meadran to the Command of Nexus resources.'' I tried to emulate the steady voice of the leaders I had witnessed, in the history of the Khalai. Fake it until you make it, right?


    ''Acknowledged! Welcome Commander Meadran.''


    "HO HO!" Meadran rumbled out loud. He seemed greatly amused by the oddities of the situation.


    "Beep, Beep." One of the Probes had floated up while I was talking with Meadran. "What was that?" I asked. It repeated its beeps, "Found Hydrocarbon Source. Show?"


    "Lead the way, Little Buddy." Well, maybe I''d have to delay my trip for a little while yet.


    Turned out that the Probe had found oil. At least I think that''s what it was, it was oozing out of the ground like black ichor out of a wound.


    "Okay, what now?" I had no clue how to proceed. Sure, I knew oil was valuable, but how did we utilize it?


    The beeps this time translated to, "Build Assimilator. Works Automatically. Convert Hydrocarbon into Vespene." So you don''t have to babysit it? That''s good.


    ''Executor, an air vehicle has been detected within sensor range.'' Alina''s psychic voice cut into my previous musings. Could this be a good thing? No, I doubted that possibility. It was most likely some government or military agents coming to investigate strange activity on their land. Any meeting with such people likely wouldn''t go well.


    To say I distrusted any form of authority, would be accurate. History revealed that the worst enemy people face was usually their own leadership.


    ''Options? Defenses?'' Damn, I hadn''t even made one of the Wisp''s Statues yet. Nor had I combined the blue Wisps into an Elder Wisp yet. Damned stupid of me.


    ''Meadran, let''s get a statue up to defend you. Also get some Elder Wisps going, queue up more of the blue and silver Wisps.'' Shit, I got caught with my pants down. Let''s hope it wasn''t too late.


    ''Of Course, Young One.'' He was calm, likely he knew something I didn''t.


    ''Executor, construction of a Forge will allow construction of the Photon Cannon, a potent defensive structure. However, we would need more Vespene gas to begin the process.'' Alina chimed in. That sounded like just what we needed.


    ''Have a Probe build an Assimilator... '' The Probe beside me, zapped the air over the oil seep. A lightless void surrounded by blue energy appeared. I was just going to assume that will turn into an Assimilator. My face was probably as expressionless as my heart was empty. I felt foolish for not getting started on infrastructure sooner. I had gotten too absorbed in the wonderous nature of my new surroundings.


    ''Ooookay, once we get enough gas to build a Forge, set it up right by the Nexus. Then build a Photon Cannon at the best angle to cover the air above the Outpost.''


    ''By your command.'' Wait, that sounded like...nah, no time to worry about that. My paranoia at AI running rampant could wait until we were safe.


    I didn''t have an attack spell. The Blessing of Nordrassil increased my ability to heal, which was no help here. According to Meadran, I could throw raw or barely shaped mana and it would do a bit of damage, I supposed that would have to be better than nothing. Once I got to whatever passed for civilization around here, I''d have to arm up as best I could.


    About that time, I became aware of a boxy looking transport vehicle hovering over the Valley. It was black and grey, with an orange stripe and the words, "Kang Tao". Sounded Chinese, was I in China? No, of course I wasn''t. It wouldn''t be written in English characters, or at least, it was much less likely. I had never heard of Kang Tao but I was going to guess it was a company not a government. Which wasn''t a better scenario in my opinion. Corporations were a menace in my world, I had no reason to believe they would be different here.


    I had no fucking clue how it was flying up there, those thrusters I saw didn''t look like they''d be able to generate enough lift. But I could sure hear them though. So maybe they were outputting enough thrust, by just dumping a lot more power. Seemed inefficient. That and a lack of an aerodynamic design, they were wasting a lot of fuel. But if it worked, who was I to argue with success, when we were talking about a FUCKING FLYING CAR!


    Awesome, I wanted one! I wanted it now! I wanted to take it apart and make it better. I was laughing, why was I laughing? My sanity was in question, but I was hardly surprised by my own reaction. I loved cars, and enjoyed working on them.


    Well, I guess I''d found an additional goal. It still wasn''t much, but it was another thread to tie it all together.


    By this time I''d noticed that the air vehicle was moving slowly, back and forth. As if it was searching. Nothing in its motions suggested it had found anything out of the ordinary.


    ''Meadran, can they not see us?'' I mean giant tree with bright purple leaves, and a huge brass pyramid with a massive bright blue crystal on top. All of that screamed, "Notice me." They''d have to be blind not to have found us by now. Something else must be going on.


    ''Ah, The Company must have surrounded the valley with a Veil. A type of stealth magic. However, experience tells me, it either won''t last, or it will leak some of the energies we are using. Maybe both options will prove to be true.'' He seemed a little embarrassed that he hadn''t thought about the possibility sooner.


    ''So they really can''t see us? That''s crazy. I guess we should ignore them for now?'' Though it was almost impossible to ignore the loud  metal box overhead. It''s noise was starting to grate on my ears. At least it would give us more time to prepare.


    A larger blue Wisp came to hover near me, just about the time the Assimilator was done. The structure had started working. I could easily feel its energies moving, but I couldn''t hear anything from inside it. Wait, there was a very faint hissing noise. One that made me a little uncomfortable. I couldn''t have told you why I was nervous, only that the sound made my skin crawl.


    The what I presumed was an Elder Wisp, slowly circled me. I thought it was trying to guard me. Good. It certainly felt more focus and dependable than it''s kin.


    The Probe that had started the Assembler ran off, probably to start the Forge. It hadn''t been very long still we had first seen the intruding vehicle, even though it felt like an eternity had passed. This meant that building the Forge shouldn''t take very long.


    I had seen in the videos Alina had shown me, that Probes can use their zappers to fight. It wasn''t much of a weapon in the struggles the Khalai had been involved in, but maybe here it would be more devastating. If fact having seen them core through solid rock in seconds lead me to believe that them would be quite the little powerhouses. I had Alina queue up five more Probes. It nothing else, they could help hold off any trouble until we could get some larger weapons online.


    I''d started making my way back to Meadran. I was getting a good workout with all this hiking up and down this Valley.


    ''The Statue of the Keeper is ready. It should a little more security.'' He had placed the Statue just across the pond and next to the bridge entrance. It was at least twice as large as me, maybe a bit more. It looked like a Centaur, but the animal parts were less like a horse and more like a deer. The torso was heavily muscled and the head was narrow with long pointed ears, like an elf with deer like antlers. I thought it reminded me of an elf but the ears were just crazy long, so perhaps it was something else altogether.


    The Kaldorei were some kind of elf-like people? While interesting it was of no immediate help, so file that away for later.


    The Statue radiated a stable, solid strength and a radiated a soft blue glow. It actually bowed its head to me, very slowly. I returned the gesture, it would''ve been rude not to. For some reason, I wasn''t in the slightest shocked by a moving statue at the point.


    The flying vehicle seemed to give up and took off to the west.


    Oh, thank goodness. Suddenly, I was exhausted. The adrenaline had run out, and I needed to rest, but I needed to set up more buildings plans first.


    I combined four golden Wisps into a tree, this one had brown bark but golden yellow leaves. The last  of our currently active golden Wisps started rotating around the new tree, it was leaving sparkling trails of mana behind it as it did. After just a few seconds, I could almost see the tree growing. I threw a Regrowth on it and another on the soil below it, thinking that anything might help and it certainly wouldn''t hurt.


    Another five silver Wisps had been produced, I sent them to make a new Statue on the opposite side of the pond from the current one. I had seen that while the main North-South path didn''t connect back there, A path led up into the western mountains. So I had them build right where that path ended by the pond. A silent sentry to guard Meadran''s back.


    I''d have to explore that path in a little while, I was betting that it led out of the Valley. The wider world awaited me, but I was too exhausted to venture out of safety right now.


    Five more blue Wisps became a second Elder Wisp. Which began to circle me as well.


    I queued up a mix of Wisps types to be formed for later, asked Meadran to handle making more when they were done, and to setup some more defense at key points.


    My yawn almost staggered me, as it was I wobbled. My eyes were burning slightly and kept closing on their own.


    I laid down next to Lumiar, who was still napping, on the soft purple grass. It''s faint minty scent was calming. It was also far softer than grass had any right to be. Nice.


    Sleep crept up, and took its due.

 Chapter 6

    I gradually woke up, to the "sounds" of Meadran and Lumiar talking. Their minds were bussing back and forth. I couldn''t quite make out what they were discussing, but meadran seemed upset at Lumiar for some reason. The golden wolf''s voice was calm and gentle, as if talking to a child.


    My eyes slowly pried themselves open, only to be greeted with a deep darkness. Night had fallen while I slept. I wasted no time performing the Ritual of the Bright Moon. It only took a few minutes, though I was worried about being able to draw the circle properly. My unsteady hands nearly fumbled one of Meadran leaves that I kept in my pocket just for this purpose. It was stressful but I finally succeeded, and being able to see clearly was worth it.


    Lumi''s tail started wagging as he noticed me finishing up. Of course, he had been able to see me the whole time but did me the courtesy of not messing with me while I was nearly blind. Still I could help but feel that his wagging tail was a lie, or an empty gesture. As if he wasn''t happy to see me at all. No, there was more, I got the sense he didn''t want to deal with me, if he could avoid it.


    "Everything Alright? You two seem upset." Lumi''s ears flicked. A nervous twitch. However, I wasn''t going to push the issue with one of my only potential allies right now.


    ''Yes, Young One. We have been setting things up. I hope you approve.'' Meadran''s mind felt full of vigor, like he had just had his fill of coffee. Though I caught an undertone of something like anger or perhaps disappointment. I couldn''t help but be curious, what would be like coffee to a Tree? A special kind of water, or a particularly filtered form of light? No it had to be the increased Mana levels in the air, right?


    ''Small Brother, the flying metal fish have been quite busy.'' He gestured with his head, and I turned towards the south bank of the pond by where the path curves around to get to the bridge from the Moon Well. Now there was a structure there. It had a circular brass platform for its base and hovering over that platform was a brass sphere slightly larger than me. A large blue Crystal shaped like a lens was scanning around the area but it paid extra attention to the sky. Even further south right next to the Moon Well, I saw a new Pylon floating. I turned back to look once more at the new Structure.


    My embedded arm Branch, my Tree Connection... My Branch Tree Connection or BTC twitched. I wondered if I would ever get used to that sensation. While it wasn''t unpleasant, it was almost impossible to ignore.


    [ Photon Cannon


    Defensive Structure


    Armor: 20


    Shield: 10


    Damage: 15


    A Psi Powered Weapon Platform. It can detect Stealthed Units. ]


    Nice. A Tough Cannon that can find hidden targets? That''s the dream right there. I think I had like 1 armor... Oh right I could find out.


    ''System''


    [ Name: Ryan Crestwood


    Class: Druid of Renewal


    Level: 1 / XP: 300


    Race: Human (Terra 213,451)


    Stats - Body: 5 / Reflex: 4 / Tech: 5 / Intelligence: 3 / Cool: 3 / Will: 5 / Spirit: 11 (+3 Modifier)


    Abilities - Sense Mana / Ley Line Sight / Shape Mana


    Skills - Rituals: 2 / Concentration: 1


    Spells - Regrowth: 1 / Blessing of Nordrassil: 1


    Free Points: 0 / Company Points: 1000 / Tree Points: 13


    Weapon: Staff of Beginning - Damage 1 / +1 Spirit / +5% Mana Regen


    Armor: Starting Cotton Clothes - Armor 1, Stating Druid''s Robe - Armor 1 ]


    Alright, I had 2 armor, so yeah the Photon Cannon is a hell of a lot tougher than me. And could blow me into smithereens. I hoped it would work, against whatever''s out there.


    ''Meadran, do you know anything about these points?'' It was silly of me to not have asked about them earlier. These game like elements were foreign to me. Thought they weren''t too hard to make guesses about, as long as I took the time to examine them. However, I was certain that assumptions could get me killed.


    ''Ah yes. The Free Points are given when you level, and as a reward for some rare quests. They are used to increase your Stats. The Company Points are given as Quest rewards and for defeating certain Enemies. You can spend them in the Company Shop, once we obtain one. They are use to gain Powers and Items. It might be a while before we can build the store though. Tree Points are given when we plant trees, you can spend them, with me, to get rare seeds. Sometimes the seeds are of rare plant or trees perhaps even Elder Treants like myself.''


    Oh neat, definitely something to check out. I''d have to earn a ton of those, especially the Company points. Powers sound useful.


    I examined the Statue of the Keeper across the bridge. My BTC twitched.


    [ Statue of the Keeper


    Defensive Structure


    Armor: 15


    Damage: 5 Ranged, 10 Melee


    A Statue built to honor Cenarius. Can detect stealthed Units. Becomes Stealthed in woodlands. ]


    Not as good as the Photon Cannon, but easier to construct. Though maybe, being stealthed in woodlands makes it better? At least here in the Valley. Anyone would have a harder time killing what they couldn''t see. I''d have to think about that more.


    My eyes searched around and saw two new trees near the one we had grown before my nap. One looked somewhat like Meadran, have the same coloration, but obviously wasn''t a treant. The other new tree had red leaves and yellow gold bark. Golden Wisps had bonded with both already, dancing their lazy circles around the trunks of the trees. How many more until this area becomes a "Woodland"? Probably many more than I would have assumed.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    Meadran told me he had some of the new Probes excavate a Mine and had already had some silver Wisps entangle it. That meant we had lumber and ore rolling it. Also, some new minerals like that first Quartz deposit had been found and a natural gas pocket was located deep in the caves, the Probes were taking care of those.


    Everything seemed to be well in hand, so there wasn''t much for me to do here right now. Until the Mana Density was greater, and we found the right seeds, we couldn''t build most of the Kaldorei Buildings. So Meadran would make another Moon Well as soon as we had enough Silver Wisps.


    In the Nexus Alina could direct the Forge to upgrade the Armor, Shields and Weapons of Khalai Units and Buildings. That sounded great. Then at her suggestion, we queued up a Cybernetics Core.


    ''You must construct additional Pylons.'' Alina intoned.


    We set a couple up to the west of Meadran''s island and placed another Photon Cannon over there as well. That''s the direction the flying car went and the direction that I could see a city''s lights.


    I gathered up a couple of Probes to aid the two Elder Wisps in guarding me.


    With these issues out of the way, I thought it was high time to go see what was out there.


    At the end of the western path up into the Mountains, was a cave. Its opening was framed by a purple wooden archway, seeming vaguely Japanese in shape but with Celtic-like knotwork carved into it. I could feel some energy in the wood, but it was faint. Or trying to hide maybe? Was this part of the Veil Meadran had mentioned?


    My two Elder Wisps checked it out, while the two Probes stayed near me. They dived into the cave first. The logic there was they wouldn''t be seen, or at least they shouldn''t be seen. They came back and flew in a circle, that meant good or all clear. We had worked out some simple signals before I marched up here.


    As we walking through the cave, I took note of a few branches. There might be minerals or metals down each of them, but now was not the time. It was nice that the Bright Moon ritual work in these conditions. Otherwise the Probes would have had to guild me.


    We came out into a nearly barren wasteland. It looked very similar to the setting for the Mad Max films. Pathetic, half-dead looking plants and trees, almost no biodiversity. It broke my heart to see it. The plants were at least something, but ultimately, it was mostly just sand and rock out here. The air was dry, and since it was night cold. A true desert.


    I could make out some roads and quite a few scattered buildings in the area, the moonlight gave everything and eerie cast. But off in the distance behind another set of mountains was the source of all that light, I had seen the day before, and there was a ton of it. A large city of some description was waiting for me.


    Scanning around there was a canyon with a torn up bridge, roughly a mile or two away. I wondered how I''d get across that.


    ''Meadran, checking in. It''s so lifeless out here. It feels more like the ruins of a civilization, than something I might be able to save.'' I was sure he felt my sadness. Though I was thrown off by how much the sights bothered me.


    ''Worry not, Young One, we can fix it.'' He sent hope.


    "Well nothing to do, but to start walking." I had begun to carefully pick my way down the mountain. While there was no path, it wasn''t as steep on this side. But hey, my staff came in really handy as a walking stick.


    I got to the bridge, and the wide canyon gaped before me. The shadows kept the secrets of its depths hidden from my sight, regardless of my rituals. There was a northwest to southeast road in very poor repair running alongside that canyon. I found a chuck of shattered asphalt and threw it into the canyon, listening for the clunk. It took over a minute before I heard the sound I was waiting for.  Yeah that canyon was deeper than I thought. I had the thought that if we could get down there, it''d be a good place to hide a little outpost. In fact, I glanced over at one of the Probes.


    "Can you get down there, and then get back up?" I really hoped it could.


    It beeped, "Yes. Why?" I was a little startled by its curiosity.


    "Can you zap in a Pylon down there?" If we could get some infrastructure rolling down there, we''d be much more difficult to detect.


    "Yes."


    "Alright, how about a Pylon and a Photon Cannon?"


    "No Problem."


    "Do it, please."


    Fifteen minutes later, the Robo-Buddy returned. I could see the shimmering of the warp in progressing down below.


    Down on the flatter level of the land, it was much harder to see far away. It didn''t help that it was a hilly area. The continuing state of the plant life was terrible. This could just be the normal state of things her, though my mind didn''t want to accept that.


    ''Hey Meadran, can you get a sense of what I''m seeing?'' Maybe he could shed some light of this environment.


    ''Sorry Young One, it will be some time before we have that level of rapport.'' It was harder to get a sense of what he was feeling from here.


    ''No Worries.''


    Should I try to go around, or can we build a...no, I doubt we could manage a decent bridge right now. At least not safely. I started walking to the southeast following the broken road.


    Twenty or so miles later, we found an east-west multilane road in a much better state of repair. The Canyon had petered out about a mile back. But I had decided to keep following the trail, I figured it had to go somewhere, and boy, was I right. The new road was super busy even at this hour. Cars were zipping along, some at crazy speeds, but I didn''t recognize a damn one of them. Where was I? When was I, might be the better question, judging by the nature of the vehicles.


    I had made exceptional time because I kept casting Regrowth on myself, now and then. This kept my stamina up and I was able to walk at a very fast pace. Perhaps double my old walking speed, maybe even more. I shrugged, and chalked it up to the fun of magic.


    The only reason I had any real clue as to how far we had traveled, was because of the Probes. Their internal sensors included telemetry readings. I had them give me reports every few miles.


    I could see what was likely a small town out to the east, but nah, let''s head towards the larger City.


    I walked well off to the side of the road, because people here drove like maniacs. I had to jump out of the way a few times to avoid being hit and had witnessed at least two wrecks. I threw some casts of Regrowth in there but didn''t stop to see what happened. I had a bad feeling about all this.


    I also kept hearing gun shots in the distance, and a lot of them. I sure hoped my Probes can protect me, because I was quickly put on edge. Not having any protection from gunfire was freaking me out.


    As I traveled further west, I passed several buildings but most of them seemed abandoned, dilapidated. They few with people gave me bad vibe, and the people themselves were disheveled, poor, desperate. Interesting note, some of the people had metallic limbs, an even smaller number had other parts made out of metal. Cybernetics? Still, just like everything else out here they were in terrible shape.


    I was certain that the Probes were the only reason that no one approached me. A few times they pointed guns in our direction, but it didn''t come to anything, thankfully.


    One place we walked by was called the Sunshine Motel, but the folks standing around the building looked like mercs or maybe private security. A far cut above anyone I had seen to date, but they gave me the creeps. I didn''t think it would be wise to interact with they, and thankfully they didn''t seem to be interested in me.


    I was getting the idea that nowhere was safe.


    I was able to see brighter columns in the field of light coming off of the distant city, then I could make out the tops of buildings. My impression was that they were really tall. My bad feeling was rapidly becoming full blown dread. Everything was wrong, off, twisted. An atmosphere of decay, tainted this place. No wonder I was sent. I still wasn''t sure I could do anything to help. Even the gradually lightening sky, could restore my spirits.


    Then, I came to The Sunset Motel. Right at Sunrise, in fact. Heh.


    It was just as bad as everything else, but at least there was a Bar. Up stairs, strange. Sure, I could see some mess up looking people hanging around, but they lacked the same sense of active hostility.


    I paused to examine, discretely, some of the cars. So familiar, but still not quite right. They were kind of cool, even the more obvious junkers. Later, I''d have to figure out a way to get my hands on some of these.


    I moseyed into the Bar. The worst dive bar I had ever been to before, was a 5 star experience next to this place. Filthy, about to fall down, and full of thugs.


    A huge guy was behind the counter, he tsked at me. "Hey Choom, leave your little Drones outside, eh."

 Chapter 7

    I had a theory brewing in the back of my head, that this world was in some kind of post-post apocalyptic situation. The result of some Great War? Perhaps Sudden Nuclear sneak attack? Chemical Attacks? Bioweapon gone wrong? As I stared at the few patrons of the questionable establishment, the idea cemented in my brain that something was deeply wrong with this place. The only way most of what I had seen made any sense to me, was if I was looking at the aftermath of some horrible event.


    Nothing and no one I saw in that Bar, made any difference in those opinions.


    I decided that it wasn''t worth fighting the Bartender over the Probes, so I decided to send them outside. "Wait in the parking lot. If anyone messes with you, put them down." I said, with an attempt at a menacing tone. They went off to wander around outside. Of course, I wasn''t an idiot, the Elder Wisps were still right by my side. Nobody seemed to notice them, which was a mixed bag. I had the impression that looking dangerous, was almost as important as actually being dangerous. I was worry I wasn''t ready to deal with these people yet, but I needed answers, and had to start interacting with folks somewhere.


    Might as well start here.


    That handled I scanned the people here a little closer. Everyone in here had some form of visible augments. Cybernetics, just like the other folks I had seen on my journey here. Weird lines on the faces, some people had odd circles of metal, looked sort of like audio jack ports or in some cases USB ports. Why?


    I stepped over to the counter and sat on one of the ratty stools. The Bartender had kept his eye on me the whole way. Something told me, he didn''t trust me.


    "Excuse me, I seem to be lost? Been out in the wastes a while, and have gotten all turned around." Going for firm but non-offensive. The air get tense, I could feel everyone''s attention on me.


    The look he gave me. Hatred, disgust, and a few other emotions I couldn''t make out all rolled into one. "You a Corpo?" His hand moved under the Bar. Shit, what did I do?


    "What''s a Corpo?" My confusion was genuine. Which is probably why he almost immediately calmed down, a little. I could hear the other people in here ease up as well.


    "Do you work for a Corporation, like Arasaka, or Militech?" He said it slow, like I was mentally feeble.


    Ah, I just tripped over common knowledge. "No idea what those are? Nope, I don''t work for anyone but myself right now." Not exactly true, but he didn''t need to know the details.


    His hand came back into sight, nothing in it. Whew. "Ya Gonk, why''d ya talk like that ''en? I almost pulled Iron." He had a half smile, already ignoring the previous situation. That right there told me a lot, about how screwed I really was. If I wasn''t already worried out of my skull, I''d have missed it. His reaction told me, violence was common. Common enough to not be a big deal.


    What''s a few bullet between friends, right? I was now in that kind of place.


    My mind raced to come up with a plausible cover story for my ignorance, "Parents were teachers, taught me to be polite." True enough, not the teacher part, but the polite part was very true.


    "Well, maybe toughen up a bit, eh? Polite gets you shot more often ''en not around here. Anyway, you''re right by Night City, Choom. That help?" He seemed like a completely different guy now. Almost Friendly. Talk about whiplash.


    "Nope." I said grinning. I took a chance, "What State am I in?" I figured I was in America by the way he spoke.


    "State? You from the NUSA?" Huh? Just roll with it.


    "Sure, how bad am I fucked?" I was reminded of trying to buy things off of Craigslist, give nothing away, hope they really did have the goods you wanted.


    "Nah, not too bad. Most peeps have gotten over it, except ''em Dogtown gonks. Anyway, Night City is it''s own thing, ya must really be from the sticks to ''ve never heard of it." He seemed almost apologetic. Or maybe worried.


    "Oh, very isolated. What do you use for currency? I was looking to buy a drink." Whelp, I was sure my money was useless now.


    "Huh? Oh we use Eddies jus'' like everywhere else." He started with the fish eye again.


    I sighed. "Do you take trades, I don''t have any ''Eddies'' on me now." No clue what Eddies even were, was more like it, but he didn''t need to know that either.


    "What''d ya get rolled?" Interesting that that bit of slang was the same.


    "Yeah, you could say that. Barely got away with my clothes and walking stick."


    He nodded as he noticed my staff for the first time, he did a double take. "Hey is that real wood?" He tried to hide it, but I caught the moment his expression turn into one of pure greed.


    Wood was rare. Wood was rare. Likely Water was as well. I thought of the trip here. What if that was the way this world looked everywhere. Here I was able to grow new Trees. Able to create new wells. That was why I landed here. I controlled a rare vital resource. I was going to be rich.


    Then good sense kicked in, I absolutely had to make sure the Valley stayed hidden. People would destroy it, intentionally or not.


    "Yes, an heirloom of better time." Dealing with a Used Car Salesman mode activated. I liked to restore cars in my spare time, it was a pain to locate some parts ad harder to get people to part with them for a reasonable price. I''ve had to do a lot of haggling over the years, I had developed a system.


    "1000 Eddies, and a drink on the house." A good rule to follow, never take the first offer. No matter how good it seems. I gave him my patented, "Don''t Even." The expression really sells it and it worked more often then not. Cutting a deal is all about letting them think they had gotten the better end of things, while still getting what you wanted, for a price you could live with. The Staff while useful wasn''t necessary for my plans. Hell, I was sure I could get another later, maybe even a better one.


    He pursed his lips. "Alright $3000 and a few drinks for the road." The second offer is never the best either. Sometimes you had to take it though, if the person on the other side is too hostile. But I think I had a read on this guy.


    I pulled back on the "Bitch, What!" expression, and slightly shook my head. This indicated I was almost but not quite there.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    He sighed, "$4000, a few drinks, an'' I''ll throw in this Iron that was left. You look like you need it. Best Offer." Yeah, the third offer still wasn''t the best offer, but you rarely ever push pass this point, unless you are very familiar with the person. Or you had them by the balls.


    I nodded while looking unhappy. Everyone likes to believe they got the best of you, and that parting with your items or money was making you suffer. I''ve been on both sides of this situation so I know.


    My BTC twitched. I was surprised but tried not to let it show, might have mess up the deal.


    [ Gained Skill Bargaining at Rank 1 ]


    [ Gained +1 Rank in Concentration ]


    Nice. I liked this feeling I got when the numbers went up. Even if I wasn''t sure what they did.


    His eyes flashed. Like with actual light. Way creepy. "Ya aren''t chipped." He looked shocked, "Ya really are from the booneys. Your lucky I''ve probably got enough script. Hold on."


    He went through the door in the back. I looked around. Too many people had paid attention. Shit. Someone was going to try to jump me. I could see the quick changes people made to seem like they weren''t doing what they were about to do.


    The bartender came back in a couple of minutes. Set a stack of bills, I didn''t recognize in front of me, a gun, and a box of ammo. I quickly stashed the bills away into my robe''s inner left pocket. Then I picked up the gun.


    My experience with guns was limited, just a couple of hunting trips with dad in my teens. And a couple of trips to a gun range with friends to do some plinking. I kept the pistol pointed down at the floor, cleared it, and dropped the mag to check if it was loaded. It was. I reset the mag and pulled a round from the box, loaded the chamber, while looking at the other folks in here. I switch the safety on and was about to put in in the right inner pocket of my robe when, my BTC shook,


    [Adjusting...]


    [ Militech M-76e Omaha


    Range: 30 yards


    Damage: 8


    Ammo: 9 round magazine +1 round in the chamber ]


    As I put in away, I hoped I looked competent. The gun felt a lot like some of the .45s I had handled but even heavier.


    "Name''s Ryan, by the way." I offered my hand.


    "I''m Greg, I work for Noah." We shook hands. Then I handed him his new staff. He wasted no time in making it vanish back there. He pointed at the list above the Bar, "Pick something out."


    Yeah, I had been increasing going into "Foreign Country" mode. You know, pay attention. Watch your back. Trust no one. And one I wished I had known on a trip to Mexico once. Don''t Drink The Water!


    "Just give me a selection of the Colas." They tended to be highly processed, while my waistline and kidneys might get pissed off at me, they were probably the best option in this circumstance. He put a dozen colorful cans in a backpack for me. Free backpack, score. "On the house." He winked at me, he knew what was going to happen, probably set it up this way on purpose.


    I sighed. I grabbed one of the cans at random. NiCola, with a simple design in white and black and some pink lettering. A girl seemed to be wagging her butt at me. I shook my head, popped the tab and took a sip. I winced, it was an unholy mixture of Pepsi-like soda and Cough Syrup. I chugged the rest because I was thirsty, and I didn''t want to taste it more than I had to.


    So far, this place had failed to impress me. Greg chuckled at my obvious pain. "Don''t like the Love huh?"


    "Could be better." Scrapping my tongue with my teeth. "Thanks for the trade, Greg."


    "Careful out there Ryan." He flicked his eyes to a group of men leaving the bar. I nodded as I got up and walk to the door. The Probe had zipped over the door ready to flank me again, once I had left. The Wisps had taken the lead.


    I walked out of the Bar ready for trouble.


    I didn''t even make it out of the parking lot.


    I felt the Probe on my left ram into me, knocking me flat. Then I realized I had heard a snap and a cracking noise. Someone had taken a shot at me. If not for my Robo buddy I''d have a new hole in me.


    I crawled over to one of the trucks to put it between me and where I thought the shot had come from. My heart was racing, and I could feel that burn signaling adrenaline dumping into my arteries. All kinds of noises all round me. Snaps of gunfire, crackling of the Probes'' zaps and the whoosh of the Wisps'' Mana Bolts. My senses had dialed up to eleven.


    Once I had concealment, I pulled the Omaha. I switched off the safety. I tried to take a deep breath, held it, then let it out slowly. I peeked out around the car low to the ground. I couldn''t see the Probes from this angle but one of the Elder Wisps was hovering over a smoking body.


    I checked behind me to make sure no one was sneaking up on me. Okay, nothing there. I slowly lifted myself up and peeked over the hood. A pop right in front of my face forced me back down.


    "Fuck, fuck, fuck." I whispered. I tried to eek my way over to the other end of the car, I did a quick peek over the bed of the truck. Nothing. I took a longer second to look. Two more bodies were down. The Elder Wisps were hovering about 20ft up, throwing Bolt after Bolt. A few more gunshots rang out but didn''t seem to be aimed at me.


    One of the Probes was down, sparking behind another car, the other Probe was zapping it. Huh? Oh, it was somehow repairing it. I could see the damage coming undone. Nice.


    Movement caught my eye, a man with a rifle of some kind, was shooting up in the air while shuffling back towards the Motel''s main building. His face was desperate, he had no clue what the Wisps were, so he was just firing in the direction of the Mana Bolts. I didn''t see anyone else, firing. Just a few people ducking out of the way.


    The Omaha seemed to raise on its own. I let off a round. My grip wasn''t great and I wasn''t prepared for the insane recoil from it. The round missed and I got barrel kissed. Right across the nose! Fuck that smarted. I fell on my butt. Three pops hit the bed of the truck. Shit.


    I wobbled a bit even sitting as I was. I kept telling myself I could do this. I was practically yelling it into my own mind. I leaned out from the end of the car and snapped a shot at where he had been. I missed again, but he flinched when it hit the wall beside him. A Mana Bolt hit right the wall on the other side of that and he paused trying to figure out where to go. I squeezed the trigger two more times. Down he went, bonelessly.


    I scanned around, no one else seemed to want to fight. I crouched and shuffled over to the Probes. The Wisps came over to cover me.


    Now that it was over, did I feel bad about shooting that guy? Well...yes and no. I had never done more then punch someone before, but this fucker would have killed me. No, I was surprisingly okay with this. My life mattered more to me, than his did. Maybe there was something wrong with me, but that was fine. I had the feeling I''d need to do this again, and hesitation would be lethal.


    The damaged Probe looked almost whole again. I was rather amazed by their ability to repair one another.


    "Hey, Ryan!" I looked up toward the voice, it was Greg. He was grinning down at me from the second floor, like he''d won a bet. Probably had. "Nobody''d care if you take their shit. Free advice. Oh and don''t forget to check their ports." He nodded at me, while tapping the side and back of his head he went back in the Bar.


    Huh? I could just take their stuff? Well, I could use more options. Did one of them own a car? Was this a good idea? Fuck it, when in Rome, stab some Romans, and take their loot!


    I cast Regrowth on myself and my nose felt so much better. I wiped the blood off on my robe sleeve. Then I went around and stripped the bodies of their guns, and got two rifles and three pistols. I''d figure them out later. Taking Greg''s advice, I found these weird crooked chips in their head sockets. No clue if they were worth keeping. I threw those into the backpack. More puzzles to solve. their pockets contained about $350 in bills, I left the change and their clothes which were singed to hell anyway. But I did find a thick credit card shaped thing on one of them. I heard a honk when I grabbed it.


    Turned out one of them had own a car. The small vehicle kind of reminded me of my first restore job. That had been an 80''s  Honda Civic hatchback, a great fucking car. It would run forever with minimal maintenance. Yet was still fun to drive, especially with a few easy to do mods. Sure this car only had one headlight and four doors, and was beat to shit, but yeah it was pretty similar. The puke green would have to go though.


    The BTC gave a shake,


    [Adjusting...]


    [ Thorton Galena G240


    Model: Basic


    Fuel Type: CHOOH2


    Top speed: 120


    Weight: 2,255


    Horsepower: 86 ]


    What was CHOOH2? I''d never heard of it. I glanced over these stats, hmm, heavier than my old Civic but it also had about twenty more horsepower. You''d think they could do a little better though, in a world with flying cars.


    I was starting to suspect a huge economic gap in this society. I mean, duh, but even the poor have things I would have shanked someone for, back home.


    What do the rich have? I shrugged. Might be a long time before I could find that out.


    I had a big grin on my face though, as I patted my new baby. I''m sure a frenzied light entered my eyes. "I love this new world. Free cars."

 Chapter 8

    Okay, we had run into a problem. With their fins, the Probes were not going to fit into the Galena. Not both at the same time anyway.


    Testing had shown that the Probe''s top speed was maybe 30-40 MPH, not nearly enough to match the insane speeds we could observe this world''s motorists going.


    I turned to the closest Robo-Buddy, "Do you have some way to attach yourselves to the top of the car. Or  can we rig something up so you guys can be towed?" My thoughts were running through several ideas rapidly and discarding them just as quickly. I didn''t want to have to remove their fins. For all I knew about them those fins might be critical to their function in some way.


    In response, the Probe I had just addressed, landed on the roof of the Galena and did something with its hover field, that perhaps, magnetically locked it tightly to the surface of the metal. I pushed and prodded at it, but the connection seemed solid. The other Robo-Buddy locked on right behind it, ensuring that I wouldn''t be able to open the hatchback. Also, I''d have to be careful of the fins when getting in or out, but it was a viable solution for now.


    It was there at that moment when we made a critical discovery. One of the Wisps circling around me had run into the first Probe. The accidental contact led to energies sparking in a chaotic field, with the Wisp disappearing into the Probe. My BTC shuddered at the phenomenon.


    [ Adjusting...]


    [ Khalai Probe


    Construction and Maintenance Unit


    Armor: 2


    Shields: 10


    Damage: 6


    An AI Controlled Robot for Harvesting Materials. ]


    The words started morphing into odd patterns for a moment, before finally snapping into a readable output.


    [ Infused Khalai Probe


    Unknown Unit


    Armor: 2 +2


    Shields: 10 +5 (Shields now block Spells)


    Damage: 6 +4 (May affect Incorporeal Beings)


    The combination of an Elder Wisp and a Khalai Probe. This Unit has partial night time Stealth. ]


    "Are you okay?" As neat as those gains seemed, I didn''t want anything to happen to my little Robo-Buddy. This one still had a scuff on it''s armor. My eyes locked onto that imperfection. Hmm. Scuff. My mind almost clicked as I started thinking of this Probe as Scuff. I also instantly felt a stronger connection to the little buddy.


    Scuff beeped at me, "We are fine, Executor." The "we" part was a little troubling, but Scuff seemed much more coherent. Even more live a living entity than before.


    I glanced at the other Probe. There didn''t seem to be any down sides to the merger of the Wisp and Probes. I shrugged and had the still hovering Elder Wisp fuse with the free Probe. This is the one that was repairing Scuff in the fight. This was a little fixing buddy. So Fix? I nodded, good enough. Once again a soft click rang in my head, and my connection to Fix became stronger.


    "You okay back there?" I directed that at Fix.


    "Of course, Executor." Well, alright. Fix had also seemed to gain more animation from the merger. More vitality.


    Those thought led my mind back to the Valley, it would probably be a good time to check on things. While I had a free moment.


    ''Meadran, checking in.'' If felt far more difficult to reach him than it had last time.


    ''We seem to be at the edge of the range of our connection, Young One.'' His answer returned with far less... substance than any communication with him before. He had said the our connection should extend for about 50 miles. Really? I gazed back toward the Mountains I had come from. I had walked more than 50 miles? Casting Regrowth really had done my body good. Maybe, I could incorporate that into a workout routine.


    I filled Meadran in on our current situation. He was troubled at the extreme levels of violence, but he wasn''t really surprised. Hostility wasn''t unexpected. He was greatly pleased by the discovery of fusion between Khalai and Kaldorei paradigms. He said he would experiment with the process back at the Valley.


    ''Be cautious, Young One.'' This felt just like my Gramps reminding me about the dangers of power tools. It was a drop of warmth in this screwed up place. It was always nice to know someone cared.


    ''I will, Meadran.'' I felt him drop the connection. The realization, that it was just me and the Probes started to sink in. I was venturing into an unknown environment. I didn''t feel ready.


    Getting into the car, I had a laugh. That was a lot of buttons. At first I had no clue where to begin until my eyes caught one button labeled start. Of course, I pushed it immediately. The Galena''s engine purred to life. My hand habitually rubbed the dash.


    The radio had also come on, blasting out some kind of Techno Pop. My ears weren''t fans. I turned it off as fast as I could find the right panel. I could save experiencing the local culture another time. Right now I was eager to get acquainted with my new baby.


    My feet easily settled onto the pedals and I revved it a little trying to get a feel for the sound of this engine. It was different, but I couldn''t yet qualify those differences. Later, I''d have to get under the hood and see how everything was put together.


    Now, let''s take it for a spin. I reached for a stick shift that was there. Hmm, automatic, disappointing. I shrugged it off, Beggars can''t be choosers. I still couldn''t guess what half the buttons were for, but it was past time to enjoy the ride.


    A few minutes on the road was all I needed to form the opinion that people here drove like fucking savages. Also, I had yet to see a speed limit sign. We almost got hit just getting out of the parking lot. Savages or not, it would take more than some aggressive punks to mess up my driving time. Driving always brought me a sense of peace, and freedom while helping me to focus. Everything unimportant could just melt away in the wind.


    More fools trying to get somewhere at warp speeds couldn''t harsh that meditative nature to this moment. Something else did that. A few minutes into the drive, I was getting nervous over the ever increasing size of the buildings I was racing towards. It didn''t help that ever tall structure was crowned with what appeared to be Holographs. What might be advertising images  danced around them. Still that oddity wasn''t enough to keep me from noticing a glint of light off of something to my left, towards that mountain...which wasn''t a mountain.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    That mountain was a humongous pile of garbage and scrap. Rusting metal and oozing organic slop was scattered along side plastic trash bags. It wasn''t just the mountain, whole field of waste product stretched on for miles. Whole but abandoned vehicles and remnants of construction projects dotted the trashscape here and there. Those seemed to be focal points of activity, whether those people were looking for valuable scrap or they just lived in the waste heaps, I could say from here.


    "What the Hell?" I had to pull over for a moment, while I processed this new information. The scene beside the road fucking bothered me, deeply. How could folks not burn it, recycle it, bury it, or something. Anything even a bit more useful than just letting it pile up, and then leaving it to rot and fester.


    My heart was more bothered by that Monument to Absurdity, than it had been at someone shooting at me. Some fundamental part of me couldn''t accept this. there had to be something I could do, some way to make this better.


    Well, I''d been sent here to clean things up, but I would never have imagined this atrocity. It painted a picture of a society, I was growing certain, that I didn''t want to become a part of.


    This place was beyond fucked up. I lacked the words to properly express the turmoil I was feeling.


    Night City, huh? Maybe, to make it clean, I should just burn it all down.


    Once I had manage to put my mind back on task, my plan was just to follow this freeway into the city. From there, I could try to get a sense of the people, and whether or not I should play things soft or hard.


    The demarcation between the desert and the city occurred abruptly as I passed under a massive elevated freeway running north-south. That one roadway would have made the largest cities in my memories proud. I could now see several similar highways further into the city.


    On one side, I felt like I could be attacked by coyotes, and on the other I was trying not to get distracted by the sheer physics defying architecture of some of the huge ass buildings. It was far more distracting than I thought it would be. If it wasn''t the buildings it was the utterly ridiculous amount of advertisements being flashed on the surface of the very air around us. How could anyone get anything done with all the noise?


