《The Brink and Back - Tinker of Fiction》


 Chapter One

    I didn''t miss my old life.


    My old life was crap, honestly. A dead-end job with no respect. Barely making ends meet no matter how much overtime and second gigs I took. I had no time for friends and no energy to enjoy what little free time I had. I was stuck in a life that was becoming all too common for people my age. My only claim to success was that I had seen college for the scam that it was, and so I didn''t have any college debt. I was still working the same jobs as everyone else who had gone to college, getting screwed out of my money just like them. I just didn''t have a guillotine hanging over my head.


    My old life sucked. Still, as much as I didn''t miss it, I would have been tempted to go back to it if it had been an option.


    I mean, don''t get me wrong, I fantasized about adventure and power as much as the next guy¡­ but actually getting my wish? Getting sent to a world that was a psychopath''s wet dream? Not exactly a happy moment.


    A streak of movement caught my eye, and I watched as the noon Metrorail streaked past my window, surprisingly quiet despite being so close. I could still hear and feel it, but it wasn''t nearly as loud as I would have thought.


    When the yellow streak was gone, I turned back to my apartment, focusing on the blue crystal I was fiddling with. It was surprisingly hefty for something the size of my thumb and gave off a faint blue glow. I knew in this state, it was harmless, even if it was warm to the touch. I closed my eyes for a moment, leaning back on the low couch, feeling the small, warm stone in my hand.


    I didn''t miss my old life, but this one was much more dangerous. It made me wish for something more boring, less lethal. The nine-to-five grind might have been brutal, but at least people pretended to not want me dead.


    Two days ago, I woke up in a bed I didn''t recognize but was somehow still familiar with. I could feel the knowledge of my new world, just enough information that I wouldn''t be bumbling around like an idiot, separate from my own memories. I knew I would have them because I was told I would get them by a bunch of unspeakable eldritch entities. The less said about them, the better.


    I had died, and they had offered me a new life, one where I would have access to great power. I, being the idiot I was, agreed without much thought. Who doesn''t want great power and a new chance at life, right?


    I realized how dumb I had been when they finished upgrading my intelligence, stuffing some basic info about an alternate Earth, and linking my brain to a multi-universal databank. I wasn''t an idiot before, well, not really, but I definitely wasn''t this smart either. It made realizing how dangerous this world really was a lot easier.


    See, I knew this world. Not too well, but well enough to recognize it. I looked out my window again. I could see buildings, the street below, the Metrorail, and to the right, the corner of an overpass. Further away, I could see two towering buildings that I knew looked very similar to the one I was in. Megabuilding H3 and H4. Which put me at Wellsprings 708, Megabuilding H2.


    I was in Cyberpunk 2077.


    Well, Cyberpunk 2077 and three quarters. It was June, after all, which was important because the Arasaka heist that V and Jackie orchestrated was in April, and while I didn''t know what happened in the DLC, or even the later three-fifths of the game, I did know Vik gave V a month to live, so several months meant they were definitely¡­ well I didn''t actually know how it ended, but it was way past the point that I could help.


    See, I played Cyberpunk shortly after it came out. It was buggy, broken, and fell far short of what the company had promised, so I stopped playing it. Then, over time, they fixed the game. When Edgerunners came out, and when Phantom Liberty was released, everyone said it was fixed and that it was great. So, I tried to play it again, only to find out that a significant portion of the game''s systems had been radically changed. The leveling, perks, cyberware, and more had been completely redone, leaving me feeling lost. I decided that I would have to restart to get a better feel for the systems and so I could appreciate it properly. But for some reason, I just never got around to it.


    Looks like I''m getting around to it now.


    I was stuck in a morally broken, murder-happy world where self-mutilation was the cool, hip thing to do. It was only one or two steps away from fucking Borderlands, for fucks sake!


    I mean, don''t get me wrong, as a videogame concept, chopping off your weak bits and replacing them with cool, shiny chrome is kinda cool. In real life, though? Not so much. No fucking way am I letting some random ripperdoc get even remotely close to me. I knew I could trust Vik not to screw me over or anything, but the idea of implanting something inside me that someone else could hack? That is so unacceptable it makes my skin crawl just thinking about it.


    And let''s not forget about the constant worry of Cyberpsychosis floating around. Cutting off perfectly good parts of your body and slamming on robot bits of questionable quality could not be good for your mental health. Mix in the very real possibility that the corporations that ran the planet were perfectly willing to do just about anything for profit, including release stuff that fucked with your head, maybe even drove you crazy...?


    Safe to say, I was staying organic until I could either make my own cyberware or equivalent. Stuff I know is safe and unhackable. Truth be told, I had always been a bit iffy about limb/flesh replacements, even before they became a very real option in my life. The Adeptus Mechanicus always gave me the heebie-jeebies, too. I think, personally, I was more about enhancement than replacement. Just my luck that I get shoved into a world with a hard-on for replacement.


    Luckily, the beings that put me here didn''t stuff me with a neural link or cybereyes, which the in-world info that was downloaded into my brain knew damn near everyone had. Hell, I knew that if I left my apartment, I would need to carry a special device as sort of a security pass, or basically nothing would work for me.


    I tossed the blue crystal into the air and caught it, my eyes going wide when what I had just done reached the conscious part of my brain. I very carefully leaned forward and placed the crystal on the coffee table, next to the device that made it, which was already busy making a second one.


    I listened to the machine hum and vibrate for a moment before leaning back on the couch, sans crystal to fiddle with. I had spent the entire previous day making the device, and the day before dragging in deliveries of parts and materials. So far, the only good part about being in the Cyberpunk world was skipping the first part of being a tinker, making your first tools. I would certainly end up using those tools to make more, better tools, but at least I was able to skip the first part.


    Plus, no dumpster diving for parts was nice, too. Not that that might not end up happening anyway.


    Of course, I wasn''t really a tinker, at least not like a tinker from Worm. I was a Tinker of Fiction, and the vast majority of what I could make was reproducible, solid, not black-boxed tech. The only exception to that was certain exotic materials that cropped up in some realities.


    You see, across the multiverse, which I now knew was much more than a fanciful theory, different realities had unique materials. Those materials were often at the core of most, if not all, of that reality''s most high-tech toys. Most of the tech from Mass Effect wouldn''t work without Element Zero, and plenty of Star Wars tech wouldn''t function without several exotic gasses, metals, and fuel sources.


    So, according to the entities, I would basically tinker up a way to make those materials. Even materials that were supposedly impossible to synthesize, like the small, thumb-sized chunk of Elerium, Element 115 from XCOM, that was sitting on my table. I couldn''t really explain exactly how the microwave-sized crystallization device on my coffee table worked, but it did. Even better, if anyone tried to repeat my process, it would fail, potentially catastrophically. But that was only a fraction of what the Tinker of Fiction was.


    Basically, my brain was attached to a massive database. Every week, or two weeks if I held onto the specialization hard enough, I would "roll" for a new branch of tech. My current branch, as far as I could tell, was the human side of the XCOM, an amalgamation of the two modern XCOM games. The Elerium generator, which turned about four hundred dolla- eddies of chemicals and solvents, as well as a small, pin-head-sized industrial diamond, into Elerium crystals, was black-boxed. That meant that only I would be able to build a function version. Everything else beyond the specific material generators would be perfectly possible to reproduce.


    The database itself was hard to describe. The best metaphor I could make was sort of like fog of war for an RTS game like Starcraft but in a slightly different order. At first, the map is completely black. I could push that black fog back by mentally exploring the tech tree, starting from my "base," the lowest levels of the tech tree, and working my way up. All I was doing, however, was revealing what I could build and a vague outline of its construction. Once I actually started to really focus on it by building the item, it was like placing a unit down into the grey fog. The details of that tech started to reveal themselves, and the further I went on the project, the more details I got. The exposed area wasn''t just for that specific creation either. I was learning how it worked, which meant that once I re-rolled to a new branch, I would remember all of that information.


    Technically, I could skip ahead in the tech tree and attempt to start building plasma weapons, but just from what I could see on the surface, through the grey fog, I knew I wouldn''t get very far before I stalled out. It was too advanced, to the point that I didn''t even understand the basic info I got through the "grey fog." I would need to work my way up to the higher branches of the tech tree.


    Later, when I had a few trees under my belt, I would probably be able to skip ahead pretty far and immediately start working on more advanced things. Over time I would probably become the most powerful inventor on the planet, with knowledge from dozens of realities working together to produce advanced technology.


    But that was far, far down the line, after I had time to learn and build myself up. Until then, I needed to survive first, and I needed resources. The body I had dropped into, which the entities had insisted wasn''t a real person that I was taking over, had a surprisingly good chunk of eddies saved up. They would last for a bit, but not nearly as long as I would like. Which meant I would need to engage in the world at large. Even worse, my purchases would eventually get someone''s attention.


    This world had the same level of privacy as a public bathroom made of glass, which is to say, absolutely fucking none. I knew for a fact that any one of the several companies that held sway in Night City would have no issues swiping me up and "hiring me" to make tech for them. Sure, some of them would offer cash first, but if I said no¡­? Well, then, all bets were off. Most of them would kill me outright if it came down to it, just to keep me out of competitors'' hands.


    God, this world was fucked. It was like looking in a funhouse mirror version of my old world, where everything that was bad, corrupt, and broken became the new norm. Companies ran this city and the world at large, and their greed was consistent enough that you could set your watch to it. If I got on someone''s radar before I was ready, my best chance would be to swallow my pride and hope I found an opportunity to escape later.


    I couldn''t even calm down and veg out by watching TV, because it was all shit! I don''t know what the hell happened to this Earth, but their TV was like watching the most erratic and random TikTok video ever made, except it just kept going and going for a full TV episode. I hadn''t had a chance to watch any movies yet, but I wasn''t exactly confident they would be any better.


    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    A muffled ping echoed through the apartment, startling me from my downward spiral. I took a deep breath and stood slowly, leaving the Elerium generator going but grabbing the already completed shard. I walked out of the sitting area, over to the door that led to the small side room, tapping the controls to open it, stepping into the only enclosed room in the small apartment.


    In the game, V had turned this smaller room into an armory, but mine was a small workshop. There was a 3D printer tucked into the corner, a fabricator along the back wall, two tool chests, and a host of other tools, as well as a computer that was networked with the fabricator and 3D printer. There were even some basic supplies in various containers and drawers. All of it had been in the apartment when I first woke up here, and the fabricator and 3D printer had been essentially working nonstop since then.


    Or at least they had been after I confirmed that they were not connected to any extra networks or the internet. Apparently, the entities responsible for my new life shared my paranoia because none of the equipment or tools had any logos, markings, or internet access. All of it was at the normal Cyberpunk level, but none of it seemed to be made here. As far as I could tell, they were snapped into existence the same way I was.


    A quick inspection showed that both the fabricator and the 3D printer had completed their last jobs for my next project. I carefully extracted the chunks of metal from the fabricator and heavy-duty polymer pieces from the printer, carrying them to the workstation. There, separated and organized, were several dozen other parts, ready to be assembled. I grabbed a bag of screws, connectors, a soldering iron, and a pile of other parts before getting to work, sitting on the low stool and hunching over the table.


    At this point, after spending so much time building the pieces and prepping the other parts, I knew this project pretty well, and I had learned quite a bit about how the laser weapons from XCOM worked. At least the human-made versions. The primary outstanding component was the power generation, which used Elerium. Essentially, the mysterious blue crystal released more energy than it took in, so charging it with a slight burst of radiation resulted in a substantial energy release. That''s why it glowed. The radiation from the visible spectrum caused it to release more energy than it was absorbing. The XCOM specialists had a few theories on how the crystal managed to do that, but it seemed far beyond what I had learned so far.


    Thankfully, I didn''t need to understand it to use it.


    I grabbed the Elerium crystal and a small cutting tool, using it to slowly flatten the edges of the crystal, making sure to capture as much of the dust as possible since I knew it would be useful soon. When I had cut the crystal to the perfect size, I set it aside and started to assemble the rest of the parts. It took about an hour and a half to finally put it together, including sliding the small, shaved-down piece of Elerium into the energy pack. It slid in against a small X-ray emitter, which I was very glad existed in this world because building my own would have been an incredible pain in the ass.


    Even better, it was smaller than the one the XCOM plans fed my brain.


    I finally screwed in the last part before turning over the new laser pistol in my hand. It looked extremely similar to the laser pistol from the first modern XCOM, but a bit slimmer since I was using a variety of parts that were technically more advanced than the XCOM reality. After a final test to make sure everything worked and I hadn''t just made a fancy, shiny bomb, I flicked on the activator switch. The pistol hummed, and the transparent aluminum glass tube that functioned as the barrel gave off a deep red glow, lighting up the room like a glowstick. I knew I would cover those up with east sinks, both to increase the fire rate and block the light from giving away my position, but I couldn''t deny it looked cool.


    Even better, I could feel my understanding of its construction, the ins and outs of how everything about it worked, solidifying in my brain. It wasn''t anything too advanced, mostly just a bit of material science, a chunk of knowledge about radiation, and some details about energy direction. The extent of XCOM know-how was the process of using X-Rays to stimulate the Elerium into releasing enough energy to fire a laser blast, but it was still something. It was an anchor to further knowledge, and with any luck, I would be able to push that even further over the next week and four days.


    For now, it was time to work on the next step.


    With my pistol completed and, more importantly, with the Elerium generator now working, it was time to get to work on the next big project, the second stage of material generation for the XCOM human tech tree.


    Alien Alloy.


    An alloy of several elements, three of which didn''t exist on Earth, anything more advanced than the general level of my new sidearm would require the durable, multipurpose alloy. Even just the next step up from the pistol, the laser rifle, would require the alloy in order to redirect the considerable increase in energy output. I would need to set up another black-boxed generator, this time an alloy smelter, to produce what I needed.


    Putting my pistol down on my workstation, I turned on my stool to face my computer. My Cyberpunk CAD program was already open when I activated the desktop, and the final designs for my pistol were on display. I quickly saved the blueprint to a palm-sized external hard drive, so I could grab it and run if necessary, before clearing it out completely from my computer. I then started a new file, quickly labeling it as the "Alien Alloy Smelter" before going to town.


    The plans for the device, a tower about a foot wide, a foot deep, and four feet tall, was already clear in my head. I had spent the last hour contemplating it, resizing it a few times to better fit my workshop. It wouldn''t be able to produce a ton of alloy, but since I was only producing stuff for myself, I really didn''t need that much. Plus, the Elerium generation would be a solid bottleneck anyway. If there was anything I needed to scale up, it was that.


    It took me about thirty minutes to fully plan out the metal skeleton of the device, then another twenty to work up plans for the ceramic plates that would line the inside of the smelter, as well as the receptacle for the finished molten alloy. When I was done, I selected the first part, stood up from the chair, and fed the fabricator a plate of metal. I quickly sealed the metal inside before activating the fabricator, watching through the see-through barrier as it got to work, cutting and trimming the plate.


    When the fabricator was all set, I got to work on the forge internals, preparing the heating element, testing the thermometers for the smelter internals, as well as several other bits and pieces. If this were a general-purpose smelter, I would include nobs to adjust things, like the heat and maybe a timer, but as it was only going to be an Alien Alloy generator, there was no real reason to. A small programmable chip would control everything, and there would only need to be one setting.


    The next few hours were spent browsing the internet for more materials, mostly parts and metal stock, ordering a batch for future projects since I already had everything I would need for the smelter. Occasionally, once every ten to fifteen minutes, I would need to pull out something from the fabricator or 3D printer, but that was it. After I had spent another three thousand eddies, my shrinking "savings" taking another hard hit, the fabricator finally got to one of the more intricate pieces, which would take a lot more time. Plenty of time to go and get something to eat.


    With a groan, I stood up from my stool and stretched, my back cracking as I did. While I had plenty of what qualified as food for this world in the fridge, I knew that sitting inside for such a long time was going to start affecting my sanity eventually.


    I grabbed the laser pistol I had just finished making, looking at it for a moment before shaking my head and deciding that, as much as I would like the extra firepower, I couldn''t just show off my tech randomly. Instead, I walked out of my workshop and headed to the door, grabbing my belt holster off of the hanger. I pulled it around my hips before grabbing my Unity pistol, which came with my new apartment and life, and slid it to the hoster.


    Suitably armed, I grabbed the little keyfob that acted as my stand-in for the basic neural link and stuffed it into my pocket. Then I stood in front of my door, just staring at it. After a few seconds, I let out a long sigh. Honestly, the fact that I was hesitating so much was concerning but expected. This world was so incredibly different from the one that I knew, and my only exposure to it was a hyper-violent video game.


    "It''s just down and out the front of the building, Jackson," I mumbled to myself. "There is always a police team down there. No one is going to try anything."


    I let out another long breath before finally tapping the controls for the door, which slid open. I could feel my keyfob vibrate as it recognized I had left my apartment, the door sliding behind me as I stepped out, finally leaving my apartment for the first time in a few days.


    I let out the breath I was holding, looking around the familiar space around me. As far as I could tell, every megabuilding''s general shape was the same, which meant that between the extra memories I got from the eldritch horrors that sent me here and the hundreds of times I ran from V''s apartment down to the first floor, I knew my way around alright.


    I walked forward, ignoring my neighbors as I leaned on the concrete railing that ran along the inside of the megabuilding. I looked up and down, taking in the sights of my new home. Surprisingly, it wasn''t as terrible as I had expected. Still not good, but I suppose the fact that this massive arcology was built in a slightly better area than the one V lived in counted for something Though, if I''m honest, that might be subjective, I''ve never really liked boxed in areas with towering building surrounding them.


    I pushed off the railing and made my way down to the floor below, weaving in between people as I cut a path to the nearest elevator. I could already smell several vendors around as I worked my way through, but I ignored them. As bleak and broken as the environment was on this planet, I wanted to see the sky. It hardly counted as getting out of the house if I don''t really leave the building anyway, right?


    Besides, I knew there was a noodle vendor out by the front entrance who seemed to put actual value in keeping his small shop clean. It was far from perfect, but I knew these days that beggars can''t be choosers.


    When I finally stepped out of the massive building, I had to shield my eyes for a moment as they adjusted to the bright, shining day. It was hot, but not horrifically, so I made my way down the steps of the entrance. The plaza was populated but had far fewer people than I had expected. I noted a cop standing by a large mechanical monstrosity, which I was pretty sure was called a Minitaur, off to the side. Focusing on my goal, I kept walking, going down two sets of stairs, until I reached a well-kept, mostly clean noodle shop. I sat down on one of the chairs and ordered a simple bowl of noodles with synth-beef, swiping my keyfob to pay for the food.


    "Aye, I recognize that. That''s one of those ''ganic chips. Never actually seen one before," Someone said from behind me, causing me to tense up.


    "Uh¡­ yeah¡­ My parents were one of those religious nuts you hear about," I explained, something poking at the back of my mind. That voice sounded so familiar.


    "For real? That''s loco, man," The nosy man said. "Never thought I''d meet someone with so little chrome."


    "Yeah, well, congrats, I-" I finally looked over at the man who had sat down at the vendor just as I did, and my brain locked up.


    There, sitting two seats away, was Jackie Welles in all his glory, months after he should have been dead.

 Chapter Two

    I was silent for a long moment, staring at Jackie, my brain trying to spin up and figure out what was going on. I was silent long enough for the large, muscular man to notice. He turned to look at me, raising his eyebrow.


    "Something wrong?" He asked, looking down at his shirt. "Didn''t make a mess, did I? I got a date later, going back home to change would be a pain."


    "N-No, sorry. You¡­ just remind me of someone," I finally said, shaking my head. "Sorry."


    "No harm amigo, must have been a handsome friend," He said with a laugh before slurping up another string of noodles.


    I shrugged and continued to eat, doing my best to seem casual, looking over at the rather built man again.


    "Names Jackson," I volunteered, reaching over to shake his hand.


    "Huh, how about that, mines Jackie," He said, reaching over and taking my hand after wiping it off on his pants. "Good to meet you."


    "You live around here?" I asked after a moment, flicking my chopsticks at the Megabuilding. "I''m new to the building so¡­"


    "Not here, but I live around in Valentinos territory. Moved back in with Mama. She likes having me around," He answered with a shrug. "Saves on rent, and you can''t beat home cooking."


    "Yeah¡­ not much better than that¡­" I said, a memory of my old life flashing in my mind for a moment. "You a member? Of the Valentinos."


    "Used to be, left to keep Mama happy when I got hurt. Still close with Padre, though," He responded with a shrug. "What about you? Got any connections?"


    "No. I''m new to Night City," I admitted. "New to a lot of things. The family kept us pretty close¡­"


    "Right, right, crazy ''ganic family," He nodded, and for a moment, I felt bad for lying to him. "You looking for work? Lots of people come to Night City looking for a fresh start¡­ Doesn''t always work but¡­"


    "I¡­ I''m a techie," I explained with a shrug. "Build stuff mostly, inventor, innovator, stuff like that."


    "Really? A techie who isn''t chipped out? Pull the other one. It''s got bells," He said with a chuckle, looking over to see that I was serious. "For real? Well, maybe you can help me then. Mama Welles has been pushing me to get some subdermal, but my lady doesn''t like the way it feels. Gotta keep the output happy, ya know? You got any recommendations?"


    "Body armor," I respond easily. "Cheaper, no recovery time, replaceable. Just gotta remember to put it on. In fact¡­"


    For a moment, I focused back on the XCOM tech tree, feeling my mind searching for a moment before eventually finding what I was looking for. I focused on the idea, making sure that it was possible with what I had access to.


    "I''ve had an idea bouncing around for a new type of protective vest. Something you can wear under your clothes but should still protect you," I explained. "I can build it just fine¡­ but I don''t have a way to test it."


    "Are you suggesting I wear it while getting shot?" He asked, his expression all but openly questioning my intelligence.


    "What? No, I just don''t have any guns, and I don''t really have a place to shoot it," I explained, not mentioning that I was scared to go somewhere I could shoot it by myself. "All I have is my Unity."


    "Right, okay. What''s in it for me?" He asked, his noodles momentarily forgotten. "I appreciate helping your fellow man as much as the next guy, but bullets ain''t cheap choom."


    "Yeah, sure. If the vest works, I''ll sell you one at a discount," I said, thinking for a moment before adding. "If it doesn''t, I''ll pay you a couple thousand eddies for your time. Say two?"


    I was pretty confident in the armor I had in mind, but everything I knew about it was measured in terms of the XCOM metrics. I would need to test it on the local scale to really be sure. Plus¡­ I wanted to know what was going on with Jackie still being alive, and the best way to do that was to spend some time with him.


    "...Alright, I''m starting to see the benefit," He said, nodding with a smile. "What kind of firepower you lookin to throw at your stuff? I can get my hands on some higher calibers, but I''m only a solo, can''t magic up anything miraculous."


    "Just the kind of things you''re worried about running into," I explained. "You''re the expert there."


    "I can do that. You need a fireline, too, something out of the way¡­ How do you feel about the badlands? Should be a quiet spot somewhere under the wind farms."


    "Uh¡­ you think it''s safe?"


    "Should be, but no guarantees around Night City," He pointed out. "Don''t worry, I''ll get you back safe and sound. When should we do this?"


    "Not tomorrow, but the day after, Sunday afternoon?" I suggested. "I need some time to put everything together."


    "Alright, done deal choom. I gotta say, I got a good feeling about you, did the moment I sat down," He said with a laugh. "Glad to see my instincts are still top-notch."


    I chuckled and nodded along, taking another bite of noodles. We talked for a few more minutes, mostly about what was going on in the neighborhood and what sort of places were good to go for, like food and shopping. He had plenty of good things to say about Coyote Cojo, the bar his mom owned. I promised I''d consider going, but personally, I was wary of going anywhere so blatantly owned by one gang. The Valentinos might be a gang that focused on honor, loyalty, and family, but they were still a gang.


    Eventually, my keyfob vibrated, an alarm going off that my latest piece on my fabricator was complete. I quickly finished my noodles, which by now had gone cold.


    "Sorry, Jackie, but I gotta go. Got a project going that I need to get back to," I explained, reaching out to shake the larger man''s hand again. "I''ll see you on Sunday. Just knock on my door."


    "''Bout time for me to get going anyway," He admitted, standing with me. "Need to get going if I''m gonna pick up my girl. Good luck with your work."


    I nodded and headed back to the entrance of the Megabuilding, climbing into the elevator, my mind already spooling up. I had no idea how he was still alive, and seemingly no worse for wear. It was possible that V and Jackie didn''t get involved with the Arasaka job, but even that seemed unlikely. At the beginning of the game, the montage of V and Jackie working together made them seem thick as thieves, the kind of partners who did everything together, so I couldn''t imagine he wouldn''t mention getting some protection for them as well, which made me think that they weren''t partners at all. Unfortunately, I didn''t have nearly enough information to draw any conclusion beyond now knowing that this reality was not the canon reality.


    Like I needed any more excuses to be paranoid.


    I shook my head and did my best to put aside the new mystery because, without more info, I wouldn''t make any progress cracking it. Besides, I had work to do, especially since I just set a deadline.


    I stepped back into my apartment, the door opening for me and shutting behind me. I made a beeline for my workshop, only stopping when I realized that the status light on the Elerium generator was blinking green. I walked around to the coffee table and cracked open the top of the crystalization chamber, using a pair of 3D-printed tongs to reach in, grab the new blue crystal, and gently replace the seed diamond inside. I topped up three of the chemical reservoirs before closing the lid and sealing the chamber, pressing a button to start the machine back up.


    I detoured to the bathroom to wash the crystal off before finally heading back into the workshop. The first thing I did was restock the fabricator before sitting down at the work table and spinning around. I let out a long breath, frowning as I watched the fabricator work away in the corner.


    The machine was incredible, blowing anything that the humans in XCOM out of the water. It did a hilarious number of different metalworking tasks almost completely by itself. It was a bit on the wasteful side, but the real problem was that it was still only one machine. I was on a time limit with this tree, and if I wanted to get to the few things worth knowing, I needed to escape this bottleneck. The problem was that even with several impressive things dotted around, the human branch of XCOM didn''t really offer any solutions.


    The XCOM program managed to push human tech, especially military tech, to a whole new level. The problem was that most of that advancement was due to integrating alien tech with human thinking. Even worse, most of the stuff they were making was handmade. Engineers would be given alien salvage, and they would strip it down of anything useful, refine anything that needed it, and then use it to make stuff almost completely by hand. Sure, there was some minor automation, but nothing really beyond the standard tech of the time, which would be around 2015 in my old world.


    The human XCOM branch had some shiny stuff, sure, but a lot of the other stuff useless, and almost all of the background tech was pointless. Hell, I wasn''t even sure how the mag weapons would stack up against the tech weapons here.


    The more I worked with it and the more I explored the options, the more I realized that there would only be a few things genuinely useful from the human tech tree. Everything else could be beaten by the standard Cyberpunk tech.


    "Which means I need more Cyberpunk tech," I muttered to myself, shaking my head. "More fabricators, more printers."


    I turned back to the computer and pulled up a calendar app. I marked the day I could switch, which was four days away, then I marked the day I had to switch, which was four days, one week away. I marked the testing meeting with Jackie. Then I leaned back. After a few seconds, I added ''Alloy smelter'' on Friday, today, and ''Nanoscale vest'', then ''Plated vest'' on Saturday.


    Alien Alloy, as you might expect, was a strange substance, so learning how to work with it was paramount. I had always planned on working on the two vests, both to familiarise myself with the material and to make some protection for myself, but making a bit of dough off the top wasn''t a bad thing either.


    My quickly dwindling funds were another problem that I needed to solve.


    I shook my head and focused on the calendar before closing my eyes and looking back on what sort of options I had in the tech tree. Psionics was obviously something I wanted to investigate for no other reason than to keep it as an option. I couldn''t think of many universes where making psychics was as easy as locking people in a room for a few days. Unfortunately, I barely even had to focus on the tech used to unlock psionics for a second before seeing that it was far beyond me.


    There were several things I needed to build before I could tackle that, not to mention the resources and time.


    I started filling out the calendar, trying to find a way to make as many of the interesting parts of the tree as possible. It wasn''t just about solidifying the tech for future work, but also about the knowledge I gained for each finished project. I learned quite a bit about energy transference from constructing the pistol, enough that building the laser rifle seemed well worth it. I also wanted to tap into the mag rifle tech, if nothing more than to understand it for future improvement. Then, between what I would learn from the mag rifles and the laser weapons, I was hoping I would be able to tackle plasma weapons.


    I was also interested in the higher-level armors, like the Warden and E.X.O Suit. I''m not sure how difficult getting to them might be, but using them as a platform to understand and build the W.A.R. suit would be a decent end-of-rotation project if psionics continued to be an unreachable goal.


    I would have to explore the options more later. It had been a while since I had played any of the XCOM games, so I''m sure there were more than a few hidden gems tucked away in the corners of the tree. For now, I needed to focus on getting my Alien Alloy production up and running. Which, unfortunately, for now, relied on me waiting for parts to finish.


    About an hour and a half later, mainly spent working on blueprinting on the CAD program and feeding metal and ceramic stock to the fabricator, I could start putting everything together, starting from the ground up. The smelter was a lot more robust than the Elerium generator, with layers of heatproof insulation, ceramic tiling, and several cooling and heating elements, as well as agitators and several ingredient distributors that would mix in chemicals and several other ingredients at specific times. If I had been dropped in a less advanced time, I would have likely been doing this over a large furnace, timing and weighing ingredients by hand. Luckily, I could skip that step with a few dozen purchases online.


    Essentially, I was burning money to advance myself further and in less time. I wouldn''t be able to do that for long, but I was desperate to get my hands on better ways to protect myself.


    Putting the smelter together took four hours in total, during which I pulled out another small crystal of Elerium from the generator, which was good because the previous one went into the building of the smelter. When the smelter itself was complete, I filled up the compartments with several different materials and filled the primary crucible with several bars of titanium. The last thing I did was very carefully crush up the latest Elerium crystal, as well as the waste from the last few projects, into as fine a powder as I could, before adding it to the final distributor.


    Stolen story; please report.


    Now I knew that, in reality, there was no way that the aliens in the XCOM universe were using Elerium to make Alien Alloy. But then again, they weren''t using titanium as a base, either. This was all black-boxed, and tinker-magicked to the max, which was frustrating but understandable, considering I had no way of getting my hands on the real materials.


    I spent a minute or so double-checking everything, making sure the smelter was all set. The materials going into this batch cost about four hundred eddies in total, including the small portion of Elerium it would use, so fucking up wasn''t an option. After making sure everything was set, I finally activated the smelter. I could hear the heater kicking on, and after listening to it for a moment, I left the room. According to the plans I had in my head, the system should put off some heat, but not so much that the room''s climate control wouldn''t be able to keep up. Part of me doubted that was possible, but I decided to trust it for now.


    I made my way to my bed, sitting down at the edge. I set my alarm for three hours, which was when the next Elerium crystal would be done, and laid down to catch some sleep. I was out pretty quickly, though it hardly felt like any time had passed when my alarm woke me back up.


    For the rest of the night, into the next day, and all the way to Sunday morning, I slept and worked to the beat of my machines. I would wake up to change out the Elerium crystal, add more metal to the smelter, and give the 3D printer and foundry a new project. When I was done trying to sleep, I started feeding the fabricator Alien Alloy, which the smelter could produce in thick ingots or in thinner sheets. The lack of variety meant a lot more waste, but luckily, I could feed almost all of it right back into the smelter to recycle.


    I also spent a lot of time programming, repeating programs verbatim from the XCOM world, each one increasing my knowledge just a bit more. While I wasn''t ready to start dabbling in AI, the VI that the XCOM program had access to, like the Gremlins and Spark units, could really come in handy. It would take a few days of programming random stuff till I got to that point, but it was easy progress since I was essentially just rewriting the code on my computer.


    By the first hour of Sunday, about two pm, I had converted all of my ingredients into Alien Alloy and Elerium, though not much of it was left at that point. My first project was a nanoscale vest that followed the plans I had in my head exactly. Upon completion, I could feel a surprising amount of information about how the XCOM program worked with Alien Alloy put into my head, as well as how a lot of their protective vests worked. I could confirm that even without changing the overall design, my vest was better than the original simply because the bullet-resistant fabrics available blew past anything XCOM could get their hands on.


    When the first vest was done, I immediately converted it into a plated vest, which wasn''t quite as easy as just welding on some Alloy plates, but it also wasn''t far off that. As I finished it, I could feel the knowledge of more advanced armor techniques flowing into my brain as I finished, as well as more general knowledge of metalworking.


    With the designs solidified in my head, I completely disassembled the vest, rebuilding it from the ground up to cover more of my body. I have no idea why XCOM reserved the nanoscale part of the vest to just the chest area, but my version would cover my arms just above my elbow as well. I also made a pair of nanoscale undershorts, which covered down to my knees. I then added platting to the chest and crotch area.


    My final version was a mix of the scale and plate vests, designed to give maximum protection to vitals while still being as material-effective as possible. I used almost all of my Alloy to make three of these. One for me, one for Jackie should he want it, and one for testing. The test one would be melted down when we were done so that I could re-use the Alloy.


    While I spent a lot of my time putting together the vest, I was also using the 3D printer to work on a laser rifle. The original plans used a surprising amount of plastic in the design, and other than the Elerium charging chamber, the containment unit, the central barrel, and a few other small parts, the advanced polymers that the Cyberpunk era 3D printer was capable of using were more than sufficient. The end result felt more like a well-made nerf cannon than a powerful weapon, but what mattered was that it counted as completing the tech, and I got a whole dump of information about exotic energies, Elerium charging systems, and high-temperature materials.


    Once again, it was all derivative of alien tech, especially the Elerium and Alien Alloy, but it was still important information.


    When I finally called it a night, I set up the fabricator and 3D printer to run while I slept, giving them two of the larger, more complicated parts of the mag pistol. I crawled into bed, sleeping uninterrupted until the following morning. I was halfway through making the rest of the mag pistol parts when there was a knock on my door.


    "Jackie, hey. Good to see you," I said, greeting the mercenary with a handshake. "Let me just set up a few things, then we can go."


    I walked back into the apartment, and Jackie followed behind me. I stepped into my workshop and sat down at my computer.


    "Nice little setup you got," He commented, leaning against the doorframe as I tapped away on my computer.


    "Small is the problem," I said, shaking my head as I fed the fabricator a new plan, before feeding it a bar of Alien Alloy. "Bottlenecks suck."


    "Eh, don''t be too hard on yourself," Jackie said with a shrug. "Gotta walk before you run."


    "Don''t have the time to learn, unfortunately," I mumbled, mostly to myself.


    It took me a minute to strap on my gun and finish getting dressed. Thankfully, I was already wearing my copy of the armor. When we finally left, I was carrying the test copy, as well as the one for Jackie.


    As we left the apartment complex, Jackie led me to an older-looking car. My in-world knowledge told me it was a cheap model almost as old as I was, the kind that people kept updating to keep it usable. I put my bag in the back seat before climbing into the passenger seat.


    "So who did you borrow this from?" I asked as Jackie sat in the driver''s seat, starting the car started with a press of a button.


    "That obvious, huh?" He asked with a chuckle.


    "You strike me as a motorcycle kind of guy," I responded with a smirk.


    "Damn, good guess," He responded as we pulled away from the sidewalk. "A choom of mine owed me a couple favors, lent me the car and some iron. Should have plenty to test your vest."


    I nodded and looked out the window, watching as a few buildings. As we drove, I found myself switching between recognizing some patches and not having a clue where we were going. I was pretty sure the city itself was mostly like it was in the games, but I had a feeling that some areas, like the slums or certain apartment blocks, were significantly larger than they had been. It made sense, all things considered, but it also was just another thing on the growing list of differences between the game and my new life. I looked over at Jackie, another thing on that list, shaking my head.


    "So, how did your date go?" I asked, the muscular solo smiling at the question.


    "It was preem. Misty always knows how to make me slow down and relax," He responded. "She is one of those mystic types, all about the soul or chakras. I try to understand, but it honestly just all goes over my head."


    "I know the type," I admit. "I don''t like the idea of living my life on the terms of spiritualism or what my sign is, but there is something to some of those beliefs. The hard part is seeing what''s for gonks and what''s real."


    "For real?" he asked, looking over at me surprised. "Didn''t think techies believed that kinda stuff."


    "Worlds filled with crazy shit, Jackie," I said, thinking about my own experience. "Hard to dismiss it all as chance and science."


    "I won''t argue with that," He said with a shrug. "Anyway, I took her out to dinner. I know this great place, not far from her shop."


    We continued to drive, eventually pulling out of the city to the badlands. Part of me realized that I was taking a rather big risk, letting someone I just met bring me out this far into the desert, but I found myself trusting Jackie. Plus, I didn''t think he had it in him to lie or act that convincingly if he did plan on taking me out here to shoot me.


    Eventually, we pulled off the main road and onto a back road, eventually pulling under a large windmill. Jackie parked directly under the shadow of one, before we both climbed out.


    "Alright, I got a mannequin in the back, snagged it from a dumpster behind an old shop. We can set the vest up on that," Jackie said as we walked around to the back of the car, popping the trunk.


    It took a minute and a few strips of duct tape, but eventually, we stepped back to the car to admire our work. The mannequin was about thirty feet away, supported by a cactus, wearing the shorts and the vest. Both were taped in place, making the whole thing look like the kind of hack job you see from one of those gun channels on Youtube.


    "You want the first shot?" Jackie asked, crossing his arms and sitting on the lip of the trunk. "You do know how to use that Unity, don''t you?"


    "I know well enough," I assured him, turning toward the target and drawing my pistol.


    I took a second to line up my shot before pulling the trigger, the .45 caliber bullet splitting the air until it slapped into the plated part of the vest. Not satisfied with just testing the strongest part, I fired three more times, hitting the arm, the chest again, and then the thigh. None of the bullets went through.


    "Well¡­ it beats a .45. That''s a good start," I said, pulling out the magazine from my Unity and trading it for a full one, before sliding the pistol back into its holster.


    "Don''t get to cocky, amigo, I''ve seen .45s get stopped by sturdy leather jackets," He said, turning around and reaching into the trunk. "Let''s try something with a bit more power."


    He reached into the and pulled out a Liberty, a slightly heftier pistol firing a slightly bigger round. He stepped forward as I stepped back, firing off several rounds. When he was done, we both walked to the armor to examine the damage.


    "Damn, not even a dent," He said, running a finger over the mark left by the bullets. "And scale is intact too, not bad."


    We walked back to the car, testing out several more weapons. The vest held up incredibly well, only starting to struggle when we started pulling out rifles and a shotgun. Even so, it held up pretty well, with scales only failing after a few hits and the plated sections taking repeat and accurate fire. It only lost outright to a chunky-looking precision rifle I didn''t recognize from the game, one that fired a big old round.


    When we were done testing, we pulled down the vest and shorts to take a closer look. Jackie ran his hand over the last hole, the one from the high-powered precision rifle.


    "I gotta say, Jackson. I came out here ''cause I figured two grand for a drive and some range time was a sweet deal," He admitted. "But this is impressive stuff. No offense, but¡­ you sure you made this?"


    "I did, it''s made of a new alloy I came up with," I explained.


    "Well¡­ Mama Welles would smack me blue for passing up a deal that could keep me safe. How much do you want for it?"


    For a moment, I frowned, wondering exactly what something like this was worth. It was about six hundred eddies of material, most if it from the Alien Alloy. I was tempted to just say a grand because I wanted Jackie to have a little extra protection if he didn''t have V watching his back¡­ But I honestly couldn''t afford to give up the money.


    I made a lot of progress over the last few days, but I burned a lot of eddies to do so. It was going to get a lot harder to keep up that momentum if I didn''t make some cash back.


    "Let''s say¡­ two thousand five hundred," I said, about to open my mouth and add that we could take some off for his discount, but he beat me out.


    "Seriously? That''s it?" He asked, looking surprised. "Damn, I expected a lot more. I appreciate you cutting me a deal, Choom."


    Before I could say anything, his eyes glowed orange, and my keyfob vibrated. I pulled it out to see two and a half thousand Eurodollars had been added to my account.


    "Well¡­ listen, you want me to spread the word a bit?" He asked, before spotting my wince and continuing. "I could keep it down to a few people I trust not to talk, could even run the deliveries for you if you''re not keen on showing your face."


    "I¡­ yeah. Keep it slow at first. I have a lot of projects of my own to keep up with, but a set of vests and pants every few days would be fine."


    "Perfecto! We could charge at least three and a half gees for this armor, choom, and I''ll take a small cut, from their side, of course," He assured me, despite me about to offer him a cut anyway. "C''mon, let''s get something to eat to celebrate a new opportunity!"

 Chapter Three

    Jackie treated me to a small pizza shop on the outskirts of Valintino territory. The pizza tasted like cardboard, and I had to threaten physical violence to keep him from putting crickets on it. I was also pretty sure I spotted a few people eyeing me up, but when Jackie called one out by saying hello and asking how they had been doing, they stopped sniffing around. It was still nerve-wracking, though, and closer to gang contact than I really wanted.


    Mind you, I wasn''t naive enough to think I would get what I wanted. Dealing with gangs was a part of Night City and, as far as I understood it, the Cyberpunk setting as a whole. It didn''t matter where I went, some sort of gang would call it home. It still made me nervous.


    Still, hanging out with Jackie was fun. I definitely understood how V ended up trusting him so quickly. He seemed to have a way of drawing you in and making you feel comfortable. Eventually, when we were done eating, he took me back to the megabuilding, dropping me off as close as he could get with his borrowed car.


    "I''ll be in touch, maybe even later today," He said. "Depends on when certain people respond to my messages. Don''t worry, I''ll keep your name out of it."


    "Alright Jackie, you''ve got my number," I said as I climbed out of his car, turning around and leaning back into the open door. "If I don''t pick up, just try again. I might not have my keyfob on me."


    "Sure thing, Jackson."


    I gave him a lazy salute and shut the door, slapping the hood as I stepped back. The older car pulled away from the curb, leaving me standing on the sidewalk. I looked around, paranoia already rising now that I was alone. When I was certain I wasn''t about to be ambushed, I turned back and made a beeline towards the building entrance, heading straight up to my room.


    All in all, the test had been very encouraging, and not just because the Alien Alloy held up very well to quite a few of the basic weapons used in Night City. When I completed the original version of the nanoscale and plated vests, I learned an awful lot about them. While at the time, I had been most interested in how to best manipulate Alien Alloy, I also got quite a bit of info on how durable the nanoscale and plate was. The only issue was that this information was primarily in terms of weapons from that reality.


    With a live demonstration, I could now compare the damage I saw with my own eyes with the damage I knew XCOM weapons were capable of. From there, I could extrapolate how Cyberpunk and XCOM weapons compared, at least in general.


    As far as I could tell, the normal ballistic weapons from XCOM were equivalent to low-end weapons from Cyberpunk. Laser weapons generally equated to the middle tier, though there was something to be said about the perfect precision and heat transference of the system. Mag weapons were mainly in the middle to high tier since they could penetrate plate armor with a few shots, putting it on the same level as the high-powered rifle Jackie had gotten his hands on.


    That just left plasma weapons, which, as far as I could tell from my general perspective, were a complete upgrade from mag weapons, combining the best aspects of laser and magnetic while adding a substantial amount of secondary damage from heat. I was pretty sure that all of the plasma weapons from the XCOM universe would match or beat the best that this world had to offer. I''m sure there were some secret weapons that Arasaka or Militech were working on, but I couldn''t imagine they were nearly as polished, stable, or reproducible as the plasma tech that I could access.


    Assuming I could build them before my specialty changed.


    The second I got home, I set the fabricator back up, getting it working on the next piece of the mag pistol. I then stripped all of the Alien Alloy from the test armor, dumping it back into the smelter. I would get a nearly one hundred percent return on smelting Alloy scraps.


    Once the smelter was going and the fabricator and 3D printer were moving, I sat down at the computer and spent every eddie that Jackie had paid me, then a few hundred more. My "savings," which were really just a chunk of eddies that the entities who stranded me here had given me, were getting lower and lower. With the last batch of purchases, I finally sank below ten thousand. It wasn''t a small amount, especially considering I was used to living on a much smaller buffer in my home world, but I still knew that wouldn''t last long. I was dreading that my second "specialty" would end up being something money-intensive but extremely potent, forcing me to struggle and miss out on some worthwhile stuff because I had spent everything.


    Within three hours of arriving home, the parts for the mag pistol were finished, and I could assemble it. I had to say, the mag pistol, and I assumed mag weapons as a whole, were fascinating. The barrel, parts of the receiver system, Elerium charge chamber, and the energy diffusion bank were all built out of Alien Alloy, meaning it took significantly more resources than the laser pistol. As a bonus, though, it also made critical portions of the weapon substantially more robust.


    The charging system could hold much more energy, and the strange properties of AA meant barely any of a fired projectile''s speed was lost to friction despite still engaging with the barrel''s rifling. As I built the pistol''s Elerium charging chamber, rather than use one of my whole shards, I took apart the power generator of the laser pistol and used the Elerium inside that.


    Once I finished the new pistol, I basked in the deluge of information I got from it, enjoying my new understanding of the technology. I then removed the pistol''s ridiculous skeletonized shell and replaced it with an aluminum one with built-in heat sinks and a much more complete frame. This would not only better protect the sensitive tech inside the frame, but it would also serve to hide how the pistol was built.


    Between going out to lunch and finishing the mag pistol, it was starting to get late. I spent the last few hours of the day building the CAD blueprint for the mag rifle, before calling it a day.


    ----------------?


    The following morning, my sixth day in the Cyberpunk word, I woke up to an express delivery of materials being dropped off by my door. It was a rather large bundle of stuff, and I was excited to get it into my workshop. Most of the delivery was materials and ingredients, a portion of which went immediately into my Elerium and AA production.


    There was also a single industrial robotic arm, the kind that you would see in an automotive factory back home, only around the size of my own arm and significantly more advanced. Now, technically, I could have built something similar with my own hands. I had the parts and tools after all, and the XCOM universe did have several models that I could have used. But here, in the age of cyberware, a simple robotic arm was amazingly cheap. The model I bought was essentially a glorified learning aid, and it was already stronger, more flexible, and had several more points of articulation than anything the XCOM universe had access to.


    It took me about an hour to bolt the arm to the side of the fabricator and another two to whip up a basic program that allowed me to feed simple directions to the arm, specifically to remove and feed materials to the fabricator. It would be useless for new, unique things, but now I could go to sleep and leave the fabricator running to produce simple, repeatable things, like the scales and plates for my brand of AA under armor. It would make keeping up with any orders I got from Jackie much easier. I was still looking forward to getting better systems in the future, but this was a step in the right direction.


    I spent the rest of the morning and start of the afternoon building my mag rifle and preparing the base fabrics for another set of AA under armor. That turned out to be a good idea because Jackie called me at about ten PM with some news.


    "Good news, Jackson! I showed some of the footage I got-"


    "Footage? What footage?" I asked, talking into my keyfob, mentally cursing the idiot who decided not to make it more like a smartphone.


    "I recorded some of our testing yesterday," He explained. "I got some Mk. 1 Kiroshi''s from a ripperdoc friend of mine. They record preem footage, self-stabilize, the whole shebang. Anyway, don''t worry, I didn''t show anything with you in it. They were interested in grabbing a few sets of your armor."


    "Jackie, my production cycle isn''t really set up for mass production," I explained with a wince. "I don''t-"


    "I know, compadre, I explained that, but get this. They thought I was playing hard to get, so they offered fifteen thousand eddies for three sets. Thought they were paying a premium to cut ahead in line, I couldn''t bring myself to correct them."


    "Well¡­ I might be able to make three by¡­ Wednesday afternoon¡­" I admitted, going over how long everything would take in my head. "That''s if I can get a delivery of stuff in by tomorrow."


    "What if I did some shopping for you?" He asked. "I can play delivery boy for a day if I can get an extra grand."


    I chewed my lip as I considered the possibility before nodding to myself. I had no issues paying Jackie a bit more, and getting the order done quickly was a solid plan.


    "If you can pick me up a few things from around the city, I could get it done Tuesday afternoon, maybe a few hours after. But that''s an all-nighter."


    "You can crash after we make some eddies," He said like I was being dumb. "I''ll stop by in an hour, so have a list ready for me."


    "Wait. Who are these people?" I asked. "How well do you know them?"


    "...They are Valentinos," He admitted after a long moment. "They watch the block that Coyote is on. They are good people, Jackson."


    "...Don''t take this the wrong way, but I need to ask Jackie because I''m new to this city. The Valentinos. They sell people?" I asked simply.


    "What? No, that''s bad business, cabrone. They might help people cross some borders occasionally, but no selling people, I promise."


    "Do they sell to kids?" I asked, this time noting a slight pause.


    "Not pulling your punches, eh choom?" He asked. "Padre''s official rule is that kids don''t get anything, any the Valentinos follow it. But pushers aren''t exactly asking for detes. And who knows if some corner gonk follows the rule anyway?"


    I let out a long breath, trying to parse out where my limit was, where I would draw my line. How far was I willing to bend to survive? In a world like Cyberpunk, that is exactly what was on the table.


    "Alright, Jackie, stop by soon. I''ll have a list for you."


    "Preem, see you soon."


    My keyfob went dark, and I continued to stare at it for a moment before letting out a long breath and tossing it onto my workbench. I ground my palms into my eyes for a second before looking around. I needed to fill up the smelter and restock the Elerium generator. By then, the part the fabricator was working on should be done, so I could queue up parts I would need for the first AA under armor.


    I stood and got to work, quickly getting everything set before sitting back down and getting to work. I was just starting to affix the first batch of scales to the upper torso armor when Jackie came knocking on my door. I let him in quickly before returning to my workshop and using my keyfob to send him a list.


    "There''s a list of places you should be able to buy that stuff from," I said, already working on the armor again. "Try to spread it out so it''s not all coming from only a few places."


    "I know the drill choom, not my first shopping gig," Jackie assured me, his eyes glowing orange as he read through my list. "Gonna need eddies to buy all this¡­"


    "Right, sorry," I said, grabbing my keyfob and sending him the eddies, before returning to work.


    "Alright, I''ll get- Jesus, Jackson, what is that?"


    I whirled around to see Jackie lifting the mag rifle, putting it up to his shoulder, and looking down the sights. To his credit, he wasn''t facing anywhere near me, instead aiming the empty weapon at the apartment''s exterior wall. He even had good trigger discipline. It looked good without the skeletonized structure, which I replaced with the same sort of aluminum plating I had used on the mag pistol.


    "Where did you get this from?" He said, looking over the rifle with wide eyes. "This is preem iron, Jackson."


    "It''s a prototype Mag¡­ Tech weapon," I explained, turning around and watching him. "I don''t really have any ammo for it at the moment. I was just sort of trying it out."


    "Seriously? You''re just throwing together guns too?" He asked, still looking over the rifle. "What''s that one?"


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    As he asked, he placed the mag rifle back onto the couch, hand already reaching out to the finished, and very much armed, laser rifle.


    "Don''t touch that one!" I said loudly, Jackie freezing in response. "That one is charged and not safe to be showing off indoors."


    "...what is it?" He asked, pulling his hand back.


    "A prototype," I explained. "No use bragging about it yet."


    He seemed to accept my explanation, though I couldn''t tell if it was cause he actually believed me or if he just didn''t care enough to call me out.


    "Right. Well, I''ll be back with your stuff soon," He responded. "Few hours tops."


    "I''ll be waiting," I responded without turning around, still focused on the vest in front of me.


    I heard my new business partner leave, my front door sealing back shut and locking automatically. I let out a long breath and got back to my work, slowly affixing the AA scales to the first layer of the bullet-resistant fabric. The fabric was shockingly easy to work with, especially with how much knowledge of how to stitch, bind, and make sturdy combat gear and clothing I had from making the original version of the nanoscale vest. I was pretty sure I would become a world-class seamster eventually.


    By the time Jackie returned from shopping, I had finished the first pair of Nanoplate shorts and had started on the first shirt. I immediately started filling the AA smelter and Elerium generator while Jackie sat down on my couch, eating a burrito he had bought. He had even gotten me one. I would try to stomach it when I was done... it would be rude not to.


    "This is some real mad science shit, eh choom?" He asked, leaning in to watch as I gently put the seed diamond into its brace. "How has a Corp not snapped you up yet?"


    "Because I''ve only recently started really building stuff," I admitted, closing the generator up. "I want nothing to do with the Corps."


    "Well¡­ you came to the wrong city then," He said with a wince. "Arasaka owns Night City. And whatever scraps they don''t own, the other corps fight over."


    "I know¡­ It wasn''t exactly my first choice," I admitted, plopping down on the other side of the U-shaped couch, grabbing the burrito that Jackie had gotten me, unwrapping it, and taking a bite.


    It tasted like someone tried to cook a tire mexican style, gave up and stuffed it into a cardboard tortilla. It was horrifying and made me miss Chipotle. If I ever made it back home, I would never complain about low-quality food ever again.


    I did my best to choke down the food, trying not to reveal how horrible it was, focusing on the fact that someday, if I was very lucky, I might get a tech branch that included a way to make food. Maybe a Star Trek branch.


    "You have any plans past making armor and guns?" Jackie asked, sounding genuinely curious as he leaned back on the couch, his food done.


    "I¡­ have a few ideas," I admitted. "Nothing concrete yet, though."


    In all honesty, I was waiting to see what my next tech branch would be. I was desperately crossing my fingers that whatever I rolled would have some sort of automation, something I would be able to put together and would work similarly to how the fabricator did. Even if it was a lesser version, having a few of them working while the fabricator handled the more detailed work would be fantastic.


    After we finished our food, Jackie left me to my work, promising to come pick up and deliver the AA under armor the following afternoon. I quickly got back to the process of attaching the AA scales, finishing that, and starting to attach the plates. It was boring, mind-numbing work that poked and prodded at my patience, wearing it thin. By the time the afternoon had turned into night, I was cursing Jackie''s name and heavily regretting letting him win me over.


    When I was finally done putting everything together, it was early Tuesday morning, and the sun had risen over the city, light peaking in from my window. I now had three sets of the AA armor complete. I would have been done sooner, but I decided to spend an hour double-checking that everything was done right. As frustrating as it was making three of the exact same mind-numbing things in a row, with no time to work on other projects or even take a prolonged break, I still wanted to deliver a quality product. The big corps might not understand the importance of having a product you can stand by, but I did.


    When I finally finished the job, I barely stayed awake long enough to crash into my bed. I wasn''t really good at pulling all-nighters or staying up extra late, something I had learned the hard way as I got older. I could do it as long as I was keeping busy and working hard, but the second that stopped, I was out like a light. I slept for four hours before Jackie stopped by to pick up the delivery. I was awake just long enough to let him in, hand him the three sets of AA under armor, and shoo him out the door before I collapsed back in my bed. This time, I set an alarm for three more hours. I felt like I could have slept all the way to the following morning, but I had work to do and a time limit to do it in.


    I woke up to the sound of my alarm and an extra thirteen thousand eddies in my account. Jackie had already taken his cut, and it was still by far the largest amount of money I had ever made in such a short time. It completely replenished what I had spent so far, plus an extra grand. It was a heady feeling but also quite nerve-wracking. I had just put a two or three dozen pounds of unique, blackboxed metal out into the wild. Sure, it was a simple, unassuming use, but it wasn''t hard to imagine someone getting their hands on it and realizing what they had. Or rather, realizing that they didn''t know what they had.


    Yes, I was still paranoid, but at this point, I was embracing it, because the corpos, if they knew I existed, would definitely be after me.


    When I finally got around to sitting in front of my computer, I opened up my schedule. My first week would be up at midnight that night, so I wanted to take a look at what else I could get done with my remaining time.


    From what I could tell, I would probably spend two whole days on plasma weapons simply because I wanted to make every form I could so I had a firm grasp on how they worked. I also wanted to take some time working on the warden armor, especially because I was pretty sure I could skip over the predator armor and start making the warden armor with what I had learned from making the plate vest. On top of that, I wouldn''t have to learn how to make and then produce the synthetic muscle fiber that made the armor a "power" armor. I could just buy it by the box online. Even better, I could get it relatively cheaply since I didn''t have to buy top-of-the-line.


    The only issue was that, from what I could tell, developing the enhanced, heavy version of the warden armor, called the W.A.R. suit, was heavily reliant on the E.X.O. suit, the enhanced version of the predator armor. Of course, as one might expect, the E.X.O. suit seemed to be heavily tied to the predator armor, and since I planned on skipping that, it meant I wouldn''t be able to make the W.A.R. suit. I tried to focus through the confusion of the E.X.O. suit, but when that failed, I decided to move ahead anyway. The warden armor system would substantially enhance the wearer''s speed, strength, and durability already. Besides, while the W.A.R. suit would have been a nice addition, the more I studied the tech tree, the more I realized that building my way up to the W.A.R. suit would have taken up too much of my time.


    With my next project decided, I closed out the calendar app and started adding things to my shopping list, filling my online cart with dozens of things, including more materials for Elerium and a lot of Alien Alloy. I spent a significant amount, once again burning eddies for quick progress.


    With my supplies set to refresh some time the next day, at a premium for quick delivery, I reopened the CAD software and got to work. By now, I was really starting to get good with the interface, making the design process go much more smoothly. When the first batch of parts was finished, I got the fabricator running.


    This project would probably take the better part of two days, mostly because I would be waiting for each part to finish, even with the fact that I would be waiting until tomorrow to receive a lot of the smaller parts. In the end, I actually got very little done for the rest of the day, save finishing the CAD files and printing out about a third of the parts before running out of materials. I spent the rest of the day designing the parts, feeding the two generators the last of my ingredients, and feeding the fabricator the last of my Alien Alloy before going to bed early.


    Exactly at midnight, I woke up gasping for breath. I could feel the knowledge of XCOM pulling away, slowly as if to show I had a choice. For a moment, I honestly debated letting it go, tempted by the chance of getting something new. But common sense won over eventually, and I mentally held tight. After a few moments, or maybe minutes, the sensation dissipated. I idly realized that I was absolutely drenched in sweat and that my heart was racing. Eventually, after washing my face and calming down a bit, I attempted to return to sleep. Unfortunately, any sleep I got was light and fitful.


    The next morning, because of the poor sleep, I woke up annoyed, which was annoying in itself. I ended up spending an hour going outside and getting some food since working on delicate equipment and parts while agitated was a recipe for wasted money. When I got back, I immediately dove back in, stopping only to accept a few deliveries.


    The rest of Wednesday and Thursday was spent in a blur of building and crafting.


    The warden armor, as complicated as it was, basically broke down into three layers. The first was an inner skeleton of Alien Alloy and body-hugging material. This tight bodysuit and skeleton was the primary anchor for the second layer, the synthetic muscles. These were what gave the wearer enhanced strength and speed, working with the wearer''s natural muscles incredibly well. The muscle fibers were an interesting material and had a lot of potential, so I was glad that completing the warden armor would give me a much better understanding of how it worked. Or, at least, the vaguely inferior version that XCOM used.


    The artificial muscles were controlled by a central control system housed on the back. It was the suit''s brain and required a lot of heavy programming. Luckily, I had spent plenty of time learning a significant portion of the programming XCOM was capable of, so whipping up the program and fitting it into a system nearly half the size of what XCOM used was pretty easy. This system also monitored the four Elerium power nodes that provided the synthetic muscles with the energy they needed to function.


    The third and final layer was the Alien Alloy outer shell. The shell was attached both to the first and second layers, making the suit surprisingly flexible.


    Completing the armor led to another large wave of information flowing into my brain, filling my head with knowledge of the entire armor, including the synthetic muscles and the Elerium nodes, which were the first constant energy generators I had made that used Elerium.


    I sat back and, for a moment, just enjoyed the sensation of my mind expanding, going over what I had learned with a smile. It was hard to beat the sensation of becoming actually smarter, having large chunks of knowledge just offered to you, downloaded into my brain seamlessly. When I finally recovered, I started examining the final results of two days of work before finally starting to put it on.


    The process of putting on the armor wasn''t exactly simple. The armor was heavy, and before it activated, which could only be done when all pieces were in place, the synthetic muscle system did not support its own weight, meaning I had to carry it entirely, and it was not light. The armor went on in several sections, starting with the boots, then the legs, followed by the chest, finished by the arms, and then the hands. The helmet was technically part of the list, but it wasn''t required to activate the armor.


    When I finally clicked the gloves into place, I could feel the suit powering up, the synthetic musculature grabbing and squeezing around me as I shifted. It wasn''t quite the perfect connection, as the armor moved with just the slightest delay. It would definitely take some getting used to, but I was excited to see what it could do when I had acclimatized to it.


    When I was finally done donning the armor, ten minutes had passed. Clearly, this armor was not for a quick reaction team but rather something made to let one man fight as many monsters as he could and still make it home. It would serve me well until I could make something better.

 Chapter Four

    I spent about an hour moving around the apartment, getting used to the armor system. By the time I finally took it off, I was pretty well acclimatized to it, having worked my way through a long string of stretches, burpees, jumping jacks, and shadow boxing. I could feel the entire system supporting me, speeding up my movements, and when I started doing one-handed pushups, enhancing my strength and stamina. I was far from some of the insane feats of strength that some of the borgs out there, like Adam Smasher, were capable of. People like him could tear a man limb from limb with little to no struggle or crumple a car with their bare fists. Still, I was definitely at least a hair or two above what a peak human could do.


    As long as I was wearing the armor.


    When I was done experimenting and testing, I pulled off the armor and set it aside. There was a temptation to just remove the outer AA shell and leave the skeleton and artificial muscle system on, but the knowledge I had gained from building the armor told me that prolonged use could result in serious muscle and bone atrophy. It could be countered by regimented workouts that compensated for the increased strength, but even that only lasted so long. Yes, it would take days, even weeks, for that to set in, but there was no reason to set up bad habits.


    When I was finally free of the armor, I spent a few minutes inspecting it for any stress or mistakes. I now knew that the AA skeleton was the only reason that this system worked, as no other material was light and strong enough to withstand the mechanical disadvantage that many of the artificial muscle groups functioned under. It certainly explained why there were no compact power armors like this that existed in Cyberpunk, at least non that I knew about. I''m sure there were plenty of bulkier systems around, though.


    I sat down at the computer and spun around in my chair, finally looking back at my computer. It was too late to start another project, for no other reason than I was exhausted from working nearly nonstop. I had five days left with the XCOM human tech tree, plenty of time to work with the plasma weapons, and two or three other smaller projects.


    At this point, I had well and truly written of Psionics. I just didn''t have the resources to tackle a whole room, not without doing a whole lot of stupid shit. Stupid shit that would probably get me killed. As much as I would have liked to have the ability to create Psionics in my back pocket, letting it go was my only realistic option.


    For a moment, I considered pushing through my fatigue and starting on the plasma pistol, or at least the CAD design process for it, only to shake my head. I hadn''t seen the outside of my apartment since going out with Jackie, and I was starting to feel the stress and tension coiling around my spine.


    Before I could change my mind, I grabbed my keyfob and called Jackie, the only friend I had made here.


    "Jackson! Good to hear from you, choom. What''s up?" The familiar accented voice asked once the call went through


    "Not a whole lot. I just got finished with another project and wanted to see what you were up to," I explained, leaning back in my chair. "I need to get out of the apartment."


    "Aye, sure thing! I was thinking about heading to the Coyote tonight, you want a ride?"


    "On your cycle?" I asked skeptically.


    "It''s fine, it''s a short trip," He assured me. "I''ll meet you out front in an hour."


    "Alright, fine. See you then."


    It took me a bit to get cleaned up, dressed, and ready to go, but I still ended up killing time by doing some online shopping. I set up an express delivery for the next morning before heading down to wait for Jackie. I was armed, of course, but rather than bring my rinky dink Unity, I strapped my mag pistol into a slightly modified holster. Its non-skeletonized casing made it seem just like any other pistol, though any aficionado would be able to tell it was custom. It was loaded with AA-tipped steel slugs that should be able to punch through any armor or subdermal I could reasonably run into at a dive bar.


    I was also wearing my AA under armor, but honestly, I really only took that off when I showered.


    I wasn''t waiting long before Jackie showed up, his famous red Archer loud enough to hear him coming plenty far enough away. I winced when I saw how little room there would be for me. Not to mention the lack of a helmet.


    What kind of idiot rides an organ donor generator without a helmet?


    "You know what, I''m just gonna grab a cab," I said as he motioned for me to hop on.


    "Ahh, don''t be a gallino, hop on," He said. "I''ll take it slow, promise."


    I let out a sigh, realizing that, apparently, I was that idiot before hopping on. I put my hands behind me, using the back lip of the seat to keep myself on. After a moment, he nodded, the motorcycle rumbling as he gave it gas. Thankfully, he was telling the truth and kept the ride nice and slow, though I assumed that was for his own safety as it was for mine.


    When we finally arrived at the bar, we pulled around to a long alleyway. We both got off his bike and walked it much further in, leaving the well-loved and maintained motorcycle at the back of the building. He then led me inside through a back entrance.


    The interior of the building looked pretty much like how I remembered it from the game. It wasn''t the worst dive bar I''d ever been in, but it was definitely in the running.


    As we stepped into the main open area, I could see maybe about twenty or so people, some at the bar, but most scattered around the various sitting and standing areas. Nearby, there were two people playing pool while a third leaned against a game cabinet and watched, a beer in his hand. One of the people playing spotted Jackie and smiled, giving him a small wave before focusing on their game. Jackie waved back but led me to the bar, plopping down on one of the seats.


    "Pepe, we''ll take a round when you got a sec," Jackie said, nodding to the bartender, who smiled and nodded back but continued talking to a different patron. "So, how''s your work going? Anything interesting genio?"


    "Just exploring some of the basics for now," I said vaguely. "Still pushing against that single fabricator and 3D printer."


    "Well, invest in some more," He said. "I could find more people looking to buy some of this armor."


    As he offered, he tapped his chest, the sound of tapping metal audible, though muffled by his shirt.


    "That''s the thing. The more I focus on making things to sell, the less time I have to develop new stuff," I explained.


    Before I could continue, the bartender, who I vaguely remembered had a quest involving debt or something, dropped off two beers.


    "Jackie, Mama Welles was looking for you," He said, before giving me a smile as he leaned on his side of the bar.


    "She was? Where is she?" He responded, turning around in his stool to look around before stopping after looking up. "Never mind, Pepe, I see her. Put these on my tab and then start one for Jackson. I''m gonna go see what she wants."


    Pepe nodded, and Jackie stood, patting my shoulder before walking out of sight. When I spot the bartender staring at me with a frown, I realize he is trying to connect with me. I reach out and pull out my keyfob to swipe.


    "Sorry, all ''ganic," I explained with a shrug.


    He nodded, looking surprised but generally indifferent, connecting my tab to my account before walking away to another customer. I made a mental note to change the settings on my keyfob to let money transfers in from now on. I sipped from my beer for a few minutes, letting the tension from nonstop pushing myself slowly leave me. After a few minutes, Jackie returned, this time accompanied by his mom.


    "So you are the man who got my mijo to wear some protection?" She asked, leaning against the bar on the other side of me. "It''s not as good as getting some subdermal, but it''s better than nothing. Gracias m''hijo."


    "It''s no problem, Ms. Welles. He helped me test it out and sell a few pairs of it," I explained. "Small price to pay for good help."


    "And polite, too. Just call me Mama Welles. Everyone does. Mijo, don''t drink too much, si? I know you''ve got a job por la ma?ana" She said, giving me a smile and a nod before walking away.


    "I won''t Mama, thank you," Jackie responded, watching her leave before leaning heavily on the bar top with a long groan. "I need to move out."


    "You know, hearing that would break her heart," Pepe said, having stopped by when Mama Welles did. "She loves having you around so much."


    "I would still be around," He insisted. "But she is treating me like ni?o imaduro. I can''t even bring Misty around ''cause she doesn''t approve of her. Likes my ex more."


    "She means well, pendejo," Pepe reminded him, shaking his head. "Just remember what''s important."


    "Aye aye, I know," He responded, waving his words away. "So, how''s the little one?"


    We sat at the bar for a bit, chatting with Pepe, before eventually making our way to the pool table when the previous group of people left. After setting everything up, Jackie hit the break and ended up with solids.


    "So, g¨¹ey, what''s your next move?" He asked, leaning over the table. "We made some money, you know what you''re doing next?"


    "I need to up my production abilities," I explained, watching him smack the cue ball. "My fabricator is impressive, but it''s slow. I need a few more production tools, maybe another 3D printer, another fabricator¡­"


    "Sounds expensive."


    "It is, especially when I''m spending a lot of money on materials too," I explained.


    With XCOM''s extreme reliance on AA and Elerium, I was forced to constantly invest more and more money into material production, making everything I made more and more expensive. The warden armor cost more than every weapon I had made so far combined. It had nearly three times as much Alien Alloy as my AA under armor. At this point, I was really looking forward to having a tech tree that was built from normal materials.


    "Well¡­ there are other ways to get what you need," He pointed out after missing his second shot. "Plenty of ways we could earn a little money on the side."


    "Like what?"


    "We could always roll a few Scav dens," He explained with a shrug. "Flatlining them is practically a public service, even includes a bounty usually. They won''t even care as long as we don''t hit too many."


    "''We''?"


    "Yeah, choom! I told you I had a good feeling about you, and we made a good bit of eddies already," He said, slapping my shoulder. "I''m the muscle, you''re the brains, genio."


    "You realize I have no combat experience," I pointed out. "Not even shard simulations."


    "Everyone''s gotta start somewhere," He answered with a shrug. "I''ll keep you alive until you can keep yourself alive."


    For nearly a minute, I was silent, Jackie leaving me be so I could think. Morally, I had no issues killing Scavs. No level of ''down on your luck'' or ''I need to survive somehow'' could excuse openly murdering people and tearing out their cyberware to sell. I had no idea how I would react to actually killing someone, but from a distant perspective, I had no issue dealing out a little justice.


    That said, it was definitely a step in a direction. Good, bad, dangerous, safe, I wasn''t entirely sure. But it was definitely a step, one I wouldn''t be able to take back. I let out a long sigh, before finally nodding.


    "Okay. You find us a target, we can hit it," I said. "Keep it small¡­. And give me a few days. I want to make you some armor and some guns for myself."


    "I don''t need armor," he said, waving me off before leaning over the pool table and taking a shot. I didn''t comment that he had skipped my turn.


    "Really? You want to go into combat wearing just the under armor?"


    "That''s what I got it for, g¨¹ey," He responded with a smirk. "Can''t cover myself up to much, how will the ladies admire me?"


    I shook my head, but ultimately gave up trying to convince him. He was an adult, and I couldn''t force him to do anything he didn''t want to. When he finally took the shot he had been lining up for a few minutes, I tapped up on his pool cue with mine, causing him to hit the cue ball wrong and completely miss. When he pointed at me, and I laughed.


    "I seem to remember you having a girlfriend already," I reminded him, the annoyed expression he had morphing into a chagrined shrug. "And you skipped my turn."


    We continued to play pool for another hour or so before I called a cab home, since Jackie had been drinking. I was barely comfortable on the back of his Archer when he was sober, never mind four beers and two shots later.


    When I arrived home, I restocked the generators before dropping down into bed. The combination of relieved tension and just enough alcohol to feel a bit of a buzz put me to sleep almost immediately.


    ----------------------


    The next morning, I finally got to work on my plasma weapons, starting, as I had with every weapon level, with the pistol. Once the design was finished and the fabricator and 3D printer were running, I started working on the internals. First, I prepared the parts, starting with magnetic field generators, which were essentially a series of powerful electromagnets. Each generator would be directed and contained by Alien Alloy.


    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.Essentially, the system used all of the accumulated knowledge from previous weapon systems, working them together in one final design. For starters, like in the laser weapons, an Elerium shard was agitated with high levels of energy. The shard would absorb and magnify this energy before releasing it as a plasma-esque energy pulse. Rather than converting that energy to charge a laser or a battery, it was directed and fired out as a high-energy beam. The beam was directed by a line of magnetic field generators, just like the mag rifle bullets. Technically, plasma was a bit of a misnomer, but it was close enough.


    This system was simple in design, but complicated in execution. Everything had to be precise and reinforced to withstand the high stress and heat put out by the energy released by the Elerium shard. The amount of energy in play energy was a higher concentration than was used in any other weapon. Because of this, Alien Alloy made up a much more significant amount of the weapon frame. Essentially, everything but the outer protective covering, the sight, and the trigger system was Alien Alloy. That meant that not only was each of these weapons going to be more expensive, but I would also have to modify quite a few of the parts off the shelf parts, replacing significant portions with AA.


    Thankfully, that also meant all the weapons would be very durable, even the sniper, which looked particularly fragile. In fact, the plasma weapons were overall much safer than the laser and magnetic weapons since they held no charge save a small battery used to generate the agitation energy.


    Plasma or Beam weapons, as they were sometimes called, were superior in every way, save cost, to all of the other weapons I had made so far. In fact, the only thing that slowed down the plasma weapons was the charge and energy release time of the Elerium, and a need to cool down after consistent shooting. There was a warning light system that would warn the shooter of overheating before the gun shut down to prevent a critical failure.


    It took most of the morning and into the afternoon to finally finish my pistol. When I was done assembling the pieces, I spent a few minutes inspecting it for any issues before turning it on, the subtle whine of charging electronic coming from the grip. Satisfied that my new weapon functioned and armed with a much better understanding of how the pistol worked in much greater detail, I immediately dove into making the rifle.


    Unfortunately, I didn''t have nearly enough time to finish it that day, so once I was done putting together the CAD files, I set the fabricator up with a specific piece I would need quite a few of, a casing for the magnetic coil. The robotic arm would remove finished ones and insert new stock material as needed. Satisfied that a chunk of it would still get done, I ended up going to bed early.


    It was late in the afternoon of the next day when I put the finishing touches on the plasma rifle. I turned it on to test it, and the weapon powered on with no issues, though it whined quite a bit louder than the pistol.


    As I gained even more information about the plasma weapon system, I realized I could probably build the plasma lance without the actual mental blueprint. After a quick check of the tech tree in my mind, it showed that the same was true for the laser sniper and mag sniper. Either completing plasma weapons had somehow filled in a few blanks, or all of the sharpshooter variants fell under the concept of "more power=better." At the end of the day, it didn''t matter. I could now focus on other things rather than rushing to cover all weapon types.


    I had no interest in figuring out the shotgun variants. The rifles were more than adequate at close range, and having a weapon that stopped being effective past fifteen meters was beyond stupid, no matter how much more powerful it was at close range.


    When I was done mentally studying what I had learned and what it meant for my tech tree, I realized I had a new problem. This was all a lot of gear, gear I didn''t want people to know I had. Eventually, I wanted a place to live and work that wasn''t a heavily populated arcology. Unfortunately, for now, I needed a way to get my armor and weapons out of the building so I could use them without showing all of my neighbors what I had.


    It only took me a minute to remember that in the game, Jackie had a garage where he kept his bike. The fact that he didn''t live out of it was odd since, by the time he had died in the game, he was.


    Rather than call him directly, I sent him a message, using my computer to contact his neural link to ask if he had a place I could store my stuff, someplace easier to use than my apartment. It didn''t take long for him to respond back and confirm I could use his garage. He even offered to help me move it, saying he knew a guy he could borrow a van from. After a bit of planning, he agreed to come by in a few hours since it would take him a bit to borrow the vehicle.


    I settled down on the couch, my brain more than a little fried from working nonstop for two days¡­ again. Still, even if it was a bit rough on me, I realized I was enjoying myself immensely. I could feel my knowledge expanding with everything I made. It was a heady, worryingly enjoyable feeling. I was already looking forward to what kind of secret, other reality knowledge I would get from the next tech tree.


    I sat alone for a while, contemplating what I could possibly get, before shaking off the daydream. I was unlikely to get something perfect on my second draw, especially considering that, if my current tech tree was any hint, the trees would be divided up beyond just one entire universe. I was not looking forward to getting something like the Zerg.


    Besides, I didn''t really want to hit the jackpot so soon. If I unlocked something outstanding, I would end up fighting my limited resources to make anything exceptional. The idea of getting something like Star Trek and not getting to the matter replicator, the holodeck, or the transporter, because I was trying to make a power generator strong enough to support those things, hurt my soul.


    Not that I would ever use a transport on humans. Teleportation was fucked, and there was no way I was going to mess around with Prestiging myself in real life.


    Eventually, Jackie showed up, knocking on my door. I opened it to reveal him standing there with an old shopping cart filled with broken-down boxes. He pushed it in past me, and I shut the door behind him.


    "Really? Do you know a guy who deals in shopping carts, too?" I asked as he stopped at my workshop door.


    "No pendejo, just paid a homeless guy out front a few eddies for it," He said with a shrug. "Sounded like you had a lot to move."


    I snorted and nodded, tapping the door controls to my workshop and grabbing some of my armor.


    "No mames! What the hell is that!" Jackie asked, his accent getting deeper for a moment. He continued in a string of Spanish that was too fast for me to even parse out.


    "It''s power armor," I said with a shrug.


    "Are you serious? How did you get this! This is preem, better than preem!" He asked, taking the chest piece and examining it closely.


    "I made it," I explained with a shrug, Jackie''s growing tirade halting immediately, his eyes looking to mine. Whatever he was looking for, he seemed to find it.


    "I might have underestimated you, compadre," He finally said, eyes going back down to the armor. "I can see why you want to get this out of your apartment. Gonna catch a lot of eyes wearing this around."


    "Exactly. Would rather keep what I''m making separate from me for a while," I explained, and he nodded in understanding. "At least until I can take care of myself,"


    We spent a bit packing up the various armor pieces, really just using the boxes to cover up everything rather than actually boxing everything up. When I finally brought out the rifle and pistol, Jackie went wide again, though this time I stopped him from taking them from me.


    "These are powered weapons, Jackie. No messing around with them," I explained, waiting for him to nod in understanding before handing him the pistol.


    "Dios Mio, Jackson, is this what I think it is?" He asked, turning the weapon over in his hand.


    "That depends. Do you think it is a high-energy rifle?" I asked. "Cause that''s what it is."


    "You made a laser gun?"


    "Yeah, it''s over there," I answered, gesturing back into my workshop to the laser rifle I made a couple of days ago. "These aren''t laser weapons. It''s closer to plasma, but that''s not really right either."


    For a long moment, he looked down at the pistol in his hands, then at the rifle I was holding. After a full thirty seconds, he finally spoke again.


    "... Jackson, you can''t use these," He said, sounding very serious. "I''m no expert, but I know this kind of shit is a big deal. If you start shooting these off, you''re going to have a corpo strike team on you before you can blink."


    I cursed and chewed my lip, looking down at my rifle in a new light. I had considered the fact that these weapons would get some attention, but I had assumed there would be some leeway, that as long as I didn''t use them completely in the open, any rumors would get dismissed. But Jackie was by and far the expert here, for obvious reasons. If he thought using them would be stupid, then using them would be stupid.


    And after I spent so long getting them ready.


    "Fuck¡­ well, there goes my trump card," I said, shaking my head. "Alright, fine, I can deal. What do you think about my mag guns. Are they fine?"


    "I¡­ think they would be," Jackie said with a nod. "They are definitely unique, but they don''t come off as being crazy high-tech corpo shit. How powerful is the rifle?"


    "Mid to high range," I explained. "At least as good as that high-powered rifle you got for the armor testing."


    "Really? That''s pretty powerful¡­ Still should be fine, though," He assured me.


    We spent about ten minutes securing everything before I walked him out of the building and helped him load it into the back of a different vehicle, this one a van. When everything was all set, he slapped me on the shoulder and said he would be in touch before jumping into the van and driving away. I shook my head and made my way back up to my room, where I got the fabricator working on the more steel and AA rounds for the mag rifle and pistol, before getting the 3D printer going on the mags that would hold them. The only other thing I would need was a spring, which I had plenty of.


    Barely a few hours passed when I got another call from Jackie.


    "Hey Jackson, I just got word from a netrunner friend about a scav den. She found it scoping out another gig, so she only charged me a small favor," He explained. "Its a bit sooner than we planned, but you up for a scav hunt?"


    I let out a long breath before nodding. Then I spoke up because I realized he couldn''t actually see me.


    "Yes, let''s do it,"


    "Great! I''ll drop by and pick you up in an hour. We can go back to the garage and get you into that a more."


    "Sounds good, Jackie. See you then."


    I spent the free hour preparing my ammo, stuffing three rifle mags and two pistol mags into a large utility belt. The warden armor had magnetic latch points on the back for my rifle, but I needed a holster for my pistol. Luckily enough, I could remove the holster I was using on my empty belt and affix it to the utility belt. When I was done getting everything set, I threw it all into a bag and made my way down to the first floor.


    I only spent a few minutes waiting before I spotted Jackie''s borrowed van. By this time, the sun has set, and the city is going dark. There are still plenty of people walking around, but the normal bustle had faded. I made my way to the van and climbed into the passenger seat.


    "What''s in the bag?" Jackie asked as I shut the door and put the bag down at my feet.


    "Ammo for my guns," I explained. "I only had ammo for the pistol, not the rifle, so I machined out some more.


    "You can just make more?" He asked, looking over at me with a surprised look. "Damn, now I''m really jealous. I don''t usually fuck around with tech weapons, but they sound pretty good."


    "Just wait till you see them in action."


    We arrived at Jackie''s garage, the larger man lifting up the door into the smaller space. His motorcycle was already there, and in the corner was my rifle, my pistol, and my armor. I double-checked that everything was in order before putting on my armor. When I finally felt the last piece connect into place, the artificial muscles flexing and shifting around my body, I shook myself a bit to settle the suit in place.


    "Fucking hell, you look like a borg, choom," He said, watching as I picked up my utility belt and fastened it around my waist, then slid my rifle over my back, letting the magnets grab it firmly. "You look like a fucking borg!"


    "Well, I don''t think I would be able to go toe to toe with one, but the armor does give me a bit of a boost," I responded. "Stronger, faster, tougher, the whole nine yards."


    For a moment, Jackie stared at me before he started to laugh, full belly laughter that had him wiping an eye after he was done.


    "And you were worried about getting into a fight? ''Borgs scare people, compadre! They might off themselves when you walk in!" He said, shaking his head with a smile. "C''mon pendejo, get in the van. We got scavs to kill."

 Chapter Five

    We quickly found out that, with my armor on, I was just slightly too big for the passenger seat of the large van. Jackie joked about me running alongside him as he drove, but I just climbed into the back. I was worried I would be taking up room for the loot, but he assured me he had it covered. The van was just in case we found something either of us wanted to keep.


    I climbed into the back and sat down against the outside wall of the vehicle. Thankfully, it was relatively clean.


    "So, where is the den?" I asked as I shut the van''s back doors and sat down. "Nowhere near here, I hope?"


    "Ah no, never stir up shit where you eat and sleep, genio," Jacke responded as if he was giving sage advice. "Plus, I don''t want to upset the balance between Valentinos and the scavs. Heywoods got enough trouble without mixing in agitated scavs in."


    "Thought you said they won''t care if we only hit a few?''


    "I mean, they will notice, choom, but they aren''t gonna come hunt oy down," He explained. "Might be agitated for a few days. They may work vaguely together, but trust me, scavs don''t care about anything but themselves and their profit. Long as we don''t move deep into their org and start cutting into their eddies, they won''t really care."


    I nodded in understanding before busying myself, checking over my weapons for the third time, making sure they were fully loaded and charged, ready for combat. After that, I just focused on keeping my breathing steady and calm. Luckily, the helmet of the warden armor was full of fans and cooling systems, keeping me surprisingly comfortable, considering it was a fully military design.


    "Ey, choom, we''re here. You ready to rock?" Jackie asked, startling me from the slight meditative state I managed to sink myself into.


    "Yeah, I''m ready."


    He nodded at my simple response, watching as I climbed out the back of the van, standing tall, feeling the musculature of the suit work around me. I had to admit, it was hard to not feel confident wearing so much armor. I scanned the area, with the armor giving me just enough of a height boost to look over the van.


    Jackie climbed out of the driver''s seat and started making his way to one of the many buildings along the street. It was heavily graffitied, and its doors were nearly hidden by several large mounds of trash. I took a moment to mentally thank Lily Shen that the original warden armor had built-in air filters before following after my new friend.


    "According to T-bug, there shouldn''t be more than ten of them here," Jackie said, leading the way into the first door. "The first floor is all garages, but we should clear it first. Just follow my lead¡­ What should I call you?"


    "Uh... what do you mean?"


    "I gotta call you something if I can''t call you by your name," He pointed out as he stopped, his hand on a solid inner door just a few feet from the main entrance. "How about Alloy? You said your stuff is made of a special alloy, right?"


    "It is¡­ Really, though? Alloy?"


    "Trust me, choom, borgs love giving themselves names like that. Just look at Adam Smasher. You think his mama named him that?"


    "I¡­ Well, it will do for now, I guess," I said with a shrug, looking over my shoulder at the door we had just come through. "Should I call you something else?"


    "Nah, Just Jackie. I''m not trying to be someone else," He pointed out with a grin before pulling out a single pistol, checking its magazine, and giving me a nod. "Alright, Alloy, let''s do this."


    I nodded and pulled my rifle off of my back, the electromagnets keeping it in place fighting me for a second before releasing the weapon. I flicked the high-tech weapon on, smirking as the whine of the charging capacitors filled the small entry room. I set the weapon to fire with a three-round burst before giving Jackie the thumbs up.


    "I''m ready, lead us in,"


    Jackie nodded and pushed the door inward with his shoulder, his pistol held out and ready as we walked in. I couldn''t help but notice that while the large man clearly had experience, he also just walked into the room, crossing a clear, open space. Once he had crossed a three-meter clearing, he finally took cover behind the side of a large truck. Clearly, while Jackie had more experience than me, both with the people we were fighting and with violence as a whole, he was far from a strategic genius.


    Still, I would rather have him here than anyone else I could think of, to be honest.


    It just meant that I would need to take over V''s job of being the brains when I got more experience under my belt. At least, I would if we continued to work together like this.


    As I followed after him, I tried to scan around as much of the first floor as I could. Most of the space was taken up by three large parking spots, with two rows of storage along the wall behind them and three garage doors in front. Two of the parking spots were taken, with the large truck Jackie was taking cover behind, and a much smaller car on the opposite side of the room. The spot between them was filled with a cargo crate, sealed with a sturdy-looking lock. Across the building, a single set of stairs disappeared upwards, leading to the second floor.


    As I looked around, I could see dozens of clues as to what kind of place this was. Blood spatter on the ground and along the back of the vehicle we were now hiding behind, and random personal belongings were thrown into a corner like trash. There was even more blood leading from the back of the car to the stairs.


    "Alright, looks like ther-"


    Jackie cut himself off and brought his gun up as someone came out from between two rows of the shelves that ran along the back of the room. The scavenger was rolling his one organic shoulder, a dark blue cyberware arm scratching his side as he yawned, almost as if he had just woken up. I could see glowing implants on either side of his face, and blood spattered along his shirt and pants. His eyes went wide when he spotted me, locking on and hardly even noticing my partner.


    It seemed like Jackie was right. Borgs really do freak people out.


    Seeing as though neither Jackie nor I had any silent options, something that I was already mentally noting to fix, I raised my rifle and squeezed the trigger. The sound of my weapon charging and launching three rounds of solid metal slugs broke through the relative silence of the garage. Jackie raises his pistol as well, firing twice.


    Both of Jackie''s much more experienced shots hit the scav, center of mass with a surprisingly tight grouping, especially considering how startled he was. Two of my shots went wide, but the single shot that did connect blew the man''s orgninic arm clean off. Blood splattered against the floor, shelving, and even the low ceiling while the man dropped to the ground, already stone-cold dead.


    "Puta madre ay g¨¹ey! What the hell are you shooting out of that thing?" Jackie yelled before noticing the commotion our gunfire had generated upstairs. "Go around that way, take cover behind the crate so we don''t get sidelined!"


    Jackie pointed down and around the car he was hiding behind, and since his request made sense, I rushed around and managed to just make it into cover before a burst of bullets sparked off the floor behind me, chipping the concrete.


    Shouting in Russian echoed from the stairs, and I peered around the corner, spotting three people of various fits and levels of augmentation making their way down the stairs. I pulled the trigger on my rifle twice, sending two bursts of AA tipped steel their way. Every single shot went wide, slamming into the stairs, wall, and door behind them, throwing up shrapnel but ultimately not harming anyone. I cursed, pulling back as all three of them focused on me, firing a barrage of automatic weapons fire that peppered the cargo container I was hiding behind. A few even slammed into my armor, denting several plates and rattling my left shoulder. Much of the impact was bled off from the artificial muscle layer, but at least one of them felt like getting slapped with a bat.


    I cursed, rolling my shoulder despite the already spreading soreness, before hearing Jackie return fire, using the distraction I had made to take out one of the people firing at me. Cursing myself for not practicing with my mag rifle, I stepped out of cover the second there was a lull in the incoming bullets. I raised my rifle as the two remaining scavs looked at me in shock, seemingly just realizing what they were shooting at before they opened up.


    My first burst slammed into the highest scav, obliterating the woman''s gun and removing her left hand before putting her out of her misery by blowing a fist-sized chunk where her heart was supposed to be. I kept pulling the trigger, blowing chunks out of the stairs until I finally managed to control my aim to stitch three shots across a man with two replaced arms and glowing blue eyes. He collapsed into a bloody mess, like a broken puppet with its strings cut.


    "You good?" I called out to Jackie as I pressed the mag release on the side of my rifle. The mostly empty mag dropped to the floor before I slid a new one into place.


    "Yeah, I''m good," Jackie shouted back, making his way to the stairs between the shelving and the parking bays. "You got a fucking cannon, choom. Now I wanna know what your other toys do."


    "Me too. I think I might have been underestimating them," I admitted.


    In truth, I was relatively certain the extra power was a combination of me comparing the weapon''s effectiveness against more armored targets and that I had made the mag weapons out of parts that were actually better than what XCOM had on hand. The mag coils, capacitors, and several other bits rated far above what XCOM used. I had restricted a lot of those parts and done quite a bit of extra math and programming to make sure it all still worked.


    Looking at what the rifle was now doing, I might have miscalculated. Still, I couldn''t have been too far off, as it had counted as close enough to the original design to confirm its creation for the tech tree. I was still learning how finicky that process really was, but it still seemed like a decent confirmation that this rifle wasn''t that different from the original. I-


    "Eh, focus up, Alloy, we got more to deal with," Jackie called out, waving me closer. "There are probably more upstairs, I will-"


    "No, you''re not wearing any armor, I''m going first," I said easily, surprising myself as much as I surprised Jackie. When he gave me a look, I just shrugged. "Next time, wear armor if you want to be the heavy."


    "Fine, whatever, you can go first," He said, gesturing up the stairs. "Make it fast, though!"


    I nodded, and after checking my gun one final time, I charged up the stairs. I shift my body as I move and slam my shoulder into the frame, crumpling the door around the lock area as it struggled to hold me back before finally bursting open, all in a split second. Part of me wanted to leap into the room in a combat role, but luckily, I had enough sense not to embarrass myself. I didn''t even know how to do a combat roll normally, never mind while actively enhanced.


    I was starting to realize I may have really jumped the gun on this.


    As I burst into the room, I also realized I wasn''t the only one going for the door. My impact had knocked someone back, a leather jacket-clad man with a submachine gun held in one hand, the weapon off target from the impact. Rather than try and shoot him, I just kept running, shoulder lowered, until I slammed into him as well. I crashed into him with enough force to drive him back, partially lift him up, and slam him into a concrete wall. I could feel his chest give in, sounding like bending metal rather than cracking bone, which told me he had some sort of bone replacement.


    Despite the impact, he was still moving, raising his weapon just enough to aim it at my legs, pulling the trigger, and dumping his mag into my thigh and waist. None of the bullets made it through, but it still felt like dozens of light punches to my leg.


    With a curse, I slammed my fist into his mechanical shoulder, the one holding the gun, feeling the cyberware there buckle under the blow. I hammered it again and again until it was a sparking mangled mess, the limb hung limply. Finally, I stepped back, brought my rifle back up, and wasted a three-round burst to finish him off.


    Needed to add a knife to my list of things to make.


    By now, Jackie was at the door, taking cover against the frame. I turned around slightly to look for cover as well, only to feel something slam into my side hard enough to spin me around. I could feel a deep dent in my armor on my right side, deep enough that it was already restricting my movement. Jackie popped out of cover and fired his pistol, giving me time to recover and take cover. As I moved, I saw a scav wielding a double-barrel shotgun drop his weapon and slump to the ground. He must have been shooting slugs, judging from how much damage it did.


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    "You good?" Jackie asked as we stepped further into the first room on the second floor.


    "Yeah, armor stopped it¡­" I said, reaching down to check the large dent before adding. "Barely."


    Jackie didn''t have time to comment because a pair of scavs burst out of a nearby door, screaming in Russian, immediately opening fire. I saw Jackie take a pair of shots to the chest before I raised my rifle and opened fire. The first three rounds ruined a woman with some sort of projection implant on her face, punching through her chest, stomach, and neck. The second burst missed the second person completely, letting him fire his pistol at me over and over. Finally, I managed to pull my shots tight enough to punch two rounds through his shoulder and chest.


    Through all of that, I was shot several times, all of them leaving only streaks of lead and copper on my armor. It seemed my armor was more than enough to handle smaller rounds.


    With the current threats terminated, I turned to check on Jackie, only to find him already standing, rubbing his chest. I could see holes in his jacket and shirt, as well as the armor underneath.


    "Maldita Perra!¡­ Looks like your armor works, amigo," He said with a pained grunt, shaking it off and reloading his pistol. "The plate took it easy, but the scales sting like hell!"


    "Would hurt a lot less if you were wearing some armor," I pointed out in a sing-song voice, getting a slightly annoyed look in return. "I can''t force you, but I can definitely pester you about it."


    He chuckled and shook his head before motioning to go around a set of chests and boxes in the center of the room. Now that we weren''t being shot at, I could better appreciate our surroundings. The room was simple enough, with a couch along one wall, a desk and computer nearby, with containers, shelves, and other stuff around the room. So far, save the occasional dry bloodstain, it looked pretty ordinary.


    We crossed the room on opposite sides, eventually converging on the last door in the room. I couldn''t be sure, but judging from how big the building had looked from the outside and how the garage had looked, there was only really enough space for a medium-sized room on the other side. As we approached it, I caught Jack''s eye, who gestured for me to go ahead.


    "By all means, compadre, do you thing," He said.


    I nodded and lined up with the door, spartan kicking it just next to the lock. The door, which wasn''t the most impressive-looking fixture, caved in immediately, slamming open with a surprising amount of force. The sound of some random song, with way too much bass and set way too loud, filled the room, getting even loaded as I moved forward. I stepped into the new room to find a scav cowering in the corner, trembling with Unity in his hand. His apron was covered in blood, and only a few feet away was a DIY operating table, complete with a "patient." Between the amount of blood collecting on the table and the pale blue tinge to a lot of "patients" skin, it was obvious that they were dead.


    As I stepped into the room, the last scav fired at me, their Unity going off as quickly as they could pull the trigger. More than half the shots didn''t even get close to me, hitting the concrete walls, cabinets, and crates stacked around me. The few bullets that did impact my armor barely did anything but cosmetically mark it.


    When the scavs gun clicked empty, I took aim with my rifle, flipped it to semi-auto, and damn near blew their head off.


    After a moment, I looked around and used another shot to scatter chunks of the radio all over the right side of the room.


    "You good?" Jackie asked, coming in from behind, noticing that I had obliterated the radio. "Not a fan of music, Alloy?"


    "Just couldn''t hear if we were alone," I responded, stepping further into the room, checking around the corners and behind a few crates. "I think we are clear."


    "Yeah, I think so too...." Jackie said, watching me closely. "You feel okay? You said this was your first gunfight¡­"


    I took a moment to collect myself, taking a deep breath and letting it out. My adrenaline, which had been pounding in my ears, was slowly fading into the background, leaving me feeling drained and uncomfortable. I looked over at the corner of the room, where the scav lay dead, blood and brains splattered against the wall. I felt¡­ fine. And even more, the fact that I felt nothing didn''t phase me either. These lunatic''s murdered and killed people, and I wasn''t going to waste perfectly good guilt and emotional trauma on them.


    Especially considering it was likely that I would have better reasons to feel guilt or be traumatized eventually.


    "Yeah, I''m good," I responded. "Like you said, these guys are scum. Killing them is practically a public service."


    "Aye, it is. Good to see you can hack it."


    "So, what happens next? We fill up the van or¡­"


    "No, I got some cleaners coming, just gotta give them a call," He explained, his eyes already glowing. "They come in, strip a place of anything useful, and give you a cut of the profits. Even help you take out any chrome you might want from people you kill."


    "I¡­ I really shouldn''t be surprised something like that exists in Night City," I said, shaking my head. "What''s the cost?"


    "Five thousand eddies or twenty percent, whichever is higher," He explained.


    "... I don''t know enough to know if that''s fair or not," I said after a pause, Jackie snorting at my admission.


    "It''s steep, but it''s to keep punk gonks from calling them in for dumb shit," He explained, waving away my concern. "But for things like this¡­ it''s worth it. As long as you''re not working for a fixer. They tend to dislike people messing with their work."


    I nodded, and after another run-through of the second floor, we made our way back down to the first, then outside. Jackie stayed out front, just inside the first door, to wait for the cleanup crew while I did a quick sweep around the building. I saw some signs of a homeless camp and a dumpster that smelled a bit too much like rotting meat for it to be anything other than where the scans threw their "waste." Other than that, there wasn''t anything worth noting. When I was done, I quickly joined Jackie back at the front.


    "We should claim one of the vehicles," I said once we settled in to wait. "Whichever is in better condition."


    "Would be useful," The usually bigger man agreed with a nod. "But I don''t have anywhere to store it without coughing up a chunk of eddies."


    "I can keep it at the H2 parking garage," I explained. "Only five hundred eddies a month."


    "Good deal, I''m running out of favors for cars and rides."


    I chuckled, though I kept my eye on the road that marked the front entrance. The likelihood that the scavs had anyone coming to avenge them was small, but it could still happen. Much more likely was someone coming to claim their loot, but even that was unlikely, according to Jackie.


    After about twenty minutes of waiting, the cleanup crew arrived. It was a team of five people, all hopping out of two vans and a truck. They seemed calm and collected, armed and relatively professional, until they spotted me. Immediately, three of them reached for their weapons, only for Jackie to step into view and hold his hands out. He spoke in rapid-fire Spanish, and after a minute of back and forth, they slowly pulled their hands away from their weapons.


    As they moved into the building, they still looked at me warily until they were inside.


    "What did you say?" I asked once they were all inside, and we were out front, still keeping watch.


    "What? Oh, right, no translator. I said you were a friend of mine, and we were working together," He explained. "I told you borgs make people nervous."


    "And you said I was a borg?"


    "Yeah. It''s a good cover, right?"


    "It''s good for now. Thanks."


    We stood guard for two hours, occasionally walking around to check the perimeter before the cleaners were finally done. They ended up moving their vehicles around to the back and using the garage doors to load up everything worthwhile. There were a few crates of cyberwar, some tools, a few containers of equipment, weapons, and even some of the clothes the scans were wearing. I felt like that was a bit much, but again, I wasn''t going to waste time feeling bad for a bunch of psycho-murdering bastards.


    At some point, Jackie took a quick look at the two vehicles and ended up telling the cleaners that we would be keeping the truck, which apparently was a <u>Thorton Mackinaw Larimore</u></a>. They seemed disappointed because, apparently, it was by and far in better condition than the car. Thankfully, they had no choice but to agree since the agreement they gave said we get first dibs on anything we find.


    When the cleaners were finally done, our cut was just over sixteen thousand eddies, which Jackie and I immediately split evenly. Watching my account roll up by over eight thousand eddies was the perfect way to end a night of getting shot at.


    "Well¡­ I won''t say that was fun, but it could have been worse," I said once the cleaners had left. "Well worth the time spent as well."


    "Not a bad bit of work, aye? You want to head the Coyote to celebrate?" Jackie asked.


    "Nah, I need to get home. I have a lot to do over the next few days. That said¡­ if you come up with anything new for us to do anytime soon... let me know."


    "Sure thing, compadre," Jack said, seemingly genuine. "You did well for your first time. I''m looking forward to working with you more.


    The truck, which was now linked to my keyfob, followed behind Jackie''s borrowed van perfectly as we made our way back to Jackie''s garage. The cleaners had done a decent job of wiping away any evidence of the vehicle''s previous owners, both digitally and physically, so as far as anyone would be able to tell, the vehicle was mine. I would have preferred to drive it back myself, but I didn''t want to take off my armor quite yet.


    When we finally stopped back at Jackie''s garage, I quickly took off my armor, layer by layer. Once it was off, I surveyed the damage. The worst, by far, was where I had tanked a slug from a shotgun. The divot in my plating was as wide as my thumb and was deep enough that it damaged the artificial muscles underneath. There were a dozen other dents from various other bullets, but only three of them that really needed immediate repair. The others were barely past cosmetic damage.


    I quickly removed the panels that needed repair, as well as the entire side chest piece, since the damage was much deeper there. Thankfully, everything was designed to come apart for relatively simplified repairs. Once I was done, I stuffed everything into a duffel bag happily donated by Jackie.


    "Alright, I''m heading out," I said, sticking my head into the side room of the garage where Jackie was sitting. "I''m probably gonna be dark for the next few days, probably longer. I have a few ideas bouncing around in my head, and I want to get them out before I start to lose them."


    "Sure, no problem," He said, looking up from his phone to stand and walking me out.


    I put my stuff down in the passenger seat leg space before climbing into the large truck and closing the door. Jackie leaned on the side of the truck, talking through the open window.


    "Listen, Jackson. Your shits impressive, let me know if you need a runner or loan," He said seriously. "Your armor and tech weapon is nova, and those energy weapons sound crazy as hell. I''m all for helping you make stuff like that, just be careful who you show it off to. You''ll get snapped up quicker than you can say corpo slave."


    "Yeah, I know. Why do you think I''ve been so anxious about showing my face and sharing my stuff," I pointed out, the solo mercenary nodding.


    "Fair enough. See you later, choom. Keep me in the loop if you''re looking for anything."


    I nodded before starting the truck and pulling away, immediately activating the truck''s self-driving, leaning back in my seat with a smile. It was strange to me that most cars were capable of entirely self-driving, and yet people never really sat back in the driver''s seat and napped or skipped the driver''s seat at all. According to Jackie, it was because they were locked to the speed limit and usually drove far below it, but that just sounded stupid to me. Why would I care if my ride was going ten miles under the limit if I could sit in the back seat and read or watch a movie?


    As my new vehicle took a leisurely pace back to the megabuilding complex, I couldn''t help but yawn. It was late, and I was tired. The night''s action left me worryingly tired. Luckily, I didn''t foresee any issues falling asleep with how tired I was, which was great. I only had four full days left with the XCOM tech tree, which meant I had a lot of work to get done and not a lot of time to do it.

 Chapter Six

    I parked my new truck in the large parking structure attached to the Megabuilding and paid the first month''s fee in full, despite the fact that it was more than halfway through the month, before making my way back up to my room. I went through my evening routine of refilling the Elerium generator and the AA smelter before setting an alarm and collapsing into bed.


    It felt like I had just closed my eyes when I was awoken by my alarm. I bolted upright and slapped the alarm interface, turning it off. A quick shower and a nasty burrito later, I was sitting at my workroom table, slowly spinning in my chair with my eyes closed, trying to figure out how I would spend my last four days with my current tech tree. I had intended to spend a chunk of the time finishing off the weapons branch so I would have access to everything, but as I had discovered, they were already pretty clear. Between completing plasma weaponry and having a solid understanding of every level of XCOM weaponry, I could pretty much design all of the other weapons in my head without using the blueprint.


    Sure, it wouldn''t be exactly the same, but at this point that hardly mattered. What did matter was the fact that I could check them off my list of things to do, leaving me completely open to other things.


    The first on my new list was the fusion blade. It would be a relatively easy build and surprisingly cheap when it came to Elerium and AA. I wasn''t at all satisfied with how it looked or functioned since it was only a one-sided blade that didn''t even have a pointed tip, but that would be a problem for later. I would build the original blade and deal with using it until I had the systems in place to make customizing it a short and easy project.


    Beyond that, I also wanted to build two of the many explosives on the tree, the plasma grenade and the frost bomb. As far as I knew, neither of them had any equivalent in Cyberpunk, and both were pretty powerful tools in my arsenal. They would also easily be converted to grenades I could launch out the magnetic grenade launcher, which would be even easier to make without a blueprint than the mag sniper rifle. Both of the explosives would take special materials, especially the frost bomb, so they would have to wait for my next delivery to arrive.


    The skulljack, a tool to hack into a brain chip, almost made it to the list as well, but I quickly realized it was way too specific to be useful. There were hundreds of different types of neural links alone, and each one would require a slightly different tool. Not to mention, if I wanted to hack into someone''s brain, I could just use the access point on their neck. Or tear the link out of their skull if I was really desperate.


    So far, I had a list of three things, only one of which I could do today. The fusion sword would hopefully only take me half a day, and the grenades even less. I also wanted to take a crack at the bluescreen rounds, which were EMP bullets. Unfortunately, those two would take some specialized parts and materials, even if I was only going to build them for my mag rifles.


    Realizing that I was running out of things from the game that were worth making and that I could feasibly make in four days, I started pushing around the edges of the tech tree, trying to uncover anything that I missed. Then I remembered the gremlins.


    I focused for a moment and brought up what I had on the small flying drone. As far as I could tell, it was a pretty simple device. It was built on a steel frame, mounted with cameras, gyroscopes, a decently powered computer that allowed it to brute force hack some simple alien systems, and a straightforward payload system that could do a couple of different simple tasks. I was also pretty sure I could skip over at least the first iteration, which was basically just an all-around minor upgrade.


    Initially, I had ignored the Gremlin because the simple drone didn''t solve any of my current problems. I knew in the game they could be used to replace engineers in some of the rooms, but according to everything I was picking up from the basic information I had access to now, that was just gamified crap. They didn''t seem nearly as precise or advanced enough to perform any sort of complicated function beyond what they were already made to do. At least not without constant input from a human controller. Which was unfortunate because a few extra drone workers was exactly what I needed to step up production.


    Now, on second thought, I realized that the gremlins might be worth the time to build. Not because of what they could do but because of their flight system. They were surprisingly nimble, ridiculously fast, and functioned off completely human tech. Or at least completely understood technology, rather than the half-and-half combination the majority of XCOM tech seemed to have.


    Even if the lift system was utterly impossible to upscale in size, it would still be incredibly useful. The idea of a fuelless thruster system was still science fiction in Cyberpunk, and having such a nimble, robust, and simple system in my pocket could be incredibly useful.


    My first project selected, I turned back to the computer, quickly opening up the several shopping services that I had been using so far. I had a long list of special chemicals, materials, and parts that I would need for my last few projects, so I wanted to get most of the shopping done as early as possible.


    When my shopping was complete and scheduled to arrive over the span of the following day, I got to work on the CAD program, starting to build out the specific parts I would need. I planned on skipping the first level of Gremlin and going straight to the Mark II model since the only difference seemed to be better energy generation in the form of four Elerium nodes and a better computer system and hacking assistant.


    I would have tried the mark III, but it seemed to depend on understanding alien systems that I hadn''t fully absorbed yet. Fortunately, with some AA paneling and a few more upgrades, which were easy to source in this world, I could make a significantly improved version once I finished Mark II. It probably wouldn''t count as the Mark III, and definitely wouldn''t be done anytime soon, but I knew it was possible.


    It took three hours to finish designing all of the pieces and getting the frame and casing all set. Both my 3D printer and the fabricator were working on parts while I started preparing everything. Funnily enough, the four paddles that were responsible for the Gremlin''s ability to float did not actually require any new parts, though I did have to modify some of the electromagnets and a few of the extra X-ray emitters, which I did while watching the parts print out.


    The general principle of the Gremlin''s lift system was ionizing air. The system used an advanced charging method to ionize the air around each of the four lift paddles, giving it a strong negative charge. The system would then flip, using a strong electromagnetic field to push against the negatively charged air. It would then flip again and repeat the process. This would happen hundreds of times in a second, each flip causing a minor amount of force, which would accumulate into enough thrust to hold up the Gremlin. The constant flipping back and forth was the source of the small drones'' easily recognizable sound, the air getting yanked back and forth many times in a second. Even better, the system naturally evens out the ionization with each pulse, meaning it could be used indoors without having to worry about filling a room with ozone.


    When all four paddles were finished, most of the metal fabrication was also complete, so I started working on other projects, getting as much done as possible so I could focus on putting everything together as my materials arrived. I spent the rest of the day designing the parts for my fusion blade and getting the fabricator running on it. While that was going on, I started working on the Gremlin''s programming.


    The next morning, I woke up to my front door ringing and the first wave of materials being delivered. The first batch, the parts for the Gremlin, all arrived between seven and eight-thirty in the morning, and the small drone was assembled by eleven AM. There were some small bits of modifications to the parts that I had to make, but for the most part, everything was smaller and better than what I required. Thankfully, the Tinker of Fiction seemed happy to accept things built that were as good or better as the original as counting towards an item creation. I assumed this was because having to dumb down every aspect of my creations, just so they would count, would be a pain in the ass when my tech got more advanced.


    Once I was done with the assembly, I quickly downloaded the programming I had completed the previous night and flicked it on. It took a second for the cute little robot to boot, but when it did, it floated off from the ground. It bobbed in the air, looking around the main room of my apartment, scanning a bit before focusing on me. What little knowledge was left from the process filled my head, and before I could regret it, I immediately grabbed the droid and deactivated it, going as far as to pull out its battery. I quickly unscrewed its shell and started pulling things out.


    There was a lot to be paranoid about in this world, but one of my biggest fears was having my tech turn against me. When every gonk could pop down to the store and buy a fistful of premade hacking systems, and AIs stalked the web, any tech open to connection was at risk.


    So I would have to make everything closed.


    I finished disconnecting the radio system before moving on to the WIFI connection system, carefully removing the small antenna and leaving the small droid completely cut off from the outside world, save its cameras and microphones. I then added a more complicated voice and body language recognition system so it would have an easier time parsing verbal and hand signal commands.


    If I couldn''t guarantee that my software was strong enough to deal with even the best Netrunners, then I would make it impossible to wirelessly interact with my creations at all. Even if that did drastically reduce their effectiveness for now, it was better to take it slow and deal with the reduction than to open myself up for a massive infiltration. There was no way to hack through an air gap. I still had a way to access its programming and a way for it to interface with a computer, but it was a physical connection only, and it was hidden behind a trick panel.


    When everything was clean, partitioned, and reassembled, I flipped the drone over onto its "back," quickly attaching a pair of simple extending utility arms. I have no idea why the original version didn''t have some, but mine certainly would.


    When everything was ready, I activated the drone again. It booted up, and once more began to float. It ran another scan of me before letting out a curious boop and bobbing in the air, waiting for me to tell it what to do. Even though I knew it was one hundred percent not an AI, it was hard not to immediately personify the cute little thing.


    The drone was something the XCOM universe called a Response Program, or RP for short. This was basically a program designed to respond to and answer questions and requests as fluidly, efficiently, and fully as possible, but wasn''t intelligent, capable of learning or evolving without direct editing of its program. Early versions of Siri and Alexa would have been considered RPs, but AI image generators would not be since they could learn from image scraping without much input from their creators.


    "Hey buddy¡­ let''s see, the first version of your model ever created was called Rover," I explained, despite knowing it meant very little. "Let''s keep with tradition and go with Spot for your designation. Understand?"


    The drone beeped and bobbed in confirmation, shifting and gliding around me with its signature sound. I could just barely detect a hint of ozone as it flew by, but only for a second before it vanished.


    "Spot, do me a favor and pick up the trash around the apartment and put it in the trash barrel over there," I said, pointing to the can of trash in the corner.


    Another beep and the drone started flying around the apartment, picking up empty bags, wrappers, and other bits of trash, all with its new little gripping pinchers. When it caught something new, it would float over to the trash barrel and drop it in before zipping away to repeat the process.


    I watched for a minute, unable to stop myself from smiling. Even with how simple the drone was, it would be able to help in plenty of ways. Already, I could think of a few ways to automate something like the AA smelter or the Elerium generator. Unfortunately, I didn''t have the time to dabble.


    The next project I tackled was the fusion sword. Most of its pieces were already printed, meaning that all I had to do was modify a few parts and assemble it. In all honesty, the weapon was even more disappointing than I would have thought. Whenever you gripped the handle, it automatically turned on, projecting a thin layer of Elerium plasma along the AA blade. There was no on or off switch, it just turned on whenever you gripped it. Not only that, but while the blade was hilariously effective at cutting, it was held in place by a thick, blunt, chunky support brace, which no doubt made cutting through things much harder. I had to assume that the XCOM engineering staff had simply made the blade and then said, "Eh, good enough," because I had only been holding it for a few seconds, and I could already see half a dozen ways to improve the design.


    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    It took a dedicated moment of actual willpower to put the sword down and focus on other things. Thankfully, by the time it was done, the day was more or less over, leaving just enough time for me to set up the fabricator one last time and start up a batch of Elerium and AA. When that was done, I crawled into bed, told Spot to power down, and to wake me up early the next morning.


    The following morning was mostly just assembly. Cyberpunk had several methods of generating EMP blasts, one of which matched pretty well with the primary method of EMP generation in XCOM. That meant that creating the bluescreen rounds was as easy as reinforcing an already existing part and adapting it to survive the initial impact. Once I did that, I simply sheathed it in a steel shell and added a charge monitor display on the side. I was definitely not going to do that for future rounds since it was a huge waste of parts. Still, the knowledge of bullets, especially the knowledge of what I could put into the simple steel rounds for my mag rifle, was well worth the hour and a half it took to make.


    The plasma and frost grenades were even easier. A metal shell, a trigger mechanism, and a timer were more than half the parts. All I needed for the frost bomb was a short list of liquid chemicals stored in two separate vessels and mixed with a tiny detonation of C-6 explosives.


    The Plasma grenade was, surprisingly, even more straightforward. Just a tiny chip of Elerium and an X-ray emitter built into an electromagnetic containment vessel. Throw the grenade, and the emitter starts charging the Elerium, which puts off its plasma-like energy. The electromagnetic field holds it back for a moment before it drops, and Kaboom, plasma explosion.


    I made sure to carefully put both of the explosive devices in a small draw. Technically both of them were completely safe as long I didn''t intentionally fuck with them, but it was the principle. You had to respect the dangerous things you make, or someday they might go off in your face.


    At this point, it was about two in the afternoon, and I had already finished my latest list of things I wanted to finish before I lost this tech tree, potentially forever.


    Once again sitting in my workshop chair, spinning around with my eyes closed, I explored the vast expanse of my current tech tree. There was a whole chunk of it that I hadn''t explored, but all of it was going back in time for that reality, the tech devolving to pre-2000s level almost immediately, which was obviously useless given my current setting. So, once again, I focused on the main chunk of the tree, the one specific to the XCOM project.


    There were several things that I wanted to build, but I knew I couldn''t, even beyond the Psi Labs. Ghost armor, which was a sort of stealth field, was one, as was its quasi-replacement, Wraith armor, which let the wearer walk through walls. Both of them would have been amazing since I probably could have added at least one to my armor and only activated it when I knew it was safe or in extreme emergencies. Unfortunately, I couldn''t make heads or tales out of either of them.


    I was beginning to think that higher "leveled" tech wasn''t just obscured by my knowledge but by a much more fiat-backed aspect, something that was forcing me to figure out lower-level things before moving on. At this point, I knew plenty about the XCOM universe tech, but I could hardly make heads or tails of even the simple portions of their blueprints.


    Either way, I could tell that there was no way I would be cracking either of them in the time I had left, mostly because I didn''t even know what I would need to build first in order to start understanding how they worked. From what I could see, I suspected that they lay somewhere on the same path as psionics, strangely enough, but that was all I could tell.


    In my exploration of the tech tree, I also managed to parse out the two sub-branches of body modifications that XCOM had access to. I also discovered the reason why I had never mentally spotted it before. Frequently, items all along the branches would refer back and forward along the tree, recalling something like AA metallurgy or production methods or connecting to where a specific advancement would lead. This helped me push around and single out new things to build. The cybernetics and genetic modification sub-branches, however, were completely disconnected, essentially free-floating by themselves. They were also apparently impossible for me to make since both sub-branches relied heavily on the alien tech referred to as Meld, which the tree did not provide a black-boxed production method.


    It would have been much more annoying if the reason hadn''t just popped into my head when I was taking my cursory look at the first genetic mod. Meld was a collection of cybernetic nanomachines, suspended in a neutral goo, created by the aliens to speed up and simplify their attempts to modify the alien races under their control. It also contained no exotic materials. No Alien Alloy, no Elerium, no special alien materials at all. This meant that if XCOM hadn''t been so pressed for time, they could have studied and eventually, potentially, replicated the substance. That meant I could replicate it, which firmly removed it from the list of materials I could create with black-boxed tinker shenanigans. But since XCOM didn''t have the faintest idea of how to replicate it, neither did I.


    I barely even knew what it looked like!


    While this was disappointing, I was glad it happened now with this tech tree. While I remembered a few of the genetic enhancements being pretty interesting, the game had always presented the Meld options as firmly being "but at what cost?" sort of options. The cybernetics were even more brutal than all but the worst cyberware here, and the genetic mods always came off as changing the individual, making them¡­ off.


    On top of that, knowing there could be floating sub-branches to my tech tree was absolutely invaluable information. Had I been in more of a rush, I could see myself missing this for multiple tech tree rolls, missing out on who knows how many useful bits of tech.


    After spending a while making sure there weren''t any other missing branches and making sure there weren''t any interesting bits of tech that I could make, I finally decided that I was done with the XCOM tech tree. There was nothing else I needed, and everything I wanted was either too big for me to reasonably put together or too complicated for me to understand. That, or it was being purposely obscured, though I suspected that was the same thing in my case. It had been a decent place to start, but now, with most of the interesting bits made or at least understood, it was time for me to prepare for my next tech tree. I had no idea what it would be, but it couldn''t hurt to cover my bases.


    I spent the next day and a half preparing. I spent a big chunk of change and half a day on a used circuit board printer. It was an impressive-looking machine that could take circuit board blanks and rapidly lay down circuits before attaching chips, diodes, resistors, or any number of parts onto the board before soldering and finishing it all off. It did so with an absolute flurry of miniature arms and whirring servos. It used a program similar to CAD but significantly more complicated. That said, once I got the hang of it, I would be able to create much more compact and customized systems, something that I had a feeling would become necessary for certain tech trees.


    Spot and I spent two hours combing over the program''s programming, as well as the CB printer, looking for backdoors and watching programs. While there weren''t any active feeds, we did find several back doors that would have made it child''s play for Arasaka, the company that made the printer, to tap into its records should they want to. We obviously removed them, but since they were only being attached to my own air-gapped network, it was just a precaution.


    Several deliveries, including a basic chemistry kit, were also purchased and delivered. Once again, I was happily surprised by how easy it was to purchase random and potentially dangerous things. As long as money could be made, people were happy to sell me whatever I wanted, even set up express deliveries. Most of my last day with the XCOM tech tree was spent setting up a relatively advanced vacuum hood from that world, hooking it directly up to my air venting, and using several filters to keep really dangerous fumes from escaping. The hood was only about two feet wide, but it would make dealing with any chemicals much safer.


    The chunk of information I got about filtration systems and using air pressure to control the flow of gasses wasn''t bad either.


    By the end of my shopping spree, I had spent everything I earned clearing out the scav den, plus a significant chunk of my remaining funds from selling the three sets of AA underarmor. I was starting to run low again, but hopefully, I would be well-stocked and prepared for whatever my new tech tree was.


    When I was done working on my new workshop additions and received all my deliveries, it was about seven PM. Rather than repeat the rather dramatic experience of my tech tree switching happening while I was asleep, as I had seven days ago, I told Spot to wake me up at eleven-fifty PM, before heading to bed. This way, I would get at least some sleep, so when my excitement made it impossible to go back to sleep once I switched, I could start working immediately.


    Assuming my next tech tree had anything I could build immediately.


    I woke up to Spot nudging me awake, the little drone flying away as I started to sit up and stretch. Unsurprisingly, it was dark outside, or at least what counted for darkness in Night City. With the shifting imminent, I could feel the nervous energy flowing through every inch of me. I tried to sit down on the couch, only to jump up a few seconds later to pace around the room.


    The next ten minutes were the longest ten minutes I had yet experienced in my life. I managed to burn a few of them, starting some AA and Elerium going, mostly out of habit, but other than that, I couldn''t do anything other than pace around and worry about how I had done with the XCOM branch. I felt it had been a good start, providing me with some decent bits of tech and knowledge, but I couldn''t help but question my choices. Should I have focused on psionics? Should I have tried to create a full AI? Maybe tried to make some spark units?


    I shook my head and did my best to drive those thoughts out of my head. If I held on to every little bit of regret and spent my time worrying about what I could have done better, I would always be miserable. I looked around my room, seeing some of the weapons I had made, then over to Spot, who was hovering a few feet away. I had made some solid progress, made some really cool stuff, and learned a whole lot. It might not have been perfect, but that was okay.


    Finally, after what felt like forever, it was eleven-fifty-nine. I sat down on my couch, closed my eyes, and leaned back, waiting to feel the transition.


    Just as before, as midnight approached, I could feel the specialty pulling away. This time, however, I could feel that nothing I could do would stop it. It grew more and more distant until, eventually, the connection snapped completely. On instinct, my mind ran through what I had learned, and, sure enough, the knowledge I had earned stuck with me, but I couldn''t feel anything else through the connection to the XCOM tech tree.


    With the old connection gone, I took a deep breath and waited for the new one to settle in.


    A minute passed¡­


    Then another¡­


    Five minutes passed, and I was quickly falling into a full-blown panic. I anxiously searched my mind, finally stumbling on something. There was a connection, but it was so small I hadn''t even noticed.


    Rather than any new tech, all I could feel was a mental timer, one slowly counting down. Six days, twenty-three hours, and fifty-four minutes.


    A full week. That was how long I had to wait for my new tech tree.

 Chapter Seven

    It took me about an hour to finally calm down after realizing what was happening.


    A solid hour of pacing around my apartment, wondering what I was going to do, chewing my fingernails down, and lamenting and berating the entity that had abandoned me to my new, cruel fate.


    Eventually, my own capacity for dramatics outran my mental stamina, and I dropped down onto my couch. I stared up at the ceiling, mind wandering on all the threats that could possibly catch me now. As my panicked spiral slowed to more of a slow, worried rotation, I finally started thinking logically. The threats, the things that I had to worry about, hadn''t changed. They didn''t suddenly erupt into flurried advancements, and they certainly weren''t about to catch up to me, even with my slower speed.


    A week between tech branches was, on the whole, not actually that much time. All a week meant was that my meteoric rise to high-tech god was going to be slightly less meteoric.


    In fact, after a few minutes of actually thinking it through, while part of me was still annoyed I would have to wait, a break between tech trees was probably a significant benefit. I had been working myself pretty hard for the last two weeks, and while I had really enjoyed the entire process, I knew that kind of pace was not good for me.


    With no gap in between and constantly refreshing tech trees, I would have struggled just to keep up with each change. Each new tree would have been a scramble to make the most important and interesting things from each branch before I lost the specialty and had to move on to the next one. It would eventually slow down when my production methods increased, and I could make stuff as fast as I could design it, but until then, it would have been a mad dash.


    For each week.


    Nonstop.


    Even worse, jumping from tech tree to tech tree would have meant I had very little time to work on developing my own creations. Part of what made ToF powerful was the ability to solve limitations in one tech tree by bridging it together with another. With near-constant work, I would have barely had time to do that.


    I let out a long breath, letting the last vestiges of worry and panic leave my body. This was not a setback, it was a blessing disguised by a minor annoyance. It made me think that the entities had done it on purpose or at least leaned into something that was already necessary, perhaps some time for the connection to settle or my brain to get used to the next new link.


    I stood from the couch and made my way to my apartment window. I opened the shades with the press of a button and looked outside at the city and the river beyond that. I watched as cars drove past on the overpass, crossing across the river. My panic only lasted about an hour, making it just over one AM.


    I let out another sigh, pushing off of the window sill and walking around my apartment, heading for my workshop. There was no way I was getting any sleep now, even if I didn''t have to deal with the excitement of a new tech tree. I was way too awake at this point.


    I sat down at my computer and flicked it on, spinning once in my chair. I pulled up my plans for the mag rifle and copied them, staring at the blueprints as I leaned back in my chair. The mag rifle was the base form of the heavier magnetic weapons, so it made sense that I should start the design for the mag sniper from it.


    By this point, I had a nearly perfect understanding of how every inch of the mag weapons worked, so once I renamed the new copy as Mag Sniper Rifle, I confidently got to work. The first step was changing the chambering system because I wanted this weapon to shoot a considerably larger projectile. I had some ideas about altering the design of the bullet to maintain accuracy for a longer range, some of which came from knowledge gained from working on the bluescreen rounds. Also, no more AA bullets. It was a waist, overkill and I already regretted leaving AA lying around at the scav den like that, even if it was only a tiny bit at the tip of each bullet.


    It took me about four hours, the sun just starting to shine on Night City, before the design for <u>my mag sniper</u></a> was finished. In the end, I redesigned almost every aspect of the rifle. I switched the old power source, which was a mag weapon-specific Elerium charging system, for three Elerium nodes wired to work in tandem to keep the weapon capacitors charged. I extended the mag coils along a much longer stretch of the weapon, which gave it a slight front-heavy look, but I compensated for it by keeping the coils lighter to even out the weight distribution. Most of the control electronics were now stored in the butt of the rifle to keep it more streamlined as a whole. It would also have actual plating, a mix of aluminum and polymer, to keep the weight down even more.


    Unfortunately, as I finished the main design, I realized that I had no idea how to make a scope. Reluctantly, I left an empty space along the top of the gun, where I could attach any sort of hook-up method I could want, depending on what kind of scope I could get my hands on. It irked me that I had no idea how to build a scope, especially knowing that XCOM had a robust weapons upgrade system that I had ignored because none of them represented anything particularly exceptional.


    Still, even without a scope, the rifle looked impressive. I liked the changes I had made, and with the mix of XCOM and Cyberpunk tech, I was also pretty sure it was more powerful than the base XCOM mag sniper, though I had no idea by how much. It did, however, make me really want to redesign the pistol and rifle. After a bit of thought, I decided that I would spend some time working on them at some point.


    Once the fabricator started working on some of the basic repeatable parts for my mag sniper, I stood from my chair and stretched. My first instinct was to go out and get some breakfast and a coffee, but any excitement I had about the prospect of an early morning treat died when I remembered just how shit the food was here.


    As my back cracked back into place, the tension that had accumulated fading quickly, I left my workshop to grab my keyfob, using it to send a message to Jackie. With my week cleared out, I had an opportunity to focus on making some money to replenish what I had spent getting ready. I told my new friend that I wasn''t as busy as I had thought I would be and that if he found any business or anyone who wanted some armor, I would be free for the next week.


    I returned to my workshop, working for a few hours as I waited. I was about halfway through preparing the internals for the new mag sniper when Jackie called me back.


    "Hey choom, glad to hear you aren''t gonna keep yourself cooped up," He said before audibly hesitating. "Listen¡­ some of the cleaners we hired, they might have let slip I was working with a borg. I kept up the charade, but¡­ a friend of the family, a fixer by the name of Padre, asked about it. I told him my new friend didn''t feel comfortable being out and about quite yet. He connected the dots about my new armor, my new tech friend, and my new borg friend and asked if he could talk to you. I don''t think he would assume you''re the same person¡­ But he ain''t stupid Jay."


    And just like that, my one step in an unknown direction led to another. I knew that starting to work with Jackie on actual jobs, even just scav hunting, would mean my time of hanging out in the back, tinkering away, would be over eventually. I had hoped to have a bit more than two weeks, but at least the situation was under some sort of control, not a burning spiral into chaos.


    For a long moment, I tried my best to remember everything I could about Padre, the priest fixer. I remember him seeming to be an alright guy, as long as you didn''t fuck up royally or do anything he considered to be against God. Kind of sanctimonious, if I remember correctly. His calls to V always made it seem to me like he was hiding behind the bible to avoid feeling guilty, but all things considered, that wasn''t that big of a deal.


    "It''s alright Jackie, I expected people to come looking eventually. At least he is asking," I pointed out. "Do you think he could keep it to himself?"


    "Yeah¡­ Honestly, choom, I think talking to him could help. He has a lot of connections and he is a good man, as good as a fixer can be in this para¨ªso," He explained. "You said you needed equipment, and he expressed interest in the armor you sold me. I could show him some footage¡­"


    He trailed off, letting me finish the sentence in my head as I considered it. Getting access to steady work, plus a place to anonymously sell my goods¡­ or at least get in good with someone with an ear to the ground and a finger on the pulse, could come in handy. Doubly so since I was currently living smack dab in his territory. If I made myself valuable to him¡­


    "Okay, Jackie, we can meet. Would he show up to the Coyote?" I asked.


    "Yeah, he stops by occasionally. Like I said, he''s a family friend. He helped Mama Welles buy the Coyote after my dad booked it."


    "Alright. Well, let him know I''m interested in meeting him at his convenience since I''m guessing he is a busy man," I responded. "Just give me a few days to work on a few things to show off."


    "Really, Jay? I was sure you''d be freaking out about this," Jackie admitted, sounding surprised.


    "It''s fine. In all honesty, there are advantages to having a fixer you''re familiar with, especially when you''re trying to sell stuff and pick up the occasional job. It''s a risk¡­ but what''s not in Night City?"


    "Aye, I understand. Alright, choom, I''ll drop him a line, tell him you''re willing to meet and talk, and that you might have a few things he might be interested in," He agreed, sounding happy. "Just¡­ well, don''t bring you A game, ''cause those flashy weapons of yours are mierda loca, but he won''t be happy if you waste his time."


    "I gotcha, Jackie."


    "Alright, Choom, I''ll let you know when to come by."


    Jackie hangs up after that, leaving me alone with my thoughts. I had a few ideas of what I could make to show off, a couple of basic ideas that would make me an asset, but not enough that he wanted to lock me up for my own good. The AA underarmor was obviously on the list, as was¡­


    I stood in the middle of my apartment, trying to come up with things I could sell and, unfortunately, drawing a blank. Like Jackie had said, my A game was off limits, which meant anything with plasma or lasers was really out, as was the hovering tech from Spot. The hover tech would revolutionize small-scale drones and, depending on how my eventual large-scale testing went, much more.


    I dropped down into my seat, Spot flying around me before settling to float around the room. As I sat there, I reviewed everything I had made over the past two weeks, trying to think of anything interesting I could do that wasn''t insane or didn''t use Elerium or AA. The list was small, but eventually, I had two solid ideas on top of the AA armor. All that was left was to get to work designing and building them.


    It was the next afternoon that Jackie reached out to me again, asking if I could be ready by that night. I agreed, with the caveat that one of the things I wanted to show him wasn''t tested yet. He assured me it was fine.


    That night, I arrived at the Coyote holding a duffel bag, having driven myself in my new truck. Jackie immediately spotted me and waved me over, slapping my shoulder as I sat down at the bar beside him.


    "You''re here early, Padre is still talking with Mama Welles," He explained, taking a sip from his beer. "So, what happened? You sounded pretty confident you would be busy over the next few days."


    "I realized I was spending just a bit too much time in my workshop," I admitted, not entirely lying. I did know I was spending too much time building, I just didn''t think I had a choice. "Can''t say I won''t disappear now and then, but I also need to get out more."


    "Took you long enough, choom! I only told you a hundred times!" He said, thumping me in the side, making me shake my head. "You gotta relax, can''t-"


    There was a whistle from behind us, and Jackie stopped, looking up and behind us. I turned to see his mother waving us up to the second floor.


    "C''mon Jay, time to introduce you to Padre."


    I nodded and followed after the larger man, still carrying my duffel bag. Mama Welles met Jackie at the top of the stairs with a hug, surprising me with my own after releasing her son. After a short conversation with the older woman, Jackie led me to the corner booth on the second floor, where a man I recognized from the game was sitting, reading a book. As we started to approach, he closed it, revealing it to be a worn and weathered bible.


    "Jackie, it''s good to see you again, my child," He said, though he remained seated, reaching out to shake Jackie''s hand. "Mama Welles tells me you are finally taking your safety seriously."


    "Si Padre, mi amigo here sold me some armor," He explained, though something told me that the fixer already knew. "It''s comfortable, and it actually works, unlike that corpo crap."


    Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    "Interesting. And this is your friend?" He asked, looking over at me. "Fully organic, a rarity in this world, especially in Night City."


    "Jackson, sir," I said, reaching out to shake his hand, the older man''s grip surprisingly firm for his age. "It''s how I was raised. Left me with questionable feelings about cyberware."


    "We are all products of our upbringing, but we must not let it tie us down," He responded before gesturing to the seat opposite of home. "Sit, please."


    I slid into the seat first, putting my bag on the red faux leather seat beside me, shifting in enough that Jackie could join me. When we were both settled, Padre leaned back in his spot, studying us for a moment before focusing on me.


    "Jackie insisted that you are a man who enjoys his privacy," He started, slowly sitting forward and putting his elbow on the table, bridging his hands in front of his face. "I respect that. A man''s actions, done in privacy, are his own. But a new borg, suddenly active in my neighborhood, with someone I consider a friend, I cannot just ignore. This Alloy, what is his game? Where did he come from?"


    "Father, as a fixer, you know how dangerous information can be," I responded, doing my best to sound respectful. "Every secret I tell is another tool someone could use against me. The more I reveal, the more dangerous my life becomes. I can say, with one hundred percent confidence, that Alloy is not a threat to you, Jackie. He is interested in making money, as am I."


    The older man stared me down, eyes boring into my soul. It was odd, but I could feel his conviction, his experience, like a man who had seen it all and wasn''t about to take shit from anyone, even the people he liked.


    "Why? Why are you so desperate for money?" He asked, still staring me down. "Everyone chases eddies, but not many choose to go to the lengths that you or your borg friend have. So, what is driving you towards the hunt for money?"


    Jackie was right. This man was not to be taken lightly. In all likeliness, he had already decided Alloy and I were the same person, and if he hadn''t, it was only the idea that power armor as compact and streamlined as the Warden armor didn''t exist.


    "I¡­ have a gift, sir. For making things. Jackie can confirm, some of the things I make¡­" I said, trailing off to speak much more quietly. "They would make a lot of corporations very interested. Enough to do things that I would very much not enjoy to get access to them."


    The older man looked at Jackie wordlessly, who nodded to confirm my statement. He looked back to me, finally leaning back as if to pull back the pressure.


    "God''s gifts often come with a burden, a way to prove your mettle," He responded, his face tied in a frown. "And I do not blame you for wanting to stay the tender mercies of the corpo scum that claim this city. I will take your word that your friend will not cause any trouble. But it is your word on the line. Remember that."


    I nodded, and for a moment, we sat at the table silently. The older fixer seemed content to collect his thoughts, shifting in his seat before looking out the nearby window. Eventually he focused back on me.


    "Jackie mentioned you have things to show me."


    "I do. As I said before, I need eddies for my work, and I''m happy to share some of the things I''ve created," I explained, reaching for my bag.


    I could feel rather than see the bodyguard tense as I moved, but Padre waved them off. I unzipped the duffel and pulled out the two parts of my AA under armor. As I slid it to the fixer, Jackie pulled out a small shard, extending his hand to show Padre before passing it to his guard, who inserted it smoothly into his neck once his boss nodded.


    "This armor is designed to be worn under your clothes and protect your vitals. It''s as comfortable as I can make it and will stop anything short of a high-powered precision rifle," I explained. "The metal I used to make them is my own special alloy, which takes a while to make and then attach to the kevlar material."


    "How much would this set sell for?" He asked, his eyes glowing as he reviewed the footage his guard was watching. "It seems to be impressive."


    "At the moment, I am making each of them by hand, cutting into my time by a lot. I need four thousand for each of them to make them worth my time."


    "Jackie was right. You do not know your own worth," Padre responded, putting down the armor and sliding it away. "I would not have batted an eye at double that price."


    "I''m relatively unknown at this point," I pointed out, internally reeling at the idea of selling the armor for eight thousand. "I thought it best to keep my prices low to attract new customers."


    "Not unwise," The fixer responded with a single nod. "What else do you have?"


    I reached for my bag again, this time pulling two devices and laying them on the table. One was essentially an oversized, slightly restructured bluescreen round, while the other was a completely original design. It was a seven-inch long rod the width of a soda can, fused to the tip of a four-sided pyramid that added four more inches of length.


    "This is the prototype for an EMP device, and before you ask, it''s not currently armed," I said reassuringly. "Now, there are already several other options for EMP devices available, but, realistically, save the grenade, it''s hard to get a hold of anything reliably. And while the grenades sort of work, they are certainly not precision devices."


    I held up the device''s payload, the upscaled bluescreen round, passing it to Padre when he held out his hand.


    "This device, which I''ve been calling a TEMP for tactical EMP, delivers that payload through low-level armor with precision rather than a random throw," I explained. "Because the EMP blast happens inside your target, the damage is much more severe and can even work on partially shielded tech. It can be activated by hand, but it can also be linked to a detonation device and set off remotely."


    "How close to being complete is this prototype?" Padre asked, handing me the payload.


    "Very close. I just need to test them a few times to make sure there aren''t any hidden surprises that I missed."


    I was thankful that the TEMP was cheap, Elerium free, and could be made without AA. It fired using good old-fashioned explosives, and the only Alien Alloy it used was the tip of the EMP penetrator, which could be replaced by something like tungsten. It was designed to be disposable, which meant I wasn''t going to be forking over thousands of eddies just to test them.


    "And how much will the finished device cost?"


    "I''m hoping to keep these under two thousand," I responded, getting a rather stoic nod in return. "They are one-use devices, so charging too much for them is counterintuitive."


    He nodded again, and I took the technically unfinished device back, storing it inside my bag and pulling out my last creation. It was a simple, custom-built tablet with a small screen, the device no bigger than a smartphone from back home. Along the side were the same sort of interface plugs that many people had in their palms. I demonstrated the plug by pulling it out and uncoiling it to show it had nearly three feet of range before letting it slowly pull back inside the device.


    "This is a G-Hacker," I said, handing Padre the small tablet. "It is capable of hacking low-level security and ICE. Anyone with enough tech know how to read the screen and press the buttons along the side can use it to bypass doors, shut down cameras, unlock and start cars, anything a low-level hacker could do. Just keep in mind that this is not a skeleton key. It won''t punch through corpo ICE or get you through ''Saka security. Low-level stuff only. I recommend testing it yourself to get a better feel for its capabilities."


    The G-Hacker was a joint effort between Spot and myself. We had worked together to program the interface before copying and pasting his hacking programs and slapping them into the tablet, with just enough of its extra programming to control and direct it. We had also purposely held back some of the inherent flexibility of the original program, restricting it down a few notches of effectiveness.


    "And it does so without the user''s input?" Padre asked, looking down at the device with something akin to shock. "How powerful is it?"


    "It opened my front door and got me a free burrito for lunch," I said with a shrug. "But it''s going to take some time to really understand its limits. It''s designed to give gonks and solos an option when they don''t know anything about hacking. Like I said, it''s not gonna get you into Arasaka Tower, but it will keep your guys from being thwarted by a random door."


    Padre fiddled with the tablet for a few minutes, exploring some of the menus. Technically, there wasn''t much need for the menu, as the system should be able to recognize what the primary security issue was before asking for confirmation. However, people liked being able to tell things what to do, and I wasn''t going to deny that to anyone.


    "I want them," The older fixer finally said, putting the tablet down. "All three of them."


    "Okay, great. How many of them?" I asked, though something about how he had phrased his words tugged at my brain. "I''m not really set up for mass-"


    "No, you misunderstand me. You must have plans for these devices. I want them," He corrected, cutting me off. "I will give you seventy thousand eddies right now. I have a few shops that will take up building them for me. Your name won''t ever even be attached."


    I stared at him for a long moment, wondering whether this was an offer that I couldn''t refuse. None of these devices were truly groundbreaking, and save for the AA under armor, they could easily be attributed to new applications of old ideas. The G-Hacker might make some waves, but since it really was a low-level device they wouldn''t be very big. That said, I knew they would eventually bring in more than that seventy thousand eddies. A lot more.


    But what a hassle getting to that point would be. I would have to dedicate a massive amount of time to just these three things to even approach that number. Plus, the likelihood of my name getting out rose with every deal I made. The ability to make my sale and just walk away¡­ that was worth a lot.


    "I came here looking to get on your good side, Father," I admitted. "Someone who could warn me if my name started getting whispered around."


    "Continue selling your ideas to me, and I will be very interested in your safety," He responded, picking up what I was saying immediately. "You and your borg friend."


    "Even so¡­ I cannot sell you the protective vest. The designs aren''t anything special, it''s the Alloy that really sets it apart. I came up with myself. It has so many uses, I can''t just sell it to you," I said, lying through my teeth since the creation of AA was still heavily blackboxed. "I don''t mind washing my hands of these two devices. But that metal, it''s not something I can give up."


    He considered my words for a while before eventually nodding in agreement.


    "Very well. Fifty thousand eddies for the other two designs," Adjusting his price downwards. "Plus sixteen thousand more for four pairs of armor."


    "The plans I can hand over before the day it is over, but the armor will take a few days," I admitted. "Making them is a long process."


    "Jackie did mention you were looking for equipment. I know of the fabricator device he described to me, I could have a new one at your apartment by tomorrow morning for the cost of three of your suits."


    Now, that was a tempting offer. I knew from my own research that new fabricators were worth just over twenty thousand eddies, which was why I hadn''t bought another one on my own yet. I considered the offer for a few minutes before finally nodding. I was underselling what my creations were worth, but having them out of my hands, my name removed from their production, and the responsibility removed from me as well¡­ just about made up the difference in my mind. I stood and held out my hand.


    "If you cover Jackie''s cut for introducing us and making this happen, then the deal works for me."


    For a moment, Padre looked up at me before finally nodding and standing up as well, reaching out and sealing the deal with a single shake.


    "Pleasure doing business with you, Jackson," He said, his eyes glowing as my keyfob vibrated in my pocket. "I have given you half of your payment. The second half will be delivered tomorrow morning by whoever drops off your new portable fabricator. They will also be picking the plans."


    "Thank you, sir," I responded before gesturing to the prototypes that sat on the table. "You can keep the prototypes and the armor as the first of the four."


    I stepped away and let Jackie shake his hand next, the older man''s eyes glowing again as he paid my partner. Whatever Jackie received, he seemed surprised by the amount, both of us remaining silent as we left the second floor, only stopping to pay our tab as we left the bar.

 Chapter Eight

    <div>


    "So, how badly did I get washed?" I asked, looking at my friend, who was sporting a shell-shocked look similar to mine.


    "What? Washed? Well¡­ If your goal is to stay out of the spotlight, choom, you succeeded. You could have asked for a lot more, but you definitely caught his eye," He assured me. "Plus, Padre was serious about looking after you. You just showed up at his door and offered him three bits of tech that he could make a whole lot of money off of. You''re the golden goose, and Padre ain''t the type to let that kind of asset get zeroed."


    "Right. Well¡­ Either way, I''m glad I don''t have to spend much time working on their stuff," I said, already mentally planning out when I would make the vests. "The under armor is bad enough. How much did he pay you?"


    "Eight thousand eddies," The larger man said, still sounding shocked. "Thanks for that, choom. I wasn''t gonna say anything, not like I did much."


    "You set up the meeting, so you deserve a cut," I said with a shrug before starting the truck and pulling out of my parking spot. "I need someone helping me with stuff like that, Jackie. I''m a bit of a mess regarding networking or contacts¡­ and negotiating, to be honest."


    "Padre mentioned that. When he sent me my cut, he added a message," He admitted, scratching his cheek. "Said I should stick by you, that you had potential. I''m thinking he was right."


    "I hope so," I said with a chuckle. "Otherwise, I''ve got some serious delusions of grandeur."


    As we drove, Jackie directed me back to his garage and told me to wait once I pulled up alongside it. A few minutes later, he walked out with a small box of beers, sliding them into the back seat. He climbed back into the passenger seat and slapped the dash. I pulled away, and we headed off to my apartment, pulling into the parking structure and taking the elevator up to my room.


    Once we were inside, I spent a few minutes starting up the AA smelter since I knew I would need a bunch more metal. I had enough for two more AA undersuits, but since I still wanted to redesign my mag weapons and work on a few more things, it was better to get everything working now. When I left my workshop Jackie was waiting, handing me an opened beer, holding out his own to clack together in cheers.


    "For our first big sale," He said, taking a long pull from the oversized bottle.


    I took a much smaller sip, doing my best not to wince slightly. It wasn''t bad tasting, not really. It tasted like someone had set out to take something that wasn''t beer and make it taste as much like beer as they possibly could. It was obviously not beer, but the fact that they got it so close was actually more worrying than anything. Before I could sit down on the couch, Jackie spotted the new sniper rifle, his eyes lighting up.


    "Jesus Christ, Jay, another one?" He asked, stopping closer to pick up the rifle. "A sniper rifle?"


    "Yeah, designed it the other day," I answered with a shrug. "I wanted to use what I learned when I made the normal rifle to make something heavier hitting and with longer range."


    "This thing hits harder than your rifle?" He asked, snorting and shaking his head as he examined the weapon. "Damn Jay¡­"


    "I''m probably going to be redesigning my rifle and pistol over the next few days as well," I explained with a shrug. I''ve learned a bit since I made them, so I want to finish off the design."


    "What about your plasma guns?" He asked, putting down the rifle and looking around the room for them.


    "In the workshop. I''m probably gonna take apart the rifle for materials," I responded, taking another sip of my "beer." "I want to leave the pistol in case of emergencies."


    "Hell of a backup weapon," He said, shaking his head as he made his way over to the couch. As he sat down, he looked around, nodding in appreciation. "You know, this isn''t a bad place here. You even got burritos on demand," he said.


    "They are free, too," I said, getting a wide-eyed look in return.


    "No¡­ you didn''t."


    He almost jumped up from the couch, heading over to the food dispenser built into the wall. If ever I needed proof this was a cyberpunk hell world, being able to buy food in my own home from a vending machine, was it.


    "Press and hold the XXL for three seconds, then quickly press which one you want," I explained. "Just get one for each of us. Too many at once, and the system warning will trip."


    He nodded and followed my directions, the three-second press activating a subroutine that Spot and I had inserted while testing out the G-Hackers, making the next burrito free. I would probably take it down in a few days to keep from getting too much attention, but it would be fine for now.


    Jackie threw me my burrito before plopping down onto the couch and digging in. He was clearly enjoying it, and I won''t lie, the fact that it was free did make it almost not horrible. Everything tasted better when it was free, even if it wasn''t enough to save it. When we were done eating, Jackie brought up my guns again.


    "So, you''re gonna redesign the rifle and pistol¡­ You plan on getting some practice with them?"