    Night City was sprawling, massive mess of a maze, and I had fucking no one to guide me through it. So how do you make connections? You go places people gather. Bars, clubs, parties, churches. Maybe not churches, something in the air here screams that the spiritual isn''t at all welcome.


    I couldn''t just drive around all day this place was a tangled mess, a real concrete jungle. I needed a goal. Maybe the Robo-Buddies could scan for info?


    My stomach growled. Fuck, I hadn''t eaten anything since I had gotten to this world, and the crappy soda I downed earlier wasn''t going to cut it. Which brought up the nature of what food here was going to be like. Rat meat? Poor Doggos? As disgusting as some of the ideas in my head were, I desperately needed to eat something.


    While I was at it, maybe I could use the opportunity to get directions to local watering hole to try to dial into what was up with this place. The few people I had seen walking around so far seemed a step above the folks back in the wastes, but only a step. They were still run down looking, and most appeared so absorbed in their own little worlds that I feared any attempts at communication would lead to a fight.


    As I exited the road into a parking lot, the cracks of nearby gunfire rang out. I could tell already that the sound of gunshots were going to be depressingly common. The place I pulled up next to was called Buck a Slice. and its exterior bore signs of recent combat. did people run around killing each other all the time here? How was anyone left?


    My growling stomach refocused me on the current mission, get food. Buck a Slice sounded like pizza? Hard to go too wrong with pizza.


    A few minutes later I found out I was wrong. This mess was not anything that could be classified as a pizza. The "pizza" was so terrible, that now cardboard crust had an all new definition. The toppings were most definitely not the meats that they looked like.  They all had musky bitter flavors. The worst part was the sauce, no real tomato had ever been anywhere near this pasty chalky substance. It all smelt of ashes and pain. Then the horrid aftertaste lingered for ages, cutting into my brain like a bandsaw.


    I choked it down, anyway I had to get some calories. And I had no guaranties that there was anything better, though I doubted that there was any real nutrition to be had with this slop. No, I was betting this gunk would beat my gut into submission, and it would stop asking for more.


    How the hell do people eat this without killing someone? My eyes trailed back up to the bullet holes in the walls. Oh, right.


    Well, at least I managed to get directions to a place called Lizzie''s. The girl running the "pizza" joint said that club was probably the best place for somebody from out of town to get situated. "You''ll have a preem time input." She giggled at some joke that went right over my head. Talking to her revealed there was a lot of language drift and new slang to absorb. But hey, fake it till you make it.


    It took a while to get to Lizzie''s. I ended up on more than a few wrong turns, especially in the area called the City Center. I''d crossed a few bridges, getting this far, which lead to the a new discovery that the water around here looked terrible, and more trash was piled up everywhere in this City. It was driving me into a deep depression.


    This was just one city, and I''m suppose to fix the world full of places like this? Even with magic, that seemed extremely unlikely. Unless, I could somehow enlist help. A ton of it.


    I''d gotten to the club near nightfall and parked in the lot. The building was topped with a pink neon sign of a eye patch wearing girl wielding an axe while kicking. I thought it was cute. Wait a minute, Lizzie and an axe? Grim realization set in. Was this all a Lizzie Borden reference? Umm, maybe this wasn''t the right place after all.


    Nah, I needed to man up and fucking dive in. Trying to distract myself, I let my mind wonder what the whole Moxes thing was about?


    I marked a few people walking into the bar, a couple of ladies nodding at them. Though the ladies wore very different clothing, I noticed that all the colors matched. The same greens and purples with a bit of pink thrown in. It reminded me of something I couldn''t quite place.


    Throughout my trip, I''d kept getting sidetracked by the sheer level of modifications people had subjected themselves to. This was magnified by the crowds here. Some people had metal looking skin. Many possessed hair that glowed with neon lights. Almost everyone I could see had at least one limb that looked absurdly powerful. A few folks looked down right weaponized. Maybe, it helped them feel safer. Cause, I sure didn''t.


    Well, at least I could tell this was a place that lots of folks liked to visit.


    "Watch the car, guys." As I walked away, the Probes beeped their affirmative.


    As I got to the door, one of the ladies called out, "Hold up, Input. I don''t recognize you." She was short but more than a little intimidating. Her tough appearance was augmented by the spikes on both of her forearms. Yup, those were definitely part of her. Her smooth skin had a plastic sheen. Her pink-purple hair was done up in cute buns, which went well with her sharp, almost foxlike facial features.


    Were her looks real though? I''d imagine it would be easy to get whatever face you wanted here, judging by the variety of mods I saw on folks.


    The fierce lady pulled my mind out of it''s musings as she started bouncing a bat on her should. Of course, it was a pink one. She now had my full attention, I barely even noticed the other woman on guard. Though that one''s hand was on her gun, a purple and green pistol, that just didn''t seem as menacing as the smaller woman blocking my way.


    What kind of place was this? This seemed like overkill for a club''s security. Or was it that everything was far more dangerous here, even relaxation?


    Her eyes flashed at me. Literally. "Ganic, huh? Haven''t ever seen anyone your age who wasn''t a little chipped." She cocked her head at me, trying to suss me out.


    "I''m from out of town." Risky move, but figured my deer in the headlight moments would be too obvious to hide. Better to be honest about some things so I could hide others.


    "Bennie," She nodded to herself, "Well here''s the deal. You do not touch the Staff. If you see someone you like, you go to the front desk and pick them from the catalogue. They''ll set you up with a BD." Her bat came around and tapped at my pocket, with the Omaha. "Leave your Iron at the desk on your way in. Got that?" She gave me an obligatory glare, it said "Don''t make me deal with you."


    "Yes." I agreed while nodding.


    "Then welcome to Lizzie''s. Have fun Input." She stepped aside, gesturing with the bat at the door.


    I stepped into a very new experience.

 Chapter 9

    I passed through the outer doors, only to have to push my way through a curtain of metallic beads. Argh, the overhead lights were way too bright. Both my eyes and ears were assaulted as the rattle of the beaded curtain filled my ears. When my senses had managed to adapt a bit, I noticed that there was a counter off to my right.


    The d¨¦cor of the room was touched by purples and pinks, undercut with blue everywhere. There was a pounding beat, vibrating my chest and head even though it was muffled out in the lobby. Looking closer, I could make out sound insulating panels, so it was probably going to be deafening in the actual club.


    "Hey, a new face. Not too scop either." That was the the girl manning the counter. At first, I was taken aback by the neon sign behind her proclaiming, "Fuck to Death!" Ah, What? This place seemed to be trouble that I didn''t understand yet. The girl behind the counter was a chipper little thing, maybe 5'' even, with pink hair that blazing with neon light. Her eyes were like two purple hearts. No, I meant that literally.


    Alright, I didn''t get it, but okay. Her green and purple leotard, barely covered the important bits. Well, on second glance I supposed she had nothing to be ashamed of. Though I could tell she had a lot of little cyberware mods. That detail lead me to the thought that these augments, were as much fashion as functional? I found that unsettling.


    There were coats on display behind her, all greens and purples with some pink highlights. Yeah, I was getting the theme.


    "Hello, could you give me the name of someone, who''d be willing to give me the run down on this City. I''m from out of town." Again despite it probably being a bad idea, I went with honesty. Maybe the fact she was pretty had little something to do with it as well.


    Her eyes flashed at me. That still sent shivers down my spine. "Bennie, eh, and 100% Ganic too," She let out a manic little giggle, "Tempted to take you into the back and dock in meatspace, just to see the difference." There was something odd about the tone of her voice. I had no context on what it might mean.


    "Oookay?" I''m sure I looked totally lost, felt it, didn''t I. I slowly placed my Omaha on the counter, like I was afraid she take a bite out of my arm. Or lick it. Yeah, I was getting the vibe that she might just try to taste me, whether I wanted it or not.


    "Oh, that''s a nice piece, needs a little color though. I wonder if your other Iron needs some color?" She glanced down at my dick. Like she could see it through my pants, or was really trying to. Now, I''m no prude but that was setting off all kinds of alarms in my head. Then again, I''ve never been the center of this kind of attention before. Flattering and sickening all at once, is that a thing?


    Thankfully, I was saved, from further embarrassment. A lady with one of the largest ''fros I''d ever seen, stuck her head out a door to the left. "Kimmie, you are there to help people get detes not hit on them," She glanced me over, "Sorry she''s a newbie, and still getting use to how we do things." She nodded her head like that was enough, and vanished back into that room.


    The atmosphere shifted almost instantly, with Kimmie giving me an apologetic grin. "Sorry, too much? I just get sooo excited. But to answer your earlier question, Mateo at the bar can set you up. He knows most everyone. Any sitch you need laid out, he can find you who you need."


    "No you''re adorable. But yeah, maybe dial it back a tad. I still don''t even understand what I''ve gotten myself into yet." I shook my head. "So I''m looking for Mateo?" At her nod, "Thanks, Kimmie."


    "Alright, have a good time." She was deflated, but shrugged it off in a few seconds. Her grin returned, and her eyes started to wander over my body.


    I went through another beaded curtain, marveling how more sound didn''t pour into the entryway. The main club room was a large space full of contrasts, being both too bright and too dark all at the same time. Some kind of laser light show was flashing off to one side. Holograms were dancing at tables. The people gathered around those tables, talking, drinking, were an eclectic mix of styles and colors. I couldn''t get any kind of read on what was normal. Sure it was a club, and all of these people were probably dressed in their "best". I felt like I was in an insane music video. The music wasn''t bad though. A little too beat heavy, filled with too many odd noises, but hey, it got that heart rate up.


    The feeling I was really out of my element hit me hard as I passed another lady who was scanning the crowd like a hawk. Bouncer, I supposed. She focused on me for a moment. "Bar?" She gestured with her head. "Thanks." She nodded and went back to her job.


    I wove through the dancing people, trying not to touch anyone. Not out of some, "ew, gross" sense, more out of a "I don''t want problems." sense. When I finally took a seat at the bar, I clung to it, like it was a life preserver. Somehow everything felt a touch calmer over here.


    "You look lost." A man had come over, I would have called his fashion Miami Casual back home. The posture he put up was kind of like the guy who stole your girlfriend, then wondered why you were upset with him. Having never had a girlfriend, a small amount of envy stirred in the back of my head.


    "You could say that. I''m from out of town, looking to get a rundown on how things work around here, people pointed me this way." Once more, I played my cards fairly straight. If I appeared to overshare without actually giving away the important part of my story, people would be less likely to ask the uncomfortable questions.


    He gave me a long stare, trying to get a read on me. In a lot of ways his attention made me far more nervous than Kimmie''s did. Probably because he wasn''t in the least interested in playing. "I''m Mateo, and I can get one of the girls to update your files. She''ll dance and answer questions, but nothing more, alright?" He seemed chill, unflappable. A little smug. I really didn''t like him. Those muscles were probably fake.


    "Ryan." I gave him a Bro nod. He returned it, the fraternity of brotherhood had been established. Okay, maybe not so bad a dude.


    After scanning the menu, which he was amused that he had to pull out a plastic sheet with all the options printed out, I bought a coffee and a pretzel like thing, while I waited. Neither was great by my standards, but no where near as horrid as Buck a Slice.


    Maybe Meadran could figure out a way to produce fruits and veggies. I could make a killing feeding people actual fucking food. If I could keep them from killing me over it.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Mateo set me up with a dancer called Sinnamin. She was a brute of a woman, who looked down at me with boredom, but maybe apathy was better than the alternative.


    Her price was 20 Eddies for 5 minutes of dancing and questions. I threw down $340 for 85 minutes. I required info more than cash right now, and that should be enough time to get at least the basics.


    Sinnamin guided me into one of the back booths, where it was a little quieter. I caught glimpses of people doing all manner of unsavory thing back there even if I didn''t understand way some of those thing were messed up, I could still tell they were thing to avoid doing. The zonked out behavior of some of the people with headsets bothered me the most. It seemed like an extreme version of folks back home with a phone addiction.


    Once we were in her assigned booth, I leaned back on the couch and asked her to start at the beginning.


    Sinnamin, as it turned out, liked talking a whole lot more than dancing.


    She laid out a lot of information for me, about the Corps, about the Gangs, and about how life worked in a day to day sense for people. That left me without a lot of deeper context, but I now knew some places and people I should avoid.


    She did drop a major bombshell on me though. I had casually mentioned Ruger, and she got real quiet about that. Her face went through a wide gamut of emotion very rapidly. Shock, envy, and surprise were the ones I managed to notice.


    "So you must be super preem rich? You a puppet?" She started pulling a little back. Her tone had grown cold. Whatever a puppet was she didn''t want anything to do with one.


    "I don''t know what that means?" These cultural landmines were getting a little old. That''s why I had to keep her talking.


    "Nobody can afford gene rebuilds that aren''t top shelf loaded." She told me, and I thought she was lying, I mean she had to be. No dogs, no cats, no birds, barely any rats, but plenty of bugs though.


    I started sweating from my eyes. I might have let out a couple of unmanly sounds. My behavior caused her to become incredibly distressed. I guess she had never seen a man leak stress from his eyes before. She started making all kind of awkward gestures and stuttering sounds. I got the sense she had a big heart to match her giant body.


    "How do you get through life without dogs?" She didn''t have an answer. Were these people even worth saving if they let dogs die out? I felt a stone begin to form in my heart. I wasn''t sure those folks could or should be helped. I held on to that feeling for a moment, as it burned through me, but let it go. For now. The average person probably had nothing to do with it. So had had to be careful about assigning blame. I needed to rein in these more aggressive tendencies, before they got me in trouble I couldn''t get out of.


    We went back to talking, her more helpful attitude had returned. I guessed she didn''t think I was a puppet anymore, whatever that was. We haltingly talked about Ruger, she seemed almost desperate for stories about him, and any other stories I could remember about animals. Her eyes lit up with joy when I talked about their crazy antics. It was hard thoughas everything I told her was overshadowed by the fact cute fluffy critters were missing here.


    Which made her seem almost happy to get to lighter topics, like gang violence. The Strom, the Tygers, The Scavs, The Mox, The Valentinos and her personal hang up the Animals. I got a brief rundown of each group, who was fighting who and where to avoid to not have to deal with them, as much. There were countless smaller gangs almost too many to count, but these were the major players.


    Then she got into the Corps. Arasaka, Militech, Biotechnica, Petrochem, and the familiar Kang Tao. You couldn''t avoid their influence no matter where you went. So her advice; just choose the flavor you might live with the easiest.


    I managed to get the year, if not the month, through context. 2074. That was shocker, I was on some alternate future version of my world. I wished the folks back on my world never had to face these kinds of terrible times.


    Also, a picture began to form about what I needed to do to get by here. I required work, and I had no acceptable form of ID. The answer to both of those problems was a Fixer. Fixers were shadow brokers dealing in everything below board, anything from just a little shady to outright illegal. They could be your fence, your bookie, or your limited contractual boss. They could get you information, or buy the things you knew. Yeah, I needed one of those. Sinnamin knew a Faceman, which was kind of a lackey to a bigger Fixer. Someone that could be cut out before you got to the head honcho. She gave me their contact detes.


    Before that, though, I had to "get chipped". At least enough to interact with the world everyone else was a part of. Enough to get an identity setup, trying to get setup without a netconnection was a major problem. There was the addition consideration that there were plenty of answers to be found on the Net.


    So I needed a Ripperdoc. Sinnamin gave me a few names from here and there, and a list of pro and cons. One name stood out as being the least likely to screw me over. Viktor Vektor. Best of all, he wasn''t too far away. I''d head that way next.


    When time was up, I thanked Sinnamin, and headed back to the bar. It was even more balls to the walls busy.


    "So you get caught up, Ryan?" Mateo asked as I sat down. He gave me a bro nod, and I returned it. Yeah maybe I had been too quick to judge. Still wouldn''t trust him with my girlfriend though, if I could ever find one.


    "At least a little better of an idea how screwed I am." I shrugged, then had an idea, "You got anything substantial to eat around here, I''m running on fumes?"


    He nodded. "Sure, we can whip up something, just don''t expect The Gourmand experience." He chuckled as he pulled out the menu again. Then he frown as he realized why I''d asked the question the way I had. The menu was mostly drinks and quick snacks.


    "Better than Buck A Slice will be great. Please."


    He saw the terror on my face and chuckled. "Yeah we can do better than that scop." His eyes flashed putting in the order. I decided to live a little and order a rum and cola, to wash whatever they came up with down.


    A few minutes later, I had a plate of what looked like over loaded nachos. It wasn''t bad at all, just off. Cheese not quite right, which was unsurprising. Meat with a weird texture and not quite beef flavored. Jalape?os that really weren''t snappy or really spicy at all. But compared to that "pizza" it was heaven.


    As I got up to leave, I payed up and left a good tip.


    "Thanks Mateo." Despite my initial impression of him, I really meant it.


    "Anytime Ryan. You''re not bad for a Bennie." He gave me a cocky grin and a wave.


    I went and collected my iron. A different lady was working the counter, friendly but not overly so. No problems there.


    The scary bouncer lady, who name was Rita, according to Sinnamin, was displeased. "Hey gonk, your car fried a couple of Dorphers. Keep it on a leash. We don''t need bodies stinking up the joint." I unconsciously snapped to attention. But this brought up an interesting point, apparently they couldn''t see the Probes right now.


    "Yes ma''am. You want me to drag them away?" Wouldn''t hurt to be friendly about it. She was just doing her job.


    "Nah, we already threw ''em in the dumpster." She sigh exasperated, "Cars zeroing junkies. What next, vampires?"


    "Thanks Rita, you have a good night." She snorted at me, not even phased that I knew her name now.


    "Get out of here, Bennie. while I''m willing to let ya." Smirking at me. I think she was checking out my ass as I walked away. Which would have been quite the feat, in these robes.


    Scuff and Fix reported it was clear. I was amused that they seemed to be happy to zap some "gonks". We loaded up quickly.


    Back in the car, I made my way over to where a place called Misty''s Esoterica was supposed to be. this was where I had to go to get in touch with Dr. Vektor. The store was across from Gomorrah, a Dollhouse. The concept of Dolls disturbed me. Both the sheer surrender of personality and the fact they recorded everything that happened. Then there was the levels of abuse some of them would probably face, it made me shudder.


    I left Fix to guard the car, and took Scuff with me.


    When I found Misty''s, it was still open. Entering, I got another surprise.

 Chapter 10

    I walked in on an interesting conversation.


    "I only have a limited time to get back. So this is goodbye Misty, and tell that old dog, Vik to lay off the boxing. He''s getting too long in the tooth to keep trying to fix everyone''s technique." A silver haired lady dressed in almost medieval style leather pants and a tunic was waving goodbye to another woman who reminded me of a character, in a movie I saw, a long time ago. Poofed out blonde hair, and rocking a nearly Goth look. Nice.


    "Bye Ciri, we''ll miss you around here. Be safe." They shared a brief hug. I could somehow tell they had been through a lot together. It must be a wonderful thing to have friends.


    That''s when the silver haired lady, Ciri turned around and saw me. The world changed. Let''s just say both our eyes went wide. There was a spark of recognition. The twisting of fate. She was radiating a potent form of mana, different from anything I had felt before. It seemed darker somehow, almost broken. I knew she could feel my mana flow through me. It seemed to fill her with sorrow.


    She stalked over to me. I barely breathed not wanted the moment to end. She patted my shoulder and said, "Good Luck." Before sashaying out the door. She avoided the Probe, I noticed. I started turned to follow her and find out more. But managed to stop myself, one problem at a time.


    "She has that effect on people. Hi, I''m Misty." I turned back toward the blonde lady. She herself was emanating a little bit of mana. What were the odds? This city didn''t seem hospitable to anyone who could connect with magic.


    "Hello Misty, I''m Ryan. I came to see about getting a consult with Dr. Vektor. But now that I''m here, I''m a little more interested in your shop." My eyes traveled to a brass multi armed statue behind her, for a start. It gave off something similar to the Psi energy of Khalai Pylons. As I continued to scan the shop I noticed a dozen other things, easily mistaken for simple knickknacks. I wondered how any of these things managed to make in to this shop. Maybe Ciri how something to do with it?


    "That''s nova! I offer Chakra cleansings and Tarot readings." It was nice to see her smile. She seemed like a truly decent person. Wholesome, almost too good for this world.


    A moment of whimsy overtook me. "I''ve never had my Chakras cleansed, so let''s do that." What the hell was a Chakra?


    She had me sit in a reclining chair, it felt like I was sinking into a cloud. I listened to her voice, and then my mind went silent for a while. A deep stillness enfolded my thoughts. It was a very welcomed state after all I''d been through to get to this moment. To be honest, I don''t know she had done anything to my Chakras. However, I did feel a lot more relaxed, especially after resting in that cushy chair. So it was all good.


    I found the use of crystals a little odd though, and the incense was a bit pungent. But hey, nothing''s perfect. I paid her with $100 and let her keep the change. She told me I could see the Doc. She guided me to the door and said, "Out the back and down the stairs."


    The alley held another surprise. It was a cat, an Egyptian Hairless. Was it called a Sphinx or was that a different breed? What did it matter it was a cat. We stared at each other for a good minute, it seemed just as shocked to see me, as I was to see it. It meowed at me and almost as if in a trance, I sat down and it crawled in my lap. I proceeded to give it scritches. Its gentle purring was a comfort in this dark land. Then my mind kicked back in, and I realized what I was holding.


    "Hey Misty! I thought there weren''t anymore cats?" I called out gently. She stuck her head out, and saw me with the kitty. Her resulting grin was an odd thing, equal parts joy and pain.


    "There aren''t, that''s not a cat." That just didn''t compute. I was holding it. I felt its warmth, and the rumble of its purr. I could feel it''s life with my mana sense.


    "What is it?" It meowed like a cat. It purred like a cat. What else could it possibly be?


    "If you figure it out let me know. I just know it''s not a cat." She ducked back into her shop. Her tone suggested she didn''t want to deal with the cat, or whatever it really was.


    "You seem like a good kitty to me." As I petted the cat more, it gave me a happy cat stare. Not to be confused with an indifferent cat stare, though I wouldn''t blame you, if you did. I only stayed like that for another minute, before I got up and continued down the stairs. Things might really be staring to look up.


    The way into the Doc''s place was blocked by a sliding metal wired gate. Through it I could see a man watching a monitor, on the screen was what seemed to be a boxing match.


    "Hello?"


    "Hey, come on in." He kind of reminded me of my Gramps, though in a much different way than Meadran had. Meadran was like the gentler parts of Gramps, he brought out memories of the quiet times. This man reminded me of Gramps when he was telling war stories, or about his travels after the war. He very much had the same kind of been there done that attitude. It wasn''t condescending, it was was more a sense of tiredness. The fact that the Doc was build like a boxer, rugged looking, and the lines on his face gave the impression he''d been through quite a few fight in his time, just nailed the point home.


    Yeah, I liked him on sight. I could tell he was a genuinely good person. It made me more inclined to show some courtesy, I closed the gate behind me, after I went in.


    He chuckled. "Manners. That''s a sight." His voice was gruff and worn, telling a tale of its own without any extra words.


    "Dr Vektor, I needed to get a consult on getting Chipped with at least the basics." I still wasn''t convinced this was the best idea, but I knew that if I didn''t fit in, I''d stick out. If I stuck out, I''d get hammered one way or another.


    He started to say something, but then shook his head. His eyes flashed as he scanned me. "100% Ganic. That''ll be tough. You''ll want a Net connection with a neural port, and a chip socket. At least one eye to fully interact with Net architecture, but I''d recommend doing both or it''ll really throw of your balance."Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    My eyes? My eyes. That seemed insane. My eyes were perfectly good. I had twenty/twenty vision. Was I really going to give up my eyes? My gut boiled with both resentment and sheer fucking rage.


    They didn''t think anything of doing this? It was just normal? It was normal. Heavens help these poor fucked up people. Heavens help me for what I was going to do.


    "If you''ll hop up on the chair, we''ll take a full scan. Then I''ll be able to make suggestions as to what would work best with your meat." On autopilot, I sat in the surgeon''s chair. It was a massive affair with all manner of odd looking equipment around it. Several monitors hung down from the ceiling, even with it''s own readout of information that made no sense to me.


    As the scan started, I wondered again if I was really going to go through with this.


    While I was being scanned, my BTC was squeezing my arm. I thought it might be hiding itself. Honestly, I kept forgetting it was there until it did something. Was that on purpose? Why was it reacting this time? It didn''t put up any kind of screen. Was it just responding to my nervousness?


    An amusing side note, I kept getting glimpses of Scuff puttering about doing its own scan of equipment in Vik''s clinic. Would those scans be useful? Should I have have been getting my Robo-Buddies to do that more?


    "Hmm, do you have biomods, or any type of gene editing?" He sounded puzzled, and I got the feeling he didn''t find too many puzzles these days. He scratched his head and I noticed he had some kind of exoframe on his arm, it seemed to be outfitted with an array of gadgets I didn''t recognize.


    "Not that I know of?" Who knows what the Company had done to me? That could have implanted me with all kinds of messed up things and I''d have had no clue.


    "Now that''s a conundrum." He seemed pensive. " Your genes are showing no degradation from radiation. Your blood contains no trace nanites from from any of the usual sources, even the hostile microbial content count is almost nonexistent." All that seemed like a good thing to me. Though now, I felt that I had even more things to worry about.


    "Huh? Those are normal? Sounds terrible, how do folk live with all that?" Why weren''t people less healthy? Maybe some of that cyberware I disdained made the difference.


    "How do you not?" The Doc shook his head. Then he flicked something over to one of the screens in front of me. I understood none of it. "You can counter most of the problems with meds and other nanites. Most folks get a puff of a Max Doc or Vita Stim to keep going for a while. Knocks the majority of diseases right out, for a time anyway. Truth be told, I''ve never seen anyone with such an undamaged genomic structure. Do you mind if I take sample, just for me to study?"


    "Not at all, Doc." The exoframe on his left arm did something just out of my peripheral vision, but I didn''t feel anything. I just heard it moving.


    Then the scanner beeped, and he spent a few moments reading the results.


    "Good news though kid, with your unspoiled genetics, almost anything can be chipped in. That gives you a broad spectrum of options." He gave me options alright, way too many. It took roughly an hour for me to sort through the seemingly endless lists. The cheapest fully functional set was $3000, really "bare bones" as he put it. Really basic connectivity, comparatively slow and vulnerable to external exploitation. I didn''t like the sound of that. The eyes wouldn''t be functionally better than my current ones, I''d just be able to visualize some Net architecture and call screens. On the other end of the spectrum, the most expensive package he had available, was $20,000. It had a lot of bells and whistles. Embedded security features, seamless integration of neural controls. Intuitive adaption to my thoughts. Eyes with high resolution vision, zoom functions, low light options, and flare protection. Best of all blazing fast local NET connectivity.


    "Not the best out there right now, but not far from it. Outside of Corpo labs anyway." I could appreciate that he didn''t try to push me to the more expensive package. He let me decide what I could afford.


    Do I get the basic tech now and upgrade later, or do I go out and find a way to scrape together $20k? I really didn''t want to get into the endless cycle of buy now and fix it later. No, I wanted the best I could get. My gut felt that the less time I spent being... tinkered with, the better.


    Without this "Chrome" I wouldn''t be ready to meet the Faceman. I''d always have to be looking over my shoulder for the cops. Judging by the little bit and pieces Sinnamin had dropped, I didn''t want to get on those guys bad side.


    "I''ll have to come back. It''ll take me a bit to get some Eddies together for the ''preem chrome''." His demeanor seemed to shift to something less professional, but more concerned.


    "Ya know kid, if you weren''t so friendly and relaxed, I''d think you were a Corpo spy. We have to get ya use to the streets and quick. Or you might not make it." He knew all too well, how I''d likely end up gather the funds. This was his attempt at warning me the gangs would spot me coming. I just didn''t fit in on the streets, I''d be an easy mark.


    "Sure Doc, I''m working on it. Unless you know someone who can move some lumber, I''m going to have to do this the hard way." I''d hop on a deal for wood right now if the Doc could set something up, it would be better than what I was planning to do.


    "Lumber? From actual trees? Where in the world would ya get that?" That was genuine shock right there. Wow, wood products must be really rare. Rarer than I''d first suspected. Which means Greg got me good. Damn.


    "Dr. Vektor, you know how it is. I know a guy, who knows a guy, who knows a place." I chuckled and he snorted.


    "Sure, I know people who''d do it, but they wouldn''t trust ya without a rep." He seemed frustrated. Like he''d run into this problem before, and more than once. He really was one of the good guys.


    "No Worries Doc, I''ll figure it out. We all have to do what we can." I wasn''t ready to show Vik what I could do yet. Not ready to show anyone really. Though when I was, he and Misty would be some of the first folks in this city that would get to see some real magic.


    I left, said goodbye to the kitty and Misty. I wanted to linger and play with the cat, or maybe spend some more time with Misty, but I knew the more I played around the harder it would be to get the ball rolling.


    Scuff got back on the car, and then we headed north in the Galena. That was where I''d find the first element in my plan.


    It was somewhere around 1 AM at that point. I was getting tired. It''d been a long time since I had last slept, but I had work to do.


    Sinnamin had mentioned you could sell loot in certain places. Kabuki for one. Most shopkeeps there would buy goods under the table. No questions asked. If it wasn''t too rare or too big, this was a great option. You''d never get a good deal, but you would get something.


    That lead me to my next idea. Sinnamin had told me about the Maelstrom. They were a Booster Gang, centered around chippin'' in chrome and getting more of it, leaving their humanity behind. Real scumbags. Trading drugs, kidnapping, torture and snuff XBDs (I still didn''t know what those were), and so much more.


    Best part, they were really easy to find, and no one would miss them. The problem with my plan being they were often "Borged Out" or basically mostly chrome. So stronger, faster, meaner. Also, very probably insane by any standard metric.


    Did I have a viable strategy? Other than having my Probes sneak up behind them and zap the fuck out of them? No. We''d try to find a small group or two, then see what we''d get from "flatlining" them. Repeat if needed.


    If and or when I had enough money to afford Vik''s top shelf chrome, I''d head south to another gang''s territory. Find a cheap hotel and sleep. Let whatever heat we''d built up die down a bit, before checking in with the Doc again.


    I''d be the first to admit it wasn''t much of a plan. Stupid. Monumentally stupid.


    Part of me wanted to go back to the Valley and grab an army of Probes and lay waste to everything. My instincts told me it wasn''t the time for such drastic measures.


    So much to do, and there was never enough time.

 Chapter 11

    Once we had traveled several minutes north, we crossed into the Arasaka Waterfront district, which was near a Megabuilding labeled 11. I slowed the Galena down, we had to be on the lookout for our first customers. Traffic was present but minimal, so we could take our time hunting. The only snag was that the roads became more tangled in this part of town, so I had to pay more attention to where we were, however the Probes could scan for viable targets.


    I began spotting Maelstrom graffiti everywhere. They were horrible scenes of spider like borg faces, the multiple eye were a menacing red. While the tags invoked a sense of dread, I didn''t let it worry me much. I figured it was just a gang trying hard to be intimidating.


    Scuff beeped that he''d located a potential victim. When I got my first look at actual ''Strom "gangoons", I realized Sinnamin hadn''t overblown how repulsive they looked. The gang tags were at least partially descriptive. I stared a bit trying to make sense of what I was seeing, it didn''t seem possible for anyone to alter their bodies that much and survive. there was certainly no way that anyone that could do that to themselves was sane, by any definition of the word I understood.


    I found a small parking lot with other cars, and slipped in between two larger vehicles. Since I was taking both Probes, my thinking was that any thief or scrapper would mess with the more valuable vehicles before the Galena. I filled Scuff and Fix in on a tentative tactical plan, both of them seemed to be almost buzzing with excitement as I described their roles. Their beeps were incredibly aggressive sounding. "We can do it, Executor. We will eliminate the enemies." That was Scuff, and Fix was no less rearing to go, "We will destroy the ugly ones, Executor."


    Their behavior more than anything else, gave me pause. I do not think I could have ever been labeled a violent person. Yet here we were, about to murder people for profit. In my case I was sure it was a combination of revulsion and desperation. With the Probes, who had up until now seem to be happy little Robo-Buddies, was their showing this new aggression, my fault? Or was it a consequence of fusion, leading to a bizarre interaction between magic and metal? Could this be what happens to Probes over time? Maybe, if you let them fight a bunch, they become like this?


    Am I a bad person for using them like this? I''ve never been much concerned with morality. I''ve never had a reason to be. I mostly just tried not to be a dick, and kept to myself. So in those terms; we were about to start killing people, admittedly grotesque people, to take their shit. That sure sounded like a dick move to me. Or is this one of those situations were one dick move was canceled out by another group''s generally dickish behavior?


    I growled as some new part of my psyche responded to my increasing stress. It didn''t know, and didn''t care about the answer. It just wanted to purge what it saw as the unclean. The questions were annoying, action was needed. Wait. That didn''t sound like me. What was wrong with me, was this place twisting my outlook? Or was something deeper at play in my mind.


    I found I had been moving the whole time I was thinking. My feet just moved while my mind churned away at it''s problems. I should have been paying more attention to my environment, but now the time for moral quandaries had ended. I had been noticed and my observers certainly thought I had something worth taking. Or maybe my wallet didn''t even matter and they just wanted to start some shit.


    Their red eyes gleamed fiercely in the dark. They had found prey. Me. A damned shame they hadn''t noticed my friends, who hadn''t lost focus. Even now the Probes were using their stealth to creep around behind our three new friends.


    "Hey, whadda we have here?" The voice was grainy and distorted. It grated on my nerves, almost as much as looking at their faces hurt my eyes. Up close, these three were in poor repair. "Rusted" I think Sinnamin had called it. You could hear some of their chrome''s joints grinding. Lines of an old oil-like substance, dribbled out of places, that it didn''t seem like oil should be coming out of. They were either extremely down on their luck, or no longer had the capacity to care about themselves.


    "A poor lost Ganic is need of help." They laughed. there was no joy in that noise, only a type of manic madness. Everything about the sound was wrong. Everything about them was wrong. There was nothing I could recognize as human to them, regardless of their ability to speak.


    "Maybe we throw ''im in da box and watch ''im squirm." Well, that didn''t sound like fun. I didn''t like the sound of that idea at all.


    "Could just cut off his arms, and watch him bleed out." Really? What an asshole. Though, I didn''t have much of a leg to stand on, I came here to kill them after all.


    "Nah, we take him home and play, pin the Chrome on the Ganic." I had already pulled my Omaha, but I wasn''t quite pointing it at them yet. Safety off.


    "Oh is little Ganic scairwd, we''re sorry. We just wanna help you." They started spreading out, not a dumb move. Except the two spreading to the sides now had tagalongs hovering just behind their heads. The fact that they hadn''t pulled their weapons yet, told me they felt they were in total control. Like nothing I could or would do mattered in the slightest.


    That really pissed me off. I don''t think I''ve been this kind of mad before. The sensation burned like magma slowly coursing through my body.


    "Hey why''s the chump glowing?" No more, I''d heard enough of their fucking disgusting voices. It was time to end this.


    "Now!" I snarled as I raised my iron. Two zaps rang out as did two deafening cracks. Three bodies hit the ground.


    I stood there, staring at the corpses for few minutes. I was processing. While my feeling bubbled, I took the time to top off my magazine. I wasn''t thinking about it, the action just a reflex, that I shouldn''t even have had. In that moment, I didn''t feel like morals mattered anymore. I was glad we''d killed them. My head and my heart went still.


    My BTC shivered the motion pulled me back into the moment.


    [ Adjusting...]


    [ Gained skill Firearms at Rank 1 ]


    Oh, okay. I guess that was good. I really had no clue whether any of the information on the screens was actually useful. For all I knew, the data on those screens was a lie.


    Well, enough bullshit, time to get to the real work. We found three more of those crooked chips, in their ports. Sinnamin said those can be anything like Cred Chips, Skillsofts, or even just secured data. So potentially valuable, though I was without any way to calculate that value. Into the backpack they went. Even if I could pull the data off the chips right now it wouldn''t do me any good, I''d need a lot of context to make the best use of anything I discovered.


    Which reminded me, I pulled out another can Cirrus Cola. After the NiCola disaster I hesitated, then shrugged and tried it. The liquid tasted like off brand Coke maybe with some lime or lemon in it. Not as bad as the other junk that was for sure, but not that great either. This possible future was disappointing me in a great many ways.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    I noticed Scuff and Fix scanning everything in the area, including the corpses. I guessed they were curious little robots.


    Only one of the "gonks" had a gun. A big ass revolver, into the backpack with that as well. The blades the others carried, looked like garbage to me, so I didn''t bother with them.


    Shit, they only had $200 in bills. This method of resource gathering would take a while. There was nothing else worth "klepping" on the bodies. I did go poke around where I first seen them, while I was driving around. I found a whole bunch of junk, of indeterminate worth. I wasn''t sure what a lot of this stuff was even for. Various cables and microchips. A radio that while functional looked cheap. "Food" and "drinks" of various descriptions. A couple of inhaler looking objects. If I had got the context right, these could be either medicines or drugs. Into the backpack. There seemed to be the lot of it.


    That could explain their erratic behavior, maybe the three gangers were junkies.


    I sighed. No one said it would be easy. We needed to get back to hunting down another group, I supposed. Very disappointing.


    I found a massive Wall. The wall was black and lit with red. Blocks worth of the city had been walled off behind this edifice. The colors and the name of the district gave away who this area belonged to, Arasaka. A Mega Corp, wielding massive power and influence across the world. Perhaps the biggest gang in Night City, from a certain point of view. We were not ready to mess with them. Though raiding Corporations for fun and profit did sound exciting? Maybe, one day. For now, I''ll have to be content with smaller game.


    Skirting the wall led me to a place were I could hear some ear bleeding music, if you could call it that. I followed until I had found the Totentanz. The screeching noises were very loud. Yup, definitively looked like a place for Death Metal concerts. Haha, Death Metal. Borged up Psychos.


    Loads of Maelstrom, too many for us to deal with right now. Let''s skip it. I''ll come back with my own gang someday. Tree gang represent. I threw a few silly gang signs, in a moment of pure childlike glee. Or would we be the Nature gang? Eh, I''ll figure it out later.


    Much larger gatherings of the more ordinary looking people milled about in this area, normal by 2074 standards anyway. I couldn''t understand wanting to be around the Maelstrom. You''d think the constant threat of being robbed, killed or worse, would keep the riff-raff away. No such luck.


    Driving on, I was overwhelmed by a sense of futility. There were just so many of these fuckers everywhere. My initial distaste for the city had grown to full blown hatred, by this point, and I''d not been here for even a full day yet. The truly weird thing was, I think this fucked up city wanted me to hate it. Like it thrived off all the pain and misery. There''s a terrible thought. A Cursed City, feasting off blood, sorrow and death. And here I was about to feed it some more.


    I spied a couple of more isolated groups of ''Stromers over by Megabuilding 12. As good a place as any for us to setup a hunting ground. I circled around and parked by a clothing store, called Ded Zed. I picked it because while there were still cars in the parking lot the store itself was closed. Good.


    This time I''d try to be more cautious, I''d rather not get surrounded again. It might have worked out the first time but I couldn''t rely on luck to see me through this. Trying to be stealthy likely wouldn''t work for me. But I thought that I could be a distraction for the Probes to make their moves. I nodded as I got my weapon ready for action. Eyes open. Let''s bag some ''Strom.


    The first group we ran across were five chromeheads right by the Megabuilding itself. We came upon them at a good moment, they were getting ready to head some where else. They gathered their stuff up and were trying to put out the fire they had been cooking something over.


    Scuff had snuck up on them and was now hovering well over their heads. The aggressive little Probe began to zap one and then another. Fix came in fast and low zapping at the gangers'' feet. I fired a few rounds, trying to do my part. Our first volley, we did a lot of damage. But some of them still had some fight left. One ganger had a machete and only seeing me decided to charge, the other two still standing started firing at me one with a shotgun the other with some kind of automatic rifle.


    Something slapped into me. "Shit!" I went down hard. At first, I didn''t feel anything. It''s like my body couldn''t believe what had happened. The only good thing to out of it, was in my reflexive spasm, I pulled the trigger on my Omaha. This somehow dropped the machete wielding asshole long enough for Fix to zap him face first into the next life. When my mind finally started to catch up, Scuff was finishing off the ''Strom with the rifle. Then the last guy, showing he still had half a brain, tried to run, but the Probes tag teamed him, zapping him into a smoldering pile of metal and meat.


    I was fervently attempting to cast regrowth, I fumbled the shape of the spell a few times as this throbbing burning pain set in. "Fuck, fuck, fuck... " Finally, I managed to get the shape right and mana to flow properly. I channeled the spell, keeping the mana flowing until I could return to full health. Somewhere in there, I fumbled the spell again. My concentration was shot. Curses flowed from my mouth as I tried to get the spell shape right for the umpteenth time.


    Scuff beeped, "Executor more Enemies are approaching. Orders?" The Probes seemed like he really wanted the order to be, "kill them all."


    "Damn it, ambush them, shit, while I, fuck, finish up here." I got the spell going again and felt my mana drain more rapidly, this time.


    "By your Command." Both beeped in unison. They flitted off at top speed, eager to lay into some more borged out fools.


    As I was trying to dredge up more mana from the thin air, I heard the sounds of battle. This made me feel even shittier for having to depend on the Probes so much. The pain was dying down. I dared to check myself over. No wonder I fell down, I''d gotten hit by both gangoons. The remnants of both wounds were on my gut, though I guessed nothing too vital got wrecked. I used my hands to feel around the wounds, skin was once again mostly smooth. Still tender, but nicer than being dead.


    The ruckus in the distance was getting louder. What was going on?


    Okay, if I was going to keep doing this crazy bullshit I required some armor. Also staying further back would probably be a great idea. Let''s just shoot the guys panicked into running by being zapped by something they couldn''t see. It was becoming more and more obvious to me, that I knew nothing about combat. This learning it the hard way shit, not so fun.


    I stood up, getting a good look at my ruined clothes. Rapidly drying blood was soaked into the entire front. Yup, these robes were a lost cause. Likely the clothes underneath were in even worse shape. I tested my movement. No hitches or cramps or  muscle pulls. I seemed to be able to bend every which way. My legs solidly held my weight. Alright, I was fully functional if not optimal.


    I decided to let Scuff and Fix handle the fighting for a moment while I started looting. Everything I could make out sounded like they had it covered. Pulling the backpack off was a struggle, somehow the straps got cinched tighter with my earlier fall. It didn''t get hit but some of the cola cans ruptured when I was dropped to the ground. Ah, too bad. The shards seem unaffected, though the revolver would need to be cleaned later.


    So I dumped the colas. Dried the pack out as best I could with a shirt scavenged from one of the retired Maelstromers. I somehow hadn''t dropped my Omaha this whole time, and I wasn''t about to now, which created a few awkward moments while looting. Thankfully I managed not to shoot myself.


    The sounds of fighting were moving further away. I guessed that I was going to be looting the aftermath, of dozens of small fights.


    An hour later, The Probes were done with their rampage. Soon after, both the trunk and backseat of the Galena were full. $9000 in script, 31 shards, a dozen more inhalers and various odds and ends that might be worth something. Fix and Scuff were dancing around in celebration, this was after they''d scanned every little thing in the area. I let them play, they''d earned it. Neither one of them had even gotten scratched. Were the Maelstrom that bad, or were my Probes that awesome?


    I managed to scrounge together an outfit, from the 32 dead Stromers. It didn''t look too bad, more of blue collar look rather than death metal video extra. Now if I could just get some mechanics overalls, I''d look like I did back home most of the time. I threw my tattered robes and clothes into the back seat of the Galena as well. I''d have to be sure to clean up all the blood later, but for now, my exhaustion was becoming unignorable.


    Let''s go sell all of this loot before finding a hotel, so I could zonk out for a while.

 Chapter 12

    The sun was cresting over the horizon and the Kabuki roundabout was hustling even this early in the morning.


    People were always looking for the best deals, or trying to find that next sucker to sell some garbage. The ebb and flow of the early morning crowds were like a tide of consumers. I began struggling to path my way through the clumps of folks while searching for the best shops to off load my illicit goods.


    I''m no novice when it come to wheeling and dealing, but I didn''t get the better end of the exchanges here. These Kabuki merchants were sharks, very hungry ones. I lost a few chucks of flesh in there. Metaphorically, of course. Though there was one guy who looked like he had actual shark teeth in his mouth. Weird choice, but it takes all kinds.


    Clearing out my Galena of all the loot had netted me another 3000 eddies. I had thought I could do better, but was soon disabused of that notion. Checking around had reveled I ended up losing more than 20% at almost every sale, and thus was a little disillusioned. I had parked my butt on a concrete bench, while I moped a bit and just watched as the city was coming alive. I was also eating a second helping of a fairly good noodle dish I had found. The food cart was super popular with the locals, and long lines gathered for their dishes. That''s why I decided to try it out in the first place. Glad I did. Best meal I''d had since I''d gotten to this city. The bits and bobs mixed into the noodles could have been anything, and I certainly wasn''t going to ask. The long bits of carbohydrates tasted like they were made with real flour. They had a great texture too.


    Once my stomach was tamed, I took a count of my funds. Let''s see about $15,000 altogether, not quite enough to pay off the Doc. We''d have to go hunting again tonight. Maybe, this time I''d just let the Probes do the hunting. It felt bad to even think about doing it that way, but it was the smarter play. I had already been shown that I didn''t have the best natural instincts for combat. I''d have to train. One more thing on my plate. Sigh.


    I needed to buy some armor, but later, after I had a chance to refresh my brain. I''d get bamboozled right now. Exhaustion, might be why I got my ass handed to me by those crafty merchants. For now, it was time to head south and find a hotel. Something nice and quiet, somewhere out of the way.


    As I got up to head back to the Galena, the sheer amount of advertisements everywhere around me harshly intruded on my attention. There were ads everywhere; on screens, on holos, on billboards, and posters. Most of them featured sex, in all the most glorious and profane ways of fucking humanity. Which in and of itself, didn''t bother me too much, after all, most people are interested in hanky panky, of one type or another. I was worried a little about all the kids who had to be seeing this slop all the time.


    Blah, when you cut it to the bone, most of what was twisting me up, was that I felt horribly alone. Isolated. Throwing sex in your face when you felt lonely sucked. It made you feel even more cut off from others. Look at all these hot people, having all that great sex, didn''t you wish that was you? Add the backdrop of the dreary concrete jungle all around you, and every ad just sapped more of your soul.


    This was all on purpose wasn''t it?


    Shit, I really needed a girlfriend, an "output" I think it was called. Or maybe the term was "Mainline" for something more serious. Sure, I''ll keep an eye out for a good woman, perhaps thenI''d be more resistant to this soul draining mess.


    My wandering thoughts kept me focused inwards, until I was once again behind the wheel of my car. Driving on the highway, almost free of crazy motorists at this hour, worked its magic on me and my tension started to fall away. This was a welcome moment, that I maybe drug out longer than I had to, but a little peace of mind was never a waste.


    Down in a section of the city called Heywood, I found a Hotel tucked away deep in some sketchy back roads. The El Gato que R¨ªe. It looked like it had recently been rebuilt. From what disaster, I didn''t dare begin to guess. The building was 20 floors of clean brick and newly painted accents. Nothing about the way it looked would have lead you to believe it was a Hotel. Which is what caught my attention in the first place. They likely didn''t have too many folks staying there, that didn''t already know about the place.


    I left Scuff to watch the car, while Fix accompanied me to play bodyguard. I examined all the graffiti in the neighborhood, some of which I''d call Streetart, while walking over to the building. Hispanic influenced culture was everywhere in this part of the city. no sign of the Maelstrom anywhere nearby. Perfect.


    Sadly, I didn''t speak a word of Spanish. Always meant to learn, just never found the time. Still, the nice Lady at the desk didn''t seem to mind, as she chattered at me in Spanish, while I paid for my room key card. It seemed to be a hundred for a day. At least I thought it was, she was talking so fast. I had the feeling that even if I did speak the language, she''d be hard to follow. I just smiled at her and tried to look attentive.


    Giving her a once over, showed that her arms were chrome. They were done up with gold plating and her overly unblemished skin was covered in intricate tattoos. I thought she might have said that her name was Rosita. Her dark hair, probably also some kind of augment, bounced a lot. It especially wobbled a lot when she moved her head in a synced rhythm with her speech.


    She appeared to like the sound of my name and kept rolling the r like she found it highly amusing. To be fair, she could have been saying the most vile shit to me, and I wouldn''t have had a clue. But her demeaner was friendly and cheerful. Interesting side note she could see Fix, but I had a feeling that was because their stealth wouldn''t work during the day.


    When I finally got into my room it was about 7:30 AM. The room was nothing special, by my standards, and looked like dozens of other hotel rooms I had throughout my life, other than the tech. Fix immediately started scanning everything, that even remotely looked like it might be electronic.


    I tried to take a shower but it wouldn''t start. You had to pay, I finally noticed the sign on the sidewall after a couple of frustrating minutes. Not having much choice I did my best with the sink, and a wash cloth. The sink also cut off after a few minutes of use. Fucking hell. I finished up awkwardly, before walking back towards the bed.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Feeling minimally better, I laid down and was off to dreamland in seconds.


    Getting up was a struggle, hundreds of little aches and pains trying to weight me back down. There was still sunlight peering around the edges of the steel shutters. A small readout near the bed, showed the temp 102F / 39C. The date was 3/21/2074 and the time read 4:41PM. That seemed unreasonably hot for March, in California, especially by the coast. Though maybe that''s normal for here and now.


    I wanted to brush my teeth really badly, argh. It was a mess in there. I''d have to remember to grab some toiletries and other necessities later. I tried a quick cast of Regrowth, which while helping with the soreness, didn''t do a thing to fight plaque. I had to resort to scrubbing at my teeth with a clean hand towel. It wasn''t perfect, but it did cut the fuzzy feeling on my teeth down.


    I checked out, Fix trailing along behind me, and told Rosita that I''d be happy to stay again sometime. I knew she could understand me. Now that I had slept, I remembered that Sinnamin had told me that the Net implant could translate language in real time. She said a bunch, her head bobbing everywhere. I actually felt bad that I didn''t understand a word of it. Her smile at least, was a bright point to start the day with.


    When we got to the car, Scuff reported that nothing had happened on his watch. We loaded up and headed out.


    I drove around aimlessly, just taking in the sites in this part of the city. I avoided going too much farther south. Sinnamin had warned me about places called Pacifica and Dogtown down that way.


    I decide to fill up at a CHOOH2 station, which also had a setup like a convenience store. The Burning Grass, a chain store it seemed. I got the sense that the name was a joke that I didn''t get yet. They were open 24/7 and had four active gun turrets hanging from the pump area''s awning, they tracked my car when I had pulled in. Soon a bot came out and pumped the fuel. The bot seemed like an evolution of the Boston Dynamics line of humanoid work bots. It should also be noted that the bot was armed.


    Scuff and Fix were scanning everything they could, while staying attached to the car. None of us wanted a misunderstanding with the turrets. I got out and walked over to the sales shack. I noticed only one of the turrets track my movements. I got a Cirrus Cola and a XXL burrito, which was disappointingly small. The Bot behind the counter handed me my order and took a few of my bills. Once the bot pumping gas was finished, it gave me back my change. I blanched a little at the prices. Whew, I guess I was just going to have to get used to the cost of living here.


    The cola was meh, and the burrito was aggressively mediocre. Truly it was a mass of almost tasteless mush. Still had Buck A Slice beat though.


    I walked back to my car keeping one eye on the turrets and the other on the bots. I didn''t feel secure again until we were a few hundred yards down the road.


    Next it was time to find a weapon store. I wanted to get a holster rigged up for my Omaha, get some range practice and buy some freaking armor. It wasn''t as hard as I thought it would be gun stores were literally everywhere. I found one called the Reach Out and Touch Someone Shop. Stopping there, I got a nice new armored vest and layered an armored trench coat over it. Not too heavy, but the clerk said it should stop most rounds that I''d meet on the streets. I also purchased a nice gun belt and holster with a couple of hours of range time.


    [Adjusting...]


    [ Militech Trench Coat with Bullet Resistant Triweave


    Armor: 3 ]


    [ Norco Armored Vest with Polycarbonate Plating


    Armor: 4 ]


    Oh man, that was fun! I had a grand old time blasting away at a large variety of targets. I even got to try the moving target trial. I didn''t do so hot, but I did gain a little something for my efforts.


    [ Firearms skill has increased to Rank 2 ]


    It was around 8:30PM when I left the Reach Out and Touch Someone Shop and the balmy night was young. When checking my funds, I saw I was down to $10,456 after my earlier purchases.


    As I was walking to my car, I saw a man across the street by what I would have said was an abandoned building. Nothing usual except he was wearing a holographic mask. According to Sinnamin''s lectures he matched the description of a Scav. Like the ''Strom, they were bad folks that like to cut people up and take their bits. Also like the Maelstrom they wouldn''t be missed. In fact, she had made clearing out Scavs sound like a public service.


    With the dark the Probes were once again protected by stealth. It made it less troublesome for Fix to track him back to his source. Scuff and I followed at a more leisurely pace with the car. Turned out that the Probes could keep track of each over quite a distance. So we didn''t have to stay too close to the target. This was a great time for testing things like this. We were under no major pressures right at that moment and if we lost track of the Scav we weren''t set back at all.


    Later, Fix had back tracked to us. He had discovered the location of the base. It was in a very rundown area. I''d label it, urban blight incarnate. Unsurprisingly, It was there that I saw my first living rat of this world. The stunted critter had been twisted up, whether through some deliberate action or an accident, I couldn''t say. I threw a Regrowth on it out of pity, and shockingly it died immediately. The sheer relief from its agony, caused it to go into stress induced cardiac arrest. That raised all kinds of bothersome questions. I might have been able to save it, if I had even considered that healing it fast might not be the best way.


    The stench of this zone was pervasive and nauseating. The few people still outside were homeless and feral looking. Or they were moving at a brisk pace to get out of here. The building Fix indicated was maybe thirty stories tall, though half of it was looked like it had been recently bombed. Rubble mixed freely with the ubiquitous trash piles. The people, even the hard-bitten looking ones avoided the place, which ironically was a good sign for our purposes.


    The plan was simple the Probes go in, and kill the strongest or best equipped Scavs first. Taking them out as quickly and quietly as possible and then driving the rest of them towards the entrance, where I would shoot them as they came out.


    I posted up in a recessed hollow in the rubble, hoping I wouldn''t be easily spotted. Scuff and Fix quickly vanished into the building. Several minutes later, I heard the sound of combat coming from above. I had started to sweat, even though I was feeling some chills. People began to run out of the building, but none of them had a mask on so I let them go, I didn''t want to "zero" a non-Scav by mistake.


    Then my first customer of the night showed up. He never even noticed me as I took careful aim and drilled him right through the temple, at point blank range. Some of the other folks, who were milling about trying to figure out what the hell was going on, screamed and ran further away.


    Two more Scavs came out. They saw their comrade, they said something in a language I didn''t understand, but thought was Slavic in origin. When they crouched down over their comrade, I thought they were trying to help him. Turned out that they were stealing his weapon, shards and money. My eyes narrowed in disgust, and I put a bullet in the back of each of their heads. Fucking Scum.


    After another ten minutes, all of the sounds of fighting in the building had stopped. The Probes beeped loudly from the upper windows, trying to get my attention. They seemed particularly excited. I waved up at them in acknowledgement, but I stripped everything off the three corpses down here. I figured if I left the loot out in the open, someone might come along and help themselves. I threw everything into the trunk, without really examining it now. I''d sort it later.


    Now it was time to see what the Probes had found.

 Chapter 13 (Disturbing Content)

    The only elevator I could find was broken. Because of course it was.


    I trudged up one of the concrete staircases. Desperately trying and failing to ignore the trash and debris. How could you not at least remove the filth? Were the people that lived so lost to  anguish that they truly didn''t care? How could you help people like that find hope again? How do you instill them with a sense of purpose and personal pride again? I didn''t know, but I had a feeling that one day it would be of vital importance.


    Fix met me at the 12th floor''s entryway. Two still smoking corpses filled the doorway. I chucked their corpses to the side after stripping them of anything unburnt. I had to vomit, thanks to the the smell, and as realization of what we were doing hit me, my gorge rose again. While they were, according to my information, just as despicable as the ''Strom, the Scavs didn''t look as inhuman. Hell, most of them I had looted so far barely had any cyberware. I guess it was easier to sympathize with folks that still looked human.


    The Scavs had taken over the entire floor. On this side of the building by the stairs, the majority of the rooms were more or less intact. The Scavs had been sleeping in these rooms, and doing less pleasant things. The smell of human excrement always hits me hard. That was why despite finishing the plumbing course in trade school, I didn''t even try to become a plumber. I simply saw it as a skill worth knowing, and hoped I''d never have to use it. It seemed that I wouldn''t get to keep anything in my stomach today. Oh well, that XXL burrito wasn''t worth trying to keep down.


    I found no less than three makeshift "operating" rooms, deeper into the core of this floor. The amount of blood and viscera resembled an abattoir. Fresh blood and gore had been added from where the Scavs had joined their victims. Good job guys, I mentally cheered Fix and Scuff. I gave them both a thumbs up.


    Correction, there were four rooms where the Scavs had been entertaining "guests". In the fourth room, I found the remains of a young woman still laid out on the surgeon''s table. Her chest cavity had been opened up, in a gruesome display. I was no doctor, but even I could tell that several of the organs necessary to maintain life were missing. I examined the room, I couldn''t really internalize everything I was witnessing, so I kept the details to simple facts. The instruments spread around the table, were all crude. They also looked like like they had never once been cleaned.


    As I was about to continue cataloging the horrors of this macabre theatre, the woman''s corpse made a noise. I didn''t even pause at the awful sound, I leapt to her side and began trying to pour mana into her. Regrowth spread throughout her flesh and for one tiny moment I was connected with her. I felt that last gasp of life flee her broke form, the moment when death claimed her. For several minutes, I kept trying to save someone that was already gone. When the reality of the situation set in, my mind went blank.


    Scuff and Fix hovered nearby. It was an odd moment where Robots were trying to offer me emotional support. That more than anything, let me return from that terrible cold place, my thoughts were trapped in.


    Of course, then began the cycle of self-recriminations. If only, I had noticed she that still had some life left in her sooner, maybe I could have saved her. If only, my mana shaping had been better. If only, I knew more spells. If only, if only. Then the painful questions began. Had she been in love? Did she have a family? Would her friends miss her? What projects had she started that she would never be able to finished? I knew it was likely impossible to answer those questions, but they rolled around in my head anyway.


    While I wasn''t crying, something inside me was breaking down. I honestly wished I were bawling my head off. It would have been a healthier way to deal with the pressure, to deal with feeling all of this anguish.


    None of this made any sense to me, my impression from Sinnamin had been that they cut people apart for their organs. To sell on the black market. A terrible act, as I could see in front of me. Definitely worthy of a bullet or three to the brainpan. If the young lady, whose name I make never know, could only speak, she might have told me that the situation was much more traumatizing than that.


    I finally managed to gather myself and began to once again search the floor. I certainly found many organs in refrigeration units haphazardly place around the walls. My throat burned from upwelling acid as the sight of bodies discarded in haphazard heaps, imprinted itself deep in my psyche. Throw in side rooms, that were so dark I couldn''t make out too many details. That''s for the best I''m sure.


    I choked back another round of vomit, and tried to figured out what the Scavs were after. All of this slaughter, just for money? I couldn''t accept that. I''ve never been great at judging the motivations of others, but all of this seemed to be needless. There had to be be better ways to make money available.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    I had to clean the results of the Probes'' assault off the refrigeration unit''s glass doors in quite a few places. My now empty eyes peered into cases trying to comprehend. Mostly the stolen organs were kidneys, hearts, eyes and lungs. They had been preserved in jars, submerged in unknown fluids, and kept at temperatures just shy of freezing. I could feel a rage brewing, drowning out the hollowed out places inside me. The anger burned bright and hot, knowing that normal everyday folks had been reduced to this. The ones that were obviously from children, stoked the inner blaze the most, messing with children was always the most heinous of crimes.


    Yet the organs were an afterthought. That was the only conclusion I could draw from the sloppy extraction methods and poor packing techniques. Most of these organs probably wouldn''t be worth a damn. They certainly wouldn''t survive transport. This tragedy was all wasted effort and a severe waste of life. What was the point?


    Then I discovered reality of what they were after. The offending materials were stacked neatly in crates filled with thick foam and advanced shipping materials. The precision of storage and the care taken to clean and maintain the integrity of the goods painted a stark contrast to the treatment of the organs. The only filth present, being the remains of the Scavs splattered everywhere in their last ditch effort to defend their cache to the bitter end.


    Cyberware. It was all cyberware. "Chrome."


    People slaughtered like livestock for bits of chrome. Metal valued over flesh. This was an abomination. That was the only word I could think of, to describe what this act felt like to me. The spark of life snuffed out just to steal the false animation of metal. I could sense that my world view had begun to shift. My rage crashed into me. All of my earlier sympathy for the Scavs, that Scuff and Fix flatlined felt wasted. Anyone who could do this didn''t deserve to suck the same air as me. They didn''t deserve to be counted as human at all.


    I was shocked by both the amount and the shear variety of parts. This group of Scavs must have been operating in this area for a long time. Giving the crate a cursory once over, showed me thousands of units of cyberware. I had little clue what any of them were for, other than the limb replacements. I growled at the thoughts of how each part must have been extracted. How much pain was inflicted in the gathering of these materials.


    How was I better? A stray thought whispered. It was that bitter part of me still upset that I couldn''t save the young lady. My answer began in halting bursts, Target selection? Intent? Purpose? Morals? This kind of self-recrimination was nothing new to me. All the time I questioned whether I made the right call not going to college. Every time I wondered what I had done wrong in trying to get a date. Yet never had I faced anything with this level of grim weight. Parts of me, hollowed out earlier, crumbled away. This left only the strongest parts of my myself to rebuild with.


    I knew I could have fallen into the trap of endlessly questioning myself, but that''s what it really was, a trap. Think too much and fail to act. Act without thought and commit atrocities. It was an endless circle.


    That bitter part of my old self threw out a final thought, that I was just as bad because I did all of this, and that''s the sort of thing the objectively bad people do. I growled, "Bullshit." Fuck that. I''m not going to waste the time constantly justifying my actions here and now. I''d never get anything done. Then I sneered at that part of myself. "Some people need killing. Some people need saving. In the end it''s all just people needing." If anyone had a problem with that, even my own subconscious, they could suck it.


    Chuckling at the ridiculousness of my own two-bit philosophy. My resolve settled, and I started looting once more. 15 dead Scavs, not counting the two by the door. So twenty Scavs had been here? Unless someone had gotten away. They had possess almost $12,000 in script, dozens of crappy weapons, and other small things to sell. My assumption was most of it was from the victims, especially anything that was actually valuable. That soured my thoughts, but they couldn''t use it anymore. I''d  have to attempt to be worthy.


    I couldn''t do anything with the organs and I simply didn''t have room in the Galena for all of the cyberware. Luckily, one of the Scavs had a fob for a car. Maybe it would be big enough. I checked it out. It was indeed.


    [ Mahir Supron FS3


    Model: Basic


    Fuel Type: CHOOH2 formula Delta


    Top speed: 135


    Weight: 2,690


    Horsepower: 108 ]


    It was a boxy piece of junk. It was poorly made, and had been poorly maintained. However with the back seats down, I could fit maybe four crates of cyberware in there. That made it the vehicle I needed right now. when Scuff and Fix scanned it, I could feel their contempt. My little Robo-Buddies were getting cocky, but they deserved it. They had performed, above and beyond expectations.


    In a way, I was happy they were acting up. They had been subdued. I guess they didn''t like what they scanned in there, or maybe they didn''t like how those events had affected me. "It''s okay guys, I''ll be fine. We''ll be okay. You were awesome and I''m glad you were here. I couldn''t have done this without you." They gave me doubtful, half-hearted beeps. Those beeps mirrored my thoughts as I tried to convince myself it was true.


    I didn''t want to leave the Galena behind. Though as I understood it, once I was chipped I could call my baby to me with the fob. I nodded, my plan had been formed.


    I loaded everything I could pack into the minivan. I was officially and thoroughly over going up and down stairs, while carrying heavy things. Oddly enough, the manual labor helped to clear my head. The soreness burning in my muscle banished my doubts, at least for the moment.


    Scuff and Fix found adequate attachment points on the roof of the van.


    I tried to calm myself as I headed towards Misty''s.

 Chapter 14

    Despite the crowds still going strong, I made it to Vik''s clinic without incident.


    With everything I''s just seen, I was feeling terrified. How would installing this tech change me? Would I someday become like the Maelstrom, addicted to the next upgrade. Or would my soul bleed away until I was capable of the same horrors as the Scavs?


    A grinning Misty waved me through, and I flashed her a nervous smile. I spent a brief moment petting the cat on the way to the clinic. I needed the distraction to calm my jitters.


    The Doc greeted me with a grunt. I halfheartedly returned it.


    "You ready to get Chipped?" He took in my appearance and frowned.


    "A bit of ''biz'' first. I just raided a Scav base, and I picked up a few things you might want. I''ll bring it around to the back door." The idea of how to dispose of all the klepped chrome, came to me on the drive over.


    The Doc''s eyebrows crawled up his face, then understanding danced in his eyes. Soon the knowing look became one of concern.


    "Okay, let''s see whatcha got." A few minutes later he was looking through the crates. He whistled. "Ryan, I can''t afford all this. A few pieces sure, but that''d only be half of one of these boxes." He was frowning, troubled. "Some of this is really high end."


    "No!" That word came out more forcefully than I intended. I stopped myself, then took a deep breath and plunged ahead. My hands started moving on their own. The wild gestures emphasizing each word. "Sorry Doc I can''t take money for these, not after what I saw. These are yours, sell the best of it to some rich gonks, give big discounts to the people who need some help. I don''t know what''s best here, but yeah I can''t take your money for this." I was shaking my head like a crazy person. I couldn''t quite bring myself to say that there was too much blood shed over these bits of chrome.


    "I see. Yeah, I can do some good with these." Doc nodded, his doubts resolved. It appeared he got it. He gripped my shoulder, "The Scav haunt really got to you, huh? They do that. Too many newly chipped kids think of them as easy marks, they come out scarred in more ways than one."


    "I don''t understand how people can do that, become that twisted." I growled, "No, I can see it, but I''d like to think I wouldn''t sink that low." I snarled a bit there. I looked over at the operating chair. Trying to refocus. "I know it''s part of life here. I know people think of chrome as normal. But I''m not there yet. I might never be." I punched my left hand with my right, trying to keep tears from building in my eyes. "They treated peoples'' flesh as less important than the chrome. As if that was the only part of folks that mattered. That hit me hard."


    I ground my teeth. Pulling back the reins a bit. I sigh, attempting to expel all the fucked up baggage I''d picked up.


    Doc nodded, "It''s a hard world out there. Chrome helps folks feel safe, let''s them feel like they matter. It gives them a chance to be more." He went through it slow. He gave my shoulder a pat.


    "More what?" I was actually curious how he''d respond.


    "That''s the question, isn''t it?" He chuckled. After a second to process, I snorted and gave a chuckle of my own.


    "Maybe too heavy for a second meeting, huh?" Feeling a bit foolish. Splitting my guts out to a total stranger was the height of stupidity.


    "Sure, but you needed to vent and I got an ear." He grinned pointing to his left ear, "It''s a chrome one though." That got a laugh out of me. I shut the metal gate and we walked over to the chair.


    "So how''s this work, Doc?" I was feeling far more optimistic about this. I realized that the Doc was actually trustworthy.


    "Normally it''s a quick procedure, and you''d be awake so we can do some tweaks as needed." Then he waved his hand back and forth, "However, you being Ganic and all, I''m going to have to put you out. Then it will take an hour or so for the auto-surgeon to set up the neural interface. The chip ports and the optic sockets will go much quicker. We then bring you back awake to test connections. I''ll run you through the software setup and then you''ll be good to go."


    "Sounds dope." Still excited about all this.


    "Huh?" The Doc sounded lost. It took me a second to realize why.


    "Oh, sounds, ah... preem." I hopped up into the chair while handing the $20000 in bills over. "Let''s do this." Before I could change my mind.


    His exo-frame surgeon''s arm made some really interesting clacking noises. A few seconds after that, I felt a pinch as I heard him say, "Light''s Out."


    I came to. A beeping noise kept repeating next to me, so I glanced over to see a monitor. Couldn''t make heads or tails out of what it was showing though. My head was groggy, like a night of too much whiskey. Without the headache though. Laying there gathering my thoughts, I wondered if everything went okay. I didn''t sense any differences, yet. I reached up and gently rubbed my slightly gritty feeling eyes. Ah, they felt much firmer. My fingers crawled around to the sides of my head, there were three rectangular holes behind my left ear. A set of three concentric metallic rings behind my right ear. Soo, I''m "chipped" now. I hoped it was worth it. I spent a few more seconds tracing the chip ports and then staring at my hands to see if I saw in more detail now. Yeah, a little bit. Nothing too amazing.


    The curtain surrounding the bed I was resting in was abruptly pulled back and the blazing white light stabbed into my eyes.


    "Sorry, bet that stung." Doc rumbled. "The surgery went well, though it took an extra hour to map your brain. It''s an odd one. You have some dense clusters of nerves in your frontal cortex I''ve never seen before. A few other strange quirks as well. The implantation went great and everything seems to be smooth sailing. How are your optics doing? Any blurriness, or photosensitivity?"


    "Nah, Doc. Everything looks great." I tried sitting up. I only wobbled a bit. I rolled my shoulders, eager to start moving again.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    "Alright, let''s go through the setup and settings for everything... "


    It only took twenty minutes to get everything sorted out. Now that they were off safe mode, my new eyes were a marvel. They could zoom in, both for distance and scale. They supposedly had other features like explosive detection, flare protection and more, but there wasn''t a good way to test them here. My simplified interface allowed me to connect to the electronics around the room, which I fiddled with maybe a bit too much. Turning on and off the lights and the radio. It was extremely intuitive, I was more than a little shocked that it was so easy.


    My new chip ports came with a currently empty encrypted cred chip. Making it less likely some random netrunner could just siphon my electronic funds willy-nilly. Best of all, these systems all worked together to give me an active readout of personal data straight to my eyes. That was so cool. Maybe game-like feature weren''t so bad.


    The Doc had thrown in a few bits of software as thanks, a NCPD Scanner to see who was a ne''er do well, a security suite with some currently up to date and potent ICE, and even the advanced version of a targeting system, to aid in aiming. Most of target system''s features needed the additional chrome on the hands, like a ballistics coprocessor to really shine, but the targeting reticule that it rocked was already awesome.


    He gave me a inhaler, and I took a hit now. It cause a few odd sensations, like the tingling in my lungs and a moment of my blood heating up. He told me I''d need a few more hourly puffs over the next five hours. What it contained was a mass of antibiotics and antirejection drugs to help my body adapt.


    I thanked him for everything. Then left, making sure to say good-bye to Misty on the way to my van.


    I called the Galena to me, and left the van in a parking lot near Misty''s. It''d be as safe there as anywhere else right now.


    The Probes were a little more cheery. They scanned my new cyberware with what I took to be amusement. Beep, beep, "Executor has new parts." Scuff said to Fix, who responded, "He feels better now, we can see his thoughts more clearly." They wobbled and danced around me. "Hey!" Mildly annoyed by their antics. But it didn''t last, I couldn''t be upset with my Robo-Buddies. They both gave out a rapid series of beeps that I figured for laughter.


    After a another visit at Lizzie''s to get another "Information Special" from Sinnamin, I had the detes of the Faceman she knew. Carver, yeah just Carver.


    While I was there, I also got Sinn''s story. Found out why she was so different from the other Moxes. She had been inducted to the Animals when she was young, so young in fact I had to take a few calming breaths because righteous anger nearly overwhelmed me. She described their casual brutality, and the "Dominance Plays" that were a common part of their gang behavior.


    Sigh. I really was starting to hate ALL the gangs. Her pack, as she called it, was raiding a Corpo shipment. She didn''t even remember whose convoy it was. Probably didn''t care at the time, to her it was just another chance to fight. To prove her worth. To carver out her place in the pack.


    In that fight, she got dropped. Then after taking a few more losses, her pack scattered. She faded out, sure she was flatlining. She came to later while being splayed out on a Scav''s table. They were already elbows deep into her guts. Trying to pull her biomodded glands out.


    Then Rita, and some of the other Moxes, came through while searching for some of their own missing girls. Sinn felt she owed them and then joined the Mox. Still, she really hated dancing, and wanted to be out smashing skulls. I choked back laughter at the awkward look on her face and wished her luck with that.


    Everybody''s got a story. I was starting to understand that everyone''s story mattered. Every tale folks told was a new opportunity to learn.


    I setup a meeting with Carver for the next day. A simple get together at a place called Tom''s Diner.


    After spending the a few hours sleeping back at the El Gato que R¨ªe, I arrived at the dinner early. I took the time to have a very mediocre burger. Mostly that same off flavor that all the meat here seemed to possess. The fries were okay though. Doubtful they were real potatoes, but starch was starch, right? My waiting bought me nothing, I got stiffed. I waited around a couple of hours. I even ordered a disappointing milkshake adjacent thing, to not just take up space. Realizing that it didn''t matter, I left.


    I got a call almost immediately. "Alright, now that we''ve had a look at you, what kind of work are you looking for?" The voice was empty soulless. Likely artificial, also it was different from the voice that had arranged the meetup.


    "Mostly wetwork for right now. I have some drones I''m testing." I didn''t really want to kill folks, but I figure that they mostly need gangers removed.


    "A Techie, okay." I had to hold back a snort. "I''ve got a good starting job for you, a group of gang wannabes bothering a peaceful neighborhood. Put them down, and send a message. Detes attached." The line closed.


    The info I was given was for a relatively new development to the north west of the Northside Industrial District. It was called New Town, or the Three Corp Zone.


    I spent a little time doing some research of my own. The local Net data said the zone was a joint venture by three of the mid-tier Corps. Ganthrope, Hallsback, and Riener. The handled Educational Materials, Software Development for NET architecture, and Robotics Research, respectively. The district was centered on their new headquarter buildings. Three tall skyscrapers twisting around each other, forming a bizarre helix. While smaller than the buildings of the City Center area, they were still quite impressive. However, looking at the pictures on the NET, I was sure that there was no way that could actually work. Then again, the Megabuildings I''d already seen defied my understanding of physics, so why not these?


    While the current construction on these crazy towers was still being completed. The housing and business zones had long since been finished, and were already occupied and functioning as intended.


    Now the supposed gangers were trying to hustle in on the local folks. My job was simple, find the gonks and zero them. There didn''t seem to be that many of them and they mostly hung out at one house, that they had, "liberated".


    I slid into the Galena and headed that way. I played with the radio a bit and found a station playing something called Mixed Genre Hardcore. Heavy deep rolling beats, that was good enough for me. The music helped clear my head and get me psyched up at the same time.


    I left the North Industrial District and was surprised by what I found out. In the distance New Town looked almost nice, even by my old world''s standards. It had the feel of a college town. There was a vibrant energy in the air.


    The road I was on merged into a broad six lane highway leading into New Town. First I found myself in the business section. Shops, Restaurants, so on and so forth. Everything was so clean and new, it served as a vision of what Night City might have looked like, once upon a time. I saw NCPD patrolling, and order seemed to be well maintained.


    Hmm. How did a Gang, especially some simple wannabes get into this zone? Why hadn''t the cops dealt with them?


    The whole time I''m headed down that main thoroughfare the almost finished central Skyscrapers loomed over everything. I hadn''t noticed it at first but not one other building was over five stories. This shifted the whole feeling of the place into more of a vanity project for those Corpos'' Board members.


    Once I had passed around the TriCorp Plaza, I hit the residential areas. They were for the most part, very snazzy apartments. Though the occasional walled and gated Mansion could be seen, here and there. I found my turn off and zipped through the narrower road of the neighborhoods until I got to the address listed as the gang''s hangout.


    Ah, that was why the cops hadn''t charged in. The assholes had taken over a Mansion. A Mansion, guarded by turrets, bots and drones. Not many, but enough to be a problem.


    Whew, this was maybe too much for one guy. Then I shrugged it off, I had the Probes. We''d do it slow and steady.


    I parked up the street by an empty lot, and we had a few hours till dark. So we''d settle in and observed who went in and out of the place.


    Fuck, I hated waiting.

 Chapter 15

    As the day went on, one thing became certain. These kids were NOT gangers. Wannabe or otherwise. They seemed more like the trust fund, frat and sorority type of crowd. They didn''t seem to be bothering anyone. Hell, they didn''t even bother me. I was an obviously out of place poor guy, with a shitty car. They had left me alone when they''d made a supply run earlier. Sure, I was armed and armored but when has that ever stopped people with this level of wealth.


    What the hell was this? I had a bad feeling about this.


    I sent a text to Carver. Targets observed, no gang behavior or activity. Upper crust. Verify job parameters. I sent along a few pics of the kids. I started to put together ideas about what might be going on.


    Half an hour later, I got the reply. Confirmed, eliminate all targets. Other factors irrelevant. Yeah, that was about what I expected.


    "Shit." I whispered to myself. Why would they want me to kill a bunch of rich kids, that weren''t causing any trouble? Sure, I got why they wanted ME to do it. I was a nobody, an unknown. That made me an excellent cutout. If I did this, someone will kill me for it, one way or another. Whether it would be Carver to tie up loose ends, or the kids'' parents for revenge. The who didn''t matter from my perspective, I wasn''t getting out of this easy.


    Turn it around, who benefitted? Another Corp maybe, rivals of the kids'' parents? Or was one of the kids a wunderkind that was feared for what they could do. I kept mulling it over, really thinking how I felt about this, and how I could get out of this myself.


    I had kind of just went with the flow and tried to do things the way people here did them. Now I could that wasn''t going to work, everything here was designed to chew you up. No, I needed another way. Yeah, I wasn''t going to be played like this. I certainly wasn''t going to zero a bunch of college aged kids, for unknown reasons.


    Getting involved with fixers had been a mistake. Or at least trying to work with Carver was. Thankfully, I''d left Sinnamin''s name out of it. So, I could just walk away. Go back to base, come back with a small army. Dig Carver up and put him down for messing with me. Then maybe the next fixer wouldn''t try to fuck with me.


    But first, I was going to throw a monkey wrench into the works of this job. I stalked over to the Mansion with Fix and Scuff flanking me. Dusk was falling and their party was just getting started. I looked around to see if I was being watched. If I was, I couldn''t spot them. But it''s not like I had any training for these things. Probably best to assume somebody was going to know what was about to happen.


    The Probes were already in stealth mode. Already scanning the area for danger.


    At the mansion''s gates, I saw a vid screen so I pushed the button. A second later, a well put together young guy with a huge smile appeared on the screen. "Hey you here for the...No, I guess you aren''t." His smile faded, he took in my grim face and my gear and started making some calculations. Smarter than I would have guessed, or more intuitive.


    "I''d like to speak with the head of the house, please." Best to keep this simple and straight forward.


    "I''m him, at least for now." A more stern expression was creasing his features. He didn''t like the way I looked and he was trying to figure out what to do about it.


    "I''d like your contact info. I have some detes that are vital to your safety and I don''t want to stick around any longer than I have to." Come on, just say yes kid.


    "That doesn''t sound like a good idea. In fact, I think you should leave." He was frowning now. He was signaling someone offscreen. I noticed some of the bots were headed this way. a few of the nearby turrets turn to track me. Fuck.


    "Alright, I tried to help you. My conscience is clear. Have a good life. However, short it''s going to be." I spun on my heels and jogged back to the Galena. I hopped in, and felt the Probes thunk into the roof a second later. I took off. I got back to the main street as fast as I could. Soon enough, I''d left New Town with a bitter taste in my mouth. The next person they send, isn''t likely to care as much as I did. It was going to be a big fucking mess.


    Nope, I put it away, it wasn''t my problem anymore.


    When I got to the Northside Industrial District I headed south, staying on the eastern most side of the city. I blazed through Japantown and Charter Hills. I turned eastward and headed for the Valley. Time to lay low for a while.


    Roughly fifteen minutes later, I decided to stop at the Sunset Motel. It was busy, and maybe not the smartest idea to stop right now, but I wanted to call my van out here. Maybe have a drink, and think for a while.


    I left the Probes to wander around near the vehicles. I spent a moment to check out some of the sweet rides. All of them were dirty sure, but well maintained, and heavily modded. These people loved their cars, which meant we had something in common. So maybe they wouldn''t be major assholes. Or they''d be my kind of asshole.


    I saw some folks outside lounging around with drinks and laughing. I got a few nods as I came through, and I returned them. So far, so good. Even if trouble was right on my tail, they probably wouldn''t start shit off with all the iron I saw around here.


    In the barroom, it was a party. With loud, almost country, music blaring away. People dancing and playing cards. Just having a good time. Lively without being overwhelming. I saw Greg behind the counter and another smaller guy, ah... probably Noah, I think Greg said that was the guy he worked for.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Greg caught sight of me, "Heya Ryan, ya picked a good night to drop by. Whatcha havin''?" He pointed at a seat at the bar that was unoccupied. I paused for a moment before sitting down, making sure to turn enough to kept an eye on the door.


    "A whiskey, neat. How''s biz, Greg?" Smiling a bit. It''s nice to be remembered.


    "Biz is nova! Two Clans just had a good haul, made some connections. These guys were on the way back to their camp and decided to have some fun. How''d NC treat you?" He leaned forward a bit, "I can already see you got chipped. Must be a story to that."


    It was a dumb idea, but I gave him the rundown, anyway. At least I made sure to keep names out of it. He laughed when I told him about Lizzie''s, "Yeah them Mox girls are something, huh?" He got me a refill as I got to how I earned enough for my chrome. "Yeah, Strom left their human parts behind, and Scavs are pure scum. Ya did good." I was starting to loosen up, as I came to why I was heading home for a while. He sighed, "That''s the city for ya, a never endin'' game of who can backstab who the most."


    It was a hour later and I was on my fourth whiskey, "Shhoo, unlesh youu know a good fixher tha I can shell shome lumber ta, I got almosht nuthin'' outa thish." He understood me perfectly. Which made sense, he was used to dealing with inebriated people.