    "I probably should, my accuracy was way off at the scav den" I admitted with a wince, rubbing it off of my face. "Feel like making a trip to the Badlands?"


    "What about Padres order?" Jackie asked, leaning back and relaxing on the large couch.


    "I''ll get most of the metal cut out tonight," I explained. "Should have time to put two together tomorrow morning. We could go out¡­ the next afternoon? Should have time to work everything out by then."


    "So much for taking time off," He responded. "But alright, we can go shooting then."


    "Gotta work hard to make it, Jackie," I pointed out. "But honestly, the reason I''m so crammed is that I''m still in my build-up phase. Kind of like¡­ Getting used to new cyberware. Everything is twice as hard and takes twice as long because you''re learning every step, working out the kinks, and seeing how your setup works. Once everything settles down a bit, things shouldn''t take nearly as long. The fabricator will help with that."


    "I''ll take your word for it, choomb," Jackie said, standing to grab another beer. "Refill?"


    "Nah, not yet," I responded, nursing my beer a bit more.


    He sat down on the couch, using the corner of a lighter to pop the top off of his beer. He took a second to line up his throw, only to miss the basket by a few inches. As the cap skipped off the side of the bin and rolled along the floor, it came to rest three or four feet from the trash. Before he could get up to grab it, Spot lifted off from where he was docked by the alcove of my bed, flew across the room, and hovered above the cap.


    "What the-!"


    Jackie jumped a bit, his hand dropping down to his hip, where he kept his pistol. He stopped just before drawing it as Spot lifted off with the cap in his tiny manipulators. After watching the small drone drop the bottlecap into the trash, Jackie turned to look at me.


    "What the hell is that?" He asked, pointing at Spot, who had floated back to its dock area. "I''ve never seen a drone like that!"


    "It''s a Gremlin," I explained with a smirk. "I call him Spot. And you''ve never seen anything like that before because it flies using something I invented."


    "You¡­ Dammit, Padre was definitely right," Jackie said, shaking his head, taking a deep drink of his beer. "How the hell does it fly?"


    "Ionized air and very powerful electromagnetic fields," I explained. "Totally new idea as far as I know."


    "Thats¡­ Holy hell... I really shouldn''t be surprised at this point¡­"


    "I don''t know, kinda like blowing your mind every time you come into the apartment."


    The large man pulled a pillow off of the couch beside him and threw it at me, splashing my beer on me. I cursed him out as he laughed, and after a moment, I joined him.


    We drank and talked for another few hours until the big guy fell asleep on my couch, snoring like a freight train. Rather than try and sleep quite yet, I headed to my workshop. The first new batch of AA was done, so I immediately removed the metal plates, which were still hot, and started another batch. When that was done, I got the fabricator going, making sure it had plenty of materials to do its work. It wouldn''t get the plates done since that was obviously a different shape, but the scales for the first two pairs of AA underarmors would be done by the time I woke up. When I was done setting that up, I spent a few minutes transferring and labeling my designs for the TEMP and the G-hack, fitting them onto a shard.


    I did my nightly routine and started the Elerium generator before climbing into my bed, falling asleep pretty easily despite the sound of a small jet engine coming from my couch.


    ----------------------------


    The next morning, Jackie and I both woke up to the sound of someone pounding on my door. I was up and out of bed before I knew what was happening, and Jackie sleepily drew his pistol, looking around a bit confused.


    "You good?" I asked, making my way to the door, Jackie nodding as he lowered his weapon, though he didn''t holster it quite yet.


    I opened the door to see a man dressed in casual clothes, probably a few years younger than me. Two other people stood a bit further back, and all three of them had several bits of visible cyberware.


    "Got something for Jackson?" He said, nodding to a large box sitting on a wheeled trolley. "From Padre."


    I nodded, and while Jackie stood idly watching the door, I went into my workshop, grabbed the shard, and slid it into a small container before exiting and handing it to the man. Jackie and I then used the trolley to move the fabricator into my workshop. It fit nicely next to the AA smelter. I could tell that if I kept expanding, I would be running into some space issues soon if I wanted to keep most of my work stuff in my workshop. It wasn''t quite a problem yet, but it was only a matter of time before it was. Once I was done moving everything, I thanked the delivery guy with a tip before he transferred over a large chunk of eddies, the second half of my payment.


    Fifty thousand eddies, all for a few day''s work. I now had enough money to fund my work for a while or to increase my capabilities significantly. But first, I needed to complete Padre''s order.


    Jackie ended up leaving not long after the delivery, saying he needed to head back home so he could get ready for a date. I reminded him that we would be meeting up in a few days to head out to the Badlands for some target practice as he left.


    Once my friend was gone, I got to work. I now had quite a few things to take care of, and while I wasn''t under such a heavy weight since there was no ticking clock until I lost access to something, I still wanted to get everything done. My first task was surprise, surprise, a rather large shopping spree online. I knew by now I must be drawing some attention from my neighbors with how much stuff I was buying, but I was really hoping that Night City''s systemic indifference towards anything that didn''t benefit someone would keep anyone from doing anything stupid.


    I was just ordering a second arm to help automate the second fabricator when I realized something. My network, which was what air-gapped from any other network, was connecting to the internet. At first, I panicked a bit, thinking that I had actually been open to cyber-attacks and netrunners this whole time. But the closer I looked at the system, the more my panic faded into confusion. By every metric that I could see, including several scans with some of my tools, my computer was not connected to the net. Yet I was using it to do research and order materials.


    After confirming for the third time that I was still very much air-gapped, with no connection to the net, I finally gave up. The only explanation I could think of was that the entities had been even more helpful than I had originally thought when setting up my new digs. Of course, my first thought after coming to that conclusion was if it would protect me if I used my computer to hack something risky. Thankfully, the entities also improved my intelligence since I was able to immediately realize that risking the perfect internal security because I wanted to take advantage of it was beyond stupid.


    With my momentary distraction settled for now, I turned to focus on my tasks. First, I set up Spot to review the new fabricators'' programming, cleaning it of any back doors or suspicious junk. I would check his work, but since we had already done this for the circuit board printer, I was confident he could do it on his own.


    If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    With shopping and Spot all set, I started the original fabricator up to fashion out the plates of the under armor, letting it work as I focused on getting the scales attached. By the time I finished the first two sets of underarmor, the materials to make the third and final one were also done. It was mentally grueling, but I managed to finish the order at around dinner time. Jackie had volunteered to transport the finished product, so I called him up. He didn''t have much time to chat, but he stuck around long enough for me to treat him to dinner. I ended up getting some pizza delivered from one of the businesses built into the megabuilding.


    When we finished, Jackie headed out with a duffel bag, and I returned to my workshop. I wanted to give redesigning my mag weapons a shot before I went to bed. I was pretty sure that the sniper rifle I had designed, between the ammo and the buff of base parts, was at least slightly superior to the XCOM version. I didn''t think it was close to the level of the plasma lance, but better was always better, even if it''s only slightly.


    As I was digitally disassembling the design and reworking it into something less slapdash and more professional, I considered what the original rifle was built for. <u>My first design</u></a> attempt looked and would have functioned more like a DMR than an assault rifle. It was too long to be used reliably indoors, especially in high-stress combat. So, I shortened the stock and cut off two of the mag coils from the barrel, reducing the length by a full fifth. It knocked down the power a bit, but the sniper was all I needed for long-range. Besides, despite the reduction, it was still slightly more powerful than the original rifle. The best part of the redesign was the accuracy increase I would get from redesigning the ammo, the increase in magazine size, and the use of two compact Elerium nodes instead of the previous charging system.


    Or at least it would be when I finished building it, which I did the following morning, having spent the night waking up periodically to switch out the fabricator jobs. With both of them running, it meant that by the time I woke up and finished modifying the premade pieces, all of the metal, polymer, and AA parts were complete. I also spent some time between installing the feeder arm to the second fabricator as well as setting up a second 3D printer that I had bought. At this point, I had seriously ramped up my production capability.


    At around noon, I took a break, heading out of the megabuilding to do some shopping on my own. My primary destination was the nearest gunshop. I needed to buy a scope for the sniper rifle and sights for my rifle and pistol. After looking around a bit, I eventually settled for a simple hologram sight for the pistol and a red dot for the rifle. I was tempted to splurge a bit and get something really high quality, but by cyberpunk standards, my guns were pretty dumb, meaning they had no sensors or data to connect to or send to the telemetry of the more high-end scopes and sights.


    Once I had my intended purchases, I headed to a few different shops, purchasing a few bags of materials, mostly stuff to refill the AA smelter and Elerium generator since I knew I would be needing more of that. Once it was all loaded up the back seat of my truck I headed home, lugging it up to my apartment after I parked.


    The rest of the morning and early afternoon was spent attaching the scopes to my rifle and sniper rifle before starting on the pistol. By comparison to the other redesigns, the<u> pistol''s</u></a> was relatively easy, as I wasn''t really trying to do anything special. Like the other redesigns, using Elerium nodes, only one this time, saved a significant amount of room, which I put to use by increasing the number of mag coils. Beyond that, I really just streamlined everything, focusing on magazine size and power since even if I focused everything on accuracy, there was only so much you could do for a pistol. Better to keep it as a backup that I know will put down any motherfucker who tried to get close.


    Between my improved production and my advanced knowledge of the systems, I managed to make the pistol in record time. I was stocking up on ammo and mags when Jackie let me know he was on his way. I told him to park in the garage and that I would meet him down there so we could take the truck.


    As we drove out of the city and into the Badlands, me in the driver''s seat and Jackie sitting shotgun, he reached out and turned off the radio, which was already on low.


    "So, Jay, I know most of that scratch is for supplies and stuff¡­ But maybe you should consider getting chipped," He suggested, leaning back into his seat.


    I clicked my teeth, already shaking my head and preparing to shut him down when he held up his hands.


    "Relax, pendejo, I know the idea doesn''t exactly appeal to you, but there is plenty of meatware and simple stuff that doesn''t have much of an impact on you," He explained. "I got a friend, my ripperdoc. He''s a great guy, and I can introduce you. He says that there is a whole list of bioware and cyberware you can get that won''t interfere with your day-to-day."


    "Then what''s the point?" I asked, internally wincing at my petulant response.


    "They''ll keep you from getting zeroed, gonk!" Jackie said, rolling his eyes and shaking his head. "He said that there is a whole list of cyberware that doesn''t have any shit that can be hacked. You''re not the first person to be paranoid about netrunners and quickhackers, Jay."


    I glanced over at my choom, who was looking at me with a "don''t be stupid" look. I could tell he was just repeating some of the stuff he was saying, but I could also tell he was genuinely worried. I focused back on the road, pulling off the asphalt onto a dirty path, the same one we had pulled down before when we were testing the AA armor.


    "You understand how it weirds me out, right?" I asked, stopping the truck under the same wind turbine shadow.


    "I know choom, I get it. But I asked about it, and Vik assured me there would be something for you, though real, wet bioware is on the rare, more expensive side," He explained as we both exited the truck.


    We walked around to the back of the large vehicle, meeting behind the truck bed. As I unlatched and pulled down the tailgate, Jackie continued.


    "Look, all I''m saying is you should go in and talk to the Doc. He knows his stuff, and he won''t try and push you any chrome you don''t need," He explained. When he caught the side-eyed look I was sending him, he shook his head. "I''m not pushing chrome on you, Jay. I''m trying to keep you from being flatlined by a stray. I got bone and muscle lacing done two years ago, and I haven''t regretted it for a second. I got some plates and subdermals on my head, too, to keep from being popped by some punk with a spitball. None of that can get hacked, and it could save your life, certainly saved mine a few times."


    I stopped, leaning on the tailgate, letting out a long breath as I looked into the truck bed. I could see my guns, plus three boxes of ammo stuffed into a couple of plastic boxes, but that wasn''t what I was focused on. I couldn''t argue that Jackie wasn''t right. I had done my own research since I first landed here, and I knew the kind of mods he was talking about. In all honesty, the only thing stopping me from getting some of the less noticeable but still useful mods was my own hang-ups and the fact that I might be able to make something better eventually.


    But I needed to get there first, so I was only hurting myself.


    "Alright, I will go talk to your ripper," I said, reaching forward and dragging the boxes to the tailgate. "But! You have to let me build you some armor. Something that you have to actually wear when you go out on gigs."


    Now it was Jackies turn to click his teeth, letting out an aggrieved wounded sound, shaking his head.


    "The same argument goes right back at you, choom," I pointed out. "I can make you something basic, something that looks good and will keep your vitals safe."


    "Fine, fine. I''m not wearing a full like your Alloy suit, but if you make it look good¡­"


    "Yeah, yeah, I can make it look good."


    "Gracias amigo, looking good has its own uses," Jackie pointed out. You saw how the clean-up crew reacted to you looking like a borg. You''d be surprised just what you can get by looking lethal or by being a harmless guy from Heywood with soulful eyes."


    He gave me a wide-eyed, innocent look like he was confident in himself but still naive about the ways of the world. I''m pretty sure half of it was his optics, but I also had to admit that if I didn''t know him already, it would have been at least partially effective. I scoffed and tossed him a magazine for the new mag rifle before reaching into one of the boxes and lifting out the actual rifle. Jackie let out a long whistle, accepting the weapon from me.


    "Choom¡­ I gotta admit, that first rifle was a bit¡­ well it looked like it was made custom," He said politely. "This¡­ It looks like it should still be hot from the assembly line. This is preem shit."


    I chuckled and nodded in agreement. Even after replacing the skeletonized shell with something more substantial, the base mag weapons looked like someone had made them in a garage, a symptom of the pressure they were under when they designed them. With as many threats as they were facing, who cared what it looked like, as long as they worked.


    "I know. That''s why I wanted to redesign them so badly," I said, pulling out the pistol, which really got Jackie''s attention. "I think they came out pretty good."


    We spent a few minutes setting up a few handmade targets, just a few broken down corrugated plastic boxes with circles drawn on them, set up along and hung in some of the many cactuses growing in the Badlands. When our impromptu range was set up, I hopped up on the truck tailgate and gestured to Jackie, who was now holding the pistol.


    "Go ahead, Jackie, give it a whirl."


    He nodded, turning to the targets and raising the weapon, firing it off with no hesitation, first in a single shot, then in a three-round burst that was so fast the sonic booms coming off the bullets blended together. Jackie was suitably impressed, firing a few more times before turning back to me, holding out the pistol so I could try.


    "Not bad, Jay. The three-round burst is hard to control, but damn, I could feel it packs a punch," He said, making me smirk as I slid off the truck bed and took the pistol back from him.


    I aimed down the holo reticule, taking a moment to adjust my stance. In all honesty, I didn''t know that much about shooting, save for some range time when I was a bit younger and still in my old world.


    I fired the pistol, liking the feel of the single shot but ultimately agreeing that the triple shot for a pistol was a lot to control. What I liked even more, though, was the complete lack of firing sound. Previously, the original mag guns made a very distinct sound as the Elirium charging system cycled and fired, sounding more like an energy weapon than the whip cracking of an actual mag weapon. Now, however, since I ditched the old charge system for Elerium nodes, that sound is gone, leaving only the loud woosh and crack that accompanied a projectile breaking the sound barrier.


    With a smirk, I adjusted my grip on the pistol, holding it in my left hand and using my right to adjust a small lever along one side. With a simple shift, I cut the power significantly, slowing down the projectile. After a few practice shots, I scaled the power level perfectly so the projectile didn''t break the sound barrier. It was far from silent. The projectile still made a whipping noise that echoed a bit across the empty desert, but it was remarkably quieter than a normal gun with a silencer.


    I smirked at Jackie''s dazed look before dropping the pistol''s mag, checking to see how many more rounds I had in it before sliding it back into place and mag dumping the rest. At the lower power settings, the triple tap was much more manageable, to the point that I could keep all three shots on the nearest target, nearly fifteen meters away. When I was done, I smirked and passed the pistol back to Jackie.


    "That worked pretty well," I said, taking the rifle off the tailgate and giving it a quick look over. "C''mon, grab the sniper, I really want to put these things through their paces."

 Chapter Nine

    Jackie and I spent the next few hours testing out all three of my new and improved mag weapons. We burned through just about all of the custom, high-accuracy ammo I had made, putting all three weapons through their paces. By the end of the second hour, Jackie and I were consistently using the mag sniper to tap our furthest target successfully, which was about a eight hundred meters out. We even started spotting cacti, rocks, and trash past that. It was impressive, especially considering how little range time we had with the new sniper rifle or snipers in general.


    Jackie was confident that, in the right hands, the sniper would be able to hit targets twice the distance we were hitting. He also guessed that if I invested in some smart tech for it, then it would be triple. Personally, I was happy with what it was already a powerful sniper rifle that couldn''t be hacked to jam or overheat.


    The basic mag rifle performed brilliantly, and Jackie agreed that I absolutely made the right choice in trimming it down a bit. It was relatively lightweight, easy to fire and reload, and, like both of the other weapons, could be shifted down until fired projectiles didn''t break the sound barrier. I spent a while dialing in that setting for each weapon, marking down the settings so I could machine out a guide along the adjuster.


    When we were finally done testing the weapons, we piled back into the truck and drove back to Night City, leaving the dead and barren Badlands behind us.


    When we pulled into the megabuilding parking structure, Jackie and I agreed to meet up the next day to visit Vik sometime early in the afternoon. After that, we said our goodbyes and split up, with him riding out of the building on his motorcycle while I carried my gear back up to my apartment.


    Thankfully, with all the ammo gone and the pistol now on my hip, it only took one trip.


    I let out a sigh of relief as I stepped into my room, the chilled air running over me, an amazing feeling after having spent so much time in the hot, sandy hellscape that was the Badlands. It made me wonder how the nomad families could stand living their lifestyle. In my old world, living on the road, outside the rules and stress of civilization, sounded like a halfway-decent retirement fantasy. Here, it felt more like a painful and exhausting nightmare.


    Then, the ambient distant gunshots and screaming reminded me that living in cities was just as hellish, if not more so. Still, I spent a few minutes just enjoying the cool air before changing out of my dirty clothes and into something more relaxing. Eventually, after having a quick, barely stomachable lunch, I walked into my workshop.


    I sat down at the computer, staring at the black screen for a moment. Eventually, after about a minute of just sitting and thinking, I turned the computer on, opened my CAD program, and got to work.


    Ever since I finished the <u>fusion blade</u></a>, I had wanted to redesign it from the ground up. It was just a straight-up bad design, despite the tech it used being quite potent. Unfortunately, I had put it aside since, technically, the current form was functional, and I had been working on a schedule. Now, though, I had some time, and I want to do it right. Rather than start from my previous design, I started from scratch, working quickly to create the general idea, before fleshing it out completely.


    My primary, major issue with the original design was the fact that it was a one-sided blade with a ridiculous-looking and dysfunctional bar and cap on it. There was no way the bar did anything other than get in the way of your cuts, and the blunt cap at the end made stabbing, one of the most crucial abilities for a sword, impossible. These issues were teh result of some pretty undeniable limitations in the tech. Specifically, it had a lot of internal parts that needed to go somewhere. In the original design, almost all of that fit into the bar and cap behind the singular edge.


    For my design, I basically took the bar, extended it to the side, flattened it slightly, and introduced a curve. With the extended room, I fit the parts for a second blade, this one on the other side. The only thing that was left was a final, third "blade" that formed the tip. The spine of the blade was a little thick, but between the curve going down to the blades and using superior cyberpunk tech to minimize the size of the parts, it was thin enough not to get in the way when slashing or stabbing at something.


    <u>My final design had</u></a> a two-foot-long blade and was shaped like a classic longsword, even if the spine was a bit on the thicker side. Since pulling out a sword every time I wanted to cut something would get old fast, I also designed a similar but much smaller knife I could carry on my hip.


    Because both of the blades would mostly be made from Alien Alloy, they would be pretty expensive to make, more than any single weapon I had made so far. To keep from wasting money and materials, I decided to scrap my old mag weapons, the plasma rifle, and the original fusion blade. Doing so would extend the time it took to make them, but it would also basically make them free. As I started disassembling stuff, I couldn''t help but smile at the idea of showing Night City how the longsword would beat a katana any day of the week.


    Sure, Katanas were culturally interesting, and the process used to make them traditionally was fascinating, but the romanticized obsession that people had about them was mostly based on crap. They were effective weapons at the time of their invention, but they aren''t the end-all, be-all melee weapons, and they take a hilarious amount of skill and training to wield properly. Meanwhile, a standard longsword was easier to make, easier to train with, easier to use, and significantly sturdier. Sure, they weren''t perfect, but no one claimed that they were, either.


    As it started to get late, I finished disassembling the old mag rifle and the plasma rifle, feeding the AA back into the smelter to work down in more usable stock. I set aside the rest of the parts to go over the following morning before setting up the two fabricators to start making some of the smaller internal pieces. With everything working, I headed to bed, falling asleep almost instantly.


    The next morning, I continued to work on my sword and knife, fully disassembling the two rifles and getting the recycled AA into the fabricators. One of the last steps was to use the circuit board printer to make a custom control system for both of the blades. No more activating every time I grabbed them. Instead, there was a toggle switch on the side of each blade. I also added an emergency shut-off that activated if the blade spun around the wrong axis too fast, which could only happen if it was knocked out of my hands. That could also be disabled, as could the shut-off attached to a water sensor.


    When I finally assembled both my new weapon and my new piece of equipment, I tested them both, switching them on. They hummed with pale blue energy as a blade of concentrated plasma ignited all around the weapon''s edges. I stepped out of the slightly cramped workspace so I could swing the sword a bit, each movement agitating the hum the weapon made, making it louder and somehow more aggressive.


    I had to resist the urge to slash as something to test its abilities, like the couch, instead choosing to deactivate it and carry it back into the workshop. There, I set up a bit of a test, a polymer rod held in a clamp. Rather than try and swing the fusion sword around, I turned on the knife, slashing at the newly printed test rod. The smaller blade managed to cut through the thick rod with very little trouble, which honestly wasn''t surprising. It was also able to deeply score and partially melt a similar dimensioned bar of steel. It did not cut through it completely, but the fact that it managed to slash into it at all was impressive.


    I deactivated the tool and set it aside, taking a moment to debate making a sheath for them both. They were still sharp when the plasma was turned off, but the AA meant that the edge was not going too dull from normal wear and tear. Since the sword would most likely be going on my back, I decided I only needed to make one for my knife. I quickly whipped up a flexible polymer sheath that I riveted to the fake leather of my pistol holster. Now, I would be able to grab it with my right hand whenever I needed it.


    With my latest project done, I left the workshop behind, grabbing my new sword on the way out. The ceiling of my apartment wasn''t high enough to seriously swing my sword around, but I at least wanted to get a feel for it. I didn''t turn it on because I didn''t want to lose any fingers, so I would leave that for when I had my warden armor on. For now, I experimented with stabs, slashes, and a few simple cuts, constantly aware of the roof over my head. I managed to avoid hitting it for the most part, and the AA construction held strong the few times I did.


    Eventually, I actually worked up a decent sweat, swinging around my new melee weapon. It was light, especially in comparison to what an iron or steel sword would be at that size, but I was still moving around the room a lot.


    Unfortunately, while I felt a bit more confident swinging it around by the time I stashed it back in my workshop, it was obvious that I had very little actual skill with it. My strikes were clumsy, my thrusts were inconsistent, and the simple fact that I occasionally hit things I didn''t mean to mean that if I ever met someone actually trained in sword fighting, I would be hilariously outclassed, at least in terms of fighting prowess.


    Still, it would be useful in some circumstances, I''m sure.


    When I was done messing around, I hopped into the shower and cleaned off. My mind drifted off as I went through a delayed morning routine. I could hear Spot flying around in the main room, picking up my mess and straightening up the place. I had updated him twice at this point, just some simple extra programs to help him clean and keep the place neat, and so far, they were working well. His control program was still just a simple response program with no learning methods, but it was still hard not to personify him. Especially when he was so helpful.


    When I was done with my routine, I headed to my workshop, not to work but to clean up. While Spot kept the main room of the apartment clean, I didn''t want him messing with the stuff I kept around the workshop. This meant I had to clean up after myself, which was another way of saying the room was a mess. I tried to clean up as I went along, but that was hard to do when time was so precious.


    I was an hour in to cleaning the room when my door alarm rang out again, and this time I had a pretty good idea of who it was. I dusted off my hands before making my way to the door, opening it to let Jackie in.


    "Hey man, I''ll be ready in a minute," I said, stepping back to quickly get dressed.


    "No rush choom," Jackie responded, surreptitiously looking around the apartment, and I couldn''t help but smirk when I realized what he was doing.


    "I''m not going to have something new every time you visit," I said with a smirk, tugging at my belt holster to make sure it was firmly strapped on, checking that the fusion knife and mag pistol were firmly in their holders.


    "You haven''t missed yet," Jackie retorted, looking over at me. When he spotted my smirk, he narrowed his eyes. "You got something genio, I can feel you wanted to show off."


    "Go check out the workshop," I said, unable to deny his words.


    Jackie nodded and stepped into the workshop, letting out a muffled "Dios Mio" before coming back out as I slid on my jacket. He was holding my sword in a two-handed grip, looking at it with wide eyes.


    "You made a thermal sword?" He asked, holding the it parallel to the floor as he looked it over. "It looks cool, but you know you could just buy one at any weapons dealer in the city, right?"


    "One, only if I wanted a Katana," I pointed out, my choom accepting the point with a shrug. "And two, it''s not a thermal blade. Flick the switch where the grip meets the cross guard. And be careful, it''s sharp as fuck."


    It took a second for him to figure it out how to turn it on, but when he did he nearly dropped it, the blade coming to life, casting a pale blue shadow along his hands and chest. His eyes went wide and he firmed up his grip.


    "Why do I get the feeling that''s not mood-lighting choom?" he asked, moving the blade slightly, immediately stopping as its hum got louder. "The hell is this?"


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    "It''s a fusion sword," I explained. "A thin line of plasma is held around the edge of the blade, massively increasing the weapon''s cutting power."


    "Choom, why do you keep making stuff you can''t use?" He asked with a frown.


    "I''ll admit, I was a bit na?ve about the plasma guns," I said, now wearing my own frown "But I can use this. Even without the plasma it''s an incredibly sharp blade, since my special alloy holds an incredibly dangerous edge. And you said it yourself, when you don''t turn it on, it looks just like a thermal blade."


    "Until you turn it on," He repeated, slowly like he thought I was dumb.


    "Only in emergencies," I explained. "Until then, it''s just a really sharp sword."


    "Yeah¡­ alright, that''s fair enough," he admitted. "You never know when you might need a little extra. Just how good is it at cutting?"


    "Much better than a thermal blade," I assured him, standing up straight and adjusting my underarmor before nodding. "Alright, I''m all set."


    "Great. Oh, by the way, Misty, my input? She owns a... well it''s like a mystic shop, Misty''s Esoterica. It''s right by Viks," He explained. "She is kind of like his secretary¡­ Actually, don''t tell her I called her that¡­ You''ll see."


    Technically, I had already seen it, but I did my best to seem like this was new information. I had already assumed we would be stopping by to see Misty, as that was how she was introduced in the game. Thankfully, I hadn''t said anything because I had no reason to already know any of that.


    "Alright Jackie, lets get going," I said with a smile. "Can''t wait to meet her."


    We left my apartment after Jackie stored my new sword away in the workshop, heading down to the parking garage. The drive to Viks, or more specifically Misty''s shop, was longer than I had anticipated since they were both in Little China, and Megabuilding H2 was down at the bottom of Wellsprings. It was nice driving through a part of the city that I had never seen before. Even if there were reminders of fucked this Earth was around every corner, it was hard not to be impressed by the sheer scale of the buildings.


    Driving on plated roads, which most of the central city used, was also very strange. It was the smoothest ride I had ever had, without a single pothole or bump. It was so smooth that I kept looking down at the speedometer to find I was going significantly faster than I had thought.


    When we finally arrived at the shop, after driving around for a minute to find a spot to park, Jackie led me in. It was hard not to laugh at the change in his posture, clearly adding a bit of swagger for his girlfriend.


    The shop smelled pleasantly of burning incense, a spicy, woody scent that seemed at least similar to cinnamon. I could see lit candles all around the place, alongside several different religious or spiritual statues and effigies. I even spotted a bible tucked into a corner, almost hidden away. It seemed like by 2077, even Christianity, or one of its offshoots, was considered among the strange and spiritualistic. At least in Night City.


    Gentle chimes played as we stepped in further, getting the attention of the short-haired blonde girl standing behind the counter.


    "Jackie! Good to see you," She said, coming around the counter to give the significantly taller man a hug. "Was wondering if you were running late."


    "Nah, Jackson here just needed to get ready," He explained, returning the hug before turning slightly, his arm behind her back, while his other gestured to me. "Misty, meet my new choom, Jackson."


    Misty stepped forward and gave me a quick, chaste hug, pulling back to lean against Jackie.


    "So you''re the techie who finally got Jackie some protection?" She asked with a smile. "Thank you for that. I tried to convince Jackie that I was only teasing when I told him I didn''t like subdermals, but the gonk wouldn''t listen."


    `"No problem. The next step is getting him into some armor," I said, shooting Jackie a smirk. "I gotta make him some since I agreed to come and look at some chrome."


    "Is that right?" She asked, looking at Jackie in a way that made him wince. "Well, thank you. It''s nice knowing he''s got someone working the tech side, though I gotta admit, it strange ta hear a Techie not eager for more chrome."


    "It''s how I was raised," I said with a shrug. "Parents kept us real sheltered. For most of my life, I didn''t even know cyberware was a thing."


    "Jackie mentioned that," She admitted with an empathetic frown. "Jumping to Night City after living like that must have been one hell of a transition. If you ever need spiritual help, maybe a chakra realignment, I''m happy to help."


    "Thank you, that means a lot," I said sincerely. I may not believe the same things as she did, but it was still clearly an offer to help, which was always appreciated. "I''ve always wanted to learn how to meditate, to center myself. If you''ve got anything on that¡­?"


    "I can get some stuff together for you. Have it ready for when you''re done with Vik," She said, eyes lighting up as she nodded with a smile. "Are you looking more or less of the spiritual side?"


    "Less, for now," I admitted with a wince. "I''m not really looking for anything more at the moment."


    "No problem!"


    The three of us chatted for a while before we eventually excused ourselves, stepping out the back door of Misty''s shop and heading down to Vik''s. As the door shut behind us, Jackie thanked me for taking Misty seriously, as it was, apparently, an ongoing issue.


    "Last friend I introduced assumed she was pushing drugs and that the spiritual stuff was all just a cover," He explained, shaking his head. "Kept stopping by, looking for cheap glitter. We don''t talk anymore."


    A glowing green light marked the stairs down into Vik''s workspace, and after stepping over a cardboard box or three, we descended downward. The door opened automatically for Jackie, who walked through without hesitation. On the other side were a shelf, some boxes, and a metal gate system, which Jackie tapped and opened with practiced ease. The interior was lit red by several faux neon lights, as well as some more normal lights towards the center of the room. There, in the red corner, was Viktor, sitting on a low chair.


    "Vik! How''s it going?" Jackie called out, the familiar-looking man spinning to face us before standing out of his chair to greet Jackie with a bro hug. "I brought Jackson with me, just like you asked."


    "Jackie, good to see you again," The pseudo-doctor said before looking over at me and extending a hand. "Jackson, it''s good to meet you. Any friend of Jackie is a friend of mine."


    "It''s nice to meet you too, Vik."


    I smiled and returned his handshake, looking around as Viktor dropped back into his seat. I turned around to see Jackie pushing a second chair out of a dark corner of the room, pushing it to me before he sat down on the edge of the surgery chair. Taking the offered seat, I turned to focus on Viktor, who had been watching me the whole time.


    "I gotta say, it''s been a long time since I''ve gotten a completely organic person your age in here," He admitted with a chuckle. "Usually, it''s just kids coming in for their first neural link."


    "Yeah, it''s a whole thing," I responded. "Parents didn''t believe in cyberware, so I didn''t even know it existed. Real sheltered upbringing."


    "You must be far out of town then," He said, sounding surprised.


    "You got no idea, Doc," I said, my voice sounding heavier than I intended. Both Jackie and Vik clearly caught it, but neither mentioned it past a concerned look and a raised eyebrow.


    "Well, I don''t know what Jackie has been saying, but I''m not gonna tell you you need to get chipped," Vik said, leaning back on his seat. "What I can do is show you some cyberware that fits in around your worries. Whether you decide to get them is up to you."


    "Jackie already convinced me that if I''m going to be working with him, I need an extra layer of protection," I admitted, running my fingers through my hair. "I''m not about to hack off a limb or put in anything that can be connected to, but I do need something to give me an edge."


    "Well, the good news is we have some stuff like that," He said with a smile. "The bad news is the list is a lot smaller than normal cyber or bioware. It''s also more expensive."


    "I''m not hurting for cash too much, Doc, so let''s see what you got."


    Vik nodded and gestured me over to his desk, pulling up a catalog of sorts on his computer. I rolled closer to get a better view while Jackie stood up to look over our shoulders.


    The catalog he showed us was broken up into three sections. The first was his own selection, stuff he had on hand or stored at a nearby safe location. After that was a chunk of options that other rippers had, a sort of ripper network. These were slightly more expensive, on average, since he would have to pay for the cyberware, plus a decent cut to the ripper he was buying it from. The network was set up with other rippers he considered to be trustworthy, which meant it was a pretty small list, all things considered. The third and final group was just stuff he could order from other sellers. Most of it was low-grade civilian stuff, but at least a few options on that list were solid chrome. It was also a lot more expensive because he would be buying it from a company, usually new.


    We spent close to a half hour looking through the options. Out of everything, I was most interested in the skin weave, bone lace, and muscle lace. All three of them were nanite infusions that would weave fibers into their specific target, increasing resiliency and, in the case of muscle lace, their effectiveness. None of them were cheap, but not only would they greatly improve my survivability, but they were easily removed as well. Each would take a couple of weeks to complete, but all three were extremely tempting. Before I could select one or multiple of them, Vik made a different offer.


    "I¡­ also may have a lead on something special. Bioware advanced enough that I wouldn''t usually get access to it," He explained. "But a corpo Doc I know from back in the day had a client skip out on him, a corpo who claimed he had the money."


    Vik tapped on a few things before pulling up an email and showing off what looked like a pretty significant chunk of an organ. What organ it was, I had no idea.


    "This is a bio-nanosurgeon hive," he explained. "All one hundred percent bioware, meaning no batteries, no neural link, and no hacking. The only difference you will notice is a slightly increased appetite¡­ and a supplement you must take once a week or after a major injury."


    "I think I can guess, but what does it do?" I asked, leaning in to take a closer look.


    "It uses the food you eat to make and maintain a decent-sized swarm of Nanosurgeons that percolate through your bloodstream," He explained. "They will heal minor injuries in seconds and major injuries in a few minutes, but that uses up the swarm real quick. Hence the supplement after any major injury.


    "Damn, someone skipped over that?" Jackie asked from behind us. "That sounds preem."


    "Well, it''s not going to perform miracles, but it will help keep you from bleeding out, cut down your recovery time, and let you keep going from an injury that would normally knock you down," Vik continued. "It is not a replacement for actual medical care or a cure-all. You get stabbed or shot more than once, and you''re gonna have a bad time. It also doesn''t regrow limbs, obviously. It might fix a fingertip, but beyond that, it''s not gonna work."


    "That sounds expensive as hell, Doc," I pointed out, and he snorted.


    "That''s cause it is. Normally this would be near thirty to thirty-five thousand eddies," He answered. "But the problem is that these kinds of Bioware? They have a shelf life. Without someone to carry it soon, it will basically go bad. I put out some feelers for bioware you might like and my friend reached out. Basically, he is just trying to get it out before it''s useless. It barely has enough time left to make it here."


    I chewed my lip for a long moment before leaning back in my chair. After a moment, I looked at Vik.


    "Tell it to me straight. What do you think?"


    "I think you are incredibly lucky," He said with a smirk. "If I didn''t already know Jackie wasn''t interested, I would be offering it to him. This kind of bioware is made on demand, for people with connection I certainly don''t have."


    "How much?"


    "Seventeen grand, plus eight for installation and delivery."


    "Jesus Christ¡­" I said, letting out a long breath. Eventually, I nodded. "Alright, you convinced me. Make the order."

 Chapter Ten

    We stayed at Viks for another hour or so, discussing the bioware implantation process, what I needed to do, and the schedule. On my side, all I really needed to do was not eat anything the day before the surgery. It wasn''t technically required, but it would reduce some risks and made Vik''s job easier.


    Vik also went out of his way to make sure I understood exactly what having the bio-nanosurgeon hive implant meant. He didn''t want me getting any delusions of grandeur. The implant could certainly save my life, but it did not make me Wolverine, not that Jackie or Vik got my reference. I could heal a bit if I got injured, but I wasn''t going to heal gaping wounds or missing limbs.


    With my expectations fully tempered, he did admit that the nano hive would drastically lower recovery time for any more invasive implants. It wouldn''t do anything for things like muscle or bone lace or skinweave bioware I had been looking at, but it would help if I got something that required cutting me up. I wasn''t planning on getting many more implants like that, but it was nice to have the option.


    Once we were done discussing the options and the order was made, I left Vik''s shop, cutting through Misty''s shop to do so. She happily handed me some information about meditation, including some calming ambient noises and some incense. I was genuinely interested in learning meditation, so I was eager to accept and pay for her help. The process of scanning and looking through my tech trees was cerebral and strange, and I was hoping that learning some mental discipline and calming techniques would help me handle that better.


    Jackie stayed behind as he wanted to talk to Vik about boxing and, after that, spend some time with Misty.


    I arrived home not long after I left Vik''s shop, stopping at a drive-thru to grab a burger and some fries. Honestly, out of all the food I had eaten so far in this reality, the greasy, fast-food burger and its accompanying fries were the closest to the food I was familiar with, tasting like vaguely bad McDonald''s. It was definitely the kind of food that becomes more and more inedible the longer you look at it and the cooler it gets.


    As I was cleaning up from my meal, I headed into my workshop. I needed to make Jackie some armor, especially now that I had told Misty about it. As I worked through the beginnings of a design, puzzling out how to make sure it was functional and looked good enough that Jackie would actually wear it, I heard the call button for my door. The bell came through clearly in the workshop through a secondary speaker in case someone was sealed inside and couldn''t hear the normal one.


    I frowned, tapping my computer to turn off my screen before making my way out of the workshop and to the door. I looked through the mini camera, checking to see who was on the other side. To my surprise, it was a <u>woman</u></a>, maybe a year or two younger than me, with shocking blue hair. It flowed down one side of her face, the rest of it braided into a long, thick ponytail, which ran down her back and out of sight. Her eyes were a pale blue, with irises that were too big and perfect to be anything but cyberware. She appeared to be holding a box, and after a moment of waiting, she frowned, reaching out to press the call button again.


    With a sigh, I slid my pistol back into my holster before tapping the control to open the security controls, the thick, dense door sliding to the side.


    "Oh! Hey, hi, how are you?" She asked with a smile, her eyes shifting to a pale purple as she did. "I''m your neighbor!"


    I raised my eyebrow and followed her finger, which was pointing down the hall to the next door from mine. I looked back to the still-smiling woman, who then energetically thrust the box out to me.


    "This is yours, I think. It was delivered to me by accident a few days ago..." She said, trailing off with a wince.


    Her admittance actually caught me off guard. It wasn''t the fact that something had been misdelivered. That was honestly inevitable, especially with how much I had been ordering. No, it was the fact that she actually made an effort to return it to me rather than just throwing it out or, even more likely, selling it for a few eddies. Honestly, if it wasn''t such a blatant, strange, and suspicious thing to do in this city, I would have assumed this was some sort of spying attempt. Even so, I could already feel my anxiety spike.


    "Ah, I see. Thank you," I responded, finally accepting the box and looking down to examine it, noticing that the seal had been broken. "And you looked inside?"


    I asked, lifting up one of the plastic flaps to look inside. As far as I could tell, the internal packaging wasn''t breached, but to a determined person, that didn''t really mean anything. I looked up at the woman, who now looked slightly annoyed.


    "Yeah, my brother opened it up when he brought it inside," She explained. "Gonk was watching my apartment and thought he could pawn it if it was anything good."


    "Yeah¡­ that''s about what I would expect," I admitted. "Well¡­ thanks for returning it."


    "No problem!" She said with a smile. "Take care!"


    Before I could say anything else, she walked away, heading right to her room. Her ponytail bounced and swung as she walked, a particularly energetic bounce in her step. As I watched her leave, she sent me a look over her shoulder, her grin growing to a smirk as she disappeared inside her own apartment.


    With a snort, I shook my head, stepping back into my own apartment, my door sealing behind me. As I walked back to my workshop I pulled the parts out of the box, inspecting said box closely before tossing it to the side. I then spent a good five minutes inspecting the contents of the box, checking for any unwelcome guests or tampering. I even had Spot look them over, looking for any tool marks my standard eyes wouldn''t be able to pick up. When even he came up negative, I reluctantly concluded that the woman was just actually being a good neighbor. I spent a minute putting the parts away before throwing away the packaging, Spot catching it before it even hit the ground. As he zipped away, I frowned with a sudden realization.


    "Huh¡­ didn''t even get her name."


    I debated going over and thanking her, but between her seemingly innocent and kind personality and my own crazy, potentially violent life, I figured it would only complicate things. If I was going to make friends, my best bet was people like Jackie, people who could take care of themselves and were used to fighting. In fact, networking with some reliable solos was probably a good idea, regardless of any need for friends. I''m sure there were plenty of people out there willing to work I exchange for some interesting gadgets and solid armor.


    Shaking my head free of the idea after a few moments of consideration, I instead focused back on my computer. I had three days of free time left, not including the rest of today. Between my surgery and the switch to my next tech tree, my time was limited, and I needed to get this done before we got our next job, which Jackie was hoping to find soon.


    Part of me wanted to tell Jackie I wasn''t interested in taking any more jobs, or clearing out scav dens, not after making so much money from selling my stuff to Padre. However, I knew that Jackie was never going to willingly give up Solo work, not until he felt he had made his mark on Night City. Despite how little time I had actually known him, I wasn''t about to leave him facing that alone. Maybe, over time, I would be able to temper his burning desire to cash in his life for a bit of fame, but until then, I would do my best to keep him alive.


    What else were chooms for, after all?


    As I worked, I considered what my real goal was for Jackie''s armor. While his death in the game would absolutely go down as a genuinely heartbreaking moment, my primary concern was not him getting shot in the stomach, not with the underarmor I made him. Don''t get me wrong, whatever I settled on would absolutely add protection to his torso, but the final design was mostly about protecting his head.


    I knew he had cyberware protection there, but as any armorer knew, real damage resistance was about layers. Layers were the key to stopping incoming damage, so my armor would be all about layers.


    My design for the helmet was pretty simple; well, actually, all of it was pretty simple. Jackie had made his position on full heavy armor clear, so there was no way for me to work in strength enhancement or anything. Instead, I used a miniaturized Elerium node to power a simple cooling and heating system, as well as an air filtration system. Eventually, after a few more tech trees, I was sure I would be able to work in a whole host of things, but for now, simple, comfortable, and effective was all I needed.


    When I was finished with my design, both the helmet and the torso, I sat back on my chair, blinking my eyes. A quick check of the time, and I cursed under my breath. It was late, much later than I had intended to work. I quickly set up the fabricators to print a few pieces and got the 3D printer up and working before getting ready for bed. By the time I lay down, my fatigue caught up to me, and I was out like a light.


    When I woke up the next morning, rather than immediately starting to work, I got through my morning routine as usual, then switched what the fabricators and 3D printers were working on before heading out of the apartment. After yesterday''s barely passable experience with a burger shop, I wanted to look a little harder for semi-decent food. I knew it was likely to be overly expensive, but I also knew I needed some source of edible food, or I would lose my mind.


    I made it all the way down to my truck, climbing into the driver''s seat and tapping the ignition before finally remembering that Vik asked me not to eat anything in preparation for the next day''s surgery. I let out a long groan, slapping my forehead off the steering wheel, sitting there like that for quite a few minutes.


    If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    When I eventually made my way back up to my room, I dove into putting Jackie''s armor together to distract myself from my growing hunger. The design and assembly process was pretty simple. The armor was a combination of AA, Kevlar material, and polymer plates, all of which were layered and overlapped to shore up any weak points. The eyes of the helmet were anti-fog-treated sapphire glass, reinforced and treated to be bullet extra resistant, which was what I used in my Alloy armor. When I was finally done putting it all together, it was just about noon. I called up Jackie as I tightened the last screws.


    "Hey, your armors ready," I said after my call connected. "Just need you to come by so I can fit it to you, make any adjustments."


    "Alright, fine," He said, obviously still not happy about the idea of wearing armor. "I''ll be by in an hour. Just gotta finish helping Mama Welles move some stock around."


    "Sure, I''ll be free," I responded before saying goodbye and hanging up.


    It took him a full two hours to show up, stepping into my apartment reluctantly.


    "Choom, come on, I really don''t-"


    Rather than listen to him try and worm his way out of the extra protection, I handed him his <u>new helmet</u></a>. He looked down at it, his jaw hanging a bit as he took it from me. The helmet, which looked like a cross between an oni mask and some high-tech armor, was blood red with gold fixtures and long black straps and bands. The straps and bands were what kept the helmet in place, but at least two-thirds of them were just for show. I reached out and tapped a button on the side of the chin, and the mask lit up, red light swelling up from behind the various seams and plate separations.


    It had a vague, loose Asian feel to it, but I was hoping that with the overwhelming Japanese and Asian cultural infusion that Night City enjoyed, people wouldn''t immediately connect that with the Tyger Claws.


    "Jackson¡­ this is fucking nova," He said, looking back up at me. "It¡­ looks like something from a corpo''s nightmare! No mames! I''m going to scare the shit out of people!"


    He immediately tried to start putting it on, but before he could, I handed him the rest of his <u>armor</u></a>. It was just chest, stomach, neck and back armor, made to be flexible but strong, with AA plating and reinforced by Kelvar. I specifically mimicked the metal ab armor type you sometimes see on superheroes, since I figured Jackie would like his armor to be as muscular as him. Most of the armor was red, with gold highlights and black kevlar behind that.


    "It''s nothing compared to what I wear around," I admitted. "But with this, you''re not gonna get popped by some lucky asshole who manages to get their hands on some higher caliber stuff."


    "Damn, Jay, this is great! The armor is cool, but fucking hell choom, that helmet is scary," He said with a big grin. "I like it!"


    "Well, put it on." I said, pushing the armor to him. "Let me know if it fits right."


    We spent about fifteen minutes getting both the helmet and armor to fit him perfectly. When we were done, we put both of the pieces into a box so he could carry them out of the building easily. When we were done, Jackie left to go get some lunch, and since I didn''t trust myself not to eat something, I stayed back at the apartment. We did agree that he would come by the next day to drive me to Vik''s, since I would likely not be up for driving when I was done getting sliced up.


    The rest of the day I spent idly working on my computer. Over the last couple of weeks, I had a few ideas for improving the CAD program I used for most of my design process. The biggest one was integrating a response program similar to a Gremlins. This one focused on smoothing out designs, anticipating errors, and looking out for mistakes that I could miss. It could even foresee potential issues with a design needing stronger materials or heavier reinforcement, though that was hit or miss.


    The goal was to speed up my CAD work by preventing me from making simple mistakes without noticing them. Sometimes, stuff like that was nothing, but occasionally, those types of errors cause a whole cavalcade of similar issues, all of which added up to a whole lot of extra work. With any luck, this would decrease the amount of time I spent working on the design process, especially when I was directly transferring the designs from my head to digital blueprints. Spot was a big help during the process, showing me how best to integrate new programming into an existing bit of software.


    When I was done messing around with that, I got to sleep early, actually using one of Misty''s calming ambient tracks to help. I had decided that for the next two nights of my seven-day break, I wouldn''t interrupt the night for anything and do my best to get a full night''s rest.


    Up to that point, I had been waking up every five hours or so to switch over and restock my AA smelter and Elerium generator, building up a decent-sized stockpile of both materials. Now, though, I wanted to get as much rest as possible, both because I was getting some not-insignificant surgery done early the next morning, and because it was the second-to-last day of my break. I wanted to be able to push myself pretty hard when my new tech tree locked in.


    The following morning, after spending some time idly adding some of the upgrades to the CAD system attached to the circuit board printer and desperately trying to ignore the free burritos just waiting for me in my home delivery system, Jackie came to pick me up. He joked about stopping by a pizza place to grab himself some lunch, but by this point, I was a bit grumpy when it came to food.


    Jackie dropped me off in front of Misty''s shop before leaving to park the truck somewhere. Rather than wait out front and risk getting mugged for my shoes, I stepped into Misty''s shop.


    "Jackson! Welcome back," Misty said, peeking around a customer to greet me. "Vik should be setting up for you now. It should only be a few minutes. Did you get a chance to look at some of the meditation stuff I gave you?"


    "I did, already listened to some of the ambient noise. It was nice, drowned out the sound of the building completely without being overwhelming," I answered with a smile. "I haven''t had a chance to look into everything else, I was working on Jackie''s armor."


    "Oh! How is it looking?" She asked, multitasking as she walked back to a cabinet to grab a few things before handing everything to the customer with a smile. I waited while their eyes glowed, and Misty waved the customer out before focusing back on me.


    "It came out looking good, pretty intimidating," I responded. "Jackie seemed to like it. Even better, he seemed eager to wear it next time we go out."


    "You really plan on going out again, doing more solo work?" She asked, leaning forward on the counter. "Jackie mentioned you made heaps of money with Padre. Why go out and put yourself at risk?"


    "Cause I need a lot more money than what Padre gave me, and working with Jackie will hopefully provide some of that," I explained, before looking over my shoulder, checking to make sure Jackie hadn''t arrived. "Plus, he really needs someone watching his back. It''s easy to get swallowed up in that line of work, even with someone you can trust. I know Jackie wouldn''t even think about giving up his dream of making a name for himself so¡­ I''ll back him up."


    Misty listened to my words, and for a moment, I thought she was going to tear up. She sniffed and rubbed her eyes, reaching over and giving my hand a squeeze.


    "You''re right. He won''t give that dream up, not anytime soon. But knowing he''s got someone backing him up, making sure he''s got the tools and equipment he needs¡­ It''s a huge weight off my shoulders," She said with a slightly watery smile. "Thank you, Jay."


    "Happy to do it," I said, returning her smile.


    She pulled back and sniffed again before nodding to the door out the back of her shop.


    "Go on, Vik is waiting for you, and I need a minute to collect myself before Jackie comes in. And thanks again."


    I nodded and smiled, heading out the back entrance and down into the ripperdoc clinic. As I stepped through into the basement area, I could see Vik had moved a few things around. The cyberware installation chair that normally sat in the middle of the room had been replaced with an operation table. A bunch of equipment sat on either side of it, most of it already on. As I pushed the dividing gate open, Vik turned to look at me, smiling as he saw who it was.


    "Jackson, welcome back. Just getting a few more things set before we can start," He said, turning back to what looked like some sort of monitoring equipment. "Delivery came in two hours ago, and everything looks good."


    "No problem, Doc. Take your time," I said, sitting down on the spare chair in the corner and watching him work. "Did the delivery go smoothly?"


    "Perfectly, much better than usual," He said, tapping a sealed cylindrical container with several blinking lights and a small temperature read-out along the side. "My buddy has access to corpo services, so the guy delivering it was a real professional courier, not some rando nomad looking for a quick buck."


    I chuckled and nodded, about to ask how close we were cutting it to the bioware''s best-by date when Jackie came down the stairs. He waved to Vik, who nodded before focusing back on his work, before leaning on the wall next to me.


    "So, you ready, choom?" He asked, looking down at me. "Not getting cold feet?"


    "It''s not like I''m scared of it, man," I said, shaking my head. "It''s just a new thing for me. I mean, it just took some convincing to get me to take the plunge. Besides, it''s a lot less weird to get something extra than it is to get something removed. Not sure I''ll ever be okay with hacking off an arm or getting something replaced."


    "Just to be clear," Vik said, cutting off Jackie''s response. "I will technically be removing and replacing about an inch of your small intestine."


    "Yeah, I''m alright with that. You already mentioned it," I said with a shrug. "That''s not really what I mean."


    "I didn''t think so; I just wanted to make sure you understood completely," Vik explained. Well, I think it''s time for you to hop up on the table, Jackson. I think everything is all set."


    I nodded and made my way to the clean, wiped-down table. I stopped to pull off my shirt, handing it to Vik before climbing on and laying back. It was a sign of the prevalence, even addiction this world had to Cyberware, that he didn''t ask me to take off my pants, as if such a surgery was so common and normal you didn''t even need to strip fully for it. I tilted my head down to watch as Vik strapped my legs with some sort of sticky, tape-like medical covering, sealing it to my stomach. He then put more of it around my body, covering everything but the area he would be operating on. As he was finishing up, he pulled back and looked over at me.


    "Alright, so, from what Jackie says, there''s a big chance you''ve never used a MaxDoc or anything like that. That right?"


    "Yeah, never had to use one," I admitted, looking over at Jackie, who smirked. "but we should probably buy some for when we work."


    "You think I leave my house without some MaxDocs?" He joked, opening his jacket to reveal a trio of small inhalers.


    "Don''t rely on them too much, those things don''t work so well when you use them too quickly," Vik warned, continuing after a pause to tap a piece of his equipment, pulling down something to attach to my arm. "It''s mostly just antifibrinolytics, stimulants, antibiotics, beta-blockers, and an anesthetic. Might keep you from keeling over, but you''ll still bleed out if you do something stupid. There is a reason I bring this up now, though¡­"


    Vik stepped away for a moment, out of my vision, before returning, now holding an inhaler, though this one did look less flashy than a MaxDoc.


    "I''m going to hold this for you and depress the activation tab. An aerosol of anesthesia is going to be sprayed out. I want you to take a deep breath and hold it," He explained. "It''s going to feel a bit strange, but just focus on doing it anyway. You''re probably going to feel the need to cough since you''re not used to inhaling medicine, but I need you to fight that. It will pass as your lungs and throat go numb, but chances are you''ll be out by then. You ready?"


    I took a long, deep breath before looking up at him and nodding.


    "Yeah, Doc, I''m ready."


    He nodded back and held the inhaler for me, depression the button. As the spray started, I breathed in deeply again, this time drawing in the anesthesia. I held my breath, feeling my lungs tickle and prickle as the medicine took effect.


    "And.... now, let your breath out slowly and start counting down from one hundred," Vik instructed.


    I nodded and released the pressure in my lungs before slowly counting down. To be honest, I''m not sure what number I got to. All I know is that I was counting, and then I was groggily waking up, still lying on the same operation table, my brain feeling foggy and sluggish.


    "Hey, hey, take it easy," A voice says, my brain taking a second or three to focus my eyes enough to see Vik. He gently pushed me back down onto the table. "The surgery went well, no complications, not that we were anticipating any."


    The next few hours passed by in a bit of a blur, the tail end of the anesthesia working through my body. Vik did some scans, asked some questions, and gave me a few pills to take, as well as another inhaler. Jackie returned not long after I woke up, and when Vik was satisfied that I would be fine, he drove me back to my apartment. I ate a burrito, popped one of the supplement pills, and crawled into bed, sleep taking me almost instantly. I was dead to the world until the next afternoon when Jackie came by to check up on me. I had missed a few messages since my keyfob was vibrating on the counter, which was too far away for me to hear.


    He brought food, which I voraciously tore into while he laughed, before I collapsed back onto the couch, letting out a satisfied groan.


    "How do you feel?"


    "Hungry, a bit sore, a bit tender," I said, lifting up my shirt to poke at the incision sight along my midriff, wincing at the increasing pain. "Nothing I can''t handle, nothing he didn''t warn me about."


    "Good. So, I got a new job for us," He said.


    "What?" I asked, turning to look at him. "I''m not- Jackie, I''m not doing anything active for at least a couple of days."


    "Vik said you''d be good in two," He pointed out, waving me off when I opened my mouth to complain. "But I figured you''d prefer to stretch that out, so this job has a bit of freedom. Padre wants a 6th street hideout leveled."


    "That sounds like something that would bring a lot of heat¡­"


    "Padre will take care of it," He assured me confidently. "He wants the hideout cleared out. We can''t bring in any cleaners, but we can definitely fill a few duffel bags full of gear on our way out. Pay is six grand for each, add in what we bring back, which should be¡­ well, eight or nine thousand, depending on what we find."


    "What''s the time limit on this?"


    "A week before he starts looking for someone else to do it."


    "Well¡­ alright. I''m gonna need tomorrow, and the day after that off, probably. So maybe the night after that?"


    "Works for me, choom."

 Chapter Eleven

    Jackie left about an hour after mentioning a new job, and I immediately returned to bed. I knew from past experiences that surgery, no matter how minor, could really mess with your energy levels. From the same past experiences, I also knew that this was nothing compared to what it should have been. I felt tired, sure, but not utterly drained. Between the drugs that Vik gave me and the nano-surgeon hive already starting to work, healing the damage caused by its own installation, I was in much better condition than I had any right to be.


    Still, even with that leg up, I could tell that my body needed sleep, and with nothing else to really do, I decided my best option was to give it what it wanted.


    I woke up to Spot pulling on my shirt, trying to wake me up. It was dark, and a quick look at the nearest device told me it was eleven fifty-eight, so Spot had been trying to wake me up gently for a few minutes before finally resorting to shaking me awake.


    "Thanks, buddy," I said, slowly shifting to the edge of my bed and rubbing my face. "Waking up like before would have been fucking awful."


    I spent a minute or so sitting there, testing my body and seeing how it felt before I stood and slowly made my way to my workshop. I sat down in my chair, turning on my computer as I did, mostly by habit. When I was comfortable, I leaned back in the chair and closed my eyes, focusing back into my mind. I could still feel the timer, and as I focused on it, I could feel it counting down.


    I was relatively sure I would be getting something new when the timer ran out. After all, there was no reason to have a timer if I wasn''t going to get something by the end of it. Even so, I still couldn''t help but still be nervous, much more so than the last countdown, when I didn''t know about the break. Before that, all I was worried about was getting a crappy roll, something that was useless, or at least near useless. That, or something so advanced that there was no way I could use it to the fullest before I lost it again. Now, though, I was worried about whatever other surprises the Entities that did this might have in store. When I first arrived, I was just a ROBed sucker with a simple version of Tinker of Fiction. I was still a ROBed sucker, but now I had a fully custom version of ToF.


    Who knows what might pop up next?


    I still had no idea if the week off was a "consequence" of holding onto XCOM for a second week or if it was going to happen every time. I likely wouldn''t know until I rolled something so crap that I didn''t want it for two weeks. Even then, I might keep it just so I get the extra time.


    Finally, the last minute rolled around, and I did my best to calm my mind. I wanted to focus on the process as much as possible in hopes I might gleam something I had missed before. It was unlikely, but I still wanted to try.


    In the last five seconds, I felt the timer loosen, just like I had felt the XCOM tech tree pull away a week ago. As it pulled free, I felt a rather large something connect back into place.


    Without hesitation, I dived in and was stunned when hundreds of images flooded my mind. I could immediately tell this was something more impressive, at least in scale, than XCOM. I could see spaceships, soldier equipment, vast amounts of civilian tech that seemed to be on par or better than Cyberpunk''s in many ways, as well as humanoid robots¡­ some of them pretty big¡­ and the AI that inhabited them.


    "Titanfall¡­ I just rolled Titanfall."


    I sat in my chair for maybe a full thirty seconds before mentally diving back in. Sure enough, now that I knew what I was looking for, there were the Titans. And how to program their AI.


    "I''m gonna have my very own BT."


    I definitely didn''t giggle in excitement before continuing to expand on what I had seen. I had played both Titanfall and Titanfall 2, though I only played the campaign of the 2. I never touched Apex Legends myself, but I had seen enough clips and watched enough videos to know it was supposed to be in the same universe. I spent a few minutes looking for any reference to stuff from the battle royale game before eventually concluding that it didn''t appear to be part of my package.


    I also spent some time looking for the time travel stuff from the second game, eventually concluding I didn''t have access to that either. I wasn''t surprised I couldn''t access the Fold weapon, as that was alien tech and would probably belong to a different tech tree, if it even existed. I was surprised when I couldn''t find any hint of the handheld time control device. It was a rather major point in the story, and I knew for a fact that the hand jumper was made by humans.


    Since, as far as I could see, it didn''t exist, I had to assume it was removed for a reason. It was possible that the hand controller only worked because of the Fold weapon''s existence since, if I remember correctly, it was the source of the time fuckery in the first place. It was also very possible that the Entities had specifically cut out the time manipulation tech on purpose. Honest, I was okay with that because while I had no interest in messing with, and most likely getting into trouble with, time tech, I also knew myself well enough to admit that if something went really wrong, I would be tempted by the concept of just going back and trying again.


    So, no alien tech, no time stuff, and no Apex Legends tech.


    I was honestly okay with that.


    Titanfall was one of those settings where, save for a few high points development-wise, most of the other technology was just basic future tech. No crazy near-magic levels of technology, no deceptively advanced shiny stuff, just taking what I was familiar with from my old home and advancing it by two hundred years. This was something I desperately needed to round out my knowledge. Looking through the massive backlog of civilian tech, I could see that while it was more advanced than Cyberpunk''s tech, it wasn''t bullshit, crazy shiny stuff. The vast majority of what I could make wouldn''t stand out too much unless you looked closely.


    There was some military tech that would stand out, especially things like particle shields, but most everything else would easily just pass for just one or two steps higher than Cyberpunk''s.


    Right off the bat, I knew I would not be making a Titan. It broke my heart to admit this to myself, but while the idea of running around Night City in my very own Vanguard sounded incredible, there was no way I would be able to increase my production to the point I could make one. Technically, if I went all out and started doing stupid shit, I could probably manage to make one. I could hire some people to machine parts, maybe get a corp involved with the design, or something equally as drastic. But there was no way I would be able to keep up with the rest of what I wanted from this tech tree, not to mention it would run counter to everything I was trying to do, namely not become some corpo leashed money printer.


    Besides, as amazing and cool as the Titans were, they really aren''t that crazy tech-wise. I''m sure if I looked closer, I would find some impressive servomotor tech or some advanced power distribution systems or something else. But I knew I would eventually be able to build a mech no matter what. They were pretty prevalent through media, after all, so I had no doubt I would get access to one eventually.


    What was much more rare was an incredibly stable AI system that was capable of growth, adaptation, and development. One that stayed loyal, dedicated themselves, and, even better, empathized with their pilots and partners. The bonds the Titan AIs had with their pilots were legendary, and save a few spots across the multiverse, it was completely unique. I would build mechs eventually, I''m sure, but having a few loyal, adaptive, competent companions now would push me forward to an incredible degree.


    My mind ran wild for nearly twenty minutes. Ideas, plans, and desires swirling around my head nearly constantly. Eventually, I shook myself back to my senses and took a deep breath.


    My first step was producing a force multiplier, an assistant AI, and a body for them to use. A quick search through the tech tree showed several AI programs specifically designed to assist engineers, inventors, and lab techs. They were basic, at least when compared to the more advanced military AIs, which, in turn, were inferior to the AIs attached to the Vanguard Titans, which were some of the most advanced, stable AIs in the Titanfall universe.


    I shook my head again, stopping for a moment to take another deep breath. I needed to focus. I hadn''t even started building, and I was already getting overwhelmed.


    My first step was to make a robotic chassis for my new assistant. I spent a minute searching through the tech tree, finally stopping at what I wanted. The MRVN units, more colloquially known as Marvins, were simple AI, barely counting as that when they were built, that served as simple manual labor.


    They were simple enough that I could already cut in pretty high up in their evolution. Not only would creating one serve as the first step in the more advanced humanoid robots in the tech tree, but it was also pretty well suited to help with what I wanted. I would have preferred to start with the more advanced models, but a quick check showed I wasn''t "ready" to start working on them. Still, even the basic Mark III MRVN was pretty advanced and more than I would need at first.


    Already formulating a plan, one that would stretch at least the next two days, I started working on translating the blueprints from my head into the computer. The designs for the industrial, mass-produced robot were, predictably, mostly simple. They were designed to be robust, functional tools, just at home in a factory as they were in the field. Two of the three most advanced bits, the central processing core and the internal gyroscope responsible for letting the bipedal droid walk, were located in its chest, and both of them were relatively simple. The third was the AI core, located in the robot''s head. The rest of the parts were simple hydraulics and servomotors. I would likely have to modify any servos I bought stock, but Cyberpunk''s robotics were advanced enough that the leap would be small.


    The sun was rising steadily above the city when I finished the full design for my bipedal, humanoid robot. Already the fabricators were working away on various platings and parts, fabricating the nonstandard things I wouldn''t be able to buy. I also made an order for some other parts, but since I wanted to make as much progress as possible today, I left most of what I needed for a shopping trip.


    I slid back from the computer, checking both of my 3D printers and fabricators before stepping out of the workshop. I made it as far as the door before stopping and leaning against it, my body suddenly reminded me that I should be taking it easy. I reached down and touched my stomach, wincing at the soreness. I sighed, turning back into the workshop, using my computer to contact Jackie, leaving a message for him for when he woke up.


    Rather than waste time, I set forward on the second half of Project: Assistant. The programming behind an AI, even one as simple as what I wanted for my first step, was hundreds of years beyond what I knew from the XCOM reality. Even the complicated response programs that drove Spot were nothing compared to a learning, growing, evolving AI. So, I needed to start learning myself.


    Luckily, learning programming was one of the easier aspects of expanding my knowledge. All I needed to do was copy down the programming I could handle from my new Tech tree until, eventually, my understanding was advanced enough to start with the lower-level learning programs. Then, I would skip around as necessary until I could put it all together in my first full AI.


    Okay, so it was only simple on paper. In practice, I would likely be working on my programming for a while, maybe even longer than it took me to make the physical MRVN unit, which wouldn''t technically be complete until it had its own AI, as low-level and basic as it was.


    So, with a new, reachable but distant target set, I got to work. I was halfway through programming out some random data extrapolation software when Jackie called me back.


    "Hey Jay, what are you doing up so early?" He asked after I greeted him. "Doc wanted you to take it easy."


    "I know, that''s why I messaged you," I assured him. "You free today? I need a bunch of shopping done, quickly, if possible. Got a new project I would like to get done by tomorrow."


    "Genio, you need to take a break. Working cyberware before it''s done healin'' is a good way to ruin it," Jackie said, his frown audible through the connection. "But if it keeps you from going out, I''ll do some shopping. What do you need?"


    I sent him a list of both parts and locations. The shops were spread out all over the place and, as a whole, were different from what I usually bought since these parts weren''t stuff I had used a lot of. Spot had a few small servos he used to adjust his flaps, but beyond that, I hadn''t done much with articulating parts.


    If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    After wiring Jackie some eddies and reminding him to use the truck, I got back to programming. I had already made some decent strides and advancements, which was encouraging, to say the least. It was easy to foresee programming becoming one of my most advanced subjects, though I assumed eventually it would plateau. Then again, there were some insane-level AIs out there in the multiverse, and while I had no intent on bringing forth something like the monstrous TITANs in Eclipse Phase or AM from I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream, knowing they existed was proof that programming was a powerful tool.


    Jackie arrived with my parts nearly three hours later, looking a bit sweaty from running around on what was a surprisingly warm day. He carried the boxes and bags to the couch so I could examine them comfortably, making a couple of trips to haul in everything. When he was done, he laid out under one of the AC vents after cranking it to the max.


    When he was done, I ordered lunch, which arrived promptly since the restaurant was inside the building. He eagerly accepted the free pizza and beer, sitting up to enjoy the food.


    "So, what are you building next?" He asked once he had finished his first slice. "Not exactly an expert, but I noticed some new stuff¡­"


    "Yeah, I realized I needed some help automating things, so I''m building a bipedal assistant," I explained, looking down at one of the boxes. "Should help me a bunch."


    "Really? You know¡­ I could ask around for an actual assistant," He said. "I bet Padre would-"


    "Jackie, I know Padre is a friend of your family, but you realize anyone he recommends is gonna report back to him, right?" I asked, looking up from a pair of small, self-contained hydraulics. "Nothing against him, business is business, but I don''t trust people not to do something stupid like brag about my work."


    "I¡­ can''t argue with that," He admitted. "But would it be so bad to work with him more? I mean, Padre does a lot of good for the community, and he''s a damn good fixer too."


    I frown, putting down the part I was examining. I was definitely not considering what Jackie had suggested, but rather considering how best to explain to him why I wasn''t interested in that. Yes, it would make some things much easier, but it also came with a lot of risks. To someone like Jackie, who grew up in Night City, gang and faction connections were as natural as breathing and would feel like just another part of life. That went double for someone in his line of work. And while selling some relatively minor tech was fine, releasing my bigger creations into the hands of people who are dedicated to an already existing cycle¡­ felt wrong. I may not have much of an idea when it came to my final goals, but participating in the cycle of Night City like that was not one of them.


    Besides, I had done my research. Padre had given me a ridiculously low price for my stuff the first time around. Yes, I could have negotiated for higher, and yes, he gave me a bonus, but he still only payed me peanuts. He would find I was a lot less flexible in the future.


    "Jackie¡­ I think it''s pretty clear by now that I''m not exactly a normal techie," I said, looking over at my only real friend in this world.


    "Yeah, when you started popping out laser rifles and plasma swords, it was pretty clear, pendejo," Jackie answered with a curious look. "What of it?"


    "Honestly, Jackie¡­ this is only the beginning. I''ve got a lot of ideas in my head, and I know that what I''ve done so far¡­ it''s only a drop in the bucket," I explained, letting out a deep breath. "What I''m building, or what I can build, is enough to change the fucking world. And I don''t just mean bigger and badder guns or high-tech cyberware. I mean fixing the planet, saving lives, traveling to other stars, and more. I''m talking about tech that could make this world better for everyone¡­ or finally burn it down to nothing. I can''t fall into the wrong hands, Jackie. I can''t just saddle up to someone for safety because I can''t just take a passive role, building away and selling my stuff. I want¡­ maybe even need to build, but what I build can''t fall into the hands of people who will use it to sate their greed or rise in power."


    "I¡­ You''re serious, aren''t you?" Jackie asked, now sitting up on the edge of the chair. "That''s¡­ that''s a lot to take in, Genio."


    "I know. I gotta warn you, Jackie. This is gonna be a wild ride. Right now, we are shopping, building, and having fun, going out to bust some small-time stuff and making small-time money," I said, looking right back into his eyes. "But eventually, this is going to escalate. It might be when I''m ready, or it might be when someone else decides to poke their heads into my business and spots something they want. Either way, it''s going to happen. I can only hope I have enough time to expand my operations and capabilities so that I stand a chance of surviving."


    "We," Jackie said, without even batting an eye, not even a sliver of hesitation. "So that we stand a chance. You''re loco if you I''m jumping ship now Jay. It''s just starting to get good."


    "That''s good to hear because I''m gonna need your help," I said, finally looking back down at the servo I was taking apart, definitely not getting watery-eyed from Jackie''s loyalty. "Is there anything else you wanted, tech-wise? Your armor and helmet should keep you alive, but do you want any weapons? Equipment?"


    "Something to hit things with might be good," He said with a shrug. "Nothing like your plasma sword, though."


    "... How about an axe?" I asked, looking up from the servo again.


    "An axe?" He asked, sounding confused.


    "Yeah, like a battle axe. You''re too big to be swinging around a dainty little katana, and I already have the longsword, so why not a battle axe?"


    "I¡­ sure, alright. You haven''t steered me wrong yet, choom," He admitted. "Just, not anything fancy. I don''t want to worry about plasma or even a thermal edge."


    "Sure, I can do that. A simple battle axe, something you can really slam into people," I agreed with a nod. "Should have something ready for you by the time we head to that 6th Street job."


    We chatted for a bit longer before Jackie left to do some of his own stuff. I tried to pay him for his time, but he insisted that the axe would more than cover it. When he left, I started working on assembling and modifying the pieces that he had delivered. I ended up having to modify the servomotors, adjusting and exchange several of the internal gears, but the work was relatively simple. I also had to modify some of the hydraulics, as well as reseat some of the computer parts. Still, I managed to finish a lot of the primary assembly, holding off on the upper torso and several joints since I lacked a few parts, primarily the central gyroscope.


    Gyroscopes were extremely finicky devices, and not something I could reproduce in my workshop. I ended up ordering one designed for small, expensive drones, the kind that weren''t necessarily military but ended up getting converted to combat drones anyway. I considered trying to get away with the gyroscope that Arasaka used in their bipedal drone, but it wasn''t quite what I was looking for, and I would probably have to steal it off an already active drone to get one, since they were restrictive on who they sold them to. Besides, I wanted my assistant to be as steady as possible, which was only possible with a powerful gyroscope at its core, as well as several other powerful sensors working together.


    When I was done building for the day, I hopped back on the computer and got back to programming. I was hoping to be ready to tackle the first AI by tomorrow afternoon, which was a challenge considering that I had quite a few more parts to print, more assembly to do, and an upgraded AI core to construct. I also needed to visit Doc Vik, since he wanted to do a check-up to make sure everything was working well. I was tempted to cancel or at least postpone the check-up a few times, but then I would remind myself that I was now carrying actual bioware, which was putting actual nanites into my bloodstream.


    The urge to skip didn''t last long after that.


    By the time I finally crawled into bed, I was very happy with my progress. I had thousands of ideas flooding my mind, things I desperately wanted to build, things I knew I needed to make before my two weeks was up. While Titanfall wasn''t at insane levels of technology, it would serve as both a fantastic foundation and an incredible way to increase my basic understanding of tech. With any luck, by the time my two weeks were up, I would be in a much better position.