    "Well maybe, I could help ya out. Put in a word for ya with some folk I know. They ain''t friendly but they won''t screw ya without reason." Connections, it was all about cultivating connections.


    "Y-your a prrretty goood duude, Greg." Then I ordered a coffee, I had to bring myself back to even. But hey, it had been good to vent.


    Another coffee almost put me back to a fully functional state. Greg had returned to serving other customers, my need to yammer on sated for now. I watched the folks having fun, and it brought a smile to my face. I would have liked to join them, especially for a dance with one of the very  fine women. But I didn''t know them, and they didn''t know me. I knew better than to stick my nose into other''s business.


    I thought I did anyway. A few minutes later, Gunshots rang out. From the hollering I could make out that it was some kind of raid. The folks who just a moment before where all smiles and fun, turned hard real quick. They rushed out to help the folks in the parking lot.


    I heard terms like, "Raffen" and "Wraiths" neither of which meant anything to me. Maybe a different gang? I figured it be best to stay out of the way. Like I said they didn''t know me.


    Greg nodded at me, telling me I made the right call. "Best stay out of it. They''ll shoot anyone they don''t know right now."


    Yeah, that''s me I''m a mind my own business guy. The shooting was over pretty quick. Then I overheard the after fight chatter, "Sally''s been hit. We gotta get her to a doc." A guy''s voice, he sounded pissed off and scared.


    "Camp''s too far she''ll never make it." A gal''s voice struggling for calm.


    Fuck. The scene of them dancing just before was running through my head. I closed my eyes as I stood up. Internally calling myself every word for dumbass I could think of as I stepped outside. I sighed and called out, "I can help, maybe." I was going to regret this.


    "What? Who the fuck are you?" I felt a barrel pressed to my forehead. This was the panicked guy''s voice. Right now, all I could see was his pistol. Not a great way to start a relationship.


    "I. The. Fuck. Can. Help." I spat out clenching my teeth. I gave a slight headshake to the Probes as they suddenly set asshole here to a priority one target.


    "Lynx, calm down." This was the gal''s voice from earlier. I''d love to look over at her, but my world was full of iron. The gun slowly receded. I could see a short scruffy guy on the other end of that gun. His brown eyes spoke of all kinds of assholishness. I didn''t like him for some reason. Next to him was a woman, tough as nails said her gray eyes. She was older, maybe the leader.


    "Can you really help?" She asked, you could tell she was holding back hope. A solid head on this one.


    "I''ll have to look at her first, but I should be able to do something." I nodded. There was no reason Regrowth should be able to help someone that was still breathing.


    "Alright, see what you can do." They both moved aside. Sally turned out to have been one of the ladies I had my eye on earlier. A fine dancer. Let''s see if she would dance again. Right now, she was bleeding out, from a few chest wounds. Buckshot, maybe. even from here, I could tell her breathing was shallow and sounded way off. I''d need to check her lungs first.


    I moved as fast as I could, kneeling down next to her. I shaped a regrowth and channeled it while holding her head. I heard startled exclamations but tuned them out. I was already closing my eyes, and had no time to deal with it. Once the spell connected, I could feel the damage to her body. Her right lung was shredded, and collapsed. Fortunately her heart hadn''t been touched.


    There were dead zones, that I couldn''t feel, mostly her bones and her arms. Some parts of her major muscle groups. I figured out that these were cyberware and tried to work around them. The spell sunk deep into her, I directed the mana to wrap around her lung. Slowing putting it back together and even more slowly reflating it. Once it seemed fine, I checked over other areas. I found her stomach had been pierced and went to work on it.


    The best part of my Regrowth spell was that it was intuitive. I didn''t have to know anything about medicine for it to work. I just had to have enough mana, and enough concentration. When I finished her stomach, my mana ran out. I pried open my eyes. Sally was looking at me. Her blue eyes are quite pretty, don''t you think?


    "Hold still. I''m not sure that you don''t have more injures. Give me a moment to rest and I''ll check you over again." She nodded. Her eyes were wide, but not for the reason I first thought.


    "What was that? You some kind of Witch?" That was Lynx. I could hear him and his pistol behind me.


    "I don''t know anything about witches. This is just something I can do." Yeah not going to get into it with you, fuckwad. I have more important things to worry about. Like a pair of cornflower blue eyes.


    "Lynx, shut up. Leave him alone. He helped. We all saw it, and that buys him at least some peace. If not goodwill." I was starting to like this lady. I looked around to see a group of well traveled folks staring at me. Expressions ranged from fear to awe. But most seemed relieved that Sally was out for under the worst of it.


    "How long was that?" Blinking and rubbing my eyes. Oh, they don''t really dry out anymore do they? Chrome eyes for the win.


    "Well, stranger that was about an hour, but shouldn''t you know that?" She said while tapping by her right eye with her index finger. It took a second for me the realize what she meant. I could call up the time when ever I wanted.


    "Ah, yeah. My interface is new, and I''m not use to it yet. I''m Ryan by the way."


    "Well Ryan, I''m Amanda. You''ve helped us out and we Aldecaldos don''t forget that." She turned to her people, "Alright shows over, let''s get some rest. We can move Sally to her room, if we can get Ryan to stop petting her for a few minutes." Her voice carried notes of humor.


    "Huh?" I realized I''d never taken my hand off of Sally''s head. Worse I had unconsciously been stroking her hair just like I would a cat. I sputtered and then turned to look at Sally who was smiling at me. She looked over at Amanda.


    "Aww, does he have to? He''s really good at it." She croaked out. Yeah, I still had some work to do on her.


    They say laughter is the best medicine. I wouldn''t know, I was too busy trying to get the blood to stop rushing to my face.

 Chapter 16

    They gently carried Sally to a room. I followed, the stealthed Fix and Scuff hovering over head.


    The room wasn''t much, but it had a bed and a couple of chairs. The state of everything was rough, but at the moment, it seemed clean. I took a chair in the corner. I leaned back gathering more mana, it was taking a longer than I thought it should. Fix went to post up outside the window and Scuff went back to patrolling the parking lot and scanning vehicles.


    Most of the Aldecaldos spent a few minutes talking with Sally and Amanda before shuffling off to their rest. Some stayed alert and took up their own patrols of the area around the motel. I really wasn''t paying any attention to what they were saying, just letting my mind drift. Enjoying a moment of quiet.


    "I don''t trust him, who knows what that weird power of his really does. Maybe he put a charm on her, or a h-hex or something." Lynx was obviously my greatest ally. Haha.


    "She wasn''t going to make it. Now she''s stable that''s all that matters. Anything else can be dealt with. Later." Amanda with the dismissal. Lynx stomped off muttering.


    Amanda sat wearily in the other chair. "Soooo..." Ah, I know this one. "Buttons." I chuckled.


    "What?" She cocked her head at me.


    "Old Joke. You sew buttons. Heh." She frowned at me. Okay. Humor not working, switch tactics. "You want to know my deal, I get that. But I don''t know a lot about my "magic" either. Hell, I''ve barely started to put together where I am. I''ve already fucked up in the City. Soooo yeah." I shook my head. I plead mana deprivation, my head was feeling a bit loopy.


    "Just tell me what you can, maybe we can help. At least point you in the right direction." She sounded sincere. For the second time that night, I launched into a somewhat cut down version of my story so far. I gave her a little less than I told Greg, and I certainly kept out the otherworldly aspects. Still it seemed that my tale moved her, as much as anything could move that hard-bitten woman.


    "That sounds insane. If I hadn''t seen what you can do... If I hadn''t noticed those flashes of energy, I wouldn''t even entertain your story. As things stand, I think we can help. We know the badlands better than anyone. We can help you get around. We have our own networks of Fixers, maybe we can set you up. We are certainly willing to help with trading Lumber for a nice cut. Say 40%." She delivered that in a precise controlled cadence. She was an old hand at the art of the deal. But for once, I just didn''t have it in me to play the game.


    "Hmm. Yeah, I''m too tired and too lost to haggle. I agree." I thought I had enough mana built back up to give Sally another once over. I stood up and went to her resting my hand on her head again. I hadn''t realized it, but she''d been awake and watching us. She was listening in the whole time.


    "Warm." She smiled up at me. Her voice was smoothing out. That was a good sign. I dived with Regrowth and began searching for any other problems. She had a ton of damage to her hip joints and knees, and more than a few torn muscles. I poured mana into each issue in turn. Once again, I lost all sense of time, as I went to work on her.


    As I was coming out of my trance I heard, "You don''t understand. When he does it, it feels so good. Better than anything I''ve ever felt before." I cleared my throat. Both women glanced at me, I couldn''t read their expressions. Gun to my head, I''d say that Sally looked embarrassed and Amanda looked annoyed.


    "You ladies okay?" They both snorted at me.


    "My daughter here was telling me she wants to travel with you for a while. I told her it was a bad idea. Not talking you down, just think it be better to get to know you first." Ah, yeah she was annoyed. Wait a minute. What did she say...


    My brain stuck, "Daughter?" Sally looked somewhere between 20-25. Amanda, after accounting for a hard life, looked my age maybe a little older. Hey, at least I''d remembered to remove my hand from Sally''s head this time. Wow, that put the everything in an awkward light.


    "HA! A bit of vanity in my youth. I''m a lot older then I look." Amanda guffawed at me. She slapped her hip. Sally was also chuckling, "Yeah me and Mom don''t share much in the way of features, my looks take more after Dad''s. I got her winning personality though."


    "Uh, okay." Time to change the very uncomfortable subject, "I''ve done what I can, but you''ll need to get your cyberware checked over by a Ripperdoc. I can''t do anything about that. Go slow, but it''s time to test things out. We need to make sure I didn''t mess up anything. And for the record, I agree with your mom. We should get to know each other a little better before traveling together." I offered her a hand to help her get up. She took it, frowning. Her hand was smoother than I would have thought except where she had a gun link imbedded in it. Right, chrome arms.


    She went through a series of motions. The only thing off, seemed to be her right arm. It''d probably taken some buckshot when her lung did. Luckily it was a small hitch in her motion for now. Their Ripper could get it back up to speed back at their camp.


    "Nice. I''m going to head out. I''d like to feel safe before I crash out." I flicked them both my detes. I got theirs back. "I''ll be in touch in a couple of days, to setup an exchange for the lumber." I hoped that they weren''t full of shit about being able to help with that.


    "We be seeing you." Amanda said. "Real soon." Sally smirked as she waved.


    I left the room to see the sun just peeking over the mountains. Wait already, my sense of time had really been fucked over.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    I watched the dawn for a brief moment. Sunrise at the Sunset motel. I will never stop being amused by that.


    My eyes caught some of the Aldecaldos still keeping watch. Scuff and Fix had already attached themselves to the Galena. I got in and started it up. A quick thought brought the engine of the Mahir awake as well. I was going to have the van follow us.


    I drove out of the parking lot, thinking of tomorrow, and what might be.


    When I got to the turnoff for the broken road that ran alongside the canyon, I was feeling much better. Something was different already, there was a hint of humidity in the air. I could also sense an uptick in the mana flowing around us. Hmm, had the changes we made already...


    "I''ve plumb forgot to check in with Meadran, I''m such a dumbass." I almost facepalmed, but the cruddy road required both hands.


    ''Meadran, can you hear me?'' I hoped everything was alright. It''d be just my luck if things had gotten crazy back in the Valley while I was out of touch.


    ''Young One! We were starting to worry.'' A sense of relief. I could actually feel him place his worry to the back of his mind.


    ''I''m sorry, I let events get away from me. Night City is a crazy place. Every minute there, is a study in bullshit. I don''t know if that mess can be saved.'' I tried to share my impressions of that cesspit.


    ''I have faith you will find a way.'' There was sense of time passing. Roots growing deep and creating strong anchors.


    ''I''ll be back to base very soon, and after a nap we can go over everything in more detail.'' I was absolutely certain, he could feel my exhaustion.


    ''We await your return.'' It didn''t take long to get to the damaged bridge, where I had to stop.


    There were two new gouges in the earth. I got out to inspect them. These troughs were smooth walled and several feet deep. Small streams flowed through them, each of them radiating the distinctive scent of mana and moon energy. The outflow fell into the canyon below. I had the thought that one day it would became a lake or river, helping to spread our influence.


    I noticed a path of cobbled stone running between the new small canals. The Probes had done a lot of work.


    I took the time to park the Galena and the Van behind an outcrop closer to the mountain. I left Fix and Scuff to dig out emplacements for a couple of Photon Cannons. I didn''t want anyone to steal my wheels. Cheap though they may have been, they would be great for figuring out how differently mechanics function here. As they got to work, I trudged up the slope. The feel of moisture and more importantly mana in the air was continuing to work wonders for my stress.


    How often would I have to make this trip? Going back and forth between here and the city. Eventually, I would have access to Khalai aircraft then I could travel the skies in style. But not yet.


    The cave that lead through the mountain was now flanked. Not only by two brass grated outflow channels, but by a pair of Photon Cannons as well. A Pylon was imbedded into the rock above the entrance. I noticed the Psifield had been strengthened. Good we should be safer. I was looking forward to seeing all the changes that Meadran and Alina had made.


    Tons of work had been done in the caves, with many of the side passages having been expanded. Likely for mining, I pondered with a slightly greedy heart, what goodies they might have found.


    Once I exited the cave, I received even more of a shock. Meadran had nearly doubled in size. I paused, stunned, to take in the majestic view. His purple foliage a magnificent sight. He had already seemed as large as any tree I had ever seen. Now he was a true behemoth amongst tree kind. How much further would he grow?


    A Moon Well with a Pylon floating directly over it was to my left. It''s mana infused water flowed down slope into a now much larger pond. The water shimmered in the daylight, it''s own light subdued until nighttime. In fact now I could see that Pylons and Cannons now ringed the whole Valley. The crowns of many new trees caught my attention as well. Red leaves, gold leaves, blue and purple leaves where everywhere now. Even almost normal seeming trees with leaves of green. Now this was a forested Valley. I loved it. It was new fresh life. The air was so clean. Each breath was a shot of peace. So refreshing after the stale stagnant atmosphere of Night City.


    Soon all of this energy would spill forth from this Valley, and bring hope back to this world. Where metal had stolen the souls of people, I would bring healing.


    I began my descent towards the pond. Making a list of things we needed to go over before I could sleep.


    ''Alina report on status.'' Let''s start there. The Khalai AI would be able to bring anything critical to my attention right away.


    ''Executor, status crystal. All standard buildings have been built. Exceptions, the Starport and Fleet Beacons. Unit production other than Probes awaits your commands. ''Excellent, Alina. Continue research. Await further instructions.'' Oh, good. I didn''t know how much gas I''d left in my tank right then. ''By your command, Executor.''


    When I reached the new western bridge to Meadran''s Island I was both energized and ragged out. I stooped down to take a sip from the stream. Crisp, clean and cool water, the tingle of mana adding an amazing touch. One sip became three and three became many. So good. My dry throat felt healed.


    I saw a red leafed tree nearby, silver apple-like fruit already ripe hanging from it''s branches. My stomach growled. Oh, now I had to try one. The tree seemed to lean towards me as if to offer the fruit to me. I was probably imagining it, since it didn''t appear to be a treant like Meadran. "Thank you." Because it never hurts to be polite even to a tree. Maybe especially to a tree.


    The first bite of the silver apple was pure bliss. The skin was crisp, the flesh slightly firm with a snap to it. The texture delightful, not anywhere near as gritty as some apples can be. The flavor...a medley of different fruits both sweet and acidic, with a touch of cinnamon and clove. Was that molasses, yes it was.


    "So tasty." I groaned. Best thing I had eaten, maybe ever. After all the foul food in Night City, this one apple was a slice of heaven. The tree seemed to shiver. Strange there wasn''t a breeze. I gave the tree a pat. It had become the provider of my new favorite food. Nope it was actually shuddering. Strange, I''d have to ask Meadran about that latter.


    I felt so much better. Just one awesome apple and not only was I full, all the toxins I had picked up were being burned away.


    Finishing my trek, I stood before Meadran''s now huge face. His lines of wisdom were clearer than ever. There was a vibrate energy surrounding the whole island now. Pure life energy.


    ''Young One, How like you the bounty of Life?'' He wasn''t only asking about the apple. There were depths to that one simple question, I might never be able to comprehend.


    "So far everything is great." Which was an understatement. They had exceeded my expectations. "Everything seems far ahead of schedule as well." My eyes drooped. Someone kept trying to pull them down. I was rapidity losing the battle to left them back up again. I stumbled. I decided to sit on the soft grass before I fell.


    ''I see the journey took quite a bit of your spirit. Rest now, Young One. You are safe now, and there with be plenty of time to talk tomorrow.'' His mental voice was deeper now, it kind of echoed or reverberated. I found it extremely soothing. My mind followed the voice down, down further into the peaceful dark.


    I yawned, my body beginning to lay flat. "I''ll just lay down for a little while." I was lost to the world as soon as my head hit the soft minty grass. Dreams of blue eyes chased me to a new world.

 Chapter 17

    My sleep was refreshing. Awakening, however, presented me with a problem. The form this problem took was the head of a large golden wolf using my stomach as a pillow. His noggin was very, very heavy. I didn''t get too upset though. I figured some ear scratches would rouse him from slumber soon enough. A few moments later his hind leg started beating a frantic rhythm. Hehe.


    I gently whispered, "Wake up, Lumiar. I have a city to burn." I said it in a sing song voice. Worked for the Mongols, didn''t it.


    His head rose as he shifted to gaze at me. "Are you really going to burn the city down?" He expressed doubt in his tone. Perhaps, it was disappointment. I kept getting the feeling he really didn''t like me. I only wish I knew why.


    "Some of it, probably. I''ll absolutely try to help other parts." I chuckled, "We''ll see which parts get which treatment, I guess." Now that Lumi''s head had moved, it was time to get moving.


    I manage to fight my way to a standing wobble. Which I then transformed into a full body stretch. "Ah." Lumi promptly resettled his head and went back to sleep. I snorted at him.


    I waddled over to a stream to get a drink of water. Refreshing and invigorating. I would have drank from the pond, but miraculously I noticed fish swimming about in there. I don''t care how magical the water is I''m not drinking water fish have pooped in. At least not without boiling it, and running it through a filter. Also, now that I was watching the fish, I spotted it glupping down algae and nibbling on a variety of water plants. Amazing, the rising mana levels have given rise to life.


    I checked my interface, 10:30 AM. It had become the next day. Wow, I slept good.


    ''How are you this morning, Meadran?'' I started doing some stretches and basic calisthenics, trying to get my blood flowing properly.


    ''I am well, Young One. The mana fills the air and the water and soon the land itself shall be infused. Life, in all its forms, shall be renewed.'' He was happy, and that warmed my heart.


    ''Anything need tending? Do we have any pressing issues to resolve?'' I continued my exercises. I''d have to remember to start a daily routine.


    ''For the base no, I can keep handling the expansion for now. You however have experience that is overflowing. You need to level and gain the boons therein.'' Okay, that sounded interesting.


    ''Alright what do I need to do.'' Meadran talked me through the process. To start with, I had to access his menu options.


    [ Tree of Life Meadran is connected to the Great Tree Network.


    Options:


    Choose Class


    Raise Level


    Create Wisp ]


    Per his instructions I selected Raise Level.


    [ Current XP: 3456


    Raising a level costs 1000 XP


    Raise Level? Y/N ]


    I selected ''Y''. I was curious about what was next.


    [ Druid of Renewal has reached Level 2


    You have gained the spell, Growth


    You have gained the spell, Entangle


    You have gained, +2 Spirit


    You have gained, +1 Will


    You have gained, +2 Free Points ]


    That scroll of text was accompanied by a jolt. Which was like, constant pulses of energy burning through my body and mind. I couldn''t move or speak. My thoughts became sluggish for a few moments.


    Once I had shaken the remnants of the odd pulses off, I could speak again. ''Should I do it again, Meadran?''


    ''Yes, once more.'' There was a sense of amusement.


    [ Druid of Renewal has reached Level 3


    You have gained the spell, Cleanse


    You have gained, +2 Spirit


    You have gained, +1 Will


    You have gained, +2 Free Points ]


    While not quite as intense this time, the pulses were still very distracting.


    My BTC shivered,


    [ Adjusting...]


    [ For reaching Level 3 the Company Awards you,


    1 Prismatic Wisp. ]


    A huge shimmering Wisp appeared. While mostly just composed of bright white light, as it danced around specks of every color trailed behind it. I didn''t need Meadran to tell me that there was something extreme special about this Wisp. I could feel it radiating mana in vast quantities.


    ''While there are many buildings and units this spirit might create for you, the best option at this time would be the Company Store.'' Alright. Meadran hadn''t lead me wrong yet. I gave the order.


    The huge Wisp floated to a spot halfway between the pond and the Nexus, and just like that, became a building. That fast. The Company Store, was a structure that shifted and changed from one moment to the next. Not just the shape, but the very nature of it''s material. After watching it long enough to have to blink away tears, the only constant seemed to be volume. Though who could really say if even that was true.


    ''You need to touch it to connect it to the network. Then proceed to the Nexus and choose a class from the options there. You need a bit a balance in your class.'' there it was again, that sense of amusement, this time mixed with trepidation.


    Another class? I barely understood anything about the class I had. Again, my trust in Meadran is all that pushed me forward. I touched the crazily changing building. there was a new form of energy compressed in this building but I had no idea about what kind of energy it was.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    [ Adjusting... ]


    [ Connecting Company Store to the Great Tree Network ]


    [ You now have access to The Quest System ]


    [ Company Store Options


    Items


    Themes


    Units


    Heroes ]


    Great. More things I didn''t understand. No, calm down. I could figure this out. Items proved to be a list of items I could buy for Company Points. Mostly weapons like staves, and armor like my old robes. There were also a selection of potions and spell components as well. Units had a list of special Probes and Wisps I could buy for Company Points. A Prismatic Wisp, for example, cost 100,000 CPoints. Themes and Heroes were unavailable at this time, thought the terms invoked some truly grandiose ideas. Yeah, I''d have to check back into this later.


    That done I marched up to the Nexus. Once there, I went through the same motions to get to the menu.


    [ You have selected Choose Class


    This will cost 1000 XP


    Choose Class Y/N ]


    Of course, I chose yes.


    [ Class Options.


    Please note, you may change your Class in certain circumstances.


    You may also Multiclass. ]


    [ Templar of Mental Healing


    +2 to Will


    +1 to Spirit


    +2 to Psi Resonance


    A Templar of Mental Healing soothes minds and bolsters wills. Removing Corrupting Psychic Influences.


    Starting Psi Techniques: Calm the Troubled Heart, Cloud Mind ]


    [ Khalai Phase-Smith


    +3 to Tech


    +2 to Psi Resonance


    A Phase-Smith studies and improves PsiTechnology


    Starting Psi Techniques: Study, Implement ]


    [ Warp-Smith


    +3 to Psi Resonance


    +2 to Tech


    Changes and Coverts materials. Summons and Repair Units.


    Starting Psi Technique: Convert, Repair ]


    Okay another list of options I couldn''t begin to understand. Firstly, The Templar wasn''t even in the running. If for no other reason, than I didn''t like the sound of it. The smith classes both sounded like they would allow me to understand Khalai tech. Which could lead to making improvements or maybe adapting human tech to work with Psi energy. That appealed to me on a fundamental level. But which of the two to take? I had a strong sense there was some overlap in their functions. However, the Phase-Smith sounded more academic, and I saw a need to be able to convert materials, more than improving the already impressive Khalai Tech. I ran that around in my head a few times.


    I nodded. Warp-Smith it was. The energy this time was intrusive, it reached into my mind and started dumping energy in there. It was imparting knowledge. Knowledge of schematics and techniques. Which would have been great, but I was human and now my head was being stuffed with highly advanced knowledge. So it felt like my head was about to fly apart.


    "Aaaaaaa!" In between moments of agony, I thought I had a solution. Free points could be spent on stats. "Nnngggg!" I needed a bigger brain, right? Maybe, the Intelligence stat would work instead. Anything to make it stop hurting. My voice was crackling from howling. In pure desperation I put in a point to Intelligence, and ever so slightly things started to adjust. Information began to seem more organized. Another point and I felt my thoughts clear, the stream of data no longer a jumbled mess. A third point and I could breathe once more.


    I gulped the air, eager to fill my starved lungs. I went ahead and spent the last free point. My thoughts were clearer than they had ever been. "Hahaha!"


    I spent the next several minutes calming myself as well as reviewing my status. While much of it was still foreign to me, I no longer felt that it was completely alien.


    I''d have to go over my new class abilities when I didn''t feel like I just narrowly avoided having a heart attack. At least, I seemed to be growing. But was it in the right direction?


    It was with some caution that I entered the Khalai Forge. Though that caution was soon thrown to the winds, as I ran my hands over the Matrix Engraver. It was a machine that burns a Psi circuit into a Khaydarin Crystal. Then I turned to the Material Disassembler which broke down pretty much anything, into its basic molecules. Next, I examined the various Assemblers which turn those molecules into Metal, Psi Crystal, or Solidified Energy. Lastly, I studied the Nano Forges to build and shape materials into final products.


    While the new knowledge rolled around in my head, I now had an intuitive understanding of these machines. With some time and effort I might be able to alter templates and create spefic things I needed to implement them. With my exposure to the Forge, I now could comprehend the primary difference between the types of Khalai Smiths. The Phase-Smith could create new templates, but would struggle to source materials. As a Warp-Smith materials would be plentiful, however, I would only be able to alter templates I already possessed or could find.


    I had a suspicion that the Scans the Probes had been so prolific in performing, would be able to serve as templates. If so, that meant I could alter then forge human tech. Which use not only useful but necessary for any long term goals.


    Reaching out through the Psi field I touched the signatures of Probes. A couple dozen different personalities of Wisp Infused Probes were active, yet only two had been named. This made them stand out in the Psifield. I called Scuff and Fix to the Forge. They arrived and I gave them pats. They seemed to like that. No clue if they really felt it, or just liked the attention. One thing was becoming clear though. Khalai Robots developed their own form of life after a time, and the Wisp Infusions enhanced and accelerated this process. They quickly uploaded all their scans. I thanked them and they returned to their tasks.


    Hours passed as I reviewed the data. Yes, these would work as templates indeed. I quickly pulled up the scan of my Omaha. The circuitry to integrate with smart gun technology was simplistic by Khalai standards and full of unnecessary components. I had the idea to use the template of the Photon Cannon, for an example of Khalai targeting circuits. Then I realized that no, that wouldn''t do. The Cannon circuits were designed for fixed platform targeting. I needed something from a more mobile platform. Ah, there was the Dragoon. I type of battle tank. With legs. It had a slightly more complex circuit with a certain level of adaptability baked in. Which made it perfect for my needs. Of course, several parameters would have to be tweaked, plasma wouldn''t behave like a solid projectile. Usually.


    The chassis and barrel of the Omaha could be redone in the brassy Khalai Alloy, which was a very complex metallic molecule. It came in several variants, we would go with one of the medium strength ones here. Its tolerances far beyond most alloys available to humans. This would also allow for new more penetrating forms of ammo. Yes, the propellant could be minute amounts of solidified energy. The bullet itself a lighter Khalai Alloy. A finned design for better aerodynamics. Good.


    I could with time convert my pistol to fire plasma rounds. But the gun would have to be larger and heavier. I already had a hard time handling it. So let''s stick with solid projectiles for now.


    Compile. One prototype template. Alina ran the template through several simulations. She declared it viable. I had the Forge assemble one and then a hundred rounds of the new ammo. The weapon had still ended up heavier, by about a pound and a half. It was a brass colored version of the Omaha, a few tweaks making it a bit sleeker. When the ammo was done, I headed to the edge of the Valley.


    I would be shooting the mountainside, for the most part. This was only meant to be a stress test. Readying myself for extremely heavy recoil, I braced and squeezed the trigger. It didn''t disappoint the kick was potent, but I managed to avoid getting kissed this time. Maybe I should pull back on the propellant a tad, or figure out a better recoil compensation system.


    After a few dozen rounds. I was growing to love my new gun. I had a feeling it would shred most things I''d meet in the city. Well, we could test that. Back at the forge, I printed up a couple of armored plates. One representing the best armor the Probes had scanned in the city. The other a light variant of the Khalai alloy roughly the same as what the Probes were rocking.


    Testing showed that while both failed to stop the bullets. The human armor failed more dramatically. Heh. It was a skewed test anyway, the real armor of the Khalai was their shielding technology. I''d have to test that out next. Hmm.


    [ Omaha Khalai Variant - Prototype


    Range: 40 yards


    Damage: 10


    Ammo: 9 round magazine +1 round in the chamber ]<


    Not bad for my first attempt. I took a break to grab some another fruit to eat. This time a golden pear-like fruit off of one of the blue leaved trees. Very firm texture, crispy and tart, not too dissimilar to the apple but with its own distinct flair. Like the apple one fruit completely filled my belly. I was sure it had something to do with the mana.


    I spent some time walking around and just enjoying the Valley. The walk was just to clear my head, and let a few more idea percolate under the hood. Yet I was pleased everything was coming along nicely.


    Then I thought of what the Corpos would do if they found it. That could never be allowed. The horrid images my brain conjured up, lit a fire under my ass to get back to work.


    I marched back to the Forge to spend the day designing new ways to protect this peace.

 Chapter 18

    The last week had flown by, while I had been looking through and adjusting templates. Finding ways to change and adapt Human goods into new and better equipment was highly enjoyable.


    My Militech Trench Coat with Bullet Resistant Triweave had been remade into Trench Coat with Khalai Alloy Interweave, and was currently on it''s MK 6 iteration. The new armor value was 4 4, while maintaining the exact same weight. My Norco Armored Vest with Polycarbonate Plating had been evolved to Armor Vest with Khalai Plating and Psi Shield Emitter Mk 5. Its armor value was 5 and shield rating was 10, though it ended up a bit heavier. It had taken a full day, each, to get both of those just right. Several Prototypes had been created and then ultimately disassembled.


    In the end, one small annoyance remained, I couldn''t find a way to change the brassy sheen though. I''d just have to live with it.


    Another day was spent tweaking the Omaha Prototype. I''d found a few new templates for gun modifications and finally figured out how to make them compatible.


    [ Omaha Khalai Variant Mk 8


    Range: 45 yards with Reflex sight


    Damage: 9


    Ammo: 12 round Extended magazine, +1 round in the chamber


    Mods: Extended Barrel with Baffling. Slide adjusted for Recoil Compensation. ]


    So much quieter and easier to handle with only a small loss of damage. My new weapon was well worth the time I''d invested.


    Two days were spent pouring over the schematics for both the Galena and the Supron. I''d made dozens of improvements to both and even designed armed and armored versions. The problem with that was that I couldn''t assemble them in the Valley. I''d have to have the Probes widen a path through the mountain, to get them out, and I didn''t think we were ready for a large enough pathway to be built. I''d have to wait for weaponized vehicles until I''d created our first outpost.


    I spent a day making a more streamline version of the Probes. With some study, I''d determined that the fins were almost purely decoration. Removing them allowed me to thicken the armor a bit and add an extra power crystal. This slightly increased the output of both their weapon and shield. I''d finally experimented with an unnamed Infused Probe to make sure their Cores could be transferred with no Personality loss. As long as their Cores survived, my favorite Probes could be restored. Everything went smoothly so I got Scuff and Fix upgraded and ready to Rock.


    [ Wisp Infused Khalai Probe Mk 2


    Unknown Unit


    Armor: 4 +2


    Shields: 15 +5 (Shields now block Spells)


    Damage: 10 +4 (May affect Incorporeal Beings)


    The Combination of an Elder Wisp and a Khalai Probe. This Unit has partial Stealth.


    This Unit has has been upgraded by Warp-Smith Ryan Crestwood ]


    They were almost ready for a heavy assault role. At least by the local standards. By normal Khalai values, they were just now reaching levels that might be considered combat capable.


    A day was wasted to try to adapt my cyberware. The Khalai themselves had Cybernetics, so I though I could just switch and swap things. However, it wasn''t that simple, it was going to be far more complicated than that. I wasn''t sure what I''d been missing. I asked Alina, if she could do some off-cycle research on the matter.


    In between tinkering sessions, I had explored more of the Valley''s current fruit options, like a golden orange-type fruit, a red banana-type fruit, or a green plum-type fruit. While all of them were delicious, I by far preferred the Silver Apples. I''d also developed a hankering for meat, but none of the fish in Meadran''s pond were big enough yet. I could''ve bought something from the Company Store, but it seemed a waste to spend the points on something I was just going to eat. I instead bought a Feralassian Forest Cockerel and several matching Hens. They were on a daily sale. Only 100 Company Points for the bunch when they were usually 100 per chicken.


    The Cockerel itself came up to my waist in height, which was troubling as it was still growing. It leapt at me only to bounce out my shield. It wasn''t being overly aggressive, that had been a reflex from being transported to a new place. It eyed me warily. I smirked at it. It was a magnificent beast, with vibrant plumage in every shade of green and undertones of dark blues. The hens were uniformly a monotone forest green.


    Then I also bought a pallet of Dustwallow grubs, frozen in crates, for another 100 CPoints. These would be good for aerating the soil and even their final form was something both relatively harmless and that the chickens would eat it. With a future food source obtained, I continued my day.


    Our first Observer was built. This had been constructed in our new Robotics Facility, located right next to the Forge. I immediately sent it to spy on the Corporation located in City Center zone. Information could often be leveraged into power after all. Observers were permanently stealthed unarmed units. Their powerful sensor suites could intercept data and passively collect information about anything within a mile of its position. As far as I could tell, there was no current human technology that could detect them. Their downside was that they took days to make and a large amount of resources.


    Next I queued up a Sentry Unit. These units could operate both as a Mobile Shield Recharger and a Shield Projector. This made them epically vital to all future operations. As my efforts at testing had shown, a shield''s output had to be exceeded all at once to allow damage through it. Most small arms we had encountered, were only capable of this if multiple rounds hit the shield at the same time. Multiple simultaneous impacts could overload the energy flow output causing the shield to go down. While down, the shielding system entered a recharging state. Under the effects of any form of Recharger the shield shouldn''t go down, as quickly. This would often minimize damage to whatever round managed to get through, while later round would likely be deflected.


    The Sentry also had a disruptor beam weapon, capable of frying various types of circuitry. The damage throughput was low but the ability to knock out vehicle systems and heavy cyberware would be invaluable. Sentries would take 8 days to complete. However, I was getting antsy and didn''t feel like waiting around for them to be done.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    I''d been talking with Meadran and it seemed that until some of our trees grew larger we couldn''t build much Kaldorei Infrastructure. As most of their structure were built with trees as their central support. Also to advance my mana abilities, and potentially create mana based armaments would require specific types of Treants. New types of Wisp could also give access to new options, and those were governed by Meadran''s advancement. His advancement was governed mostly by the local Mana Density, which again was a matter of time.


    He further explained that with my current 84 Tree points, I could purchase up to 8 random seeds. The seeds might be Treants, or they might be other types of special trees, or most likely be one of the many species of relatively normal trees from throughout the Multiverse. I''d decided to hold off on this. My thinking was that with the Moon Wells chugging out mana and Keeper Statues guarding the pathways we were doing fine on the magical side of things.


    Lumber production was constantly improving. We had set aside 1 unit of lumber to sell for every 5 produced. I had 50 units of lumber to trade now. Each unit of Lumber was an 8ft long 4"X4". Obviously, the Supron wasn''t going to be able to haul much of this, never mind the Galena. Fortunately, I had made some new connections.


    I had the Probes take the sellable lumber out to where the broken bridge was. Once they had finished, I loaded up a few backpacks, I''d kept from my raiding in the city. I made sure they were bulging with fruit, thinking I might be able to generate some goodwill with tasty treats.


    I had added a few different types of attachment points to the Probes. These were to facilitate better looting. I''d found I''d developed quite a taste for plunder, and wanted my Robo-Buddies to be better at assisting in the gathering of goodies. Scuff and Fix, tagged along side me, joined by the newly minted Chuck and Barry. They were also WI Probes, each carrying two backpacks apiece. The packs rested across their sides like saddlebags.


    A few moments were spent gearing up in my new equipment, with my own backpack of fruit and a new rolling tool case. I gave my farewells to Meadran, Lumi and Alina and headed back out of the Valley.


    When I exited the cave, into the Badlands, several things happened all at once.


    Most of it was a series of messages on my NET interface. The Veil around the Valley apparently blocked NET signals. I''d simply thought no one needed to, or wanted to talk to me.


    Carver - I see you have chosen to skip out on the job. Consider yourself banned from all future work.


    Carver - ( Symbol of a Skull ) This one came two days later. Guess he found out I tipped the kid off. Oh, well. I''d planned to track Carver down anyway. Imagine, getting offended that your intended patsy opted not to die for you. A sign of poor character I''d say.


    Sinnamin - You pissed off Carver. Haha, probably tried to use you dirty. Well, let me know it you made it out okay. Huh. Wouldn''t have thought she''d care. That''s nice.


    Misty - Just checking in for Vik, on how the new chrome is treating you. Ah a checkup. That''s better aftercare than I''d expected.


    Unknown Sender - We should meet. Big fan of your work. Not just no. Hell no!


    Amanda - 2 missed calls.


    Sally - 5 missed calls.


    Well fuck. I''m mister popular all the sudden. Replying would have to wait for a moment while I found out why my BTC was currently trying to squeeze my arm off.


    [ Adjusting... ]


    [ Quest Offered


    Establish an Outpost in the Badlands around Night City


    Reward: 1000 Company Points, 1 Hero Token


    Accept: Y/N ]


    [ Quest Offered


    Establish an Outpost in Night City (any area)


    Reward: 2000 Company Points, 1 Theme Token


    Accept: Y/N ]


    Okay. I liked the thought of getting more CPoints. But what exactly constituted an outpost. As I always do when confronted with lacking information, I asked Meadran. He explained an outpost consists of at least two buildings. They needed to be from across your Themes, and protected by at least one defensive structure. He defined Theme as being like the Khalai or the Kaldorei. Ah, so a Theme Token would get me new types of building and units. Nice.


    ''Just be cautious, Young One. Outposts tend to attract more attention than they should.'' He seemed worried. Hmm. I''d have to get defenses up quickly, once I set up shop somewhere. I pondered the issue for a few more moments.


    ''Either way, set aside enough silver Wisps for two Moon Wells. That should be a good starting point.'' We''d start with two Wells and a Forge or two, and then surround them with Photon Cannons. I''d adjust after I saw how it went.


    ''They will be ready in a day.'' I felt him also thinking deeply about the needs of our community.


    ''Thanks Meadran. I really appreciate your help.'' I tried to send him gratitude.


    ''You are most welcome, Young One.''


    I went ahead and accepted both quests. I was happy that there didn''t seem to be a time limit. So there was no rush to find good locations.


    Then I replied to the messages from everyone but Carver and the Unknown Sender. Explaining that I was in a area that was off grid. That I was okay and everything was going smoothly.


    Then I headed down to the Galena. I loaded all the backpacks full of fruit in the trunk and put my tool case in the front passenger seat. That left plenty of room in the back seat for loot storage. With their new streamline form, the Probes could fit two to the front and two to the back on the roof. That had turned out better than I thought it would.


    I drove down to the bridge and parked next to the lumber pile. The Probes had set it up to the south of the path and the outflow canals. Looking over the pile of wood, I nodded and messaged Amanda, I have a pile of Lumber we can move, let me know if you are available.


    Scuff and Fix led Chuck and Barry on a patrol of the area. I decided to work on the Galena a bit, while I waited for a reply. I had seen several places in the schematics, were small tweaks would help a lot. Maybe I could get a few more horses out of this engine.


    A couple of hours later. I got a reply from Amanda, Where and how much?


    I sent back, By the broken highway bridge east of NC, best to approach from the south along the torn up road. 50, 8ft long 4\"X4\"s, weight between 750 and 800lbs.


    Three Hours. Her reply this time was almost immediate.


    I ate a few pink grape-like fruits. This one tasted of chocolate and butterscotch. Not my bag, but an interesting flavor none the less.


    I returned to tinkering on the Galena. I''d noticed that the technology in the engines here, barely seemed to resemble what I was familiar with from back home. There must have been fundamental shifts in how people solved problems here. Well that was obvious, but the whole process of combustion in this engine shouldn''t have worked anywhere near as well as it did. I understood the what and the how of it, but not the whys. It was going to end up driving me nuts one of these days.


    I was still elbows deep in the engine bay when I heard the Probes beep. ''Visitors.''


    I finished up, and made sure everything was reconnected. I went and turned over the engine. Ah, now that was a smoother purr. I revved the engine a few times. Good response, I''d gotten the timing just right. I turned the engine back off and tried to clean up a bit with some left over rags.


    Three vehicles had pulled up and parked. Each vehicle was done up in badland colors, sand and dust, to help them blend in. Those still had personalized touches here and there. The splashes of color stood out more against the bland background colors.


    One looked like a weaponized muscle car. It had some kind of turbine on it''s hood, was that how it kept all the dust out? It roared like a beast. I liked it very much. The next vehicle was a Thorton Mackinaw truck the big brother of my Galena, I''d my eyes on one while back in the city. My thought was it might be good for hauling supplies. This one had all kind of armor plating added and a small cannon on top. Sweet. The last vehicle was a cargo truck of some kind, and a bit of overkill for this job. It was a brute somewhat comparable to a Semi from back home. It was towing a bare bones flat bed trailer.