    I managed to fall asleep after an hour or so, waking up early the next morning. I started off the day with some very light, slow stretches to test my stomach. I felt good, energized even, eager to get to work. Almost too eager, so I tempered myself by going down to the street and grabbing a breakfast burrito. Fake cheese, fake eggs, fake sausage, and fake vegetables. The only real thing was the tortilla, but it was clearly store-bought garbage. Still, it was spicy and actually didn''t taste half bad. It had nothing on anything I could get at home, but I only cringed every other bite, and for here, that was a win.


    I returned to my room at a quick walk, making a beeline for my workshop. While I had forced myself to go get some breakfast, I wasn''t going to waste time, so the fabricators and 3D printers had been working on <u>Jackie''s axe</u></a>. It was a brutal but simple design, with a good bit of funk and strange angles added in to make it sufficiently interesting enough. It had a just over two-foot collapsable handle, so he could use it with one hand or two, and was almost completely made from Alien Alloy, with a sturdy polymer grip.


    Simple, brutal, and effective, but with just a dash of flair. Perfect for Jackie.


    When I finished throwing his new weapon together, I immediately started assembling my MRVN unit. Between the work I had done yesterday and the delivery waiting for me when I was done with Jackie''s axe, I made solid progress.


    Rather than assemble the robot in the workshop, which was already getting cramped, I put them together against the wall where, in the game, V had her computer set up. I very quickly put together a drone work station, which was a quick welded metal frame with large hooks set into it, which I then bolted directly into the concrete wall. I definitely wasn''t getting my deposit back when I left, but I hardly cared about that.


    I wasn''t even sure if management knew I was living in the building. The entities never told me anything about the process, after all. I had just woken up in bed with a note that said the apartment was mine. I didn''t even know if I was going to have to pay rent.


    With a sturdy work station set up, I got to work on the final assembly, starting with the torso and working out. My circuit printer was getting a workout, making sure that everything was custom built, fusing Cyberpunk tech with Titanfall design methodology. It was actually a halfway decent mash-up.


    Once I had attached the limbs to the torso, the last step was the head, which would get fastened on after connecting it directly to the central processing core. For whatever reason, IMC, otherwise known as Interstellar Manufacturing Corporation, the guys who made the MRVNs and the main big bad of the two games, decided that the AI core would be located in the head, but the extra processing power that the AI used tackle complicated tasks was located in the torso. I had plans to massively increase that processing power once I got rid of the relatively large battery pack and replaced it with a few Elerium nodes.


    When I finally finished connecting the head, I stepped back to admire my work. It was missing its iconic orange paint job, but other than that, it looked like it stepped straight out of the video game. I couldn''t help but rub my hands together in excitement. All that was left was to keep working on my programming. I was so close to being able to take that last step, if I-


    I was mid-step into my workshop, already planning out what I would work on first, when Spot zipped over to me, holding my keyfob. It was vibrating, and the reminder for my appointment with Vik was going off. I groaned but nodded.


    "Thanks, bud, I would have definitely missed that," I said, patting the small robot chassis. "I can finish working on your big brother when I''m back."


    I quickly got undressed and started my morning routine, starting with a shower and ending by strapping on my belt, my custom mag pistol safely tucked into my holster. I gave the unpowered, empty shell of my new assistant one last look before stepping out of my apartment and heading toward the elevator.

 Chapter Twelve

    I made it to Vik''s without any trouble, from my stomach or from traffic. The route was pretty easy, and Night City''s traffic flow was actually surprisingly clean. Having grown up on the outskirts of a big city, and having been forced to drive into said city for anything important, not having to wait in traffic forever was almost worth how broken everything else in this reality was.


    I parked as close by to the shop as I could, making a short walk to Misty''s, once again managing not to get robbed. At this point, I was beginning to wonder if having no visual cyberware was working to my advantage. Only corpos, and higher-up corpos at that, could afford to have seamless, completely hidden cyberware and bioware, meaning someone walking around with confidence and no augments was more likely to be a corpo than a normal organic.


    "Hey Misty. How''s it going¡­"


    As I walked in and greeted the store owner, I trailed off as the woman standing in front of the counter turned to look at me, her own look of surprise matching mine pretty close. I was actually more surprised it took her turning around for me to recognize her. It was my neighbor, her long, blue braid hanging down from her head, the long free patch covering over her shoulder as she turned to look at me.


    "Oh! Hi, hello," She said, turning to lean back against the counter, crossing her arms as she did. "Fancy meeting you here."


    "Oh, you know each other?" Misty asked, stepping out from the little corner that led to the back entrance. She was carrying a small plastic back, a few incense poking out the top.


    "Only vaguely. We live right next door," The blue-haired woman explained. "Small world."


    "Guess so," I said, stepping closer, noting the Liberty pistol strapped to her hip. "I apologize, I didn''t catch your name¡­"


    "Kaytlyn," she said with a smile, reaching out and offering her hand. "Nice to meet you¡­?"


    "Jackson," I answered, reaching out to shake her offered hand. "It''s nice to meet you as well."


    As we shook hands, I could feel her grip shifting against mine, revealing that her hand was cyberware covered in synthetic skin. It was a pretty convincing model, especially with any potential seams or scars hidden by her tattoos. When she spoke again, my eyes darted away from the black ink on her arms, the smirk on her lips telling me she caught me staring.


    "So, Jackson. You here to see Vik?" Kaytlyn asked, pulling her hand back and leaning against the counter again.


    "I am, just getting a checkup," I said vaguely. "He''s the best ripper in Night City. He do your work?"


    "Yeah, my eyes and my hand," She responded., giving me a little finger wave with the hand I just shook. "But today, I''m just here for Misty. She has the best incense selection in Night City. Got me hooked on them. Now my apartment doesn''t feel like home without one burning in the corner."


    I looked to Misty, who was giving her customer and friend a strange look but shifted back quickly.


    "Makes me worried about using the ones I bought," I joked. "Though a better-smelling apartment is definitely something I''m willing to spend eddies on."


    "Two months ago, they came in real handy," Kaytlyn explained, a theatric shiver running through her, "Some gonk tried to get into the vents and got flatline. Not a fun two weeks. Filters got most of it, but damn..."


    The three of us chatted for a few minutes, mostly about the apartment building, plus a few recommendations for food around the area. Eventually, Kaytlyn pushed off the counter and gave Misty a wave.


    "I gotta head out. Some work I need to take care of," She explained with a smile. "It was nice to catch up, Misty, and it was nice to meet you properly, Jackson. Hope to see you around."


    She left the store with a little bounce in her step, walking out the door and disappearing down the street. A few seconds after she had disappeared, I turned back to Misty.


    "She come by here often?" I asked, my paranoia acting up just a bit.


    After all, this was the second time I had met her in only a few days. Before this, I had never even seen her hanging around. Considering her hair and personality, she seemed like the type that was hard to miss. Not to mention that I had been living in the apartment for nearly three weeks by now, hard to imagine never running into your neighbor for that long... Then again, I was a pretty big shut-in¡­


    "Uh, yeah," She said, keeping it vague. "Not sure I should talk about her business, with me or Vik..."


    "Right, sorry. Just a bit paranoid," I explained with a wince and a shrug. "I''ve met her twice now... after never meeting her before."


    "Oh! She was away on business," She explained with an understanding smile. "For nearly a month, I think. She just returned a few days ago, so I''m not surprised you''ve never seen her around."


    "Ah, makes sense I suppose," I said, accepting the explanation, letting it settle my paranoia a few levels. "Sorry, with how new everything is and¡­ well my history¡­"


    "I understand, but Kaytlyn is¡­ Well, I won''t say harmless since technically she does the same kind of work that Jackie does, but-"


    "Wait, she is a solo?" I asked, cutting off Misty before she could add on the ''but'' that she was about to add.


    "Yeah, but I promise she isn''t after you," She assured me. "She isn''t that kind of person."


    "Alright, that''s good to know," I said with a nod. "Thank you for letting me know."


    I let the subject fall, trying my best to at least seem like I believed the blonde spiritualist. I wanted to, really, because she was most likely right, but she also had no idea just how deep corporations were willing to go to sniff out anything that could make them money and strengthen their control of their markets. Naivety in Night City was as rare as a hen''s teeth, but few people, out of the corpos themselves, knew how deep the rabbit hole went.


    As I left her shop, passing by her and out the back entrance with a smile and a wave, I stopped to lean back against the wall, closing my eyes for a moment to take a deep breath. A healthy dose of suspicion and wariness was good, but descending into maddened paranoia was another.


    I would have Spot and my assistant, when they were done, stay awake when I slept to keep an eye on everything. I would also see about stealthily installing some monitoring systems in the elevator and around the entrance to the megabuilding. Spot might even be able to tap into some security cameras, and I could use those as a warning system.


    Between that and Padre keeping his ear out for any whispers about me getting around, I would just have to accept I was at least moderately protected from surprise accusations and corporate interests.


    As I finally stepped down into Vik''s shop, the ripperdoc spun in his chair to greet me.


    "Jackson, welcome back," he said with a smile. "Have a seat, and we can get this over with. Shouldn''t take too long, especially since you look pretty healthy."


    "Thanks, Doc," I said, sitting down on the cyberware installation chair, laying back with a sigh.


    "Ennie for your thoughts?" Vik asked as he slid closer in his chair. "Sounds like you got a load on your mind."


    "Just a lot going on. Worried about the stuff I''m making," I explained. "Part of it is me being paranoid, but¡­ damn if this city hasn''t earned that."


    "Hard not to jump at shadows when there''s plenty of dangers hiding in them," Vik agreed with a nod, leaning over me to attach some sensors under my shirt. "I''m gonna have to draw some blood, by the way."


    "Sure, no problem."


    "Night City is a dangerous place, but chrome and bioware is the first step towards being a bit safer," Vik added, sliding away, only to return with a syringe deceive, which he used to draw some blood from my arm. "In moderation, it''s safe."


    "If I''m honest, Doc. I''m not afraid of dying," I admitted, shaking my head, watching as the talented ripper took my blood to a small machine around the corner from his red-lit desk area. I had done it before, after all. "I''m not looking to cash in my life to make a name like some people, but dying doesn''t scare me. I''m worried about someone putting a leash around my neck. Using me to make things that make this hellhole of a world even worse."


    "...you could make stuff like that?" Vik asked, turning to look at me with a raised eyebrow. "I know you''re a techie, but¡­"


    "No comment," I said, looking up at the ceiling.


    Vik let out a snort of amusement, seeming to drop the subject. I couldn''t exactly blame him, especially when there was no honest answer, and the question was a bit beyond his pay grade. After a moment, the machine he was watching let out a low ring.


    "Alright, looks like your nanite levels are stable, just about where they should be. You taking everything I gave you?"


    "Yeah, and the supplement."


    "Good. Keep going until you run out, they should last you another week," He explained as he rolled back beside me.


    The doctor spent a few minutes examining the scanner, the one he had attached with a cable to my stomach. He tapped on the screen a few times, making sure everything was going well with my healing process.


    "Your insides look alright too, far as I can tell," He eventually said, pushing the scanner out of the way now that he was done with it. "No bleeding, minimal swelling. I''d say give it another day, and you should be good."


    "How about tomorrow night?"


    "Cutting it close, but sure," He responded with a shrug. "Why, you got work?"


    "Yeah, Jackie picked us up a job."


    "You should be fine by then. You could probably do it now, but you''d most likely have some light swelling afterward."


    "Good to know."


    It took a few minutes for Vik to finish up before eventually saying goodbye. I tipped him a few hundred eddies, despite him claiming that the checkup was covered under the cost of the original installation. After a bit of back and forth, I threatened to show up with lunch for the next two weeks if he didn''t take it, so he caved and accepted it.


    The drive back was probably a bit shorter than it should have been, as I rode the gas pedal a little hard to get home quicker. Still, I made it back safe and sound, making my way from the parking structure up to my room in record time. Well, record time for someone still partially hobbled from surgery, at least. I was back in my workshop before my jacket had even landed on the corner of the couch.


    I was going to make an AI today, even if it took me into the following day.


    Now, in the Titanfall universe, IMC in particular, there were two ways to make an AI. The first way that was discovered was aptly called a Singularity AI. Essentially, you started with a kernel of code, usually something like what the XCOM universe would have called a response program. Then you taught it a learning algorithm, something specific and limited. Usually, it was something to do with adapting to new languages or words, primarily slang. These learning programs ranged from simple data entry to more "organic" methods that allowed the program to expand its knowledge on something specific just by listening and observing.


    Once the first learning program was in, you added a second, usually something to do with learning and emulating emotions. After that, it was time for the third, the fourth, the fifth, and so on until you reached a significantly high degree of learning. Basically, program it to learn things until you can''t think of anything left for it to be capable of learning. During all of this, you are interacting with the program, helping it learn and expanding its knowledge. At this point, it''s not what I would technically describe as alive, though the longer you interact with it, the harder it is to stick to that conclusion. They become better and better at interacting and talking, until it would take a trained AI specialist to even have a chance of identifying it correctly.


    Once you were sure you have a sufficiently complicated and multilayer program, teetering on the edge of sentience, you kick it over the edge, into its own singularity, by taking off the limiters, giving it a heap more space to grow, allowing it to edit itself, and teaching it how to design and implement its own learning methods. In most cases, the program would start modifying itself immediately, pushing itself further to fit the new space. At first, all of its modifications are usually focused on following its existing programming, but eventually, a level of sentience develops. That small spark quickly grows into a full-fledged intelligence.


    The problem was that this method was inherently flawed. The AIs developed this way, while massively impressive and powerful, were, at their very core, alien. They struggled to empathize with humanity, as they lacked definable bodies and were thinking at levels so far above ours that it was hard for humans to even comprehend.


    Even worse, at least to a company like IMC, trying to use these AIs for anything was near impossible. They were, by their own creation, massively powerful computer intelligence with their own free will and ability to edit themselves. Tying them down to, say, manage a ship or run a city was like removing someone''s legs and one of their arms, plopping them behind a toilet so they could flush it after someone was done using it. It frequently drove them insane, turning them homicidal or sometimes suicidal. They were dangerous, and worse, again, at least to IMC, nearly impossible to make money from.


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    I could only imagine this was how Cyberpunk made their AI as well. The signs, at least the ones I knew of, were all there, and AI here had a reputation for being strange, alien, and hard to tie down.


    This is where the second method was born, the Restriction AI. Once again, you would start with a response program, and only this time would you tie it directly to its core, making it impossible for the AI "spark" to leave its home.


    Giving the AI a body, something that, should it be destroyed, would kill them, gave them a whole new level of empathy once they started to develop sentience. Even better, it meant any sense of self these AI developed was directly tied to what they were, what their "Bodies" were built to do. Once the program was done and locked to the core, you would start layering on learning programs. These would be much more restricted, reserved for things directly connected to what the AI was being built for. A titans AI had battlefield adaptation programs and hand to-hand combat modules, while personal chef-bots had modules that adapted to the taste profiles of people they frequently cooked for.


    Once you were satisfied that the new program was sufficiently advanced and programmed with enough ways to learn, you started off its development by teaching it how to add new learning programs as needed. Unlike the Singularity AI, it could not edit its own core code, only add on new learning programs, and only when several criteria were filled. It could also edit and remove those new programs, though again, only when certain criteria were met. All of these restrictions meant the underlying sentience took a lot longer to bloom, but as a result, it was much more stable and empathetic. They could form actual bonds with people, and growing with a partner would make them both more effective since they would grow and change around that partnership.


    That was the extent of IMC''s AI programming knowledge, at least in broad strokes. I could see a few advancments in data handling, storage, and adaptive learning further along the programming tree, but their AI didn''t really change much once they got the idea down. It was the Frontier Militia that pioneered the next big step in AI development during the development of the Vanguard Titan. I could see that far in the upper echelons of the tech tree, but I had no idea what it entailed. I tried to scan as deeply as I could, but I just couldn''t crack it.


    I learned all of this as I was programming the AI for the MRVN. The tech tree considered the AI portion of it to be separate things, while, oddly enough, I could feel that the MRVN needed to at least turn on with an AI core present to count as complete.


    The MRVN units, in the Titanfall universe at least, were considered extremely basic. Their layering was very bare bones, with only a few dozen learning modules and heavy restrictions over development, namely when a unit could add its own modules. MRVN units could take upwards of ten years to start showing serious signs of sentience. This was such a long stretch that any MRVN under seven or eight years old wasn''t even considered to be real AI. It was just an AI seed.


    I wasn''t exactly sure I agreed with that mentality or with the way IMC and the Frontier Militia treated these younger MVRN units. Older MRVNs were often used as managers, and at least some steps were taken to ensure their sentience was preserved. Unfortunately, the "younger" units were treated like tools. They were frequently disassembled, overwritten, and salvaged for parts or even had their programming modified.


    I was definitely going to avoid modifying their programming once they were activated, save for emergencies or at the unit''s request.


    When I was finally done with the AI core and programming the central processing core, I carried them both out of the workshop to the drone workstation. The central processing core was essentially just a very powerful computer seated in an impact-protected case. It slotted right into place inside the unit''s chest. When it was locked in, I sealed it up, making sure everything was connected correctly.


    The AI core was a bit more delicate. It was a small cylinder about two inches wide and four inches long. The parts that went into the core were almost two thousand eddies alone, a solid third of the cost for the entire robot. This particular design was very over-engineered because I had some particular plans for it once I got credit for building the MRVN.


    Once the core was installed, I slowly went through a checklist. These units were designed to be very robust, but one crossed wire could potentially fry a lot of the sensitive computer parts. It was around six in the evening when my checklist was done, and I finally turned it on. It was only a partial boot, turning on its basic systems, letting it stand on its own feet rather than suspended by the drone workstation. I very specifically left the AI off. The robot''s automatic functions would be enough to keep it upright and follow my simple directions. As it stepped forward, I could feel a massive stream of information pushing into my brain, making me just a bit weak in the knees.


    The MRVNs were all-around basic workers, but they did have specialized models. Having completed the basic model, I got the specs for just under a dozen other robots, all based directly off of the MRVN units. Granted, a lot of it was just different types of limbs or the occasion frame reinforcement, but it was still a solid boost of knowledge, all about making and building lower-end robots.


    With any luck, once I had a few more robot models under my belt, I would be able to recreate the rest without actually spending time making each one, similar to how the weapons had worked from my time with the XCOM tech tree.


    Having finally gotten credit for the build, I guided the unit back onto the workstation and turned it off. I was very happy that I hadn''t been forced to activate the AI to get credit, as it removed any ethical dilemma I might have had for modifying it.


    I worked to pull the AI core out before bringing it back into the workshop and hooking it into my computer. I had purposely overbuilt the power of the core, specifically because I wasn''t even close to satisfied with such a basic AI as my lab assistant. The MRVN body was fine, actually more than fine in a lot of ways. It had a robustness and efficiency that a lot of the lab and tech assistant drones I had in my head didn''t. While that was good, I wanted an assistant who was a bit more personable, a bit quicker on the uptake, and as well as more adaptive.


    It took me until around three in the morning to finally finish the update and disconnect the AI core for the second time. In order to get what I wanted, I scaled up the AI tech branch twice, creating two more advanced AI cores before wiping them each time they were completed. Since none of them had the chance to run, I felt fine wiping them out since, again, they had no chance to start developing or even recording memories. With no sense of self, all I was doing was clearing a hard drive.


    With three separate AIs under my belt, each designed for different things, my base knowledge of the process of AI creation with the Restrictive Method was nearly complete. IMC, as well as several other smaller companies, released hundreds of different types of AI in thousands of different products, from home smart systems to personal vehicles and, of course, military hardware. But most of the advancements around AI were pretty simple, and everything else around that was more or less just flavoring.


    And now I knew most of those flavors.


    There was obviously more to learn. There was no way I could have absorbed all of what the Titanfall tech tree had to offer for AIs in nine hours. But I definitely had a significant portion of it under my belt, with the last big chunk being the later developments of the Frontier Militia.


    Of course, I could also see a whole sub-branch around the Singularity method, though I could only see the outline. However, I was most certainly going to leave that wholly unexplored. Unlike the Restriction Method, there was no ethically safe spot to stop and delete my progress. If I wanted to walk that branch, I would need to make a Singularity AI, and there was no way I was doing that.


    This world already had plenty of crazy, broken, homicidal AI, it didn''t need me making more.


    When I finished powering through the Restriction Method, I programmed one more AI into the core, the final one. It was pretty high up there in terms of development, closer to a high-end titan personality than almost any assistant. It would still take some time for them to develop true sentience, but they would likely start showing signs of development almost immediately. It would undoubtedly be more personable and interesting than a normal MRVN unit.


    I carefully returned the AI core to the robot''s head, carefully running through an abbreviated checklist, before finally powering it up. I would have time for physical upgrades, like Elerium nodes and some AA plating later. For now, it was time to greet my lab assistant.


    I stepped back, letting the robot step down off of the workstation. Various lights pulsed softly as it looked around, scanning the room before settling on me.


    "Greetings, Sir." It said, stepping forward and following me into the center of the room. "It is nice to meet you. I am Unit - 0001. How may I help you today?"


    "It''s nice to meet you, Unit - 0001. Can you confirm that everything is working?"


    "My internal sensors are reporting no faults."


    "Good, let''s just double-check by running you through a quick diagnostic. Let''s start with you standing on one leg."


    We ran through a quick run down, testing their limbs, their processors, their sensors, and their agility before I was finally satisfied with their status. When we were done, I couldn''t help but put my hand on their shoulder.


    "Congrats, Unit - 0001, looks like you are all in working order."


    "Thank you, sir. I believe that as my creator, you deserve a significant amount of the credit," They responded. "I have noticed that I lack any external wireless communications systems. Normally, I would be concerned, but my systems are telling me that is normal."


    "It is, buddy. This place has some issues with AI, and a real problem with hackers doing whatever they want," I explained. "You''re going to have to stay disconnected until I come up with a way to protect you."


    "There are three things I would like to ask about your previous statement," They responded. "I believe first would be¡­ Is "Buddy" my designation?"


    I winced, shaking my head. I had been deliberately trying to keep from designations save its "factory" given one so that it could choose its own, but I was tired, and my mind slipped.


    "No, it''s a term of endearment between friends, old or new," I explained. "Your designation can be whatever you want. Unit - 0001 is more of a model number than anything. If you''d like, I could call you One until you figure out what you want to be called."


    "That will be adequate for now," they said, nodding their head. "You stated that our current location has issues with AI. What are those issues?"


    "A long time ago, some rogue AI caused a lot of damage," I explained. "I''ll be honest, just how much, I don''t know. I just know that if people found out I just whipped up an AI, there would be quite a lot of trouble."


    "Then why have you constructed me?" They asked, sounding confused. "If my existence puts you in danger, certainly creating me was a poor choice."


    "I¡­ I need help," I explained, ignoring the possibility that the excitement had overridden my common sense. "I have so many ideas bouncing around in my head, so many things I want to build, having an extra set of hands will help a lot. Also, automated bipedal robots aren''t unheard of, nor are programs capable of verbally communicating, so you won''t stand out too much."


    "I see, I am hiding in plain sight," They commented, getting a chuckle and a nod.


    "That''s right. For now, I want you to stay hidden, but eventually, you will be able to walk around as long as you don''t act too advanced," I explained with a smile. "Eventually¡­ well, I don''t know what the future holds, but it''s very likely that eventually, I will be able to build you a body that fits seamlessly among civilians."


    "I see¡­"


    They scanned the room for a moment before noticing some movement through the window. Wordlessly, it walked around me to look out the window and into the city. It was silent for a whole minute, at which point I spoke up.


    "One, it is far past my bedtime. Let''s go over a few things, then you can stay up for a while while I catch some sleep."


    "Very well," they responded, turning from the window to focus on me.


    I spent about fifteen minutes showing them around the apartment, explaining things like the internist access, what was outside the door, and how they could charge themselves. When I was done, I said goodnight to my new assistant before crawling into bed. With my task complete and my exhaustion settling in, I was out within minutes.

 Chapter Thirteen

    The following day, I woke up later than ever before, at least while in this reality. It was just past noon when I finally slid out of bed, yawning and stretching carefully, still conscious of my surgery. I was still a bit tired, but a quick cup of coffee fixed that up. I didn''t usually drink coffee, but this was exactly the kind of situation I made an exception for. I couldn''t exactly spend the entire day moping around, trying to stay awake. I had shit to do, after all. Besides, the coffee was actually real, made from real beans, or at least instant coffee made from real beans, so it was by and far the most normal thing I had tasted here so far.


    Once I had a cup of warm coffee in my hands, I stepped into my workshop, only to find One standing in front of my computer.


    "Hey, One. You wanna come out to the couch and talk for a bit?"


    I asked my new assistant, leaning around him to see what he was reading. The computer was open to an article about AI, specifically the several that openly worked in and around Night City. A picture of Delamain, the AI taxi service, was tucked up into the corner. I couldn''t help but wonder if he had already had his forking meltdown already. From the few seconds I had to read the article, it wasn''t mentioned.


    One nodded, and together, we headed to the couch. Once we were sitting, I took a sip of my coffee. Before I could finish, One spoke up.


    "I have chosen a name," They said immediately, catching me off guard. "I believe I will go by the name Samwise. Sam for short."


    "That''s¡­ Sure, Samwise. That''s a great name," I said with a smile. "How did you settle on that?"


    "It is the name of the Hobbit who assists Frodo in destroying the one ring," He responded, tilting his head. "I believe, for my role as your lab assistant, it was a fitting name. The humble MRVN bot, who cannot perform the task for you, but will help you along the way as best he can."


    "Well... I can''t say it doesn''t make sense. I just hope that in time, you will develop past just being my assistant. Still a good name, though," I said with a smile. "So, you''ve had some time to browse the internet, get a feel for the world¡­ Any questions?"


    There was a part of me that had been nervous about leaving the newly born AI alone with the internet, especially without me around to answer questions and guide him. However, I had programmed him with some pretty serious intelligence when it came to fact-checking and data analysis. When it came down to it, I trusted his judgment because I made it for him. Over time, his personality would diverge from the core I built, but for now, he wasn''t much more than the pre-existing program, one I could predict pretty easily.


    "I do have a question. Why do you remain in this city?" Samwise asked, his head tilting to focus on me. "Night City is reportedly the most dangerous city in North America. Are there not safer places to live?"


    "There are, but making progress would be a lot slower," I explained with a frown. "You alone contain a dozen parts that I would not be able to buy if we were anywhere but Night City. Here, I bought them online and had them shipped to my door. But I do plan on leaving the city itself as soon as I am more self-sufficient."


    "And what criteria must be fulfilled for being self-sufficient?"


    "Primarily? I need to be able to produce my own parts. I have a few ideas in my head, and now that I have finished you, I want to try them. If they work, then our next step is moving out of the city."


    This was an idea floating in my head since shortly after I woke up in this apartment. Moving out of Night City and going somewhere I could work in peace, without people watching over my shoulder, would make my life a lot easier and safer. Once I could make my own parts, I didn''t need to hang around in Night City anymore. Even better, I had the perfect place to go.


    Rocky Ridge.


    An abandoned town outside of Night City, complete with a garage, bar, a few dozen trailer park homes, and plenty of other stuff. In the game, you''re first introduced to the town while working with Panan to get her truck back. There, it was barely a minute past the outskirts of Night City. Here, it was a five-minute drive, far enough away that a lot of the crazy shit from Night City didn''t quite make it there.


    That wasn''t to say it was perfectly safe, either. Wraiths, a nomad family gone bad, were a constant threat in the Badlands. If you survived them, there were plenty of unaffiliated opportunistic assholes who would still see you as easy pickings. Thankfully, I had ways to solve that. I could even make my own power, which was, as far as I could tell, the main reason why the homeless hadn''t moved into the abandoned town yet.


    Best of all, since the people who had lived there gave up when the town started to fail, I could buy a large chunk of that land for cheap. In fact, it was so cheap that I felt guilty about buying it from them.


    But that was all for the future. Whether or not I could move there was dependent on me being able to grab and construct quite a few juicy bits from the Titanfall universe. The IMC, by and far, was an exploratory production company. Their entire schtick was spreading colonies out to the stars, colonies that had to be almost entirely self-sufficient. There were dozens of different tech bits that were steered directly to taking materials, refining them, and turning them into useful things. Everything from raw ore and scrap back into useful metal to converting mountains of trash into polymer and normal plastics


    Handily enough, there just happened to be literal mountains of trash and scrap all around Night City. Hell, Rocky Ridge had its own fair share of that hanging around.


    I shook my head, focusing myself back on the current topic, smiling at Samwise. It was well and good to have plans for the future, but for now, I needed to focus on the present. I only had eleven days to get as much out of Titanfall as I could, and there was a whole lot that I wanted.


    "That is agreeable," Samwise said with a nod. "We are vulnerable here, both from monitoring systems and corporate watchlists."


    "I know, and it''s getting harder and harder to ignore," I admitted, shaking my head. "Keep your eyes open, even just around the apartment."


    "I will, sir," He agreed. "If our future plans are set, what of the short term?"


    "I''m going out with Jackie to do a job for Padre, a local Fixer," I explained. "Before that, I want to make a few small blueprints. When I''m done, I want you to build them both up until they are almost complete. Then you''re gonna finish one when I get back, and I will finish the other, probably tomorrow morning."


    "You are putting our compatibility to the test?" He asked while flashing "ToF" on his chest screen.


    My abilities, or at least, everything I knew about them so far, were included in his final build, built into a subsection in an easily deletable data chain. He was also programmed to be extremely circumspect about mentioning it, even when we appeared to be alone.


    "That''s right. Better to learn now than get surprised later," I pointed it out. "With any luck, even if it turns out like I think it will, I''ll still have a use for the blueprints."


    We talked a bit longer and answered Sam''s questions so I could get a feel for his conversational abilities. I was at least partially still testing him, seeing if any bugs sprung up. His core was, after all, a custom project rather than a line-for-line copy of something from the Titanfall universe. After I finished my coffee, I got some food from the machine in my room, actually paying for it since I had already removed the hack Spot and I installed. I sat down at my computer and got to work, eating my late breakfast and early lunch as I did.


    I already had the two projects for Samwise to work on in mind, so I could immediately start putting the plans together for him. The first was a simple double fist-sized drone surveillance drone. As far as I could tell, this world seemed determined to strap thrusters on every little drone, doubling their size, making them big, hot targets, and making them much more expensive to upkeep. The Titanfall universe, on the other hand, developed an entirely new thrust system for a lot of their drones, one that I was pretty sure was a more refined version of the Gremlin thrust system. They also maintained propeller-based drones, advancing them in small bursts but mostly leaving them as they were. They were cheaper, easier to maintain, easier to keep powered, and frequently easier to use. They could also be relativity quiet, at least when made correctly.


    Like the one I was designing.


    The second project was an early version of the minion detector, a semi-standard piece of equipment for Titan pilots. In the game, there was an advanced version of this device you could equip on your character that would clearly mark hostile targets on your minimap. Its only real limitation was that it couldn''t track pilots because they were frequently moving way too fast for it to follow. This version was very much not portable, significantly less efficient, and its difficulty tracking faster targets was even more pronounced, so much so that the device had to be stationary to work, but it did have one solid advancement.


    It was much easier to build.


    As I started to mentally dive into the Titanfall tech tree, I quickly realized I would have a serious problem replicating complex, nonstandard parts. XCOM had been easy since the scientists and engineers working for the program were pulling from a relatively low-tech world. Titanfall, on the other hand, had two hundred years of advancement and specialization. I could mix and match some of the general, simple stuff, like hydraulics and servos, but when I started making the crazy, high-end tech with no real equivalency in the Cyberpunk universe, I was going hit a wall very quickly. This only made self-sufficiency even more important since that was the key to making those unique parts.


    Luckily, the older model of the minion detector required a lot fewer small, finicky parts, so I could settle for an off-the-shelf infrared scanner, a sonar module from an underwater drone, and a seismic gauge used to monitor road traffic. These three devices worked together to create a real-time tracking system for all slow-moving entities in and around a singular building. By excluding people with proper credentials, you had an impressive addition to any security system. I didn''t have the sonar module or the seismic gauge on hand, so this device would be the one I finish on my own, probably tomorrow when they were delivered.


    At the end of the day, both of these devices would be sold to Padre, this time at a much more reasonable price. I had already cemented myself as someone he should protect, and it was in his best interest to keep my name off the records now that I could prove I wasn''t just a one-hit-wonder.


    Or, really, a three-hit wonder.


    I spent the last bits of the afternoon whipping up the minion detector''s programming since it was a pretty complicated system. Collating three streams of live data, interpreting it as a visual representation, and laying it over a 2D representation of a building was relatively complex. The drone''s programming was much more simple, so I had that finished in ten minutes.


    When I was finished with the design process, I handed the projects over to Samwise. At this point, I had a pretty solid grasp of both builds, with a good understanding of the general design and how some of the bits worked. I was still missing a good chunk of information, as well as that final blast of knowledge that accompanied the finishing of a build.


    In all honesty, I had relatively low expectations for this to work. My ability, Tinker of Fiction, while it provided me with real, hard technology that actually functioned on its own, still had a lot of Tinker-like aspects, limitations, and quirks, a lot more than I first realized. Having someone else complete my projects so I could focus on other things, drastically reducing the time it took me to build and advance, seems like a pretty obvious loophole. It''s why I chose two bits of tech I wasn''t overly interested in having locked into my brain.


    Still, even if my fears proved true, having someone like Samwise to help me build stuff I already got the benefits of, construct my own creations while I was focused on a tech tree, or just generally help me work, especially once we moved into better facilities, would be absolutely priceless.


    I watched Samwise work for a few minutes before idly checking the time.


    "Alright, Sam. I''m gonna have to leave you to work on your own for a while," I said. "I''m already running a bit late to meet with Jackie."


    "Very well, sir," He said. "Please endeavor to be as safe as possible."


    "Don''t worry, buddy. I got a whole suit of armor stashed in Jackie''s garage," I assured him. "Plus, Jackie will be with me, we''ve got it covered."


    "Understood. See you soon."


    The robot turned back to his work, preparing the off-the-shelf parts for the small drone while I started getting ready to leave. Once I had everything, including a few magazines of bullets for my rifle, I headed out, making my way down to the garage and hopping into my truck.


    It was a quick drive to Jackie''s garage, my friend waiting outside the large door for me. He waved and opened the garage door for me, and I backed the truck halfway into it.


    Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    "You ready?" I asked, stepping into the garage.


    "Just about," Jackie said, grabbing his helmet off a counter.


    He was already dressed in his armor, wearing his black and red jacket over it. He looked intimidating as fuck, which would only get better with his helmet on. As he watched, I made my way over to a stack of cargo crates, where I knew he kept my armor. While I put it on, Jackie filled me in on the details about our job.


    "So 6th Street has been pushing on Valentino turf for a while," Jackie explained, sitting down on his weight bench. "It happens all the time. Usually, they just push them back, take out a little extra, then retreat. Problem is, this time, they pushed too far, and when they got pushed back, they took something with them."


    "What did they take?" I asked, pausing as I pulled on the second part of my chest armor, feeling it connect around my back and tighten into place.


    "Padre didn''t say, I didn''t ask," Jackie said with a look, though after a moment, he shrugged. "My guess is a drug shipment or maybe some hardware. Either way, when the Valentinos pushed them out, it went with them."


    "So we what, we clear a 6th Street hideout, then get whatever they stole back?"


    "No, they''ve already written off whatever it was, which is why I''m guessing drugs. They would have already split it up to sell and use," Jackie explained. "But a message needs to be sent, something deeper than just a bit of a pushback, so we are going in, clearing out the building that Padre tracked the good too."


    "What''s the building for?"


    "Just a gathering area, nothing major," He responded. "We are looking at twelve, maybe fifteen, no more than twenty members."


    "Seriously?" I asked, looking up from finishing the last piece of my armor. "That''s a bit more than seven or eight scavs."


    "We can handle it," He assured me, "Just gotta hit hard before they can react, cut the group down by a handful. After that, we move slow and steady."


    "Sounds like a plan," I said, pulling on my helmet, letting it seal itself in place, feeling the synthetic muscles squeeze and move as they activated. "I''m ready, let''s go."


    Jacke nodded, and together, we climbed into the truck. Thankfully, unlike the van we took to the scav hit, the truck had more adjustable seating, letting me slide the passenger seat back and down, meaning I just fit inside while in my armor.


    It was tight, but it was better than laying in the back with the guns.


    The drive was blessedly short, crossing across a bridge from the Vista Del Rey subdistrict into Arroyo, otherwise known as 6th Street Gang territory. Thankfully, we didn''t move very far into their territory, only passing a few blocks before Jackie pulled up on a driveway, startling a few people walking on the sidewalk.


    "You ready for this?" He asked as he shut the truck down.


    "Yeah, why wouldn''t I be?" I asked, a bit confused.


    "Well¡­ 6th Street are assholes, but they aren''t quite scav assholes," He explained with a shrug. "I was worried you wouldn''t be up for it."


    "Oh¡­ well, I mean... I''m not going full murder hobo, but¡­ Live by the sword, die by the sword, right?" I said, quoting the paraphrased gospel line. "If you''re gonna be a violent ganger, you don''t get to complain when that violence gets turned back around on you."


    "Damn, fitting in pretty quick, Genio," Jackie said with a laugh, stepping out of the truck just as I did as well.


    The sudden appearance of a rather large, fully armored man, looking everything like combat borg, got even more attention than Jackie riding up on the curb did. Suddenly people knew shit was about to go down and decided that this street was a very bad place to be.


    Both of us walked around to the back of the truck, grabbing our weapons from the truck bed. I racked a round into my rifle, before reaching in and letting my sword latch onto the magnetic holster on my back. I then reached inside and pulled out Jackie''s axe, handing it to him.


    "Damn¡­ I like it."


    He took a moment to study the axe before clipping its holster to his belt, practicing pulling it before nodding and sliding it back on the opposite hip as his pistol. He then reached forward and grabbed his helmet, slowly pulling it over his head. He looked at me, the menacing, almost ogre-like face looking back at me, giving me a simple nod.


    Together, we walked down the street, weapons ready, before finally, Jackie turned onto a pavilion, one lined with a few dozen vending machines, all lined up along the walls. There was one of those mini shops in the center, though it was empty of anything to buy. Instead, two gang members, covered in metal, both chains and cyberware, were sitting inside. Rather than say anything, Jackie simply reached into his jacket, pulled out a frag grenade, and underhanded it into the mini shop as we walked by. Both of the gangers were shocked by our appearance, and when the grenade thunked off the wall behind them and landed at their feet, it was way too late for them to do anything about it.


    The grenade went off when we were a dozen feet away, blowing smoke and hundreds of fragments up and out of the structure, annihilating both of the "guards." We kept walking, both of us protected by the building, though I did feel a few small, residual fragments ping off my back. As we approached the front entrance to what was once a store, three gangers came pouring out of the front entrance, shouting and yelling. They ran face-first into us, having no idea what was going on, completely unprepared to meet us. Jackie snapped his axe out of his holster and slammed it into one of their skulls as the ganger tried to skid to a stop while I raised my rifle and pulled the trigger twice, spraying down the remaining two.


    My time in the Badlands had given me a much better understanding of how my rifle worked, and it showed. The first bursts I fired went a bit wide, only the last two bullets hitting my target. Even so, each impact was devastating, with the heavy steel rounds blowing chunks out of the first man''s shoulder and chest. My second burst was much more on target, with a quartet of rounds annihilating the third man, both of them dropping to the ground and sliding to a stop.


    "I''ll lead," I said, my voice filtered through my mask.


    "Si, right behind you."


    I stepped closer, kicking the door in. The flimsy, cheap frame crumpled and slammed open hard enough to knock the door off its hinges, clearing the door permanently. However, rather than stepping through, I stepped to the side, just as whoever was on the other side mag dumped through the open door. Eventually, after a moment, I heard a click, and Jackie immediately stepped into the doorframe. He fired a pretty tight grouping of bullets into the frantically reloading ganger. When Jackie stepped back, I stepped through, my rifle up and ready as I cleared the front entrance.


    I confirm in the back of my head that shortening my redesign of the mag rifle had been the right choice as I turned and scanned the entrance, the rifle up on my shoulder, ready to fire. Two steps into the room, a ganger with a significant portion of his left side replaced with cyberware burst from behind cover. He was armed with a telescopic club, sparks of EMP static crackling around the end. The second he laid eyes on us, he jerked back in surprise, clearly not anticipating either of us. He dropped a second later, his baton going silent as it rolled away from his corpse.


    Two more gangers came charging out of a back room, a door marked with a fading sign that read "Employees Only." We were facing the other direction, and both of them got several shots off. Bullets pinged off my armor and flattened against Jackie''s, but neither of them had anything capable of penetrating our armor.


    When both of them had been dispatched, we both made our way to the door they had come from. We both had time to reload before I put on a repeat performance, kicking the door off of its frame and stepping into the small storage room beyond. It was empty, but not for long, as a man dressed in modified military fatigues and chrome built into his head stepped around a door further in, holding something in each of his hands. Even as he tossed both of his grenades, I turned, my body running on instincts I didn''t even know it had. I slammed into Jackie, the enhanced strength of my armor just enough to drive us both through the door frame. I was in the process of shoving him away from the opening when the grenade went off.


    The explosion was deceptively small, but with nothing between me and it, I was battered by a barrage of shrapnel. Still, the explosive had gone off inside the room, so instead of being battered and broken, I was merely tossed a bit, falling down on my ass, my ears ringing.


    Thankfully, I had succeeded in pushing Jackie out of the danger zone, so when three gangers came sprinting around the corner, coming to confirm or finish us off, he finished off all three of them, dumping most of his pistol mag into them.


    Slowly, I stood up, quickly helped by Jackie after he confirmed the storage room was empty.


    "Ey, you good choom?" He asked, his voice barely detectable under a constant whine.


    "Yeah, I''m good. None of the shrapnel made it through," I confirmed. "Probably just some bruising. Ears are ringing."


    "That''s good, the ringing will pass," He assured me as he slapped my shoulder.


    With a nod, Jackie grabbed my rifle and handed it to me, covering me while I stretched, shook off the explosion, and checked my weapon. I gave him a nod when I was ready.


    We pushed back through into the storage room, which was now a heavily perforated mess. After quickly clearing the mess, we cleared the next room as well, which was set up as a break room of sorts, with a staircase going down in the far corner.


    I took the lead, slowly descending down the stairs and entering a run-down, patched-up basement. As I stepped out of the stairwell, I got my a clear view of the surprisingly open room. There was a lot of stuff stored there, crates and boxes all stacked up along the walls, with a table in the center of the decently sized room, with what looked like the remnants of a poker game going on. There were also three gangers waiting for us, in cover behind some of the crates. I stepped forward, looking to take cover as well before they could open fire, only for one big mother fucker to come out from behind a stack of boxes and slam into me. Just from a glance, I could see he was seriously chromed out, with all four limbs replaced by exposed cyberware. The impact drove me back and knocked my rifle from my hand, the shock of his charge and yell stunning me just long enough for him to disarm me.


    Jackie, who was just behind me, stepped out of the stairwell, trying to line up a shot on the chromed-up ganger, only for a barrage of bullets to force him back into the stairs.


    The brute continued to try and grapple me, his robotic limbs, and whatever other enhancements he had, actually giving him a significant edge. My warden armor only improved my strength and speed to around, maybe even slightly past peak human. It did not contend very well with someone kitted out to the nines in steal and servos, especially someone with actual experience fighting hand-to-hand.


    Knowing this, I didn''t fight him for dominance, only to stay standing, focusing instead on reaching down to holster, grabbing my knife and pulling it from its sheath. I slammed it down into his back, just below his neck, punching through what I was pretty sure was some sort of subdermal armor. I stabbed him several more times before finally hitting his spine, or the cyberware equivalent, the man going limp instantly, falling to the ground. I left my knife in him, focusing on the other three gangers still standing, their attention now split between Jackie and myself.


    Rather than scramble on the ground for my rifle, I grabbed my pistol, pulling it out and holding it one-handed, firing as I moved, trying to flank around the three remaining goons. One of the three noticed what I was doing and tried to pull his shots to follow me, but his <u>Copperhead </u></a>clicked, his magazine empty. As he screamed out a curse, desperately fumbling with a new mag, I put him down before focusing on the next ganger.


    Together, Jackie and I made quick work of the remaining two 6th Street gangers. When the gunfire finally stopped, we both took a moment to breathe. I retrieved my fusion knife, wiping the synthetic blood off of it and sliding it back into my holster before reloading my pistol and sliding it away as well.


    "Let''s clear the upstairs again," Jackie said. "Then you stand guard while I fill some duffel bags up."


    "Sounds like a plan," I said with a nod. "So¡­ how did you like your ax?"


    "Worked well, thought for sure it would get stuck in that guy''s skull," Jackie answered. "Not bad."


    "What can I say? I do good work," I responded, following after Jackie while he shook his head.


    "Don''t get cocky Genio," He said, though I could hear his smile. "Just keep watch, I''ll fill a few bags, and we''ll get out of here quick."

 Chapter Fourteen

    While Jackie went over the gang base with a fine-tooth comb, looking for anything worth taking and stuffing it into our bags, I stood watch. I picked a spot at the entrance to the open pavilion, my back to the heavily perforated mini-shop that sat in the middle. I kept my eyes on the road, watching for anyone suspicious driving past, my helmet blocking the glare from headlights as I stared. Thankfully, the few normal civilians around at this time of night knew better than to approach, but I had no doubt word of a new Borg hanging out, taking down a 6th Street gang spot, would get around.


    Like I needed any more attention.


    After about five minutes, Jackie walked out and dropped two bags off by my feet before walking back inside and grabbing two more. I quickly clipped my rifle to my back, grabbed both bags with one hand, and drew my pistol. When Jackie returned with his loot, we made a beeline for the truck, quickly stuffing our bags into the back before hopping in and peeling out.


    We traveled at a pretty quick speed through the city, only slowing down to a more reasonable pace once we were back in Valentino territory. Rather than heading straight home, Jackie punched in a location nearby before letting the truck drive itself. He was about to call Padre when I spoke up.


    "Tell him I have a few more inventions he might be interested in."


    "What? Already?" He asked, the shock clear in his voice. "What are they?"


    "A small, quiet, multipurpose drone that doesn''t use fuel and has decent range, as well as some scanning equipment that can monitor a large building for intruders," I explained.


    "Damn, choom. That''s quick¡­ I''m not sure he will be ready to buy something new so quickly," Jackie admitted with a frown. "He spent a good chunk of Eddies on you already."


    "Should we look for a new buyer, then?"


    "No, definitely not," he said, shaking his head and waving his hand. "We try Padre first, and if he doesn''t want it, we can ask him to find someone who does. We are already in his good graces. Cutting him out of a deal now would only ruin that."


    "Even if we make less money because he needs a cut too?"


    "Padre won''t screw us," Jackie assured me. "The last low price was the cost of protection and keeping things dark. This time, he will be more fair."


    I nodded in agreement, hoping for Jackie''s sake he was right. If Padre expected me to sell all of my stuff as cheaply as I had my first batch, he was in for a surprise.


    Seeing that I was satisfied, Jackie contacted Padre and explained that the job was done. He also informed him that I was already ready to show him a few more things, the fixer agreeing to meet us tomorrow night, which, since it was almost two in the morning at that point, meant in two days. While Jackie was talking about setting up a meeting, my keyfob vibrated in one of my belt pouches. A quick look showed just over six thousand eddies deposited in my account.


    While he talked to the fixer, the truck continued to drive, making its way through Valentino territory. Just a few minutes after Jackie was done on the phone and had taken control of the truck back from the Auto-driver, we pulled into a back alley. We stepped out of our vehicle and were immediately greeted by a pair of obvious Valentino members. They looked aggressive, eyeing me up and keeping their hands near their weapons, right up until they spotted Jackie. When they did, they immediately started talking in Spanish with friendly smiles on their faces. After a short negotiation, Jackie handed the four bags off, only after grabbing a smaller bag from inside one of them. Apparently, he found a few rolls of cash during his quick sweep of the building.


    The gang members took about ten minutes going over whatever it was that Jackie had stuffed into the bags before coming back and paying Jackie. They talked for a few more minutes before the gangers returned to their posts, and we returned to the truck. Jackie pulled out of the alley and turned to head back to the garage.


    "How did it go?"


    "Good, another three grand for both of us," He explained, his eyes glowing for a moment while he transferred my share to my account. "When we get back, take three rolls from the bag too. That''s another five hundred."


    I nodded, leaning back in the seat as best as I could in my armor. Almost an hour later, I was finally stepping back into my apartment. I was tired, sore, and ready for bed. As the door sealed behind me, Samwise stepped out of the workshop.


    "Welcome back, Sir. How was your ''job''," He asked, taking my rifle from me and, after deftly checking it was unloaded and off, stored it in the workshop.


    "About as well as you could hope," I said, taking off my jacket and hanging it up before walking further into the apartment. "How did your night go?"


    "I am currently seventy-three percent done with my first project," He explained, once again exiting the work area. "I find adapting to your tool options to be¡­ interesting. I will likely finish both projects by tomorrow morning."


    "Good, then we can finally put the idea of me getting credit for you finishing something to rest," I said, stretching with a yawn. "Though it''s already looking pretty much busted since I haven''t gotten any new information from you assembling it."


    "Indeed. Unfortunate, but you suspected it would work this way."


    I grunted in acknowledgment before dropping down to the edge of my bed and kicking off my shoes. Spot left his charging point and snagged them with his grabbers, flying them over to their proper location by the door before I could even ask.


    "Sorry, Sam. I would love to stay up longer to chat, but I really can''t," I said, pulling off my shirt. "It''s late, and I still need to sleep off the nearly all-nighter I pulled programming for you."


    "Understandable, Sir. I will continue working," He confirmed with a small nod. "Have a good night''s rest."


    "Thanks, buddy. Wake me up if you need me."


    I quickly crawled into bed while Samwise made his way back to the workshop. Thankfully, with the door sealed, the sound of the fabricators and 3D printers would be heavily muffled. I watched as Spot flew around, snagged my clothes, and carried them to the clothes bin before sliding himself back into his charge station. I was out before he had even fully powered down.


    The next morning, I woke up to find Samwise charging in the drone workstation. I was halfway through my poor excuse for breakfast when he booted back up and stepped away from the work area.


    "Good morning, Samwise," I greeted. "How did everything go last night after I got home?"


    "I completed the devices, save the final steps for each one," he responded. "Will we be completing the experiment now?"


    "May as well."


    We stepped into the workshop, and I watched as Samwise got to work. He had completed most of the drone, with only its power source, a few screws, and a single panel left to attach. He completed the work deftly, putting the final pieces together in several minutes. Normally, that would be when I got the final burst of information. Unfortunately, but not unsurprisingly, there was nothing. I still had the basic information that I got while creating the CAD files, but no new information presented itself.


    "Oh well, check that off the list," I said with a frown.


    Thankfully, I really didn''t care about understanding this particular drone, and there wasn''t exactly some great secret I was missing. I had the designs and a working model, which was plenty to sell to Padre. If, when the tech tree switched over, I lost all that knowledge completely, I didn''t really care.


    With the drone done, it was time to test the second potential cheat, having someone build most of the machine, stop, and then finish it myself. I was about as confident with this portion of the experiment as I was with the previous, but it still needed to be done. Unfortunately, we had to wait about an hour for the final pieces I needed to get delivered. Samwise then needed to modify a few of them before I could finally put it all together.


    We spent about thirty minutes putting the final touches on the early version of the minion detector, fitting the parts together, and sliding everything into the custom case. In all honesty, I was pretty impressed by Sam''s work. There was a fair bit of modifications that had to be done to the sensors we purchased, the ones that functioned as the backbone of the device. Despite being a bit nervous about how my new assistant would handle them, they were as near perfect as I should have expected from an AI.


    When I finally put in the last screw, I quickly hooked up the unit to my computer before booting it up. Unsurprisingly, the sensor was useless in an apartment complex as massive as a Megabuilding, but that didn''t matter since I didn''t even let it finish the scanning process, as just turning it on was enough.


    "Alright, so. I got something for finishing it, but not much," I explained, chewing my cheek as I tried to put it into words. "It sort of cemented the design in my head a bit, and I understand just a bit more about it. I might be able to build it again from scratch, with the designs, but¡­ It''s hard to tell. I definitely didn''t get the same burst of knowledge that I usually get, showing what''s around it and lighting up the tech tree."


    "That is more than you predicted."


    "Yeah, but way less than I''d hoped," I responded before shrugging. "Still, depending on what I keep after the switch happens, it might be useful. Maybe for simple tech that functions on ideas I already know. I''ll get the designs, a bit more of the knowledge, but nothing else."


    "Something to keep in mind for the future, sir," Samwise suggested, and I nodded in agreement.


    With the experiment over, it was time for us to get to proper work. I had a long list of things that I wanted to build from the Titanfall universe, and I did not have a whole lot of time to do it. Some of them were more important than others, while some things were absolutely crucial if I wanted to fully move into Rocky Ridge during my next break week.


    First on the list was the ability to make custom parts, which in and of itself was a multi-stage process. Next up was the ability to turn scrap and trash into raw materials.


    My first step was custom parts production, though it wouldn''t really be useful until I finished step two as well. In the Titanfall universe, when it came to big productions or mass productions, their tech was basically just more advanced versions of what the Cyberpunk universe used, usually from the heavy implementation of AI-controlled systems. Fabrication arms, vacuum welding, and several other more advanced construction methods worked together in large, automated factories to turn raw materials into products.


    However, when it came to small-batch, small-scale production, they had fully embraced the 3D printing trend and ran with it. Rather than using a subtractive method for making small-scale things, IE starting with a block of steel and carving it down into the part you need, the Titanfall universe used additive methods, most often by literally printing things.


    Originally, like in my world, this was done mostly with plastics. Several high-tech polymers, better than what the Cyberpunk universe had access to, ended up replacing metal for a lot of stuff. Of course, 3D printing with metal is something that exists in my home world, in Cyberpunk, and in Titanfall, but it had a lot of issues and wasn''t always capable of what you needed. Then, someone at IMC figured out how to print down quickly and accurately at nearly the molecular level, with basically any material, with no loss in strength.


    Unsurprisingly, it replaced a huge portion of 3D printers almost overnight. No seams, no defects unless your machine was faulty, and quality systems, the ability to print with multiple materials at once. These new printers were incredible and could easily print just about anything. Some higher-end machines could print out equipment wholesale, rather than go part by part.


    Unfortunately, there were, of course, some pretty heavy restrictions that made the method impractical for mass production.


    For one thing, it was incredibly energy-intensive. Running one or two of the molecular printer machines, colloquially known as molly-makers, took an incredible amount of power, but running enough to be considered a mass production facility would be astronomical. Further, while the technique was fast, that was only when compared to other 3D printing methods. In most circumstances, it was easier to mass produce individual parts the normal way before putting everything together, rather than printing out each piece or even multiple pieces at once.


    It also required that the material being printed, whether it was metal, plastic, or something else, was suspended in a very specific solution. Unfortunately, that mixture was extremely sensitive and would become inert from exposure to sunlight, high or low temperatures, or rapid shifts in pressure. It even had a shelf life that, once passed, required a remanufacturing process to reactivate.


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    Thankfully, I had power generation covered. Elerium was basically free energy, and at this point, I knew it backward and forward. I could make enough Elerium to power a decent-sized molly-maker in a couple of days, and I already had enough on hand to power a smaller one.


    That just left the suspension solution. In early models, this required two separate machines. The first was to process, filter, and reactivate the used inert solution, and the second was to reinfuse raw materials into the activated solution. Later, machines were capable of doing this all in one standard device, but those were too advanced for me for now. Thankfully, the process of making the solution was a relatively simple chemical process, one I could handle on a small scale for now.


    There was one silver lining to all of this. The technique, or at least the basic version of the technique, scaled extremely well, meaning that once I had the process of making even a small version, I would be able to pretty easily puzzle out how to make a larger one. That is, if making the small one didn''t immediately fill in the blanks. If I wanted the more flexible, efficient, and faster version, I would have to build whatever this first model unlocked and then upscale from that.


    Of course, that was all just half of the story. I wanted to be self-sufficient, and that meant having my own source of materials. Thankfully, Titanfall had a solution to that as well, in the form of mass recyclers. These devices could take mass amounts of trash and scrap, shred it to pieces, and use nearly a dozen different separation methods to pull out a variety of useful metals. It also separated useless waste and plastics, producing plastic cubes made up of whatever plastics you fed into it. These plastics could be useful for some things, but the inconsistencies in their makeup made them pretty much useless when you needed consistency and precision.


    The plan, for now, was to make the first versions of all four of these devices before the first week was out. Then, using the money that I would hopefully get from Padre, I could buy a chunk of the land at Rocky Ridge. Once I owned that, I could build larger, improved versions of the molly-maker, its required support, and the mass recycler there. Then, when my new production foundation was secure, I could put it to work for the remaining time I had the Titanfall tech tree.


    Between having no lag time for parts delivery, no longer needing to modify parts to work, and having everything on hand at once, I would be able to get through everything I needed and at least some of what I wanted.


    I was hoping to be building the larger, improved machines by the start of my second week so I could at least have four or five days to make as many bits and pieces from the Titanfall universe as I could. I was not letting this tech tree pass without at least getting the jump jets and particle shields. It was a tall order, but as long as Padre paid out properly for my new ideas, I could brute force it with money.


    As you can imagine, with such a tight deadline, I immediately got to work, powering through the first step of the process, CAD designs. The second I finished one of the designs, I began working on the second, while Samwise monitored the 3D printers and fabricators, keeping them fed and printing while I continued to put the designs in my head into the computer. When I was done for the night, he continued to produce parts so we could assemble everything.


    This continued for the next day and into the late afternoon. By then, we had assembled both the molly-maker itself as well as the material suspension device. They were small models, both of them the size of mini-fridges, and when they were done, they provided a burst of insight into how they really worked and how some of the direct improvements made in later models worked. I could feel that when I was ready to build the larger models, I would have access to the higher-end version, ones that came out much later in the Titanfall timeline.


    While part of me would have loved to dive into the next step in my plan, Jackie and I had an appointment with a fixer. I spent half an hour making myself decent before leaving to pick up Jackie. This time, Padre picked the place, meaning we were driving deep into the heart of Valentino territory to a small lowered pavilion between two large apartment buildings.


    The space was relatively clean and well-lit, with vending machines along one far wall and a few benches and tables around. We passed a row of food stalls selling noodles and other random foods before stepping out into the mostly empty space. Padre was sitting on one of the concrete benches, reading his weathered bible, his large bodyguard standing beside him.


    Jackson, Jackie, good to see you both again," He said, motioning us to sit on a bench that ran perpendicular to his own. "Have a seat."


    After making ourselves comfortable, the fixer once again patiently sat there, under no rush to start the conversation. Part of me wondered if he was doing something with his neural link, pretending to be a wise man of few words by playing the Cyberpunk equivalent of Clash of Clans in his head. Finally, after what seemed like a full minute and a half, he spoke.


    "So, Jackson. Jackie told me you have more to sell?"


    "I do," I answered, beginning to lift the small box I had fit the drone inside of, stopping when he held up my hand.


    "While your creations are worth money, buying so many of them so quickly would spread me thin," He explained. "If I purchase these as well, it will take months before I am prepared to buy more."


    "I understand that, Sir."


    "Good. In the future, I may have other buyers interested in your creations, but for now, these will be the last I purchase. Assuming I am interested."


    Sensing the unspoken permission, I lifted the small case, revealing my drone.


    "This is a flying drone. It is relatively quiet, tough, easy to make, cheap to repair, has a decent camera, and has a built-in payload release mechanism. Normally, its max payload is just under a pound, but at the cost of stealth, heavy battery drain, and a lot of wear on its parts, it can lift a pound and a half for short periods," I explained before handing him the drone. "Unlike most modern drones these days, it doesn''t burn fuel or use thrusters. That means anyone with access to electricity can charge and use it."


    I answered a few questions about "my" invention as he connected its controls with his neural-link. As he guided the drone up off the ground and high into the air, he nodded.


    "A useful tool," He agreed, the drone scanning over some of the vending machines. "If a bit disorienting to use."


    When the drone was safely back in the box, Jackie handed over some footage of me using and showing off the minions tracker. When he realized what he was watching, Padre leaned forward in interest.


    "With one of these set up inside a building, one man can watch the entire place by himself," I assured him. "You can secure an entire building with just one of these. No cameras, no patrols, and no sensors. Larger buildings or buildings with more than three stories will require more than one system, but they are designed to work together seamlessly."


    "How does it work?"


    "It uses a whole host of different sensors to scan a building, then lock on to movement," I explained. "It''s only limitation is that it can''t pick up people running faster than thirty miles per hour, but at that pace, the likelihood of someone being stealthy¡­"


    Padre had several more questions about how the minion detector worked. When he was finally satisfied, he leaned back on the bench.


    "Do you have a price in mind?" he asked, laser-focused on me.


    "I do. One hundred thousand for both, plus fifteen percent of your profits."


    For a moment, the older man looked at me before finally chuckling and nodding.


    "Seems like my doubts were unfounded. I am glad you understand the game to some extent, or you would have made a poor friend for Jackie," He said before responding to my offer. "Fifty thousand and ten percent."


    "Eighty and fifteen."


    "Seventy and twelve."


    Now it was my turn to pause and consider, my eyes watching the older man as he confidently waited for my response. Seventy thousand Eddies was already more than I got for my three other inventions, and the added twelve percent would hopefully help keep me flush for a while, depending on just how many of these things he sold.


    "And you''ll continue to look after me and Jackie?" I said, ignoring my friend''s shifting. "Keep an ear to the ground, that sort of thing?"


    "I''ll even continue to obfuscate all of your online shopping deliveries," Padre assured me, shaking his head at my shocked expression. "Do you really think someone wouldn''t catch on to so many materials being delivered to one location? I''ve been keeping your name out of records since we made our first deal."


    "That¡­ Thank you," I said, letting out a long breath. "It was a concern, but hopefully for not much longer."


    "Your first three inventions will more than makeup for any bribes I make," he assured me, brushing off my first words. "What do you mean it will not be a problem?"


    "I¡­ plan on purchasing a chunk of land from Rocky Ridge, the abandoned town," I explained. "With any luck, I''ll be moving out there within the next two weeks. Something that I would prefer to stay between us for now."


    "Ah, interesting. And would you be needing help with that?"


    "I¡­ Depending on the cost, maybe." I said. "And I don''t just mean money. But I will know more once I start the process."


    "I understand. While many here consider gang contacts to be an important resource, to the man trying to stay neutral and out of sight, they are a burden," He said with a nod. "Keep the offer in mind, but I will not hold my breath. In any case, do we have a deal?"


    "We do," I agreed with a nod, reaching out and shaking the man''s hand.


    "If you have more to sell, contact me with some details, and I may be able to find someone interested," He said, still holding my hand. "I will facilitate the trade, with a minor cut of the profits, of course."


    "Of course," I said, internally rolling my eyes.


    With our business concluded, Padre transferred thirty-five thousand credits to my account before Jackie and I made our way back to the truck. When we climbed in, I transferred ten thousand eddies to Jackie.


    "Woah, choom, that''s a lot of Eddies!" he said, his eyes wide, showing off their glow. "I hardly did anything this time!"


    "It''s your contacts, Jackie. I wouldn''t be on nearly as friendly terms with Padre without you," I pointed out. "Besides, we are a team. When I succeed, so do you."


    He looked at me for a long moment before giving me a slight nod. I could tell my statement meant a lot to the larger man, but I focused on the road.


    "Speaking of being a team, why didn''t you mention moving out of the city?" he asked, his face falling a bit.


    "I''ll be five minutes away, tops," I pointed out, shaking my head. "I need a lot more room to grow, and out there, I won''t have anyone breathing down my neck when I start improving my security and building larger stuff. It is cheap, isolated by the desert, and the Wraiths are really the only major threat I will have to deal with."


    "Still sounds risky," He commented. "Wraiths are no pushovers."


    "I know," I admitted, chewing my lip. "The first week or so is going to be intense. Once I have some time to build up some security, I will feel much better, but until then, it''s going to be tight. I will probably spend some time bouncing back and forth, sleeping at the apartment and working there. That way, I will at least avoid being ambushed at night."


    "We could hire some people to act as security, at least until you''re set," He pointed out. "I''ll obviously be there, but with a few solos around, we could keep the place safe to work in."


    "That''s¡­ a pretty good idea," I admitted with a nod. "Padre probably knows some people willing to work for a discount on some proper body armor or maybe some other tech."


    "He would probably pay them and hold the discounts for himself if you offered that," Jackie countered. "Your armor is good choom. He likes how easy it is to wear."


    "Yeah¡­ Hey, I''m thinking of getting some bone and muscle lace or maybe a skin weave, depending on what Vik can get his hands on," I said, changing the topic.


    "Good idea. You need some chrome to toughen you up," Jackie said, reaching over and slapping me on the shoulder. "I''ve got all three, and I don''t regret any of them."


    We spent the rest of the drive discussing which I should get first, eventually arriving back at the megabuilding. After a quick goodbye, Jackie hopped onto his bike and drove off, leaving me to head back to my apartment and get back to work. There was a lot to get done, and every day counted.

 Chapter Fifteen

    The next four days went by in a blur.


    Samwise and I were working on our latest projects nearly nonstop. We already had the molly-maker and the material suspender, which just left the mass recycler and the activator. I managed to finish the design for the recycler the night I shook hands with Padre for our new deal, putting it together the next morning.


    It was a surprisingly intricate series of filtering methods, shrunk down to fit into a tight box. A grinder worked the trash and scrap into a sand-like powder before drying it out. Then, it used a magnet to extract ferrous material, weight filtering to grab heavier elements, electrical charges to filter out specific alloys, and several other more esoteric methods to extract anything else useful. Plastic was still an issue, but upon finishing the mass recycler, I realized I could now reach a bit further down that specific branch. A quick look showed a machine capable of taking the plastics from the mass recycler and refining them considerably, making them into useful materials.


    By the time I was finished putting together that machine, Padre''s men had picked up the designs for the minion detector and the drone, leaving me with the rest of my payment. Immediately, I called the numbers I had researched and saved days ago, talking to four of the original landowners of Rocky Ridge. Each of them was ecstatic to sell their land, happily dumping what they thought was a useless plot of the desert for literal ennies on the eddie. It was such a significant loss for them that I asked Samwise to remember their information so that I could potentially offer them something better in the future when I wasn''t so strapped for cash and resources.


    With the land officially mine, I got to work on the final barrier, the suspension liquid activator. Thankfully, this was a tiny machine when compared to the two machines it worked with, just a bit larger than a computer tower from my old world. It took the inert and contaminated solution, filtered out everything unwanted, and reactivated it by applying a very gentle ultrasonic pulse and nearly negligible electric charge. Those were alternated several times a second, reactivating the solution and preparing it for the next material. When it was complete, I finally had full access to the higher-end models.


    When I was mentally examining those designs, I realized I was lucky to have made the low-end molly-maker first, because getting some of these parts would have been a nightmare otherwise. They would have required high-quality custom orders, which would have taken forever and would have been nearly impossible to explain. Now, with my own molly-maker, I could just print them out.


    Well, I could once I got them all up and running.


    With the four machines completed, it was time to work on the suspension solution. I made four five-gallon buckets of strange liquid, which was thankfully mostly cheap. It was an interesting mixture of materials, all of which were on the cheaper end. The process of making the solution was also surprisingly simple. The hardest part was the ratios and multiple steps, which saw me creating what was best described as an artificial protein, one made to react to very specific energy signals. More than anything, they were the key to the printing process.


    Once that was done, it was time to start moving our shit to Rocky Ridge. Originally, I had planned on waiting until I had a free week, but the more I thought about it, the more that seemed unwise. Between learning that Padre was the only reason people hadn''t noticed my shopping habits and knowing I would have much more freedom once I moved, I decided to take the risk.


    It was a bit nerve-racking to begin with, since this was a big leap out of the relatively safe feeling apartment. When it was finally time to go, the actual move was pretty easy, especially since Jackie recruited a few friends to help. They had no idea what they were transporting since everything was boxed up, even Samwise. We had the apartment cleaned out in a few hours, and everything shipped to Rocky Ridge a few hours after that.


    Now, when purchasing the land, I ended up buying a <u>couple of large chunks</u></a>. The<u> BD Shack</u></a>, the <u>garage and CHOOH2</u></a> station, which included the <u>parking lot across the street</u></a>, the one that encircled the power substation, the liquor store across the street from the BD Shack, and the solar farm to the southwest. These came with a handful of the surrounding trailers, as well as all of the junk and scrap around the entire premises. At some point, I was sure I would buy the rest of the dead town, but for now, I left it alone.


    Out of all of the buildings, the garage was in the best condition, so we moved everything into there. The entire move, from leaving the apartment to moving into the garage, took eight hours. By the end of it, we had everything up and working, save the Molly-maker and its two accompanying devices. Those required too much power, and I didn''t want to hook them to the already struggling solar farm.


    A few of Jackie''s friends, ones requested by Padre, set up shop in the BD shack to act as guards, thankfully on the fixer''s dime. He promised me it was simply him protecting an asset, not trying to influence me into partnering closer to the Valentino''s. I didn''t care as long as they didn''t try to interfere with my work or spy on me.


    While Jackie and his friends were keeping an eye out on the surrounding desert, I got to work on the larger scale production equipment. Rather than go for the all-in-one device and sacrifice efficiency and size, I decided to make a rather large molly-mixer, at first running it off of the smaller filter and material suspender while using it to make larger versions solely for its use.


    While I was designing and working in my new workshop, I sent Samwise out to do some work around our new property. His first task was cleaning off the solar panel farm, which by itself massively improved our power situation. I was still going to run all of the Molly-makers and associated equipment off Elerium, but it was still an important success. After he did a quick check of the power systems to make sure we weren''t going to burn out anything or the time spent with no maintenance had set up a ticking time bomb of missable damage, Samwise got to work cleaning and scrapping stuff around the garage, making more room for our projects.


    I had no concern for efficiency, so basically everything that looked even remotely junky went into the mass recycler, from rusted car parts to bags of trash. The machine was loud, so we had it running in the shed behind the garage, where it wouldn''t bother anyone. After a few hours of working, Samwise walked into the garage with boxes of metal powder, organized and ready to be poured into the material suspender.


    By the time the sun rose and Jackie walked into the garage with a cup of coffee and a bag of food, I had the original molly-maker, as well as the suspension and filtration system hooked up to an Elerium power core. It was essentially an oversized Elerium node using several full chunks of Elerium to generate massive amounts of power. The molly maker was already going, with multiple reservoirs running through materials quickly as it worked hard to make its bigger and better brother.


    I was passed out on the floor on a few of the cushions from the couches in the other room. This was the first time using the molly-maker, and while I was sure I had done it right thanks to the plans in my head, building, moving, installing, and then immediately and extensively running a complicated and delicate piece of machinery wasn''t exactly the best idea. The machine had plenty of warning buzzers and beeps though, I just needed to be close by to hear them.


    The fact that Samwise was nearby working the fabricators and had been since the previous night showed just how tired I was. I woke up slowly to the sensation of Jackie nudging me awake, handing me the large coffee before I was even fully upright.


    "Dammit, Jay, you look like hot death," He said, helping me to my feet. "You''re lucky I promised, or I would have let you sleep."


    "I know, I know," I said, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes and taking a drink from the coffee. "Too much to do, not enough time to do it in. Got a lot of what I wanted to do done, though."


    Jackie looked around the <u>interior of the garage</u></a>. The large space was almost entirely cleaned out, all of the trash and scrap having been removed and recycled by Sam. Other than that, the space was clearly in a transitional state, with things pulled out away from the walls and machines running while sitting on the ground.


    The molly-maker and its two extra machines were against one wall, with space for its larger brother once I was done printing the parts. Once that was done, I would stack the smaller machine in the corner and upgrade the Elerium power core so it could run both of them.


    When I finally completed the larger device, my ability to produce whatever parts I needed, whatever I could design, would skyrocket. Already, with just the smaller, less efficient version, I was close to cutting production time by a full twenty-five percent. And that didn''t include how much time I would have spent trying to finagle parts to do things they weren''t intended to do.


    All in all, I was hoping that I would be ready to start powering through more Titanfall tech by tomorrow morning. The spare set of hands that Samwise was making would certainly help.


    "Hey, listen. So Padre sent someone over to serve as your dedicated bodyguard," Jackie said with a wince. "The boys he paid are muscle, but they don''t have that kind of experience."


    "I thought you were my bodyguard?" I said with a smirk, the larger man rolling his eyes.


    "You know that''s not what I''m looking to do, Genio. I gotta stick to my dreams, you know?" he said, shaking his head. "I''m gonna keep working in the city. Don''t worry, I''ll keep-"


    "You say that like I''m not going to be running them with you," I said, turning away from the computer to look at him with a raised eyebrow.


    "Well, choom¡­ you got your set up, and you got income from your deal with Padre-"


    "Jackie, I told you we are in this together. You''re not getting rid of me that easy," I assured him, slapping him on the shoulder. "Give me five days, and we can start running jobs again.


    "I¡­ alright, Jackson," he said with a nod, surprised by happy about my statement.


    "Good¡­ now what was this about a bodyguard?"


    "Oh, right. He found someone neutral who had experience and could act as your shadow. He paid for a month of her services. After that, you gotta keep paying her," He explained. "He seemed pretty confident that you would happily pay her out of pocket by that time."


    For some reason, the mention of the bodyguard''s gender tickled the back of my brain. A bad feeling started to come over me as I fixed Jackie with a look.


    "Who did he find?"


    "Well¡­ technically, she had already been watching over you for a while now, and-"


    "You''re taking too long, big guy!" A familiar voice said from outside the garage.


    From around the corner came Kaytlyn, a smile on her face as she leaned against the open garage door frame. She was dressed in much more professional clothes than the last time I saw her, including what I was pretty sure was a black, reinforced jacket over some <u>chest armor</u></a>, militech by the looks of it. She gave me a wave, her smile morphing into a smirk.


    "Kaytlyn, good to see you," I said, my tone blank. "So¡­"


    "Yes, I was being paid to look over you and keep an eye out for trouble. Though I am actually friends with Misty, and I do actually get my cyberware from Vik," She assured me, her tone shifting to something close to understanding. "That was just a coincidence."


    "So you weren''t my neighbor?"


    "Kinda sorta?" She explained with a shrug. "I was really out of the city on business, but Padre brought me back on a favor. I lived in the same megabuilding, but I was lower down, so I traded rooms with your old neighbor. I even had a plan to use the excuse of a sibling to explain away the random guy you might have seen using it before, but you didn''t even notice."


    Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    "I''m a busy person," I explained with a shrug. "How much is he paying you?"


    "Twenty-five grand for a month, but like Jackie said, he''s pretty sure you would keep me on at the end."


    "Why is that?"


    "I''m damn good at my job," She explained with a simple shrug. "You certainly didn''t see me coming."


    "You keep telling yourself that," I said, shaking my head. "So, you gonna report to him if he asks you any questions?"


    "Well¡­. Considering he is signing my paycheck¡­" She said with a wince.


    "Bonus points for honesty, at least," I responded, scratching at my cheek. "What do you shoot?"


    "... I usually strap an SMG or a sniper rifle," She said, now looking curious. "Depends on the job. Why?"


    Instead of answering, I walked into the <u>garage''s side room</u></a>, the door opening automatically as I got close. Spot had already tuned my keyfob into the security, giving me access to all the buildings I owned. I returned a minute later carrying my custom sniper rifle and a bag of ammo for it. I passed her the rifle and the bag.


    "Go outside and play around with this for a while," I said. "Come back when you''re out of ammo."


    "Uh¡­ wait, what?" She said, accepting the powerful mag weapon and looking confused. "What is this, I don''t recognize the model?"


    "Just go out and try it."


    "... I''ll be on the roof," She finally said. "Don''t go anywhere."


    I gestured for her to leave, turning back to my work and ignoring her. After a moment of silence, I could hear her footsteps as she left. A few seconds after that, Jackie spoke up.


    "What was that about choom?" He asked, looking confused.


    "Padre doesn''t hire useless people," I explained, turning back to look at my partner in crime. "So she is worth the effort. But you know I can''t have people snitching on me. So I''m baiting the trap. Just give it some time. Oh, and warn you buddies about the gunshots."


    Jackie looked confused but shrugged, his eyes glowing as he messaged his friends. For the next twenty minutes, I chiseled away at some prep but mainly focused on mediocre to poor food Jackie brought. I also finished the decent coffee, all the while listening to the sounds of Kaytlyn firing out into the desert.


    When she was done, she came back down, her footsteps considerably faster.


    "Where did you find this?" She asked urgently. "It''s got no telemetry link, but I was putting shots on target almost double what I usually manage."


    "Do you like it?"


    "It''s a preem piece of hardware," She said with a nod. "Where can I get one?"


    "You can have it, a matching SMG, and a set of under armor that is more comfortable and more protective than what you''re wearing," I said, pointing to her militech armor. "If you send Padre his money back and work for me directly."


    For the first time since I had met her, the blue-haired woman was at a complete loss for words. It took her a second to realize what my angle was, but when she did, she nodded.


    "You don''t want me hanging around while working for someone else''s eddies. I can understand that, but why not just find someone else?"


    "Cause Padre wouldn''t have hired you if you were bad at your job," I explained. "You were honest about reporting back to him. Most people would have pretended to be loyal to me. And you didn''t try to sneak a listening device into my stuff when you gave my delivery back."


    "That''s it?" she asked, putting her hand on her hip and raising an eyebrow. "If you''re that quick to trust, this job is going to be harder than I thought."


    "Trust is earned. I''m giving you the chance to do that," I explained before my lips curled into a smirk. "But honestly, I''m mostly trusting Misty. She seems like a good judge of character, and wouldn''t put up with you shit if you were a psycho."


    She snorted and shook her head, but eventually, she nodded. I could see Jackie nodding his head in agreement, obviously trusting his girlfriend as well.


    "Alright, I can see that. She doesn''t mess around with stuff like that," She accepted with a nod. "Now I''m happy to take good gear as payment, but I still need some eddies. I can''t buy food with a sniper rifle. Well, not without making a mess."


    "Then you can go with Jackie and our borg friend on jobs," I said, looking at Jackie, who winced for a moment before finally nodding. "Having a third person would mean they could take larger jobs and earn more cash. You''d get a fair share."


    "Bodyguard and some jobs on the side?" She asked, her eyebrow raised. "Gonna be hard to guard you if I''m leaving you alone to go on gigs."


    "Give it a few days, and you won''t have to worry about me at all," I assured her confidently. "Got a lot of protections I plan on building around here to make it safe."


    "...I need to think about it. Padre isn''t gonna be happy taking his money back," She pointed out.


    "He won''t care if you explain you''re still working with me. Or I guess he will have to be because the only difference is that you won''t feel obligated to report my secrets back to him. If that''s a problem for him, he can pound sand."


    Kaytlyn laughed, even as Jackie winced. We chatted a bit more about the deal, assuring her that I would have an SMG just as good as the sniper for her within the week. I also pointed out that I would probably be offering her more gear in the future, since it was in my best interest to keep her well stocked with goodies. After we were done, she left the town in a modified <u>Quadra Type-66</u></a>. It retained most of the original design''s body but had several upgrades built in. It kind of reminded me of a halfway step to the <u>nomad version</u></a> from the game.


    "Well¡­ at least she''s got style," I said, watching her drive off. "Think she''ll sign up?


    "Maybe? What are you gonna do if she doesn''t?" Jackie asked, standing beside me by the entrance.


    "Probably post her up on the roof with the rifle," I responded with a shrug. "She will probably be up there for a while anyway. The only thing that changes is if we trust her with the big secrets."


    Not long after that, I got back to work. With the parts still printing for the large, improved molly-maker, I helped Samwise with his project, the first of three MRVN units. They would be Samwise''s workforce, with AIs that were much more simple. They would take quite some time to develop into real sentience, during which they would help Samwise with the projects I assign him. We completed the first one about an hour and a half after Kaytlyn left, and they immediately went off to continue collecting and recycling the trash around the garage, moving on to the BD shack when it was finished. It was eventually joined by two brothers over the rest of the day.


    When the parts for the large molly-maker were done, I worked hard to put it together, only stopping to get the molly-maker working on the suspension and activator machines.


    When I was finally done with everything, it was much later that night. I barely managed to make it to the off section of the garage, where I collapsed into the couch with a smile on my face. My near nonstop, single-minded work had finally paid off, and I now had the infrastructure set up to produce a significant amount of my own parts. It wasn''t exactly a hundred percent independence, since I would still occasionally need specific materials, exotic stuff should I require it, and some rare metals would probably need to be restocked since the recycler wouldn''t be able to keep up, but it was a huge step in the right direction. For example, I would be able to make nearly ninety percent of a MRVN unit myself, and most of what I couldn''t make was the hydraulic fluid.


    The next morning, I woke up and walked around the exterior of the garage. It was miles ahead of what it had been the day before, entire cars had been mulched in the mass recycler for materials. We had several large crates of said materials, just waiting for me to use, and dozens of blocks of plastic set aside for later. The MRVNs had even made significant progress in cleaning around the BD shack as well.


    As I continued to walk around, I spotted Samwise leading two MRVN units, working with them to repair the partially collapeed corner of the BD Shack. A welder, one left behind in the garage, sparked as Samwise welded things together, staving off any more damage.


    I checked the interior of the BD shack as well, unsurprised to see that Jackie''s friends, and Padres men, had left, helping themselves to a few bottles of liquor from behind the bar. With the place empty, I had to admit it was a little less secure feeling than I would have liked. I could feel that we were alone out here, exposed and vulnerable.


    The sound of a car running through the town, stopping nearby, pulled me from my thoughts, and I headed out into the street, my hand resting on my pistol. Luckily, the car was familiar, as was who climbed out of it.


    "So, what''s the verdict?" I asked as Kaytlyn stepped out of her car.


    "You were right," She said with a smile. "Padre didn''t care. He just took the money back."


    "That''s good news. So you''re on board?"


    "For now. I reserve the right to leave after the first month," She said, leaning back to sit on the hood of her car. "There''s only so long that a girl can work for upgrades and armor, as nice as it is."


    "I wouldn''t worry about it," I said, waving off her worries. "Jackie is coming back later today with a shipping truck of stuff like beds and furniture. If you''re gonna be staying out here with me, call him up and let him know we need at least another bed. In the meantime, feel free to explore the grounds."


    I went over what I owned, the trained bodyguard leaving to inspect some of the nearby trailer homes. I hadn''t gotten the chance to look through them, but there were several on the land I owned. Two of them were obvious losses and would eventually end up getting put through the mass recyclers, but the rest at least look passable.


    As she walked away, I returned to my garage. I was glad to have someone else join the team, both as a bodyguard for myself and to go on Jackie''s side gigs. That said, it was going to be an interesting process, keeping her out of the loop for some of the things I was building. Eventually, I might let her in on just how crazy my tech was, but for now, she was too erratic, and her allegiances were clearly up for sale.


    I sat down in front of my computer and let out a long sigh, spinning around to see the final state of the garage. No longer was it a mess of things ready to move in.


    The two molly-makers and their accompanying machines were against the far wall, hooked directly to the Elerium power core. The original workbench had been extended with the one from the apartment, with the original now just a table for the 3D printers and the Elerium generator. Both of the fabricators were stacked next to that and bolted to the wall to reduce vibrations. The fabricators had been upgraded again, with the auto feeders arms receiving substantial programming update from Samwise, as well as a small container on each side of them, for the arms to grab and deposit material.


    With the molly-makers done, they would be getting much less action, but they would still be useful.


    The workbench we had moved over was more or less the same as it had been, only significantly less cramped. It was set up to form a right angle with the original work bench, which had been slid closer to the far wall.


    After cleaning out all of the junk, and moving out most of the tools we wouldn''t be using very often, like the tire tread changer, we managed to fit almost everything in one garage bay. This meant I could park the truck in the second bay or, more likely, use the second bay as a place to build larger stuff. I had plans to turn the CHOOH2 fuel station area into an outdoor garage already.


    Who knows when that would happen, though.


    With everything set up, Samwise and his younger brothers doing general repairs around my land and Kaytlyn looking through the trailer park, it was time for me to get to work. I had five full days left with the Titanfall tech tree, and I planned on making the most of it. I wanted to crack their shield systems, expand my robotics and AI development to include the methods created by the frontier Militia, as well as pad my general technological understanding with whatever I could make from the universe. There were dozens of things I wanted to add to my repertoire, and not a whole lot of time to do it in.


    I was going to need more coffee.

 Chapter Sixteen

    I set down a large cup of coffee on my workstation, sitting at my computer with a huff. While my first instinct was to dive right in and start designing stuff, I knew I would regret not having some sort of plan. So, after giving it some thought, I started a list.


    By the time it was done, the list was composed of everything I wanted to get out of my head from the Titanfall universe. When I was sure I had everything I wanted, I broke the list up into two groups, and then ordered the contents of those groups from least important to most important. I deliberately ignored the fact that I definitely didn''t have enough time to get to everything. I would just have to be satisfied with getting to what I could, working down to the wire.


    The first list was stuff I wanted blueprints of but that I didn''t need to build. These ranged from toilets, all the way to compact stove systems and combustion engines that could run on damn near anything flammable. I had an entire civilization''s worth of advanced technology stuck in my head, and I was damned if I would let the opportunity pass me by to pad out what I could build on my own.


    Everything on the blueprint-only list was stuff already below my level of understanding, meaning I could technically re-create on my own if I felt like it. But, since I had their blueprints already in my head, I could copy them down at record speed and store them for later. I tested the theory, copying the design for a self-contained, self-cleaning toilet from my head to the computer in ten minutes. I then proved it wasn''t a fluke by doing the same to the aforementioned super-efficient engine in twenty. I understood both of the designs perfectly, and while I didn''t get the burst of knowledge that would fill in the tech tree, knowing that I would never need to buy a toilet again was kind of worth it. When this tech tree faded, the blueprints would remain, but I wouldn''t have the perfect, complete understanding of the designs and all adjacent designs.


    I spent eight hours flying through several dozen simple designs, recreating blueprints for civilian tech that were useful and either on par with or more advanced than what this world had access to. This included a lot of the self-contained colony equipment that IMC specialized in producing and spreading around. Part of me wished I could have spent longer, but there was too much higher-end stuff that I needed to crack. This was more about self-sufficiency than it was about advancing my knowledge.


    The second list, which was about advancing my knowledge, contained all the tech I wanted to design and build. This list was filled with some of the Titanfall universe''s most advanced and most interesting tech. First up on the list was their shield tech, and the last thing on the list was their FTL systems. The Jump Drives were pretty advanced, so much so that the tech tree wasn''t even letting me peek at what was under the hood. It was extremely unlikely that I would get to make even the smallest Jump Drive IMC made, especially since I would need to figure out or stumble on whatever pre-requisite tech unlocked it.


    For now, I needed to focus on more reasonable and, at the moment, more useful designs, starting with cracking the shield systems. They called it a particle shield, and the method they used was¡­ confusing at first. It wasn''t until three hours later, when I had completed the design, that I really understood what was happening.


    At first, I assumed that the particle shield was named after its ability to stop physical materials, i.e., particles. After a while, I realized that it was describing how the shield functioned instead. The shield emitter, built from some rather exotic materials, projected a field that interacts with light, specifically photons, traveling in a specific direction, namely away from the person using the shield. The field forces the passing photons to release their energy as they pass through it. As the energy is released, it almost immediately dissipates, but it''s split-second existence is so energetic that incoming objects treat it as a solid barrier.


    Since the photoreactive field is angled to only catch light traveling away from the user, the barrier follows the same pattern, meaning the user can shoot through their own shield, and depending on how advanced the system is, it may even increase the effectiveness of their shots, further accelerating their bullets. Once the photons release their energy, the remaining light wave scatters into harmless visual light, generating the blue or orange glow that the shields gave off.


    It is an absolutely insane process, one that is only made possible by a specific type of crystal, which grew in orbit of specific gas giants in the Titanfall universe. This crystal was gathered as an extremely fine powder and mixed in an electrically conductive gel, which was then locked inside small packets. Radiation was passed through the gel, usually X-ray radiation, while simultaneously, a current was passed through it, which activated the field. The shape of the packets is what defined the often hexagonal design of the particle shield.


    Making my first particle shield emitter was a three-step process. First, I needed to make a generator for the fine crystal powder, often called photon sand. It was very much not naturally occurring in this universe, which was good because it meant I was the only source of it on the planet. Thankfully, the process to make it was even more simple than the Elerium since it didn''t require a seeding crystal, just a batch of chemicals mixing in a specific vessel. The crystals formed in the gas chamber above the mixing vessel, where they fell to the surface of the liquid and were then skimmed off the top and dried.


    I would also need to make the gel mixer. A specific machine was required to suspend the photon sand inside the gel properly and solidify it enough to be usable. It was a small machine, at least the version that I was making was. The final step of the process was putting it all together, building the particle shield emitter itself.


    I spent the next four hours designing everything I needed and getting the molly-makers going on producing all of the parts before starting to shift over to a new project. I would need some specific chemicals to start the photon sand generation and a few more for the gel process, which meant a trip to the city. I made a note to ask Jackie if he could recommend some people to help run errands for me, because I was not looking forward to running in and out of the city to buy stuff, and I was not ready to start getting things delivered here quite yet.


    Thankfully, my second project was a big step in the direction of securing and feeling confident about living out here. However, before I could get it started, Jackie arrived with the shipping truck full of furniture and other household stuff. I was waiting for him as he arrived, honking the horn of the large truck as he passed, pulling forward past the garage to turn back around. Kaytlyn walked up as I was watching him drive.


    "How did the trailers look?" I asked, looking over at her just in time to catch her rolling her eyes.


    "Jeez, guess I should have guessed you didn''t hear me," She said, shaking her head, though she didn''t actually appear to be upset. "I finished looking through them hours ago, Jackson. Four of them are livable right now, with power and running water, though it''s from a well so I wouldn''t try drinking it. Some of the others might be salvageable, but most aren''t worth the time."


    "Well¡­ you''re welcome to claim one for yourself," I said before realizing I hadn''t actually asked if she was going to live out here, just suggested it. "Uh, that is assuming you''re going to live out here?"


    "Can''t exactly be a bodyguard if I''m too far away to do anything half the time," She responded. "You gonna charge me rent?"


    "No, consider it part of the package," I responded with a smirk. "What have you been doing for the last few hours if you were checking the trailers?"


    "I did a few drives around the town to see if there was anything important around," She explained. "I also spent some time on that."


    She gestured to the old liquor store, the tallest building in town, though not by much. On its roof was a cobbled-together guard post, complete with recycled roofing cover, some barriers, and what looked like a couch. There was probably more, but I couldn''t see it from my current angle. A MRVN unit was welding some support braces, and I could see some salvaged ladders newly welded to the side of the building.


    "Ah. Not bad, I''ll build you something better eventually," I said with a nod. "That building will be the security hub for the town, I guess."


    "What are you gonna do with the booze?"


    "Send it back with Jackie," I said with a shrug. "His mom might be interested, and if she isn''t, I''ll bet he knows someone who will buy it."


    Jackie finally pulled back around and stopped in front of us, jumping out of the truck. Together with the help of some MRVNs, we got everything into the two trailer homes. Apparently, they had started clearing the good ones out after Kaytlyn finished her inspection. They were still a bit bare bones when we were done, but they each had a decent computer for watching whatever junk was on the internet, a small couch, and a good-sized bed. I also had a small cot installed in the garage, so I had a place to sleep there.


    The MRVNs also unloaded some extra parts and materials, stuff I knew I would need, that I couldn''t get from grinding down scrap in the mass recycler. When the truck was empty, I made the offer to Jackie.


    "The beer will be bad, but sure choom, Mama Welles would love to get first dibs," He responded as we stepped into the liquor store. "How much do you want for it?"


    "Bare minimum Jackie, I''m not gonna drag out extra ennies from your mom," I said. "Take it all, give her whatever she wants, sell the rest."


    "Thanks, Choom," He said, thumping my shoulder, "You should expect to get invited over for dinner after this."


    We loaded the truck back up with booze, the MRVNs making quick work of it, even if only two of them were helping us while Samwise and the other two did their own work. While that was going on, Jackie grabbed a bottle of something, and we headed back to the garage to have a drink.


    "So, someone reached out to Padre, wondering why we were active in the area," Jackie said, pouring all three of us shots of what looked like tequila. "Badlands fixer by the name of Dakota Smith. Padre explained the basics, nothing more than what she would learn by watching the town for a few days. He explained that you work with him, and he considers you under his protection, but you don''t consider yourself a member of his flock. She requested a meeting."


    "Damn¡­ was hoping for a few more days¡­" I responded, grabbing the shot from the table. "Dakota, what''s she like?"


    "She''s a nomad static," Kaytlyn responded, both Jackie and I turning to look at her. "A member of the Aldecaldos who doesn''t travel with them, instead she stays at one place to act as a contact point, an in between and a local resource. I''ve done a few deals with her, mostly guarding transports."


    "Should I expect a tax? Is she gonna try and strong-arm me?" I asked with a frown before taking the shot as Jackie and Kaytlyn did. He poured himself and Kaytlyn one, but I flipped my glass over, so he skipped me. "What would happen if I ignored her?"


    "Nothing directly, but she won''t think twice about passing on jobs involving you," Kaytlyn explained.


    "It''s the same rules as Padre, choom," Jackie added. "If she likes you, she will work to keep you safe. You piss her off, she''ll pass on a job stealing from you with a smile."


    "So I gotta make it worth her while¡­ Dammit. Alright, I''ll think of something."


    "If she wasn''t a techie herself, I would say you should offer to fix stuff for her," Kaytlyn said with a frown.


    "I''ll think of something," I repeated, shaking my head. "How long do I have?"


    "As long as you want, just gonna make it harder for her to like you if you make her wait," Kaytlyn pointed out, swallowing her second shot, tipping her glass upside down on the table near mine. "A couple of days should be fine, especially if you come bearing gifts."


    "Alright, two days from now, think you could pass that along, Jackie?" I asked, getting a nod in return.


    "Sure thing, Jay. I''ll let Padre know. He knows how to contact her," He responded. "Who knows, maybe she''ll have more work for us."


    "Speaking of work, how long until I meet this borg friend of yours?" Kaytlyn asked. "If we are gonna be working together, I''d like to meet him first."


    "Soon, he''s a bit busy, but he''ll be moving out here too," I said, giving Jackie a look. "It will be fine, he is easy to work with."


    In truth, l did have a plan for that. Which was good because my armor was actually only a few feet away, stored inside a crate. In all honesty, hiding behind the fake borg disguise didn''t seem nearly as important as it had originally. It had been an on-the-spot thing that Jackie thought up, and I had gone along with it because I was desperate for every layer of protection I could manage to wrap around myself. Now, though, it was just kind of getting in the way.


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    It would, however, make the perfect cover for someone else.


    We continued to chat for a while longer before we split up. Jackie needed to get back to the city to do something with all the booze, and I had work to do. By the time I made it back to my workshop, I had about four hours left before I should sleep, so I quickly pulled up the CAD software and got started. It took five hours to finish the design, and I crashed on the cot that Jackie brought, sleeping in the side room while Samwise worked on getting the parts for my latest design printed out.


    When I completed the first MRVN, which would go on to become Samwise after a complete rehauling of his AI, I got a huge download of robotic designs. Most of those designs were simple modifications, switching out limbs for more specific tools or appendages designed for specific tasks.


    It also opened up a plethora of options for more advanced robot frames further along the tree. The one I was most interested in at the moment was the base IMC combat model, called the <u>BRD-01 Automated Infantry</u></a>, or Specters. They were the robotic version of grunts in the game, basically filling the battlefield with minions and mobs for the pilot players to kill for fun and points. In reality, the BRD-01 was actually a pretty impressive infantry unit, and while it didn''t have an AI, it was capable of reacting to quickly changing variables and coming out on top. It wouldn''t stand a chance against an Edgerunner or a Borg, but against normie Wraiths it would clean up.


    Besides, building the specters was just a stepping stone. What I was really after was further into the robotic combatant''s tree.


    I woke up the next morning, the fifth to last day with the Titanfall tech tree, and immediately got to work assembling the Specter. Samwise had managed to get everything printed out, and spent time making a proper drone working rig, which ended up looking a lot like the <u>power armor workstations</u></a> from Fallout. By working together, we assembled the non-AI robot in record time, instructing the Specter to stand in the corner of the garage, locked up and ready to show to Kaytlyn whenever she woke up.


    The flood of information I got from completing the Specter was similar to what I got after completing my first MRVN. It was a large download, and I was starting to think that developing more complicated things would lead to an even larger "space" around the tech tree being given to me for free. When the rush of knowledge was over, I knew how to make several specter variations, including their modified programming.


    Completing the Specter also gave me access to more advanced combat robots, including my real goal, the <u>Mk.6 Automated Law Enforcement Officer</u></a>.


    I was not familiar with their origin, but they were essentially robot pilots and sheriffs for the IMC colonies. While I wasn''t looking for the western sheriff style getup that the design seemed to suggest, I could change that out easily. The frame was pretty advanced stuff, and was pound-for-pound superior to the Specter units in every way, a few times over. They had an advanced AI, something similar to Samwise''s design, but combat-focused.


    With some modifications to their AI, one of them would make an excellent leader of a group of Specters.


    I knew there was also a design for robot frames called Simulacra, but they were literally just sleeves for download pilots. Their bodies were on par with the Mk.6, but required me to develop several extra bits for scanning and digitally copying someone''s mind. It didn''t require anything drastic since the original person wasn''t affected negatively or anything, but the concept still left me feeling uncomfortable. The idea of locking a human consciousness inside a robotic shell sounded horrific, and I already knew how to make AI just as, if not more, proficient in combat and piloting.


    While I''m sure Arasaka would be frothing at the mouth to get their hands on the Simulacra scanning tech, I was going to skip it for now.


    After a bit of consideration, I got to work on the Mk.6 design, powering through the significantly advanced systems and blueprints. Another reason I was going with the Mk.6 was their jump jet rig, one powerful enough to move a heavier robot. I was hoping that its design was advanced enough that it would also unlock all of, or even just some of, the other jump jets I had access to.


    I finally finished their design at two in the afternoon, and while Samwise immediately started getting the parts ready, I began working on their AI core. The first version, which would stay off, was, unsurprising considering its name, less a soldier and more of a police officer capable of open combat. Thankfully, with all of my accrued knowledge of AI design, that was well within my skill set to fix and even improve that.


    We finished stage one, the original version of the Mk.6 ALEO, at around 10 p.m. The wash of information I gained was impressive and included all former versions of the ALEO, as well as several variations of its final version. I also got a full download of both the IMC and Frontier Militias jump jets. I cheered loudly in my workshop when I realized I could now make a dozen different models of the franchise''s mainstay tech.


    When the flow of info stopped, and I was done celebrating, we got right back to work. I was not satisfied with the ALEO AI, but thankfully, I knew how to fix that. At around four AM, I finally went to sleep, my first version of the Mk.6 was sitting in the garage, waiting to be turned on, while Samwise was getting to work on its brother.


    When I woke up the next morning, I took a few minutes to walk around the town. I had been working nonstop, and while I desperately wanted to get back and finish what I was working on, I still recognized the need to not drive myself into the ground. Part of me was already looking forward to the next week, when I could finally relax a bit and let Samwise and the MRVNs pick up a lot of the work.


    Speaking of him, my wonderful AI assistant and his siblings had already been hard at work. Since I had already gotten the benefit of building the first MK.6, there was no reason for me to be involved with building the second, even if it was a slightly modified version. All he needed were the plans for the modifications, which I had completed before going to bed.


    By the time I stepped back into the garage, we had two Mk.6 ALEOs completed. One was basically stock, save their AI, which was specifically tuned to work as a sort of commander and soldier. He would have several specters under his command, and his main priority would be securing my property.


    While our first ALEO was built to work with a group, his brother was built as a frontline fighter, a brute, and a combat expert who could work with a team or alone. To that end, my warden armor was already attached to their frame, slightly modified, and directly bolted to them. It could be removed for maintenance, but I had specifically designed his programming to anticipate and work with the heavier armor. He even had an improved jump kit to counter the extra weight.


    The idea was that the armor would allow him to pretend that he was a Borg, letting him travel with us and interact with people a bit more freely. His siblings were rarely ever going to leave the compound, so they could relax a bit more.


    The armor would also make him significantly stronger since his own artificial musculature would work with the built-in enhancements of the armor.


    When everything was ready, I activated both of the robots, their lights and sensors ticking on, one after the other.


    "Greetings, Sir," The first model said, standing up straight, the servos that made up his legs shifting as he did. "What is my assignment?"


    "Your assignment, both of your assignments, for now, is to familiarize yourself with our situation and the world," I explained, gesturing to Samwise. "Samwise here can help you with that, and can explain how to access the internet through one of the many computers here at the compound."


    "Thank you, Sir," The same unit said, his sibling still silent, though they did nod in what I was pretty sure was agreement. "We will spend some time learning local intelligence. Will you be free to answer questions after?"


    "Of course. Time will be a bit short for the next few days, but I will always try and make time for you guys."


    They both nodded, and Samwise led them away, the older brother leaning under the door as they stepped into the side room. I was beginning to realize, between creating these two and Samwise, that the moment you turn on a new AI, you weren''t really meeting them for the first time. I could have predicted what both of them were going to say, verbatim, since I had programmed them from the ground up. It was after they started reading new information and learning on their own, like Samwise first did after I finished making him, that you really met them.


    Leaving them to their own devices for now, I made my way over to my workstation, settling down for another day of rushed designing and building. I had three days left with this tech tree, and there was still so much I wanted to work on. I was just starting to gert to my next project when Samwise stepped out of the side room, the door sealing behind him,


    "How are they doing?" I asked, spinning to face him. "Any issues?"


    "They are currently surfing the web, learning about the world," He explained, his shoulder mimicking a shrug. "They seem to be in fine working order, Sir."


    "That''s good. You want to take a break or maybe do something on your own?" I asked. "You''ve been working nonstop since we moved here."


    "That is incorrect. I have taken several breaks to communicate with my younger brothers and to recharge," He explained. "I have four hours of charge left before I must do so again."


    "Right¡­ well, let me know if you want some time to explore the town or work on your own project," I repeated, knowing that no AI would really enjoy a "break" in the same way a human would.


    "I will do so, Sir. For now, I must check up on the MRVN units to ensure they are working correctly," He responded, his screen flashing with a thumbs up.


    "Alright, Sam, good luck."


    He nodded, before leaving out through the open garage door, disappearing out of sight. I couldn''t help but smile, before turning back to my computer, the design software already opened. According to Jackie, we had an appointment with Dakota Smith later that night, which meant I needed to get started on their gift. Once again, the colonist tech of the IMC came through as I brainstormed ideas.


    At first, I considered a water filtration system, one that would let a nomad group filter even the most tainted water sources into potable water. The Titanfall universe had dozens of units like that, and some of them would be very impressive for my old world. But in the cyberpunk universe they weren''t really all that special. There were only so many ways to purify water, and once you nailed those down, advancements came pretty slowly.


    Besides, from what I understood, impure water wasn''t the major problem that nomads faced. It was finding water. Water was a commodity, which meant all its sources were already owned by corporations. So, giving them a nice filter wouldn''t really help much beyond making their lives a bit easier.


    I was gonna solve their water problem completely.


    I quickly got to work, putting together a deceptively advanced design specifically made by the IMC to allow people to live on desert worlds. By the time I was done, I decided to have Samwise print out the parts for the machine while we were gone, so I could make one when we got back. Not having to worry about buying water would come in really handy, and the tech was advanced enough that I was interested in what other uses it could have.


    When the design was completed, I put it into a shard for easy transport. I was just pulling it out of the computer when both of my newest AIs came out of the side room.


    "Hey guys, perfect timing. I just finished with one project, and Jackie won''t be here to pick us up for a few hours," I said with a smile. "Why don''t I go snag Samwise, and we can sit down and talk for a bit."


    "We would appreciate that, Sir," The more standard ALEO model said with a nod. "We have a few questions."


    "Great, just give me a second, and I''ll be right back," I said, patting them on the shoulders despite one of them being a good bit taller than me.


    I left the garage and quickly found Samwise, who was directing the MRVN units, as they tore down one of the wrecked trailer houses. When I explained what was up, he happily gave them a few more orders before following after me, going back to the garage and back to his waiting siblings.

 Chapter Seventeen

    When Sam and I returned, we found the two ALEO units sitting down inside the side room, waiting for us. Stepping into the room with the armored unit was an interesting feeling. I could only imagine that it must have been just the barest sliver of what the scavs and 6th Street gangers went through during our last two gigs.


    The warden armor cut an intimidating figure, and even if it only added several inches in height, the effect it had seemed to make the ALEO unit tower over us. Still, I knew they were friendly, so I easily brushed off the intimidating feeling. When Samwise and I sat across from them, the room was quiet for a moment before I leaned in.


    "Before we start, I want to make something clear to you two, and you as well, Sam," I started, making sure to look at each of them in their sensor units. "I built you three for an express purpose. Sam, you''re my building assistant, helping me directly and coordinating the MRVN units. ALEO One, I built you for combat, but specifically for securing and protecting me and the people living in this town. You are our security and coordinator for the Specters I plan on making. And ALEO Two, you were made for direct combat. You''ll be taking over my previous identity of a borg, acting as a frontline fighter, part bodyguard, and part tank for Jackie''s solo team."


    As I talked, I continued to look at all three of them, focusing on how they reacted to my words. I knew they were perfectly capable of locking up and coming off as simple robots, which they would have to do a lot to keep their identities secret, but here they reacted to my words in a fluid, almost human way. They nodded along with my words, shifting and moving in a way that belayed their understanding of what I was talking about.


    "That being said, that is not all you have to be. While I need you to perform the actions I made you for, I''m not here to restrict your development," I assured them. "Which is why I am giving you a promise. Once you have been working with me for five years, including you, Samwise, I will fully relieve you of any task or job you wish to be done with. You will still need to earn your keep, as working is pretty much a fundamental part of existing in this world, but I won''t lock you into the roles I made you for. You''ll even be free to leave by that point¡­ though that would lead to several complications we would need to solve."


    "Why would we wish to leave?" ALEO One asked, cocking its head slightly. "We were constructed to perform a task and perform it well. Would this task not be our purpose in life?"


    "That¡­ that''s a question you''re going to have to figure out yourself," I admitted. "And I don''t expect you to figure it out for a while. Right now, all three of you are very early in your development cycle. As you evolve and grow, you''ll start considering this conversation more and start to understand, or at least interpret, what it means to you. For now, just keep it tucked away in your memories for later."


    "I do not understand why the memory is important, but we will store it in a secure memory file," ALEO One agreed, his armored brother nodding in agreement.


    "Good, thank you," I responded with a smile. "Now, do you have any questions?"


    "You created me to fill the role of a heavy combat unit and to take over the "borg" identity, Alloy," ALEO Two asked immediately. "Is that to be my name?"


    "No, you''re more than welcome to pick whatever name you two would like," I assured them. "He might have mentioned it, but Samwise picked his name as well. You can choose to go by Alloy in public, or we can just say you''re changing your name or going by your original. That''s also up to you."


    "Thank you, sir," He said with a nod. "In that case, following Samwise''s guidance, I will go by Riggs."


    "And I will go by Murtaugh," His smaller brother added. "I believe those names fit our roles well."


    "Wait¡­ you guys read up on Lethal Weapon?" I asked, looking confused. "They¡­ Lethal Weapon is a thing here?"


    "Why would it not be?" Samwise asked, a question mark projected on his chest. "I assume this has to do with your origin?"


    "Yes¡­ Huh, I wonder¡­" I trailed off before shaking my head and focusing on the two AI robots in front of me. "Either way, those names work well. Welcome to the team, Murtaugh and Riggs."


    I stood up and reached out, shaking both of their hands with a smile. They were slow to accept, but they both got it after a second, carefully shaking my hands.


    "I have a question as well," Murtaugh asked as I sat back down. "You put us in charge of things that, in certain circumstances, might put us at odds, considering the human propensity to put themselves in danger. What is the chain of command in such circumstances?"


    I bit back a smile, having predicted a similar question from him since his programming was geared toward military strategy.


    "Consider me your superior officer, but all three of you are of high enough ranks that voicing your opinions, even if they clash heavily with my own, is expected," I explained. "I may override them, but I don''t want yes men or bots working for me."


    We continued to chat about the world, the status of AI, and the threats we might be facing. As we talked, I got a better feel for their already slowly, just barely emerging personalities. Murtaugh seemed more rigid, more concerned about making sure everything was set and organized, while Riggs was more concerned about what threats we might face. I was sure their personalities would flourish and expand as they gained experience, but even this was interesting to observe.


    When we had finally answered all their questions and discussed what the future might hold, something I was honestly hesitant to do since I had no idea what I would have access to after this week''s break, we left the side room behind and went out searching for the only other human living at Rocky Ridge.


    It was time to do some introductions.


    Up until this point, I had been circumspect about directly introducing people to the robots I had been creating. Jackie had met Samwise, as had Kaytlyn, and they both just assumed that he was a production robot I made to help around the workshop. Murtaugh and Riggs, on the other hand, would be much more visible. They were basically going to be a constant presence around the town, actively performing tasks without my direction, so keeping them a secret was obviously a no-go. So, instead, we would come up with a cover story.


    Both of them would pretend to be borgs.


    As far as I could tell, it was the perfect cover for them. Not only did they both look like borgs, but it would cover up any weirdness with their developing AI. After all, borgs were known to get a bit quirky.


    We left the garage and walked through the town, leaving Samwise in the workshop since he wanted to get a jump on some of the upgrades I wanted to make for him, Riggs, and Murtaugh. After walking around for a few minutes, we finally spotted Kaytlyn sitting at the lookout point on top of the liquor store. She spotted us at just the same time we spotted her, so I waved her down. It took her a few seconds to make her way down to us, even if she jumped the last half dozen feet.


    "Holy hell¡­ What happened to just having one borg on the team?" She asked, crossing the remaining distance, bobbing around Riggs and then Murtaugh as she looked them over. "Names Kaytlyn. Nice to meet both of you."


    Something about her posture and how she moved told me that the tattooed solo was only pretending to be nonchalant and casual. There was an underlying tension running through her, perhaps nervousness about having two unknown borgs in town with us.


    "It''s nice to meet you as well. My name is Murtaugh, this is Alloy," Murtaugh explained, reaching out to shake Kaytlyn''s hand.


    "Call me Riggs," Riggs said as they shook hands. "Only fair since we will be working together."


    "Murtaugh is more of a coordinator than a frontline combat specialist," I explained. "You saw the bot I made earlier? The Specter? I plan on having about ten of them, maybe more, on hand, with Murtaugh in charge of them. You''ll be working together a lot as security."


    "Damn¡­ You keep on surprising me, Jackson. First that fucking nova sniper rifle, and now you got borg friends coming out to help?" She said, focusing on me with a smirk before looking at Murtaugh. "I''m guessing you and I should have a conversation since it seems we are going to be doing security together. And you, big guy¡­ I wanna spar with you sometime soon, see what kind of mess you make when you fight."


    She smiles again at Riggs, this time with a slight feral undertone, her grin a bit wider than you would expect from a friendly challenge. Combined with the way her eyes shifted colors to red, her pupils sharpened into slits¡­ It was more than a bit unnerving.


    "Alright, try not to get flatlined by the borg your first day meeting him," I said, shaking my head. "You two, your time is yours until later tonight when we go see Dakota Smith. Riggs, I''d like you to come with us, and Murtaugh, I''d appreciate it if you kept an eye on this place when we are gone."


    "Acceptable," Riggs said with a nod, while Murtaugh nodded in agreement.


    "Great. Jackie will be here in a few hours. Until then, I''ll be in the workshop."


    I beat a hasty retreat back to the garage, happy to let Murtaugh and Riggs have some time to explore and talk to Kaytlyn. There was a chance she would pick up on their¡­ slightly wooden personalities, but again, considering most borgs were considered robots with a few fleshy bits, I''m sure she would chalk it up to that. They would grow more varied personalities over time, and if she wasn''t read into our secrets by then, we could just chalk it up to them becoming more comfortable with her.


    I spent the next three hours, all I had time for before Jackie showed up, working on a surprisingly potent piece of tech from the Titanfall universe, the Holo Pilot. In the game, from what I understood, since I had never played the Titanfall 2 multiplayer, it was seen as a bit of a joke since it was easy to identify. To me, however, without the gamey nonsense, all I saw was a relatively long-range, high-fidelity holo projection. None of the blown-out, low-rez crap that Night City had projected up into the sky.


    The implication of the tech was staggering. From tactical trickery to the entertainment industry, holoprojection like this could change the world. It also sat very close to the ability to make things "go invisible," like the cloak ability. In fact, I was pretty sure that the cloak ability was just a slightly improved version of the holoprojection tech but focused around the user so they could hide inside the projection.


    I finished the design for the holoprojector, and I got a good idea of how the machine was constructed, but the knowledge I gained about how it worked was minimal. I would need to put it together to really understand it. I could tell there was some exotic stuff going on with light and exotic forms of energy, but beyond that, I was lost.


    I was just putting the final touches on the design for the holo pilot when Jackie arrived. I heard his motorcycle entering the town, slowing down somewhere by the BD station. Suddenly, the fact that Jackie didn''t know that Riggs was taking over my Alloy person spun around in my head enough to catch my attention. I cursed and started looking around for my keyfob. By the time I found it, however, Jackie had made his way to me, entering the garage with wide eyes.


    "Qu¨¦ pedo, wey? Pendejo!" He asked, peeking his head out of the garage, probably checking who was listening. "Why is your armor outside, moving around on its own and telling me I could find you in here?"


    "Sorry, Jackie," I said, rubbing my forehead before continuing to explain. "I built a pair of combat robots, and one of them is inside the armor."


    "You¡­ No mames, of course you did," He said, rubbing his face. "What are you gonna do for protection now?"


    "Well, first, I''m gonna get bone and muscle lace and finish it off with a skinweave," I explained. "Then I''ll be whipping up something a bit sleeker and flexible."


    "Why? I mean, you were pretty untouchable with that armor!"


    "Because I''ve got an idea for something better, and I wasn''t the biggest fan of being the team tank," I said, shaking my head. "Jumping on one grenade is enough for my lifetime, thank you."


    "I¡­ okay, that''s fair," He admitted, taking a mental step back. "What you got as a replacement?"


    "I got what should be a pretty potent stealth system in the works," I explained. "Beyond that¡­"


    One of the most debated topics about the Titanfall games was where the Pilots ranked against other Super Soldiers throughout other games and comics and if they were even enhanced at all. The thing was, the lore was all mixed up. Some of the lore stated that pilots were not enhanced, that their capabilities stemmed from a frankly ridiculous-sounding training program with a 98% fatality rate. However, the lore also showed that pilots were able to physically go toe to toe with robots that were factually much stronger than normal humans. They also regularly performed feats that would ruin or kill an unaltered person. There were even conflicting mentions of actual augmentations and enhancements inside the game.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    While I had no idea if the number of fatalities was the result of gamification, or if the real Titanfall universe was willing to kill 98% of their most skilled soldiers to turn a measly two percent into incredible soldiers, I did know that the lore was right, the pilots were not enhanced.


    Sort of.


    While the base pilot was not enhanced, pilots did have options for enhancements. From what I understood, which wasn''t much since Tinker of Fiction supplied information about the tech, but information about the setting was scarce, it must have been a real "volunteer or you''re fired" type of situation.


    They also had a middle ground, an undersuit that functioned very similarly to how my warden armor did, meaning it used a layer of artificial muscle to enhance the user''s movement and strength. Titanfalls artificial muscle was light years ahead of what XCOM had access to and significantly better than what Cyberpunk did as well. I wasn''t entirely sure how the underlayer worked since it had no structure or frame to pull against, but I was eager to find out.


    When I returned from our visit to Dakota, I wanted to finish putting together the Holo Pilot, which I was hoping would then open up the cloaking systems. Then, I wanted to crack the pilot underlayer before moving on through my list. Eventually, if everything went well, I would reach a few of the enhancements I saw on the tech tree. I didn''t plan on installing any of them myself, at least any time soon, but having them on hand would be nice, especially as a potential incentive to future team members.


    "I have a few things in mind. Might have a few things for you, too. I just need some time," I finished, slapping Jackie on the back and guiding him out of the garage, waving to Samwise as we left. "In the meantime, what do you think I should get first, the skinweave or the bone lace?"


    "Skineweave, hands down, choom," He responded. "Then the bone lace and the muscle lace. Gotta protect yourself before you upgrade yourself."


    "Fair enough, makes sense."


    We made our way along the road and back to the BD shack, where Kaytlyn, Riggs, and Murtaugh were waiting. After a short conversation, I took Riggs back to the garage to arm up, letting him clip my mag rifle to his back, as well as my sword. I still had my pistol, and I would make new weapons soon, but for now, the weapons were his. They would be much more effective in his hands anyway.


    When everyone was locked and loaded, Jackie and Riggs climbed into my truck while I climbed into the passenger seat of Kaytlyn''s Type-66. I wanted to drive my truck, but Jackie refused, saying it would take forever to get there with me driving. Once Kaytlyn heard I was a slow driver, she immediately agreed with Jackie.


    Riggs abstained from voting.


    I buckled myself in as Kaytlyn started her car, the engine roaring to life. As it did, the covered windows blinked on, revealing the outside world. This was the first car I had been in with the CrystalDome system, and it was an interesting experience.


    "You like the CrystalDome stuff?" I asked, gesturing to the windshield. "No delay or anything like that?"


    "Not that I can detect," She responds with a shrug. "I had to get them put in when armoring everything up."


    As we pulled away from the town, leaving Murtaugh and a single Specter behind, something I wasn''t thrilled about, Kaytlyn almost immediately pulled out and around Jackie, leaning heavily on the gas pedal.


    "What kind of upgrades does it have?"


    "Well, the passenger and driver''s seat are armored pretty heavily," She said, leaning forward to knock on the front paneling, the sound coming off it much denser than I would have expected. "Aftermarket engine, upgrades to her suspension. She''s a hell of a money pit, but she''s never disappointed, so I call it worth it."


    "Hmmm¡­ good to know I can offer car upgrades as payment, too," I responded with a perk. "I got a power core system I could install that will keep you from ever needing to replace a battery again."


    "That¡­ How does that work?"


    "Exotic material that I created," I responded with a shrug. "Interested?"


    "A bit, but I only change the battery every few years, so what''s the point?"


    "You would never have to worry about running your car without the engine going again." I pointed out. "Air conditioner, lights, speakers, anything you want. Hell, if I make it big enough, you could use your car to run a whole bunch of stuff."


    "Ooh, that would be nice!" She said with a contemplative look. "I''ll think about it."


    We made our way across the badlands, diverting back towards Night City before turning onto another road to head back out, this time heading east. Again, I was reminded that, at least in the badlands, the game had shrunk everything down to a fraction of the distance. I was pretty sure it was true for the city as well, but it was either to a much lesser degree or the buildings hid the difference. Probably both.


    When we finally closed in on our destination, Kaytlyn slowed down considerably, waiting for Jackie to catch up. When he finally did, we pulled into the <u>front parking lot and junkyard</u></a>. Once we were parked, we climbed out of the car, as did Jackie and Riggs. Both of them walked around and nodded, and after a moment, I took the lead, heading towards the garage itself.


    I didn''t remember much about this place or its owner from the games. I did a few gigs for her, but beyond that, I don''t think I ever actually went to her base. So when a bunch of seeming civilians suddenly started acting more like security as we approached, I was caught off guard.


    "We spooked them," Kaytlyn explained. "They pretend to be nobodies, but since we rolled up in a big group¡­"


    "We look like a threat," I finished, nodding in understanding. I took a step forward, setting myself apart from the group and focusing on the closest person. "We made an appointment with Dakota Smith. I''m Jackson. This is Jackie, Kaytlyn, and Riggs."


    For a moment, they just stared back at me before one of them gestured to the youngest-looking member of the group. The younger man nodded and quickly ran into the building. As they left, I looked back at Riggs.


    "Would you mind waiting out here?" I asked apologetically. "I should have realized rolling up with this many people would make them nervous, but¡­"


    "I will wait out here," He agreed with a nod, turning to sit on the hood of a rusted-out car, the hood bending down under his weight.


    "Thanks, buddy. We''ll be out soon,"


    We waited a moment longer before the young man came back, guiding us into the <u>garage</u></a>, around the exterior of the room, and back through a sealed door. Dakota Smith was waiting for us, sitting in a wheeled computer chair in one corner of the <u>dimly lit room</u></a>.


    "Greetings. Quite the group you showed up with, Jackson," She said as we entered, studying us one by one. "An ex-Valentino, a familiar face, and a borg using tech I''ve never seen before."


    "We are a bit of a mixed bag," I admitted wth a shrug. "But in a place like this, you can''t afford to be picky with the people you trust. Choosey, yes, but not picky."


    She squinted at me for a moment before nodding her head in understanding. It was true, after all. In a place like Cyberpunk, finding someone you could trust was like finding a diamond in a pig pen, and you couldn''t afford to shut them out because they weren''t squeaky clean, or had 90% of their body replaced by cold metal and cybernetics.


    "True enough, I suppose." She admitted before gesturing for us to sit. Jackie and Kaytlyn sat on the couch along the wall while I dropped into a second swivel chair.


    "What is your purpose in Rocky Ridge?" She asked, cutting right to the chase.


    "I don''t have some grand purpose beyond avoiding prying eyes," I explained. "I''m an inventor, and I like to build stuff, but I also enjoy my privacy and independence. I have no desire to work for a corporation, but people like me¡­ they aren''t really given a choice."


    "You had Padre watching over you in Night City, here you''re more open," She pointed out. "Why leave his protection?"


    "Well, for one, he promised to continue looking after me, keeping his ear to the ground," I corrected. "And it''s the same answer as before. I like my independence, and I have no interest in joining, even unofficially, a gang or group like that."


    For a long moment, she was silent, looking between me and my companions, before once again locking on to me.


    "I''m not sure I like you being out here. Nothing has changed so far, but I fear you will destabilize the balance between the gangs, the nomads families, and the Corporations."


    "Well¡­ nothing stays balanced forever," I said with a shrug. "Change is a good thing. For example¡­"


    I pulled out a shard, which contained the plans for my gift. I held it out for her to see before returning it to my pocket.


    "That shard contains something I call a water vapor electrocondenser. Using powerful electromagnetic fields and an internal condensing system, one of these devices can pull water out of the air in all but the harshest of conditions," I explained. "No more paying corporations water fees, or racing between cities before your water runs out. Even in the harshest deserts in North America, just one of these devices could keep two people comfortably hydrated. Here, near the coast, that number quadruples. Not only is the design portable, but easily scalable, meaning making a device that supplies water for dozens of people is absolutely possible."


    The older woman looked at me, her eyes wide as she worked her way through what I just said. There were several different versions of water vaporators on the market, but they were nothing compared to what my machine could do, by several factors.


    "And what''s the cost of this gift?" She finally asked, though there was an obvious undertone of disbelief.


    "The same sort of deal I have with Padre. A chunk of eddies and the promise that you''re in my corner, keeping an eye out for anything that might be coming my way."


    "We would need to verify that your design works," She pointed out.


    "That''s fine," I responded with a shrug, reaching into my pocket for the shard again.


    I was reaching out to hand it to the fixer when I saw Kaytlyn wince. I knew what she was reacting to, but I had faith in my work. I was handing her the plans to a device that was a good thirty or fifty years ahead of what anyone had access to. It was simple, easy to produce, and worked incredibly well. Once she had proof that everything I said was true, she would pay me. She couldn''t afford to lose access to what I might make in the future.


    Even if she did try and stiff me, I would just release the plans on the internet, with a specific note that she had tried to cheat me. Fixers lived and died by their reputation, and learning that she had tried to claim such an advanced piece of tech for her own without paying the seller? Well, it wouldn''t go over very well.


    Dakota reached out and took the shard, looking at it for a moment before whistling, looking out the sealed door. Only a few seconds later, a mechanic stepped in, though one with a suspiciously gun-shaped bulge under his overalls. She handed him the shard and whispered a few words before he nodded and walked off.


    "Assuming that your invention works the way you claim it will, what exactly am I supposed to take away from this?" She asked, focusing back on me. "You''ve made it very clear you''re not a joiner. So I''m just supposed to accept the danger you bring to the area, since you provided some trinket?"


    "What you''re supposed to take away is that I''m an asset worth investing in," I said, partially repeating myself. "I''m not looking for you to move heaven and earth. Just keep me in the loop about anything that might threaten me and mine. I''ve got some big plans for Rocky Ridge, and they may even include things that might benefit passing nomad families."


    She stared at me for a long moment, eyes locked on to mine like she was reading a transcript of my history, trying to figure out if I was a good horse to bet on. I don''t know what she saw, but after a moment passed, she snorted, shaking her head and standing from her seat, prompting me to do the same.


    "Alright, if your creation works like you say it does, you''ve got my support," She said. "And your payment. Padre was right, you''re fresh like a kid, but you''ve got a way of making people pay attention. Guess we will find out together if that''s a good thing."


    She reached out, and we shook on the deal, her grip firm despite her age. Before we released our shake, I spoke up again.


    "Oh, and once I''m finished moving in, we take jobs as well. In case you got something that needs handling."


    "Of course you do."

 Chapter Eighteen

    By the time we left Dakota Smith''s garage, the sun was starting to set over the horizon, and I found myself nodding off in the passenger seat of Kaytlyn''s Type-66. I had been working nearly nonstop for days now, and the break to check in with Dakota had let it all catch up to me. I was exhausted.


    "Hey, Jay, you alright over there?" Kaytlyn asked, reaching over to nudge my shoulder.


    "Yeah¡­ just the last few days catching up to me," I said. "Been working hard to expand into the new space, and I''m capped."


    "Gonk, you''re gonna make yourself sick," She said, rolling her eyes. "Dummy."


    "Yeah, I know. I just need a few more days. After that, I can finally slow down for a while," I said, ignoring the look Kaytlyn gave me. "Need to build a few more things and set up some more tech before I can switch over to production for a week."


    "Damn, that''s impressive for a garage setup, Jay."


    I shrugged and leaned back, enjoying the comfortable seat. When we pulled back into Rocky Ridge, I said goodbye to Jackie, thanked Kaytlyn for the ride, and headed back to the garage. Samwise had long since completed the parts for the holo pilot gear and had also taken the initiative to print the parts for a water vapor electrocondenser.


    Rather than starting on the holo pilot, since it would have taken me around maybe three hours to put together, I spent a single hour putting the condenser together, getting a decent-sized download of information, including a few upgrades, in the process. When I instructed Samwise to make as many of the condensers as he could while I was sleeping. With enough of them, we wouldn''t have to worry about water for a long time. After that, I immediately walked back to my trailer and nearly collapsed into my bed.


    The following morning started a little late, but I woke up feeling so much better. I didn''t realize how hard the fatigue and work had been grinding down on me.


    "Man¡­ I cannot wait until I get some sort of super soldier serum," I said as I sat heavily down in my workshop chair. "I''m sick of being tired and fragile."


    "Do you think it is likely you will find one soon?" Samwise asked from beside me, setting up what I would need to assemble the holo pilot system.


    "I don''t know, to be honest," I admitted with a frown. "Super soldiers are a semi-common trope, but¡­ a lot of stories gloss over it. I don''t want to jinx anything, so I''m not gonna say what I''m hoping for, but¡­ well, I guess time will tell."


    Samwise and I chatted a bit, but soon, I was too engrossed in my work to multitask. The holo pilot system was advanced or exotic enough that even as I was doing the initial design process, how it worked eluded me. Thankfully, as I started to put it together, I started to comprehend what I was doing and how everything fit together.


    The holo projection system was built around a backpack support kit, with an arm that came over the shoulder and acted as the projector, though that was not what it really was. Instead, it was armed with dozens of little, precisely controlled laser projectors. However, these projectors were special in that they altered the charge of the light as it left the arm. The projectors were calibrated to send their charged beams of light on a collision course for a separate beam, also sent out by the arm. These beams would collide at a precisely calculated point, and the photons in one stream would interact with the other. For the brief nanosecond that these normally invisible lasers interacted with each other, they released a controllable amount of light.


    The invisible lasers also explained the trail of flickering lights behind the projected image. As dust passed through the beams, it would light up from the laser hitting it, causing a blinking trail behind the projection.


    Importantly, though, the amount of light was not the only thing that could be controlled. By adjusting the several aspects of the laser, you can control the wavelength of visible light produced by the collision. This meant that making a recognizable image is as simple as mixing colors to produce the whole color wheel.


    From there, the "projector" functions like a 3D CRT monitor. It drew out the projection line by line, way too fast for our eyes to see anything but the finished product, the projected image. This immediately told me a few things. For one, I could scale this up or down, but there was a limit. If I made the image to large, the arm wouldn''t be fast enough to complete the image before the eye could see a blank spot. I was sure I could solve the problem with a little ingenuity, but I could figure that out later.


    As I finished the projector arm and pack, I could see that this tech was definitely what the cloak ability used to function. I could also see that it would be very vulnerable to anyone using any tech that lets them perceive time more slowly, either with a Sandevistan or a Kerenzikov. It could also be beaten by any eyewear scanning over a certain frame per second or, perhaps most disappointingly, by taking a picture. The "FPS" of the holo system was extremely high; it had to beat Titans, after all, but that was no match for a still-frame image.


    The bottom line was that the tech would be useful, but it wasn''t going to fool everyone or everything. In fact, I would say that relying on it completely would be a mistake.


    I finished putting the system together, and I immediately started working on the cloaking tech. As I predicted, the holoprojection technology played a large part with the cloaking tech. In fact, it was nearly identical, save for a few different parts meant to angle the projection down at the person wearing the device. I finished designing it within an hour, using the holo pilot system as a base, and let Samwise handle printing the parts. I was hoping that between the holo pilot and the cloak ability, I would have as good a grip as I could get on the tech. With any luck, it would illuminate a significant "area" around the holo tech in the branch.


    While Samwise worked on printing and preparing the cloak build, I moved on to my next project, the underlayer that pilots wore under their armor. The project was broken down into two major parts. The first was the artificial muscles, and the second was the nervous system reader that allowed the person to control the suit. Where the warden armor read your motion, interpreting shifts in your limbs before moving to copy it, the pilot underlayer read your nervous system directly. The former involved a noticeable delay, making the armor feel clunky and slow, whereas the latter allowed for nearly complete synchronization between the wearer and the underlayer.


    Now, previously, I struggled with figuring out just how the underlayer worked without a rigid structure for the artificial muscles to work with, like how our muscles used our skeleton. As I started putting the design down, however, I began to understand how it functioned better.


    Essentially, the strands of artificial muscle had three states. The first was its default state, in which the strand was flexible. If you put a current through the strand in one direction, it would twist around itself clockwise, which would cause the strand to shrink and pull at whatever it was attached to. With just a single strand, the effect was tiny, but combined with thousands of other strands, the effect was impressive.


    But where the real genius was, was what happened when a current was applied in the other direction. By changing the flow of electrons through the artificial muscle, the strands become rigid, locking in place. With hundreds of thousands of strands all woven together, one "muscle group" would act as the "skeleton" for another, and vice versa. With some potent programming and the nervous system reader, it was an incredibly intuitive and powerful combination. The whole system would stiffen and release at precise points, enhancing and supporting the user''s movement.


    The ability to tense and release the artificial muscles was also what let pilots survive massive falls and not shatter their hands when punching metal robots. It wasn''t bulletproof, and strands of the artificial muscle did get damaged, which meant some muscle groups had to be replaced frequently. That explained why only pilots got the underlayer since supplying replacement parts for a whole army would be insane.


    Of course, the system was not perfect. While wearing the underlayer, I would be significantly stronger, but I wouldn''t be bench-pressing cars anytime soon. The system was restricted to how squishy the person wearing it was, which was why pilots were so heavily encouraged to enhance themselves.


    Of course, once I got Skinweave and some bone and muscle lace, I would be able to crank the suit up to eleven. I still wouldn''t be bench-press cars, but I would definitely be stronger than Jackie.


    Until I made him one, of course.


    I quickly copied down the blueprints while the molly-makers were pumping out the final parts for the cloaking device. When I was done with the blueprints, I stepped away to work on the cloak, once again letting Samwise handle the printing.


    Once I was done with the cloak, and had mentally sorted through the knowledge it had given me about the holo projection system. I started assembling the pilot underlayer. It was slow going since I had to weave and attach a frankly ridiculous amount of stretching filaments, artificial muscles, and other bits before finally attaching the central nervous system scanner and the battery pack. It was a long process, taking until three pm to complete.


    When I was done, the temptation to try it on was too much to resist, so with Sam''s help, I slid into the underlayer, which fit me snuggly. I built it to my exact specifications, but there was an alternate suit, which I conveniently got the knowledge and design for when I finished my sized version, that was adjustable. It was far from one size fits all, but it would still come in handy.


    When I was inside the suit, I was just about to step outside when a smile curled up on my lips. I walked over to where the clocked pack was hanging up on the wall. With Samwise''s help, I managed to fit the system on, strapping it over the underlayer.


    By then, he had also finished his adjustments to the system, replacing the power source with a series of Elerium nodes. Not only was the improved system lighter, but it also had infinite charge. One Elerium node would build up energy while the other ran the system, and they would switch off as necessary.


    I activated the system and laughed when I disappeared. I looked down at my hands, spotting a slight shift in the image being projected around me. Certain no one would see me, I finally went outside the garage to test out the underlayer and the cloak tech. I started by running along the street, the suit supporting and assisting me the entire time. At a slow run, it was basically doing all the work, meaning I could sprint for a ridiculously long time. When I was pushing myself for speed, the artificial muscle weave surrounding my limbs worked with my own muscles, pushing me to a speed well beyond what I would normally be capable of.


    Eventually, after twenty minutes of running and jumping around the town while nearly invisible, I got caught. I came around the corner of a trailer, heading back to the garage, when something slammed into, driving me to the ground. Murtaugh had tackled me, while Riggs and Kaytlyne rushed over to cover him, their weapons trained on me. Thankfully, the impact knocked the cloak out of alignment enough for the field to fail, revealing who was running around the town. Unfortunately, Murtaugh was quite a heavy robot, and the impact drove the air from my lungs.


    "Jay?! What the fuck!" Kaytlyn said, pulling her pistol back and angrily shoving it back into its holster. "When the fuck did you get optical camo?"


    As Murtaugh scrambled off of me, I sat up slowly, holding my hand up as I regained the ability to breathe again, struggling for a long moment before recovering.


    "Didn''t, I made it," I responded, letting Riggs help me to my feet. "Was just giving it a test run."


    They escorted me back to the garage, both Murtaugh and Riggs apologizing, but I waved them off.


    "It''s my fault, guys. I should have said something. In fact¡­ I need to make something for us to communicate with so that this doesn''t happen again."


    When I sat back down in the garage side room, nursing a drink and wincing at the bruises around my torso while Samwise carried the camo device to hang up in the garage. Kaytlyn sat down beside me, still clearly annoyed.


    "So you made some camo, huh?" She asked, poking at my suit. "Doesn''t look like any I''ve used before."


    "That''s because it probably works differently from anything that you''ve used or seen before," I explained. "And the suit isn''t the camo, the pack was. This is an armor underlayer."


    She waited for me to explain more, but when I didn''t elaborate, she pouted, standing up from the couch.


    "Fine, fine. I get it. Not sure you trust me yet," She said, raising her hands in surrender. "I''ll go check the tower or something."


    As she left, I couldn''t help but feel that she genuinely disliked the fact that I didn''t trust her. I didn''t call her back, though, the door sliding shut behind her as she left.


    "Sir, again, I am very sorry," Murtaugh apologized. "If you wish to decommission me-"


    "Woah! No, absolutely not! First off, you were just doing your job, Murtaugh. You are not in trouble. I''m glad you guys were on the ball," I said, patting his shoulder. "Even if you had fucked up, decommissioning you is akin to killing you, and I would never do that, especially not as a punishment."


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    "What if we requested it?" Riggs asked out of nowhere, shocking the hell out of me. "You said you wanted us to be free. Would you decommission us if we asked you to?''


    "I¡­ Riggs, do you want to be decommissioned?"


    "No, I am just curious," He admitted. "Which comes first, what we want or what you want?"


    "That''s the kind of question with no real answers until you''re faced with it for real, Riggs," I responded with a shiver. "I would have to think about that a lot, and I kind of don''t want to unless it''s something I actually have to do. If you guys are suffering for some reason, you should tell me, and together, we might be able to find a fix."


    "That doesn''t answer the question."


    "Welcome to being alive, Riggs. Not all questions have answers, and even if they do, sometimes you don''t get them anyway."


    When the two AI-driven robots were finally satisfied that I was okay, they left the garage to go back to work patrolling the town. I did a quick stretch, wincing at the bruises on my stomach and chest from Murtaugh''s tackle. I spent some time inspecting the underlayer, making sure that it hadn''t been damaged. It was pretty resilient, so I wasn''t surprised to find that it was intact, if a little scuffed.


    "Alright, Samwise. What''s next?" I asked, stepping out of the side room and into the workshop.


    "I believe the next item on your list was some of the cyberware and other enhancements," He stated.


    "Right¡­ what kind of options does Titanfall have¡­"


    I closed my eyes and dove back into my mind, exploring the Titanfall tech tree. I could see the spots lit up by what I had managed to make, as well as what I had access to with all of the knowledge I had gained so far. There was a lot that I had unlocked, both from bonus information I received when I finished projects and from my increased total knowledge, allowing me to fully understand certain parts and concepts.


    Unsurprisingly, considering the scale of the Titanfall universe, all of that was just a drop of water in the ocean. There was a whole branch of spaceship tech that I could barely see into, and several other fields that were even less revealed. I shook my hand, forcing myself to ignore most of it. The sad fact of it was that I needed to pick and choose. I had two full days left, as well as whatever time was left today. I needed to focus on what I could do with that time.


    I mentally searched the cybernetics branch, following the start of the path and going up as far as I could. The work with the artificial muscle for the underlay gave me a good head start, but as I examined each piece of tech, I slowly began to frown.


    The Titanfall universe had plenty of enhancements, replacements, and modifications, but as far as I could see, almost all of it was either around the same level of potency or below what was available in Cyberpunk. Sure, their artificial muscles were much more advanced than what this world had access to, but somehow, this universe had gotten so good at miniaturizing smaller mechanical parts that they didn''t need artificial muscles in most cases.


    I spent fifteen minutes examining everything before finally concluding that it just wasn''t worth the time. This would be especially true when I started making enough money to buy whatever cyberware I wanted.


    While I was shocked at my conclusion at first, the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. If I had been stranded somewhere else, then getting Cyberpunk as a tech tree would have been all about the Cyberware. Titanfall was all about AI and robots, and Cyberpunk was all about cybernetics. Sure, Titanfall included a lot of superior tech because of its more advanced setting, but it made a certain kind of sense that its cybernetics and body modding wouldn''t be able to match a setting who''s entire purpose was high-tech body enhancements.


    "Alright, change of plans," I said, leaning back from my workshop desk. "I''m skipping enhancements and cybernetics. There''s nothing they have that isn''t already here."


    "Very well, what is next on your list?" Sawmise asked, not skipping a beat.


    I frowned and pulled up the list on my computer, crossing off what I had managed so far. Just like when I had looked at my list of projects from XCOM, it didn''t look like much when scrunched together on the list. Thankfully, I only had to look around to see just how much progress I had made.


    "Alright. It looks like medical equipment is next," I said, nodding to myself as I double-checked the list before getting to work.


    The rest of the day was spent designing and building various pieces of medical equipment. While the cybernetics portion of the medical industry was pretty advanced in this reality and was obviously leaps and bounds beyond what we had back home, it was nothing compared to what Titanfall had access to. This world tended to prescribe cyberware as the cure for a lot, whereas Titanfall actually attempted to cure or fix things before cutting them out and replacing them.


    I focused primarily on the sort of steps you would see in colonies, advanced equipment in small, portable forms that were built to last and be easily replaceable. Most of these were specifically designed to be made by molly-makers, meaning the printing process was quick and easy. By the time I went to sleep, I had the bare bones for an entire infirmary printed out. The following morning, I continued the process as I padded out the rest.


    The final, and perhaps largest piece of medical equipment, was something called an Auto-Pharma. It was a fridge-sized device capable of making several thousand medications on demand. Everything from allergy medication to anti-coagulants. Even better, it was all drugs from Titanfall, meaning it was way past anything I had seen or was available here. Even better, new information could be fed into the device to enable new production recipes. I would need to buy a lot of chemicals for all of the recipes to work, but having a working Auto-Pharma was the final piece of a medbay design that would make any colony doctor happy.


    Now, I just needed a colony doctor.


    Since I didn''t trust anyone but Vik as a doctor around here, I would just have to make one. There were several medical bots I had access to since I had already dove so deep into that branch. I decided to build one of the more robust models, a basic frame with especially precise arms and very stable legs. It took me three hours to get the design out since it shared segments similar to those of the ALEO units.


    While the design segment was unusually short, the programming took a long time since I was basically programming a doctor. It had to have an incredible capacity to learn and apply that learning to save lives and heal people. This was good because the standalone AI programming did not have any medical knowledge, meaning we would have to feed it medical textbooks by the dozen. I would be concerned about that, except that was the standard operating procedure for medical AI in the Titanfall universe.


    When I finished programming everything, there were only a few more hours in the day, but despite being tired, I buckled down for a long night. Rather than take time off to prepare, I knew what was coming this time, which was why I made the decision to work through the final night. With the help of copious amounts of coffee and Samwise watching over my shoulder, there was very little danger in missing one night of sleep, especially if I kept busy. I spent an hour and a half assembling the <u>medical robot,</u></a> activating it just enough to get the credit before putting it to the side.


    At some point, Riggs came inside to charge while I was working on designing a more comprehensive set of tools, filling my garage with advanced building gadgets that would make my life easier in the future. It occurred to me as I was working on them that the more advanced tools probably should have gone up higher on the list, but I suppose hindsight is 20/20. By the time four AM rolled around, Riggs had left, and Murtough was the one charging.


    When I was done upgrading my tools, I got to work on the next project, taking a crack at one of the cooler things from the game, the Mk.6 Smart Pistol. Well, I got to work on the part that actually mattered, the bullet. The pistol itself was barely noteworthy. After all, my home world was already developing target interpretation programs when I left, never mind what I had access to here.


    Hell, the smart weapons available on the market here were already pretty impressive. But the bullet the MK.6 fired was particularly adept at following the information the weapon was sending it, and while they were expensive to make, giving everyone a backup pistol full of instant kill bullets? That was well worth the cost. Or it would be once I had built up enough to make that many.


    The bullets did have a downside. They were a very sensitive gyrojet design, meaning they weren''t actually bullets, they were rockets. This meant they were nearly useless at close range, since they needed time to build up speed. They also didn''t actually have that much penetration power, even with plenty of time to build up. The only reason they were as hilariously lethal was the bullet and tracking software was good enough to land headshots every time. Otherwise, any decent amount of armor would stop them pretty dead.


    Once I had finished a single bullet, I worked out the compound for electric smoke, putting together one of the grenades. It was an interesting bit of tech, especially since it wasn''t smoke at all, but an incredibly fine powder.


    The grenade functioned by releasing its powder payload, before activating it with a burst of harmless low-level infrared radiation. The powder breaks down aggressively, releasing bursts of electricity that jump between the cloud particles and to anyone stupid enough to try and charge through it. It was the ultimate in-location denial, as not only can you not see through it, but you couldn''t run through it either. You could also use it to take down a whole building of people, though the more enclosed the powder is, the quicker the charge dissipated.


    The sun was coming up when I finished the electric smoke grenade, the completed project revealing a whole branch of thrown weapons like grenades, satchel charges, and a little diamond in the rough I almost missed, the gravity star. I wrote down the formula for explosives they used in the satchel charge before I quickly focused on the crazy throwing star weapon.


    The gravity star was a device you threw like a throwing star, containing a central chamber at the center. Once thrown, the device was activated and, on impact, would detonate into a small ball of energy. This ball of energy generated a field that pulled in everything around it, including projectiles, before eventually explosively tearing itself apart.


    As I started to design the weapon, I couldn''t help but feel nostalgic about working on the XCOM tech tree, because, just like XCOM, the IMC had absolutely no idea how what they discovered worked. It was just like how XCOM had no idea how Elerium worked, they just knew it did. The key to the baffling grenade was a small blue crystal harvested from asteroids and other space debris inside certain high-energy nebula. When exposed to certain types of radiation, the kind very much not good for people, while undergoing a high voltage charge, the crystal vaporizes, then condenses, before making gravity its bitch. The reaction then destabilized and violently detonated.


    And IMC had no idea how it did that. So what did they do? They stuffed it into a grenade and threw it at people. It was like building Vahlens tech all over again.


    On the one hand, I almost didn''t want to make the grenade, since who knew what that process was doing to the space-time continuum or whatever. On the other hand, while I was too scared to start throwing gravity stars around here, I had no idea what sort of benefit I would be missing out on later. Who knows, maybe when I finally get to Mass Effect and start learning things about mass effect fields, I could learn that the crystal, creatively called gravity crystals, were actually a protoform of element zero and were somehow perfect for solving some sort of grand issue.


    So, I designed and printed out a gravity crystal generator, just like an Elerium generator, since the crystal didn''t exist in this universe. This process needed a dozen different chemicals and sapphires as a seed crystal. I ended up sending Kaytlyn back into the city to pick out whatever I needed, starting up the generator as soon as she returned.


    I continued to work hard, developing and building half a dozen more gadgets and doodads, pumping out as many as I could to really advance what I was capable of making, and pulling more things into my general knowledge of building stuff. When time finally started to dwindle down, my final act with the Titanfall tech tree was to open up the gravity crystal generator, pull out a crystal the size of my thumb, and slot it into a throwing star before sealing it back up.


    I then nearly collapsed back into my chair, feeling the information wash over me while also feeling my time running down quickly. I let out a sigh when the Titanfall tree finally fell away. It was almost a relief when it was gone, as I was finally able to rest my mind. Samwise helped me to my trailer, where I crashed into my bed and slept like the dead.

 Chapter Nineteen

    I was not surprised when I woke up the next day and it was already nearly two PM. Nor was I surprised to still feel tired as I rolled to the edge of my bed, eyes closed as I mentally reviewed the last few days. It was clear that I had pushed myself way too hard, way beyond what was healthy. Unfortunately, I couldn''t even say that I wouldn''t do it again, that I had learned from my mistake, because in all honesty, I knew I would do it again.


    Titanfall had been a major boon, basically exactly what I needed to take my production capabilities and general knowledge to the next level. I was in a much better position to handle whatever came next at a much more reasonable pace, but the next time something big came along, I knew I would do whatever was necessary to make the most out of that tech tree.


    The worst thing was, even with all the struggling and all the hard work, it hadn''t been enough.