    The Probes hovered above weaving in and out of each others paths. Just in case. Mistrustful little Robo-Buddies.


    Amanda got out of the muscle car, Sally got out of the Mackinaw, and an older fella I don''t recall being introduced to got out of the cargo truck. They started walking towards me, when almost at the same time they stopped and sniffed the air.


    "Is that water?" Sally asked, or rather demanded.


    I grinned at them.

 Chapter 19

    "Yes, that''s fresh, clean water." I waved them over to the outflow canal. "This is the overflow from our water production. We thought we might help turn this canyon into a lake or a river one day." They washed their hands and them moved a bit upstream to drink. Ha, not their first rodeo. I watched them enjoy it, savor it, like the finest of wines. To them this water was a treasure, beyond price.


    "Now that you know how to find our home, I ask that you not go up the mountain. We have powerful automated defenses, and I''d like us to all stay friendly, okay." Maybe I should increase the defenses. The history of my world had shown that people clearly were horrible at resisting the temptation of short term gains over long term sustainability. I had my suspicions that it would prove to be an even greater problem here. Desperate people couldn''t afford the luxury of thinking about the long term.


    "You have our thanks and our word." Amanda said it like a custom. The little bit of info I could dig up online about the Aldecaldos had painted them as mostly trustworthy. I decided to extend some trust first, and prayed that I wasn''t being a fool.


    "But wait! There''s more." I pulled one of the backpacks full of fruit out of the car, "Act now, and I''ll give you this pack of fresh fruit." Sally practically ripped the pack out of my hands. She had it open in no time, and rooted through it. Her fierce demeaner was both intriguing and annoying.


    "What are these? I''ve never seen fruit like this." She looked up at me like I was tricking her. Instead of answering right away, I pulled out another pack, I grabbed a golden orange, and started peeling it. I took a bite and enjoyed the tart flavor.


    "We have experimented a bit, but you''ll find they''re healthy and quite filling. Added bonus, they last longer than normal fruit as well." To be fair, the Valley''s fruit didn''t need a sales pitch. I just wanted to make a good impression.


    "Why would you give us this." She actually looked conflicted. I was a little disappointed, but they had probably been burned before.


    "Because I like to share with my friends. And I''d like you to be my friends." A took another bite of my orange. Juicy and refreshing.


    "Hell kid, I''ll be your friend." The older guy spoke up, "I''m Nolan by the way." He gave a jaunty wave. He looked like he''d been around the block a time or two. If it wasn''t for the shadows haunting his eyes I''d say he was someone''s kindly grand pa. The well worn holster that cradled his revolver, spoke of his skills.


    "Ryan." I returned his wave.


    Sally looked sheepish, "Sorry, free usually isn''t free." True words.


    "I get you. Look at it this way, I''m buying goodwill. Trying to smooth the way for the more tricky stuff down the road." I gave her a wink. I winced internally, that was lame. But her damned eyes were distracting.


    She gave a smirk in return, "Alright. Mr. Goodwill. I''ll be keeping my eyes on you." She cocked her hip at me and raised her eyebrow. Was that a challenge? I was certainly interested in finding out.


    "Let''s take it slow for now." Amanda said it sternly, but with a huge smile. She also did the hand on the hip thing. Okay, maybe I don''t know what that means. I had flunked at reading girls my whole life.


    I shook my head to clear out the ridiculous thoughts, "Anyway, I have lumber. Every few weeks, I''ll have more. Obviously, we can''t be selling all of it in NC, we''d flood the market in a couple of months." I shrugged, "However, I have no real connections in the area, or the world. So I turn to you, the friendliest option I''ve met thus far." I offered them a smile, "Later, we can even expand to include some of our other projects, The alloy you see here in my weapons, and my Pr-Drones. You''ll find they are... quite unique." That was perhaps the longest single thing I''d said since I got here, it hurt my throat.


    Amanda considered my words. She pulled out a canteen, poured it out. Rinsed and then filled it in the stream. The other followed suit. Again there was the air of custom to it. Yet, I was thinking I was an idiot, for not getting canteens from the Company Store while I could. Let''s just keep that off my face for now.


    "We''ve been looking for steady work. And a safe place to camp. Our group is just one branch of the Aldecaldos, a family, a clan, and a nation unto ourselves. We ride and die together. We remember our friends and bury our enemies. Help us and we will help you."


    My smile must have looked truly brilliant. These sounded like my kind of people. "If you know a place out here that fits your needs, not only can I make it safer. Given enough time, I can make it a home. I have been looking to expand, and help clean things up out here." I gestured with a wide sweep taking in all of the wasteland, "If we have a deal, and if everything works out, I''ll show you some tricks that will really blow your minds."


    I shook Amanda''s hand firmly. "Let''s get this lumber loaded. What''s the current market value of wood anyway?"


    Without missing a beat Sally chimed in, "$125 an ounce." I ran the numbers in my head, "About 1.5 million or more right here. What can we realistically unload it at?"


    Sally laughed, "About $70 an ounce. The Fixer will want a decent profit."


    "So about 800 grand to split. A bit over 300 grand for your folks. That a good haul for you?"


    "That''s six months of supplies and parts." Amanda looked pleased. She seemed to reach another decision, "We finish this deal, and then we see about expanding our relationship." Her eyes flicked over to Sally for a moment. I couldn''t say what she was thinking, but Sally seemed to pick up on what her Mother meant. Her grin was a devastating blow to my lonely heart.


    We loaded the 4X4s onto the flatbed, then made sure to cover the pile with a couple of tarps before cinching it all down with ratchet straps. Amanda set our travel order. Her then me, then Nolan and Sally would bring up the rear. We got moving but took our time, keeping an extra eye out for trouble. Everything went smoothly until we got to the main freeway and turned west. Other then being scouted by a few messed up vehicles in the distance, nothing seemed off.


    We eventually pulled into a garage. DaKota. I had walked by it... how long had it been now? 10 days? It had seemed abandoned at the time. Still seemed that way now. But then the garage roll doors opened up and a few hard looking people came out.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    While Nolan backed the trailer into one of the garage bays, Amanda introduced me to Dakota herself. A lady that looked like she had traveled every hard road there ever was. They hugged, with a genuine affection for each other. Then she gather Sally into her arms, again with a long running familiarity that was obvious. These folks had been through a lot together.


    When the time to introduce me came I got a firm handshake and, "You remind me of a prairie dog I saw once, it lead me to a cache of weapons. That was a good day." After she had stared at me for almost a full minute. I couldn''t tell if she was trying to intimidate me or read my soul. A real character this one.


    Sally walked up with, "You should let him heal you. It''ll feel great." I sputtered for a few minutes at that, while they all laughed. She really wasn''t going to let that part go. Sometimes, I thought it was a real shame that it didn''t seem to do the same things for me.


    "Maybe another time, Medicine Man." With that Dakota went back in the garage, to start running down customers for our goods.


    Nolan with the help of the two hard looking guys was unhooking the trailer. I noticed that there were more connection cables between the vehicle and the trailer than I was used to. Something to poke about with later.


    "She said it will take a few days to move it all, so the money will be coming in then." Amanda sticking to the practical. "In the meantime, why don''t you come to the camp. Tomorrow we can show you a place we have been scouting out for a new site." She gave me the smallest of smiles.


    Sally was smiling and nodding, "You can meet everyone, and maybe we can have some fun." Sally slapped me on the shoulder, it stung. Oh yeah, cyberarms.


    A few minutes later, we were all headed south.


    After traveling a while we turned onto a road headed more toward the west. The evening was rolling in, the sun headed to it''s rest. We kept going, the drive becoming a welcome period of meditation for me. Radio off, window rolled down, the rapidly cooling evening air rushing past. Looking up I saw the stars had peeked out, including the artificial ones. Placed above by our manic desire to seek the beyond. I too, would like to see what''s out there one day.


    The desert felt lonely, yet peaceful. There was no one traveling these backways but us. Just us, and the wind.


    After far too short a time we began to slow. Lights  were visible ahead, nestled between a cluster of hills. We slowed to a stop while Amanda honked a series of quick taps on her horn. I noticed that the honks were very muted, so the sound would couldn''t carry very far. A returning series of similarly muted honks, and we slowly continued. A camp came into view. 5 large Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Trucks (HEMTT) were arranged in a large circle. Each carried a small building on it. A few smaller MRAPS parked inside that circle. Most of the light came from these vehicles. Turning the night nearly into day.


    Within the outer circle of trucks were tents of all shapes and sizes. Areas full of benches and tables, where dozens of people sat around talking, eating, laughing. The were several large fire pits where various cooking activities occurred. We parked next to a cluster of standard vehicles just outside the outer camp circle. I saw a few of the Galena''s country cousins the Gecko and several Mackinaws. There were even a couple of Mizutani Shion Coyotes. Quite a few people were working on some of these hard used vehicles. They had small mobile light setups and tool boxes and parts crates close by.


    Exiting my car, I could already hear Amanda, Sally and Nolan receiving greetings. I smiled softly, the family setting was a wonderful thing. I''d sometimes forgotten that in all the friction with my parents over the years. I asked Barry to watch the Galena while the rest of the Probes would hover nearby to an keep an eye on me, maybe patrol the area. I stopped at my trunk to grab a couple of backpacks. One went over my shoulder, while I carried the other in my left hand. Pulling a silver apple out to munch. I walked over to where Amanda was still talking with the folks tinkering with their cars.


    "We''ll be able to get all the parts our rides need, soon enough. Then we can look to getting some better iron and chrome." She was talking a short guy, a grease monkey born, if I''d ever seen one. Overalls stained from years of repair and maintenance work. His smile was as dark as his hair, and his eyes burned with a desire to make his cars, his babies, better. Yeah, my kind of dude.


    Sally reached over and snagged a blue mango from my backpack, "Guzman, this is Ryan. He''s the one providing our new opportunity." I waved with the apple in my hand and offered the backpack to him. His eyebrows went up and he pulled out a red banana. He looked at it in surprise then back to me. I nodded, and he returned it. Enough said.


    Amanda lead the way further into the camp. She and Sally introduced me around, and not that long after, I was sitting on one of the benches, with a beer in hand and a plate of tacos in front of me. To tell the truth, most of the new names would need a second or third exposure to take. Yet it was nice to meet so many people in a good way. To share a moment. I had handed off the other backpack to one of the older teens to distribute. They set the pack down next to the cooking area for who ever wanted them.


    There was a calm but vibrant energy in the air. The gruff but friendly people here living simple lives, partially free of the sickness hanging over the city folk. Then, I was being regaled with the story of a raid on a Militech convoy. How Sally had flipped her truck and had to be towed back, her blush told me it was true. "It was my first raid, I was nervous, and that rock came outa nowhere." I patted her hand.


    I felt a burning glare trying to bore deep into my skull. I turned that way to see Lynx trying to kill me with his eyes. Didn''t work, but damned if he didn''t give it his all. I grinned at him and gave it extra teeth. I took a casual sip of beer to show him how much his opinion meant to me.


    "Don''t let him bother you. He''s from a different tribe, trying to find a wife with us." Sally said quietly. "He''s had his sights on me, but I''m not interested."


    "Oh?" I turned to look into her eyes. I gave her the old  questioning eyebrow trick.


    She laughed at me. "Yeah, I''m not ready to settle down with anyone just yet. Plus he doesn''t get along with Megan." I hadn''t met Megan yet, but I suddenly wanted to get on her good side. Damn, I loved staring into this lady''s eyes. way too much. That she let me, was a nice twist for once in my life.


    "Gotta have your fun while you can, right?" Now where had I heard that before? Oh right, first girl I tried to date back when I was back in trade school. That was her attempt to let me down easy. I hoped this wasn''t going to be a repeat of that moment.


    Sally gave me a wink. Not too long after that a impromptu music festival started up. A lively mix of instruments and genres. Then dancing broke out and Sally hauled me out for a whirl. These folks liked a mix of Line, Square and Salsa dancing and I was perfectly okay with that. Sally and I had a few passes, feeling each other out. Getting used to how we both moved. The music sped up and we followed. I led her through a foxtrot and then nudged it into a pseudo tango. She was a delight to move with, easy to lead, strong and graceful. The piece stopped and so did we. We stared deep into each other''s eyes, while taking deep breaths to calm down.


    Then a nice soft voiced girl named Kori wanted a round. Then the illustriously lush and curvy Megan, who I hoped I made a good impression with. Even Amanda came to me for a turn or two. Soon I had danced with most of the ladies in the camp. We had all shared a few laughs and small stories of better days.


    Finally the paced slowed and Sally was in my arms again. We were not so much dancing anymore as simply swaying together, sharing space and warmth. She murmured nice things into my ear, and I whispered of dreams I had thought lost. After the music stopped and most folks started seeking their beds, we went for a walk outside the camp. Found a nice patch and laid out a blanket to stare up at the stars together. We didn''t say much, we didn''t need to.


    Truth be told I was petrified inside. This was the best date I''d ever had and I was terrified I''d screw it up. But I tried to remember that it was best to go with the flow, not to push. I took a deep breath and let all my old worries go.


    We dozed off together under the night sky and the watchful scans of Fix and Scuff.

 Chapter 20

    I awoke alone.


    I didn''t feel anything like a sense of abandonment, just a relaxed contentment. No promises had been made, so no expectations had gotten in the way. There was something refreshing in that. Much better than the frantic search for a partner that had been riding the back of my brain back home. This was simple, and simple was good.


    I shaped a quick Cleanse on myself, and then the blanket, which I folded and carried with me back towards the camp. Magic was so useful. I needed to remind myself to use it more.


    It was early, the sun not quite over the horizon. The sky still had that grayed out predawn tone. The Probes were still hovering about nearby. They gave me a greeting, ''New friends, now?''


    I sure hoped so. I needed some friends, and everyone here sure seemed friendly. I got quite a few cheerful morning greetings on the way to the Galena. I had the Probes dock up with the car until I could properly introduce them. Their stealth would be wearing off at any time, and I didn''t want the Folks up early to freak out.


    I grabbed another backpack out of the car and devoured a kiwi like copper fruit. It tasted of strawberries and cream.


    Then I slowly wandered over to the campfire area, hoping they had some coffee, or something similar. Turned out they did, and I happily received a carafe of coffee and a plate of scrambled eggs, with cheese and bacon, for the pack of fruit. Everything in the food was off, not so much that I was going to complain, but enough that I noticed. The coffee was decent though, gotta take those small victories.


    While I ate, I continued planning out how I wanted to spend my day. When a pair of hands blocked out my sight, also a vast lush softness enveloped my the back of my head.


    "Guess, who?" A soft silky voice entered my ear from about an inch away. Every little hair on my body stood to attention. This was a saucy minx, and I vaguely recognized the voice from last night.


    "It had better be Sally." I whispered back. "Or we''re going to have words." Of course, I knew it wasn''t Sally. I''d felt enough of her body last night to know those weren''t her breasts on my skull.


    That is of course when Sally walked into view laughing. She set down two plates in front of me. While the lady I''d assumed was Megan let go of me. Let the games begin I guess? I turned around, yeah. Those were... I mean her presence was hard to miss.


    Physically they were a study in contrasts. Sally was tanned and Megan was pale. Sally was whipcord lean and lithe and Megan was lushly curvy and pleasingly plump. Sally was sunny and blonde and Megan had hair that was almost pitch black. Sally''s eye were the most glorious blue, and Megan''s were a deep rich green.


    "He does have a way about him." Megan sat next to Sally.


    "Just wait. He''s got all kinds of uses." Sally was nodding while digging into her food.


    "''He'' is right here." I gave them a mock glare, which soon turned into a grin, as I shaped two quick Cleanses and released them on them. Who doesn''t like to be clean? They apparently loved to be cleaned. Their shudders and shivers were all manner of entertaining. Their voices rose in happy little gasps. Many of the men in the area gave me nods of approval, while the women folk looked nonplussed. None of them knew what I had done, but all of them were keeping an eye on me. I shrugged.


    I had discussed this effect with Meadran. Mana infusion was highly stimulating. Especially to folks who had lived in low mana zones. Sadly mana carrying your own signature would never affect you the same way, it was already your mana after all.


    "See, incredibly useful." Sally tried and failed to seem nonchalant.


    "Honey, if you don''t snatch him up, I''m going to tie him up and keep him in my trailer." Megan seemed deadly serious.


    Getting a little annoyed at their game, I gave them both a flat stare. "You don''t learn, huh? No healing for you." They both turned to me with a horrified look. I let them stew on that for a minute while I tried to suss out their dynamic. "This offense requires restitution. Perhaps you can buy your way out. I''m partial to back rubs." I smirked. I was testing boundaries here, just as they had been earlier.


    "Well, we could work something out I''m sure." Sally her natural grin returning. She gave Megan one of those looks that carries a whole world of meaning between women, but us men are sadly incapable of understanding.


    "Yes, I''m a fair hand with massage. I''ve had to get relax Sally after a mission a time or three." Megan nodding sagaciously.


    My brain halted for a fraction of a second, processing that outrageous statement. "Then maybe forgiveness can be yours." I nervously laughed. It was fun, to play around like this. Though now I had a lot unseemly images running around my head.


    I never would''ve thought that all I needed to do to be almost comfortable with women, was to get snatched to another world. Full of death and terrible food, but also ample opportunities. I forced myself not to look at Megan''s chest, I sort of succeeded. Ample, indeed.


    The next couple of days that I spent with them in that camp settled into a rhythm. I made myself useful, healing and cleansing folk. Working on cars, and getting the Probes to patrol and repair some of the tougher problems. The Probes were easily adopted as erstwhile mascots by the Tribe, when I introduced them. Hell, I thought that they liked them more than me. Eh, understandable. The Robo-Buddies were awesome.


    I hadn''t realized it at the time, but Megan and Sally were kind of a package deal. No, I didn''t have the first clue about how that worked. But I also wasn''t going to question my good fortune. If I spent time with one, I had to spend time with the other. This was no great chore, as both were excellent company . Most of it was simply getting to know each other, with chatting and just spending time together. Everyday we at the very least shared a meal, and everynight there was a dance or three.


    More contrasts between them became obvious, where Sally was rough and tumble, Megan was smooth and considered. Where Sally was straight forward, Megan always found the most roundabout way to reach the same point. Sally was quick to anger and quick to forgive, Megan rarely got angry, but never forgave once she had.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    It was hard to find enough time for getting to know them better, as they both had plenty of responsibilities to manage. They did most work in camp together. Logistics and Organization, mostly. Outside of camp it was different. Megan ran the net. Sally buried the targets. They were trouble either way. The good kind I hoped. My head was spinning from trying to figure out what was going on. Was I after one or both?


    Guzman had said that to court one was to court both, on the first day. We had been tinkering with vehicles, and I had asked if they were together, together. He said no, they just couldn''t stand to be apart for long.


    Both it was then. Because I wasn''t about to give up this growing connection I felt with them. Even if it derailed later, I was going to ride this crazy train as far as I could.


    The morning of the sixth day, after I got to the Aldecaldos camp, Amanda came over to breakfast with the three of us. This was the first time I had seen her since we had danced that first night. I hit her with a Cleanse, it had become an automatic reflex at this point. She barely twitched, unflapped that woman was. She didn''t even blink. She did at least give me a thankful nod, "I''ve scouted out a good place for a more long term setup. The complication being some Wraiths sulking about."


    She gave us a quick run down on number and positions. A lot and everywhere, was my takeaway. This was sounding like a night job with the Probes. I suggested as much. She nodded, "They are hard to spot in the dark." She nodded her acceptance. The Nomads had decided that the Probes being impossible to spot at night was the neatest thing ever. "They can sweep around the far side and drive the Wraiths into a firing line."


    We went over every little detail three times. She pulled up charts and maps, from satellite feeds on her tablet. Then she drew out the plans, and sent them to her teams. I really didn''t have much to add, but I did take notes. Amanda''s knowledge and experience was valuable, and I likely wouldn''t have access to it indefinitely. They were Nomads, and would eventually move on. It was their way of life. I, on the other hand, had to establish bases and outposts. I couldn''t stay with them forever, no matter how much I enjoyed my time with them.


    This was the moment that I began to worry about a future with Sally and Megan. Whether there was going to be a future with them at all. And they knew it. Women had their ways. I''ll never understand it.


    "Don''t overthink it. We''ll figure something out." Sally gently chided.


    "You won''t be getting rid of us that easily." Megan concurred.


    "You both aren''t ever getting away from me, I''m owed backrubs. I always collect what I''m owed." I gave a mockingly stern face. We all broke out into uncontrollable uproarious laughter.


    That night we had moved into our first position. I had given the Probes their instructions. I had gotten a series of beeps back, "We''ve got this." They took off like little bats out of hell. Had they somehow gotten faster? Huh.


    Sally had brought a Techtronika SPT 32 Grad and set it up. She was quickly ready to fire, down on the whole region. Megan was nestled in right next to her to act as a spotter. I could hear them softly working out a series of initial targets. I was there to make sure no one got the drop on them. Then I was supposed to drive them to Sally''s next firing position, if needed.


    That meant I''d be driving Sally''s Mackinaw. Truly, I was touched she''d even let me drive her beast out here to begin with. I knew how attached people could get to their rides.


    We were on an eroded outcropping, overlooking an old manufacturing plant. This place was pre fourth corporate war, whatever that was, and had produced middle grade cyberware parts. The plant itself was mostly hidden away from the rest of the badlands, by a series of hills and outcrops like ours. There was only one good drivable path up to it and that''s where Amanda had positioned her people in an L formation. They had explained why that was a good ambush formation. So that you could overlap fields of fire with little risk of hitting your own people. I probably wouldn''t have thought of that myself.


    This was a good place for an outpost, but only if you had a way to keep from getting bottled in. Well, I''d figure out how to take care of that later.


    From all of the readings we had pulled up, the Wraiths weren''t nested in the plant itself, though Barry was going to do a quick sweep through it to make sure. They were camped around it, in a disorganized mess. From this distance, I could barely make out any details, even with my eyes zoom function. I glanced over at Sally''s iron. That must be some optics on her rifle. I wondered what I would see when she fired it prone. Never thought I''d cheer for recoil. Then I shook my head, my job was to watch the open desert behind us. No entertainment for me.


    Amanda messaged us it was go time, I relayed the signal to the Probes. Soon we heard distant screams and yells, but I couldn''t make out the sound of the Probes zapping the gonks.


    Then the Grad bellowed and I couldn''t hear much at all for a while. Every time Sally took a shot, my ears suffered. Though a quick cast of Regrowth fixed them, I decided to wait until we were done, to save on my mana. I might need it for any wounded soon enough.


    All in all a very boring half hour for me. Even Sally only ended up taking seven shots the whole time. The last two had been to core engine blocks, when the Wraiths finally broke and started to run. We found out her third shot had dropped Sourtooth their local Wraith warlord. Big points there. He had a major bounty on his head, and been a thorn in the side of a few of the Corps as well.


    The Probes had gone beast mode on the Wraiths, barely any of the scum made it to the ambush point and they were shredded in a few seconds when they had. People, vehicles or equipment they savaged everything, laying waste to the desert rats.


    When Amanda had given the all clear, the ladies packed up and I drove us down to the ambush site. Hell, even the clean up was done by the time we got there. I was feeling just a bit useless. Sure, watching people''s backs is important, of course it is. That didn''t take that empty sucking feeling in your gut away. Eh, I tried to shake it off. My real work was about to begin, if the Probes even let me get over to the plant before they started. Little showoffs. Gotta love the Robo-Buddies. Haha.


    Everything at the ambush position taken care of, so half of the group scattered to patrol around. Their job was to see if anyone was snooping about. The rest of us headed to the plant. While the rest of them couldn''t see them, the Probes were doing some kind of victory dance about fifty feet up in the air. Weaving back and forth making patterns only they understood. Silly little guys.


    When we had stopped, I excused myself to hunt up a good place for a Moon Well. As I headed off I called back, "I''m going to trust you folks not to talk about what you are going to see next." I called the Probes over to me, and gave them their orders. I had them dig out a moat area then an overflow channel for a stream then a pond about fifty yards away.


    It took them only a few minutes to get the moat and stream dug out. While Chuck and Barry kept excavating the pond, Fix started A Pylon above where the Moon Well was going to go. Meadran had ten silver Wisps loaded up into my Supron, which I called out here. I let Amanda know it was coming, since I  didn''t want any accidents. Things were going to get crazy as it was. While waiting for the Wisps, I had Scuff start a Forge building to one side.


    We mirrored the moat stream and pond arrangement on the other side of the cyberware plant. Another Pylon above the second Moon Well position, and a Robotics Facility over there on that side of the area.


    Everyone had stayed well out of the way, setting up their own camp, but I soon heard their startled exclamations. Yeah, buildings coming out of the void was pretty shocking. But then everything changed again when the Wisps finally arrived and I had them merge into the Moon Wells.


    Fresh Mana infused water began to flow and you''d think the Nomads had lost their minds. Haha, maybe we all had.

 Chapter 21

    The Outpost Quest complete, and I became 1000 CPoints richer. A hexagonal coin also appeared. It''s lustrous surface seemed to be made out up a pearlescent alloy of some kind. This must have been a Hero Token. However, I had no clue as to what a hero was so decided to hold off on using it. Making buildings appear out of nowhere is one thing, making random people pop into existence is quite another.


    I spent the majority of the next day placing Photon Cannon in the hills all around the manufacturing plant. It took so long because I tried to place them in such a way that they wouldn''t be visible from a distance. Visibility outside the circle of mounds and outcroppings, was vast. Each cannon was placed behind a ridge of the hills, or was near a boulder, while still being able to cover the inner section of land. A few times the Probes hollowed out a section of stone to improve the placement. Sure, most of the cannons could be seen from the air, but by the time an AV saw them the cannons should have them locked.


    Next, I made a little Pylon field behind the the main building. This was to support the incredible power draw, of the frankly ridiculous amount of cannons I placed in the area. I might have gone overbroad, but I had an itch on the back of my neck. Something was up, but I thought I was just being paranoid.


    I also had to spent a an hour or two programing each cannon to not target the Aldecaldos. I could have just made it a blanket command; Propagating the order through the Psifield, but it would link back to the Valley but I still wanted a fall back point just for me. I liked the Aldecaldos, I really did, yet something told me complete trust might be a foolish idea.


    Four more Robotics Facilities were then queued up for a higher unit output. I had a Sentry cooking in the first one already. Then I had the Probes build up every structure that we could could. The Cybernetic Core and Robotics Bay would be up quick, however the Stargate and the Fleet Beacon were blocked from our current build options. Which was a crying shame the value of the Stargate was enormous, both on a strategic and logistic scale. However, as I understood it, once the Stargate is complete it would warp into orbit. Meaning I would still need a Psifield network capable of reaching into orbit first. So that was a very long term problem to sort out. In addition to the Stargate, The Probes weren''t allowed to build another Nexus. Nor were they allowed to warp in Gateways or Templar buildings for some reason. So a purely robotic army would have to do.


    The Supron was sent back to base to pick up a bunch of golden Wisps, and some more Probes. I felt a kind of building fever settle in my soul, increasing my desire to expand this outpost. I was going to set up more trees, and a secondary lumber produce zone here. There was a lot more room for a settlement, than the Valley, and I also wanted the new forest to source fruit and populate with tasty critters. I ordered the extra Probes so that we could increase mineral and vespene resourcing. Chuck had already found a coal deposit and Barry found some ore veins in the hills. Why none of these were not already exploited, I had no idea, but I also wasn''t going to let them go to waste either.


    Amanda, Nolan, Sally and Megan came by from time to time to check on me. They offered advise on the placement of defenses and ideas for other various improvements. We ran over a few thought of future plans, though I was still loathe to commit to anything too long term. After all who could say what would happen tomorrow?


    While I was frantically trying to get everything arranged to my liking, the Nomads were arranging their own new camp site. Much as it was before they circled up, putting together the eating and food prep areas in just a hour. They were already getting back to their normal routines before I had finished placing the sixth Cannon in the Hills. The only exception was that they all ended up spending at least a little while playing in or around the ponds. All of that water to play with was a luxury they were rarely afforded. This was after an incident necessitated a brief but emphatic explanation that they shouldn''t drink from the Wells themselves, only from the streams. Thankfully no other accidents had occurred, yet.


    Now even Lynx''s sour ass had been cheerful at the sight of so much clean water. He and I had been avoiding each other. While I was sure he was jealous of Sally attention towards me, he didn''t do any of the petty bullshit I would have expected. Maybe he wasn''t such a bad dude, or maybe, he knew something I didn''t?


    If nothing else, all of my efforts at making this area into a nicer home had earned me regard amongst the families. They recognized the value of what was now available to them, and would  fight to defend this place and what it would mean for their future. Not that they would need to, if my paranoid ass had it''s way. I''d make this into the safest harbor in this shitty land. All peaceful folk would be welcome. Forget the bullshit of the city, and come rest under my trees. $99 for a liter of water. Nah choom, here have a drink of the best water you''ve ever tasted for free.


    Shit, that would backfire wouldn''t it. Too many people would flood this place. Sigh. Alright, it had to stay secret for now. But a guy could dream, couldn''t he?


    By midday, the first purple grasses had sprouted and were spreading rapidly. I had to stop and assure them that the grasses were safe to be around, and that they were indeed part of the plan. All the while, I was freaking out myself. I hadn''t realized that the grass was linked to the Wells. I had thought the spread of the purple lawn was an affect of Meadran''s presence. We all had a laugh after they calmed down. If mine was a little nervous, they didn''t seem to notice.


    Some of the Aldecaldos had been searching through the cyberware plant looking for any good salvage. Sadly most of the machines were too large to use as they were. They''d have to be broken down, with specialized tools. This didn''t stop Scuff and Fix from going ham scanning every little thing inside. They really liked studying "primitive tech". Maybe, it was somewhat like archeologists looking at our ancient hominid offshoots.


    The Robo-Buddies'' personalities were still expanding but always seemed to contain a childlike wonder with the world. I wished I could say the same about my own attitude. I felt a lot of my own preconceived notions about the nature of humanity being absolutely wrecked by the misery of this world. I had to find a way to maintain a positive outlook, or I''d never be able to help others.


    Meadran had sent back another 6 Probes, and enough golden Wisps to merge into 4 trees with a few left over to bond with them. There was also a couple more silver Wisps to build out paths and ward stones.


    Merging the golden Wisp into trees, two next to each Well, had been another small event. Many of the Nomads hadn''t ever seen a proper tree, just the sickly things growing out in the wastes. They said there were still places with trees and forests. Even jungles and places with natural animals, but they were tightly controlled as extremely valuable resources, or farmed for the Elites. Yup, old school farming did exist in places as well, but those Elite bastards running the Corps monopolized the vast majority of their products.


    The less fortunate had to make do with bug products or at best have some chemically grown vat meat. It''s "totally not human cloned" we swear. What a wonderous time to be alive. If it wasn''t for some truly massive algae farms out in the blighted oceans, no one would still have enough oxygen to live properly. Sigh, and they sent me to "fix" this mess.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    There was too much work to do. And I was sure the Corpo bastards were going to try to snatch everything I made up as soon as they found out about it.


    I shaped a Growth spell on the Trees, helping them get a little closer to the sky. One step, for one problem at a time.


    After an exhausting day of infrastructure planning and placement, I was ready to kick up my feet and relax. Sadly, It was not to be.


    First, I had been wrangled into dancing again and while we mostly kept it slow and simple, Sally and Megan dragged it out for a few hours. Every lady wanted a spin and even a few of the lads. I shrugged and went with it. It was just dancing after all and if they got a little handsy, it was actually socially acceptable to break their nose. Sally and Megan did their rounds, and then we ended up in a weird revolving dance. I''d move with one of them and then the other and then back again. A few times, I was sandwiched between them. No power in the verse would make me complain about that.


    To keep up, I tried casting regrowth on myself a few times to keep up. Yet even with that boost, I was wearing down. The Ladies, however, seemed to be unflagging in their pursuit of another turn. You know, it was nice to be popular for once. Even if most of it was for my sweet, sweet magic, and sick trade deals.


    The Second thing keeping me from hitting the sack, after all of the dancing and the feasting, was that Amanda wanted to know when the next batch of lumber would be ready. I assured her that it would only be another couple of days at the latest. Then she wanted to know my next plans, all of them, in as much detail as I could provide. I plead that I was tired, and my mind was too sluggish not to just go along with her, mostly. She didn''t like that part of my future plans would be to establish an outpost in the city. I couldn''t really explain everything right now, so I went with saying that it was necessary for my goals. Amanda''s tsk told me everything I needed to know about what she thought of that.


    I decided to elaborate, I swept my hand around the whole area. "This, more of this. Everywhere I can get it going. Until there is so much life that the Corps can''t stop it and it keeps propagating itself. It''s not the best plan, but it''s really the only plan. While I''m going to be stuck in a few places, I''m vulnerable to being easily controlled or eliminated. I have to keep spreading out."


    She stared at me, "Sounds like a virus." Strangely that didn''t sound judgemental, at least not from her


    I nodded, "Yes. It does, because that''s the strategy little buggers evolved into. Spread fast or get crushed." We tried to come up with other ideas, but anything slow wasn''t going to work. Unless I could figure out a way for others to control and build the Probes and the Wisps, but Alina had told me it was hard coded into them not to accept any commands but my own.


    Megan thought that maybe we should build more hidden places. Underground maybe? Or inside old abandoned buildings. Sure the amount we could do with the limited space was miniscule but discovery was less likely. Sally wanted to be more aggressive. They wouldn''t be looking at our outposts if we harassed them elsewhere. I could see the merit. But I needed stronger units. The Probes were not yet a heavy assault force, and I certainly wasn''t going to involve the nomads in that level of risky operation. We kept batting more thoughts around until we ran out of more things to say.


    We were all about to head to sleep, when I felt a buzzing in the back of my head. I focused on it. Meadran''s panicked thoughts reached me, ''Young One, Alina has intercepted a series of local communications. They are headed toward you right now.'' Ah, fuck.


    ''Who?'' My sluggish brain was trying to spool itself up once again.


    ''A company called Arasaka. They have been observing you since last night from several orbital satellites. They have only just reached out to their Night City resources. They ordered local assets to sweep the area and snatch all high level personnel. The rest are to be disposed of.'' I felt the blood drain from my face.


    I ran through everything Sinn had told me about Arasaka. Then I ran through the bits of info I had gathered about them while playing with the NET. The company was usually subtle, methodical, precise and controlled. This kind of brute force assault was not their normal tactic. Something had triggered this rapid response, but we had no time to figure that out right now.


    If they had been observing us, they already had several vital pieces of information. They may not know what kind, but it was obvious that the Photon Cannons were defenses. The Corpos had to have thought they''d have some way of defeating them. Or they wouldn''t even attempt this. While it was certain they would get chewed up. I-We couldn''t risk it. If any of them made it to the Nomads, who knows how much damage they could do.


    I leapt up yelling my head off, "Get everyone out of here, now!" The response of the Aldecaldos spoke of folks used to survival and danger. Folks were moving almost before the words were completely out of my mouth.


    When she saw my face, Amanda didn''t even question me. She dashed about camp barking orders. Sally and Megan both tried asking what was going on. "Arasaka. They spotted the outpost from orbit. They saw everything. I''m their target, or anyone that they think might have information. You have to go, they have orders to kill everyone else. Save your people."


    For a moment, they both stopped and went completely still. It was odd, but I was too distracted to question it. Then Sally shook her head, as if clearing it of cobwebs. "What about you?"


    I was scanning the skies for any sign of how the Corpo thugs were approaching, "Oh, I''m going to run too. Just slower than you. Hurry up and take off, so I have time to get away." I called all the Probes to me. We left the tent area to find most of the Nomads in or near their vehicles with some already peeling out. Sally and Megan hit her Mackinaw and bugged out, while I could hear Amanda''s Javelina revving in the distance. I got to the Galena and my main crew of four Probes attached to it. I had the others attach to the Supron and sent it on ahead to the Sunset Motel. Arasaka shouldn''t bother with that place, it was too out in the open, and too close to the city. I was going another way, to try to lead them off. Soon even the HEMITT''s were rolling out.


    Amanda messaged me, Where?


    Scatter. Wait and meet me at the broken bridge in a few days. That should be long enough to ditch any tails, and head back to the relative safety of the Valley.


    They''ll be watching. Well, she wasn''t wrong. But where and how they looked would depend on why they were ham-fisting this operation to begin with. It might not be about us at all.


    Sally and Megan sent, Be Careful. For a second, it was nice to feel like someone cared about me.


    I will. Because what else could I say.


    I kept waiting. My Galena was idling and ready to burn rubber. Now that they''d a head start, I wasn''t as worried about the Aldecaldos. They knew every trick to throw off pursuit, and even the over watching satellites. They had hundreds of hidey holes all over the Badlands. No, I was worried about me. Worried about the outpost and all that work wasted. Okay, of course, I was terrified Sally and Megan were going to get caught, but logically they had a far better chance of making it out and avoiding capture than me.


    What was the best way for me to hide? My hands were shaking. Not from fear, from frustration, from anger. The Corpo bastards couldn''t have just left us alone. Then it hit me, and it was crazy.


    As dumb as it at first seemed, I thought heading to the city was a good bet. Hide in the masses. Scan out some new tech ideas. Steal a different vehicle, get back to base and start on a different plan.


    I felt the Cannons all report contact. All of them at once. That didn''t make any sense. I looked up at the stars to think. Oh. The Cannons started firing up into the air above the center of the Outpost.


    They were dropping in. The fucking bastards were dropping from the sky. I couldn''t see them yet, but the Cannons were reporting their positions. They must have been using some kind of optical camouflage. Bleeding stealth technology. Now that was a good idea. The Khalai had some excellent cloaking options, and I should''ve adjusted it to suit my purposes. Fuck!


    No time to beat myself up about it. Who the hell was I to try to outthink a Megacorp?


    It was past time to get moving so, I floored my baby''s pedal and aimed for the city.

 Chapter 22

    Behind us, there were people falling from the sky. The Photon Cannons were still sending me reports, through the Psifield. Most of the data was on their targets acquisitions, and their hit ratios. Usually 75%. If I hadn''t spent a day covering the hills with a stupid number of defenses, or if the fire rate of the cannons was slower, more of the invaders might have survived to hit the ground.


    Honestly, at the rate they were dying it might have been better if we had stood our ground. However, once Arasaka had committed to a path, even a failing one, only oceans of blood could sway them to change course. Mostly because they were unaccustomed to failure.


    So far, there had been no AV''s in the Cannons'' detection range. Which begged the question, how did they get above us? Then I remembered an article I read once, about certain high risk military operations. The US had needed a way to get troop into areas that were heavily covered by anti-air defense. While a lot of money and research went into stealth technology, it just wouldn''t work for the bigger transport planes. There had been a simpler solution, just drop the troop from a higher altitude. HALO (High Altitude, Low Open) jumps, it had to be. They were jumping from AV''s so high up they might as well be in low orbit. Or maybe even from one of the rumored orbital stations that all the Corps had up there..


    Either way that''s fucking insane. What kind of crazy fools would do that? Without highly specialized equipment, and even more specialized training, this approach was just an elaborate form of suicide.


    Still this had to be an opening gambit, with more heavily armed and numerous ground forces moving in. It was a winning strategy, provided you could afford to waste some resources. Between having to target both forces, the cannons could soon be overwhelmed one by one. And from everything I''d managed to gather the Corpo bastards could just keep pouring more units into the fight. Hell, they''d probably send bots in first to absorb the heaviest damage. No, us running had been the best of our options. Even I could see that there was no victory to be had here.


    Our discovery was our defeat. I should have waited...grrr, not the time.


    I ordered the cannons to target the Khalai buildings and then the Moon Wells in turns. I left only the first two Pylons and the Cannons themselves, which would fight to the end. I couldn''t allow any Corp to get their hands on any Khalai tech, that could be avoided. Even the scraps that they were going to inevitably have access to were going to cause trouble in the future. The Moon Well had to be destroyed to prevent the Corps from gaining any hint of magic. It was my only real advantage, and I meant to keep it that way.


    I winced as the buildings were swiftly detonated, and the resulting explosions were massive. Large clouds of blue flames, that rapidly burned any remnants to ash. The worse part was that I could feel each building being destroyed. Inside my mind.


    I forced my focus to return to driving as fast as I could. In the dark and over uneven terrain, it was a task that required all my attention. Avoiding the worst areas and the largest obstacles was soon consumed my whole attention.


    A report from the Cannons came through, the first ground forces had begun coming in. So far everything was as expected. I ignored the report and kept driving, desperately trying to get even a mile further away, before the Arasaka troops started to sweep the area and search for us. The darkness had become both my ally and my enemy, it shielded us from a cursory glance but would make us stand out on any thermal scanning. I had no doubts that the Corpo scum would have all the toys they needed to find us in the night.


    It was only a few minutes later, that two AVs caught my tail and began a dogged pursuit. They kept firing at us. But whether they were just warning shots or I''d somehow gotten lucky, I''d avoided everything so far. I heard the Probes communicating above me but I couldn''t focus on it enough to understand the rapid messaging between them. Having to juke and weave, over a particular rough section of ground, meant that I didn''t notice two more AVs trying to cut off my path.