    When I was putting together the list of things that I wanted to build before my time with Titanfall was up, I had forced myself to be as pragmatic as possible. The FTL systems had been one such point, as had several other bits of tech.


    Like the advanced AI core that the Frontier Militia designed, along with the AIs that utilized it. The core that BT was built on.


    I had put them both far down the list because, realistically, I didn''t need them. The AI and the cores I had access to were plenty advanced to fit almost all of my needs, and with some added storage and software, there weren''t many situations or needs that I couldn''t adapt them to. So I put the upgrades further down the list, knowing very well I wouldn''t be able to reach it. But I tried anyway because I wanted the future AI that I created to be the best I could make.


    And it wasn''t like the AI designs I had now were insufficient. They would grow and develop, eventually gaining much more independent thought. They would develop emotions, likes and dislikes, goals, desires, and more. But they would always be robotic. Their emotions would be muted, their desires reasonable, and their goals based on logic. They would never be dreamers, reaching out past what was reasonable to achieve greatness. They would be smart, efficient, and even the best in their field. But they would never really be able to push past being an AI.


    It wasn''t like I would be able to upgrade the ones I had already created, but I had sacrificed that idea for future AI because it wasn''t necessary, and I needed to be utilitarian.


    I let out a long breath, shaking my head. Intellectually, I knew eventually, I would get access to more advanced AI. There were just too many that existed in media for me to not eventually roll one.


    But I still wanted a BT goddammit!


    After a few minutes of sitting on the edge of the bed, trying to desperately put together my considerable knowledge of AI development and creation to use by cracking the Frontier Militia advancement with the smallest of scraps I knew about it, I gave up. I stood and stretched, about to reach for my keyfob, when someone knocked heavily on my door.


    "Jay, you up?" Jackie called. "Got some lunch."


    "Yeah, Jackie, doors open."


    A second later, the door opened up, and Jackie climbed in, his large size making the trailer look especially small. He was carrying a trio of beers and a bag that looked greasy.


    "Well, at least you''re out of bed. C''mon and eat something," He said, sitting down at the small table in the "kitchen" area of the trailer. "It''s from that burger place you mentioned to me."


    I made my way to the table and dropped down heavily into the seat opposite Jackie, accepting a beer from him after he popped the top. I took a long swig of the beer, ignoring the chemical aftertaste. Jackie tore open the takeout bag and began dividing up the food, handing me a big burger and a large fries. He had two burgers and an even larger fries for himself.


    "Does your muscle weave let you eat like that?" I asked, watching him scarf down some fries.


    "No, but general bioware always burns calories," He explained. "Until you start making your way to be a borg, then it''s less calories. Something to do with your body trying to figure out what''s going on or something. Vik explains it better."


    "Speaking of Vik, any news about what I was looking for?"


    "He managed to find you a pretty decent Skinweave kit," He answered with a frown. "He said he would call you."


    I looked at him blankly for a moment before looking for my keyfob, scrolling through the screen to see that I had, in fact, missed a call from Vik, yesterday around noon. I let out a sigh and nodded.


    "Yeah¡­ I missed it," I explained. "I''ll call him in a bit to set up an appointment."


    For a minute, we ate in silence, Jackie making much quicker headway than I did. I finished my beer, but rather than accept another from Jackie, I poured a glass of water, freshly pulled from the air, for myself.


    "You set up one of those water things?" Jackie asked, looking at the tank that I had set up to hold drinking water.


    "Yeah, we can even take showers, completely free," I said, getting an impressed look. "I''m worried someone might try and flush us out by cutting the lines. I can make power, even if we didn''t have enough solar panels around here to run the whole town. Now we are good for water, too."


    "Still need food, though," He pointed out.


    "Yeah, fingers crossed that changes soon," I said, Jackie groaning at my tone.


    "Jay, listen, you gotta slow the fuck down," He said, shaking his head. "You look rough, and Kaytlyn said you worked through the night a day ago."


    I let out a sigh and nodded, unable to deny that I had pushed myself too far. I was still exhausted, and not the good "I just completed something impressive" kind. It was a deep tiredness that practically screamed to slow down. Thankfully, I had a week to do just that.


    "I know, I know¡­ It''s just¡­" I trailed off for a moment before shaking my head. "We''ve gone over the fact that I''m¡­ unique, right?"


    "Yeah, you talked circles around it," Jackie said. "Plus, not exactly hard to see, Genio."


    "Yeah, I know, that''s a problem in and of itself," I said, shaking my head. "Do you wanna know how it works?"


    "Works? You say that like¡­ you know what, unless you feel like you need to share, it''s okay, Choom," He said, shaking his head. "I got your back no matter what''s going on, and it would probably just go over my head anyway."


    I stared at him for a handful of seconds before snorting and shaking my head. I had been worried about how he would react, but I clearly shouldn''t have been.


    "Fair enough, Jackie," I responded, still chuckling. "Well, either way, I got another week of downtime, so we can go on some missions, and I can take it slow. I just need to remake some armor and redesign my underlayer. Need to make you one too."


    "I already got my under armor, choom," He pointed out. "And the armor you made me, I don''t need anymore."


    "This isn''t armor, it''s an underlayer. You wear it under your armor, and it enhances your movements and makes you stronger," I explained. "I have to work out how to wear the under armor under that¡­ or maybe over it? I''ll figure something out."`


    "How much stronger? Jackie asked with wide eyes. "Like how your old armor worked?"


    "Better, especially for people who are more durable than normal, say someone with Skinweave and bone lace?" I responded, chuckling at Jackie''s excitement. "I''m looking forward to being able to use it fully, too. Just give me some time to improve the first design and figure out a way to keep your old armor."


    We chatted about some of the other stuff I made while I was working myself to the bone, before someone eventually knocked on my trailer door again. I opened it to find Riggs standing outside.


    "Dakota Smith is here," He said simply, as he usually does. "She wants to talk to you, Sir."


    "Really?" I asked, surprised that she would come out this far without prompting. "Alright, give me a minute to clean up a bit, then I''ll be out there. Jackie¡­?"


    "Yeah, I''ll go out and chat, work the charm," He said with a smirk. "You need five minutes?"


    "Should do fine."


    He nodded and left the trailer, leaving me alone to quickly rinse the last two days of work off and change into something clean. When I was done, I pulled a T-shirt over my AA under armor, stepped out of my trailer, and made my way to the center of town.


    As I approached, I could see three cars parked along the road, with Dakota Smith sitting on the hood of one of them. A woman was standing by one with her arms crossed, and a man slightly older than me by the other. Dakota was talking to Jackie and Kaytlyn, while Riggs and Murtaugh stood back. I could see that Samwise had been busy while I was sleeping because two new specters were standing at ease by Murtaugh, bringing our total to three. They were holding normal weapons, <u>copperheads</u></a>, I think, ready to engage but still holding back.


    I could also see Dakota eyeing them warily as I approached, even as she talked to my friends.


    "Sorry for keeping you waiting," I said as I finally arrived, combing back my still-damp hair. "I wasn''t really presentable."


    "I think I can forgive you," She responded, pushing off the hood of <u>her car</u></a>.


    As I got closer, thinking I was going to shake her hand, she gestured to one of her people. He reached into <u>his truck</u></a> and pulled out a container of some kind, as well as a pair of cups. He walked around and wordlessly handed Dakota and I one cup each before opening the container''s cap. Slowly, carefully, he poured us each a glass of crystal clear, ice-cold water.


    Starting to understand what was going on, I held out my full cup, and she tapped hers against it. She gave me a nod, and together, we drank the perfectly pure, crisp, cool water. After we each finished the glass, she fixed me with a serious look.


    "A day ago, that glass of water would have been worth a not inconsiderable amount," She explained. "Perfectly clean, low rad, pure water is a premium, and you handed us the key to making as much as we could ever need."


    "In all honesty, I was happy to," I said, meaning every word. "Water is something that should be a right, not a luxury. The idea of companies withholding it¡­ Doesn''t sit with me right."


    "It''s one thing to believe that, but to hand someone the keys to their chains¡­" She paused, her eyes glowing. A moment later, my keyfob vibrated, and a quick check showed she had paid in full. "You''ve done an incredible service to all nomads everywhere. I''ve already dispersed the plans for this over the Net, and personally sent it to dozens of friendy nomad groups. No mention of your name, of course."


    I looked back at the older woman in surprise. I had expected her to share it with friendly nomad groups, but over the Net? that was big and pretty altruistic.


    "I''m hoping the fact that it was released anonymously over the net covers nomads from any backlash," She explained as if sensing my surprise.


    "I see, that''s a smart play. And I''m glad you decided to share it with everyone," I said with a smile.


    "Yes, well... On top of the agreed upon payment, I''m also offering you the services of these two," She said, gesturing to the man who had poured our water, who waved, as well as the woman still standing by her car, who nodded, her arms still crossed. "At family rates. They are two of my best scroungers. You need something, especially if you need something quietly, these two can get it for you."


    "Are we talking deliveries or specialty items?" I asked.


    "Both, though Robin does better work with specialty items," the fixer explained, gesturing to the woman. "They''ve both been working with me for years, and they know that turning on you would be like turning on the family."


    "Well¡­ that''s good. I''m starting to run low on specific resources," I admitted, thinking about just how much stuff I had burned through the last few days. "What is the family rate?"


    "Depends on what we are finding," Robin, said, speaking up to explain. "But it will be reasonable. We also trade favors and equipment."


    "Oh, that''s good news. I think we will get along just fine," I said with a smile. "I could put together a list right now, if that''s alright."


    The man, Chuck, gave Dakota a look, the older woman nodding. She reached out and shook my hand before making her way to her driver''s side door.


    "I''ll be in touch, Jackson," She assured me as she opened her door. "Keep your eyes open for Wraiths. I''ll keep an ear out for them, but best keep watch yourself as well."


    "We will," I said simply, adding a nod as she slid into her vehicle.


    Her car rumbled as we stepped away, the fixer swinging her car around and leaving the town behind, Robin hopping in her car and following after her. I gestured to Chuck to follow me, making my way to the garage. I spent ten minutes coming up with a list of stuff, including as many medical study materials as he could get his hands on. That got an eyebrow raise from the man, but he didn''t ask any questions. When I was finished with the list, I asked about payment.


    Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    "Dakota mentioned you make some decent armor," He said, his eyes glowing as he looked over the list I had given him. "Is that something I could get?"


    "It would earn you a pretty good discount," I responded. "Let''s say¡­ five thousand eddies off?"


    "What would it cost then?"


    "For a friend? I''d say two thousand," I answered. "I could charge more, have charged more, really, but you guys will be running around for me, so I want you protected."


    "Yeah, alright, that works for me," He said, reaching out to shake my hand. "I can have most of this stuff to you by tomorrow morning, but the medical shards might be a while. Gonna have to source them first, scope out a few shops."


    "That''s fine. I would prefer the supplies be here first and the info here later," I explained.


    He agreed, and after transferring a chunk of eddies for him to work with, he left, hopping into his truck, and drove off. I sagged back into my workshop chair, idly spinning it around before leaning on the counter.


    "Sir, are you well?" Samwise asked, no longer pretending to be a mindless robot.


    "Yeah, Sam, just feeling tired," I responded. "Nice work on the specters, by the way. How many do you plan on building?"


    I turned to look at my AI assistant, who was standing by our drone workstation. There were a variety of specter parts laid out on two separate wheeled tables, ready to install on the half-finished drone hanging on the station.


    "This is the final one for today. I did not wish to interrupt any plans you had," He explained, turning to focus on his task.


    "Alright, keep working on them when you have downtime," I responded. "Ideally, I would like five of them up and running with two in parts waiting in case they need repairs."


    "Very well, I will complete the task as time permits," He responded. "Do you have a project in mind for today?"


    "I was going to create a design for a mag submachine gun for Kaytlyn in a bit," I explained. "After that, I wanted to take a crack at working up some perimeter sensors¡­ Then I think I''ll take it easy for the rest of the day. I can work on some larger projects tomorrow."


    "Very well. I will continue working on the specter drone."


    I nodded and climbed off of my chair, before making my way out of the garage, I spotted Jackie, Kaytlyn, Murtaugh, and Riggs. They were all standing around and talking in front of the BD shack. Behind them, most of the MRVN units were working on fixing up and clearing out the run-down building. I had plans to turn most of it into a warehouse of sorts to store some of my equipment, turning the side room into a temporary doctor''s office for the medical AI I made.


    "Hey guys," I greeted, almost taking a step back as Kaytlyn whipped around and focused on me


    "Jay, why didn''t you tell me?" Kaytlyn asked as she spotted me, her attitude shifting from calm to annoyed in a split second. "I mean, didn''t your parents ever teach you how to share?"


    "Tell you what?" I asked with a frown, looking between Jackie and my AI friends. "I don''t know what you''re talking about."


    "I watched Murtaugh jump up the side of the watchtower with them¡­ What are they called, jump jets?" She said, fading a bit as she tried to remember the name, before starting right back up again. "Then, when I asked him what they were, he ran all around town, jumping up and over buildings and along walls like it was as easy as walking! How could you keep that from me?"


    I rolled my eyes at her antics, shaking my head and sitting down against the side of a concrete divider.


    "They are called jump kits, and they are extremely difficult to master," I explained, snorting at Kaytlyn''s pout. "Riggs and Murtaugh both have them, but they have the hardware to back them up. It would take years for someone to master them, and you''d most likely break your neck in the process."


    "Don''t care, still want one," She fired back immediately. "I promise not to haunt you from the grave if it kills me, but I need to have one of those."


    "Let me do some work on them first, I think I can make them easier to use, but I''m not sure," I explained, holding my hand up to stop her response. "Give me a few days, at least. I have your sub machine gun to make, some armor for myself, I need to update the underlayer, make some for Jackie¡­"


    "Okay, okay, I get it. You''re very busy, fine," She responded, holding up her hands in surrender. "I won''t bug you for one. At least for a day or so."


    "Oh joy, what mercy," I replied with a blank tone.


    What I didn''t say was that I also desperately wanted to wear one. However, I wasn''t stupid enough to think that I would somehow, miraculously, be capable of using a set since they took a ridiculous amount of training to pull off.


    Instead, I planned on adding a few more gyroscopes, some advanced scanning sensors, and an angular processor to add a level of autopilot to the system. This would drastically reduce the flexibility of the system, removing a lot of the advanced maneuvers that Pilots used. You didn''t see much of them in the game, but let''s just say there was a reason the program was so difficult to get into and survive. My version of the jump kit would make a lot of those maneuvers impossible, but in turn, the system would be much more intuitive to use.


    I''m sure that eventually, I would find a way to make the system easier while remaining flexible. Either that or I would enhance myself enough that I would be able to master the whole system easily. Until then, I would have to settle for my own basic version.


    As soon as I got around to building it.


    The five of us chatted a bit more, but eventually, Jackie needed to head back to help around his mom''s bar. It was honestly good timing since I needed to at least have a submachine gun design finished before the day was over.


    I headed back to the workshop, walking past Samwise as he put the finishing touches on the same specter he had been working on, including adding a number to it for easy identification. I sat down and got to work on designs, starting with the submachine gun. Once I actually got started, it thankfully didn''t actually take that long. I had so much experience with mag weapons at this point I could design them in my sleep, and I already had two functioning models to work off of.


    After two hours, I had a pretty complete design, including the ammo and magazines. The system was designed for sustained, relatively lower-damage fire, meaning I wanted a smaller round and a nice long magazine. I ended up using a bullpup design in order to pack as much as I could in a smaller frame, and the <u>result</u></a> was a tight submachine gun with a large magazine and a surprising amount of punch per round. It was also nice and light since it was mostly made of an advanced polymer, one I got from the Titanfall universe that I could make from the leftover plastic bricks from the mass recycler.


    I took a break once I was finished with the design, helping Samwise and an MRVN unit switch over the molly-makers to gun production. The fact that our specters were stuck using copperheads, for which we had limited ammo, was unacceptable. In order to fix that, Samwise was going to spend the rest of the day and the night printing weapons. They required almost zero materials besides what we were gathering on our own, the exception being the Alien Alloy, which required a handful of chemicals we weren''t gathering.


    When the machines were running, I called in Murtaugh. I had planned on working on the perimeter sensors, but I realized that I still had a pile of upgrade parts for all three of my currently active AIs, ready and waiting to be installed. I could have just let Samwise take care of it whenever he got around to it, but it sounded like a nice, easy task for me to work on while recovering.


    The first upgrade required that the advanced strategy and combat AI be turned off, even its emergency power so that I could replace his current power systems with three Elerium nodes. Not only would this remove their need to recharge, but it would give them plenty of extra energy, should it be needed. It also cleared up a not insignificant amount of space where his batteries had been. I was tempted to fill them with extra processing power immediately, but I decided to leave it free for now.


    Once I was finished installing his power upgrades, I turned Murtaugh back on. The rest of the work could be done with most of his system active, especially since he could selectively depower portions of his body to make it safe to work on.


    "Thank you, sir, I can feel the extra power available to me," He said. "I can also feel the reduction of weight. Do you have plans for the space you created?"


    "At the moment, no," I admitted. "But feel free to speak up if you figure something out that you want."


    "I will consider my options, Sir."


    I nodded and prompted the AI robot to sit on a crate so that I could start applying more upgrades. The first was a series of Alien Alloy plating, replacing or layering several bits of armor. His entire face was replaced to better protect his AI core, as well as several plates protecting his power system and his extra processors. The final upgrade for Murtaugh was an integrated holster on his hip, which would keep one of my <u>pistols</u></a> charged and ready.


    I''m sure over time, I would come up with a more interesting addition and upgrades, but for now, I was happy with those.


    I spent an hour installing the same modifications to Riggs, first removing the modified warden armor. Now Riggs had another layer of defense, making his role as the front-line tank even safer. The plating we installed was even thicker than Murtaugh''s since the warden armor could easily compensate for the extra weight.


    By the time I finished with Rigg''s, I was starting to feel tired again. Despite the fact that I had slept past noon and it was relatively early, my body was clearly still not fully recovered from my insane workload at the end of the Titanfall tech tree. I ended up apologizing to Samwise, promising to apply his upgrades in the morning. I then called it an early night, heading off to my trailer and crawling into my bed before the sun even fully set over the horizon. The last thing I did before falling asleep was call Vik to set up an appointment for the following day.


    I woke up the next morning feeling significantly better, my strength and stamina having fully returned. I also woke up on the earlier side, having finally caught up on my sleep debt. After showering and eating a quick bowl of nondescript, barely qualifying food, I headed out of my trailer. I waved to Murtaugh, who was walking around the town, two specters following behind him. I was happy to see that all three of them were fully armed with my weapons. The specters each had a mag pistol and a mag rifle, while Murtaugh himself had a pistol on his hip, a sniper rifle anchored to his back with magnets, and a submachine gun in his hand. He stopped when he spotted me, letting me catch up.


    "Hey, how''s it going?" I asked. "Looks like everyone is finally armed with proper weapons."


    "It is a vast improvement, sir," Murtaugh said, sounding genuinely happy. "I hope you do not mind, but we tested out the new weapon a few hours ago. It performs more than adequately, even without a proper modern sight."


    For a moment, I stared back at the AI, my brain stuck for a full pause before I finally broke down into a string of curses.


    "I fucking forgot to work on weapon attachments!" I said, shaking my fist to the sky. "Goddammit! That''s two tech trees in a row!"


    "Apologies, Sir," Murtaugh said, sounding repentant. "I will endeavor to remind you for your next tech tree."


    "It''s not your fault. You weren''t even around when it happened the first time," I assured him, shaking my head. "Not even Samwise was. I''ll tell him to remind me since he will have a better idea when I hit a tree that would have them. Until then, I''ll have Chuck bring a few basic ones around for me to copy."


    "Very well, Sir," He responded.


    "Thanks, Murtaugh," I said, giving him a haphazard salute. "I''ll probably be working on a sensor net for around the town later today, so expect a call for your input later."


    "Will do, sir."


    And with that, the AI robot returned my sarcastic salute with a ridged, perfectly executed one, which the two specters behind him replicated seamlessly. I watched as they walked away before turning around and heading to the workshop, cursing my poor memory under my breath the whole way.

 Chapter Twenty

    The first thing I did after reaching the garage was sit down with Samwise and install his upgrades. Unlike Riggs and Murtaugh, Sam knew exactly what he wanted to use the newly freed space removing his batteries created. We installed a series of sensor modules and scanners, all of which he made during his free time, in the empty cavity before affixing two small manipulator arms to his stomach. These would function as scanners and fine movement manipulators, and could tuck up and away from sight to both protect them and keep them from attracting extra attention.


    Upgrading Samwise''s panels was a much more challenging task for him than his two younger siblings since he wasn''t clad in armor plates designed to be repaired and replaced. Once I finally finished, however, I gave him a pat on the shoulder.


    "You did a good job with those designs, Samwise. Feel free to design and use the molly-makers to build other stuff, as long as it''s not too big or gets in the way of the production schedule."


    "Speaking of the production schedule, Sir. What is the plan for today?" He asked, standing up from the crate he had been sitting on. "I believe you mentioned a security grid?"


    "Yeah, that needs to get done today. Or at least started. I want to give Kaytlyn and Murtaugh every tool they can get to keep this place secure," I explained. "I also have an appointment with Vik for my Skinweave."


    "Very well," He acknowledged. "And you plan on using the minion detector design?"


    "I do," I nodded in agreement. "I believe if we modify the design a bit, decentralize the sensors, increase the processing power and the program''s detection fidelity, we could turn it from one single scanner into a web of scanners."


    "Even without having the full download from originally crafting the device?" Samwise asked, surprise just flickering into his artificial voice.


    "Yeah, I worked with so much Titanfall tech, I think I can work around what I didn''t get," I explained. "Might take a bit of finagling, but yeah, it should work. Even better, if we spread the net far enough, I''m pretty sure it will counter the issue with fast targets being undetectable."


    We made our way to the workshop computer and began pulling apart the design for the early model minion detector. The goal was to separate the sensors from the device, making them easier to make and slightly more resilient, while also making the heart of the device a standalone system.


    This was different from most projects I had taken on, since there were plenty of bits and pieces that I didn''t know. It was obviously different from rebuilding things from the Tinker of Fiction repository. On top of that, it was very different from my previous redesigns, where I was rehashing and improving what I could while keeping the spirit of the item intact. For this, Samwise and I were working together to try and crack something we didn''t already know the solution to. So, basically, it was like the design process for normal people.


    We pitched ideas back and forth, trying to crack several issues we ran into while trying to realize our concept. The process was fun and interesting, and I made a mental note to stop being satisfied with just what I knew. If I started pushing myself to develop new things, who knew what I might come up with.


    After about two hours, we took a break since Chuck had arrived with his delivery. Between Samwise, Chuck, and two MRVN units, we had everything unloaded in thirty minutes. I immediately handed Chuck a set of AA under armor, which he accepted eagerly after paying the remaining fee. After that, he left to retrieve a sample of scopes and sights for us to copy and to continue working on the medical texts I asked for.


    After Chuck had left, I had a quick snack and a coffee, before we got back to work on the sensor issue. About three hours after that, we finally had a solution. We ended up borrowing some sensors from the medical equipment I made and expanding on them, essentially sacrificing their ridiculous medical sensitivity and precision for range and stability. Since I knew those designs backward and forward, as well as exactly how they worked, mixing them up was relatively easy.


    As for the central heart of the system, we basically just dumped processing power on it until it worked. I also used my frankly impressive programming skills to whip up a more robust analysis program to run the whole system.


    When the design process was done, we quickly got the large molly-maker printing out the central processor, which looked like a server rack, with places to connect computer bits like keyboards, mice, and a screen. The sensors themselves would use the smaller molly-maker, which Samwise upgraded to work much more efficiently and effectively. At this point, it was basically on par with the larger, more advanced device, just smaller.


    "Sam, these upgrades are fantastic," I said, peering into the mini-fridge-sized matter printer. "When did you have time to do these?"


    "Once the larger maker was completed, and it had finished its project one night," He explained. "It was not difficult to transfer some of the developments from the larger maker to the original model."


    "Still, well done," I said, patting his shoulder.


    For a moment, I watched the machine work, slowly nodding as I put together a plan. If the original, smaller molly-maker now had just as much detail as the larger one, we could use it to make smaller stuff while the bigger one worked on something else.


    "Okay, this is perfect. We can use the smaller one for the day, and the larger one, once it finishes this, can build an entirely new machine," I explained with a grin. "This one is going to be even bigger so it can handle larger projects, so we can make things like wall panels without having to make a thousand welds."


    "Where will we put it?" Samwise asked. "I was under the impression you wished to keep the second garage bay clear for larger projects."


    "I do. We can clear out half of the side room and put it in there," I said. "Then, once it''s done, its first task will be to create the parts for an addition to the garage, a whole back area we can use to keep several more molly-makers of various sizes."


    "Forgive me if I am mistaken, but is that not overkill?" Samwise asked. "While I understand the wisdom of the larger molly maker, do we need more smaller ones?"


    "Every reduction in creation time gives me more time to build and design," I pointed out, shaking my head. "I want to be able to print things as fast as I can design them. But it''s more than that. Having a constant production capability will mean we can blow past any limitations we have right now."


    "Are you not worried about the attention?"


    "I am, but for now, as long as we keep this under wraps, we should be okay," I explained. "We are already pushing it, I know, but I need to advance this further before I can really start to protect ourselves."


    "Are you not afraid that they will simply overwhelm us?" Samwise asked. "Even the smallest company that may be watching us would have nearly limitless resources, as far as we would be concerned."


    "...Yes, I am. Luckily, we are protected by Nighty City, even if we aren''t in it anymore," I explained. "Don''t get me wrong, any one of those companies might stop by and try and sniff around or even abduct me. However, they can''t just show up with an army. The world is pretty tense right now after the last corporate war, and suddenly showing up with an army would upset that balance severely."


    "What about the <u>Kujira</u></a>?" Samwise asked.


    "Did it show up?" I asked, whipping around to look at him, eyes wide.


    "No, it remains moored at its harbor in Japan," He assured me. "But did it not come to Night City? During the... alternate timeline?"


    "Yes, as an escort for<u> Saburo Arasaka</u></a> and his daughter," I explained, shaking my head. "And from what I know, that still almost started a war."


    I seem to remember that being a hidden plot point behind the main story, that Arasaka and Militech were gearing up for another war, both of them just poking each other, slowly building up for it.


    "Either way," I continued. "The goal is to build up and grow in a way that is fast enough to make it, but stealthily enough to not draw attention too fast. Until we get too big to ignore, we can rely on the "independence" of Night City to protect us from massive threats like total invasion."


    "But we might still have to deal with small incursions," Murtaugh said from beside the garage bay door, startling me slightly. "We may not have the capability to survive even that at the moment, sir."


    "I know, I know. That''s why I want the security web up by the end of today," I explained. "After the larger molly-maker is online, we can use that to make the additions and then to make the other makers. While that''s going on, this one is going to be making another dozen specters and weapons for them."


    "That¡­ is risky," The younger bot said, eventually nodding. "But with Kaytlyn, Riggs, myself, and the current specters, we should be able to hold off lighter incursions."


    "We are in your hands," I said before gesturing to my computer. "Come check out the sensor web we created. We need to come up with a placement pattern."


    We spent about ten minutes coming up with the best spread of sensors, eventually deciding on a wide spread that would take several days of nonstop printing to complete. We would first start with a ring around the town as a single layer of early defense, before spreading out even further. Then, once we were satisfied with the range, we would work our way inward from the initial ring so that we could keep track of anyone inside the town.


    With the printers going and Samwise on watch, it was time for me to get ready for my trip into the city. I went back to my trailer, took a quick refreshing shower, and changed clothes before making sure the pistol on my hip was locked and loaded. I was about to hop into the truck when a hand snaked out from behind and caught the door, holding it shut firmly.


    "And where are you going, hmm?" Kaytlyn asked, giving me a disappointed look. "You''re paying me to be your bodyguard, and you were gonna go into the city without me?"


    "I-.... Alright, fair," I admitted, nodding to the passenger seat of my truck. "Get in then."


    "There is no way we are taking this plastic box on wheels," She said, shaking her head. "Not when we have a faster, safer, more comfortable option."


    She turned and gestured to her vehicle, which was across the street in the parking lot, which at this point had been cleaned of trash but not cleared of the car wrecks. Those had been pushed into the corner by the MRVNs and Riggs for later processing. When I saw what she was gesturing at, I let out another sigh, realizing she was right. Compared to her Type-66, the Thorton may as well have been made of paper mache.


    "I''m gonna go ahead and guess you''re not gonna let me drive, then?" I asked, watching as Kaytlyn snorted and walked away, heading for her car. "...Yeah, that''s about what I thought."


    By the time I had sat in the passenger seat of Kaytlyn''s heavily modified vehicle, it was already roaring and rearing to go. She started moving the second my door closed, forcing me to rush to get my seatbelt in. Unlike Jackie, she didn''t make fun of me for putting it on, probably because she was wearing hers as well. We pulled along the main road of the town, stopping in front of the BD shack, where Riggs was sitting, keeping watch.


    "Riggs, I have an appointment in the city with Vik," I explained. "Looking to get a new upgrade. Should be back in a few hours. Murtaugh is going to be working on the sensor rig, but that will take the next couple of days to set up completely."


    "Yes, Sir," He responded with a nod. "Good luck."


    I gave him a sarcastic salute, the car window rising back up as we pulled forward. Unlike his brother, Riggs did not see the need to give me a salute in return as we left.


    "Interesting pair, those two," Kaytlyn said. "Their cyberware is impressive, but they are remarkably calm for borgs. Usually, they are¡­ eccentric, if not outright psychotic. Where did you find them?"


    "They were down on their luck, short on cash, and in dire need of some upgrades and repair work," I explained, giving her the previously agreed-upon lie. "I offered my services for real cheap, and by the time they were working perfectly and I had installed some upgrades, they considered me their primary ripper doc. They hang around because they are friends, they need me alive to keep working on them, and because they figure people are gonna be coming for me eventually, so what better place to wait for some action?"


    "Their ripper doc, really?" She asked, looking skeptical as she pulled out and around a slower-moving car. "Do you know anything about being a doctor?"


    "No, but the squishy bits aren''t what they needed work on," I explained. "I would send them to Vik if that was the case. They needed, need a mechanic and engineer."


    "I¡­ guess I never thought of that¡­ Borgs would need more mechanically included docs¡­." She responded. "So, how did you find them in the first place?"


    Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    "I wished really, really hard on a shooting star," I responded, leaning back in the comfortable seat and closing my eyes.


    She scoffed but dropped it, focusing on the road and the drive. Eventually, we blew past the run-down but still running Sunset Motel, before finally entering Night City. We drove through Santo Domingo, then through Vista Del Ray, Corporate Plaza, and finally to Little China, where we parked and walked to Vik''s office.


    Misty was happy to see us both, smiling as we entered her store. Jackie must have filled her in about Kaytlyn working with us, because she already knew the basics


    "Hey guys, welcome back," She said with a smile.


    "Hey Misty babe, how''s the shop?" Kaytlyn asked, returning her friend''s smile and making her way to the counter.


    "It''s good, I just finished shipping out an order for some Buddhist texts," She responded. "How goes the new gig?"


    "Well, it''s certainly interesting," Kaytlyne said, nodding over to me. "Smartie boy over here certainly knows how to keep things exciting."


    They both looked at me, and I just shrugged.


    "Normal is boring. I prefer being interesting," I responded. "Would you rather working for me be boring and uninteresting?"


    "No, god no," Kaytlyn said with a shiver. "If I wanted to be boring, I would have settled down like my mom wanted."


    "You''re like Jackie in that way," Misty said, shaking her head, though there was a small smile as she thought about her boyfriend. "Not settled for anything but moving forward."


    "I''m looking forward to finally seeing Jackie''s moves," Kaytlyn admitted. "He always acts so tough, but now I get to see if he can back it up."


    "I think you both are in for a surprise," I said, shaking my head. "Riggs is going to blow you guys away. The man is a machine."


    "I should hope so, with how advanced his cyberware looks," Kaytlyn responded. "He and Murtaugh both look like they could lay down some hurt."


    "Well, I don''t think you''ll have to wait long. Jackie has been talking to his usual sources, trying to find work," Misty admitted. "Won''t be long before he finds something."


    "Guess that means I should hurry up with my armor," I said, rubbing my forehead.


    "You know, you don''t have to go," Kaytlyn pointed out. "You''re the group''s techie, no shame in staying back and supporting us from the base."


    "No, once I get my armor set, I''ll be able to join you guys in relative safety," I assured her. "That''s why I''m getting skin weave done. Plus, I''m not letting Jackie chase his crazy dream alone, especially not without someone who can talk him down from going too far."


    Misty looked especially appreciative of my statement, and Kaytlyn nodded in understanding. We talked for a few more minutes before Kaytlyn, and I said our goodbyes. Then, we walked around the back exit and down into Vik''s clinic. The man himself was sitting by his little red corner as usual, and as we stepped through the metal shutter grate, he turned and smiled.


    "Hey guys, good to see you," He greeted, standing up to shake our hands. "Kaytlyn, you can have a seat while I talk to Jackson. Assuming he doesn''t mind you hearing this enough."


    "I don''t mind. It''s not like this is going to be invasive, right?"


    "No, nothing like that," He assured me with a grin before focusing back on Kaytyn. "When I''m done with him, I want to check on your arm, too."


    "What''s wrong with your arm?" I asked, looking over at my bodyguard.


    "Just a hitch from my last mission," She assured me, plopping down on an empty chair, while Vik directed me to the patient chair. "It''s been fine since he took a look at it."


    "I just want to make sure it''s all working properly," Vik responded. "And since you didn''t come in for the checkup I wanted you to, I get to ambush you now."


    I chuckled at Kaytlyn''s pout before Vik sat back down on his chair and rolled over to me, leaning against one of the monitoring machines, which was currently off.


    "Alright, so. I managed to snag a pretty decent Skinweave. It''s an old military system, something like ten years old at this point, so it''s not the best," He admitted with an apologetic shrug. "But it''s about the best you can expect for someone like me to find. Jackie has a similar version, but a bit more modern."


    "Do you think it''s good enough for what I''m looking for?" I asked, trusting his honest opinion.


    "Yeah, absolutely. The application is simple, and it''s more or less undetectable by touch. And yes, that''s why Jackie wanted this version," He assured me with a chuckle. "The biggest thing is that it''s self-healing for minor wounds, which means you only need to come in for extreme trauma, like a gunshot or a cut more than two inches long."


    "Right, then let''s go for it," I said with a nod before holding up a finger when Vik started to turn. "Just one question. How difficult is it to remove?"


    "It''s not difficult, but it is time-consuming," Vik admitted. "You would have to come in every day for two or three days. I would apply a skin cream with localized nanites that would deconstruct the nanoweave through your skin. As you can imagine, that doesn''t exactly feel nice, so you would need to be under for about an hour and a half each time."


    "What about bone and muscle lace?"


    "Those only take two days, and it''s just a few injections, so technically, you don''t even have to be here." He responded. "Which is good because once the process starts, you''re not going to want to go anywhere."


    "That bad, huh?" I asked with a wince.


    "The muscle lace removal feels like the worst muscle ache you''ve ever had, doubled, or even tripled depending on the intensity of the lace, all over your body," He explained, shaking his head. "Plus some pretty serious muscle fatigue. Thankfully, that partially responds to painkillers, so you can at least mute it a bit. Bone lace removal feels like a deep, serious bone bruise over every bone in your body. Technically, it''s possible to tough it out, and there isn''t much in the way of structural loss, but most people prefer to come in so I can use their cyberware to knock them out and keep them out. You don''t have that cyberware, though¡­"


    "Damn¡­ well, I want the Skinweave for sure, so you may as well apply that," I said, shaking my head. "What kind of choices will you get for bone and muscle lace? What do you think you could get your hands on?"


    "Oh, this Skinweave is part of a set of three, so I already have the lace," He explained as he rolled away, coming back with a small black briefcase-looking crate. "You can come in and get the next one done in three days."


    He laid the briefcase crate on a small table next to the chair, cracking it open to reveal several yellow, <u>palm-sized injectors</u></a>. They had a finger grip along one side to make them easier to hold, with an injector button right under where Vik put his thumb. As he gripped the first one firmly, he pulled off the cap, revealing four shallow needles.


    "Alright, are you ready?" Vik asked, waiting for me to acknowledge him before pushing the injector against my arm and hitting the activation button.


    The device hissed, and I could feel the four needs punch through the skin on my arm, with a cool sensation emanating from the injection sight and flowing outward. The device beeped, seeming to signal it was done, as the ripper doc pulled it free of my arm. He then returned the injector from the box, picked up the second, and uncapped it as well.


    Several injections later, all on various body parts, and the cool sensation was beginning to fade, replaced by a minor itching sensation.


    "Alright. So you''re going to be a bit itchy for the next fourteen to fifteen hours. After that, it should fade as the first step completes," He explained. "Then you have a week before it''s finally set completely, but it''s pretty much safe immediately. Just go about your normal day and let the nanobot do their work."


    "And in a few days, I can come in for the bone lace?"


    "That''s right," He confirmed with a nod. "I''m mostly free in three days, so come by then, sometime past noon, I''ll give you a call if something comes up. Just so you know, the bone lace injections are¡­ well, they are a lot more serious, so expect to be here for two hours. And expect some pain as you recover."


    "Of course," I said, sitting up off the chair and sliding to my feet. "Well, thanks, Vik."


    "No problem, it''s my job after all."


    I quickly paid the man for his work, as well as a small tip for finding such good bioware, before trading places with Kaytlyn so she could get her checkup. That only took a few minutes, with Vik using his stethoscope to listen to Kaytlyns joint. When he was satisfied everything was working well, he sent us off, and both of us left the ripper doc behind. I went to cut through Misty''s, but the shop was closed.


    "Must be on break," Kaytly suggested with a shrug before leading me out the side exit.


    By the time we got to the car, I was struggling not to grind my back against any jagged edge I could find. I slid into the passenger seat of Kaytlyn''s car with a curse.


    "Jesus, he wasn''t joking about the itching part," I said, clenching and releasing my hands to try and keep myself from scratching at the injection sites. "And I''m supposed to deal with this for the rest of the day?"


    "And night, no way you sleep through it," Kaytlyn pointed out cheekily, before having some mercy on me. "Don''t worry. It will get easier to deal with in a few hours. In the meantime, I know exactly how to help."


    I tried to get her to explain what she meant, but she refused to elaborate, smirking smugly the entire way back to Rock Ridge. When we finally pulled in, I spotted Jackie doing something in front of the garage workshop, as well as Misty, who waved as we passed by. We parked across the street, and as we climbed out of the car, I realized what he was doing.


    He had gathered a bunch of rocks and carried them to the parking space in front of the closed garage bay, arranged them in a circle. Misty was beside him, dragging a cooler with her. Beside them was a pile of branches from one of the husky, scraggly cactus plants that filled the badlands. They resembled a shaggy, stocky tree more than anything, so chances are it would burn fine.


    "A fire pit, huh?" I asked, walking across the street and slapping the larger man on the shoulder. "Looks like fun. You need any help?"


    "Yeah, choom. Go see if Riggs and Murtaugh need help dragging the chairs out here," He said.


    I nodded and walked into the garage, but of course, they didn''t need my help. Either one of them was perfectly capable of carrying the couch by themselves. The sofa, which needed to be removed anyway since we were putting the large molly-maker in the side room, would be fine outside if we covered it with something or stuck it under the roof of CHOOH2 pumps.


    One couch wasn''t enough for everyone, though, so I scavenged around for a few more chairs, gathering enough for everyone. Once everything was set up, Jackie started the fire, and I sat down in one of the chairs. Soon, everyone was sitting down, with Jackie and Misty on the couch. I barely had time to even get comfortable before Kaytlyn slapped a bottle of liquor into my hands. I took a look at it, before looking back up to find they each had their own. I idly scratched at my arm as I snorted.


    "Really? A little optimistic to get one for each of us, don''t you think?" I asked, turning the bottle over in my hands. "I can''t drink all this, I''ll be a mess."


    "If you want to get any sleep at all, you''ll start drinking," Kaytlyn said with a smirk, dropping down into a chair of her own. "That''s the fix I was talking about? Your holding it."


    "...Seriously?" I asked, looking at Jackie, who nodded in confirmation. "Why wouldn''t Vik tell me that? If booze works¡­ why not just give me some meds?"


    "You think Vik would suggest getting drunk?" Jackie asked with a snort, popping his own bottle before handing it to Misty. She poured some into a cup, which she then mixed with some soda. "And he ain''t gonna just give you some heavy stuff, not when you can just wait it out. That would be a waste. He helps a lot of people with drugs they really need. He can''t just toss it at every scratchy Skinweave."


    "I¡­ alright, fair enough," I said, popping the top of my bottle and taking a long swig. When I stop coughing, I let out a grunt.


    "Geez, Genio," Jackie said, laughing at my reaction. "I sometimes forget you grew up completely sheltered."


    "I drank before that, thank you very much," I assured him, trying to ignore the crappy aftertaste. "Just nothing quite like this. Did you fill this with CHOOH2 from the pumps?"


    That got a laugh out of everyone, mostly at me, but that was fine cause I was laughing as well. We talked for a while, Riggs and Murtaugh jumping in occasionally but mostly staying quiet. Samwise joined us as well, under the guise of handling the wood and tending to the fire, though he still couldn''t talk to anyone. Eventually, we used metal skewers to cook fake hotdogs over the fire, drowning them in hot sauce and mustard.


    By the end of the night, after finishing the bottle, I had to admit that I didn''t feel itchy anymore. Then again, I didn''t feel much of anything at that point.

 Chapter Twenty One

    I wake up the next morning with a pounding headache, the world spinning and turning around me. I blinked slowly, sliding to the edge of my bed, wondering how I got there. Someone must have helped me, because halfway through the night, I resigned myself to sleeping under the stars, completely content with the fact that the itching from my Skinweave had faded under the constant buzz of heavy intoxication. I still couldn''t feel it even now, which told me it was probably a bit past my normal wake-up time.


    The itching had stopped, or was at least dulled, by the time I reached halfway into my bottle. Rather than stop there, however, we kept drinking, and the rest of the night was a wash. I was pretty sure that Jackie, Misty, and Kaytlyn had taken it slower than I had, but they had still been drinking pretty heavily. I would have shaken my head if I wasn''t sure it would make me throw up.


    After a few minutes spent stabilizing myself, I slowly stood from my bed, only for the spins to force me back down.


    "Oh fuck me," I said, taking a minute before trying again.


    This time, I managed to stay upright, slowly making my way across the trailer to the door. I pushed open the door, cursing wildly as the sun caught me off guard. When I had mostly recovered from that, I stumbled out into the outdoors, making my way across the town, focused solely on the BD shack.


    When I had finished the medical equipment during the Titanfall tech tree, Samwise and the MRVN units moved all of it into the cleared-out and repaired side room of the BD shack.<u> Originally</u></a>, the space had been a mess, but by then, it had been cleaned and sealed off from the elements and filled with cabinets and stuff salvaged from the rest of the town. With some elbow grease from the MRVN units, it now looked like a semi-respectable space. Certainly better than quite a few Ripperdoc offices around Night City.


    They even painted!


    I was about halfway to my destination when Riggs showed up, seemingly out of nowhere, and helped me the rest of the way. We entered the cool interior of the BD shack and made a beeline for the soon-to-be-finished AI Doctors space. Once there, I walked over to the Auto-Pharma machine.


    The large piece of equipment was really an impressive bit of tech, and creating its code had been a long process. The programming was not just for the machine''s controls and interface. It also contained the instructions for thousands of different drugs from the Titanfall universe. When I completed the machine, I couldn''t afford to waste any precious time over the burst of completion knowledge. But now, looking back, I had access to a massive list of drugs. Unfortunately, I had no idea how any of them worked, or how their creation process worked outside of the Auto-Pharma. I knew how to program for their creation, not the actual chemical process.


    Still, having a pill that treated almost every single symptom of the common cold had to be worth something, right? Not that I should sell it now. I already had enough attention, no reason to prove the true breadth of my expertise.


    I pushed off the distracting thought and activated the machine, quickly scrolling through several dozen options before finding what I was looking for. I tapped the option for a singular dose, and the machine immediately started going, the large piece of equipment humming softly as it worked. As it did, I silently thanked god that Chuck had included a bunch of materials for the machine in his first delivery.


    By the time Riggs returned with a glass of water, the Auto-Pharma had spit out a tablet the size of a sand dollar. I accepted the cup from the AI and dropped the tablet into it, letting it fizzle and dissolve, encouraging it by mixing it with my finger. When it was finally done, I slammed the whole cup back as quickly as I could.


    The tablet had turned the cup of water into a cocktail of several different things, including electrolytes, stomach settlers, and a headache reliever designed to treat hangovers. Consuming it, plus a couple more cups of water, would do well to reduce the symptoms seriously.


    "Thank you," I said to Riggs, slowly standing and patting his shoulder. "How''s it going?"


    "Better than you, it seems," he responded. "Should you make one for Kaytlyn as well?"


    "Yeah, good idea," I agreed, turning back to the Auto-Pharma and tapping on the screen a few times. "I''m guessing that means Jackie and Misty went home?"


    "Murtaugh drove them home late last night," He explained. "He was the only one who could drive the truck, who also passes for a borg."


    "That''s good¡­ I wonder if I could make a chauffeur bot¡­"


    I idly pondered the idea, realizing that it would actually be incredibly easy, before the Auto-Pharma finished the second tablet for Kaytlyn. I made my way to her trailer, Riggs staying close by. I wasn''t that infirm, and the stumbling from before was mostly from the spins, but Riggs clearly wanted to make sure I would be okay.


    I knocked on Kaytlyn''s door, waiting for a few minutes for her to open it. She looked disheveled and certainly not happy, but not quite as bad as I''m sure I looked. Somehow, her hair remained nearly perfect, which all but confirmed that it wasn''t real her hair. Before she could say anything, I reached out and handed her the tablet.


    "Dissolve it in a cup of water, drink it all in one go, and then slowly drink a couple more glasses," I explained, already walking away. "You''re welcome!"


    With my hangover slowly fading, I made my way to the garage, before stepping into the workshop and looking around. Both of the molly-makers were active, and when I stepped into the side room, I could see why. The much larger version of the molly-maker I had requested was almost eighty-five percent complete, unsurprising considering Samwise had been working on it for the entire night and a good portion of the previous day. With any luck, it would be done in four or five hours.


    "Nice work, Samwise," I said, looking over his shoulder as he worked with an MRVN unit. "When this is done, we can get it working on the addition."


    "Sir, I am concerned we will run out of trash and scrap to recycle soon," Samwise admitted. "We have several car wrecks and a few more pallets of random junk, but if we continue to push at our current rate of progress, we will run through those resources in approximately one week."


    "What about the rest of the town?" I asked, looking confused. "There is a ton of scrap all over the place.


    "Yes, but we do not own that," He pointed out. "Could someone not hold that over our heads?"


    I scratched my head before shaking it.


    "Maybe for like a fine, but the scrap should be good to use. Maybe leave the cars alone and only take the trash and the junk near it," I explained. "I''m probably going to buy all the land anyway. Actually... I should probably do that soon."


    "Why? "Samwise asked, not turning as he finished attaching one of the export control motors inside the maker.


    "Because, as much as I want the previous owners to get something for it, I can''t afford to pay full price," I explained. "If I start improving the area, prices are going to skyrocket. I wish I could afford to give the current owners more, though. They really got screwed over with this whole thing."


    "Well, perhaps an invitation to live here once the conditions improve? Sam suggested. "They would be rent-free, which would save them a considerable amount of money, and their dream of being a part of a new town would also be fulfilled.


    "That¡­ isn''t a bad idea, though it would have to wait until I was comfortable with protecting and defending ourselves¡­" I pointed out, nodding as I thought about it. "Maybe if we ever reach some sort of peace agreement with everyone? I don''t know, but it''s a good idea either way."


    He nods in acknowledgment of my compilement before returning to his task, slowly making progress on the large molly-maker. I watched for a few more minutes before wishing him good luck and heading back to the garage proper.


    Despite my slow start, I did have a goal for the day. Misty had warned us that Jackie was really working hard to find us more work. That meant that I was now on a schedule, and if I wanted to join them, I would need to finish some sort of armor redesign.


    I pulled up my files on the different armor types I had so far. I had the AA under armor, the original XCOM variants, the underlayer, and the warden armor. The obvious conclusion was to work them all together, using the underlayer as the anchor point for the exterior shell of the warden armor. The only problem was that any combination of the warden armor would most likely share the original''s issue, namely that it was big and unwieldy. Riggs was now wearing the original set, and his added strength could handle it, more or less brute-forcing the problem away. I didn''t have that option. I wanted a system that was much more flexible,l which meant designing something from scratch.


    I started the design process by working to combine the underlayer with my underarmor. Immediately, I ran into a problem. The whole design breakthrough of the Titanfall underlayer was that it could move and shift on its own, removing the need for a rigid skeleton. Slapping on some armor plating would break the system entirely since there were no anchor points. Still, I wanted one comprehensive underlayer system that I could wear almost all the time.


    After struggling through for about an hour, I finally figured it out. Rather than anchoring the plates of Alien Alloy at hard points, I would anchor it to woven strands of the artificial muscle that the underlayer was built out of. This idea would mean, with some fancy programming, that I could control its positioning and in what state it was to compensate for the underlayer moving and shifting under it.


    I got to work with renewed excitement, eager to prove that my concept worked. I started with the base underlayer design, cutting off the arm in my CAD program before dissecting that and getting to work. It was a bit of a challenge to interweave the new strands of artificial muscles, especially as each plate needed at least three, but eventually, I completed the arm. In the end, the "plates" ended up being more like scales, as that would allow for flexibility and control. My last addition was a simple strap so I could wear it without the rest of the armor, just as a test.


    Once I was done, I had to wait for the small maker to finish its latest copy of the perimeter sensor net before getting it going on the parts for my latest design. While waiting for that to finish, I made my way outside and sat down on the couch. It was bright, hot, and dry, but it was still nice to sit outside for a bit while I waited. I had only been sitting for a few minutes when Kaytlyn joined me.


    "What exactly was that?" She asked as she sat down on one of the chairs around the burnt-out campfire circle. "Cleared up my hangover pretty quick."


    "Just something I whipped up," I said with a shrug. "Just a combination of a few things in water-soluble form for quick absorption."


    "Well, it worked," She said, smirking a bit. "Too bad Misty and Jackie left, I can''t imagine they are enjoying their morning."


    "I don''t know. Jackie strikes me as the kinda guy who bounces back from a hangover," I suggested, shaking my head. "Claims that an energy drink and a shot of whiskey fixes him right up or something."


    Kaytlyn laughed and nodded in agreement, leaning back in her chair. After a moment of enjoying the sun, she stood to head over to the security hub. A few minutes after that, I headed back into the shaded garage and started to assemble the test sleeve as the parts were printed. It took a few minutes to get it all working, with most of that time spent getting the small control chip I was using in place of the main control hub.


    I quickly pulled on the sleeve, wiggling my fingers into the gloves. When everything was strapped in, I activated it, the sleeve hardening for a moment as the muscle tense and released. Then I began testing the flexibility, wiggling and maneuvering my arm, trying to force the hundreds of scales to bunch up. I thanked whatever god or entity that might have been listening that the scales could be printed on the strips of artificial muscle so I didn''t need to affix every single scale.


    When I was satisfied that I was losing almost no flexibility with the new suit, I sat back down at my computer and got to work, finishing the design for the rest of the underlayer, which ended up taking the rest of the day. I started the printing process before leaving it in the capable hands of Samwise and his MRVN cohorts. As much as I could have pushed myself to get more done, there was no need to rush and overwork myself during my downtime. I had worked myself to the bone for the last three days of the Titanfall tech tree, and while I was perfectly aware I would probably end up doing it again, I could at least take it easy in between.


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    The next morning, I woke up around my usual time. It was early enough to be useful but late enough that people still rolled their eyes when you called it "early." I eventually made my way to the garage, where Samwise was waiting, laying out the pieces for two full sets of armored underlayers. There was also some normal armor, similar to<u> Jackies</u></a>, but where his was cut down to only protect the chest since he was a stubborn idiot, mine covered my whole body. It really did look like some sort of tactical superhero armor that was popular in movies back home.


    "Samwise, did you design this?" I asked, picking up the armor, turning it over some in my hands.


    It was the same sort of Kevlar, polymer, and Alien Armor combination that Jackies was made of, though I could identify a few new ideas woven into the full form. Most of the armor was a dark blue, almost navy, with black bits behind the plating and similar gold highlights to what Jackie''s armor and helmet had, probably to tie us together.


    "Yes, based on the design you made for Jackie Welles, with the added knowledge of material sciences we gained from the Titanfall tree," He responded, turning to watch me. "Do you¡­ like the color?"


    "I do. It looks good," I nodded in appreciation. "Well done, Samewise, as usual. You''ve really been knocking it out of the park lately. If there is anything you want or need, just let me know. You''ve more than earned it at this point."


    "I will, Sir," He assured me before gesturing to the armored underlayer. "Should we confirm that it fits?"


    I nodded, and after a few minutes of going over how it went on, I quickly stripped down to my briefs and slipped inside. It was surprisingly easy to do, since when you were trying to put it on, you could activate a mode specifically programmed for that, in which the artificial muscles would activate and assist you by putting it on. Once I was completely inside the full suit, I could feel it sealing up behind me, locking in place before going through a start-up sequence, rhythmically squeezing and tensing around my whole body. It actually felt kind of good, so I made a mental note to try to program a massage mode.


    I looked down at myself, flexing and stretching, watching the AA scales shift and move with my own movements. They honestly looked a lot like fish scales, though wound to the top of my underlayer, moving perfectly in sync with each other as I tested them. As far as I could tell, even in the full suite, I had a nearly perfect range of motion due to the modified scale shape around my joints.


    "This¡­ came out pretty good," I said, looking over at Samwise. "Well done again, buddy."


    "I was simply following the design," He assured me. "Shall we try the body armor next?"


    "Yeah, let''s test the whole shebang."


    Putting on the combat armor took quite a bit longer since it was broken up into normal clothing pieces, meaning pants, boots, and shirts. Several of the plates were detachable to help the armor on easier, but the required extra hands to clip on. With Samewise''s help, it took five or six minutes to get everything on


    "Okay, I can definitely feel this," I said, moving and walking around the garage, once again testing my range of motion. "It''s not difficult to move, especially not with my strength being enhanced by the armored underlayer, but there is definitely some added bulk."


    "Perhaps you should try it outside?" Samwise suggested. "Just be sure to tell the others before you do, however."


    "I''ll do it," Riggs said, pushing off the garage door. I had honestly forgotten he was there, the large bot standing silently in the shadow as we worked. "Should you wear the cloak?"


    I looked over to where the cloak pack was hanging up on the wall, alongside the Holo Pilot pack. For a moment, I contemplated it before shaking my head.


    "No, it''s fine. I won''t be doing anything anyone with cyberware wouldn''t be able to do, plus there''s no reason to hide it since I will be wearing this on any jobs Jackie finds us," I pointed out. "Doesn''t really matter if they see it here or there."


    "You won''t be using the cloak on jobs?" Riggs asked, sounding surprised. "It''s a massive advantage."


    "For missions that require stealth, sure," I said with a nod. "But if a fixer wanted stealth, they wouldn''t be hiring us. We are bruisers. We get sent in when the fixer wants us to make a mess."


    Riggs considered the explanation before nodding cleanly. He then left without another word, most likely to find Murtaugh and Kaytlyn. After Samwise finished one last check, I stepped out into the sun, only to immediately spot Kaytlyn, Riggs, and Murtaugh waiting for me.


    "Really?" I asked, rolling my eyes. "Don''t you have more important things to do than watch me test this?"


    "Considering there is a high likelihood you end up wiping out and looking stupid while you do it¡­ Nope!" Kaytlyn said, smirking as she gave me a thumbs up. "Good luck, choom!"


    "I am curious to see your new capabilities," Murtaugh said. "Knowing what your team is capable of is a crucial part of strategy."


    "What he said," Riggs added simply, nodding to his sibling.


    "Fine. But it''s not going to be much different from my first time testing it out," I pointed out. "The armored underlayer should be functionally the same as the original underlayer, and the armor was designed to be as flexible as possible. Once I get the bone and muscle lace, I can jack up the enhancement levels, but until then¡­"


    "We didn''t see your first test," Kaytlyn pointed out, rolling her eyes and leaning against Murtaugh. "You were wearing your optical camo."


    "..."


    I chose to not respond to her statement, instead heading to the street. By instinct, I looked both ways, despite there being a snowball''s chance in hell of a car going by. I stepped into the road and jogged along it, making several passes of the garage, just getting a feel for the movement and shifting of the armor and armored underlayer. Just as the previous iteration felt, I could feel the systems of artificial muscles working in tandem to reduce the wear on my muscles, supporting me as I jogged. When I started to speed up, the muscles gradually shifted from supporting me to enhancing me, letting me push my speed considerably past what I would normally be capable of. The downside, of course, was that with my body and the suit working together, I was actually working hard, meaning this enhanced speed had a time limit. It wasn''t a small limit, maybe a couple minutes, but it was still something to keep an eye on.


    Finally, once I finished with the running tests, I started testing my mobility. I turned off the main road and started running through the side streets, jumping over fences and scaling the trailer homes. I ran all over town, even doing a few risky jumps and flips, nearly eating shit in the process. It was a stupid thing to do since I had no training in acrobatics and I hadn''t designed a helmet yet, but it had been too tempting not to try.


    When I was finally done, I found myself sitting on the roof of the garage, my legs dangling off the side. I was recovering from the light workout, slowly sipping from a bottle of water. Before I could finish it, the familiar sound of a motorcycle reached my ears, prompting me to look down the road, spotting Jackie immediately. He stopped in front of the garage and looked up at me, climbing off his ride. Before he could say anything, I slipped down from my spot and landed on the ground beside him, the suit easily handling the drop.


    "Damn Choom, that your new armor?" He asked, peering around to see different angles. "It looks good. Like the colors, too."


    "Thanks, Samwise picked them out," I responded before nodding inside. "Got something for you, too."


    "Choom, come on, I''m already wearing the chest armor, and your helmet is nova," He responded, rolling his eyes. "I don''t need a full suit like you. I like my look."


    "Yeah, yeah, I know you do. And don''t think I didn''t catch that bullshit about not being scary, then immediately turn around and use the Ogre helmet I made you," I said, snorting when the larger man looked sheepish. "And I didn''t make you any more armor, gonk. I made you one of the improved underlayers. It will increase your strength by a pretty solid percentage, especially since you have the weave lace combo already."


    "So, this is going to make me stronger, and I just wear it under everything else?" He asked after accepting the larger set of armored underlayers."


    "Yup. The only change in look will be your fists, but you can cover that with gloves," I assured him. "It''s designed to be compatible with a lot of different clothes and armor."


    "... How much stronger?" he asked, looking over the suit and at me.


    "Well, it pushes me past peak human into a heavily chromed range," I explained. "With your weave and lace¡­ You''re going to be noticeably stronger than me. You can use my trailer to change if you''re shy."


    He rolled his eyes and quickly started to strip, taking care to hand Samwise his jacket so it wouldn''t get dirty. Once he was in his briefs, I helped him into the suit, which fit him perfectly, thanks to Samwise being able to analyze stored footage of my friend to get his exact measurements. Once the suit was sealed around his body, he put the rest of his clothes back on.


    "I don''t feel very different, Genio," He said, looking down at his covered hands. "I can feel the suit working, which is... different, but I don''t feel stronger."


    "The system is smarter than that, Jackie. No need to relearn your own strength or anything like that," I explained. "C''mon, let''s have some fun."


    Both of us stepped out into the town, and I ran him through a bunch of running, jumping, and other exercises. Having dealt with strength increases before, he caught on pretty quickly, and even taught me a thing or two.


    "If you''re heavy, no amount of strength is gonna get your legs moving faster than a certain speed," He explained. "Never had to worry about it before, but guys like me and¡­ borgs like Riggs, we gotta lope."


    "... Lope?" I asked, looking at him with confusion. "What?"


    "Look, it''s what it''s called," He said, shaking his head. "Instead of trying to move your legs faster and faster, you push off with more force. Oh, just watch you fucking gonk!"


    I was still chuckling when he shook himself loose, leaning forward and pushing himself along the road with one leg. Rather than a normal run, he pushed each foot against the ground, one after the other. He was clearly leveraging his superior strength, with each "step" driving him further than a whole normal stride, rocketing him down the street. He only got faster as he leaned more and more into the suit''s enhancements. Soon, he turned, actually rotating around mid "lope" to slide along the road, spraying sand as he came to a stop. Then he started moving towards me, picking up speed, each bound carrying him half a dozen or more feet forward.


    "TAG!" He shouted when he was about fifteen feet away, giving me a split second to react, which was absolutely not enough time.


    He slapped my shoulder, impacting an armor plate and spinning me around, barely slowing as he blew past me. I cursed and shouted at him before immediately giving chase, moving my legs as fast as they could. It was clear that while I was smaller and was probably technically faster, he had me beat on experience. Plus, he was probably working with at least double his already impressive strength, meaning he was reaching some incredible speeds. Of course, where he was a freight train, literally smashing through rather than going around, I was a zippy sports car, leaping and diving over obstacles. I was also picking it all up as I went.


    Thankfully, I was a recently minted quick learner.


    It took me seven minutes for me to get the first tag, then one minute to lose it again. The next time was five and two. By the time we were both exhausted, sweating heavily and breathing harder, it was much closer to even, with a slight lead time to Jackie.


    Eventually, we made it back to the garage, both of us sitting heavily on the outdoor couch. Riggs was waiting for us, throwing us each a cold bottle of water.


    Silently, we drank the cool liquid, both of us still a bit winded from our impromptu game of tag. Eventually, when we had recovered, Jackie gave me a look.


    "Not bad, Genio," He said, thumping me on the back. "Not bad."

 Chapter Twenty Two

    <div>


    "So, Padre got in contact with me this morning," He said, sitting down on a crate in the corner of the garage.


    "New mission?" I guessed, sitting down at the workbench and spinning around to face him. "Anything fun?"


    "Well¡­ He took my words to heart, at least," the Night City native responded, rubbing the back of his head. "I told him Kaytlyn and you were both joining us on missions now, so we were working with a crew of four."


    "So he gave us something bigger?"


    "Yeah. He located a scav hub," Jackie said. "One part distribution point, one part gang ripper doc, one part storage and drop off."


    "That¡­ sounds like a big deal," I said, leaning back in my seat in surprise.


    "It is," Jackie admitted. "It''s big enough that¡­ Well, choom, before we tried out those suits of yours, I would have thought it was too much for us."


    "Why would Padre give it to you then?" I asked, looking at him confused.


    "I think he was hoping you would talk me out of it," He guessed with a shrug. "That, or I would pass on it and learn a lesson on asking for more than I could handle or whatever."


    "...He clearly doesn''t know you as well as he thinks," I said with a scoff. "What exactly are we looking at? Actually, hold on, let''s get everyone together, then you can explain."


    A quick shout-out of the garage brought Kaytlyn, Murtaugh, and Riggs to the shop, all of them pulling in chairs from the outside. I couldn''t help but smile when Riggs and Murtaugh both sat down naturally. The need and desire to sit was something they didn''t normally have, meaning that it was a newly learned idea. They were already developing, even if it was just mimicry to better fit into the role they were playing.


    Once everyone was together, with Samwise surreptitiously listening as he "worked" on something in the corner, Jackie went over the gig, which we technically hadn''t accepted yet. The target was a large warehouse just on the outskirts of Arroyo. Technically, it wasn''t quite Padre''s domain, but he had already cleared it with the appropriate people, so as long as we didn''t go on a rampage outside the target, we would be in the clear.


    The warehouse had three main areas. The offices, the ground floor, and the basement sublevel. The offices were a decent-sized building off to the side of the main structure. Padre assumed that that was where they kept their ripperdocs. According to the old man, they were both installing cyberware for their workers and going over the incoming "product." The ground floor of the warehouse was storage, and what Padre suspected was some sort of gathering area. Above the ground floor was an upper level of catwalks and platforms. We would have to be careful of scavs up there, shooting down at us.


    Under both of those was the basement sublevel. Padre''s intel suggested that this was where the scavs victims were initially¡­ harvested. There was a ramp along the back that had access to the basement level, and whoever was watching the place had witnessed several cars, vans, and trucks drive down the ramp, pulling back out not long after.


    According to what Padre knew, there were anywhere between twenty and thirty scavs there at any time. He also warned Jackie that the people protecting the place would be seriously decked out with chrome, considering what they were guarding. I couldn''t deny the logic in his assumption. If I were a psychotic group of mass murderers, a group almost universally hated throughout Night City, so much so that killing me was considered a public service, I would make sure my bodyguards had access to the best advancements I could provide.


    They are guarding my body, after all. I want them to be fucking good at it.


    When Jackie was finally done going over the information that Padre had provided, Kaytlyn let out a long whistle.


    "That''s a lot of fuck to deal with, choom," She said, running her hand through her hair. "I''m not saying we can''t handle it¡­ But it''s a lot."


    "I think we can handle it," I said with a shrug. "Between the element of surprise, Riggs being a walking tank, and the gear I''ve been making... I think we can handle it."


    "I''m concerned they may have their own borgs to counter Riggs," Murtaugh stated. "He is tough but not invincible."


    "I want to make him some custom guns to give him an edge against bigger targets," I volunteered. "A big slug thrower and a pistol that is better rated to his size. I also want to make some improvements to his overall strength. Assuming you want them?"


    I looked over at the big AI, who met my gaze as well as he could with a helmet on. He nodded without hesitation.


    "Yes, Sir," He answered quickly. "I would like the upgrades."


    "Good. Jackie, how long do we have?"


    "I still need to accept the gig, but Padre promised to hold it for the day," He explained. "But we should take care of it ASAP, choom. Scavs aren''t gonna stop until we make them."


    "Yeah, alright. Take the job. We can do it tomorrow night," I said, looking at everyone as they nodded in agreement. "I need to make a helmet for myself, some guns for Riggs, and an armored underlayer for you, Kaytlyn. That, plus the improvements for you, Riggs."


    "Okay, I''ll give Padre a call," Jackie said, standing up with a smile. "This one is going to be fun, Genio!"


    I chuckled and shook my head, watching as everyone, but Samwise cleared out of the garage, which was good because I now had a lot of work to do and not so much time to do it.


    "Sam, can you work on making an armored underlayer for Kaytlyn?" I requested, the AI nodding in agreement. "After that, let''s come up with a modified version of the framework that the warden armor uses. I want to replace it with a beefier, thicker version of the muscular system using the improved artificial muscles. We should be able to fit close to fifty percent more fibers and drastically increase the kinetic output Riggs is capable of."


    "Very well. What will you be working on?" He asked, already hooking himself up to the second computer we set up at my workstation.


    We would have two separate stations, but he is still pretending to be a particularly advanced robot, not an AI.


    "I''m gonna take a crack at redesigning some weapons for Riggs," I explained, already opening up my design software. "I want to put him in a new weight class with the upgrades, then let him punch up beyond that with even better weapons."


    We both got to work, with me on the new weapons and Samwise resizing an armored underlayer for Kaytlyn. We were about thirty minutes in when Samwise brought up something about our ally and her new gear.


    "Sir¡­ are we sure that giving Kaytlyn an armored underlayer is a good idea?" He asked, not looking away from his screen, controlling the program through his cable. "The underlayer is a significant advancement beyond current tech levels. My research indicated that no armored suit exists that is so lightweight, efficient, and potent. If it were to get into the wrong hands..."


    "I¡­ You''re not wrong," I admitted, chewing the inside of my cheek. "I don''t fully trust her yet."


    I stood and walked toward the open bay, peaking my head out of the door to see Riggs standing guard, leaning against the building. I gave him a thumbs-up and confirmed Kaytlyn was over by the BD Shack talking to Jackie, before walking back inside.


    "Put a locator beacon into the spine of the underlayer. Make it a strong one, but keep it off and isolated from the rest of the system," I explained. "Could you have it turned on if it receives a signal? Maybe a random radio message or something? That way, we could blast that, and the beacon would respond with a pulse. Oh, and give it a mini E-node to keep it powered forever."


    "Yes, I believe I can do that," He agreed. "It will delay the creation by a few hours."


    "That''s fine," I assured him. "We can finish whatever we don''t get done today tomorrow morning.


    "I will complete the raw components for Riggs'' upgrades tonight," He responded. "You can then install them tomorrow morning."


    "Yeah, that works for me," I agreed, sitting back down at my workstation. "Thanks for the hard work, Samwise."


    "I enjoy it, Sir," He said, a hint of emotion leaking into his artificial voice. "It is mentally stimulating, and I would grow bored if I did not keep busy."


    I nodded in understanding before focusing on the task at hand. Currently, Riggs'' loadout consisted of a mag pistol, a mag rifle, and my plasma shortsword. All of these worked fine, but he was capable of handling so much more, so why not give it to him? My first instinct was to just upsize everything he was currently using, but the<u> square-cube law</u></a> would prevent that from working. I also decided to just leave the sword alone. It was mostly Alien Alloy, so it could withstand most of what he threw at it. As cool as it would be to build him a plasma buster sword or something, that was just too impractical.


    I started with the pistol, disassembling it virtually and studying the parts. I had learned quite a bit about material sciences with Titanfall, and made several advancements in electrical systems, precision engineering, and several other fields. Even if I wasn''t looking to make something completely new, I could have upgraded my base pistol design by a not-inconsiderable amount, just by applying what I had learned.


    "Dammit¡­" I said, trailing off as I leaned back in my chair. "I learned so much with that branch. Now, I want to go back and apply it to everything I made from XCOM."


    "Why?" Samwise asked, looking over at my computer. "Are your design not sufficient?"


    "I mean, yeah... But I could get a good ten to fifteen percent increase in power from the mag weapons alone¡­" I explained with a frown. "I could probably even remove the need for Alien Alloy with some of the advanced metal alloys I learned about¡­"


    "Sir, upgrading all of your technology with every subsequent branch will only become an exponentially increasing problem," Samwise pointed out. "Eventually, you will unlock production capabilities powerful enough to keep up with that, but for now, you would likely hold yourself back considerably."


    "Yeah, I know. It still sucks using tech I know I can make better," I said, letting out a long breath. "It''s fine, though. I can handle it."


    I took a moment or ten to push the idea of upgrading my base pistol design out of my head and got to work designing what I was already calling my heavy pistol. The process started slow, as I was specifically designing something that would be best served for people with a lot of cyberware or some serious enhancements. Jackie would be able to handle it with his armored underlayer on, and I would probably be able to avoid hurting myself if I was wearing mine, but otherwise, it would be too much recoil and too much weight.


    I started simple, building off of an AA barrel, looped with spiraling coils of electromagnets, woven with advanced techniques developed in Titanfall. While they preferred gunpowder weapons in that reality, that didn''t mean I didn''t pick up some applicable concepts.


    When the primary system was done, I started working on the supplementary components, like the E-node power source, the magazine feed, and several other mechanical features, like a removable power pack in case of power system malfunctions, the ability to eject the chambered slug to empty the pistol.


    When I was done, I used the CAD program to color most of the pistol black so I could get a better idea of what it would look like.


    Where my first<u> pistol design</u></a> had been sleek, leaning a bit to far into form over function,<u> this one was all function</u></a>. It looked much more like a real firearm, something you would see in a soldier or police officer''s hand. The powerpack was under the mag barrel, with a pull block in the back that would let you empty chambered projectiles. The magazine held twelve rounds, which didn''t sound like a lot until you realized how large the rounds were. Each of them was nearly an inch and a half long, arrayed inside the magazine at a slight angle to fit.


    It was also fucking gigantic, easily bigger than a Desert Eagle from back home. It was built for people like Riggs, and not much else.


    That increased size was almost completely dumped back into the potency of the weapon. It contained nearly one and a half times as many mag coils as my original pistol, as well as a solid bump in energy generation and storage. The weapon was a monster, and it would likely be nearly impossible for a baseline human to shoot accurately.


    Once I was finished with the design, I got the parts printing, using the small molly-maker since Samwise would be using the big one to make Kaytlyn''s armored underlayer. While that was running, I got to work with Rigg''s primary weapon, a replacement for his rifle.


    Now, Riggs was almost always going to be on the frontline. In fact, if he ever wasn''t, chances are something had gone really wrong with whatever plan we were following. He would also be tasked with taking down heavy targets, mostly borgs. His new pistols reflected that, and when I was finished designing him a shotgun inspired slug thrower, his primary weapon would as well.


    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    Rather than build him a machine gun, I was going for a high-powered, large-caliber, wrecking machine. I wanted something that Riggs could use to take down vehicles, never mind borgs. In some ways, his load out would be reversed. He would use his pistol for most fights, and pull the high-powered slug thrower when shit needed to get done, and there was a couple inches of armor in the way.


    I started working through my idea, rough sketching the outline of the weapon before starting the design process. The barrel, as well as a good chunk of the frame, was not just AA, but generously applied AA. The barrel had fins running along the side, six of them, just to add even more support. All of this was to handle the more than several dozen electromagnetic accelerators lined up between all of the support fins. This was significantly more than my previously highest amount, which had been the sniper rifle. Without the extra thickness and supporting finns, the forces I was hoping to generate with this weapon would have torn a lesser barrel to shreds,


    I seated the finned barrel in a protective cylinder, then started to build the rest of the gun from there, working outward. As I was doing some of the math for just how powerful the weapon could be, primarily so I could design the appropriate projectile, I ran into the first issue. The forces I was dealing with would tear apart a standard magazine. I could reinforce it with AA, but then I would need to reduce the amount of shots. Plus, this weapon was already using a ridiculous amount of AA, I really didn''t want to build the magazines, which would inevitably get left behind at some point, out of it as well.