    I tried to get them tangle up with each others paths, by circling around for a while. I had noticed that the AV the Arasaka forces were using had poor turn radii. So I cut sharp turns before flooring it, sadly it didn''t work. The AV were just too fast. Soon they had adjusted their tactics to keep me boxed in. Soon enough their shots got more accurate, and my poor Galena started to take damage. Thankfully the Probes'' shielding spared us the worst of it, but even that was only a stop gap.


    They were going to get me. No. I couldn''t allow that, even if I had to do the unthinkable. I knew it was inevitable before they managed to extract my secrets. Then they would at best monopolize the resources I could generate for them. The balance of power would fall into their hands completely and soon they would no longer bother with the illusion of choice they had allowed the people of the world. All would be Arasaka''s. Everyone would live or die at their whim.


    That should never be allowed to happen.


    I''d begun to tire, and my concentration was slipping, which was why they managed to force me into a large boulder. I was soon hanging by my seatbelt upside down, I could feel terrible injures inside myself. Bones grating against each other in new and horrible ways. I started trying desperately to heal myself. The crash had jarred my thoughts, and the pain of my injures further scrambled my mind. All the ideas of Arasaka controlling everything blurred together with the waste that had been happening back on my own version of Earth. I couldn''t stand it. I couldn''t accept it. My thoughts started to fill with green. I could feel my mana stirring, and not of my own volition. Soon my efforts at healing stopped, it was better to cease the struggle against death.


    I don''t know why, but I managed to cut myself free and somehow I slowly crawled out of my ruined car. One of my eyes couldn''t see, even though I knew the eyelids were open. Still I started looking around the area. All my movement were glacially slow and extremely painful. The remains of my baby were on fire, and I wept at the sight. The poor car had done nothing wrong. This was all my fault.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    I pulled my Omaha not knowing why, I couldn''t exactly hope to achieve much with it. Maybe some core reflex, trying whatever it could to keep me alive even a minute longer. It would take all of my effort to lift it, never mind fire it, but instincts rarely cared about ability.


    Spot lights lit me up from four different directions. I could barely make out aggressive voices over the AVs'' loudspeakers, "Stand down! Put the weapon down and lay on the ground, we promise you won''t be harmed further." Of course, I wouldn''t be hurt, at first. When I refused to cooperate, my life would probably become endless torment.


    Everything in my head was too valuable, I couldn''t let them take me. I was pretty sure I''d never last under any kind of torture. I didn''t want to die, but I didn''t want to live if all I would face was endless agony. I put the barrel of the Omaha against my temple. It felt wrong, but it was the rational choice. The best choice for everyone.


    The Probes beeped furiously, "Executor, no!" Their communication in the Psifield had reached a consensus. "We have this. You must go on." My mind could sense their confidence, and I chose to trust them. They radiated something I''d never would have expected from robots, not matter how advanced. It was Faith, they had faith in me. They believed in a better future. The Omaha fell to my side.


    "That right. Toss the iron on the ground." The Authoritative voice from before growled out. "Let''s end all of this trouble, we just want to talk to you." Fuck you, Corpo Slave. I tried to yell it out, my my throat wouldn''t form the sounds. It couldn''t, something was wrong with my vocal cords.


    I felt that the Probes had scattered. One Probe approached each AV. What were they doing? Were they going to try to fight? That wouldn''t work, there were too many Troops in each AV. I couldn''t see their plan. Then they latched onto their chosen AVs. What were they... I felt the Psifield ripple. They had somehow began pulling more power from it.


    They all reached out to my mind, ''It has been an honor, Executor Ryan!'' I felt their resolve. Resolve for what? Their Beeps rang out in harmony, four voices as one. "MY LIFE FOR EARTH!"


    A purity of purpose flooded the Psifield. I felt my little Robo-Buddies die. Their end resonated in my mind. All of the energy they had gathered was suddenly dumped through their cores into the world. A hammer made of blue light and heat drove me into the ground, and darkness was waiting to grab me with open arms.


    When my eyes opened again the sun burned into the one that still worked. The daystar had just peeked over the horizon revealing the tragic remains of the events of the night. Moments passed while I my brain struggled to comprehend the scene before me. My heart burned with pain at the memories of the last moments of my friends. What? Why? Barry, Chuck, Fix and Scuff were gone. My little robo buddies were gone. It was my fault. If only I had been smarter, or had prepared more. Now, the Corpo scum had cost me my friends.


    {They would pay.}


    At the end, I''d felt how alive they were. Their drives and purpose, and their hopes and dreams had been made clear to me. That were simple things, but they had meant everything to my Robo-Buddies. How could a robot have dreams? I didn''t understand, but I couldn''t deny that they were real.


    Somehow at the end my buddies had calculated the best way to direct their final act. The AVs had been blown away from me, and spared me the worst of the resulting shrapnel. I stared at the twisted and mangled husks that remained. Certainty filled me that there had been no survivors. No one to take the rage I felt out on. Except myself. I noticed that as I cast Regrowth, trying to return to mobility, I left scars. It wasn''t a conscious choice, but once I noticed them I could stand the thought of erasing them either.


    As good as I could get for now. I picked my sorry ass up, and grabbed my gun. I spent a moment saying good bye to my Robo-Buddies and my car, then started marching in the direction of those cursed towers.


    At some point, other assholes would be coming to search the area, and I needed to be gone before they did. I was honestly shocked they hadn''t arrived before now. Something must have delayed them, and I didn''t dare speculate what that might have been.


    Eventually, I made it to the Sunset Motel. I saw that the Supron had made it, with it''s precious cargo of Probes still intact. I looked at the bar with my one good eye and for a second, I thought about going inside to get a drink or maybe get a room and just resting for a while. Instead, I got in the Supron after patting each of the six unnamed Probes. They beeped greetings, "En Taro Adun, Executor." Their cheerfulness brought a pall of sadness over me.


    Meadran had tried to contact me several time on the trek here. I didn''t respond, because I didn''t want to talk about it. I didn''t want to be rude but my heart wasn''t ready to discuss what had happened yet.


    Then my mind finally started working properly again. Meadran could be trying to tell me something important. Either way avoiding the conversation would just make my pain fester. Besides, this would be last chance to talk to him before heading back into the cesspit of NC.


    ''Meadran.'' I tried to stay calm.


    ''Young One. I am sorry.'' His words weren''t the important part, it was the accompanying ages of loss. He had watched his people burning, felt their deaths. The ending of his friends and siblings, then finally of his parent trees. Centuries of war and death encapsulated into a few words. It meant that he understood and that was a kindness. One I didn''t think that I deserved.


    ''Any word of the others?'' Focus on other things for now.


    ''Nothing definitive. The defenses of the outpost still hold for now, but a few gaps have been opened and the enemy has begun pushing harder.'' He paused. ''No word of the Nomads has passed through the local Arasaka servers.'' That was probably good news, and if the defenses still held the Corpo units would be too tied up to chase anyone. Also I now had an answer for why no other Arasaka forces had found me yet.


    ''All communications indicate that they had a lack of understanding of our full capabilities. Also any Khalai structure that wasn''t fully formed was invisible to them. Alina says that this means they lack the ability to detect certain kinds of energies.'' Best news possible out of this mess.


    I sighed. ''Alright, I''m going to go hide in the city for a while and I''ll return as quickly as I think will be safe. Once I return, we''ll need to formulate a different approach to our expansion.'' A way to undercut them to destroy everything they own.


    ''Revenge can be a tricky thing, Young One.'' That was another one of his statements that implied so much more. His mind was so vast that I could barely catch the edges of his thoughts.


    ''I know. I''ll take it slow, and dig our roots in deep. We''ll wait, for years if we have to, for the right moment to strike.'' I would practice patience. I would practice restraint. Until the day I no longer had to hide anymore. ''See you as soon as possible, Meadran.'' I started the Supron, but I found none of my usual joy at revving the engine.


    ''Be careful, Young One.'' I felt his mind turn inward, ending our contact.


    Once again I headed toward Night City, with a burning rage. What terrible crap would I see this time?

 Chapter 23

    While the drive to NC didn''t settle my emotions, it did allow me to calm down sufficiently to reexamine my plans. Just stealing a car to get back to base, seemed like I''d be spinning my wheels. No, we were going to found an outpost. We were going to do it right under these fuckers'' noses. But where and how?


    Something Megan said, before things went to shit, clicked. A series of hidden bases utilizing abandoned buildings or involving digging underground or even a combination of both. Yes, I liked that idea. I liked it a lot.


    I was still running through various scenarios by the time I hit Westbrook''s Japantown. I parked in a random lot, not paying much attention to the area, I wouldn''t be coming back to this specific parking lot again. Maybe, I should just ditch the Supron all together. If Arasaka had been watching us, they might have the profile of all of our vehicles. I wipe the Supron''s fob clean of my fingerprints and dropped the it on the ground so it couldn''t be traced to me.


    The Probes had detached from the van and began to surround me. All while making sure to keep their diligent sensors on the surroundings. Sadly, it hurt to look at them. I guessed I had a long way to go before I could match their creators, I had a difficult time accepting others'' sacrifices, especially on my behalf. Ii left me in a position where I had no idea how to honor my fallen Robo-Buddies. I know that some people would never have been able to tell them apart, which would lead some people to think that the Probes were all interchangeable, but I knew better. I had seen each of their own little quirks, and further now knew they all had very distinct personalities.


    It was only a matter of time before I named the Probes now protecting me. Perhaps, the reason I could tell them apart was because of the Psifield. Another reason might have been familiarity. These thoughts clashed around in my head while I wandered around, absently weaving through the packed midday crowds. I was so distract by my own issues that I failed to notice, that I was being watched.


    Slowly but surely, I had ended up making my way towards Jig-Jig Street. Sinnamin hadn''t been exaggerating when she had listed this area as one of the busiest in the city, as well as one of the sleaziest. Sex shops were everywhere the eye could see, and if not the shops themselves, then you would find yourself looking at an ad for some sexually related service. She had also said to watch out for picksockets, but I didn''t know how to do that. Hell, I didn''t even understand what a picksocket was. She had gone on to explain that a picksocket was a person who went after your credit chip, usually without zeroing you. A quickhack slipped through your ICE, and out flies your chip often with you none the wiser. Fortunately, I really didn''t need to pay that much attention with the Probes above blending into the drone traffic zooming along.


    Looking around in a moment of clarity, I was startled that the local drones seemed to outnumber the people. Yet with a moment to think about it it made sense. Drones and bots performed a lot of the small labor jobs where people could afford to utilize them. Almost all home delivery work, be it food or or a new tv was handled by the mechanical helpers. The best part, no one paid any attention to them, unless they had to. This made for great cover for my Probes. No one had even given them a second glance, as far as I could tell.


    I stopped briefly at a noddle stand. These noodles were made out of real buckwheat, and had an excellent texture. The bits of supposed chili peppers and the slivers of "beef" were tolerable, but only because of those noodles. The sauce was, I think, an attempt at a teriyaki sauce but could have been going for something else. Either way, not that good. I planted myself on a bench and ate while working on coming up with a more fleshed out plan.


    First order of business, find a small space to buy or rent. Preferably abandoned and as close to the eastern edge of the city as possible. The building itself wouldn''t be important, it would be what I planned on doing below the building that mattered. Hmm, how deep to dig? I suspected Arasaka had become aware of us due to the energy signatures of the Khaydarin or Psicrystals. I had doubt they would be able to easily utilize them, but detect their energy output, sure. More questions remained as to what extent The Corps could detect us, and why did the Observer find out about the impending attack so late? The Observer should have been tapping into most if not all of the data traffic of the major Corporations'' headquarters. Unless...


    Arasaka was based in Japan, maybe that explained a lot of it. Sure, they had a foothold here, but in some ways NC wasn''t their focus right now. The more I thought about it, the more I was convinced that they had been monitoring us from Japan, with their satellites. That would explain why we didn''t know when they spotted us. Okay that tracked. So, why attack at all? What they would have seen was special, absolutely, but worth the dozens of lost lives and damaged vehicles incurred while taking the outpost? I had a hard time reconciling that in my head. Corporations, regardless of the world, were all about cost vs benefit. The small bits of research I had managed showed that the Corps here were even more ruthless about their bottom line then the ones back home. This left me with a real puzzler.


    I only saw two likely answers. One, the energy of the Pylons appeared somehow threatening to them. Quite possible, as they shouldn''t have the slightest clue what the energy real was. Or two, They had something going on in that area that our presence disturbed. Something that was vital to their plans. This was also quite possible, there could have been anything under the cyberware plant. I was inclined towards option two, but I didn''t have anywhere near enough information to be confident in that guess. It might have been something else altogether, but I had no way of knowing what that might be. Anyway, it wasn''t worth taking the risk that it was one over the other. I''d have to work under the assumption it was both and probably other factors besides.


    Back to my original thought, how many layers into the ground did we need to dig? I had some thoughts on how to go about that too, but let''s start with getting a place to cover up our activities first.


    "Hey Input, looking for a good time?" Huh? I hadn''t been paying much attention to my surroundings. Too busy plotting, but the slightly sultry voice knocked me back into paying attention to my surroundings.


    Red-Light District would be the most polite way to describe the market, that I had wandered into. Sure, I''d noticed the shops and ads earlier but now, everything here was sexual, even the food vendors and bodega style shops. I turned to look at the woman talking to me. She was of East Asian descent and looked good for the circumstances. She was surprisingly well put together for her seeming profession. Probably, a fair amount of chrome involved there, but something about her didn''t jive.


    "Sorry, no." Now more fully aware of the local environment, I sped up a bit. Something about the air here made me nervous. Too much despair perhaps. Worse I had the sense I was being watched, and not just by the prostitute... the "Joytoy" in front of me. I dashed through and around a series of stalls, before turning around to check my backtrail. Then I used an alley where I could see the street on the other side, pausing to pretend to fiddle with my clothes.


    ''Guys, anyone following me?'' I sent to the Probes. They had stayed close, and though they didn''t detect any immediate danger, I had the sense I was being stalked.


    ''The woman that talked to you. She approaches. Shall we engage?'' Shit. She might be a Corpo agent, or was she something else? I couldn''t afford to waste time on this. I was about to order them to zap her, when she entered the alley. She was panting slightly, and looked almost apologetic.


    "Hey are you Ryan?" A Corpo agent wouldn''t have known my name. At least, I didn''t think they would. I decided to hold off on zapping her for a moment.


    "Yes." My gun hand itched. I didn''t feel safe right now, and wanted the feel of iron in my grip. Somehow, I managed to hold off on appearing aggressive.


    "The Mox contracted Wakako to have her people keep an eye out for you. Rita would like a word. Head to Lizzie''s when you get a chance." Okay, I never would have expected that.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    "Do you know what it''s about?" What could Rita possibly want with me? I barely knew any of the Moxes. Though thinking about all of that reminded me, I needed to visit a Ripper anyway and get my fucked up eye fixed. I could take care of two birds with one stone.


    "Nah, just tasked with passing the message. I take tips though." Her huge grin made me think she was joking, at first. But as the seconds went by with her not moving, I realized she real did expect a tip. I flicked her $100 and she scurried back to where she had come from.


    I went right back to wondering why Rita would want to talk to me specifically? Sinnamin should be able to message me. Unless something had happened to Sinn. Sigh. When it rains, it pours.


    After I quickly get something established, I''ll go find out what''s going on. It couldn''t be anything too drastic or Rita would''ve tracked me down herself.


    One of my NET searches came back with a hit, a nice little two story shop with an upper story apartment. $3000 a month to rent. It took less than fifteen minutes to message the owner, wire the funds, and get the key fob from a delivery drone. Some things are so much easier here.


    When I arrived at my new building, I went over it with a fine toothed comb. It turned out to be more than suitable to my needs. The store itself was setup to be a basic convenience store, with racks for basic snacks and candies and shelves for dry goods, toiletries and such. It had a walk-in space for the refrigerated drinks section with a storage room behind that. In the front, a checkout counter that was completely enclosed by thick polycarbonate panels that had several clever slots and drawers for passing bills or goods. It was a bullet resistant hidey hole if needed... oh look... the expected floor safe was missing. The previous shopkeepers had been robbed yet one more time it seemed.


    The upstairs apartment was next, nothing special was going on up there; two bedrooms, a living room, and a barebones bathroom. I was disappointed by the lack of a kitchen area. Then I shrugged, I hadn''t planned on cooking much anyway.


    It turned out that the ad was deceptive in one respect, the unit for rent was part of an even larger building. However that wasn''t the problem it could have been as there were no connecting doorways into the rest of the structure.


    Alright it was time to get to work. The sooner I figured a few things out, the quicker I could go get my eye fixed and then touch base with the Mox. It started in the storage room behind the walk-in. I had the Probes scan for pipes underneath the floor. Their sensors revealed nothing that would be in the way, which was a good thing. My Plan B would have caused a real mess. We marked out a 6'' square area, then the Probes were directed to cut through the concrete slab. After that they attached to the freed slab and then moved it off to the side.


    Less than three minutes later... and wow! The Robo-Buddies never failed to impress me with their speed of completing any assigned tasks. Next they were going to create a three foot wide stairway leading down. From there, we were going to test a Pylon at 200'' down first. If I could still feel it up here it would probably be noticeable to any high energy detectors, and we''d scrap that pylon and then keep digging deeper, building new test Pylons at increments of 200'' after that. We would descend until at least until I could no longer sense the test Pylon from the surface.


    My current theory was that in the city, a blip of spiking energy or odd reading would probably be ignored. There were too many things going on, all the time to waste resources on checking out every little anomaly. I stepped down to test the first stairs, they seemed quite stable, with no slipping. I looked on while the Probes dug, fascinated at how their particle beams could perform some neat tricks. In this case, they were basically melting, compressing and infusing the walls. However, other then a slight sheen and increased smoothness the walls didn''t look too different from their original structure, but when touched everything felt like metal. That seemed like it should insure stability of the small tunnels, in most cases. Excess material was either being compressed into the walls themselves increase the density or the waste stone was being channeled straight into the void.


    After another hour of digging they popped the first Pylon. Nope, no good I felt it clearly, it was only somewhat muted. That was enough to show that the idea had some merit, and that we weren''t wasting our time. The Robo-Buddies quickly broke that Pylon down and kept digging deeper. Since this course of action seemed viable, once we got deep enought to shield us from detection, we would then tunnel straight back towards the Valley. Placing Pylons every so often along our tunnels. We''d eventually make contact through with the main Psifield, and then dig up somewhere near the broken bridge area.


    Of course, we would also be installing defenses around the exits and by every Pylon within the tunnels as well. Later, we''d build a canal system down there using Moon Wells and then add some deep reservoirs. Once all of that was finished, we could dig out hidden surface wells over a few specific reservoirs, ensuring the Nomads have access to clean water. Some reservoirs would remain hidden from everyone, but my most trusted allies.


    Over the months and years that followed we would spread the same model outward into other regions. It wouldn''t be quick but as long as no one gives up information as to what was going on, it would have to be enough.


    The next Pylon went up at 400'' down. I could still feel it, but it was getting pretty faint... still that was another scrapped Pylon. Within an hour after that, the next Pylon was warped in at 600''. It was undetectable from up here. I decided to test the sense of the Pylon while I was underground. I had a slight sense of it from around ten feet down.


    "Nah, break it down. We''ll dig a little further down." I ordered. My thought was that it was better to over do it. I had the Probes drop down another hundred feet, just to be cautious. This meant that there was 700'' of stairway to navigate. Whew. Nothing but to get to it. Okay, we were going to have to put in some rest stops here and there, with comfy benches and maybe fridges with cold water.


    Down at the bottom level, two of the Probes had started tunneling toward the valley right away. The other four started digging out rooms for structures. We needed plenty of space for all of our Robotic Facilities, and at least a few Forges. Now that the first stage was finished, it was time to get my eye fixed, and then find out what was going on with the Mox.


    I took two of the Probes with me and as luck would have it, night had fallen above ground. I''d have to take the NCART maglev rail system to get around for now. Which was just delightful... not. Yeah, I needed another car pronto. I got to see all of the crazy folks that used public transportation in NC. The less said about the whole thing the better, but both Probes ended up dropping a few bodies. No one cared. No one panicked. Hell, no one even looked at the situation. These were some peak levels of we don''t give a fuck. I couldn''t exit the damned train fast enough at the stop closest to Misty''s.


    The Doc got me a new eye, and barely charged me for it. While I kind of wanted to stay and spend time with some genuinely nice folk, I still had to check in with Rita.


    When I got to Lizzie''s, Rita glared at me. Like I''d fucked her sister, or killed her cat. Okay, maybe I''d been wrong about what was going on. I gave her my best confused look.


    "Where is Sinn?" She snarled at me, while readying her bat. Her partner pulled a submachine gun on me. We had skipped some levels here, and I didn''t feel the slightest bit welcome. This had escalated quickly, and I had no fucking clue what was going on. The Probes got ready to back me up, but I held up my hand to stop them. This caused both ladies some confusion, until Rita put it together.


    "You have your Drones with you?" Her optics were darting around trying to spot them. Yeah, good luck with that. I nodded, while keeping my face as neutral as possible.


    "Shit." She reluctantly let her tension go and lowered her weapon. Her partner quickly followed suit.


    "Just tell me what the fuck is going on Rita, and I''ll do my best to help." Yeah, I barely knew these people, but Sinn had done alright by me. I could at least help search for her.


    "Susie''s going to give me an earful. I was sure she''d run off with you. You two seemed to get along." She shook her head. I started doing some calculations.


    "Fuck. Find Carver... or better yet, tell me where Carver is." I was putting two and two together as fast as I could. I might not be getting four but it was all I had.


    "Huh? The Faceman? He got the cut almost a week back, Sinn''s only been missing three nights." Rita looked frustrated, no, pissed off. No Carver meant... what, I didn''t know enough about Sinn to begin to figure this shit out.


    "Carver''s the only clue I had, unless you know who the Fixer that ran him is?" Why the hell would anyone want to snatch Sinn... "You know anything about her old pack?" I was just spitballing here, but I wasn''t going to leave Sinn in the lurch.


    "Yeah, their still running with the Animals. Well, the ones that survived...anyway." She brightened up a bit. Oh, come on! You aren''t telling me that she didn''t even think of them.


    "I don''t have a crew to back me up or the connections to smooth a meeting. So, can you check with them?" At her nod, I continued, "In the meantime, give me Sinn''s address and last known location. My Pr...drones have excellent scanners and they might be able to uncover a clue or two." I got Sinn''s full detes, and then Rita''s to keep her updated. Then She went to talk to Susie.


    Then I performed an emergency search on the Net, for a car. I ended up buying a new Villefort Columbus V340-F Freight for $25,000, it came with some extra features that might come in handy down the road. The fob was delivered quickly by drone. I immediately called my new Van to me, If I had to run around, I wasn''t battling with the NC rail system.


    My heart quailed at all the horrible scenarios running through my mind. I shuddered. Scavs, Maelstrom, or some pissed off Fixer. Who had nabbed her? Why hadn''t I fucking taken it seriously in the first place?


    Please be okay, Sinn.

 Chapter 24 (Disturbing Content)

    My Robo-Buddies came in clutch. They managed to defeat the lock on Sinn''s door by scanning it extra hard, with their particle beams, for a millisecond. Probes for the win.


    Sinn''s apartment, which was located in Kabuki Town, had been left in a messy state. Not the type of mess that indicated someone ransacked her place, more the, "I don''t know what cleaning supplies are" and "Organization, what''s that?" kind of mess. As the Probes went to work scanning each cluster of disorganization, I  specifically searched for notes or datachips. Anything at all, that might be a quicker method of deducing where she might have gone. No luck there. On the other hand, one of the Probes found some odd soil on a pair of her boots. The caked on dirt wasn''t odd because it looked out of place, nor didn''t it have an unusual color or odor. No, it was odd because it lit up the Probe''s radiation meter to sky high levels.


    So, she had been marching through mud by what? A reactor, A nuclear waste dump or somewhere a nuke had been dropped? I nodded to myself, it was a place to start. I searched quickly on the open Net for local reactors, and recent bombings. Any nuclear waste dumping was probably illegal, so it wouldn''t help to bother searching the Net for those detes. I pinned the results of those searches, while I let my thoughts latch on to other ideas.


    Indeed, my mind was running off into a dozen different directions. Did someone actually grab her, or was she holed up at a ripper somewhere? Did she head back out to where ever this radiation was and get zeroed? Carefully clearing a space on her couch, I sat down then I called up every Ripper I could find listed. A swing and a miss. I tried Vik next, because he''s not listed and hears a lot of the word on the street. This was sadly, also a failure. He took the time to remind me to come in for a check-up, when I had more time to get examined. I gave him my thanks and said that I''d schedule it once this mess was resolved. Then I tried the Hospitals, zilch. I thought about trying Trauma Team, but there was no way that they would share any info with me. My pool of eddies was no where near large enough to interest them.


    My Probes continued to find nothing but the signs of a life unconcerned with, self improvement or maybe even self preservations. The only picture I could take away from her apartment was that she was on the edge of falling into a real downward spiral. She was starting to completely withdraw, both from her usual interests but also her ever shrinking pool of friends. Rita seemed to be the only person she had been talking to at anything more than a professional level. Which explained why Rita was on the warpath, she had known this was coming.


    Alright, my logical next step, should be to go and poke around the local nuclear reactors looking for leaks. There were two that still maintained standard operations. One up in the Northside Industrial District and the second smaller one just south of Pacifica.


    I messaged Rita with my progress and my ideas. She confirmed some of my theories. Sinn had indeed started down a path of social isolation. Then she informed me that Sinn''s former pack denied any involvement with her. Their words were, "We don''t need no weak gonks, you can keep her." I hadn''t like anything Sinn had told me about her former gang. Now, I felt an irrational desire to track these Animals down and start introducing them to my Robo-Buddies. No, stay on task.


    I decided to go and poke around the reactor to the North first. This would get the largest area out of the way, as the northern reactor was at least double the size of the one in Pacifica. Though if I was being honest, thanks to Sinn''s initial warning about the southern parts of Night City, I really didn''t want to have to search there.


    There were still several hours of night time left, which made keeping the Probes out of sight an easier task. My gut kept clenching up, it was trying to tell me that I was missing something. Yet, my brain had no insights and no great ideas. So we headed north in the Villefort.


    Sometimes you get lucky in the worst ways.


    While driving a complete circle around the Northside Nuclear Plant, the Probes trying to get some initial readings, we happened upon an active Scav camp by one of the coolant pools. It was tucked away, down one of the road leading deeper into the Reactor''s complex. We had missed it the first time we drove by that road, but on a second pass, I caught sight of a couple of Scavs fucking around in the road. Knowing Sinn''s distaste for the bastards, I had the thought that she might have been stalking this group. So we ditched the van and decided to investigate further.


    Their camp was very makeshift, with RVs and shacks built onto trailers. It seemed that the Scavs were stealing a page from the Nomads'' playbook. Thought there were no signs that the Scav scum took care of any of the equipment or vehicles. Instead of performing maintenance, there were a few dozen of the masked bastards dancing around a barrel fire all blitzed out of their skulls on drugs, while a few others were using BD wreaths, plopped down on old and disgusting couches. Celebrating? Well, we couldn''t let them have a good night, they''d have to pay the toll for being scop sucking assholes.


    My mind wasn''t in a rational place, and I wasn''t feeling like being subtle about this, so I started marching angrily towards them. My Probes were already sweeping around the camp to flank them. I didn''t bother to hide my approach, but the fuckers didn''t bother to notice me anyway. It was long past time to test my new Omaha on live targets. I walked right up to the main cluster of them sitting or dancing around a fire singing weird songs and laughing at stupid jokes. My pistol barely made a noise as six rounds found their new homes. The Robo-Buddies took that as the sign to start zapping.


    By the time I refocused my aim on the second group, the Scav assholes had barely started to get a clue. It didn''t matter because they were still too fucked up to make much of an effort to protect themselves. Five nearly airsoft level pops, and five more corpses hit the ground.


    Then a round bounced off my shield. I turned toward were it seemed to come from and fired, that Scav now had a new hole in his lung that I could see through from here. Then I was out. I took my time changing to a fresh mag. I felt no need to rush, my shielding was doing it''s job well.


    The Probes were having a field day zapping every Scav they could find. There was almost a vindictive element to the Robo-Buddies beeps. Not that I blamed them, but maybe I was teaching my little friends the wrong lessons. Then I shrugged, while flatlining a few more Scavs, that were trying to get away. Some people just needed killing, and the Scavs more than qualified.


    We had done our gruesome task well, and at that point all that was left were the few Scavver gonks using the BDs. I found some duck tape nearby and  then proceeded to mummify the bastards. The thinking was that I or the Moxes might want someone to question later. While I was doing that, I had the Probes start scanning everything. Somewhere in all of this mess, I realized I had named my Robo-Buddies.


    One of the Probes liked to bob about randomly while hovering, I named it Jitters. The other Probe liked to hum little tunes to itself, but they distorted, so I named it Buzz. Funny, I only seem to name these guys after or during a battle, but maybe the Robo-Buddies deserve better. Still the Khalai were a warrior culture, and traditions had a way of improving moral, so I guess it was fine. Hell, the little guys seemed to enjoy their new designations.


    ''Energy signature of the area matches the soil from the apartment, Executor.'' Jitters informed me a minute later. Okay, that was extremely lucky. We''d somehow just ended up searching in the right area first. What were the odds of that?


    ''Executor, scans of the victim''s corpses has found a body that matches subject Sinnamin''s biodata.'' Buzz messaged. What?


    "What?" I felt the world slow down.


    ''Scans of the victims, has uncovered a corpse with subject Sinnamin''s biodata.'' Buzz reiterated. No, not like this.


    No, no, no.


    This couldn''t be happening. She knew not to fuck around with Scavs. Why would she have come out here by herself? Revenge? With this many? No, she''d have called Rita for backup.


    I shuffled over to one of the piles of discarded corpses that were behind the largest RV. I dug through it, I had to remove over a dozen corpses before finding Sinn''s ripped open remains. Her face bore signs of horror, being on a Scav''s table again was her worst nightmare, but given the excessive damage she had otherwise taken, she had gone down fighting. Some broken part of me was proud of her, she''d fought until the end.


    Tears, that I didn''t feel I had the right to shed, streamed down my face as I hugged her grim remains to my chest. Somehow, I wasn''t affected by the smell or the mess, these things simply didn''t matter anymore. I pulled her free and carried what was left of her to a couch. Searching around for something to cover Sinn, led me to a body bag. In fact, there were plenty of bags just tossed about. I didn''t stop to ponder why the Scavs would have body bags, I simply took the bag. I opened it and gently placed her body inside before resettling her remains on the couch. For some undefinable reason, I spent the next hour tearing through all the stored organs and cyberware to find Sinn''s and laid them in the bag with her. It just seemed like the right thing to do. Zipping up that bag was one of the hardest things I''ve ever had to do.


    "I''m sorry, I''m so sorry." Realistically, there was nothing I could have done. But to my traumatized mind, that really didn''t matter right now. Some part of me was aware that my Robo-Buddies were frantically hovering around me, making low soft beeps. Later, I discover this was when my Probes learned sorrow.


    Then, for no reason I could ever put into speech, I picked up the next victim from the pile and repeated my previous actions for them, including returning their organs to them. My actions were almost completely on autopilot. Somewhere in there, between sorting out victims, I vaguely remembered calling Rita and giving her the location and the terrible news.


    The Mox got there as I was finishing with the last body, the sun had long since risen. It''s rays bathing my insane tableau in all its morbid splendor. 37 bags laid out in rows centered around the couch with Sinn''s body. All they could see was of me was, a crazy man covered in rotting flesh and blood, that had tried desperately to bring order to the chaos in his head.


    I collapsed onto the ground, somehow there were tears still rolling down my cheeks. They let me have my space.


    The harrowing screams of the two Scavs, I''d wrapped up before, lasted for hours. The folks from the Mox knew how to make things hurt, and knew how to drag it out. Occasionally, there were words mixed in with the screams, answers to questions I hadn''t heard. Their agony distorted every word into pure animal whines and shrieks. I didn''t care, I couldn''t care, much as they didn''t care when their victims were on the operating table. Their suffering wasn''t real to me, while my thoughts were focused inward dealing with the all the turmoil left there. Slowly I pulled together some form of myself again. Though I doubted this new version of me would be quite the same.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    As I once again became aware of my surroundings, I found I was perfectly okay with whatever the Mox had done to them. I probably wouldn''t have tortured them myself, but I wasn''t a hundred percent certain of that either. I was certainly on board with ending them, even before I knew about Sinn. So why did the details matter so much anymore?


    Why did Sinn''s death hit me so hard? I barely knew her. A couple of dozen hours of questions with a few life stories mixed in. Was it because despite every other factor, she seemed human to me? Real in way that a lot of the people roaming this city were not, at least not to me. Or was it because I was just too soft for this place? Empathetic in all the ways that Night City strips from the people living here while they are growing up. After all, what was one more body in Night City?


    In that moment, I felt the dark twisted spirit of the City pulsing with the need for more souls to feed on. A gaping maw that would never truly be satisfied. It was like it was void of all life energy and trying to fill itself with whatever it could. Night City whispered dreams of money, power and status to fatten folks up, before it sucked it all away.


    How do you "save" such a place? Burn it to the ground? Sure, I''d joked to myself that the city needed to burn, and I''d heard others that live here do the same. Yet, even if that happened, and everything was wiped away, would the tormented spirit of this metropolis be freed? Or would the people who inevitably rebuild on the ashes find the city''s soul even emptier, hungrier.


    My meditations ended with no real answers, no sense of peace or even a new direction to strive towards. I felt hollow inside, maybe the city had already broken another mind, another soul. Mine.


    This is when my mind, my subconscious rebelled, for lack of a better term. It started talking to me. It snorted.


    Stop being so dramatic. It serves no purpose. You are not a philosopher. You are a tradesman, you work with your hands. Build your solution! When things go to shit, repair them as best you can and work to keep things in order going forward. Or tear it down and build an entirely new path. Look at you, look at your achievements. Take a long hard look at where you are and what you have. You have magic, you have awesome technology. Surely, somewhere in all of those tools, there exists an answer. This wallowing in emotion will not help anyone, especially yourself. Yes mourn, yes feel, but understand that action will always do more to bring these troubles to their proper rest.


    Having my own thoughts chastise me for going emo was a surreal experience. I couldn''t recall that ever happening before.


    I picked myself up and dusted myself off and cast a Cleanse without thinking about it. When I realized how that might not have been the best idea, I was thankful that none of Moxes present where paying any attention to me. If they noticed that I was now clean, well, I owed them nothing. I didn''t trust them enough to explain my abilities to them. Yet.


    The screams had stopped. I walked over to Sinn''s body, honestly surprised that none of the Mox had moved it. "May you find peace, whatever that means to you." I spoke with a odd cadence, like I had done this before. Odd as that was, I knew in that moment this wouldn''t be the last time that I performed this ritual.


    Jitters and Buzz bumped against me, I could tell it was a gesture of support. They were also eager for attention. I absently patted them.


    The Moxes that had been involved in the questioning, started moving from where they had been attending to the Scavs. They had used the shack with all the Scavs'' cutting tools. A fitting irony.


    Rita and the lady with the huge ''fro I had seen my first time at Lizzie''s came over to talk to me. My guess was that the other lady would be Susie.


    "You okay? You seemed really out of it there, Ryan." Rita asked. A genuine concern. Rita, gruff though she was, seemed to still actually care about folks. Some part of me couldn''t help but look upon her favorably.


    "No, I''m pretty fucking far from okay." I shook my head, and waved a hand nonchalantly, "But I''m getting there. What did you find out? Any clue why she was out here?"


    Susie stared at me, her eyes said that she wanted to put me on that table with the Scavs. Rita started to speak but Susie cut her off. She stepped into my space and poked my chest hard with her very pointy finger. She snarled at me, "We got nothing, other than she was poking around, looking for someone or something. Maybe you?"


    She''d asked that like she was certain that was the reason. She''d already made up her mind. To her, I was guilty, and she wanted a piece of me in payment.


    "Sinn knew I have a place out in the badlands. If she had been looking for me, she wouldn''t have done it here." I stared at Susie flatly, about two seconds from killing her, consequences be damned. Her attitude was understandable, but in this moment unwelcome. I was way too raw to be reasonable. Rita pushed her way between us. I noticed she was actually pushing Susie back but was only holding her hand towards me. Which meant she didn''t think she could push me back, or that she shouldn''t. Another point for Rita in my books.


    "Hold up. There''s no reason to fight here." She turned to Susie, "Ryan and Sinn talked a few times, but she''d no reason to be searching for him. She didn''t have feelings for anybody, as far as anyone knew. She''d started isolating herself... "


    They shared a look, something about Sinn''s isolation suggested something to them. Something neither one of them liked.


    Susie grunted, "Alright, then who or what was she looking for?" She looked away. Guess I wasn''t getting an apology.


    "All I know is that she had been out here several times before. A pair of her boots had mud from out here. I still have no cue if she was hunting for the Scavs, or something else. Obviously, the Scavs nabbed her while she was searching, and she wasn''t prepared for them. She went out fighting, but nothing suggests they she had been looking for a fight. I''ll keep hunting around, see if I can find where she was focusing her search. Maybe that''ll give some answers." I addressed the last to Rita. I wasn''t doing shit for or with Susie.


    Now that my Probes had scanned Sinn, they could more accurately sniff out her trail, so to speak. It would give me something to do, and maybe help put this all to rest.


    "We''ll take care of the rest of the clean up here." Rita cut in over whatever Susie was going to say next, "Let me know what you find."


    I nodded and started walking back to my van. As I was leaving, I heard Rita arguing with Susie, "Ryan''s been solid in all of this, and you jumped down his throat. I''ve warned you that you have to stop getting in peoples'' faces like that. He was about to flatline you and I couldn''t have stopped him in time." I was too far away to hear Susie''s reply, and I didn''t care about it anyway. My time of dealing with the Mox was over, for now. They had nothing I needed, nothing I wanted. Rita was alright, but she wasn''t anything like a friend. If I found out what Sinn was hunting for I''d let her know. I had a feeling that when I really started making my moves in NC, we''d end up on opposite sides.


    If that day came, I''d have to see if I still cared enough to try a diplomatic approach.


    We Drove around the nuclear facility yet again, letting Jitters and Buzz scan every little piece of land. I''d started to feel a bit worse about myself. I could''ve handled the interaction with the Mox and especially Rita, better. Though as I dug through my thoughts about it, I couldn''t be bothered to drum up enough motivation to care. No, it was better to spend my brain power thinking about the future right now.


    Before I had left my new outpost, the Robo-Buddies seemed to be digging the tunnel to the broken bridge at rate of about 400'' an hour. After some questionable mental math, I came up with a timetable of roughly 28 days until we reached the broken bridge area. Which in and of itself wasn''t a problem, however, I''d told Amanda to check for me by the bridge in a few days. That meant that I should head back to base, soon, probably tomorrow. Well if I could figure this mess with Sinn out, or at least reach a plausible answer, head back would be fine. I saw no reason to stick around this hellhole anymore. Really, I just wanted to get away from yet another tragedy.


    One of the many reasons my Probes were awesome, was because they required almost no micromanaging. Given a few instructions, they could and they would take care of it, while I was gone. In fact, I really respected the Khalai ability to design and create AIs that not only seemed to be truly alive but were also mentally stable. The emotional parts were troubling, but so far I had no reason to believe my little Robo-Buddies were going to go all terminator on me.


    Buzz started beeping for my attention. I stopped the van. "What''ve you got?"


    "Readings indicate that subject Sinn was in this area." Finally, a lead. I was more than ready to put this chapter of my life to rest.


    "Alright, you guys sweep for tracks or any other signs of where she was going." I said monotonously. They detached and began to fly back and forth searching for clues. I watched them for a moment, enjoying their systematic patterns. After awhile I turned my attention to the other things in the area. There was another coolant pond nearby and several long squat buildings whose purpose eluded me. Maybe buildings full of instruments to measure the radiation. Who could say? I began to wonder, who even used these roads? Most of the power plant was automated at this point.


    Tired of being trapped in my own thoughts, I sighed. Then I turned on the radio. Some song about how someone didn''t mean to let someone else down was playing. Yeah, I have the worst luck with car stereos. To say that the song hurt, was an understatement, but I left it on. Might as well face it head on. Only the most insane idiot would think I''d let Sinn down. Maybe I was that idiot, because I sure felt like I''d fucked up somehow.


    Jitters came back to the van, "We found a trail and it leads to a resting spot."


    "Good job. Lead on." I quickly followed them across the muddy grounds. We ended up leaving the nuclear plant''s property and were then by a random seeming warehouse, which as far as I could tell was empty. Then we circled around to the eastern side of the build to discover a toolshed.


    I could smell a foul odor come from the shed. Human waste. Argh. Opening the shed reveal that this was where Sinn had been... camping I guess. There was a sleeping bag and air mattress, some personal effects, and a lot of discarded food packages. There was even a camping toilet, the source of the horrid stench, requiring me to carry the odorous canister a few hundred yards away. Then I gave the shed a while to air out. Night City fast food produces some extremely toxic waste. Then after sitting a few days in the unusual heat... I was just lucky I wasn''t spewing all over the place.


    When I could tolerate going back in there, I tore through everything. My search turned up nothing and I still didn''t really understanding why she''d chosen this spot. I''d sat on her mattress feeling lost and defeated, when I saw it. A small hole had been cut into the corrugated metal panels that made up the shed. Huh. I put my eye near it. The only thing I saw was a cluster of those tough but scraggly looking bushes that dotted the Badlands What was so special about some bushes?


    I decided we needed to get a good look at the bushes from up-close. I''d spotted tracks before I even got to the bushes, weaving around through the mud, little ones. They looked familiar, rabbit maybe. I hunted around the bushes and found scat shaped like little pellets. Yeah, definitely seemed like a rabbit or something similar. After poking into the bushed themselves, I found a burrow. That was enough, I got an idea how this all went down now. I quickly headed back towards the van, because I didn''t want to spook the little varmints.


    Sinn had been camping out to watch fucking rabbits. Because they were so rare, she had probably never seen anything like them before. At least, not in real life. Maybe the odd rat, but even that wasn''t a normal encounter in NC. Why she''d come out here in the first place, I''d probably never know, but this was absolutely why she''d kept coming back.


    Oh, that hurt so fucking much. I damned near started crying again. She''d just wanted to see some cute fucking critters. Big giant of a woman, just wanted to see some soft little animals. If I''d known, I could of shown her all the fluffy little beasts she''d ever want to see. Then she''d still be kicking and at least somewhat happier. Again, I knew it wasn''t my fault, but fuck that knowledge burned.


    I spent a few minutes reflecting on this mess before I called Rita. I gave her the full rundown. What I found, where it was and my theory on why it probably went so wrong.


    Rita spent a few minutes to process everything. "That actually tracks. She was obsessed with movies and BDs that featured animals, especially ones where you could interact with them. That''s so sad." She pause for a moment, "Hey Ryan, I''m sorry about Susie earlier. She''s under a lot of pressure, with Tyger Claws messing with our chooms. She''s starting to see enemies everywhere." This was my problem how? No, I understood why Rita was telling me this, but I wasn''t feeling much charity towards Susie right now. I simply had nothing left in my emotional tank.


    "It''s okay. Water under the bridge." I stared down the road thinking about where I''d go next.


    "Look don''t be a stranger. I can tell this really got to you. I understand. You need an ear. I''ll listen." She seemed to actually mean it. Sometimes even hard folk soften up a bit.


    "Thanks Rita, I''ll see you later." I started the Van. The Probes reattached and we got going back to our little outpost. We''d give it a quick checkup before heading back to the Valley.


    I was still trying to get rid of all this pain, but I had no idea how to start.

 Chapter 25

    While I headed towards my newly rented shop, I changed my mind. I turned towards Misty''s to scope out if Vik had time for a check up, but I really wanted a chat with Misty. I had a feeling I needed someone like her right then. All of my emotions were burnt out, and even the mana flowing through me was stilted.


    Misty''s Emporium was calm and sadly empty. A condition that I had to think was somewhat intentional on Misty''s part. The very air of her shop guided the skeptical folks away. Was it her own mana working to keep her environment peaceful?


    Now say what you will about "spiritual" types, Misty zeroed in on the pain I was feeling quickly. I had barely walked in, when she took one glance at me and started shaking her head. I didn''t have to say anything and she just pointed at that wonderfully comfy chair. Hopping into that soft embrace was a relief. I have to get one of these chairs.


    She put some music on, and a soothing melody filled the shop. I let it massage my ears. Misty reached over and closed my eyes. It felt wonderful to no longer see the world, and to let myself drift on the peaceful sounds. I''ll be honest, I don''t think I would have voluntarily closed my eyes on my own. I was still in a wired state, and much to raw to pull myself out of it.


    Soon a gentle scent wafted from incense, perhaps jasmine or honeysuckle I was never very good at telling those two scents apart. It used to drive my mother crazy. She''d loved plants and I often helped her with gardening growing up, but I''d never seemed to have the knack for it that she did. She had honeysuckle growing across one trellis and jasmine vining over another, and for the life of me, I couldn''t tell the difference unless they were blooming. It was only from the shape and color of the flowers that I could make a solid identification. Strange, I hadn''t thought very often about my family, since coming here. I''d gotten too caught up in all of the craziness here. The magic present in this world both real and metaphorical had captivated me.


    I hoped they were doing well, because I had a feeling that I''d never find a way back. Not sure I''d even want to if I could. For all the pain, and all the terror I simply felt more alive here. Like I mattered even if only a little, or rather, my supposed purpose mattered. Being lost in my own thoughts had almost masked a feeling of being suspended in a pool of water. Drifting along and flowing around any trouble.


    Misty finally started talking. "So what has you so knotted up? You reek of horror." My starting to relax brain actually shaped a Cleanse on myself, it was embarrassing to my to smell. The spell had form without any real effort on my part. It took it a minute for my mind to fully catch up to the question. "So you are like Ciri. I had wondered." Misty snarked when my eyes snapped open in momentary panic. She chuckled, "Don''t worry, I''m not going to tell anyone." She placed her hand on my forehead, and gently forced my eyes closed again. I decided to trust her and went with it. Trying to get back to that floating feeling.


    She was doing all kind of things, some were with those crystals I''d seen before, and then with other things I hadn''t seen. She was softly chattering on about Chakras and how opening them up could aid with the processing of emotions. Most of it sounded like hooey to me, but hey, I was really relaxed so I wasn''t going to say or do anything that might interfere with this pleasant feeling. I wasn''t quite asleep, but I wasn''t awake either.


    "So I''d like you to talk about what has you all messed up. That will begin the process to let it all out and then let it all go." Her voice was as compelling as a TV Evangelist, without the fire and brimstone edge. No clue what she meant by it, but I listened anyway. Haltingly, I gave her an edited rundown of my time in these lands of darkness. I cut out most of the recent events with the Aldecaldos because I didn''t want her involved it that mess. I did however, tell her all about Sinn and what happened there.


    "So you''re bothered both by the terrible events and that you actually cared about a person you barely knew?" She seemed amused, but exasperated. "It''s okay to care Ryan. In fact... I''d say more than anything else, it''s what this city needs." She poked my nose, and then closed my eyes when they popped open again. "You''re adjusting to a new place, new rules, and new struggles. You''re going to stumble, you are going to fall down. Just remember to keep getting back up, and hold on to who you really are. Don''t let the pain drown you in the dark."


    I mean, I didn''t actually get it, but it also made sense. Have you ever been there? My mind churned that advice while I drifted into a deeper relaxation. Dreams seemed to dancing before my mind''s eye. I witnessed tall spires filled with gears and circuits, being struck by lightning while vines grew up to surround them. A figure of moving light kept begging me not to stop the flow of information, while thousands of folks below cried out for water and food. Landscapes drifting in a void sprouting new greenery being lovingly tended to by automatons. Another glowing figure soon shifted into A dark cloaked figure. This grim looking being screamed at me not to get involved to just give up and fade away into the night. It extolled me to embrace apathy and ignore its people, its slaves. Hmm, this part of the dream seemed different almost like when I talk to Mead...


    My eyes snapped open as my pulse ratcheted up to 200 bpm. I started gasping for air. I nearly jumped off the chair. What the fuck was that?


    Misty laid a hand on my head. "It''s okay, it''s alright. You''re safe here." She whispered as if to a small child. "Where did you go? What did you see?" Misty was really good at being concerned, without it feeling weird.


    I didn''t say anything at first. I couldn''t. Finally I managed, "Let me process it first. " I stood all the way up, sad to leave the chair, but needed to move. I started pacing. "One day all this will change. I want to help folks, but it''s hard to figure out a good way to do it."


    "Sure, that''s the dilemma of the visionary. How many things do you have to break to get to your goal? Who pays for it all in the end? Help these people and end up hurting those people, how do you choose?" Misty was a pretty perceptive person.


    I grunted, the inflection was, ''you''re right.'' "That''s the way of it." I nodded, still moved back and forth.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    "Just remember why you want to help. Maybe that''d be your best bet." She punched my shoulder. "Vik''s ready to see you now. Take care Ryan." I shot her 200 Eddies. While grinning at her.


    "Thanks Misty. Wise as always." I got a chuckle for my lame efforts at humor. I did feel better though.


    Time to make sure my chrome was integrating properly.


    Sadly the cat wasn''t in the alley. No scritch therapy today. Bummer. Vik, however, was in a good mood, he seemed upbeat and ready to have some fun. "Ryan great to see you back. How''s the new eye treating you? Ready for a check-up?" I noticed his boxing gloves and workout clothes out to the side.


    "The eye''s great, thanks again for the quick work. You boxing again, Doc?" I was glad he had something to keep him sane. You''d never guess it by looking at him, but Vik cared deeply about people. Maybe even more than Misty. He''d just been through a fuck-ton more trauma. Still, he''d developed excellent coping skills. Everyone could stand to learn a lot from Viktor Vektor.


    "Nah, one of the guys I used to coach when he was a kid, has returned to the city. We went a few rounds to celebrate his homecoming. Besides, I mentor a lot of the kids still. I''m old but I''m not done yet. " He gave a few punches. I was amused. The idea of having folks running around in the world, that could just show back up and we''d pick up where things were left off, sounded awesome to me. I hoped to have that someday. I''d never had any close friends in my old home. Lots of casual bros, but no one who had my back no matter what.


    Maybe I was getting there with the Aldecaldos. Though perhaps they''d ditch me now that there''s major heat attached to the association. In the end, they might just be cozying up to me because of the things I could provide, but it hadn''t felt like that while I was in the camp with them.


    Then there was the Doc, Vik seemed to be a genuine good dude. Sure a professional and all that, but he gave a damn. What was his secret? I could use some practical advice on how to deal with all of this mess.


    Eh, couldn''t hurt to ask. "Hey Doc, you been around a while. I know, that you know what it''s like out there, far better than I do. How do you keep caring about folks? What keeps you sane in the face of all this crap?" I was pensive, still trying to work through everything.


    "Connections, Kid. As simple, and as hard as that. You find your community, then you invest in those people and their lives. Soon enough, their victories become yours, their defeats as well. You share all that pain and all that joy and you grow together. It''ll keep you grounded, like nothing else can. Too many people place value in becoming legends or making eddies, like the kid that just left. That never works for long, the city wins that fight every time. Communities can rise and fall but they tend to keep going even when everything else turns to shit." He seemed a bit embarrassed to say all of that, but that was exactly what I needed. Vik had given me the best advice for this troubled place.


    I nodded, I''d understood that. something about it clicked. I had to pick my connections, and work on growing them. Then I''d a moment of insight. "Which is why gangs are such a big thing. A sense of that connection even though they are using you."


    "That''s about the size of it. The biggest problem is learning to pick out the best people to hang with. Your real chooms. It''s a rare thing." He shook his head, remembering something from his past.


    "Sorry Doc, didn''t mean to drag up old problems." I didn''t want to bring Vik down.


    "Nah kid, we all have things we''d rather forget." Nothing seemed to phase Vik for long, which made him an excellent role model. It was comforting to know he taught kids, passing some of that unflappable-ness to the younger generations. The world could use more folks like Viktor Vector.


    "Hop up on the chair and let''s have a look at your chrome." He waved towards the operating chair, and I jumped up into it.


    "If you don''t mind, and as long as everything checks out, I''d like to get a grip." I settled back into the chair. Looking at all the monitors still told me next to nothing. I really didn''t understand any of this chrome stuff yet. The odd think was, I realized my trepidation about cyberware was mostly gone. That got my mind spinning in some odd directions.


    "Oh looking to improve the aim?" He seemed a bit surprised.


    "No aim''s good, just looking to know where it''s going after. My iron''s a bit more serious these days, and going to be even more so soon. I don''t want to zero someone by mistake." I grimaced at the thought of killing some poor schmuck just in the wrong place at the wrong time.


    "Sure, look over the list while I scan your head." He dropped the scanner until it was surrounding the top of my head.. It made me slightly dizzy for some reason. I powered through the fuzziness so I could examine the readout on the left hand monitor. Tons of options from lots of different Corps, each more expensive than the last. Though it took a few minutes, I settled on one from Bats Corp. It basically combined the feature of a ballistics coprocessor, a smart gun link, and a recoil manager all in one. It also had a better technical link to the weapon, so you would get more info, like gun part condition and other finer details on your feed. It ran me a whooping $50,000, but I had a feeling it''d be worth it.


    "Oh, now that''s something I don''t sell a lot of. Little too pricy for most folks." Vik raised his eyebrows at me. He knew I had to scrape together cash the first time he''d chipped me, and that wasn''t very long ago.


    "Biz is good. Had a nice little gig out in the Badlands, with more coming down the pipe." I grinned at him. "Soon I''ll be able to invest quite a bit in a community." I saw his face clouding over. "I know, I know, not that kind of investment Doc. I was joking." I laughed. He really did remind me of my Gramps.


    "Well, eddies are good to have, but friends can save you when money won''t buy your way out of danger." He nodded like he knew I got the message. He flipped up a device on the right side of the chair, "Stick your hand in there. The Autodoc will get the grip implanted." He gave me a shot in the right forearm, once I got my hand positioned. "How''s that, feel anything?" I shook my head. He was already rolling his chair back around to look at the scanner. "Everything looks good, your neural pathways have already adapted to the circuitry. Clean connections all the way. The optic sockets report no problems and the nerve there has a good signal coming through. I''d almost say you were born to Chip in with results like this." Then he winced, he hadn''t meant to say that. Now I was curious as to why that might be, but I''d already pulled him into one uncomfortable conversation today. Maybe the next time I''d look into his reaction.


    "Sounds great, Doc." We waited a few minutes while the Autodoc finished working on my hand. He flipped the device back under the chair.


    "Alright pull your iron and check the sync up." I whipped out my Omaha, and everything had changed. It was like it had become part of me, I could feel it like it I felt my hand. Awesome. In addition to that new sense, the ammo count was now displayed in my optics feed as well as a condition readout for the gun. A line traveled from the tip of the barrel showing the most likely trajectory, and even how it would ricochet off the sign I was aiming at. It even suggested a different line of fire to hit the sign for maximum damage.


    "Worth every ennie. Thanks Doc." I said hopping back to my feet. Vik handed me another inhaler, with much the same procedure as last time. One puff now, another one every hour for five hours. I hit the first puff and a soothing mist filled my lungs.


    "You''re welcome, Kid. Now get out there and find your people." He waved me towards the door.


    Yeah. Find my people in a world of fucked up shit. I hoped I could.

 Chapter 26

    I drove back to my Outpost within the city.


    Sooner than I would have liked I found myself on those stairs leading into the earth. As I descended into those depths, I received 2000 CPoints and a Round Token made of the same pearlescent material as the Hero Token. Which reminded me, I should really use that when I got back to the valley. That would be a loyal ally in a world where there could never enough support. Plenty of hostiles forces though. I needed all the help I could get.


    The strengthening of the Psifield in the tunnel was a soothing calming presence. Something about it seemed to prop me up, and helped me to recall my purpose here. Even if the field had yet to connect to the Nexus back in the Valley, I knew it was just a matter of time. I had started to understand that the Psifield influenced my thoughts and emotions. Though other things seemed to be pulling at my mind, heart, and perhaps even my soul. I couldn''t find stable ground.


    The Probes had dug out four cavernous rooms. Three of the rooms had two Robotics Facilities apiece. I immediately set those up to build Sentries. The fourth area had two Forges in it. With those we could break down just about anything and use the resulting resources to build just about anything else. I had a lot of future plans for that process. All in good time.


    The two Probes that were digging out these rooms had shifted to digging a separate tunnel to the north. My thinking was that it would be good to be able to pop up anywhere in the city that I wanted, moving unseen by Corpo eyes. I really ought to thank Megan for this idea, I wonder what she''d like?


    I began tinkering in the Forges. I had the Probes tunneling North haul the waste rock back here to break down instead of banishing it to the void. Sure, it greatly slowed them down, but I''d already decided not to be in a hurry anymore. We could take as long as we needed to accomplish these goals, so long as we remained undetected. My first project saw me start assembling the parts for a larger freight elevator. I wasn''t going to trudge up and down those stairs anymore. My legs were still aching. Once the elevator components were done, I had Buzz and Jitters start breaking down the stairs, while I assembled what I could.. A few hours later, we had a working lift to get back and forth from the depths. As a bonus, the Sentries should be able to use it, so they wouldn''t have to stay in the tunnels.


    With that out of the way, I assembled some basic furniture, and even a few appliances. It started with a table, a few chairs and a bed, then came a couple of fridges and soon a stove for when I could stock the larder. I had to tweak and combined a few different schematics to get a proper oven with a stove top from the odd collection of things my Robo-Buddies had scanned into the assemblers'' database. All of that work made me realize I hadn''t had anything to eat or drink quite a while. My stomach made noises confirming that it too had noticed the lack of sustenance. Fuck, I needed to take better care of myself.


    I took the lift up, with Buzz and Jitters floating around me, to try to find some food that wasn''t going to mess my guts up. It turned out there was a diner just up the street. It served what something called they called fusion cuisine here. After a brief moment of feeling lost by the odd options, I ordered a noodle burger. This consisted of a "meat" patty and some "vegetables" wrapped in lightly fried noodles, soaked in a sauce on a bun. The sauce was something you might find on a Lo Mein dish. Tasted better than I''d thought it would but still didn''t quite taste right. I had a canned lemon ice tea with my meal that wasn''t too bad. I grabbed a few more of those cans of tea, to throw in the fridges back at the outpost.


    I made up my mind to head back to the Valley in the morning. There was no point in me sticking around here, the Probes knew what to do.


    My sleep was mostly peaceful, barely any troubling dreams at all, and I awoke in the morning ready to head out. 5:00 AM seemed like  good time to get started. I took Jitters and Buzz with me to the van and we got rolling. The elevator had been a great idea.


    The drive out to the Valley was uneventful, just the way I liked it. When we got to the bridge though, I discovered a problem. There was grass growing everywhere. Minty smelling purple grass. The same grass that tended to grow by the waters of a Moon Well. From the bridge all the way up to the cave following the overflow canals. Like the grass Arasaka would have seen, at the badlands outpost. Fuck, I should have thought of this already. I groaned in frustration. I might have even banged my head into the steering wheel a few times.


    Well it''s not like I didn''t have a few ideas on how to take care of that problem. I just had to get started on the solution.


    ''Hey Meadran, I''m coming up. See you soon.'' It would be good to see the massive tree person again, and feel the breath of the forest once more. Every time I left here felt the lack of both mana and life.


    ''Hmm. Good to hear from you Young One. We were starting to get worried.'' A sense of peace filled my mind at contact with him. The Valley really was becoming my home, in a way my house on my old Earth never had been.


    Up and through the cave, which had even more offshoots now. I supposed that the constant search for resources continued, I wished the Robo-Buddies all the luck.


    Surprisingly, Lumi met me at the entrance to the Valley and after some scratches and rough housing, he ran off back into the forest. What had that been about? I still got the sense he didn''t want to be here, nor did he really like me. As a companion he was off.


    At this point, there was nothing but forest, the whole of the Valley was absolutely flooded with trees. I was staring at a kaleidoscope of different colored foliage. Even Meadran himself had grown a bit more, not as dramatic a change as last time but still noticeable. Do Trees of Life ever really stop growing... no of course they wouldn''t. The rim of the Valley now had a fully built cobblestone trail around it following the path set by the Pylons there. Photon Cannons and Keeper Statues had been placed by each Pylon, this place was about as defended as we could make it right now.


    The trees weren''t the only change, there was all manner of undergrowth now as well. Various bushes and many types of flowers all playing their parts in the cycle of life being created  here. Movement outside the trails and paths built by the silver Wisps would be difficult at best. Yet as I descended the undergrowth seemed to lean away from me as if to not get in my way. At one point I reached out to one bush to pluck a berry out of it and it seemed to lean into my hand almost like a dog seeking affection. I gave it a pat and it shivered. Okay, that wasn''t the wind. What was this?


    ''Meadran what''s up with the plants and trees?'' Trying to project my full meaning over our connection.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ''They are happy you are home, Young One. Druids are ever bound to nature and all the subjects therein seek the favor of the Druid. We are all connected.'' His thoughts were deep and carried ages of meaning. Even at the speed of thought, it would take a while to process all of his message.


    ''There is someone you should meet, Young One.'' Meadran seem excited. Some had come into the Valley? A momentary sense of alarm filled me.


    ''Huh? Where?'' I ran to Meadran island, and there they were. A nine foot tall skinny tree person, a treant with Golden leaves and dark walnut colored bark. It waved at me enthusiastically, while performing some kind of dance. I could tell it was excited and happy to be here. I started chuckling at myself, of course in was a new treant.


    ''While his connection is still growing stronger he cannot yet talk mind to mind. This is Faergin a descendant of the First Trees and one who walks the path of Lore.'' Meadran projected a sense of family and closeness.


    "Pleased to meet you Faergin. I hope you find what you are looking for here." I tried to project friendliness. After all trees seemed to be the best people so far, if Meadran was any example.


    Faergin was a charming tree, waving his arm branches around and doing a shuffle with his stubby legs. His dancing was a joy to behold. He was full of joy and verve. One day soon he''d be able to talk and according to Meadran, he would then be able to tap into a lot of information over the Great Tree Network. Information Meadran himself couldn''t access. Faergin would also be able to train my spells into new configurations. I''d desperately needed a mentor, hopefully he would be willing to fulfill that role.


    My magic was still a stranger to me. And nothing I tried seemed to help me find the best ways to utilize it. Sure, Cleanse had become almost second nature to use, but perhaps there a more efficient way to use it, or could I shape it differently to get better results. What even counted as dirt anyway? Though all that usage did seem to improve the shaping process over time. Why was the shape used the right one? How would I go about safely shaping my own spells? Hmm.


    Which turned my mind to the fact that often notifications didn''t occur when things improved. Also, I never remembered to check with my BTC on my progress. That was my only source of information on my progress right now, and I needed to understand it more. My frustration at myself was boiling but I tried to let it go, I could only try to do better going forward. I had a feeling my life would depend on knowing my information, down to the last detail, one day.


    However, none of those concerns changed the fact that my focus right now was trying to solve the problem of being observed by Corpos. We could do that by developing cloaking technology or by reducing or masking energy emissions from the Pylons, maybe... absolutely both, so I could expand my base and my outposts in peace.


    Alina had been cranking away on several topics of research. Adapting Khalai technology to Human cyberware, designing AI cores for vehicles like the Dragoon, the Arbiter or the Scout, since I saw a need for a broader range of combat options. Lastly, she was researching how to miniaturize several pieces of tech for use in personal armor or even for the Probes like a cloaking field, revolving shields and maybe even small arms plasma weapons or disrupter beams. The Probes especially when infused by Wisps had more than proven their worth and their loyalty. I had no reason to not continue to utilize them going forward, other than the pain caused by losing them. I''d like to develop ways for them to serve in that role while reducing those potential losses. We might even have to build something completely from the ground up.


    Heading towards the Nexus, I stopped by the Company Store to see if there were any new quests or worthwhile sales. No such luck. Other than a huge batch of something called burrower mites, nothing was discounted right now, and I really didn''t like the sound of those things.


    Everything along the trails looked lush and overgrown, the air was humid and rich with mana. Even the Ley Line below our base had gained a more golden hue and seem much stronger than before. Heh, I even spotted the Forest Cockerel, well I guess it was a  actually a rooster now, and almost as tall as me. Damn, mana really did affect growth, and yet  the creatures that were immersed in influence tended to live far longer lives. That seemed strange to me, counterintuitive, or was I overthinking it? Something to ask Faergin about when he grew up. Huh, did that mean I''d live longer?


    Then I ran into the two Sentries, I had queued up so long ago. They kind of reminded me of a giant Roomba. About four feet tall and six feet in diameter, though that was broken up by the large crystalline sphere that acted as their energy core.


    ''Greetings, Executor.'' Even without being infused by a Wisp these robots seemed much more aware than the uninfused Probes. Was that a result of more energy, or more data storage, or maybe even better coding? Hmm, there were so many new things to ponder.


    ''Keep up the good work.'' I told them while already plotting on how to improve them. I reached the Nexus more than slightly worried about how the Sentries would have a hard time in buildings. They were certainly powerful but would be easily avoided by using doorways.


    I spent the next few hours pouring over schematics, as well as Alina''s research, trying to find ways to apply the results to the problems at hand. As fortune would have it, one of the Probes had scanned a Optical Camouflage cyberware package from somewhere. That helped by giving a baseline comparison between a human result of bending light that was practical versus the Khalai method of altering field effects to blend every energy signature into the background fields, including light, heat, vibration and Psi energy. We tried merging the two and after countless failures one simulated result had produced a success. We built a prototype in the Forge. Layers of extra crystal circuits embedded into a suit of armor that combined the principles of both technologies. Testing showed that it was a success. A small field was projected around the armor that muted all signals and emissions and even worked as excellent optical camouflage.


    Sadly, it wasn''t perfect. The energy requirements were rather large, so it had to be in a Pylon''s area of transmission. That really didn''t help right now, but I was sure we could figure something out later. Perhaps striping options would work, after all no one here should be searching for Psienergy.


    The next prototype involved cloaking the Photon Cannons. They already required being built next to a Pylon so no worries about the energy requirements.. However, trying to fire while maintaining the cloaking field overloaded the circuits and melted the cannon''s crystal after just a few shots. No go. Wait a minute. What was the common factor in all Khalai tech? Pylons! Why don''t I just alter the Pylons. If they were the ones to generate the cloaking field we could then invest the effect into every piece of Khalai tech around the Pylon itself. Of course, that didn''t fix the armor issue but it was a resolution to the corporate spying problem.


    The Pylons, as it turned out, were very difficult to alter. To start with, the schematics were semi-locked. That meant all plans were missing sections of the circuitry. Certain other parts where not allowed to be messed with under Khalai law, no changing the structure of the crystal itself, for example. However, the control ring surrounding it was fair game though. Heh, we could just work around the problems.


    By the next morning, I had a working Pylon prototype that could generate a cloaking field, creating almost any appearance of any type of emission desired, but it had a cost. The Psienergy cost caused the transmission field to be decreased to just two miles in open air. It wasn''t a terrible problem, as we were going to need a ton of Pylons anyway. But that wasn''t the only issue. Things in the field were rendered into the image effectively disappearing, however the field would distort around them when they fired, or moved too rapidly. Only for a second, but it was a problem. No where near as bad as that Predator''s shitty cloaking field though. Suck it, hunt boy.


    I threw my hands up, it was good enough for now. I was sure I could improve it later anyway, as I leveled my Warp-Smith...Son of a bitch, I''d done it again.


    There was probably a solution in the expanded knowledge I would''ve gained by leveling up. Argh, I''m such an idiot. I ended up shrugging it off, we''d still gotten the job done.


    Finally, I could expand our influence without worrying quite so much about Corpo interference. Now, I could turn my thoughts to a few other issues that had built up.

 Chapter 27

    I wandered over to Meadran''s island, so that he be there when I used my tokens. The Hero Token in particular was a cause for concern, and my thinking was that he would be able to help me talk to whoever showed up. ''Meadran which do you think I should use first, the Theme token or the Hero token?'' I honestly wanted his input because I was really worried this would derail some of my plans.


    ''A new faction might allow for a broader selection of heroes. Though there is no guarantee, that is true either way. There is always the chance that you''ll receive a Hero from an unrelated Theme. However, I can not foresee anything you do making much difference at this stage. Always remember, to the Company, rules are more like suggestions.'' As calm and peaceful as always, even when introducing a troubling idea. It was a good thing to have someone so grounded for advice.


    Hmm. I reached into my pocket and just grabbed the first thing that I could. That turned out to be the Theme token. If it just adds a new faction why is it called a "theme" token? Also how do I use it? The smooth and shiny Token, seemed to vibrate gently between my fingers.


    [ Do you wish to use Theme token? Y/N ]


    "Yes."


    [ Rolling result... ]


    [ You have obtained the Theme Warcraft''s faction, Lordaeron ]


    "Who or what the hell is Lordaeron? For that matter, what the fuck is Warcraft?"


    ''Ah, Warcraft is something I''ve heard members of the Company use to refer to versions of my world, Azeroth. It was a world that was home to many interesting creatures, such as the Kaldorei. As to the faction, they were... '' He paused as if to search his vast memory, ''Hmm yes, a faction of humans that lived across the sea on another continent. I vaguely remember them as being somewhat haughty and rude, also later they were one of the first kingdoms broken under the might of the Legion.'' His pain was immense, I could feel the burning of Felfire and smell the scorched remains of my... his kin. He felt of terrible deep sadness.


    "I''m so sorry Meadran." I tried to send thoughts of peace and comfort.


    ''It is alright, Young One. The past can not easily nor safely be changed. Which is even more troubling once you realize that somewhere, there are versions of my world that repelled the Burning Legion. Also versions of me exist, that still rest their roots in the slopes of Mount Hyjal. Of course, there are even versions of my world, where I did not exist at all.'' An image of giant winged lizards, oh right, those would be dragons, with sandy colored scales. The feeling that they had played with forces they shouldn''t have, one too many times.


    There was now a box, resting on the ground in front of us. It was 2'' cubed and seemed to be made of a smooth grey stone.


    [ Please place box in desired location to start using this faction. ]


    "So how does this help us? Will these Lordaeronians be useful?" Would they be magical Humans, perhaps. I really wanted that to be true. I could use some more magical instruction, or hell even someone to spitball ideas with.


    ''I''m uncertain what we will gain from them, but I do remember they had priests and mages. They also built well with stone and wood, though perhaps not as well as the Dwarves. But I worry that you won''t be able to use them at all, since we seem unable to summon the Kaldorei or the Khalai.'' Doubt filled his mental voice.


    "They build with stone and wood, so probably low tech then?" I shook my head, no need to be a dick. "Well, there might be some advantages with that. We''d be less likely to be detected, while working, for one thing. Huh, wouldn''t we be able to arm them with modern... no Khalai weapons and armor? Hmm." Well no sense in counting my chickens before they hatched. I might get nothing useful out of this new faction.


    My hand reached back into my pocket to grab the Hero token. It began to buzz in my hand.


    [ Do you wish to use Hero token? Y/N ]


    "Yes."


    [ You have obtained the Hero, James Eugene Raynor ]


    "Howdy, Commander." He just appeared, a stocky well built guy, a little shorter than myself, with dark hair and eyes. His face was worn and rugged. Older than me, but I couldn''t tell by how much. He was dressed in plain, simple looking clothes. He also had some type of armor laying beside him, which was next to a long ass, futuristic rifle of some kind. He was holding out his hand. I shook it.


    "Call me Ryan, I don''t feel like much of a commander." Plus, I really don''t like being in charge.


    He nodded, "Takes a big man to admit it. The name''s James Raynor. Call me Jim." I could tell he didn''t smile much, and that this man had seen some serious shit in his lifetime.


    "Well, Jim, I don''t know what info you have about our situation, but how about I give you the rundown and maybe you can tell me how you can help?" Please be a hyper competent badass, so that no one needs me anymore. Yeah, right.


    "Ha. Sounds like a plan." He almost grinned. Very grim seeming fella this Raynor. I started in on our story. I figured it was best to hold nothing back, his ass would be on the line too. He just listened stone faced for the hour and a half it took me to get through everything. He''d lit up a cigarette at one point, and started puffin''. I had no clue where he''d gotten it from and it looked hand rolled. Honestly, I couldn''t tell a damned thing about what he was thinking.


    When I was done he asked, "So this is Terra... Earth, or a version of it anyway?" He seemed amused. Perhaps a bit confused as well, I think. That damned blank expression of his was throwing off my ability to read him.


    "Yeah, a pretty shitty version, but yes." I nodded. Wait, did that imply what I thought it did?


    "Imagine that. Never thought I''d step foot on the ol'' homeworld of Humanity." He almost chuckled. "Way I see it, I can help with raiding and keeping any troops you have in line. I might have some idea about defenses, once I''ve seen them. Lastly Hoss, I can tell you I''ve been there, but you ain''t alone in this fight, not anymore." That was nice of him. Though a bit troubling that I seemed that out of my depth.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    Also, I should probably be freaking out that he was an extraterrestrial human. I thought that was so fucking cool. He would later disabuse me of that notion. Life in his Sector had been harsh and violent.


    My BTC started shaking.


    [ You have been awarded a gift. Do you accept? Y/N ]


    "Uh, yes?"


    [ You have received the Power, Mana Sink. ]


    Mana Sink was power that let me ground hostile spells, or excessive magic energies. That seemed... really pointless. At least for right now. Me, Lumi, Meadran, Faergin and the Wisps were the only users of magic. All of the magic on this planet came from here. Why would I need to ground out hostile spells? This gift was a dud, I guess. I tried not to be too disappointed, after all I didn''t have any powers at all a moment ago. Something''s better than nothing right?


    I spent another few hours showing Jim around the Valley. "Well, the Protoss tech looks something like the stuff Tassadar used, which was different from what Artanis''s army used. I never did learn too much about either one. So I can''t help you much there, and the magic and nature shit flies right over my head. But I can tell, that you need an army fast, and the Protoss don''t do fast, leastways not with building. So I''d say it was time to to see what this other faction... What did you say their name was, right, Lordaeron looks like."


    The only problem with that was there was no more room in the Valley. The new forest covered every bit of available ground. Hmm. Maybe it was time to start building outside the valley.


    We exited the cave and Jim looked upon the Badlands for the first time. He was unimpressed. I''d brought Jitters and Buzz and a dozen other Probes, whose data stores had been updated with the schematics for the new Pylons. I was hauling the stone box myself. I was nervous about using it. I''d no idea what trouble it might bring down on us.


    I''d spotted something going on, far off in the distance, involving lots of vehicles. Well, mostly I saw the dust they were kicking up. I wondered what it could mean. As long as they stayed way over there, it was probably nothing for us to worry about. Staring at the dust up, Raynor actually chuckled, "This place doesn''t look too different from the Diamondback Wastelands. Spittin'' imagine of a dozen tired old frontier planets. The more you see, the more things seem the same." Yeah, he''d really been around the block.


    I had the Probes, start warping in some of the new Pylons. Then I handed Raynor a brass bracelet embedded with crystal circuits, this would let friendly units operate inside the Pylon''s stealth field without being tricked by it themselves. Though for some reason, I didn''t yet understand, I didn''t need a bracelet. But I didn''t want to take the chance that Raynor would.


    About half way down the mountain, I laid the box down on a gentle slope just to the side of the northern outflow canal. It would be somewhat close to the Valley entrance, and had a good view of the bridge area. There was also plenty of room to add buildings around it later, I hoped.


    [ Do you want to use box containing Town Hall? Y/N ]


    "Yes."


    A large transparent image of a building appeared in front of me. I could control the image freely with my mind. Neat! I played with it for a while before settling on a final placement. The building itself rested on a raised foundation of stone blocks. Stone steps led up to the main entrance, which I had face the west. There was a tall clock tower was tucked in next to the entrance, it was made of stone with almost decorative wooden bracings. The small windows I could see were made of thick low quality glass, with heavy oaken shutters. The front door was thick iron reinforced wood. Interesting. Everything about this building spoke of durability and basic security.


    After seeing Night City, the Town Hall was a breath of fresh air. It''s simple design was calming and spoke of stability.


    An armored man walked out of the building. He had brown hair in a kind of flattop with a mustache and a strip of a beard. He looked battle-hardened, a fact emphasized by that heavy armor, which was some form of plate mail. He was also carrying an oversized spiked mace. His blue and yellow, likely supposed to be gold, tabard was emblazoned with a heavily stylized letter. Supposedly an "L" but it really didn''t look like one to me. This man looked around bewildered.


    "Where the devil am I? Where did everyone go? Probably some cursed Mage playing a prank again." His voice was rough from years of yelling out orders. His stance indicated that he was more than ready to use that giant mace.


    Oh right, I guess the Pylons had finished while I was playing around with the building''s placement. "Here take this bracelet." Waving one of the brass rings at him. Which, of course,  didn''t work. That proved that the cloaking field mitigated sound. Good to know. I quickly slapped the bracelet on him before he could react. He had no particular speed. Which was good, because my shield ended up deflecting his brutal mace''s head upwards after he struck at me. He was left blinking in confusion. A state that caused him to stare at us for a whole minute, sweat popped out all over his forehead. Then he knelt. "Sorry, My Lord! I didn''t see you there!"


    "It''s alright. That''s the point. Please stand up. I''m Ryan, and you are?" I waved his attack away. After all no harm, no foul, right?


    "I''m Marshal Dughan formerly of Stormwind, now in service to Lordaeron and yourself, Lord Ryan." He performed a quick salute with his right fist smashing over his heart. His armor rang with the impact.


    "Do you know your purpose here Marshal?" He was way too uptight, and his mannerisms would likely get old quick.


    He went still for a few minutes. "My lord, I am to assist in the running of this town, and see to it''s defense." So he already came with a basic idea of what he needed to do. I could work with that.


    "Yeah, that''s exactly what I need you to do. Welcome aboard, Dughan. We have a lot of work to get done." I then walked over and touched the Town Hall.


    My BTC shook.


    [ Adjusting... ]


    [ Town Hall has been added to the Great Tree Network.


    Options:


    Choose Class


    Raise Level


    Summon Peasant (Builder)


    Summon Peasant (Farmer)


    Summon Peasant (Laborer) ]


    I immediately queued up one of each type of Peasant. Not only to have more hands to help with work, but because I was starting to realize I needed people I could trust near at hand. Some deeper instinct told me that these people would never betray me. A few minutes later three people came out of the Town Hall. Two men and one woman. They wore simple homespun clothes dyed in muted shades of blue. I had Buzz put bracelets on them, this time. They were shortly looking around in confusion and wonder. Then they saw me


    They knelt low to the ground, which made me deeply uncomfortable. "Milord. We are here to work." I sighed. Who''d ever wanted this shit? I had things that needed to get done. What I didn''t need was people fawning all over me.


    "Stand please. It''s good to see such capable folk arrive. We need to build a town, starting with farms. Tell me what we need to get them ready." They bowed. That was really going to get old quick. I could hear Raynor actually laughing behind me somewhere.


    "We would need much wood and stone, milord." One man said.


    "Large stocks of seed and livestock animals, milord." The woman said.


    "A warehouse for storage, and then several quarries and lumbermills, milord." The other man spoke up.


    Then Jim took the opportunity to step forward, "Ryan how ''bout you let me handle this. I''ve worked a few farms in my day. Even worked on getting a settlement or two up and running. You can mosey over to that store you mentioned earlier and get buy seed stock as well as some animals and feed. Oh, and bring a few more of those bracelets." Thanks Jim, that''s a big help. He was already making himself indispensable.


    "Alright, better than me getting in the way. Jim, I''ll leave them in your hands. Marshal Dughan, please take directions from Jim when I''m not around." Yeah, I''d have to learn about everything they were doing later. But for right now, I was sick of being lordified. Is that a word? Well, I say it is now.


    Dughan gave me another ringing salute, "As you wish, My Lord." He turned attentively towards Raynor. While I was walking away, I heard them already chatting like old army buddies. Was it an soldier thing?


    As I continued the long trek back to the Company Store, I couldn''t help but wonder what classes the Town Hall would give me.

 Chapter 28

    It didn''t take me very long to find several dozen farming bundles in the CStore. It all came down to what kind of farms we needed, and how much I was willing to pay. More than anything I wanted some decent beef. There were three options available. An Eversong Dairy, a Varagian, and Stormhollow Cattle package. Diary sounded wonderful and I would have to come back for it later, but I craved a damned steak. Perhaps even a rack of ribs dripping with BBQ sauce. Ah, I was making myself hungry. Curses. Never go shopping when you are hungry.


    I waffled for a moment and then I picked the Varagian Cattle. It was a blind choice that I hoped would pay out delicious dividends. Abruptly a wooden crate appeared, once again it followed the 2'' cubed proportions. That made it a repeated pattern. Why were the boxes that specific size? I was 500 CPoints down, with 3300 CPoints left.


    Next, I began flipping through the listings for staple crops. Potatoes, corn, rice, wheat, and various strains of beans. I settled on some Loch Modan Potatoes to start. Another crate appeared for another 400 CPoints stripped from my metaphysical wallet. I could skip buying any wheat since I knew there was already decent wheat out there somewhere. There was no need to waste CPoints, when I could obtain the crop another way. However, now I was torn. My mind struggled to decide between corn or rice. Both were very useful with lots of versatility. After a moment, I went with the Westfall corn for no particular reason. That was another 400 CPoints invested into food production. I had 2500 CPoints left.


    Ah, that''s right, we still needed feed for the cattle and probably rations for the people. I could have them just eat fruits and berries, perhaps even eggs too at this point. But I didn''t want to tax the trees of the Valley too heavily. It would be a bad habit in the future when the population grew larger. So let''s not make it an option now. The delightful fruits will stay as treats and rewards for my troops.


    Interestingly enough, I''d found a subscription service for the animal feed. 200 CPoints a month for a daily crate of top quality feed, supposedly enough for up to 30 heads of cattle. The service was renewed automatically on a monthly cycle, unless I canceled it. I could have some Probes deliver the crates from here to the farm everyday. I''d soon also found another service for rations. 100 more CPoints for a similar deal. Yeah, I guessed 30 humans were cheaper to feed then 30 cows. The Lordaeronians should be left with plenty to store for later. I called over a few Probes to start hauling the crates out to the Town Hall, then headed over to the Forge to queue up some more bracelets.