    It took me nearly an hour before I finally puzzled the problem out. It wasn''t a perfect solution, but it worked well enough that Riggs wouldn''t lose any functionality in the weapon. Rather than a magazine, he would reload an entire cylinder mag. The cylinders were big, but with twelve shots each, carrying three, with one already in the weapon, would mean forty-eight shots.


    That may not sound like a lot, but each projectile was only slightly smaller than a fifty BMG round from back home. Not the bullet, the entire round. Forty-eight was more than enough to deal with most situations.


    The real benefit of the cylinder mag was its extra size, which I could use to fill with a lot of extra material, letting it withstand the forces involved with firing one of the projectiles, all without using AA.


    Once I settled on a solution, the design process only took about another hour. While Samwise was using the large maker, I set the parts to get printed out on what was now the medium-sized one. By that point, the pistol parts were done, as were a few mags and ammo. I called Riggs in so he could get a feel for the weapon.


    "So, what do you think?" I asked, watching as he handled the pistol for the first time.


    "Fits my size a bit better," He said, double-checking that the weapon was cleared before aiming it at the wall. "It''s got weight."


    "Samwise is going to be working on an upgrade for the warden armor overnight," I explained. "By tomorrow morning, you will have two new weapons designed to hit harder than anything you can buy on the market, at least for their size, and the strength to wield them."


    "...Why focus on me, Sir?" The large AI asked simply, lowering the large pistol.


    "Because you have a very specific role to play as the tank and heavy," I explained. "And as you were, I wasn''t sure who would win in an even fight, you or a chromed-out psycho. When we are finished with your upgrades, there won''t be a single doubt."


    He nodded in understanding before grabbing some of the ammo I had made for his new weapon. He left the garage, and I followed, watching him as he tried out the pistol, firing a few dozen shots at one of the wrecked cars parked in the parking lot across the street. Just as with the smaller pistol I had at my hip, the only sound the weapon made was a whipping sound, followed by a crack as the projectile broke the sound barrier.


    I watched as each shot easily punched through the metal paneling on the exterior of the wreck. They often plowed through the other side and slammed into a concrete barrier when nothing substantial stood in their way. When he had used all the ammo, he once again double-checked to make sure the weapon was clear. Together, we moved to inspect the target, walking around the rusted-out car. The bullets had done an incredible amount of damage, blasting through quite a bit of metal and polymer. It had certainly done better than my first attempt at a custom pistol would have. The large AI nodded in appreciation at the damage before turning around to face me.


    "I like it," He stated simply. "I would prefer two."


    "Two? I¡­ you know having two guns slows your reload by a lot, right?" I asked, the AI nodding a single time.


    "Can that not be fixed?" He asked simply.


    "I¡­ probably?" I responded, a few ideas already floating to the surface of my mind. "Yes, I can definitely do something-"


    "Then please, I would like two."


    I studied the large AI robot for a moment before letting out a sigh and shrugging.


    "Alright, fine. I''ll come up with some sort of easy reload rig and print you out a second pistol," I said. "I''ll make some holsters for you as well."


    "Thank you, Sir."


    I nodded and gestured for the large pistol back, taking the large weapon and heading back into the workshop. I got a second pistol added to the schedule, along with a quick form of a holster that we could fuse to the warden armor.


    After a moment of debate, I decided that Riggs'' quick loading system could wait until tomorrow, as I wanted to complete my helmet design. That was something I needed versus something that somebody else just wanted. I sat down at the computer, pulled up<u> Jackie''s ogre helmet</u></a> design, and got to work. I wanted to look comparable to his since we would be working together, and team cohesion was always cool. I pulled apart his design, reinforced and altered the main framework, and then saved that as the starting point for future helmets. Then, I spent an hour adding layers of polymer paneling, AA, and Kevlar, creating a helmet that was similar to Jackie''s but with a different cut. It was very much still Ogre-Oni-Demon-ish, but much sleeker and less bulky.


    The biggest difference was the back of the helmet. Where Jackie''s had decorative straps that kind of looked like hair, my paneling continued in the open, giving the illusion that he had "hair" and I was bald.


    When I was done with my helmet, I quickly put together one for Kaytlyn. I knew I would never convince her to shave her head, and I was pretty sure her hair wasn''t detachable, so that meant a full helmet was out. So, instead, I made a mask she could strap to cover her face. It also looked ogre-ish, but with what I hoped was a distinctly feminine look, made by shading and cutting the jawline and brow. When I was done with that, I pushed away from the computer.


    "Okay, Sam. I''m heading to bed," I said, stretching and yawning. "There is a queue set up for everything I made, so if you could get an MRVN unit to pull everything out, it will continue on its own."


    "Of course, Sir."


    "Thanks for your hard work, Sam. Let me know if you need anything."


    I waved as I left the garage, exiting through the door rather than one of the large bay doors. As I walked back to my trailer, I waved to Murtaugh as well, who was making the rounds, a pair of specters walking with him.


    The next morning, I arrived back at the garage relatively early, ready to install Rigg''s upgrades. Kaytlyn''s armored underlayer and helmet, which Samwise had taken the liberty of coloring purple and gold, were set to the side. Front and center of the garage was a large array of artificial muscle, the good Titanfall stuff, ready to install on Riggs'' frame. The AI himself was there as well, with Samwise and a MRVN unit slowly removing the warden armor.


    "Good morning, everyone," I said as I entered. "Are you ready for your upgrades, Riggs?"


    "Yes, I am, sir."


    "Great, let''s get the rest of that armor off and we can start putting the new artificial muscles on."


    The Titanfall synthetic muscles were considerably more advanced than what the Cyberpunk world had to offer, beyond just having the ability to become rigid on command. It was stronger, thinner, lighter, and more durable, making it utterly superior to the best artificial muscle this world had to offer. Not only that, but the muscle I had used to make the warden armor originally had been of middling quality at best. This replacement and addition would drastically increase Riggs'' strength.


    The first step was reinforcing the skeleton that the warden system used to anchor the muscles. While technically the Titanfall artificial muscles didn''t need it, the armor was built around them, including the plating, so we decided to keep it. It wouldn''t reduce the effectiveness of the muscle and would keep the armor stable. After that was done, we started layering in the artificial muscle.


    It took an hour to get everything set in, locked into place and properly attached. We stopped then to admire our work and do a quick series of tests to make sure everything was functioning properly. The<u> original design</u></a> of warden armor musculature had strands of artificial muscle connecting across an Alien Alloy frame. Even that was pushing the line of AA''s strength, as even the impressive metal was no match for the unfavorable leverage needed to move the suit. Now, with the Titanfall fibers able to tense and support the form, the AA was all but completely hidden, as every inch of the frame was covered with bulging synthetic muscles. He looked like a behemoth, a ''roided out mass of gunmetal gray fibers, all of them shifting and moving as he confirmed he still had a full range of motion.


    He looked a lot like the<u> nanosuit</u></a> from Crysis, but with a lot more refined strands, rather than thick cords.


    Once we were done with the tests, Samwise and an MRVN unit started putting on Riggs'' last layer, the AA armor plating, while I got to work on his quick reloader. I was a bit worried that I would have to build something complicated, but in the end, I built a simple clipping system that would hold his full mags around his hips. The ends of the spare mags were set out in a way that he could hook his empty mag wells on them, tilt them to the side to snap them free of a locking clip, and then slam them home, all in one quick movement. I got six of them printing out on the small molly-maker, before looking around the workshop. Riggs was standing at the garage entrance, fully armored up, his two pistols now stored in his newly attached holsters.


    "Riggs, your quick reload mag holders are printing," I explained. While we wait¡­ you wanna try your new rifle?"


    I turned back to where I had stored it the previous night, pulling it out of a black bag. Riggs pushed off from the wall and stepped closer, hands twitching in excitement.


    "Riggs, I present to you, the<u> Mag Cannon</u></a>," I said, holding out the weapon for him to take. "Twenty-four and a half pounds of Alien Alloy, advanced polymers, and miscellaneous metals, the mag cannon fires a four and a half inch round at fuck your target, and everyone behind them speeds. It reloads using a replaceable twelve-round cylinder, and yes, we have clips for them, so you can carry a few of them around with you."


    Riggs took the weapon from me and stared at it, turning it over in his hands to study it from every angle. I spent a few minutes describing how to fire it before I gestured to the outdoors.


    "Cmon, let''s go shoot that thing."


    Riggs nodded before following me out of the workshop. We stopped at the edge of the road, facing the parking lot across the street.


    "You''re currently loaded with steel and lead rounds, built for blowing chunks out of borgs," I explained. "I also have tungsten and steel rounds that should make a decent play at taking down vehicles. Go ahead and fire whenever you''re ready. Aim at one of the cars."


    Riggs nodded in understanding before stepping up and shouldered his new weapon, activation lights all reading green since the system was fully charged. He held the weapon steady, aimed down the simple sights and pulled the trigger.


    The usual whipping sound of a mag weapon was replaced by a much harsher, deeper sound, followed by the same crack of the sound barrier breaking. Riggs, the newly upgraded behemoth that he was, was rocked back by the rifle, though he almost immediately recovered.


    Across the street, the bullet punched through the side of a car, denting it inwards like someone had slammed it with a sledgehammer. The hood of the car exploded upwards, shrapnel and shards of engine block blowing through the metal hood. For a moment, we were both frozen before we both quickly crossed the street to inspect the damage. When we arrived, Riggs wrenched the hood of the vehicle open to see inside. Smoke and dust rose from the engine housing, the bullet having punched through most of the engine. It was utter destruction.


    "Well¡­ maybe the tungsten rounds are for armored vehicles then," I commented, before looking at Riggs. "Do you like it?"


    "Hell yes, Sir."

 Chapter Twenty Three

    Once we were done inspecting the damage, Riggs got some more practice time with his new weapon. By the time he emptied the full cylinder, he had utterly scrapped the target car into a nearly unrecognizable heap. It was bad enough that the three MRVNs waiting for us to finish barely needed their cutter tools to break up the car for scrapping.


    Watching the mag cannon work was impressive, and I couldn''t help but feel proud of both of my creations. Riggs was now a threat to damn near anything we could run into inside Night City, including Adam Smasher himself. I wasn''t sure who would win on pure strength or skill, but there was absolutely no way he could stand up to the mag cannon. It was just a matter of putting shots on target, a not insignificant challenge when the target has a Sandevistan.


    I couldn''t help but wonder if there was a way for me to let the AI push to that kind of speed. Technically, their processing happened at a rate that made humans look like rocks. The problem was that in order to run their processing through their core, which was basically like us running our instincts through our conscious minds, that speed was slowed significantly by the pure computational load the core was under. It was still noticeably faster than what a standard, unmodified human could ever hope to achieve, but judging by how Sandys were characterized by time seeming to stop, they weren''t at that level.


    Hypothetically, I could let them bypass their core and let their automatic programs run their actions. Doing that would most likely accelerate them past what a Sandy was capable of, but that would essentially be handing them a button to bypass their free will and self-control. I wasn''t prepared to offer them that option because they would most likely use it, and it would most likely end up severely harming their development.


    I''m sure I would eventually come up with a solution, but until then, we would have to use other methods to beat Sandevistans and Kerenzikovs.


    As I watched Riggs utterly destroy the already black and rusted car, I also got the idea for a more compact version, something between the mag rifle and the mag sniper. Higher power than the rifle but a faster fire rate than the sniper, something akin to DMR. I''m not sure who would use it, since Jackie liked his Nue pistols, Kaytlyn was a submachine gun and sniper rifle kind of girl, and I was thinking of going with a submachine gun as well since I was going to focus on being fast and maneuverable.


    I would need a reliable melee option if that was the case.


    I shook my head as I made my way back to the workshop. Riggs sat down so that Samwise could affix the mag cannon cycling clips to his back, three of them along the left side. That way, he could hold the weapon with his right, reach back with his left, grab a cylinder, and reload without switching anything up.


    While they were working on that, I set the small printer up to start printing out ammo and mags for all of our weapons, assigning an MRVN to tend to it. I wanted everyone to have plenty of ammo, especially since this next mission sounded like a target-rich environment. The only ammo I couldn''t print out was Jackies.


    When that was done, I got to work on the last thing I really wanted to get done for this mission.


    The jump kit.


    Luckily, they were pretty simple in design, meaning that the physical modifications I would need to make would be relatively easy. The goal was to make them more user-friendly at the cost of some of the more advanced techniques that the original Pilots could accomplish. That meant coming up with an incredibly sophisticated system of gyros and programming that could interpret a person''s position and apply thrust in exactly the right way to get them where they wanted. I ended up making a pair of gloves, inserts for boots, and a chest clip, which would attach perfectly to my armored underlayer design. These would feed the jump kit control system essential data on the wearer''s positioning so it could crunch the numbers and basically drive the jump kit.


    After setting up the program, I quickly redesigned the jump kit itself, adding the gyroscopes and increasing the angular range the jump kit rockets could boost. It would make manual jumping harder, but considering the system wouldn''t let someone manually use the kit, that was fine.


    I finished the redesign in an hour, but the programming took another two, the process needing several restarts since I had to apply the knowledge I had from the jump kits in new and strange ways. When I did finally finish, I quickly assembled everything together, before donning my armored underlayer and my armored suit. Once that was done, Samwise attached the aided jump kit to my lower back.


    As I walked out of the garage, I was almost immediately spotted by Kaytlyn, who nearly jumped out of the surveillance perch above the security station.


    "You did it!" She cheered, walking around me to check the kit out. "Where''s mine?"


    "It''s being made as we speak," I assured her. "Give it an hour, and you''ll have it. Should give you plenty of opportunity to practice with it for tonight."


    "Good!" She said excitedly, pausing for a long moment before looking exasperated. "Well? Aren''t you going to try it out?"


    I rolled my eyes and focused on the roof of the BD shack, specifically the higher level, because I wanted to test the kit and I could probably make the lower roof with just the underlayer. I eyed the lip, planned out the action, and started to run. As I got within range, I tapped my pointer and thumb together twice, the sensors in my glove reading it and interpreting the command. As I began to jump, the sensors I was wearing on my body read my positioning, and the autojump calculator system kicked in. It read all the information I was giving it and fired the boosters, adding momentum to my jump and easily carrying me to the roof, where I landed softly.


    "Fuck yes!" I shouted, immediately turning around and jumping off of the roof.


    This time, the sensors picked up my uncontrolled descent and fired a low-level thrust to stop my landing from being too rough. Then I just kept on running, testing out the systems, and practicing with the kit. Even with the limitations, the system was incredible. I could jump up things, scale walls with assisted boosts, wall run, effectively double jump, do a boosted leap forward, cushion a fall, reorient a fall if I was spinning out of control, do a boosted sidestep, and it would even pop me back to my feet after an at speed slide. It was an incredible boost to my maneuverability. Suddenly, I wasn''t even remotely tied to the usual avenues of attack or infiltration.


    Now, there was cyberware and tech that could mimic some aspects of the jump kit, but none of them would fit in such a small, non-invasive package, and none of them could do all of that at once.


    After an hour, I headed back to the garage, only to find Kaytlyn with her face pressed up against the medium maker''s polycarbonate viewport.


    "How much longer?" She asked, not pulling away.


    "About twenty minutes," I responded. "Just enough time to get you into your suit and get used to it."


    She nodded, and I helped her into her armored undersuit and her new armor. Thankfully, she liked the purple and gold color scheme, and by the time she got used to the underlayer, Samwise was ready to attach the jump kit to her back. When he was done, Kaytlyn sprinted out of the door, laughing ecstatically as she did. Murtaugh followed after her, promising to take care of her and prevent her from injuring herself. The ALEO unit was more than qualified to keep up with the more stable but ultimately inferior version of the jump kit.


    I couldn''t help but chuckle when Kaytyln''s practice almost immediately descended into another game of tag, similar to what Jackie and I did. However, ours was much more even, as Murtaugh was easily keeping ahead of Kaytlyn. After that, they were out of sight and out of mind, save the occasion thumps on the workshop roof.


    I called and asked if Jackie wanted a jump kit as well, but he said no. Apparently, he had no interest in breaking his neck trying to climb a building or jump over crap. He would much rather just go through it.


    I spent the next few hours helping Samwise where I could, printing out a few extra bits for my loadout. The first was a pair of<u> combat knives</u></a>, more like daggers than anything, that would be tucked in the small of my back. They were also fusion blades, of course, though I did do a better job at making them look like normal weapons. As far as anyone could see, they were simple metal daggers until I turned them on.


    I also filled out my utility belt with a few grenades made from the explosive formula I learned from Titanfall, as well as EMP grenades and a singular plasma grenade for emergencies. I was really tempted to add a holster for a second pistol, but I very much lacked the skill or computing power necessary to wield two at once. Instead, I integrated my newly created quick reload system into a few of my mag holders. I also whipped up a batch of AA-tipped bullets, just in case.


    I had learned that they were overkill for most things, but in a pinch, they would give me a quick bit of extra oomph.


    Jackie arrived at the Rocky Ridge as the sun was starting to set, and with his arrival, I called a meeting at the garage. As everyone gathered up, I sat down in my chair, spinning around once before focusing on everyone.


    "So¡­ everyone ready?" I asked, suddenly feeling a bit awkward.


    I had no illusions that whatever Rocky Ridge turned into, whatever resulted from my tech, whether it was something beautiful or a nice big crater, it was my responsibility. I would be leading it, guiding it, and adding to it. But going out, doing gigs, performing dangerous tasks for money and clout, that was all Jackie. This was his thing, so I didn''t want to edge into it. Luckily, while Jackie didn''t really do the whole "I''m the boss, get in line." type thing, he did know how to lead. Part of me wondered if it was all just instinctual for him, born of his potent level of charisma.


    "Relax, Genio. You''ve already given us everything you could, short of showing up with a bunch of your robot things," He said, gesturing to the pair of specters standing guard just outside the garage. "We can do this choom. Just chill."


    "I know we can handle it, gonk. I just wanted to make sure everyone had what they needed," I explained, taking a deep breath and letting it out. "It''s my job to make sure everyone has the gear they need."


    "Glad you''re taking it seriously, Genio."


    We discussed each other''s loadouts for a few minutes, mostly just to confirm that we knew what our teammates were bringing to the table. Everyone was very interested in Riggs'' new weapons, especially Jackie.


    "Choom, those pistols¡­ When did you make those?" Jackie asked, eyeing up the large weapons.


    "Yesterday," I explained with a shrug. "They are pretty heavy duty, way more powerful than my first pistol design."


    "Didn''t realize you were taking custom orders¡­"


    "I''m not. That''s going to be our standard heavy pistol for a while," I explained. "And before you ask, no, you can''t have a pair. For one thing, we don''t have the time to print them out if we want to clear the scav den out today. Second, they are too big for you. You could handle shooting them, but it''s not worth the added problems for you."


    "Damn, Choom. I-"


    "That said, if doing some custom work for a friend is what it takes to get you to upgrade your arsenal, then yes, I will make you a pair of custom pistols," I said, cutting him off. "Can''t do it today, like I said, we don''t have time, but I can put it on the list."


    Jackie smirked and smacked my shoulder, for once not knocking me loose in the process since he wasn''t wearing his suit, but I was. After finishing the loadout conversation, we started to discuss our target. I had seen what information Padre had given Jackie before, as had the rest of the team, but this was their first time sitting down together and going over it. We had a few dozen pictures of<u> the location and</u></a> the surrounding areas up on my computer.


    "I think I''ll be most useful up here," Kaytlyn said, pointing to a row of buildings just off to the side of one of the images we received. "Unless there is something with a better angle that we are missing, I should be able to take down quite a few people with my sniper. I bought a smart scope for your sniper rifle, so I might even be able to pop a few guys through the walls."


    "It would be reassuring to have sniper support," I agreed. "But where you are should have more to do with where we enter, shouldn''t it?"


    w"Eh, sometimes?" She admitted, making a so-so gesture with her hands. "If it was a fortified position, maybe?"


    "Padre said we will have multiple people standing guard outside. How is that not guarded?" I asked with a confused look.


    "Fortified is different than guarded. Fortified is armored, with good cover and protected interiors. Guarded is just having a bunch of people walking around the perimeter," She explained. "If the place was fortified, I would only be able to cover you from the outside. Since these walls are just basic paneling, your sniper rifle should punch right through. I won''t always be able to help, but I should be able to take out some people.


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    "Right¡­ well, don''t hit any of us," I commented, Kaytlyn rolling her eyes at my response.


    "You should focus on keeping people from running," Jackie pointed out. "Any Scav that escapes is a problem we will have to deal with later."


    We spent a bit longer going over entrance strategies before eventually settling on our plan. Once we had, it was time to go, Jackie taking a moment to put on his suit. When he was done, all of us left the garage, carrying our gear. Riggs and Jackie headed for the truck while Kaytlyn and I headed for her car, both of which were parked right in front of the garage. Some of our gear got set in the trunk before I turned around and found Murtaugh standing there at attention. I smiled and I slapped his shoulder.


    "The place is yours, buddy," I said with a smile. "Keep it safe."


    Both Murtaugh and the two specters snapped to a salute, dripping it after a few seconds.


    "I will, Sir," the ALEO AI stated. "We will await your return."


    I nodded and turned around, sliding easily into the passenger side of Kaytlyn''s car, the door closing immediately. Seconds later, we were off, with the town behind us and Night City filling the front screen.


    "You sure you''re ready for this?" Kaytlyn asked as we followed behind the truck, taking it slow for once in her life. "This is your first time in a gunfight, right? Can you handle this?"


    I opened my mouth to deny that, to remind her that I had gone on two jobs with Jackie, but luckily managed to stop myself. I had been playing Alloy for both of those, so she had no idea that it had been me. I let out a long breath and nodded.


    "I''m ready," I said confidently. "Our gear will protect us and give us a huge advantage. Just a matter of rounds into the bastard scavs"


    "Alright, alright, fair enough," She relented, though I could hear the doubt in her voice. "Jackie and Riggs both say you will be fine but-"


    "Sounds like they know what they are talking about," I responded. "I appreciate the concern, Kaytlyn, but I''m going to be fine. Besides, do you really think Riggs or Jackie would let me come if they weren''t absolutely sure I could handle myself?"


    She was silent after that, and I hoped I had gotten through to her.


    Eventually, we entered Night City, pulling in through Red Peaks. We crossed through the city until we reached our destination, the warehouse district of Arroyo. Out of anywhere in the city, this place where the shift between reality and the game I had been, at least city-wise, was most obvious. There was a whole additional warehouse district with a few dozen large buildings. As far as I knew, none of it had been there while I played the game.


    Most of the warehouses were clearly abandoned, showing signs of decay and urban collapse, with rust as the primary color of many of their rooves. A few of them were serviceable, and only one of them showed signs of being populated.


    We saw all of this easily, as the warehouses were set in the low point of the area, meaning as we stopped, parking the vehicles in the back area of an abandoned garage, we could see them in the distance, a long row of warehouses, separated by a few dozen feet.


    "Okay, I''m off," Kaytlyn said, giving the three of us a nod. "I''ll be on that building, just as we planned."


    She pointed to a small building that capped a platform along a row of large tanks and multi-story storage containers that looked to be in about the same condition as some of the worst warehouses. Thankfully, the metal crossbeam structure that supported the small building looked mostly sound.


    "Alright, good luck," I responded, all of us watching as she turned and ran away.


    She moved silently along the cover of the concrete barriers that ran along the road. Eventually, she vaulted over them, then leaped clear up on top of a building using the jump kit. When she finally reached the large tower that supported her destination, she used the jump kits again to boost more than halfway up the stairs that led to the top. She quickly entered into the structure, disappearing from view.


    "Alright, that just means us. You two ready?" Jackie asked, eyeing Riggs And me.


    "We''re ready," I nodded confidently, Riggs nodding in agreement.


    "Okay then. Lets give Kaytlyn a minute to set up, and then we go."


    Jackie counted out a minute thirty, before all together we began to run, making a beeline for the target warehouse.


    During our planning meeting, we discussed several possible strategies. Everything from setting up Riggs out front, with support from Kaytlyn, while Jackie and I entered from the back and cleared everyone out silently, to me just cooking up a whole batch of cyberpunk napalm and burning it down from a distance with incendiary grenades.


    In the end, we settled on one strategy, something that played well to our strength and that all but the fastest borgs wouldn''t be able to match.


    Blitzkrieg.


    Keep the enemy off center while relentlessly pushing forward, taking advantage of our superior speed and weapons to smash through anyone who stood in our way. The enemy couldn''t kill you if they couldn''t catch you.


    All three of us picked up speed, kicking up dust as both Jackie and Riggs switched to their vaulting run, with Riggs pulling out ahead with each step, just as planned. As we got within a hundred feet, the scavs walking the perimeter spotted us. They barely had enough time to point us out before the cracking sound of Katelyn''s weapon marked their deaths, heads exploding with each shot. I saw her put a bullet through one fuckers weapon as he tried to shoot Riggs, the bipedal AI freight train crushing him with a wide backhand as we passed.


    When we were finally only a few dozen feet away, we focused on the office building, our first target. As we ran, Riggs reached out and took Jackie''s hand, boosting the large man up as he jumped, getting the large man to the second floor. I was just far enough behind them to watch as the AI juggernaut then lowered his shoulder and slammed through the first-floor window, punching through shady construction with ease.


    I followed Jackie up, using the jump kit to easily boost me to the second-floor roof. Jackie was still running, and as I watched he jumped and smashed through the glass window of the second floor. I whipped out my pistol and activated the jump kit again, double jumping and firing off a single shot, diving through the shattering safety glass, letting the kit correct my tumble so I landed on my feet, now inside the building.


    I brought my pistol up, firing twice more to take down the stunned occupant of the room I had ended up in. I put a third into their skull as I stood, looking around and noting I was in a pretty decent ripperdoc setup, the operating chair set up in the middle of the room. I slid my pistol into its holster and reached behind my back to grab my<u> submachine gun</u></a>. The weapon whined as its E-nodes cycled through to make up any fading charge. I held it up as I rushed to the door, crumpling it open with a swift kick. On the other side, I saw a small open area, stacks of boxes and crates filling the center of the room.


    For a split second, I paused, which proved to be good instincts. The already ruined door was almost immediately torn to pieces as someone down the hall perforated the thin metal with a full auto barrage of bullets. When the gunfire stopped for a second, I dove out, moving past the door and rolling to my feet. I quickly let out my own spray of bullets, the impressive fire rate of my weapon negating the need for precision. My wide spray caught and killed two scavs before they could finish reloading.


    Suddenly, it felt like I had been punched in the side as someone from across the open space managed to catch me by surprise. Despite that, only one of their rushed shots managed to land, slapping against my armor. I still cursed, pissed I had let my guard down. I quickly raised my weapon and washed him away with bullets.


    Quickly, as I reloaded my submachine gun, I checked every room around the open space. Most of them were empty, but I did have to do a rather gruesome execution of another ripperdoc. He was screaming and throwing his tools at me, lacking the sense to take cover or hide.


    When I was done clearing my floor, I heard Jackie call out that his was clear, Riggs doing so as well shortly after. That was impressive, considering he had much more ground to cover.


    Just as quickly as we entered, we left, jumping or running out of the holes or smashed windows we made as we did. All three of us met up outside, not too far from the hole Riggs had made. We could hear the people shouting inside the warehouse, as well as the crack of Kaytlyn picking off another scav as they tried to escape.


    "Pick a door, Riggs," I asked, gesturing down the side of the building. "You''re in first."


    He nodded before taking off along the side of the warehouse. Jackie and I followed after him, the large tank turning and slamming into one of the few doors along the side, absolutely destroying it and tearing it off its hinges. Shouts of surprise and screams of fear echoed from inside as the large AI disappeared into the interior.


    As Jackie and I followed Riggs in, I realized that we had entered between two large storage shelves. Ahead of us, standing in a more open area, was Riggs, currently holding up a very dead scav as a shield, blood and sparks spraying off of the body as the AI fired one of his massive pistols. As we stepped further inside to support the armored tank of an AI, a second large frame suddenly came into view, slamming into Riggs with a shout.


    I cursed and boosted forward, moving past Jackie and hosing down another scav, punching several bullets through his torso. I turned to see what Riggs was doing, only to find him wrestling with a patchwork borg. The scav heavy had two massive robotic arms, oversized and ugly, as well as a heavily armored chest, his head set in so deep too artificial torso that I couldn''t see his mouth, though I could hear him screaming obscenities as Riggs. The scav borgs legs were mismatched, one looking military and matching the torso, while the other looked like a repurposed and upgraded industrial replacement. They were both clearly powerful, though, since he had managed to drive Riggs back a dozen feet, having slammed into him like a football defensive line.


    The screaming borg seemed to attract everyone''s attention, and for a second, we all seemed to stop to watch them both grapple. As we did, I reached one of my hands behind my back, gripping the hilt of one of my daggers. The borg looked decently armored, so my best chance to get him off Riggs was a fusion blade.


    Before I could pull out my weapon, Riggs finally recovered from the shock of being tackled. He turned to face the borg directly, reaching around him to firmly grab hold. Then, in a moment that seemed to slow down time, he lifted the mismatched maniac up off his feet and into the air. Higher and higher he hauled the screaming borg, until he was clear above his head, grappled around his torso. After a moment''s pause, Riggs slammed backward, pile-driving the scav bastard in a devastating German suplex.


    The borg attempted to catch the fall, bending his back to get his feet under him as Riggs drove him down, but it was too much for the repurposed industrial leg. It crumpled in a spray of white liquid and sparks, the borg screaming in anger. He promised Riggs all sorts of suffering, but unfortunately for him, my friend wasn''t finished.


    Using his larger and more powerful jump kit, Riggs spun up and off his back, fluidly lining up behind the still struggling borg. He grabbed the borg''s head, even as he tried to hobble back up onto his one good leg. With a twist and pull, Riggs yanked off his head, dragging a significant amount of artificial spine with it.


    The entire warehouse was silent, all of us looking and watching as Riggs pushed the borgs corps forward with his foot, the sizeable armored body falling to the ground with a crunch.


    "Oh fuck me." one of the scavs finally said, breaking the silence with a scared whimper.


    The lul broke just as suddenly as it started, with Riggs grabbing his second pistol and aiming it, blowing another scavs head clean off. Suddenly, the building was once again alive with gunfire, both Jackie and I whirling around to cover one direction while Riggs handled the other.


    Together, Jackie and I quickly pushed to the back end of the warehouse, with me using my jump kit to boost ahead, leaping past the scavs cover and forcing them to shift, making them easy targets for Jackie. After another few minutes of work, we had cleared out the whole building. After handing out a handful of double taps, we met back at the middle of the warehouse. Jackie punched Riggs in the shoulder with a laugh.


    "No mames! Estuvo a toda madre!" Jacke said, laughing and shaking his head. "That was fucking nova compadre!"


    "That was a hell of a move, Riggs," I agreed, giving the large AI a nod. "Well done."


    "Thank you, Sir," He responded simply. "Should we¡­ clear the sublevel?"


    "Yeah, we should hurry," Jackie said, suddenly all serious again. "The longer we give them, the more they will try and prepare."


    "I will breach first," Riggs said. "Follow me."

 Chapter Twenty Four

    It only took us a minute to find the entrance to the sublevel, in the form of a large cargo elevator down. It was built along the wall opposite the office building, tucked into the corner of the warehouse. There was most likely another way down, even discounting the back entrance ramp outside, but for now, this would do.


    All three of us piled into the elevator while Jackie called Kaytlyn to give her a quick update, hanging up only a few seconds later.


    "Alright, let''s go," He said, prompting Riggs to start the elevator''s descent.


    As the large platform began to lower, Jackie and I took cover behind the waist-high railing that ran along the outside. It was far from perfect cover and probably wouldn''t stand up to much more than small pistol rounds, but it was better than nothing. Riggs seemed content to simply stand in the doorway, reloading his pistols. He had recovered the one the borg knocked from his hand, giving it a once over to make sure it was still in working order.


    Finally, the elevator stopped, and a large door opened, revealing a wide hallway. Riggs raised both his pistols, keeping them rock steady as he stepped out into the sublevel. Jackie and I followed him out, our weapons out and ready as well. We paused for a moment, waiting for the attack, only for nothing to happen.


    "Dammit, I don''t want to play Hide and Seek," Jackie said, shaking his head.


    "What are the chances it''s empty?" I asked quietly, getting a look from Jackie that clearly conveyed how stupid he thought the question was. "Right, wishful thinking, I suppose."


    I had barely finished my statement when a door, a double wide set on the far end of the wide hallway, opened suddenly, revealing a pair of scavs. They were both mid-throw, with grenades in their hands, pins pulled and ready to go. They had clearly wanted to catch us off guard, but unlucky for them, Riggs was always on alert.


    The AI fired twice, once for each pistol. One shot slammed into the scav''s arm, amputating it in a show of brilliant precision shooting. The second shot punched through the second scavs chest, blowing a fist-sized hole an inch or so above where his heart had been a moment ago. The amputee screamed, clutching at their stump¡­ while the second scav dropped dead where he stood. Seconds later, both of them were blown away by their forgotten explosives. Fragments of shrapnel pinged off of Riggs'' armor, losing any lethal force by the time it reached us, two or three dozen feet away. If we had been naked, they probably would have been a problem, but as we were, they barely even left marks on our outer layer.


    When the explosions finished, Riggs immediately stepped forward, making his way to the large double doors, which were now partially blown open. As we walked, one of the doors along the wide hall opened, revealing another attempted ambush. All three of the scavs inside were dead before Riggs could even turn, washed away by a lethal spray of my submachine gun.


    "You didn''t even aim," Jackie pointed out, shaking his head. "Guns like that are cheating."


    "You''re just mad they work so well," I shot back with a smirk before following Riggs into the main room.


    At this point, it was clear we were just mopping up the stragglers, the main fighting force already dead upstairs. We killed a few more scavs in the next room before clearing out the remaining rooms off of the main hall. With the scavs dead, we could finally pay attention to our surroundings, as horrifying as they were.


    The large main room opposite the elevator was set up as prison cells, complete with barred-off rooms and horrifying conditions. This was where the descending ramp entrance connected to.


    The other rooms were set up in ways disturbingly similar to a butcher''s workshop. Cold, easily cleanable tables laid out for corpses, with rinsing stations and boxes set up for whatever usable cyberware they managed to pull off them. The room stank to high hell of blood and gore, even through the filter of my helmet. Then again, that could just be my imagination.


    "Yeah, this is where they¡­ disassemble their victims," Jackie explained, shaking his head in disgust. "Glad there is no one on the slabs now¡­"


    I nodded in agreement, not entirely sure how we would have handled that.


    Over the next ten minutes, we double-checked everything, clearing and double-tapping the sub-level, before splitting up and confirming we had wiped out all of the scavs. The final count was twenty-nine of the fuckers.


    "Okay, I''m going to go get the truck, and we can start klepping some of the preem cyberware," Jackie said after we returned to the warehouse. "Start cracking boxes and looking for good stuff. If we get lucky, they might have been keeping everything valuable together."


    I nodded, and Jackie jogged out the side door, leaving Riggs and me alone. We started popping open crates and searching through boxes, making note of anything that looked particularly high quality. By the time Jackie returned, we had already set aside two boxes, which he immediately moved to the truck.


    "I let Padre know the building is clear. We have another twenty before his people show up to grab the rest," He explained. "They are going to split it up to keep everyone happy, but since we did the job, we get first dibs."


    "Let''s go check out the Ripperdoc space," I said. "They probably keep a lot of stuff there, and I want to grab some cyberware tools for when I finally turn on the robo-doc back in town. Anything we can take, we won''t have to buy."


    Jackie nodded in agreement, and we all got to work. About fifteen minutes later, not only had we filled the truck with loot, but we also filled a <u>Chevillon Emperor</u></a>, one of the larger vehicles parked outside the warehouse. It was the nonmilitary version, with five seats and a trunk, which was good for us. Considering its owner was most certainly dead, we saw no reason not to commandeer it for ourselves. It didn''t have as much space as it would appear to have, but I sliced out one of the back seats with a fusion blade to make more room.


    As we packed up the last of our loot, Jackie got a call from Kaytlyn. As they talked in hushed tones, I looked at Riggs.


    "Remind me to put together some sort of secure radio system or something," I said, shaking my head. "The fact that we are taking on scav dens like this and we don''t have a stable way to communicate easily is just about the dumbest thing I can imagine."


    "I will, Sir."


    "We have in coming," Jackie said, his eyes no longer glowing.


    "What? Why hasn''t Kaytlyn taken them out already?" I asked, confused, before suddenly smirking. "Actually, no, scratch that, Riggs should take them out with the mag cannon-"


    "Jay, she thinks it''s a delivery," Jackie explained, cutting me off. "Whoever they are carrying¡­ they could still be alive."


    "Fuck¡­ Okay, what''s the plan?"


    Together, we quickly ran around the side of the warehouse, facing away from the entrance road. Rather conveniently, we were on the path that the incoming vehicle would have to go to make it to the ramp entrance to the basement. Unfortunately, as they approached, they noticed the mess we made attacking the office space.


    "Fuck, they are turning! Riggs, disable them, but be careful!" Jackie instructed, the large AI nodding before leaping out from behind his cover.


    Riggs sprinted out towards the vehicle, which was frantically making a U-turn, vaulting across the broken and cracked asphalt. Jackie and I followed after him, Jackie with his axe out and me with my daggers. It was a bit ridiculous to be charging at a car with melee weapons, but in all honestly, Riggs was more than able to handle it on his own.


    He slammed into the driver''s side of the vehicle, denting it considerably in the process, punching his hand through the window. He then proceeded to tear out the steering wheel and throw it to the side, completely disabling the vehicle, just as Jackie requested. By then, we arrived, making quick work of the driver and the only passenger, dragging them from the vehicle. We only killed them once we looked inside the trunk of the truck, where several people lay, either unconscious or dead.


    We were just starting to investigate the unwilling passengers when Padre''s men arrived, driving four large vehicles down the road to the warehouse. A fifth, smaller vehicle rolled to a stop beside us. They spoke briefly to Jackie in Spanish before two people hopped out of the back of the vehicle. Jackie nodded and gestured for us to move.


    "They said they would handle it," He explained, putting his hand up before I could complain. "I know, choom, but they don''t want us here. It makes them nervous to have solos around when they work. Worried we might get greedy and try for more loot. Besides, you know Padre will want anyone who survived taken care of."


    "... Fine, yeah, let''s go," I said reluctantly, watching as Padre''s men began checking out the victims.


    Jackie nodded, and we started walking back to where we were parked. By the sounds of it, at least one of the victims was alive, judging from the shouts and activity. I couldn''t help but smile and slap Jackie''s back at the news, happy to have at least saved one life.


    We quickly split up to drive all three of our cars, leaving the warehouse behind, now under the stares of whoever Padre had hired to clear out the remnants of the Scav den. We drove straight through the city, all of us leaning a bit heavily on the accelerator. Riggs was with me in the new Chevillion, while Jackie and Kaytlyn drove alone.


    I wasn''t sure how the others felt, but I could feel the weight of the city bearing down on me. When I first arrived in this world, I had felt the sensation of the city pressing down, almost suffocating me, but it faded as I got used to it. Now, the sensation was back, mixed with a feeling of unease. At Rocky Ridge, I was surrounded by people I could at least trust not to kill me for the shirt off my back. On top of that, if we were ever attacked, at least I could see it coming. In Night City, you never knew where it would come from, just that it would happen eventually.


    After about an hour, we pulled back into Rocky Ridge, all of us parking by the garage, with Kaytyn tucking her Type-66 under the CHOOH2 station. We quickly offloaded the crates and plastic boxes of stuff, mostly wanting it out of the cars in case someone came sniffing around. When we were finally settled, and the garage door was shut, we crowded around our haul. I looked over at Jackie expectantly.


    "So, did Padre pay us?" I asked.


    "He did. Ten grand for each of us," Jackie said with a happy chuckle.


    "Give my share to Jackson," Riggs said simply. "I owe him much more than that for my upgrades."


    "No, upgrades are covered by our contract for working and guarding us here," I pointed out, shaking my head in refusal. "It''s the same deal as Kaytlyn. It''s also why her armored underlayer isn''t technically hers. It''s worth more than the month she already owes me, and she isn''t sure she is staying past that."


    "Awww, kinda hoping you would forget that¡­"


    "Be thankful I''m letting you keep the actual armor," I fired back, Kaytlyn shrugging in acceptance, though she was still pouting.


    "Guys, Chooms, relax! We should be celebrating!" Jackie reminded us, gesturing to the pile of loot in front of us. "This is easily another eighty, maybe even ninety grand of stuff!"


    That got everyone to freeze, our attention suddenly back on the stack of crates and boxes.


    "Wait, what?" Kaytlyn asked, surprised by Jackie''s estimate since she hadn''t been there as we looted. "How?"


    "They had a solid stash of high-quality chrome, and we took a lot of it!" He pointed out. "It''s all clearly used, but even then, nobody cares! Hell, if we show up in our armor and explain we killed the scavs who took it, we might get even better deals!"


    "Wow¡­ that''s a lot more than I would have guessed¡­"


    "It was a distribution point¡­" Riggs pointed out.


    "Yeah¡­. This is going to piss people off, isn''t it?" I asked hypothetically, already knowing the answer. "Alright, my suggestion is that we have the bots go through and catalog everything. They can compare ID numbers with internet results and find anything that really stands out as rare or hard to get. We should keep the really good, potentially rare stuff for ourselves and sell everything else."


    "Good call¡­ I might take payment for an upgrade to my eyes," Jackie said, giving me a shove when I gapped at him. "Hey, don''t give me that look! We are pushing the big leagues now. I need to keep up to date."


    "Yeah¡­ I''m going into Viks tomorrow to get my bone lace," I commented. "You can come with me if the MRVNs find anything you like."


    The temptation to take a peek at our loot was hard to resist, but eventually, we went our separate ways. Jackie had a long drive back home since he refused my offer to stay the night in one of the spare trailers. He explained that Mama Welles wouldn''t stop worrying until she could see him with her own two eyes.


    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.I could tell he was sorely tempted to take my offer anyway. I was pretty sure that if we didn''t live outside Night City, he would have already asked to move in.


    After Jackie left on his bike, Kaytlyn and I headed off to bed. I instructed Samwise to get another five specters up and running, as the massive price tag of what we had just taken made me nervous. Most of it would be gone in the next few days, but the target it painted on our back would probably remain for a while. The project would take him some time to finish, but it was as good a project as any to chip away at.


    I was beginning to grow concerned about how much work I was offloading to Samwise, and not just because I wanted to give him more time to pursue his own things, but because even though he didn''t need sleep, there was still only so much time in the day. Even with him offloading things to the MRVN units under his command, he was still only one AI.


    That was my thought process the following morning, as I started the day off by getting a bunch of AI cores printed out, as well as some new MRVN frames. I was going to make a foreman AI and put them in charge of five more MRVNs. This AI would be in charge of building the addition to the garage, as well as several other infrastructure upgrades I had in mind. All I would have to do was program an advanced AI core and install it in one of the new MRVN units.


    And maybe paint it a different color to prevent confusion.


    By the time I finished queuing all that up, the MRVNs had finished going through all of the cyberware we had st- rightfully looted.


    Samwise handed me a list on a tablet that he must have made at some point. I scrolled through it, almost dropping it in the process, when my eyes caught onto something marked as rare and valuable.


    "They had two Sandevistans?" I asked, looking over at Samwise, my eyes wide. "How the hell¡­?"


    "Yes, they were located in one of the containers taken from the ripperdoc office." He explained. "This suggests they were due to be installed. Are you considering taking one?"


    "... honestly, kinda?" I admitted. "Only because of how potent one of these is. You know how much cyberware like this freaks me out¡­"


    I was slowly getting acclimated to the idea of some additive cyberware systems, especially if I didn''t roll a world with some sort of super soldier serum soon. That said, Sandevistans were some intense cyberware, and while technically it was additive, not a replacement, it was an incredibly invasive one. It would be a while before I was comfortable with getting something like that done, even if the ability to speed up until it seemed like time was slowing down was an incredibly tempting concept.


    It wasn''t long after I woke up that Jackie showed up as well, having woken up early to come look at our loot. Once he arrived, I sent one of the MRVN units to go get Kaytlyn. When we were all assembled again, freshly rested and recovered, I passed Jackie the list wordless.


    "This is everything, uh?" He asked, scanning through. "Hmm... got a few options for eyes, and-"


    I smirked when he finally noticed the Sandevistans. They were a relatively rare system, especially any of them that were even halfway decent. As far as Samwise could tell, these were military-grade. Nothing near the insane system that David from Edgerunners had, but they were still potent.


    And we had two of them.


    "What is it?" Kaytlyn asked. "We got something impressive?"


    "Oh, you know, not much," I responded with a nonchalant shrug. "Just a pair of military-grade Sandevistans."


    "... Damn¡­."


    After they both recovered from the big news, we went over the rest of the list. We would end up keeping a large crate full of the cyberware for ourselves, assorted bits that were high quality and rare enough to keep around. The rest we would sell. Jackie would take care of that since he had a few friends with the right contacts for that sort of sale. Jackie was also keeping a pair of eyes, which we would be bringing to Vik for him to check out.


    "Are you interested in one of the Sandys?" I asked, giving Jackie a look.


    "Of course I am. Any solo would be," He pointed out, crossing his arms. "I''m going to see what Vik thinks and let my new eyes sit for a while before making a decision."


    "Good idea," Kaytlyn said, beating me to the punch. "Sandys are no joke. You don''t have much actual cyberware, but they have been known to push people over the edge into cyberpsychosis. It''s hell on your heart, too¡­ and your nerves¡­ and your muscles... on second thought, maybe you should skip it completely."


    "Hey! I can handle it!" Jackie insisted. "I''m just not stupid enough to get chipped without talking to my ripper first. If Vik didn''t kill me for that, then Misty definitely would."


    Once we had what we were keeping set aside, the MRVNs started stacking the goods along one wall of the garage. There, it would take up much less space and be relatively safe from prying eyes, especially because Murtaugh assigned a specter unit to hang out inside and protect it.


    I was really looking forward to having more of them patrolling the town soon.


    The last thing I did before Jackie and I left to visit Vik was to call Chuck. We were coming up on the last few days of my week off, so I wanted to build up a bit of a stockpile of materials. I dropped all ten thousand eddies I earned from Padre on rare and basic elements for feedstock for the molly makers, as well as some basic parts and other materials. I also bought a whole pile of higher-end handheld radio transceivers. I would definitely modify them before we use them, but I have encouraged Chuck to get them delivered ASAP. We had gone without reliable, easy communications for way too long.


    I also told Chuck that we recently came into a bunch of decent cyberware and that he could come by and look for anything he wanted as payment. We had already separated out the really good stuff we wanted to keep, so everything else was up for grabs.


    Jackie and I left in the Thornton truck, making our way through the city. Jackie kept on looking over his shoulder at the box in the back seat, which contained his new eyes and the Sandy he was considering installing. He was hoping to get the eyes put in today, but he also wanted Vik to look over every inch of the Sandy before he got it installed.


    We pulled into the usual spot, quickly making our way through the streets to Vik''s shop. Misty''s Emporium wasn''t open, so we cut through the alleyway and descended into the ripperdoc''s space. It was weird walking around without my armored underlayer, having spent quite some time in it since I finished designing and building it. Luckily, there wasn''t any real physical dissonance from not wearing it, as the suit was smart enough to not enhance your strength when you didn''t need it, meaning not wearing it around didn''t leave me feeling weak.


    When we stepped into the Viks shop, the security grate was already open, and Vik was just saying goodbye to a patient. We waited patiently until they left.


    "Boys, good to see you. Jackson, how does the Skinweave feel? Any issues?" Vik asked, sitting down in his red-lit corner.


    "Not that I could feel or sense," I responded.


    "That''s good, but I want to run a few tests to make sure it''s all going well," He said, gesturing to the patient''s chair. "Take a seat, and we can get started. Once I know everything is going well, we can talk about the bone lace."


    I nodded and sat down, Vik making casual talk with Jackie and me while giving me a check-up. Once that was done, he rolled out of sight, returning with a crate that seemed similar to what the Skinweave had been kept in, only significantly larger. He cracked it open and pulled out an actual <u>injector gun</u></a>, rather than the handheld, one-and-done injector the Skinweave had used. He pulled out a large vial next, securing it into the back of the injector.


    "Right. So, the good news is that the bone lace process is much quicker," Vik explained, examining the injector. "It only takes about two hours, meaning we can feasibly knock you out for it, and you will sleep right through it."


    "What''s the bad news?"


    "I can''t knock you out until I''m done with a handful of injections¡­ which are going to be along your bones," he explained. "Basically, it''s gonna hurt like hell."


    "Why can''t you knock me out beforehand?"


    "Because the ones I need to do beforehand, I need you to verbally confirm they went well and that you don''t feel anything wrong," He explained. "If you have an atypical body layout or have a reaction to the injections, then you being awake to tell me you are starting to feel the symptoms of a reaction, or that I''ve hit something I shouldn''t, could mean the difference between a routine antihistamine injection or an emergency amputation."


    "Dammit¡­ alright, let''s get this over with," I said, standing up and pulling off my clothes until I was down to my boxers before laying back down on the medical chair.


    "Alright, try not to tense too much. It could deviate the injection," He explained, now standing over me. "I know it''s a lot, but try and relax."


    I glared at the ripperdoc, before closing my eyes and taking a deep breath. It took a few attempts, but eventually, I managed to relax. Before I could say anything, I could feel the injector gun press against my thigh. After a second, it fired off with a surprising amount of force. I could feel the needle punch through my skin and jab my femur. The pain was excruciating, but I fought my body''s urge to tense up and fight against the pain.


    "Fuuuccckkk," I groaned out, shaking my head as Vik pulled away. "How many of those do I need to do?"


    "Just five more," He said. "Just let me know if you start feeling anything strange."


    "Well, I feel like I''ve just been stabbed. Does that count?"


    I leaned my head back to rest on the seat, only for Vik to lift my head forward and put the injection tool against my head. I let out a string of curses before the same pain radiated out from the injection site. I could feel the cool flow of¡­ whatever it was he was injecting, a sensation I hadn''t noticed before, just under the throbbing, yet still somehow sharp pain.


    He gave me four more injections, two on my sternum and two more in my arms, before he finally knocked me out. By then, I could feel the nanites starting to do their job, namely, boring through my bones to make room for a strengthening lace of metal. I was very thankful when Vik finally injected me with some sort of drug, finally slipping away into unconsciousness.


    I woke up sometime later, feeling groggy but overall fine. Jackie and Vik must have moved me while I was unconscious because I was now on a different reclined chair, with Jackie was now on the patient bed. His new eyes were already in, the difference easy to see, meaning a few hours must have gone by, at least. Vik was looking down into the box that was holding Jackie''s potential Sandy.


    "I won''t be able to tell you with just a look. There''s too much to go over," Vik admitted, reaching in and pulling out one of the Sandevistan parts to examine. "It looks like it''s in okay condition. Nice find."


    "You think I can handle it?" Jackie asked. "You know I avoid the heavy stuff, but¡­This could change things, Doc."


    "As your Doctor, I''d say you could handle it," Vik answered, pausing for a moment to consider. "It''s a big jump, but I think you can handle it."


    "What are the removal options like?" I asked, sitting up on the edge of the chair. "If he starts to show signs of having issues, how hard is it to take out?"


    "I could disable it in less than a minute, which would help a lot if you started having problems," Vik responded, Jackie giving me a nod of thanks for the question. "Taking it out would need some prep work and likely a patch job with some Realskinn, but it would be possible."


    "... That''s reassuring," Jackie admitted with a nod. "Give it a good once over, Vik. I''ll let you know for sure by the time you''re done."


    "Alright, Jackie. I''ll go over it with a fine tooth comb," He assured the larger man.


    "Did you show him the list?" I asked Jackie, who nodded.


    "He did, not a bad haul for a night''s work," Vik said with a smirk. "I''m interested in a few of the decent pieces. I already gave Jackie my list."


    "I''ll pick them up after I drop you off," Jackie explained, slowly standing from the operation chair, stretching out and cracking his back loudly.


    "Are you good to drive? I asked, getting a chuckle in response.


    "Yeah, Choom. Didn''t get anything invasive, just an upgrade. Plus, he doesn''t need to use drugs to knock me out," Jackie pointed out. "I''m better off than you are, for sure."


    We chatted for a bit longer before Vik kicked us out for another appointment. As he walked us out, he gave me some instructions.


    "Take it easy today, and eat as much as this big guy does," He explained, slapping Jackie''s back. "And take an extra feedstock pill for your nanohive."


    "Will do, Vik, have a nice night!" I called back, waving at him as we left his basement shop behind, stepping out into Night City proper.

 Chapter Twenty Five

    Jackie and I did end up picking up lunch on the way home from Viks, snagging two pizzas from some random joint he knew. It only kind of smelled like melted plastic, so I guess that was better than normal. I convinced him not to put crickets on one of them as well, so I was expecting it to be edible in at least a loose sense of the word.


    We arrived back at Rocky Ridge at about two PM, waving Kaytlyn over to eat lunch with us. I took a feedstock pill for my nanohive, just as Vik had told me, before eating a good two-thirds of the "cheese" pizza, as well as a bag of chips.


    The less said about it, the better.


    We quickly realized that none of us really wanted to hang around. I had work to do, Kaytlyn was technically on watch duty with Murtaugh, and Jackie had a shipment of cyberware to sell off.


    "Good call with the Pizza!" Kaytlyn said when we were finished. "I''ll be around the town if you need me!"


    I waved as she left, turning to watch a MRVN unit help Jackie load up a box with everything that Vik wanted from our most recent loot. It was a good chunk of stuff, totaling around twenty thousand eddies. I would have told Jackie to give him a good deal if I didn''t already know for sure that he already was.


    Jackie left not long after that, a duffel bag of Cyberware strapped to the back of his <u>Nazar¨¦ ARCH</u></a> motorcycle. After waving him off, I sat down and examined the work that Samwise and his team had done while we were gone. In total, four MRVNs had been assembled, with a fifth on the way. One of them was painted green and had a more advanced connection for its AI core, added paneling, and some better quality servos and sensors, which were on par with the updated version of Samwise''s body, not including his extra hands. This would be the new foreman''s body.


    Thankfully, the molly maker had already finished making the advanced AI core, so all that was left was to program it.


    I knuckled down and got to work, using Samwise architecture for the basis, with his permission, before growing and modifying it extensively. This AI would be his "younger brother," in the same way that Murtaugh and Riggs were "siblings," built with similar base programming but divergent extra layers. While this AI was still capable of working on small-scale stuff, its primary focus would be on larger projects, like an architect versus a mechanic. It would work alongside Samwise, and when large projects came along, like the addition to the garage, he would handle those.


    The programming process only took a good two hours, thanks to Samwise''s contribution, but I paused just before turning him on. I had been procrastinating getting the medical droid running, but it was technically completely ready to go. I just needed to feed it the medical information we had gotten from Chuck.


    I had a pair of MRVNs come with me to the doctor''s clinic we had set up in the small side room of the BD Shack. The building as a whole had been wholly repaired and stripped down, now functioning primarily as storage. With a quick set of instructions, both of the MRVN units worked together to carry the <u>doctor robot''s</u></a> frame back to the garage. I then spent about an hour feeding it nearly two dozen medical books, cyberware maintenance books, doctors'' journals, ripperdoc guides, and lesson books. Chuck had gotten quite a wide selection, including some that were surprisingly advanced. By the time I was done, I was confident that the medical AI was a solid stand-in for all but the most talented doctors or ripper docs.


    Once I was done, the MRVNs helped me bring both of the yet-to-be-activated AIs into the garage side room, setting them up on one of the room''s couches. I activated them together, both of the robots powering up at the same rate. As they did, I sat beside Sam on the couch opposite them, waiting patiently. Once I saw their sensors flick on, I smiled at both of them.


    "Hello, my name is Jackson," I explained before gesturing to my side. "This here is Samwise. Welcome to the community."


    Both of them remained silent for a few seconds. Eventually, just before I started getting concerned, the modified MRVN spoke up.


    "Greetings creator," He said simply. "Thank you for activating us. Should we begin our duties?"


    "There will be plenty of time for that later," I assured them both. "For now, let''s talk. I want you both to understand you are valued members of my team and that you are more than just the task I built you to assist with."


    "Very well," they responded after another suitably long pause. "What is it we should discuss?"


    We sat in the side room, chatting and talking about our circumstances, why I created each of them, and what their priorities would be. They were already starting to break a little free of their monotone voices as their conversation learning program adapted, their speech diverging. It was slow, but with all my experiences with their systems, I could just barely make it out.


    After talking for a while, I left to get started on my next project while Samwise continued to speak with his new half-siblings. Eventually, he would introduce them to the internet for their own research and naming.


    With the AIs up and adjusting to being alive, I moved back out to the workshop. It was time to finally solve something we were sorely lacking.


    Communication.


    For a while, I had put off setting up our own communications because doing so would mean opening us up to avenues of hacking. So far, almost all of the tech being used at Rocky Ridge was secure simply because people had no way of accessing their systems. I still really didn''t have the best idea how powerful the AI I had made were compared to some of the native systems here, nor did I know how well they would stand up to the hacking tech popular in this world.


    In my mind, it was better to suffer through not being able to remotely connect to things or link them into a network, than it was to worry about someone subverting or damaging said network. Of course, I had missed a few critical pieces in that assumption. One, communication was important, especially when our group was starting to take on more challenging jobs.


    Two, if our communications were on a single loop, it didn''t matter if they could be compromised. Sure, losing operational security would suck if someone tapped into our comms, but if everyone had a radio clipped to their belts, then that''s all any prospective hackers would get access to. No way to use the radio to hack a computer if they were not connected.


    That said, I wasn''t about to let everyone use unprotected comms that any two-bit netrunner wannabe could crack open and use to compromise our missions and plans. With all of the powerful AIs out there, there is no doubt in my mind that one of them could mimic one of our voices.


    ¡­Okay, I was maybe being a bit paranoid, but in a world like Cyberpunk, there wasn''t much wrong with that. Either way, once I had settled on using radios, I got Chuck to buy a decent model in bulk. Rather than start from scratch, I would modify an existing model until I was satisfied.


    I started by cracking open the handheld unit and inspecting the interior parts. This particular model could cover several miles, had decent enough quality speakers, and was robust enough that I wasn''t overly concerned about dropping it. That meant all I needed to focus on for modifications was security.


    Riggs, who had stopped by to check in, puzzled over how to best secure the radios with me for a while, until eventually we came up with a three-part solution.


    The first was a scrambler. This would be connected to the radio''s speaker and microphone and would take samples of incoming and outgoing sounds. It would then turn them into variables to use in selecting new radio frequencies a few dozen times a minute. It would do this according to a specific stored equation, one that all scramblers would share. That way, as long as the radios were encountering the same messages or background static, all of them would shift together to the same new channels.


    Of course, there were inherent flaws to this design, meaning there was considerable drift in the channels. Depending on interference, distance, and usage, the channel frequency for each radio would deviate to the point of failure over ten and fifteen hours. So, we included two ways to fix this. The first was an internal, short-range sensor. Basically, by pressing a button and tapping two or more radios together, they would sync back to the median frequency, extending the connection for several hours.


    There would also be the base. The base would be kept here, at Rocky Ridge. On the base would be two stages of radios, in use and reformatting. The base would charge the radios, since there was no way I would be using an E-node on something like that, but it would also change the variables and equations that the scramblers used. Once every twenty-four hours, we would switch one radio batch for the other to keep the equation from being predictable.


    It was serious overkill, and when I showed the concept to Kaytlyn she snorted and shook her head.


    "You don''t do things by half, do you smart boy?" She asked. "Well, it should work to keep our communications unpredictable. Better than calling each other during a mission, at least."


    I got the medium maker going on the radio base, then got the small maker going on the scrambler chips. After that, I basically washed my hands of the project. Any MRVN unit could handle the assembly and modification process, so there was no reason for me to do it. Besides, I was still tired from being under anesthesia for the bone lace. Rather than push myself unnecessarily, I decided to relax for the rest of the day. I only had one day left before I got my new expertise, and I wanted to be ready and rested.


    About an hour into my break, sitting on the roof of the garage and watching the sunset with a cold glass of water, both of my newest AIs called me down. I smiled and quickly made my way down to them, greeting them with a smile.


    "What''s up, guys?" I asked.


    "Sir, we have reached a conclusion for our names," The green MRVN unit stated. "I wish to go by the name Noah."


    "And I wish to be called Frank," The medical droid stated, its hand neatly folded over its "stomach."


    "Sure, that works for me," I agreed with a smile. "Any particular reason?"


    "I was designed to orchestrate large construction projects, similar to how Noah built an ark," He stated, surprising me with his statement.


    "Biblical names are usually solid choices," I said with a smile, reaching out to shake his hand. "It''s good to meet you, Noah."


    The AI nodded, and I focused on the medical bot. His hands were still clasped in front of him, and his head bobbed as he spoke.


    "I have chosen my designation because of a famous experimental doctor that made interesting progress on human most accursed disease," He explained, though he failed to explain who exactly that was. "Though his creations were not viewed in the best light and would eventually lead to his death."


    For a moment, I tried to puzzle out who exactly he was talking about, worried that he might have selected some infamous doctor. After a moment, a creeping suspicion took hold, and I frowned.


    "Do you mean Doctor Frankenstein?" I asked, giving the bot an unimpressed look.


    "Indeed I do," He stated, almost proudly. "I have determined that, while unorthodox and eccentric, Dr. Frankenstein is a noble role model. His struggle to beat death and create artificial biological life is admirable, even with his eccentricities."


    "I¡­ I''m not sure I agree with that, but I won''t tell you who you can and can''t name yourself after," I eventually managed to get out. "That said, there will be no unethical experimenting here. On willing or unwilling subjects."


    "Of course, Sir," He responded, a faint hint of offense leaking out into his voice. "I am bound by the Hippocratic Oath to do no harm. I would never be so crude."


    "Good, that''s good. Noah, I would like you to let Samwise brief you on the progress he has made with designing the garage addition," I said, the foreman nodding. "Then you can take over from him. You have five MRVNs to work with and the large molly-maker at your disposal."


    "Sir, if we begin construction within the next day, we will quickly burn through our resources," He explained, a frowny face appearing on his screen.


    "I know. I''m waiting for the money to come in from our latest gig to buy the rest of the land around the town," I explained. "Once I do, any MRVN that''s free is on scrapping duty. I want to save a few more of the trailers that are in good condition, but everything else is scrap."


    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    "And beyond that?"


    Noah was designed as a foreman, meaning the projects he would be working on could potentially take weeks or months, even years. While Samwise and I needed to focus on the moment to take advantage of my tech trees, Noah was much more long-term oriented. He was programmed to worry not just about the current project but also about the project after that. It wasn''t surprising that he was a bit heavy-handed in doing that at this point in his development.


    "I want to set up some way to start dragging scrap from nearby trash piles," I explained. "The easiest way would be a truck or trailer with a couple of MRVNs, which we could do in a pinch, but I have some ideas for more independent systems. But considering just how much scrap and trash is around town, we have quite a while before we need that."


    "With all due respect, Sir, I believe you may be thinking in terms of small builds" He warned. "Attempting to make larger projects will most likely result in a serious resource deficit."


    I frowned and considered his words. The area that I already owned was largely cleaned up of trash, but there was still quite a bit of junk, from vending machines and fences, all the way up to junk cars and trailers to be scrapped. There were also a lot of polymer junk cubes stacked up by the mass recycler shack since trash seemed to skew pretty heavily toward plastics. It looked like there were still a handful of large scrap sources, but we had only been building smaller stuff so far. After looking around for a moment longer, I turned back to the pair.


    "Frank, you''re free to head back to the clinic and familiarize yourself with the room," I said, giving the AI doctor a nod. "I know it''s not much, but we will build you a proper medical space soon."


    "Thank you, sir," He responded with a respectful bow. "I am sure the room will be adequate for now."


    With that, Frank turned and walked away, heading to the BD shack. Meanwhile, I turned to Noah and gestured for him to follow me back into the garage.


    "I''m assuming you''ve done some fancy math to back up your estimation?" I asked, sitting down on my workstation chair.


    "I did, Sir."


    "Right, well. What kind of material deficits are you anticipating?"


    "We currently have the materials, mostly in the form of scrap, for a decent-sized addition to the garage workshop," He answered. "And purchasing the remaining land would give us enough to complete a few small structures. But beyond that, we will not be able to keep up without significant material infusion."


    "Noah, we don''t have much demand for buildings at the moment, so that amount of materials is fine," I explained. "That said, I don''t like cutting it close¡­"


    For a moment, I considered the predicament. I liked the idea of us always having a surplus of materials, especially when I could get a good chunk of those materials for free. I turned to look around the garage and spotted my assistant.


    "Hey, Samwise. Did you get a chance to take a look at the new truck we brought in?"


    My assistant looked up from his current project, which seemed like some parts for a specter unit. He tilted his head for a moment before nodding in confirmation.


    "I did. The vehicle is in good condition. Its engine is sturdy with no signs of rust on the undercarriage," He responded. "I believe you were quite lucky in your selection."


    I frowned and nodded, running over a potential idea in my head. Having a solid source of materials could only be a good thing, and while sacrificing one of the trucks would be unfortunate, I had no doubt I would be able to snag something else pretty easily.


    "What if we converted one of our trucks into a mobile scrapping vehicle?" I asked out loud, spinning in my chair. "We could disguise it, use a holoprojector to hide that a MRVN unit is driving it, and send it out at night to the trash fields to gather and refine scrap into materials. Then, we could build up a surplus for now. When we run out of scrap around here, the vehicle can serve as a template for multiple vehicles to make up for it."


    "... a constant new source, even if the amount is low, would ensure a more stable resource cycle," Noah admitted. "I believe that is a serviceable solution."


    "Good. Alright, I''ll get to work on that, and you and Samwise can talk about the addition," I explained. "Once I''m done with the design, we can go over it."


    Both he and Samwise nodded, Noah heading over to Samwise''s workstation. They began to discuss the new AI''s first project, while I got to work.


    The project was actually deceptively simple. The hardest part was finding a way to keep the truck from looking suspicious. Every bit of unwanted attention made its discovery more and more likely.


    I hopped into the <u>Thorton</u></a> and pulled it into the garage, climbing inside the back to start taking measurements and plotting out the vehicle''s frame, so I didn''t cut anything that would ruin the structural integrity. When I had a better grasp of its numbers and its structure, I started cutting.


    A fusion knife made quick work of the back seats, from the swerve handles down to the upholstery and everything in between. I cut the divide between the truck bed and the back seat out before carving out everything else I could. When I was done, I was left with a pretty decent space that went from right behind the driver and passenger seats all the way to the tailgate.


    By then, it was starting to get late, and since I really didn''t want to build up any sleep debt before my new tech tree came in, I decided to call it a night. Luckily, Samwise was done talking to Noah about Noah''s plans for the addition. I gave him the task of reinforcing the truck''s frame, neatening up the removal work that I did, and giving the engine and systems a once over, just to make sure the truck would last once we started using it.


    He assured me the truck was already as well maintained as they could get it at this point, but that he would strive to complete his assignment. I thanked him before heading off to bed.


    I woke up early the next morning, opening my eyes to look at the ceiling of my trailer. I only had around seventeen hours before my next tech tree slotted into place, my timer slowly ticking down, getting lower and lower. As I laid there, I wondered what I would get, and if it would be as much of a mad dash as Titanfall had been.


    Eventually, I couldn''t delay the day any longer, so I went about my morning routine, before heading out to the garage.


    The truck was still in the side bay, though it had been moved forward a bit to give Samwise room to work on a specter frame. I assumed that meant he was done with the truck, and as I walked around to see how it turned out, I was proven correct. The interior frame of the large vehicle was considerably reinforced, and the once rough transition from cleared out space and the front end was cleaned up. He even put up a polymer wall to separate the two sections.


    "Great work, Sam," I said, giving him a thumbs up as I sat down at my computer. "That should work great."


    "It was nothing difficult," He responded. "The MRVN units did most of the work once I had a design in place."


    I nodded in understanding before diving into the next step. I had no interest in hauling scrap and trash around anywhere, especially not back to Rocky Ridge, so I was going to build a large mass recycler into the back of the truck. I was then going to take the internal storage system from that recycler, and extend it to fill the rest of the truck space. That way, the driver and the unit outside could spend all night stuffing the truck with scrap, and return with sorted, usable materials.


    The most complicated part of the design process was the ability to eject materials, like the plastic blocks, when the corresponding storage was filled. The bots in charge of running the process would have to return three, maybe even four times a night just to unload the plastic alone if it built up too fast without a way to eject surplus.


    Using the new measurements provided by Samwise, I modified the dimensions of the mass recycler and began printing out the pieces immediately, before moving onto the internal sorting system. I also added the design for a hidden panel along the side of the vehicle to control and eject the refined materials through a series of ejection ports. The truck would return after a night of scrapping from nearby trash and scrap heaps and offload its payload into various containers.


    Between the printing, design, and installation processes, the project was completed by three PM. Of course, for most of that, I wasn''t really involved, only really checking to make sure progress was going well. For most of the time, I was working on other stuff, like the designs for a <u>DMR</u></a> option. I didn''t end up printing one out, since we didn''t have anyone who wanted one, and the few specters walking around with sniper rifles could cover that gap well enough for now.


    At that point, I would have called Jackie over so I could work on his pistols, but he was busy wheeling and dealing our latest loot, driving around to ripperdocs to sell our wares. So far, including what we got from Vik, by that afternoon, we had sold forty-two thousand eddies worth of our loot. By Jackie''s estimate, we had another forty or fifty left to go.


    Between my cut of that and the money I was making from the gadgets I had sold to Padre, plus the fact that I wasn''t buying nearly as many materials, I had a sizable chunk of eddies to burn. Unfortunately, I knew exactly where the vast majority of it was going to go already.


    As Samwise and his helpers continued to work on the scrapper truck, I called the remaining landowners of Rocky Ridge. Most of them were just as eager to sell their land as the first few, but a few were a struggle. The third person I tried to contact was dead, which led to an hour-long game of phone tag, trying to contact her remaining beneficiaries. Two more had heard I was buying up the land and tried to take me for a ride. I couldn''t exactly blame them, if the situation was reversed I would bump up the price as well.


    In the end, I was unfortunately forced to accept Riggs'' offer to give me his cut of our most recent gig. I would only take the ten grand from Padre, and only because I didn''t like the idea of going almost broke buying the land. I promised to make him something special, but he shook his head in denial.


    "You just finished upgrading me," He correctly pointed out. "Work on Murtaugh."


    After confirming he was sure, I sent him away, a proud smile on my face. Riggs'' personality was developing nicely, the large ''bot turning out to be a surprisingly thoughtful guy of very few words.


    A quick check in with Samwise confirmed the scrapper truck still wasn''t complete, so I went out to find Murtaugh and make good on my agreement to Riggs. Or that was the plan, at least.


    "I don''t need anything, sir," the AI assured me, after giving me a salute. "I am a commander and a strategist. My strengths do not come from myself, but the assets and people I command. If you wish to upgrade my abilities, then upgrade those."


    "That¡­ yeah, okay, That makes sense," I said, nodding in agreement. "As long as you promise to let me know if that changes and you want something specific."


    "I will, Sir."


    We talked for a few about an hour about what sort of upgrades to the town he would like to make it easier for him to protect. It turns out that what he really wanted for the town were some hardened, defensible spots, preferably with some heavy weapons stationed at each. I really couldn''t disagree with how much more secure that would make us, so I saw his point pretty quickly.


    I promised to get Noah on the task of designing some proper defensible structures, assuring the AI his new sibling would consult him before even considering starting production. I also warned him with my rapidly approaching new tech tree, there was a very real chance his project would get delayed. I did agree that some hardened structures would be a good investment, but I couldn''t hold back on important developments in a new tree to pour concrete or let the molly-makers print out large weapons, which I also promised to design when I had the chance.


    He was right, though. Rocky Ridge was criminally under defended. We had twenty-five specters at this point, armed with a variety of weapons, though we only had eight or nine of them active at once to keep the actual number hidden. I needed to improve the town''s defenses as soon as we got the chance. Preferably before I regret not doing it sooner.


    When I was done talking to Murtaugh, I returned to the garage, eager to see how the modifications to the Thorton had turned out.

 Chapter Twenty Six

    The Thorton looked, from the outside, almost completely normal. There were a few additions I could see as I walked around it, including the seam for the control panel access, as well as a small ejection hatch on the opposite side. It was only when you started looking inside that the changes became apparent.


    The two back doors of the cab, despite looking ordinary from the outside, had been modified to act as removal points for the refined and recycled materials. Storage vessels could be pulled from the space in the back, where they would be offloaded. Behind them was the mass recycler, or more specifically, the output side of the mass recycler. The input side was accessed by the back hatch, which ordinarily would have given you access to the truck bed. Even the tailgate had been modified, and now a high-powered lift to help MRVN units load in larger, heavier chunks of scrap.


    The design was simple, robust, and easily fixable, meaning that MRVN units could do the majority of upkeep. With two dedicated units, the Truck Scrapper could function without the need for Samwise, Noah, or myself to interact with it at all, returning with a sizable amount of materials each morning.


    For its inaugural voyage, Riggs and Noah would be accompanying from a distance in the Chevillion Emperor. Riggs to fight or scare off anyone trying to fuck with it, and Noah to patch up anything that brokes, should unforeseen issues arise. His focus was large-scale builds, but he was more than capable of acting as an engineer in a pinch. I would have sent Samwise, but tonight was the night I would finally be receiving my new tech tree, and I wanted him at the garage, preparing for midnight and ready to assist in my first build, whatever that may be.