    The need for an assistant, or at least a gopher was rapidly becoming apparent. Maybe even more than one. I felt like I was doing a lot of unnecessary running around, which was beginning to rub my sense of efficiency raw.


    Okay, my next order of business was levels. I pulled up my XP reading: 8362. Hmm. I wanted to add 3 levels of Warp-Smith, and 1 level of Druid of Renewal. Then I''d look at the Class options at the Town Hall, if I liked any of them, I should be able increase it to level 4 right away. My brain was tickled by the symmetry. I nodded as I stepped over to the Nexus and rest my hand against its eerily smooth side.


    [ Warp-Smith has reached Level 4


    You have gained the Psi Technique, Open Warp Portal


    You have gained the Psi Technique, Power Psifield


    You have gained the Psi Technique, Empower Constructs


    You have gained +6 Psi Resonance


    You have gained +3 Tech


    You have gained +6 Free Points ]


    Now, those were some interesting abilities. Open Warp Portal allowed me to link two separate points under the influence of a continuous Psifield for a number of seconds equal to my Psi Resonance plus the Techniques level. Not a solution to my getting to my Outposts undetected problems, but still a very interesting ability. Power Psifield allowed me to act as a Pylon for a number of minutes equal to my Psi Resonance. I''m sure there were absolutely no negative consequences to a living creature generating massive amounts of Psienergy. Empower Constructs allowed me to increase the abilities of anything I''d personally had a hand in designing or making for a number of minutes equal to my Psi Resonance. Meaning I could give all of my Robo-Buddies a quick boost before battle.


    Of course, I once again spent several moments just convulsing on the ground in agony as several decades worth of knowledge on Khalai technology was unceremoniously shoved into my brainmeat. Was it as bad as the first time? No, nowhere near as bad, but I still wanted to claw my own eyes out, in the hopes it might briefly alleviate the pain.


    Once I''d regained some semblance of control over myself, I went to Meadran''s island and added another level in Druid of Renewal. My veins were filled with calm energy that seemed to massage every sore part of my body.


    [ Druid of Renewal has reached Level 4


    You have gained the spell, Nature''s Blessing


    You have gained +2 Spirit


    You have gained +1 Will


    You have gained +2 Free Points ]


    Nature''s Blessing was a long lasting spell designed to enhance all natural properties of a subject for a number of hours equal to my Spirit. Okay, why was it so soothing to get new spells, and the knowledge therein, but Psi Knowledge fucking hurt? Was there a way to fix that? Please, let there be a way.


    After leveling up my Druid Class, I felt so much better. A quick shot of Regrowth, with a side of Cleanse, and then I cast Nature''s Blessing on myself, and then on Meadran. Oh, that was nice, everything felt amazing. Like a shot of adrenaline laced coffee, without all the side effects. I could definitely get used to this.


    ''Ah, thank you, Young One. That makes my branches feel lighter, and my roots have stopped aching from the growth pains.'' His chuckle of amusement was all the thanks I needed.


    Yeah, I''m going to be casting this spell on all my friends, as often as I could manage. Everything felt so good, that I no longer minded the walk back to the Town Hall where I received yet another pleasant surprise.


    Three farming compounds had already been built, and I didn''t mean just framed out, they were fully finished. They had even been decorated already. How fast did these Lordaeron peasants work? One compound was designated as a ranch with little calves already running all around. There were feeding troughs, a pond and a barn structure next to the ranch house as well. The other two compounds had about 5 acres of green shoots already sprouting from the soil. I saw that there were two newly summoned farmers out weeding the fields, which after looking at the land for for a while, I noticed had irrigation channels dug out leading from the outflow troughs. Damn, that was scary fast.


    By the Town Hall, the Builder and Laborer now had two new companions to help as they were putting up a Warehouse. All the while Probes carted over lumber and stone for them to use. Their hands moved with a creepy speed and supernatural accuracy. Nearby, Raynor and Dughan had summoned a group of ten peasants, which were being trained with simple wooden shields and really basic looking wooden swords. Thankfully, they''d had just enough bracelets to cover everyone from my first batch. I left a box with more of the accessories near the front door of the Town Hall.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    "Damn Jim, I didn''t think I was gone that long." I was shocked, stunned, bamboozled even.


    "You weren''t, but things seem to work a mite bit faster here." He seemed slightly little less grim as he went back to yelling instruction at the trainees. Dughan saluted me as I passed by to touch the Town Hall. I selected Choose Class.


    [ Mage of Transformation


    +2 to Will


    +1 to Cool


    +2 to Intelligence


    A Mage that specializes in transmutations.


    Starting Spells: Change Color, Alter Minor Property ]


    [ Paladin of Nature


    +2 to Body


    +1 to Cool


    +2 to Spirit


    Bring righteous fury upon those who would despoil Nature.


    Starting Abilities: Smite, Aura of Thorns ]


    [ Priest of Fertility


    +3 to Spirit


    +2 to Cool


    A Priest that worships Growth in all its forms. Aids in keeping Humans balanced with Nature.


    Starting Spells: Bless Crops, Bless Livestock ]


    Now that was a conundrum, but I really wanted something to help keep me alive, to help me fight. Only one of these classes offered that.


    [ Paladin of Nature has reached Level 4


    You have gained the Prayer Smite


    You have gained Aura of Thorns.


    You have gained +5 Body


    You have gained +4 Cool


    You have gained +5 Spirit


    You have gained +8 Free Points ]


    The pain this time was much more physical. It felt as if every muscle was being torn apart, then rebuilt just to be torn to shreds all over again. I contorted and shook in spasms for several minutes. When I''d managed to snap out of it, everyone had gathered around me. Raynor was holding me still, after having rolled me on my side. I suppose it would have looked like an epileptic seizure.


    "You alright there Hoss? You were flopping about like a landed fish there." Raynor a true master of finding humor in horrible things.


    "Yeah, just give me a moment to figure this out." I gulped air for a moment.


    Smite was a Prayer. It literally called the Wrath of Nature down upon enemies. The further from a natural path they strayed the more damage it would do. Aura of Thorns was an energy field I could call up around myself that would return a portion of damage dealt to me. Interesting.


    I got up and stretched. "That hurt." I went with the deadpan delivery.


    Raynor chuckled, "Looked like it."


    "Do you need a priest, My Lord?" Dughan seemed very concerned. Not that you could tell by looking at him, no it was just a feeling.


    "No, I''ll be fine. I was just leveling up real quick." That statement got a bunch of blank stares, other than Raynor. Oh, can the rest of my troops not level. Only me and Heroes? No that didn''t make sense. Meadran had mentioned levels and knew about leveling? Lumi and Alina as well.


    Huh. Another set of issues to look into.


    My time over the next few days, was largely spend doing what I''d found I loved doing the most, improving schematics. I''d made a ton of small adjustments to everything, from managing to improve Pylon power flows, or to streamlining the robots chassis, like the Sentries''. The new knowledge stuffed forcefully into my brain was proving very useful, such as already being able to make several improvement to the cloaking fields. For example, you no longer needed a bracelet to operate under the field provided you were designated friendly by one of the recognized authorities of the Valley. Plus, now I''d gotten the energy draw was down to a far more reasonable level.


    I''d branched out into Khalai coding, so I could better understand and regulate the AIs governing my robots. At first an extremely difficult task, requiring constant support from Alina. However, now I was capable of scripting like a champ. The Probes had already shown remarkable improvement across all categories, and I even managed to include a few new tools in their latest redesign. Increased levels of lifting and pulling, along with expanded repair and upgrade features and especially in the baseline building construction programming. Now they could build any schematic from scratch rather than having to warp it in. How did this help? As I had learned from observing the Lordaeron builders it was significantly faster, and didn''t emit anywhere near as much of an energy signature. Also, they could now perform many of the functions of a Forge on their own, just on a much smaller scale. Great for making new equipment.


    Even the very minor additions to Alina''s code, that I was capable of, were already paying dividends. Day to day needs and functions were being handled with increased precision. Alina was running the base expansions now, while needing only slight input from Meadran and Raynor. Although at this point, the Valley really had no room for anything else. So most new building projects were happening out in New Lordaeron, as we had all taken to calling it. I figured the name would be good for the morale of the people I''d summoned, something to remind them of their home.


    I had taken to training with Jim and the recruits for a couple of hours every day. Getting used to my new physical improvements, which were substantial. I still hadn''t spent my free points not understanding where I might benefit the most. My mind kept over processing the decision, without any clear idea of what any of it meant in the first place. Though Meadran and Jim both said I should do something about my agility. I mean a tree had told me I''d needed to do something about my agility, how demoralizing. Agility would be covered by the Reflex stat, right? Seemed to be the most likely candidate. but I wasn''t sure so it was difficult to commit the points.


    I took this training time, so I had an excuse to cast Nature''s Blessing on everyone. Making the already ridiculously speedy construction of buildings that much faster, and the combat training that much smoother. During one training session I''d gotten, perhaps, my best idea yet. Raynor had been trying to get some of the Probes to cycle into the training, so the recruits would have something different to spar with. It wasn''t going well, the Probes really didn''t like being ordered by anyone but me. They were mostly just beeping angrily at him, but today Buzz was not having it. He rammed into Raynor and plinked off Raynor''s armor. Raynor''s powered armor.


    Raynor had mentioned that mechanical enhancement being given to humans in The Confederacy was a rare event, and usually the very last ditch method to treat someone. They mostly enhanced people by genetically or chemically altering them. However, his power armor granting him a fairly large boost to strength and speed. Watching Buzz ram into Raynor again and again, I couldn''t help but think that we could make more armor. Better armor. If my experiments with Khalai tech had taught me anything it was that human equipment was extremely easy to replicate and improve using the Forge.


    "Buzz! Scan that armor." I pointed gleefully at Raynor''s armor. "Raynor could you teach these guys how to operate that armor or some just like it?" Buzz hovered around Raynor, his scanners working on every little detail of the armor.


    "Of course, they''re dumb as rocks and mule stubborn, but that was all my boys back home. I can whip them into shape, but where are you... I get it." His eyes lit up with understanding. "That''ll be something." Buzz beeped his completion.


    "When this is done, the Probes will help with training. We can use it to enhance their battle algorithms. Right, Buzz?" Buzz gave me a sad beep. "Cheer up Buzz, it will help improve everyone. Isn''t that good?"


    I got a doubtful beep that meant, "Sure, but can you trust them?"


    "Maybe not as well as you guys, but sure, I trust them." I nodded at the grumpy Probe. Buzz flew off to get back to his work.


    "Is it just me or have they gotten more ornery lately?" Raynor asked gruffly.


    "Yeah, probably a side effect of the infusion process. They developed an evolving personality and it gets even more pronounced when they get a name. Kind of like kids. But they are way better company now." I shrugged. "I''m going to get to work on the designs for Terran and Protoss fusion armor."


    That was when I got a call. It was Sally. My face drained of blood. Oh fuck. I''d gotten too caught up in everything. I had forgotten to call them.


    "Sally, are you alright?" I tried to keep my voice calm. What would I do if she was in trouble?


    "Yeah, the Corp scopmunchers didn''t really chase us. We think they just wanted to drive us off. A couple of the old vets kept eyes on them for a while after we scattered. They''re still guarding the area, not letting anyone near. They barely even seemed interested in the remains of your buildings. Though they were very excited by the leftover water. They were real keen on that." That was a load off my mind. Though I still felt like shit for getting too distracted.


    "Can you guys meet up? Hell bring everyone here if you want. I''ve come up with a solution for the Corpos watching us from above. We''ve got water and food and plenty of room. Better yet, new weapons and armor coming down the pipeline soon." I said the last part like you might say hot steamy sex.


    "Ooo. That does sound like a good time. Alright, you talked me into it, you smooth devil. I''ll talk to Amanda and we''ll head that way shortly." The line went silent. She didn''t seem upset, good. I guess I hadn''t fucked up too badly.


    Raynor chuckled, "I know that look. Wife?"


    "Huh!? What!? No, we just met not that long ago. Still figuring all that out." I felt my face heat up. He gave me a stare, a you''d best wise up stare.


    "Oh, son. Your goose is already cooked, you might as well make peace with the idea. Been there a time or two. Before you ask, no, it never gets easier."


    Yeah. I was looking forward to their arrival, and dreading it all the same.

 Chapter 29

    The next morning caught me by surprise. It snuck up on me because I''d been working on the power armor designs all night long. The most obvious improvement, was replacing the armor''s neosteel plating and components for the Khalai alloy, which I''d starting calling Crysbronze.


    During the formation of Crysbronze, the starting alloy was a true slurry of dozens of different metals. This slurry was then infused with an artificial form of khaydarin crystal and then the molecular lattice was vibrated into the most stabile formation possible. Did I really understand the chemistry of it? No, not yet. The forge handled the heavy lifting of the calculations, I only needed to understand the process. While that didn''t sit well with me, I didn''t have the time to dig into every single detail right now. This one step improved the defensive performance of the armor by about 25%. As an extra bonus, it lightened the armor''s weight by 10% as well.


    The next step was to replace the armor''s incredibly intricate electrical system with layers of the artificial Psicrystal. My experiments had shown that Psicrystal was everything one needed for machines. It acted as a circuit, a resistor, a transistor, or even a superconductor. It could generate fields, full spectrum electromagnetic fields, which meant Psicrystal could act as a fuel cell, a battery, a generator, and so much more. In large enough sizes it could store huge amounts of data, or even function as an easily programable processor itself. A layer of Psicrystal gave the armor a 12% increase increase in reaction speed and extended the battery life of the suit by 50%. It was also added vast series of improvements to the onboard computer assistance module for things like targeting and mapping. I thought about completely replacing the power generation module, but I wasn''t quite sure how to get the psicrystal to remain stable under the full load required by combat. I knew was possible with a larger crystal, I simply hadn''t figured out a way to do it at the required size. I struggled to alter the baseline code of the armor''s systems to integrate with the Psicrystal code, but I managed a few work arounds.


    Lastly, I used some of the more mechanical feedback systems of the Dragoon and the Khalai cyberware to cobble together a small improvement to the strength enhancement of the suit, however it yielded only a 6% improvement. I was certain that I could crank that up once I got some more experience tinkering with both technologies. Sadly, I didn''t see a way to upgrade the gel impact lining yet, most Protoss equipment seemed to lack any equivalent of impact gel. That was hardcore, but maybe they didn''t need it?


    Oh and I''d finally figured out how to get the Forges to enamel the armor in other colors. I decided to go with a deep forest green with a midnight blue trim. A stylized version of Meadran, rendered in silver, would be our emblem. When the first of the new suits rolled off the assembler, I immediately fell in love with it. It looked amazing, and I was dying to hop right in, but I hadn''t made it for me. I had Jitters help me haul it out to where Raynor was training our future soldiers. Oof, just the torso was fucking hefty, even with my new Body stat.


    Between us, we finally managed to drag it all the way out to New Lordaeron''s Town Hall. The sun was still rising but Raynor had already been running the recruits ragged, he stopped when he saw the armor. He went completely still. Sadly, I couldn''t tell if that was a good still or a bad still.


    "Good Morning! Special delivery for James Raynor!" I was excited, if it worked properly this armor would change so much. The Protoss robots were great and they could certainly defend our territory, but we needed troops that were faster to produce. Numbers would allow us to expand forcefully, if that became necessary. Also increased our military would bring peace of mind for the citizens.


    James gave the armor a critical inspection. He tested every joint, poked at every plate. At his satisfied nod, we assembled it around him, making sure that everything fit him to a tee.


    Raynor ran a quick diagnostics test. I crossed my fingers, and when that returned an all clear, he quickly started a series of movement tests. After a few minutes, he declared, "Handles like a dream. Smooth as silk and twice as useful. Might have gone a different way on the colors, but hey, this is your rodeo." Now that I knew the armor worked properly, I had Jitters setup two Forges on either side of, and just behind, the Town Hall.


    "It''ll be a hassle, but we''ll scan everyone up and get them all a suit, probably by tomorrow." I called over a few Probes to get started on scanning the recruits.


    "Sounds great, Hoss. I''ll keep working ''em ''til then." Raynor had his faceplate closed, which showed that I has copied his skull pattern on to the cover. Very intimidating. He started barking at his boys, getting them to redouble their efforts.


    I, on the other hand, decided to take a break. I wandered over to the nearby hill side and sat down to stare far out into the badlands for a spell. The minty purple grass had already taken over this area and made for some comfortable sitting. Jitters floated over to be next to me as I stared out at the terrible desert, my mind trying to come up with plans to bring life back to everything I saw. My little Robo-Buddy gave a troubled beep.


    "Nah, I''m fine. Just a little overwhelmed, by all of this." I waved my arm to take in everything. "Half the time, I''ve got no clue what I''m doing, and the other half I''m still confused about whether or not what I''m doing is the right thing." His countering beep was vaguely reproachful. "Hmm. Yeah, I know I''m doing the best I can. That''s what bothers me the most. Why didn''t they take someone who knew about the kinds of things that are going on here? I can''t help but feel like I''m missing opportunities just because I don''t understand how this all works." Jitters bumped lightly against me. A kind show of support. I gave him a pat, and sent comforting thoughts at him. His concern stated, he flew off to get some more work done, leaving me to my thoughts.


    [ Adjusting...]


    [ Quests Offered


    Establish two new Outposts in the Badlands around Night City,


    They must be at least 50 miles apart.


    Reward: 2000 Company Points, 1 Mercenary Squad Token


    Accept: Y/N ]


    [ Quest Offered


    Establish Outposts in Night City Charter Hills and Santa Domingo areas,


    They must be at least half a mile apart.


    Reward: 4000 Company Points, 1 Theme Token


    Accept: Y/N ]


    [ Quest Offered


    Regain control of your first Outpost and rebuild it,


    Reward: 3000 Company Points, 1 Hero Token


    Accept: Y/N ]


    [ Quest Offered


    Kill 100 Gangoons or 50 Corpo Agents,


    Repeatable and Ongoing.


    Reward: 1000 Company Points, 1 Random Supply Token


    Accept: Y/N ]


    [ Quest Offered


    Make an alliance with a local faction,


    Reward: 1000 Company Points, 1 Adjutant Token


    Accept: Y/N ]


    [ Quest Offered


    Survey a different city,


    Must have at least 1,000,000 inhabitants.


    Reward: 2000 Company Points, 1 Power TokenStolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    Accept: Y/N ]


    "What the Fuck!" The flood of requests startled me. All this time not even a whisper. Now bam! Here''s a bunch of tasks for you. It seemed like the Company knew when I was vulnerable, and liked to pile it on.


    I started reading the Quests. More outposts, which was already part of the plan, so no stress there. I hit yes on those. A Merc Squad? Do I have to pay them? Maybe not the best reward. In contrast, I definitely wanted a another Theme Token for more power and flexibility. Taking back my first outpost seemed like a no brainer. You bet your sweet ass I wanted that back, again no worries there. I accepted that one. Another Hero, please. I needed all the help I could get, and Raynor was already proving to be a godsend. He was helping the Lordaeron folks get settled in far better than I ever could. I''ve never been much of a people person.


    Killing Gangoon and Corpos, well sure, I''d already made my peace with killing for profit. As long as I knew the target was scum, I''d be able to sleep at night. No problem saying yes to that Quest. Extra supplies would probably be a great bonus. Hmm, I''m already in the process of making an alliance with the Aldecaldos. I felt good about grabbing that one. I wondered what an Adjutant would do for us. Survey a different city. That one seemed like a hassle since I already had a ton of work on my plate. But there was no time limit and I''d need to expand to other cities eventually anyway. Sure bring it on. What''s one more stick of straw now? While my first Power had seemed to be a dud, maybe another one would be just what I needed.


    Well, having clear goals was better then sitting around moping. Next task, we were going to start some Probes digging their way back towards NC. More work, always.


    A dozen new Probes were commissioned from Alina for the newly dubbed "Project Underbridge". This project would create a waystation, slightly to the north of New Lordaeron, which would allow troops and vehicles access to an underground roadway. This project would further build a road that traveled back towards the broken bridge area and construct a new bridge across the canyon, roughly 500'' below the former bridge. Once the construction continued on the the other side of the canyon, the roadway would then be aimed towards linking up with and expanding the tunnel the Probes from my Japantown Outpost were digging. After hitting the NET and looking at a few maps of NC, I wondered why the quest wanted me to build another Outpost in Charter Hills which was right next to Japantown.


    Project Underbridge''s waystation path leading deeper into the earth, would be a gently inclined spiral road. This would make it easier to walk, if needed, or to drive up or down. The bridge itself would be loosely based off the Glen Canyon Dam Bridge in Arizona because it was the only canyon spanning bridge I remembered well enough.


    That reminded me of a fun trip with my parents and sister, we saw a lot of the Southwest that summer. Though my parents'' real goal was to to see some band they were huge fans of. They didn''t take us to the concert. Leaving my sister and I stuck in a Hotel room for together with nothing else to do. Though being the well behaved children we were, we fell asleep watching the cable channels we didn''t get back home. Hmm. What bands were shared between this world and mine? Where was the deviation point between the shared history of the two different Earths? A good question though I''m not sure how useful it would be for me to find those answers.


    The good news was that once I conveyed my thoughts on the designs to the Probes, my input was no longer necessary. The Robo-Buddies would handle all of the work, some part of me was wondering if it was bad to rely on them so much. I knew that they were capable of real emotions, but they seemed so happy to help. I decided to just take a walk to clear my head. I cast a quick series of spells on myself. Thanks to my Cleanse spell I never had to take off my clothes or armor anymore. At this point, I was so wound up, so worried about hidden threats, that I wouldn''t even take off my armor in the Valley.


    I slowly made my way over to one of the farms, cause my contemplations to turn towards whether we should start a few more compounds. The Nomads would be here soon and I''d like to have enough food production for everyone. Speaking of more mouths to feed, I should expand our rations subscription, maybe triple the current amount? More folks would be coming later I''m sure. Since the rations were specially packed in an interdimensional container they never went bad. Which meant that it was always better to have too much and not need it than need it and not have it.


    That thought tackled, I soon began enjoying walking amongst the already waist high stalks of corn. My eyes started to notice the differences between these crops and ordinary plants from back on my original world. Mana had started to saturate everything in the area quite nicely, helping everything to grow not only faster but stronger. We would likely have the first harvests within the week, and future cycles would become even faster as the energy further increased growth rates. Then I considered what the cost of all this accelerated growth might be, but thankful got distracted by the motions of the farmers weeding and checking the plants for pests. They had mentioned before that there hardly seemed to be any of the usual bugs, but the weeds were becoming a real hassle. Was that the magic energies flowing around us, or just part of the wasteland''s normal condition?


    Expansions of the base farm buildings had already turned each into a little complex. It was as if each farming compound was it''s own little domain, and with a rapidly developing ecosystem of their own. They had their own wells now, toolsheds, composting bins, silos and barns. Also a few trees lined each farm, those were already bonded to wisps for more lumber production. I was told that surrounding each farm with trees helped with wind erosion of the top soil. Lastly each farm no matter the type, had their own chicken coup. Apparently the Feralassian chickens were over populating the valley, so now new chicks were rounded up by the Probes and brought to live on the farms. The grubs that were the chicken primary food source had already found their way to the fields, somehow, where they help aerate the soil.


    Huh, I soon understood that I didn''t need to be so worried about the logistics. Mana infusion made most things better. ''Course my fuzzy wuzzy mood that didn''t last long. I noticed that the farm houses were big enough to house the farmers and any hands, but what about the builders and the laborers? Preemptively sensing my darkening thoughts, Alina assured me that enough housing was already going up not only for the workers and the recruits but for visitors and guests and any new summons.


    Though right now, the main priority of the Lordaeron builders was a barracks. A mini fortress where footmen, and after further development, knights could be trained. I wasn''t yet sure what the utility of these soldiers would be, but I was more than eager to find out. Walking back towards the Town Hall I caught sight of Probes scanning each of the recruits while Raynor ran them through their drills. I waved at everyone as I continued back toward the Valley. My current goal was to hit the Company Store for more rations and maybe some new farm stock.


    Lumi met me at the end of the caves. After we had some perfunctory greeting scratches, he got to his current business. ''Small Brother, is it safe to start roaming outside the Valley yet?''


    ''Sure, just stay within the zone of the Pylon coverage and you should be fine. Let Faergin know if you see him before I do.'' The treant sure liked to roam around, dancing merrily the whole time. He was possibly trying to find a place to root, or maybe to make up for time spent in the Companies'' stasis.


    Lumi was already gone before I''d finished the sentence. I guess even he had a version of the zoomies. "Ha!" I was quite amused by his antics. He was still a canine despite everything else.


    I didn''t manage to catch sight of Faergin, but did stop by to check on Meadran. I''d noticed he was becoming quieter lately, I asked if he needed anything. ''No, Young One, it is the nature of my kind to spend long periods in slow thought. We are quiet by nature and find the pace of other folk dizzying at times.'' He felt sleepy, and maybe I had been pushing him too hard. I still had little understanding of the needs and desires of the tree folk.


    ''Ah, I should have thought of that. Sorry Meadran, I''ll let you have some peace.'' With everything that had been happening, Meadran had probably seen it all as one big blur of activity. It was fair leaning on the tree as much as I had been. Sure, I was desperate at the time, but now I had others to help out.


    ''Thank you, Young One.''


    I finally got to the Company Store. I was starting to realize just how bound, how trapped I was to this system. Feelings of being exploited were bubbling up from my gut. It might be a while before they got to a full boil, but they were there. After all, I''d never asked for this. Yet, I knew I''d already accepted that helping folks and this land was my responsibility. Even if I didn''t understand why I thought that way. Maybe this was part of what Meadran meant when he talked about the difference between knowing and understanding.


    Turning my mind back to the task at hand, I pondered my options in the store''s menu. Since we were installing Moon Wells into each Farm, I went with rice this time. A nice sounding Pandarian Jade Rice for 500 CPoints. Then I scroll through the beans options. I picked up a set of Hinterland Hardy Beanstalks for 300 CPoints. Those would require trellises but I was sure it wouldn''t be a problem. Let''s see, what else? I wanted some bacon. Bacon makes everything better. Well, not absolutely everything, but a lot of things, maybe even most things. I choose a Camberland Pig for another 500 CPoints. Then I doubled the subscription on the livestock feed for 200 more CPoints.


    After that, I went with a bulk package of high quality rations for 1000 people for 500 a month. It rolled into my other subscription so I only spent 400 more CPoints. Leaving me with just 300 Company Points. I was really going to have to hustle and complete some of those quests before next month came around. I had no desire to see how the Company dealt with defaulting on payments.


    After making sure the Probes knew about the new crates. I went back to the Town Hall and summoned two more builders and laborer along with six more farmers. Then I let Dughan and Raynor know about the new farms, and fresh batch of supplies coming in. I went on to explain about the Nomads and how we were to treat them as honored guests.


    Dughan gave his typical crashing salute, "As you wish My Lord." Reliable as always.


    Raynor just laughed, "Tryin'' to impress your lady friend, Hoss?" And there it was, a small smirk on Dughan''s face, before he schooled his expression back to neutral. I was so glad to be able to amuse everyone.


    "What? No! I''m just trying to make sure there going to be plenty of food." I grumbled, which apparently was the signal to start ripping into me.


    They both got into giving me shit for the next hour. So happy to help moral.


    Why me?

 Chapter 30

    The next morning, the Aldecaldos had already parked by the bridge before I''d gotten up. No one had thought it was a good idea to wake me up. They had figured I needed the extra sleep. However, that had left the Nomads staring at a whole lot of nothing, since Alina hadn''t added them to the exceptions list yet. She''d kept the cannons from targeting them but that was her only concession to their guest rights. The lack of any visible infrastructure had cause a bit of a argument amongst the Nomads, as even the water canals weren''t could be seen currently. I imagined that they thought that Sally and Amanda were telling tall tales.


    I cast a quick Cleanse and tried to put myself in order before walking over to greet them. No reason to be a messy bastard when they caught sight of me. On the way over to them, I had Alina add them into the allies list. To say they freaked out was an understatement, most of them were half way in their cars before I managed to get their attention. Sally had her monster of a rifle aimed at me, before she began to realized who she was targeting. Awkward.


    "I said I solved the spying problem! See all solved!" I had my hands up, and they stayed up ''til she''d lowered her aim. I was grinning like a maniac the whole time though. Her face went through a thousand emotions before settling on relief and joy. That smile would live in my mind forever. I''d never seen anything so beautiful. She dropped her rifle ran over and tackle hugged me. Thankfully, my increased strength let me absorb her charge. I returned the hug firmly but carefully, I didn''t know my limits yet and I certainly didn''t want to hurt her. This close, she smelt of gun oil and synth leather, and I loved it. Oh that hug felt nice. She''d genuinely missed me. Her warmth was bleeding into me filled me with a sense of belonging. Like someone finally gave a damn about me, when they didn''t have to.


    A moment later, and Megan had joined in. She wrapped her soft arms around us, ineffectually trying to squish us. She smelt of some perfume, smoked cinnamon and clove and something else I couldn''t identify. Very simulating. I was melting inside, I''d never been the center of this kind of attention before. I had no defenses against the feeling bubbling up, not that I would''ve ever wanted them. Megan''s face carried a cocky grin that also plucked firmly at my heartstrings. I''d never felt so... loved. Was that what this feeling was? This fierce concern and protectiveness that burned deep inside me. This desire to never part from them again. It seemed awful quick, but what did I know about it. Yet, I couldn''t imagine not wanting to be right there, right then.


    "We saw the explosion, we were worried they''d killed you. You derezzed gonk. We checked and couldn''t find any sign of you, except your tracks. So yeah, we knew you had gotten away. But you didn''t call. Then we were worried you were going to cut us out." Megan started talking real fast. Babbling really. Was she furious or happy, probably both. Sally just buried her face deeper into my neck. My brain was so fuzzed out from all the happy thoughts, that it took me a second to parse what Megan had said.


    "What? Cut you out? Why the fuck would I ever do a damned fool thing like that?" I didn''t understand the female mind. I was starting to notice that talking to them rarely seemed to help with that problem. So I went with the male solution, action. I slipped an arm around Megan''s softer frame pulling her closer and squeezed her gently.


    "He probably had some dorph brained noble idea of protecting us." Amanda chimed in from the sidelines where she was watching with glittering eyes and a huge knowing smile.


    "Darlin'' you ain''t joking, this danged fool has been working himself to the bone trying to get the place ready for y''all." Raynor had snuck up on the scene while I''d been distracted. Well he''d really ambled over, but I was really distracted. "Been awhile since I''d seen anyone so focused on fixin'' things."


    "Umm... " I was starting to get a little uncomfortable with everyone watching us. Even some of the Probes had stopped their tasks and were scanning us. Hell, the elusive Lumi was nearby with a wolfish grin. And Faergin was dancing close by while a few Nomads were looking him over in shock and wonder. I didn''t really like being the center of attention for too long. Short bursts are great but this was getting weird.


    "Shhh." Sally vocalized just holding me like she''d never let me go, ever again. Okay,  in that moment nothing else mattered, and I could let everything else go. They were now my world. Megan hummed some song she liked while we all just stayed like that. I had no clue what else to do now. So I just gave up and followed their lead.


    When the hug ended, I no desire to say anything. Neither did they. So, I led them over to the warehouse where the Probes had been storing the rations every morning. I grabbed a pull cart that had been put together by a builder and filled it with dozens of ration pouches. We brought them back to the camp the Aldecaldos had already started setting up and handed them out.


    I should mention that the rations weren''t "rations". They were stasis locked meals, preserved at the peak moment of their preparation. As these were labeled "High Quality" they were pretty damned good meals. However, they weren''t labeled as to what meal was inside the pouch, so you got what you got. Today I ended up with a gravy coated country fried steak served with scrambled eggs and crispy bacon. A cup of rich dark roast coffee was also in the pouch. This was the type dimensional bullshit I could get behind. That meal was a jackpot as far as I was concerned. Sally ended up having a prime rib with some fancy wine sauce, steamed vegetables and a couple of rolls slathered in honey butter. Her drink was a glass of red wine. A little too heavy for breakfast but it all looked tasty anyway. Megan''s meal was a whole 14'' pizza with all the meats and some of the veggies and a side of buffalo wings. She''d gotten a tall glass of soda. That also looked great. I smirked when I saw them trade meals. They took bite of each others and even grabbed a few bites of mine as well. This was perhaps the only time in my life that I didn''t mind someone stealing my food.


    While we where eating, I explained what I''d done with the Pylons. They seemed to actually listen and liked the idea of being able to work right under someone''s nose while they had no clue, what was going on.


    "Any plans to make a mobile version?" Sally probably wanted that for her truck.


    "Sure, some of the Khalai tech already has that feature, I just have to figure out how to adapt it." I nodded and explained how I was trying to get it down to something you could strap on your belt. Then I went into how I had used Megan''s idea of tunneling and founded Project Underbridge. The rest of the plan to have hidden wells and reservoirs really excited them.


    "If you never achieve anything else, that alone would change the power dynamic in the badlands. We''d always be able to get away and be able to hide in the most remote areas." Megan was already plotting how best to take advantage of all the technological advantages that I offered.


    After we were finished eating, I walked over to Amanda who was leaning in while talking with Raynor. Hmm. They seemed to be hitting it off. Interesting. I asked Amanda if she could formally agree to an Alliance between New Lordaeron and all the Aldecaldos. She said she would needed to call up a couple of folks and get their opinions but if they agreed we could work something out. I nodded. It would be a quick solution to one of my new quests.


    In the meantime, I''d decided to show Sally and Megan around while telling them my full story.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    I took them to the Moon Well where I''d first appeared. Why was I going to tell them the truth? Because there was no way for us to go forward without them knowing about my past.


    "This is the place I came into your World." Then I had to spent a few hours trying to explain every detail I could remember about my version of Earth.


    "So you came from a version of our World that was going through the year 2024. There was no Corpo War, no Johnny Silverhand, no nukes going off." Sally stared at me almost blankly, while trying to wrap her mind around my tale. Some of my descriptions of the firearms of my world made her snort is derision.


    "Cyberware was still in it''s infancy, there was no widespread direct neural linking to the Net. Companies still basically run everything but it''s all behind the scenes, instead of out in the open." Megan looked horrified at the thought of no netrunning. The methodologies of hacking in my world must have seemed quite primitive to her.


    "That about sums it up." I nodded. I hoped they could take it all in without it causing problems between us.


    Then I led them on the same path that I''d taken when I started exploring. Was that really only a month ago? No, not even that yet. Damn. when we arrived at his island, I introduced them to Meadran.


    "Ah what lovely young flowers you have brought. Every bit as glorious as the Dryads that danced in the Woodlands of my homeland. I am Meadran, serving as the Tree of Life for this small community. I wish you a pleasant stay while you are here." Even while holding back his vice as to not startle the ladies, this tree had more game than I did. Sad. The ladies chatted with the smooth talking tree for a while, mostly pleasant chit-chat. When they were done I took them past the company store heading toward the Nexus. I  briefly explained it''s functions. Which led to me sharing a few of my thoughts on the Company itself.


    "These interdimensional beings, basically kidnapped you, right before you died. Dropped you here with no explanation, and still expect you to fulfill tasks to earn their "money" so you can buy what you need to "save" the world. Which is the overarching task they seem to want you to accomplish?" Sally was a little angry. It was easy to recognize how I was being exploited, when it was summed like that.


    "That''s an accurate summation, yes." I nodded, trying not to grind my teeth in frustration.


    "What are you going to do about it? Anything? You don''t owe anyone here. You have no skin in this game." Megan was shaking her head, probably trying to calculate what the real goal of the Company was.


    "Had." I interjected. Surprisingly, that caught them both off-guard.


    "Had?" She squinched her face up. I found her confusion adorable.


    "I had no skin in this game. Now, I have you and Sally. That''s all the skin I need to try to improve things for this world. What kind of man would I be, if I didn''t try to make the lives of those I care about better." I got a pair of lovely smiles for that. Okay, maybe I could be charming too. Every once in a great while.


    We continued on to the Nexus, where they got to meet Alina. The AI explained  more about the Khalai, and where my awesome technology had come from. It took them both more than a few minutes to be anywhere near comfortable with the idea that I had an unshackled AI working for me. Given the history this world had with Artificial Intelligences, I got it. Hell, some days I wasn''t too keen on the idea myself. The Robo-Buddies helped a lot with those fears though.


    As the topics for discussion expanded, I tried to not bore them with all of my crazy ideas and visions of future projects. I showed them how the Forges worked and the functions of the Cybernetics Core. Then I introduced them to some of the Sentries roaming around, they were shocked at how alive the Khalai robots seemed. Then I further blew their minds by letting them interact with some of the Wisp Infused Probes. Most of whom were happy silly little guys.


    We headed back to the Town Hall while I told them about my impressions from the first time I ended up walking through the Badlands and how I''d met Greg.


    "He got the better of you, but not too bad. You had no way of knowing how much wood was worth." I loved how Sally got slightly upset on my behalf. I explained how I got my Galena. Then the first trip to NC and the experience with the terrible not pizza, and rounding things out with my time at Lizzie''s. How they treated me as a Bennie. Everything that happened with Sinnamin. My first meeting with Misty and Vik.


    "Viktor Vektor is one of the best out there. He''s still whispered about in quiet corners of the city." Megan seemed to know of him. "He''s a legend in his own right. We''d been thinking of finding him to try and get some chrome work done."


    "So, about this Misty." Sally asked in a deceptively cheerful tone, I knew that tone.


    "She''s great, reminds me of my sister a little." Let''s try to head that off, by making making Misty into a substitute for the Sister I''d lost. I got the "I know what you just did, but I''ll let you get a way with it" stare for my efforts.


    I moved the story on to my clumsy attempts at hunting Maelstrom. The bloody horrors of the Scavs'' den and how badly that messed me up. What my mind struggled with about getting chipped. How odd it had made me feel. Then we got to the first time I met Sally, on my way back to the Valley.


    I skipped over our shared events to where I was running from Arasaka and what happened after that. The sacrifice of Scuff and Fix, Chuck and Barry. My breath caught a bit at thatpart of the tale. We''d found a place to sit and relax, over by the corn farm. "So I walked back to the Sunset Motel. Headed back into NC to try to setup the other outpost. Then the Mox had put out the word for folks to get me over to Lizzie''s. I''d figured it could wait."


    Biting through my syllables, I told them what happened to Sinnamin, and my frankly bewildering response. I got more hugs. Which I appreciated but didn''t help as much as I thought they would. "I still don''t understand why it got to me so much. I barely knew her. But it was all so sad, so wrong. A broken life that, maybe, I could have helped. Part of me thinks I should just flatten the City once I''ve enough power. Rebuild it afterwards, and try to make something better out of the rubble." I shook my head.


    "I know it wouldn''t help much. The Corpos are the biggest problem with how they twist everything into a commodity. The way they''d destroy resources, rather than let the people have them for even an ennie cheaper. Until you have a solution to all of them, you can''t change anything for long." Megan had cut to the heart of the problem.


    "I have an answer to that problem, right here. I''ll fill the world with clean water, and wholesome food. Charge folks little to nothing for access. I''ll eventually be able to out resource the Corps, but I''ll also need to be able to out fight them. Because as you pointed out, they''ll do anything to keep their control." I turned my gaze back towards the City. They knew the rest of the story about what I''d been working on since I got back here.


    "I hope none of this changes anything between us." I ended story time there. My voice was starting to get a little raspy, and I was just plain talked out. My eyes took in their looks at each other, and my brain knew that whole conversations were passed between them. Not that I could get anything out of those looks myself.


    Then I was being held, both forcefully and gently. Soon after but before I could comprehend what was going on, I was being kissed. Megan quickly mounted my lap, facing me. She held my face and applied soft but firm pressure to my lips with hers. My thoughts froze up for a second. Then her tongue slowly worked it''s way into my mouth. I was confused for a minute until my thoughts had caught up, right this was normal. Very warm and pleasant. I tried to mirror her movements, becoming more adept and eager with every passing second. Just as I was about to take the initiative, she broke off the contact and Sally pulled my face firmly to the side.


    Sally smashed her mouth into mine, allowing no time for adjustment. Oh. That was amazing. Sally was a fierce and demanding kisser. She wanted everything all at once and kept pushing for more of it. I felt like this was a battle and I''d better get with the program. I went on the attack trapping her tongue and pushing it around, making my own demands of her. I pulled back and nipped at her lips gently. Causing her to let out a giggle.


    Our make out session continued and it was as if time had slowed down. Everything had a slow building tension as we took turns exploring each others mouths. Our tongues were dancing, playing and searching for the next interesting reaction. Honestly, I''d never known that simple kissing could be so... exciting.


    It might even had led to other more interesting things, but we slowed down to soft caresses and more measured kisses, and then we stopped. It was extremely painful to do so as my excitement had reached near critical levels. Regrowth was no help at all, my biology was difficult to deny. Though when I cast it on them the ladies they both began to explode in ecstasy. Their cries made my problem worsen, soon the pain was almost blinding.


    It was a long few minutes until I could calm down. Well, I''d gotten my answer. I thought it was a good one.


    Eventually, after a quick Cleanse, we made our way over to where dinner was being served. Our faces were still flushed and we desperately wanted more.