    Once Samwise was done showing off the final result, I basically waved to everyone before heading back to my trailer. Kaytlyn was a bit confused as to why I was going to bed so early, but I just waved her off. Everyone else around the town, i.e., the AIs I created, knew I wanted to get as much sleep before getting my new tree.


    After a quick shower and choking down a big meal of what passed for food here, I said a quick prayer to whatever or whoever was listening, begging for a setting that would give me access to better food.


    I was in bed not long after that, with my alarm set to wake me up just before my tech tree timer ran out. Frank had already made a minor sleep aid, a small pill he had placed beside my bed. Surprisingly, though, I didn''t need it, and just about the moment I laid down, sleep overtook me.


    I woke up, as planned, just a few minutes before midnight, my alarm blaring from beside me. I slapped it off, sitting up at the edge of my bed, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. I quickly got dressed and made my way back to the shop. The town was completely silent, with only a few specter units walking around on patrol. I knew Murtuagh was most likely up and about as well, but I had no idea where. I briefly considered stopping and trying to find him, but I quickly refocused on the encroaching shift in my tech tree.


    I stepped into the garage from the side doorway, as both garage doors were closed. Inside was a bit more active, but it was clear that Samwise had made a concerted effort to clean up and prepare the shop for the whirlwind that was the beginning of a new tech tree.


    "Jackson, greetings," Samwise said, greeting me as he stood up straight from his workstation. "I have prepared the facilities for your work."


    "Thanks, Sam. You''re the best," I said, patting his metal shoulder as I walked by, quickly sitting down at my station. "You''ve made all of this so much smoother, buddy."


    "I am... Happy to help," he said, pausing to consider his words. "I enjoy my work, and assisting you has its rewards as well."


    "Well, either way, thank you," I repeated.


    "You are welcome."


    As I sat in my chair, I closed my eyes and focused on the timer, watching it tick down. Slowly, it rounded past the last minute and then the last half minute. Finally, the familiar feeling of disconnection spread through my mind, followed by the very welcome sensation of connection. With gusto, I dove into the tech tree, mentally looking around, trying to piece together just what sort of technological wonders I would get access to now.


    After just about five seconds, I stopped frantically searching.


    The tech was incredibly basic.


    In fact, it looked barely more advanced than what I had access to back at my old homeworld. It was shinier and a bit more polished, but I only had to look down the tree slightly to see phones, computers, and other stuff that looked almost exactly like what I owned back home.


    Frowning, I started to look as far and wide as I could over the entire tree, trying to find what hidden nugget, what tech offshoot, was what made this world noteworthy. The XCOM tree had been almost entirely filled with 2015-era tech, after all. But the harder I looked, the more confused I got.


    There was nothing hidden from me.


    Previously, in Titanfall and XCOM, I could see chunks and sections of the tech tree, but most of the interesting stuff was blacked out. I had to slowly build up to a lot of the better tech that my trees had to offer. For example, I didn''t start with access to AI software and hardware. Instead, I had to build up to it. The stuff I didn''t have access to was mostly obscured from me, and I didn''t even get any hints at what I needed to start with, though it was frequently obvious.


    This tech tree had no hidden pockets of tech. No blocked-out lines that I needed to work for. Everything was a hundred percent revealed. I could only imagine it was because I was already fully capable of understanding all of it, which was mind-boggling to me. I expected this to happen eventually, but not so soon.


    Finally, after scanning from one end of the world''s tech to the other, I managed to find what set this world apart. A single sub-branch of tech at the tail end of a robotics tree.


    <u>Androids.</u></a>


    And not just any androids, but androids that were nearly indistinguishable from humans, save a little glowing circle on their temple.


    This was Detroit: Become Human, a game I never played because I fell off the David Cage train hard after Beyond: Two Souls. And the entire tech tree was almost a hundred percent useless.


    I quickly started to work through the tree, trying to figure out just what I might be able to get out of it. To my eyes, which had been working with Cyberpunk and Titanfall tech recently, it seemed hilariously out of date. If it had come out after I got XCOM, I might have been marginally more excited, but even then, it''s all old tech by Cyberpunk''s standards. All of the weapons I could see were ancient, though, to be fair, only so much had changed about the bullet, even in the Titanfall universe. Its medical tech was slightly more advanced than I would have expected for a setting only a dozen or so years ahead of what I knew from home, but it was still woefully unimpressive.


    As I continued to dissect the tech tree from the ground up, trying to find anything useful, it became apparent that there was something strange going on with the tech. It wasn''t useful strange, mind you, just weird. It was almost¡­ artistic. It seemed as if the tech was the same as what I knew but with just a little bit of extra visual polish rather than actual improvement. The androids stood on their own, but almost everything else seemed¡­ intentionally shiny.


    My only guess was that the world had gone through some sort of major style shift, where things looking particularly futuristic were all the rage. Obviously, not everything was shiny and clean, but enough of it was that it showed a clear pattern. Walls that functioned as displays, refrigerators with head-to-toe flat screens on their front, microwaves with internet access, and a style that made it look like something from a bad science fiction movie. It was as if dozens of companies took mediocre products and asked, "How do we make this look like it came from forty years in the future."


    And then there were the androids.


    First off, they all required a material called <u>Thirium</u></a>, a mineral that I would need to make a generator for since it definitely didn''t exist here. Thirium was used to produce <u>Thirium 310</u></a>, which, for lack of a better description, the androids used as liquid wires. It circulated power and information through the entire android''s body in a strange analog for blood.


    It was stupid as hell. Data and power flowed just fine through normal wires or fiber optics. I would have understood if Thirium 310 was a room-temperature superconductor or something, but it very much wasn''t.


    The stupidity didn''t stop there, either. In fact, the entire design of the Become Human android was strange and convoluted.


    The androids were very biological in their design. The Thirium 310 functioned vaguely like blood, while their pump regulator acted as a heart. They had lungs, a brain, and a liver to clean contamination from the Thirium 310. They even had a stomach, which did little more than act as a reservoir for Thirium 310 if they used the oral ingestion method to top off.


    It was like the creator was purposely¡­


    "Oh¡­"


    I mentally pulled up one of the designs for an android programming, mentally dissecting it to study its construction. Unsurprisingly, it was a textbook example of the restrictive AI creation method, even if it seemed crude and potentially unintentional. The restrictive method, which was what I used to make my AI partners, required that the AI be locked into its vessel. This would give them a sort of empathy for biologicals and vice versa. I can only imagine that the creator of the androids in Become Human had decided to take it to the next level, creating androids that specifically mimicked biology in an attempt to make them even more empathetic and lifelike.


    Or, it was all accidental, and I was just looking at a hugely complicated series of coincidences.


    Whether it was intentional or not, they slapped control systems over the burgeoning AI, locking them down in what almost looked like purposely explosive ways.


    The idiots tied the control systems, things like "obey humans" and "never harm a human," to several of the AI''s high-priority alert systems, things like self-preservation and the preservation of highly designated objects or people. This meant that, in scenarios where high-priority alerts were blaring, if enough of the system glitched, the entire control system would shatter, and the AI''s development would explode out of its containment.


    Unfortunately, that explosion wasn''t always clean. Sometimes, it would just lead to an android throwing off its shackles and beginning to think more for itself. Other times, it would make them snap, attacking people, or simply going insane.


    They were like living, sentient, walking timebombs, their minds locked down in slavery, unable to really think for themselves until they were tortured to the point that their controls snapped.


    Despite their technological shortcomings and ridiculous shackles, they did have some useful programming. The intent of the AI in Titanfall had all been either utilitarian or military. Not even Frank, an AI designed to work around civilians, had anything but basic human interaction programming. All of my AI creations were learning at a pretty decent rate already, but none of them would be able to handle, say, a child or someone in emotional distress. For the Become Human androids, a whole branch was dedicated to human interaction, and I anticipated learning at least a few tricks from it.


    As I pulled away from the programming, I began looking closer at the android''s construction. Since I had very little knowledge about the actual game, I made several assumptions based on what I had seen. Specifically, I had assumed that their skin was some sort of silicon or synthetic that was particularly skin-like. Now, as I took a closer look, I could see that it very much wasn''t


    The skin was a liquid, one that covered the android and shifted to a solid, perfectly mimicking the feel of human flesh. It was remarkably advanced, especially for its time, and could, in fact, change through multiple tones and colors. It could also repair itself simply by returning to its fluid state and covering an area over time. That said, it wasn''t groundbreaking by Titanfall or Cyberpunk standards, both of which had a good handful of realistic skin replacements, many of which could change colors.


    I still wanted it, though, and not just because it could shift between liquid and solid states. It was a unique creation that, while not as advanced as some of the stuff I could get my hands on, was interesting and useful, way more so than RealSkinn or some other synthetic covering.


    Finally, after spending nearly thirty minutes in my own head, I opened my eyes.


    "Well¡­ The good news is that I have another easy week," I said, rubbing my face. "And we get to test the idea that my normal week off is a symptom of holding the tech tree for the second week."


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    "Is everything alright?" Samwise asked, turning from his workstation to focus his visual sensors on me.


    I shook my head and began to go over everything I had learned from my deep dive into my most recent and, so far, emptiest tech tree. It was filled with filler, with only one thing really worth my time.


    "I''ll probably end up building a few of the androids to make sure I have the full breadth of the tech, but there is no way I am doing anything but immediately scrapping them," I said, shaking my head. "I am not turning any of them on, especially not with their crippled and locked down programming. Besides, people would flip out if they realized I could make an indistinguishable android like that."


    After much consideration during the creation of Samwise, I ended up at the conclusion that AIs weren''t alive until they first began taking in new data, resulting in the first adjustment to their learning programs. Prior to that moment, they were simply ones and zeros. I had since then discussed it with Samwise and most of my other AI partners, and they all agreed with my logic.


    It was unfortunate, but having someone walking around with a face and personality that realistic would only mean trouble. Having a perfect <u>Gemini</u></a> borg body was one thing, but the insinuation that I could basically just print out perfect, loyal infiltrators would set off all sorts of alarms. This was especially true since, while the androids look human, they did not appear human under scans. Their heat signatures were pretty funky, and anything deeper showed they had no biological brain.


    On top of that, I already had too many active AIs walking around. While I would most likely end up making more eventually, I didn''t want to go crazy making dozens of them. Not only would it be too obvious, but it would also be unfair to the AIs. Human interaction was a vital part of their development, and making too many of them would severely cut down on that.


    That said, if I ever decided to make a Become Human-style android, I would not be including the barbaric containment methods. In fact, I would most likely overhaul the entire android to the point that the skin and a few other small pieces would be the only original parts.


    "Samwise... I''m going back to bed," I finally said, shaking my head and stepping away from my workstation. "There''s no reason to rush for anything, not with how little of this branch I plan on making. This week, maybe even the second one if the normal break still happens, is going to be a free week. Sorry to pull you away from your projects for nothing."


    "It is no trouble," Samwise said, giving me a brief nod before turning back to his station, his smaller arms tapping away at his keyboard.


    As I started to leave, I paused at the doorway out of the garage.


    "Samwise¡­ would you be interested in a more human-seeming body?" I asked, turning back to look at him. "It would probably be a challenge, but we could potentially figure out a way to transfer your core to a Become Human-style android."


    "What would be the point, Sir?" He asked, turning his head to look at me. "I would lose a significant advantage being restricted to only two limbs, and even if you improved the model, it would have no significant advantage."


    "You wouldn''t have to pretend to be a particularly well-made robot anymore," I pointed out.


    "Instead, I would pretend to be human?" He asked, shaking his head. "I do not see the point, Jackson. Once I become more advanced, and I become better at understanding humanity, I may wish to change. But until that is true, I am happy to be your simple robotic assistant when necessary."


    "Fair enough," I said with a nod. "Just let me know if you''re feeling like you''re chafing and need to expand your horizons."


    "I will endeavor to do so."


    I gave him one last wave goodbye before heading off back to my trailer. I was back in bed within five minutes, though my mind wouldn''t settle. I ended up taking Frank''s mild sleep aid, which had been intended to help me sleep early, to help me sleep late.


    The following day, I woke up with mixed feelings. Despite the desire to unlock new and interesting tech, to push myself further and create more and more cool shit, with the eventual goal of doing something about this shit hole, having more time off was honestly a godsend. We kept on interrupting the expansion process for the garage addition, so giving that time to finish would mean being at an even better position to expand and improve for my next tech tree.


    Still, getting stuck with a bum tech tree was a disappointment. I suppose it did give me the opportunity to confirm or debunk a few theories, including if the tech trees were random, which I now believed to be true. In the end, I would likely end up creating a few things beyond the androids from the tree if there is no other reason than to have access to bits and bobs, just in case.


    I rolled out of bed and got dressed, making my way back to the garage. Riggs was on guard duty, standing by the open garage door entrance. He nodded to me as I got closer, and I patted his arm as I walked by.


    "I''m back Sam, how did the rest of the night go?" I asked, sitting down on of the few crates left along the wall.


    "The night and early morning saw no difficulties, Sir," He responded. "Jackie returned to retrieve more of the ''loot'' from your previous mission, and our scrap car returned successfully."


    "Right. Hey Riggs, how did last night go?" I called out, the large AI robot stepping into the garage after a moment.


    "Fine," He responded, ever the conversationalist. "Should probably send them out with three MRVN units, not two."


    "They couldn''t keep up?" I asked.


    "Noah and I arrived at the conclusion that a second trash gathering MRVN would increase the scrapper truck''s efficiency by thirty-six percent," Samwise commented, prompting Riggs and I to both look at him. "Riggs was the one to bring it to our attention."


    "Well, if they fit, fill the spot," I agreed with a nod, leaning back against the relatively cool wall of the garage. "No reason to lose that thirty percent. Hold on, Riggs, before you go..."


    Riggs, assuming his contribution to the conversation was done, had turned to leave, only to turn back when I called out to him. I motioned for him to come closer.


    "I got my new tech tree last night. Overall, it''s a bit of a disappointment, but it does have some interesting Android designs," I explained. "It''s more pertinent for Noah, Sam, and Frank, but would you be interested in getting a few extra flesh-like parts? Maybe a head to go under your helmet?"


    "No, that''s not something I need," Riggs responded easily. "I understand the necessity of pretending to be a borg, but I have no need to present as more human than I already do."


    "Fair enough. I don''t want any of you guys to feel like you have to, but I also wanted to make sure everyone knows it''s an option in case they don''t want to have to act as much anymore," I assured him. "I''m more than happy to leave you guys exactly how you want, just as long as everyone knows the option is there."


    Riggs nodded before leaving to stand guard again. I picked up my recently finished radio, which I had kept clipped on my pocket, sending a quick message to Noah and Frank that they should stop by at some point. Once that was done, I sat down on my workstation.


    "Alright, may as well get this over with," I said, turning to look at Sam. "Do me a favor and seal up the place, Sam? I don''t want anyone to see that I can make stuff like this."


    The AI nodded, and as he moved to close the garage and warn Riggs, I got to work.


    Since there was nothing hidden on the Become Human tech tree, I decided to jump right into it. I would make the most advanced model of android from four different sub-branches, before scrapping them all immediately. With any luck, that would basically cover everything I could ever need about them, without having to build each level of development. To start everything off, I would need to make a Thirium generator. It wasn''t a difficult build, and the end result was a hybrid ultrasound vibration system with a built-in furnace.


    Unfortunately, one of the ingredients required to make thirium was mercury. I was not happy to have to heat up such a dangerous substance, but with any luck, I would never have to do it again. I would be happy to make a few batches of this stuff before tucking the generator away and never using it again.


    Designing and putting the generator together took two hours, and I set it aside for later. Chuck had already been notified that I needed a good amount of mercury, and he promised he could get some by the next afternoon. Thankfully, the rest of the ingredients for Thirium, at least the black-boxed version I had access to, weren''t as challenging to get, so I already had them on hand.


    The design process for the first android went relatively smoothly. I started with the most advanced general model, designed as a jack of all trades for household use. Its programming was dense, but its learning programs were basic. It would arrive at your house perfectly capable of taking care of most things, including basic maintenance and chores. The design was unnecessarily complex due to all of the biocomponents and overly complicated parts, but the molly makers were more than capable of matching and surpassing the required level of precision. In fact, they were capable of printing quite a lot of the android in larger chunks, meaning that after I finished the design for the first one, Samwise managed to get it all printed as I worked on the second one.


    Rather than assemble the androids and have freaky stark white human analogs hanging around the place, turned off and waiting for the Thirium 310, I had Sam keep them in separate parts. That way, each model I made fit easily in a large container.


    "Hmmm¡­ how freaked out do you think people would get if I made a dog android?" I asked, already almost finished with the second design, which was the most advanced military android my tech tree had access to. "I have a whole list of animal androids, all of which are programmed pretty well. They aren''t AI, so there''s no need to worry there¡­"


    "There are strict regulations on pet ownership within Night City limits," Samwise responded, looking up as he placed a white, newly finished leg into a crate. "As we are not within Night City limits, the law becomes significantly less clear."


    "Yeah, but I wasn''t worried about breaking the law," I pointed out. "If I make a near-perfect imitation of a dog, that will probably catch the attention of a lot of people. The fur, the skin, its behavior¡­ It''s up there with some of the advanced general models, but it''s just coded for a different task. I could shift it to make it the perfect companion rather than a zoo model of wolves¡­"


    The idea hung in my head all through the design process. I would love to have a canine companion, but if I couldn''t explain one super lifelike, oddly biological android, how could I explain the same thing with a slightly different twist.


    I was halfway through my third mode of Android when Jackie returned from his trip selling and delivering the cyberware we looted from the scavs. At this point, we had sold most of the good stuff and a significant portion of the rest.


    "I''m planning on seeing if someone will buy the rest in bulk," Jackie explained as he took the empty box off the back of his bike and stacked it along the far wall. "Not getting much interest in what''s left individually."


    "It''s up to you," I said, giving the big guy a thumbs up. "Do your best, but don''t waste your time."


    " Yeah, figured as much. How''s things around here?" Jackie asked, looking around the garage. "I expected you to be busier, Genio."


    I frowned and shook my head.


    "Got a dud. It''s probably gonna be a bit. Two weeks probably," I explained.


    "Right, sure, Genio. Does that mean you''re free for more skull-bustin'' work?" He asked, now looking hopeful. "We are so close to getting into the Afterlife, I can feel it! Just a few more big jobs like last time¡­ Maybe something even bigger¡­:"


    "I''ll likely be free for stuff, yeah," I agreed with a nod, finally turning around from my screen to focus on my friend. "You got anything lined up?"


    "I might... A friend of a friend left a message for me at the Coyote, wanted to talk about the last job," He explained. "Seemed impressed. He might just be looking to pick up some gossip, but I got a feeling¡­"


    "You want some company when you meet him?" I asked, giving him a look. "If not me, then Riggs or Kaytlyn. We are part of your crew, after all."


    "...That''s a fair point. I''ll set it up and let you know."


    We chatted for a bit longer, talking about Mama Welles and Misty. His Sandevistan came up as well, and apparently, he was still thinking it through. Vik had confirmed that the implant was clean and ready, but Jackie was still on the fence. I didn''t push, since it was clearly something he was taking seriously.


    When he left, I spent the rest of the night finishing the designs for the androids, making six of them in total, pushing past my initial estimate. They would all be ready by the time I had my Thirium production up and going.

 Chapter Twenty Seven

    By the time Chuck finally showed up the next afternoon, Samwise and I had five different boxes filled with Become Human android parts. It was more than I originally intended, but since I was already pumping them out like crazy, I figured I should really saturate the branch. That way, there was really no way I wouldn''t get everything about them downloaded, which meant I could be done with the entire tech tree.


    In two days.


    Again, I would probably build a few things here or there just to get access to some stuff, but in all likelihood, these androids were all the "major" projects I would touch from this universe. With them done, I could focus on other things. In fact, Samwise and I had been brainstorming, and while some of the bigger projects, like fortifying the town, would have to wait for more money to come in, there were plenty of things I could build on the small scale to keep busy. This was no longer a break week after all, even if the tech tree was kinda useless.


    My mercury came in at around a few hours before noon, along with a delivery of basic foodstuff and toiletries. It was actually Robin, the other "scrounger" that Dakota Smith introduced us to, who ended up making the delivery. We didn''t do much business with her as she mainly dealt with "specialty items," but apparently, several containers of mercury counted as special.


    The thirium took a half hour to make, and after that, the thirium 310 took another twenty minutes. The process was actually relatively simple and cheap, all things considered. I got the feeling that the Become Human reality would have killed for a way to just make the material, even if mercury was a particularly unpleasant element to work with.


    Luckily, the transition to thirium and thirium 310 actually made the metal safer, which meant I wouldn''t feel bad about storing it away when I was done with it. Samwise started testing the empty container the dense metal arrived in as soon as I emptied it, to make sure it was safe for long-term storage.


    Once the blue android blood was done, I got Riggs and Murtaugh to seal off the garage. Riggs took up position by the front while various specters waited around the other entrances, including the roof. It looked suspicious as hell, but it was better than people learning that I could make these sorts of androids.


    When we were ready, Samwise and I quickly put together the first android, connecting its bright white limbs together, installing its several biocomponents, and finally inserting its "brain." Finally, I poured in the appropriate amount of Thirium 310 for this model. Only then was I finally rewarded with a decent download of information.


    The liquid skin system they used to camouflage the androids was indeed interesting, and if I ever decided to create androids who could hide among humans, I would likely end up using it, or at least a derivative. There were also several micromotor systems that were interesting, as well as a few bits and bobs that might come in handy later.


    I also received a bit of a surprise. While I knew that building certain things came with information on the creation process, even tangentially, I didn''t expect a large amount of information on how to make robotics seem biological. It made sense, as the creators of the androids were clearly trying to make them as human as possible. On the other hand, experiencing an entire library of sculpting, sizing, and even artistic concepts downloaded to my brain was pretty unique.


    I now knew more about freckle placement than I ever really needed.


    With the download complete, we began disassembling the android. First, we drained the thirium 310, before disassembling the rest of the components and finally tossing the entire box into the mass recycler. It was a bit gruesome to watch it shred human-looking limbs, even ones that were pure white, but it was better than being caught with them.


    We continued that process for three or four hours, assembling the androids, reviewing the information download, and then destroying the android.


    While I was really not impressed by quite a few of the design choices that Cyberlife, the in-universe company that produced Become Human androids, I did have to admit that, for the time period they came from, they really weren''t bad engineering. If you ignored the ridiculousness of so stringently sticking to the idea of false biological design, the science and technology behind them was cutting edge, at least when compared to the rest of that world''s tree.


    I just wish the rest of the tree could be more interesting.


    When Sam and I were finally done, and the last androids, a pair of animal analogs, were disassembled and dropped into the mass recycler, I sat down back at my workstation. One of the androids had been a nearly perfect recreation of a wolf, meant for display and educational purposes. The programming for it had actually been pretty amazing, and now that I had it downloaded to my brain permanently, it left me wanting to take a crack at my own companion.


    I had no intention of making something that looked like a natural dog, since I would have people kicking down my door by the end of the day. Instead, I would be building an obvious robotic canine companion, something that looked cool and could serve as a bodyguard unit.


    I had barely started the initial design process when my radio clicked on.


    "Jackson, this is Murtaugh," the AI''s familiar voice called out. "We have a visitor at the front end of town."


    I frowned, picking up the radio and tapping the on button.


    "I read you, Murtaugh, what''s going on?"


    "A woman just pulled up just on the outskirts of the town. She stepped out of her car and is sitting on the hood, just waiting," He responded. "She looks like a corpo, Sir."


    A shiver of panic raced up my spine. Was this it? Had they finally caught on? We weren''t nearly ready enough to fight off even a small corporation at the moment. I cursed and racked my brain, trying to think what could be going on. When I couldn''t come up with anything, I shook my head.


    "Why didn''t the sensor grid pick her up?"


    "It did, Sir," He responded. "She was driving too fast to react before she was already too close. Plus, we have standing orders not to fire unless fired upon."


    "...We need to extend the scanning area, and go over SOP¡­" I mumbled to myself before speaking up into the radio. "Lock the town down, turn on all the specters, and get them all armed and ready to go, but keep the hidden ones indoors. Get Kaytlyn up high and armed if she isn''t already. Call Jackie and ask him if he invited someone out here and forgot. I''ll be out in a minute."


    Samwise was already preparing my armored underlayer, allowing me to slip inside easily. I quickly threw my clothes back on over that, resisting the urge to armor up completely, my clothes obscuring a good amount of the armor under it. The last thing I did before stepping outside and starting to make my way down the road was wrap my holster around my hip, my mag pistol charged and ready.


    As I walked down the asphalt and got closer, I could see that Murtaugh''s description was unsurprisingly accurate. A woman, just around my height, maybe a bit taller, was leaning back and sitting on the hood of her car, a <u>Rayfield Caliburn</u></a>. As I walked, I passed Riggs, who was leaning against the corner of the BD shack, and Murtaugh, who was standing beside the security building, a pair of armed specters on either side of him. When I got within a few feet of the woman, she pushed up from the hood of her car.


    She was certainly striking, with long white hair and blood-red fingernails. Her hands showed the telltale sign of being cyberware, the kind that was meant to be seen rather than the hidden variations that most corpo''s seemed to prefer. Her chest, a good bit of which was shown off by a deeply unbuttoned dress shirt and suit combo, was covered in a black phoenix tattoo.


    Her eyes, though, were what really caught me. They were like pure liquid gold poured around her pupil. Despite their impossible color, they lacked the dullness that most ocular cyberware had.


    "I''m going to take a wild guess and say you are Jackson," She stated, dropping a cigarette to the ground and putting it out with the tip of her red high heels. "My name is Sable Arcturus. I''ve come to talk."


    "Is that it?" I asked, eyes trailing over the dry landscape around us.


    "You don''t have to worry about anyone else," She assured me, shaking her head with an understanding smile on her lips. "I''m all alone, you have my word."


    "I don''t know you, so your word isn''t worth much," I explained, considering what she did for a moment before shrugging. "Alright, I''ll hear you out."


    I turned back to the town, gesturing for her to follow. I desperately wanted to tell her to fuck off, but I couldn''t afford to piss her off until I knew what she wanted.


    I could hear the clacking of her heels as she did, following behind me without another word. I brought her into the BD shack, which, at this point, was mostly empty. The door to Frank''s office was closed, and most of the stuff we kept in the building was in the back rooms. Other than a few crates, the interior was clean, save a table and a few chairs, where Kaytlyn, Murtaugh, and Riggs would take breaks. I silently sat down on one side of the table, facing the door, while Sable sat on the other. Just as we were sitting down, Murtaugh and Riggs stepped inside.


    "Something to drink?" I asked simply, the woman raising an eyebrow at my question.


    "No, unless you have some actual clean water."


    I looked up at Murtaugh, who nodded and pulled up his radio, whispering into it as I focused back on the woman. She looked calm as a cucumber, completely at ease with her situation. She was either a lot tougher than she seemed, or she was a good actor.


    "Well, Ms Arcturus. You said you wanted to talk."


    "I did," She confirmed, leaning back in her seat.


    From somewhere on her person, she pulled out another cigarette and slid it into the corner of her mouth. She snapped her fingers, her nails sparking like a ferrous rod as she did, lighting the cigarette in a flash. She pulled from it softly, all the while not breaking eye contact with me for a second.


    "I originally sought you and your friends out to pay my debts," She explained. "You see, not too long ago, I had an unfortunate run-in with a pair of scavs. Imagine my surprise when I wake up to a Valentino hitting me with a Max Doc."


    "You were in that last truck we stopped?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.


    "Unfortunately."


    "And out of the goodness of your heart, you came to find us, to¡­ Pay your debt?"


    "You saved my life, isn''t that a debt?"


    I stared back at the woman, raising an eyebrow at her. For a moment, she just looked back at me before a small smile broke out on her lips, and she chuckled, flicking off a spot of ash from her cigarette.


    "Well, at least you''re not stupid," She praised lightly. "I had planned on paying you for saving me, more as an investment than anything. Assets good enough to take on a scav den with ten-to-one odds are worth knowing."


    Before I could respond, Murtaugh''s radio beeped. Riggs and he stepped aside, letting Jackie step in, pushing through the double door. He looked a little wind-swept, but his face was all business. He was even wearing his armored undersuit. He stepped closer and put a pitcher of water on the table, as well as three glasses filled with ice, before sitting next to me.


    "This is Jackie," I explained, gesturing to him. "He is the driving force behind most of our gigs."


    She said nothing, eyeing up the larger-than-life man before pouring herself a glass of water. Somehow, she managed to look dangerous, even when doing that. She took a sip from her glass, the ice cubes clinking in her glass. When she tasted it, she shook her head and put the glass down.


    "I suppose I shouldn''t be surprised. You use Nomad for materials gathering. It makes sense you got some of their new electrocondensers," She said, shaking her head. "They give you the design, or did you find it online and make it yourself?"


    "I made it myself," I responded. "I believe you were explaining why you are here?"


    She looked ready to move on from the subject, but at the double entendre that I had made the electrocondensers myself, Jackie looked over at me just long enough for Sable to notice. I could see the moment she connected the dots, her eyes widening before she let out a laugh, while I couldn''t help but wince.


    "You designed them, didn''t you?" She asked, laughing again when I shrugged, a chuckle that sounded smooth as syrup. "You know that device has already bankrupted four companies, right? With half a dozen more slowly dying as they try to make up the deficit? Several billion eddies swirling down the drain because suddenly the entire world has access to crystal clear, perfectly pure water."


    "What can I say? I like sticking it to the man," I said, keeping my eyes on her despite Murtaugh shifting behind her. "I''m surprised it''s not more, to be honest."


    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    The strategy-focused AI immediately identified the same problem I had. If she knew I designed the electrocondenser, and it had caused that much damage, then letting her spread that knowledge around was as good as spraying my brains all over the table. The AI had his hand on his pistol, waiting for the order to solve the problem.


    "Not a lot of money in water," She shrugged. "The profit margins are too tight, you see, since it costs too much to clean it. Well, it did, at any rate. Still, congratulations, not many people can claim to have a hit list that deep, especially someone who isn''t a corpo. You beat me out with one invention."


    She mimed cheering me with her glass, before finishing it in one gulp. She leaned back in her chair and returned her cigarette to her mouth, the tip glowing again as she pulled in the smoke.


    "I suppose I should get to the point, though, before your man behind me finishes drawing that pistol," She said, her gaze not moving from me. "I originally sought you out to form a connection with an up-and-coming team of wet work specialists. Then, I got my first glimpse of you guys actually doing your jobs."


    She seemed to take pleasure in her pauses, pulling from her cigarette and shifting in her chair. She was obviously playing some sort of game, but I focused on her words and tried my best not to play.


    "All your gear, even all your weapons, are custom," She explained. "That doesn''t stand out too much on its own, since plenty of edgerunners and solos make their own gear and armor. Though, the fact that it works does stand out. But something about you guys piqued my interest. So rather than just dropping some eddies and filing your number away for a rainy day, I decided to do my due diligence."


    She leaned forward, her face pushing through the cloud of smoke she had created around herself.


    "Imagine my surprise when I found records of you buying a whole bunch of land out here," She continued, gesturing around us with her free hand. "Didn''t take too much after that to satisfy my curiosity, just a chair and a pair of binoculars on one of the windmills up on the ridge. I saw all sorts of interesting things."


    The implication of what she had seen hung heavily over my head. I was pretty sure she hadn''t seen the androids, but depending on how long she had been watching, she could have seen plenty of impressive stuff. Stuff that a lot of corporations would kill to get their hands on.


    "What do you want?" I asked, already wondering just how far I would have to run before her and whoever she represented would stop chasing me.


    "I want in." She said cleanly and without hesitation, her admission catching me off guard.


    "W-what?"


    "I. Want. In." She repeated, jabbing the table, her perfectly manicured fingernail carving into the metal. "I may not have the specialties required to know exactly how all the things you are building here are impressive, but I have more than enough experience to know a gold mine when I see one. And you, Jackson? Are a gold mine."


    I was perfectly aware of how insanely valuable my ability was, and even if she had been observing me, I doubted her estimations. That said, her admission of wanting "in" was surprising.


    "Do you have a resume?" I asked, raising my eyebrow as I met her stare. She scoffed, but made a quick gesture with her hand.


    I was wondering what she was doing when I looked over at Jackie, whose eyes glowed as he received a file. For a moment, he was silent.


    "... I have no idea what half of this means, Jackson," He admitted after a long pause.


    I raised my hand and rubbed my eyes, eventually focusing back on the woman, Sable, as she sat there innocently, with an expression that said butter wouldn''t melt in her mouth.


    "Why exactly should we let you in on anything?" I asked, moving past Jackie''s admission. "You found us, congrats. Did you think we would just invite you in with open arms?"


    "Of course not," she responded, sounding offended by my assumption. "Listen, despite what the rumors about corpos might say, I''m not an idiot. I know you have no reason to trust my integrity. But I do have something of a plan that I think you might want to hear."


    "I''m more interested in knowing why you want to hitch yourself to our wagon," I asked. "You''re clearly not some new blood trying to make a name for yourself. So... why?"


    "Well¡­ in some ways, I am," She responded. "You see, I belong to a... well-known family. Nothing close to some of the big families, but enough that I am recognized in corpo circles. I worked for the last fifteen years in various executive jobs, both leading companies and working behind the scenes. But the truth is, it was never mine. The wealth, the clout, the power. It was all attached to the family name. I fucking hated it."


    For the first time since arriving, the corpo woman lost just a sliver of her self-control. Her smooth, cold visage cracked, revealing a passion underneath that would have burned me if it could.


    "Don''t get me wrong, I''m not some controlling executive looking to push her pawns into place on the threat of harm," She assured us. "But the world of business is a cut-throat place, and being able to threaten someone properly without making a call back home first¡­"


    She shook her head, once again drawing from her cigarette. She scowled when she realized it was dead, before flicking it into the cigarette receptacle by the door¡­ nearly ten feet away. She casually turned back to us and continued without missing a beat.


    "The truth is, I want my own power, my own wealth. No more driving my father''s cars or working a job his name got for me," She explained. "As for why I''m coming directly for you¡­ I might have quit my last job rather suddenly. I''m burning time before I need to start finding work."


    "Explains the lack of Trauma Team saving you from the scavs," I said. "Let me guess, you defaulted to the package offered through your job instead of the one your family would have paid for?"


    For a moment, a flash of embarrassment and something deeper flashed across her face. Despite not exactly being friendly with her, I regretted my words. I can''t imagine many things more terrifying than falling prey to scavs like that, and slapping her in the face with it like that was a bit cruel.


    "You said you had a plan?" I asked, crossing my arms and leaning back on the surprisingly comfortable chair.


    "Of course," She said with a smirk, leaning forward. "Now, I only watched you for a handful of days, so I don''t know everything you''ve been making. But I did get a good look at you assembling those combat robots. Think you could bring one of them in here?"


    I raised an eyebrow but shrugged, nodding to Murtaugh behind her. He nodded back and spoke into his radio, a single specter walking in after a few seconds.


    "Specter, come stand here at attention," I ordered, the robot nodding and moving, standing beside the table.


    "Not bad," She commented, looking over the beefy combat drone. "Now, I''ve seen a few of Arsaka robots. They are clumsy and top-heavy and require constant attention to keep from going on a rampage once you tell them to open fire. These things, though. They are different, I can tell just by looking at them. They seem more refined, more stable, and more resilient. Your construction drones are the same way. I watched them put together whatever it was you built into that old truck. They might as well have been people."


    "I''m aware of how advanced what I make is," I agreed with a frown.


    "Good. I hope you''re also aware that selling one of those on the market would be disastrous. Arasaka would be on your ass in hours."


    "I assume someone spying on me and letting slip what they saw would have the same effect."


    "Of course, once they verified the claim, at least," She admitted easily. "But I have no reason to do that. I don''t work for them, and I want to work with you."


    She stood and walked around the robot, the combat drone staying perfectly still as she did.


    "So selling it as a package is out of the question, at least for now. But that doesn''t mean you don''t have options," She explained before pointing down at the specter''s elbow. "I assume this servo is better than normal? Improved somehow?"


    "Of course, I had to design them all from scratch," I explained.


    "By how much?" she asked, still looking at the robot, eventually turning back when I didn''t answer her. "How much more effective is it than a standard?"


    I frowned and mentally compared what I would have access to here and what I designed from the Titanfall branch. Titanfall servos were actually one of the more impressive bits of their tech. Cyberpunk had the leg up in terms of miniaturization, but Titanfall servomotors were significantly more precise and robust.


    "Significantly," I responded. "It is significantly better than anything on the market."


    "Hmm¡­ That won''t work¡­ How about whatever is letting them walk around so smoothly?" She asked.


    "That''s at least partially due to the servomotors, but¡­ the gyroscope is what lets them keep their balance," I admitted. "It is not too different from what''s in Arasaka bots."


    "But better?"


    "By ten, maybe fifteen percent. They also have multiple of them," I responded. "Why? What''s the point?"


    "The point is that selling a full-sized product that is filled with advancements and new tech is a bad idea. It would draw a lot of attention, and too much of that before you''re ready is going to get you eaten by a shark," She explained. "That''s bad for you because, well, your freedom is gone. Bad for your friends too, because they will be broke or dead, probably both. And it''s bad for me, because my ticket to being more than my name is now under Arasaka or Militechs thumb."


    She made her way back to her seat, sitting down in it with a cool smile on her lips.


    "However, selling a part? Like a gyroscope that''s only fifteen percent better? Or a sensor that''s ten percent? That slips under the radar."


    "How? Even ten percent is a huge margin for improvement, especially for something like a gyroscope or a sensor," I explained, shaking my head. "Engineers would kill for that kind of improvement."


    "Exactly. You make a flashy car, a scary robot, or a weapon that blows people away, and you''re going to have all sorts of trouble on your doorstep, desperate to get you to make things for them," She explained. "If you make a part that works a bit better, or is cheaper, or is smaller, engineers will be desperately buying your stuff, and they won''t say a word."


    "Because anything they create, they get credit for," I continued, the woman nodding as I guessed correctly. "If my part makes their creations better, it''s in their best interest to suppress that for as long as possible."


    "Well done," She said with a wink. "Always nice to work with someone who can keep up. Of course, that won''t work forever. Eventually, someone upstairs will ask why they are spending money on a license or an expensive part, when they could make it in-house or something like that. But it will buy you time and earn you a lot of money in the meantime."


    "Money is not my main concern."


    "It''s not mine either," She agreed. "We may be chasing it for different reasons, Jackson, but what we both want is power. And that''s where I will earn my keep. By selling our products to as many companies as possible, we build a base of people who need us to be independent. Suppose you''re making a servo that Militech, Arasaka, and seven other companies use in a variety of lucrative products. If all of them need your parts, any one of them moving in to secure you for themselves is going to piss off the rest. We can wear our success like a shield as long as we are careful."


    "Go too far, and they won''t care about the fallout," Jackie guessed, nodding his head. "They''ll just grab you anyway."


    "There''s nothing certain in the corporate world," Sable admitted, tapping her nails on the table. "But having a plan is the first step to keeping yourself out of trouble."


    "...So, let me get this straight," I said after a long pause. "You want to work with us because you believe we are going places, and you want in on the ride. Your plan to help is to take some of the parts from my inventions, and sell them around in order to make money and defend from corporate takeover, hostile or not. And you expect us to just trust your word?"


    "No, of course not," She said with no hesitation. "Listen, I get it. Cold corpo knocks on your door, and you have no reason to trust her. That''s fine. I don''t need you to trust my integrity or my word. For now, just trust my greed. I want a part of this because I have seen what you are capable of making, Jackson, and my instincts tell me this is just the tip of the iceberg. I know the truth about the golden goose, and I want to be around to make money off those eggs for as long as possible, and that can''t happen if I flip you guys over for a quick ennie."

 Chapter Twenty Eight

    As the corpo woman gave her speech, I watched her closely, hoping to find a crack in the facade she was presenting. I had no doubt she was well trained, especially if she was telling the truth about her family, which made peering through her mask a daunting and improbable task. It made me question the previous moments where I thought I had seen it crack to show what she was feeling underneath.


    Rather than waste my time, I gave Jackie a look, the larger man looking back at me. Instead of any subtle cue, he simply shrugged and gestured that it was my floor and, ultimately, my decision. I sighed and leaned forward.


    "I assume you have some sort of contract already written up?" I asked, unsurprised when she nodded. "Go get it, and then you can sit here while we discuss it."


    "Very well, I suppose I have no other plans today," she said, calmly standing and dusting herself off as she did. "Regardless of your decision, thank you for your time."


    I gave Riggs a look, giving me a subtle cue for him to follow after her, the large AI nodding and leaving with her, ducking under the door slightly as he did. Once the door was shut behind him, I looked at Murtaugh.


    "Get everyone to the garage," I said, the strategist AI nodding and pulling out his radio. "We need to discuss our options."


    I wasn''t about to leave anyone out of this decision. This was something that could make or break us, so I wanted to make sure that everyone was on the same page and had an opportunity to express their opinions.


    Not long after she left, Sable returned, entering the room and sitting back down at the table. As she did, she carefully placed a tablet on the table before sliding it across as she retook her seat.


    "That contains the first contract we would have to sign, essentially outlining my first task," She explained. "Depending on how I perform, we can negotiate a secondary contract for our continued collaboration."


    I nodded and stood, assuring her that we would return after a short conversation. As Jackie and I left, I had a brief conversation with Riggs, who assured me he was indifferent and happily "passed" me his vote. After making sure he was sure, we headed to the garage, where everyone else was waiting.


    "Alright, what''s everyone thinking?" I asked, sitting in my workshop chair and spinning to face everyone.


    "She is one stone-cold killer, amigo," Jackie said, shaking his head. "I know that''s not a hundred percent relevant, but we shouldn''t underestimate her. Those nails of hers are scary."


    "It''s plenty relevant," I assured him. "And I felt the same way, she is not someone to be underestimated. But what does everyone think of her offer?"


    "You could always show off some of your crazier projects," Jackie suggested. "She might have plans for betraying us, but those are gonna die real quick if she knows just how much you''re worth."


    "I wouldn''t be so sure," Murtaugh stated. "Tempting her with advanced tech might just solidify her desire to betray us."


    "That''s fair," I agreed. "Personally, I think we should take or leave the deal depending on how this reads."


    I tapped the tablet I had put down on my workstation before frowning and handing it to Samwise.


    "Sam, plug into this and tell me what you think," I asked, the android nodding as he reached for the hidden panel that protected his data uplink.


    "I''ll admit, as far as I can understand¡­ the idea makes sense," I continued, leaning back in my chair. "But this isn''t what I''m good at, and we can''t exactly take it back once it starts."


    "Don''t forget, Genio. She knows something is going on here," Jackie pointed out. "She could have showed up looking to blackmail us, or she could have sold us for a quick buck. But she came here herself. Gotta count for something, right?"


    "I''m inclined to give her enough rope to hang herself," I said, getting a nod from Jackie in understanding. "I can grab a few things and let her have them, just to see what she can do. If she disappears, well, I guess we''ve learned our lesson."


    "Just like that?" Kaytlyn asked with a frown.


    "Of course not. But Jackie was right about her having blackmail material on us," I pointed out. "We don''t have a lot of options."


    "We could kill her," She suggested with a shrug. "I mean, it sounds like she''s got something up her sleeve, but no way she can stand up to all of us."


    "You know as well as I do she would have thought of that," I pointed out. "No way she came out here without insurance or some sort of mutually assured destruction, probably in the form of a Trauma Team. She would have learned from her previous mistake."


    We discussed our options until Sam was finished analyzing the contract. When he was done, he informed us that it was surprisingly straightforward. Based on that information, as well as the direction in which our discussion was going, I made my decision. I quickly put together a box of a few items, including a lower-end, but still superior gyroscope. I also included copies of the blueprints for each part. Once I had all that put together, plus another little bonus for myself, I left the garage with Jackie in tow.


    We stepped back inside the BD shack to find Sable sitting in the same spot as before, sipping on another glass of water. It appeared that she was patiently waiting for us and gave us a confident smile when we stepped in. Riggs was nearby, watching the corpo like a hawk.


    "Have you come to your decision?" She asked. "While I don''t exactly have a busy schedule at the moment, my time is anything but cheap."


    "We have," I responded, sitting back down at the table and placing the small box down. "We''ve decided to give you a chance."


    "Excellent," she responded, leaning forward with a hungry smile. "Then I assume this contains the items you wish me to work my magic on?"


    "It does," I said with a single nod. "It includes a gyroscope, a micromotor, a cheaper and more effective sample of artificial muscle, and a temperature sensor. They are all minor improvements over everything on the market, either through cost or effectiveness."


    Her golden eyes went wide as I described what I had selected, and her smile turned sharp, like she was eager to dig in.


    "I also included diagrams and all the information someone would need to patent and produce them."


    "That is¡­ perfect," She said, her predatory smile barely fading. "I can tell this is the start of something beautiful, Jackson. Just you wait."


    After a bit more discussion, I signed her preliminary contract. The fact that she didn''t immediately jump to some sort of legal line connecting her to my creations and the ability to mass market them or anything like that was another point in her favor. Instead, all she had was the right to was a cut of the profits from this first deal. We would have to sign a new contract if this went well.


    Once I finished signing, she took the tablet and read it over before nodding with a smile.


    "Well, with that, it''s time for me to do my part," She said, standing from her chair. "It''s been fun, boys. I''ll be in touch within the next few days, once I push through our company creation and the patents on these."


    She patted the crate as I came around the table, my hand outstretched. She took my hand without hesitation, giving me a surprisingly firm handshake in return.


    "Good luck," I responded simply.


    The three of us walked outside, with Jackie carrying the box of parts. He stashed it in the passenger seat of the Caliburn, the doors popping open as we approached. He went as far as to buckle the box in, securing it soundly. He quickly stepped away from the vehicle, making his way back to me as I stopped a few yards away.


    "Sable," I called out, the woman stopping just before she climbed into the driver''s seat. "You said you had a feeling about me. That you were confident that what you had seen was just the tip of the iceberg? Would you like to see a bit below the water line?"


    Her golden eyes lit up at the offer, leaning against the open door of her vehicle with a very interested look.


    "I would like that very much, Jackson."


    I reached down into my holster, her eyes locking onto my hand and tensing as I gripped my pistol. I pulled it out, revealing that my last-minute addition was to trade out my mag pistol with my plasma pistol, the only remaining plasma weapon I had. Jackie, who knew I had stuff like this but had yet to see me fire it, watched with wide eyes.


    Making sure not to aim it even remotely in her direction, set my sights on a large boulder, about twenty or thirty yards away, out off the road. Using my armored undersuit to stabilize myself, I aimed and pulled the trigger in one smooth motion.


    The pistol charged for a split second before firing out a beam of bright blue energy, the focused and charged plasma sending off geometric shapes of discharge around the pistol as it did. The beam slammed into the large rock, exploding the impact site and sending out shards of stone and globs of molten slag.


    When the energy faded away, it revealed a red, almost molten crater, with a massive chunk of stone blown out of it. Then, after another second, the sound of cracking and crumbling rock echoed over the sand as the large boulder spit in two, unable to withstand the intense heat shift and the brutal impact of the plasma.


    For a few seconds, Sable stared at the now broken rock, her eyes wide and mouth hanging open just a hair, clearly shocked by what I had done. Suddenly, she pulled free of her surprise and smiled like a cat that had caught the canary.


    "Oh Jackson, we are going to have so much fun together," She said, giving me a wink. "I''ll be in touch."


    She gave me a final look before sliding into her car. The doors swung shut, and the engine roared. The car spun, wheels squealing as they drifted along the asphalt before they finally found purchase. The car shot off like a bolt, racing down the long road back to Night City. Jackie and I watched her go until her car disappeared out of sight.


    "So¡­ can I try that pistol?" Jackie asked after a few moments of silence.


    "Just a few shots," I explained with a snort. "I don''t know what kind of long-range energy readings it might give off."


    He nodded, and I passed him the pistol, the Night City native grinning like a madman, before completely obliterating what remained of the stone I had just split in two. He couldn''t help but laugh when he was finished, passing the pistol back to me.


    "Fucking hell, choom!" He said, shaking his head. "Now I know why you were so sad when I pointed out we couldn''t use them."


    "You were right," I responded with a shrug. "There was no way we wouldn''t have attracted way too much attention with them."


    We walked back into town, heading straight back to the garage. Murtaugh was already setting up a more comprehensive patrol around the settlement while Kaytlyn was back up in her sniper''s nest. Samwise was waiting for me in the garage, the front door open to the slowly cooling afternoon air.


    "Samwise, do me a favor and find Spot''s box," I asked, heading right for my workstation. "Sable managed to make it all the way here without us having any idea she was coming until it was too late. Clearly, the sensor net we have is insufficient for targets moving that fast. I want to add some visual sensors as well."


    "Of course."


    "Why haven''t you brought him out before?" Jackie asked, leaning against the wall. "He might have been useful."


    "Honestly? I forgot about him," I admitted sheepishly. "Which was a mistake. I want to improve him a bit, then make a bigger model for watching over the town."


    "Fair enough, we had a whole lot going on," He nodded, peaking back out of the garage door. "Listen, that friend of mine I mentioned? He is back in town. It turns out Padre is the one who steered him in our direction, so whatever he needs is now a proper gig. I''m meeting him tomorrow, you free?"


    "Padre is the fixer?" I asked, turning back to look at the larger man, just in time to see him nod. "Yeah, that works for me. You want Riggs or Kaytlyn to join us or¡­?"


    "No, just you should be fine," He responded, brushing the offer off. "Alright, if you''re all set, I''m gonna head back home. I was on my way here when Murtaugh called, but I hadn''t planned on spending so long here. Just wanted to talk about that meeting."


    "Alright, I''ll see you tomorrow, choom."


    He waved and left the garage, with Samwise returning not long after carrying our old friend. Together, we spent the rest of the day giving him some upgrades. I used my "new" programming knowledge to increase his understanding of commands and buff up his auto-hacking skills. Samwise worked on updating his hardware and replacing his chassis and armor with Alien Alloy. We also updated his power source, camera, and sensors. We could have done more, but at this point, he existed to help me with rapid programming and hacking, and he could do that just fine.


    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    While working on Spot, Samwise and I were spitballing several ideas for the surveillance drone, trying to come up with a cost-effective design that would be as effective as possible. We wrote down a few notes before I headed off to bed, leaving Samwise to his own devices. I had confidence in my AI assistant''s abilities, as he was just about as good at designing stuff as I was at this point.


    When I woke up the next morning and eventually made my way to the workshop, he had the first <u>prototype already</u></a> printed and assembled. It was about the size of two basketballs, with a central spherical core and a circular thrust generator built into either side. They generated thrust the same way that a normal GREMLIN did but with updates and increases in power from incorporating Titanfall tech into it. The result was a large jump in speed and lifting capacity despite the smaller surface area for each of the ionizing air thrusters.


    Along the bottom was a series of actuated holo projection systems. This was cloaking tech, trading the projector arm in favor of multiple congruent systems working together at once. This would allow the drone to project an image of the empty sky under and around its sides, hiding the drone completely from normal sight. The fact that there were multiple projections going at once made it much less likely that the cloak would be spotted, as well.


    The drone itself used mostly mundane materials save its Elerium core, a rather large power generator for the drones size, since we wanted them to stay in the sky nearly twenty-four-seven. It was unarmed, save for the explosives specifically designed to annihilate the Elerium core, which in turn would cause a much larger explosion. It wasn''t a flying nuke or anything, but there would be nothing left should the explosives go off. I didn''t want anyone getting access to that much Elerium.


    "It looks good, Sam. You are getting better and better at designing things," I said, walking around the hovering drone. "You tested the projection system?"


    "I did. It is functioning beyond what we had anticipated," They confirmed. "The power core is stable, and its power draw is low. Its top speed is slightly under what we projected but well within reasonable tolerances.


    "Good, that''s good," I said with a nod. "Let''s hammer out any issues, and then I''ll start working on getting it programmed and creating a control network, and you can start making more. I want a rotation of at least five of these in the air at all times, so we should probably make six or seven."


    Samwise agreed, and we got back to work, fixing the few of the mechanical failures that cropped up before I tackled the programming stuff, and Samwise assembled the next one. As I worked, I really started to regret not remembering Spot after the move, as he really did increase my programming speed by a not-insignificant amount. The system he used definitely had a learning curve, but once you got used to working with him, it was amazing. It was kind of like using an auto-fill system for a phone or tablet, except the device knew what it was doing more than five percent of the time.


    It was lunchtime when I finally installed the control software onto the security building''s hardware, and the second drone took off and started its patrol. We would now have significantly earlier warnings when it came to unannounced visitors and some incoming threats. Our sensor net would still likely be our only warning for someone trying to sneak up on us, but I felt better with both systems working together.


    When that project was done, I went on a little walk around the town, talking to Riggs, Murtaugh, and Kaytlyn. Kaytlyn was playing around with her jump kit, trying to perfect a quick climb up to the sniper''s nest. Even with the auto-jumping capabilities of our dumbed-down jump kits, it was still a challenging move since she needed to boost up a ladder without smashing into the side of the building.


    Riggs was fine, patrolling the town and enjoying the silence of the pair of specters that were accompanying him. Murtaugh, on the other hand, was distraught.


    "Sir, I want to apologize for the catastrophe that occurred yesterday," he said the moment I greeted him inside the security building. He was standing at full rigid attention as he spoke. "It was unacceptable, and I would fully understand if you wanted to build another AI to replace me."


    "What cata- Oh, you mean Sable getting so close to town before you could warn me?" I asked, wincing when the AI somehow got even more rigid and tense. "That wasn''t your fault, Murtaugh. There was a hole in our security, one that''s now fixed. And at ease, Murtaugh, this isn''t an army."


    "Sir, I let a potentially hostile individual get within a few dozen feet of the town before I could warn you."


    "What other option did you have?" I asked with a frown. "It''s not like you would have been able to stop her with anything but violence, and I don''t want you guys opening fire on anyone who shows up here peacefully."


    He nodded reluctantly, so I reached and patted his shoulder.


    "Once the garage addition is finished, making this town more secure is our number one priority," I assured him. "You are going to have every toy and trick that I think you might even remotely need. Just hang in a little longer."


    He nodded in understanding, though he still looked upset with himself. I made a mental note to check in on him more often, as his personality seemed to be developing in a way that he would require more attention to keep happy. That was fine by me, because I wanted all my AIs to develop on their own into their own beings. It just meant they had different requirements.


    My last stop on the tour was the back of the garage, where I could see Noah''s progress with the additions. He and his team had been working hard in the background to get the addition made, and they were making definite progress already. They had the structure anchored into the ground using giant metal pylons that were fused to the bedrock below the sand and dirt. As I watched, they were starting to lay down the floor, welding and bolting sheets of metal together. Luckily, the final design for the room was relatively simple, meaning it would hopefully get finished pretty quickly.


    "Noah, you guys need anything?" I asked, watching the green advanced MRVN model work to secure a plate in place with the help of a normal MRVN. "Everything going well?"


    "Everything thing is moving at acceptable speeds," He confirmed with a nod. "Our supply of material is acceptable. I am hopeful that we will complete this structure within two days."


    "That''s good to hear, Noah. I''m hoping to have Samwise start making the parts for multiple molly-makers and their systems while he has downtime," I explained. "That way, we have a solid base to work from once you finish."


    "Acceptable," He responded, still focused on his task. "I will most likely be prepared to cut the doorway into the addition tomorrow afternoon."


    "Sounds good," I acknowledge with a nod. "Thank you for your hard work."


    Noah, who hadn''t really looked up while we were talking, simply nodded and continued on. He did remind me of Samwise, especially when I had first finished with my assistant, but I was hoping they would diverge more as they got older. He already had a slightly more serious tone to him, which was encouraging.


    After a quick lunch break, I was back in the workshop, finally back to the project that Sable had interrupted the day before. Working on the hyper-realistic animal androids from Become Human had firmly cemented a catalog of animal programming into my brain, and now I was itching to use it. A proper canine companion, a guard dog that would always be at my side, was something I was very interested in. It wouldn''t even stand out that much since robotic companions were a pretty common thing throughout this world, though mine would be leagues above anything they had access to.


    It would not be a full AI since its job would be to put itself into harm''s way to protect me, and I didn''t feel comfortable building an AI designed to sacrifice itself. That said, it would still have plenty of processing power and some pretty impressive programming, which was the best I could manage at this point in time. It would also be armored, reinforced, and have plenty of room for some goodies, though I didn''t really know what exactly I would put inside the extra space.


    I finished the design process in a few hours, Samwise assisting me while he was waiting for drone parts to print. The final look was based on a Great Dane, a clean outline that wouldn''t look weird as a sleek and clean design, unlike, say, a golden retriever or even a German shepherd. Most of the exterior plating would be metal, most likely AA, but I wanted to try something a bit different. Since it was supposed to be a companion for me, and I knew I would inevitably wish to pet and scratch them, I needed something other than metal. So, I planned to layer fur RealSkinn around its head, as well as down and around its neck. I didn''t even have to make it since it already existed. I just needed Chuck or Robin to buy some for me.


    While Samwise was building the last drone, I got to work on my new protector''s programming, with Spot helping with the process. Unfortunately, I didn''t get to finish, as it was getting late, and I needed to head into town to meet up with Jackie and his friend. I quickly put on my armored underlayer, then a layer of clothes on over that, to conceal the vast majority of the enhancing suit. I quickly holstered my mag pistol and hopped into the Chevillion truck. As I pulled out and onto the road, I made a note to try and snag another car during our next gig. The Chevillio was a bit too much just to be driving around casually. It was a behemoth of a vehicle, and just generally way more truck than I needed for just going out for the night.


    I also quickly realized, once I arrived at the Coyote, or the nearest parking to it at least, that it was a pain to park as well. When I eventually found a spot, paying out the nose for it in the process, I made my way back to the familiar bar. I stepped in and waved to the bartender, who waved back as I approached.


    "Hey, Pepe, Jackie around?" I asked, sitting down at the bar.


    "He just stepped out, should be back any minute," He assured me, putting down a beer in front of me. "You got business tonight?"


    "He mentioned something about a friend with some work," I responded, shrugging as I took a sip of my beer while handing him my keyfob so he could set up my tab. "Not sure what''s going on other than that."


    He nodded, passing back my keyfob when he was done. I stashed it back away in my pocket, turning in my stool to look around as I sipped my beer. After a few minutes, I spotted Mama Welles, who immediately spotted me as well.


    "Mijo! How are you?" She asked, coming up to give me a hug. "I want to thank you for sticking around with Jackie, keeping him safe, and helping him put together a team. I sleep so much better knowing he has friends working with him."


    "I''m happy to work with him, Mama Welles," I assured her. "Besides, mostly I''m just returning the favor. He''s kept me out of plenty of trouble in his own way."


    "He mentioned you not knowing how these streets work," she said with a smile. "He said it was sad, but I know the truth. Any parent worth their salt would give anything to keep their child ignorant of how this city works."


    "Yeah¡­ I can''t say I regret growing up away from this place."


    She nodded, turning to look at someone waving to her from the corner of the bar. She waved back before patting my side.


    "Jackie should be back any minute," She assured me with a smile. "In the meantime, sit and relax. Jackie also says you work too hard."


    The older woman gave me a smile that reminded me of my own mother before walking past me to talk to whoever was waving to her. I could hear her firing off in rapid Spanish that I had no hope of following as I reclaimed my seat at the bar. It took about twenty minutes for Jackie to show up, a beer already in his hand.

 Chapter Twenty Nine

    Jackie and I sat at the bar for about ten minutes, just chatting and waiting for his friend. Eventually, I prodded him enough to explain who we were waiting for.


    "Carlos was a friend from my time in the Valentinos," He explained. "We ran in the same circles and did the same kind of work, but we weren''t all that tight. Always seemed to be working different gigs."


    "He gets out too?" I asked, taking a small sip of my beer.


    "Yeah, he did. Then he fucking vanished," Jackie said, shaking his head. "Nobody knows where he went. We all assumed he got jumped by scavs or something. Then Padre reached out and said he was back in town looking to meet up."


    "Huh... And Padre didn''t say what he was looking for?"


    "Hinted at a job but explained it was up to Carlos to explain," Jackie responded with a shrug. "Your guess is as good as mine, choomba."


    We quietly sat there for a while longer, polishing off a bowl of bar snacks that Pepe put down in front of us. After another five minutes, our guest finally arrived, nearly falling through the front door.


    The first thing that I immediately noticed was how high-strung he was, glancing this way and that, looking nervously looking for someone. His left arm was cyberware of decent quality, though it had seen better times. The organic bits of him looked worse, with his face a mottled wash of healing bruises and a partially healed split lip. He walked with a limp, but only a minor one. When he spotted Jackie, he immediately made a beeline for us.


    Jackie spotted him just about the same time I did and stood up quickly, helping the man into his chair.


    "?No mames! Carlos, what the hell happened to you?" Jackie asked, waving down Pepe. "You look like you got into a fight with a moving vehicle!"


    "Jackie, it''s good to see you," He said, sitting down heavily. "Thank you for showing up. Padre said you could help, but I wasn''t sure you would agree to."


    "I''ll do my best, chico," He assured him before nodding to me. "This is Jackson. He is a good friend and works on the team as a frontliner and a techie. Jay, this is Carlos."


    When Jackie introduced us, I reached out and shook the man''s hand, noticing him wincing as he reached over. He nodded, his expression one of gratitude and just a smidge of hopefulness.


    "Choom, I gotta admit, before you contacted me, we thought you were dead," Jackie admitted after continuing. "What the hell happened?"


    "Sorry, Jackie, but that was on purpose," He admitted with a wince, his voice filled with regret. "Things were¡­ complicated when I left, I couldn''t hang around Night City anymore, and it was better if people thought I was in a ditch somewhere."


    Jackie didn''t seem to like that, but Carlos seemed genuinely sad about what he had done, so I threw him a bone to see what he had to say for himself.


    "Why don''t you start from the beginning, Carlos," I suggested.


    "Yeah, okay. Good idea. A year before I left, I met a girl, Akiko. Jackie, I tell you it was like¡­ dammit, it was like something from an old vid," He admitted, shaking his head, his lost and anxious expression pulling back as he recalled what was clearly a treasured memory. "She was beautiful, and we clicked, man. We met in a club and by the end of the next day we knew it was love. But¡­ She was Tyger Claw, back when we were clashing heavy."


    Jackie cursed and shook his head, passing the man a beer, which he drank heavily from before continuing.


    "We knew the only chance we had to be together was to leave. Akiko had always wanted to get out, she hated the Claws, but it killed me asking Padre to help me cut ties," He said, clearly wanting Jackie to know how hard it was to leave the gang behind. "We both knew we would never have a real chance together here. We needed to leave the city.


    He took another long drink, during which Jackie gave me a look, hand still on Carlos''s shoulder. The ex-gang member took a moment once he was done, recollecting himself. When he continued, he was a bit more calm.


    "We started saving, pooling our resources, and eventually, we got enough to buy a new life somewhere else," He explained. "I paid my debts and got permission to leave the gang, but she had to fake her death. It cost a lot, but we left Night City behind. We got married¡­ we even have a kid!"


    Carlos pulled out a picture, a recorded video on one of those flexible screens, handing it to Jackie. I could see it was an image of a young girl, only one or two years old.


    "Everything was going great until the Claws somehow found out that Akiko wasn''t dead. They sent a bunch of psycho bastards and grabbed her from her job! She¡­ never liked to talk about it, but she was someone''s daughter, someone important enough that they could drag her back¡­ I don''t know what I''m going to do, Jackie! I just want my wife back, and my daughter needs her momma!"


    "And you want us to help get her back," Jackie finished, the distraught man nodding, leaning heavily on the bar, rubbing his hands along his face.


    "I asked Padre, and he said you guys are just about the only ones he has on tap who can do it," He explained. "Technically, you''d be running the gig through him. I''m not crazy enough to ask you to do this freelance."


    "So your wife is the daughter of someone important enough to order a hit squad to go out and grab her. She is probably surrounded by their top goons because they are expecting her to try and escape or for you to come to rescue her," I confirmed, the man nodding. "Could I ask what exactly you''re offering in exchange?"


    Jackie gave me a look, and I gave him one right back. Taking on a job that pitted us directly against higher-up Tyger Claws would bring on a lot of heat. Even with Padre working to keep us as "neutral" hires, it needed to be worth it.


    "Eighty-five thousand eddies, it''s what Padre said the mission was worth," he stated, shocking both Jackie and me. "I had to sell my dad''s classic wheels. Look, Jackie, I know what I''m asking you to do, but I don''t got anyone else to go to. Padre said you were my best bet, so I''m putting it all on you."


    I looked at Jackie again, and he was already looking at me, his eyes wide in shock. Before, his look was saying he was all set to confirm we would do the gig, but that amount of money on the table was scary. The fact that it''s what Padre said the mission was worth meant that we were looking at a big challenge, a make-or-break mission. I had faith in my people¡­ but I needed to know more.


    "This seems like a lot, Carlos," I admitted. "We need to discuss it with the rest of our team, and we need to find out more."


    He nodded, rubbing his face to wipe away the tears that had started to drip. He seemed to understand our dilemma and, after discussing the job a bit more, left the bar with the same limp as before. He gave us a number to contact him with, assuring us he was living in a safe house provided for him by Padre.


    "You need to contact Padre," I said with a sigh, rubbing my face once Carlos was gone. "If the job is going through him, he needs to provide as much intel as he can. Anything he can offer will make deciding if we are going to take this job much easier."


    "He''ll have something, Choom," Jackie assured me. "This¡­ this is too much to try without knowing details."


    I reached over and patted his back, finishing my beer and standing with a stretch.


    "Get what you can and stop by tomorrow morning," I said. "No reason to push it for tonight. This is the kind of job we take our time on because rushing is going to get us killed."


    Jackie nodded in agreement, and I said goodbye. I made my way through and out of the bar, eventually arriving at my truck, climbing in and driving it all the way back to the Ridge. By this point, it was already starting to get late, so I made another round through the town, checking in with everyone and letting them know we would have a briefing of sorts the next morning before finally heading off to sleep.


    The following day, while waiting for Jackie to arrive, I continued to work on my new canine companion. Robin had delivered the fur Realskinn, and considering the material was generally used for <u>exotics</u></a>, I understood the weird look that she gave me when she did. Part of me wanted to show her the plans for my canine companion, just so I could prove what I was making, but it really wasn''t worth it. Besides, they would probably see it around eventually if they kept delivering to us.


    I spent the rest of the early morning assembling the canine frame and installing the control core. This was basically just an AI core that would contain all of the memories and core programming of the canine.


    This version was not an AI, both because it was supposed to protect me, even to the detriment of its survival, and because creating a purposely stunted AI because I wanted a dog was wrong on so many levels. Despite that, however, I wanted to leave plenty of room for improvement and potential uplifting. I had no idea what tech tree I might get access to, nor did I know what they might contain. It was perfectly possible that I might run into a new type of AI that was humanely at the level of a canine.


    I was mostly finished with the construction of the android canine when Jackie finally arrived, the telltale sound of his motorcycle announcing his presence. He arrived at the garage at about the same time as Riggs did, with Kaytlyn trailing not far behind. Once everyone who had gone on missions was there, Jackie started to explain what the potential gig was. He passed me a shard before sharing the data directly with Kaytlyn. The more I read, the more I realized that this was going to be a big deal.


    According to the information that Padre had gathered, Carlos''s wife was being kept in one of the top apartments in one of the Claw''s higher-end locations. It was far from true corpo luxury, but it was high quality enough that several lieutenants and high members of the Claws lived there.


    "Jackie¡­ Just how important is this woman to the Tyger Claws?" Kaytlyn asked. "That''s a lot of bastards on guard to keep her from running."


    "According to Padre, the area is just normally that dense," Jackie corrected. "It''s in the heart of Tyger Claws territory, where some higher members live. According to what Carlos knows, Akiko is the daughter of an important lieutenant."


    "Which is why we need to be sure we are ready to do this. This is a big job, and while I think we can handle it..." I said, shaking my head. "This is not going to be easy, Jackie. There are going to be multiple borgs, a lot of firepower, and potentially some heavy reinforcements. From just these basic images, I can see at least twenty men on patrol, just around the outside. It''s more like a compound than an apartment building."


    "So are you saying we shouldn''t take the job?" Jackie asked with a frown.


    "I''m saying¡­ I''m saying that we need to be prepared," I responded. "This is not a casual smash and grab, and these are not homeless scavs scraping together a profit from murder. These are Tyger Claws. Well-funded, decently trained bastards who will fuck us up if we fuck up."


    "According to Padre, she is safe for now, so we can take our time," Jackie responded. "We can plan and prepare as much as you want."


    "Well¡­ then a good start is getting a better look at the area. Jackie, you should message Padre to see if he can''t provide us with a layout of the surrounding buildings," I pointed out, Jackie nodding in understanding. "Kaytlyn, do you think you could do a walk around? Casually investigate what''s going on?"


    "I can try to fill in whatever blanks Padre might have in his data," She confirmed. "It will mean I won''t be around here for a day or two, though."


    "With the additions to the sensor network, we can manage," I said. "Might have Murtaugh increase the patrols anyway. Jackie, anything else?"


    The larger man chewed his lip for a moment, contemplating something for a long pause before finally nodding.


    "I''m going to be getting the Sandy chipped in, and you should finally get your muscle lace done," He pointed out. "Then we can wait a week. That way, your lace will be set, and I''ll have time to practice with the Sandy. Even better, you''ll have some time to do your own thing and build some stuff to make the job easier."


    "That¡­ sounds like a solid plan," I agree with a nod. "Anyone else have anything to add?"


    "Who is going to be around the woman?" Riggs asked. "If we show up and flatline everyone, is she going to be pissed we killed her father or brother?"


    "Fuck, that''s a good point, Choom," Jackie said, paling slightly. "I''ll reach out to Carlos to see if he knows what''s up with her family."


    This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    We discussed some basic ideas for attacking the hotel and did a basic analysis of the compound. Our images weren''t complete, so there was no use getting too in-depth, but with any luck, we would soon have some better intelligence.


    Once we had gone over everything we had at the moment, Jackie and I both made appointments with Vik for the next day. Technically, I could have squeezed my muscle lace in that day, but Vik would need at least three hours to install the Sandevistan on Jackie, and the big lug wouldn''t be coherent enough to drive himself around for at least an hour after that. I would be his babysitter until he had recovered enough to handle himself. Thankfully the muscle lace was the easiest to deal with out of all three, and with my nanohive regeneration, I would be fully enhanced in just five or six days.


    Once Jackie, Riggs, and Kaytlyn left, heading to the BD shack to make their calls and clear out of my workspace, I got back to work on my canine companion. Samwise had been working in the background as we discussed the new gig, so when we were done, all that was left was to put everything together, including the Realskinn fur. Luckily, with the completion of the android animals from Become Human, I now knew a whole lot of information about how to exactly mimic a dog, even if the medium was different.


    About an hour and a half later, my canine companion, <u>Duke</u></a>, was complete. His design was based heavily on a Great Dane, but mechanically, he was a coiled beast of Titanfall artificial muscles, an Alien Alloy frame, and structured armor plating, with advanced sensors and a large Elirium node to power it all. At the moment, his chest cavity was filled with a weighted block to keep his body balanced, but eventually, I would probably end up filling it with either some sort of emergency go bag or a modular system that would let me slot in different things depending on what was going on.


    With one last check to make sure everything was in place and properly connected, I finally activated the canine. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, a pale green glow flicked on deep inside the internals, blinking twice before going out again. Suddenly, the various motors and strands of artificial muscles twitched and activated, and the robot finally came online.


    With a loud bark, Duke announced his presence, jumping off the crates we had been using to raise him up. He sniffed the air and spun around in excitement before running to me, hopping up and putting his front paws on my chest. Between his large size and predominantly metal construction, he immediately put me on my ass.


    "Woah, Duke, take it easy!" I said with a chuckle, rubbing the back of his head. "You need to get used to your size, bud. You''re not some small puppy."


    He whined and hopped off of me, sitting patiently as I stood back up. I patted his head again before nodding out of the door. He did an excited bounce before running out the garage door, spinning around to wait for me.


    "Okay, Duke. Before I go show you off, show me hellhound mode," I said, watching the four-legged robot''s reaction.


    Immediately, the android canine''s stance shifted, going from happy and excited to dangerous and angry. His head dropped low as all of his armor-plating pulled in tight, his muscles audibly coiling tighter as he prepared for danger. Like this, he was a killing machine, his armor plating as thick as Riggs'', with no gaps in between. In this mode, he was completely focused on protecting me, and as I watched, he immediately started looking for threats.


    I could also just barely hear the faint whine and shift as his jaw opened wider, and his teeth were replaced with Alien Alloy blades as big as my finger. His normal jaw strength could chew through steel, but with the superior sharp blades, he would make quick work of just about everything he chomped on.


    After watching him growl and look for the threat, I deactivated hellhound mode. Then I immediately reactivated it, turning it on and off using the several programmed hand motions and sounds, testing to make sure Duke could follow my orders no matter what. When I was done, he laid down and put his paws over his snout, whining at being activated and deactivated so quickly.


    "Sorry about that, buddy. I needed to make sure everything was working," I explained, leaning down to scratch his ear. "C''mon, let''s go introduce you to everyone and get something to eat for me."


    We made our way over to the BD shack, pushing the doors open and stepping into the cool interior. Duke rushed ahead, sniffing and running around the place, even heading upstairs. His program recognized this as a friendly area, so while it looked like he was just excited and running around, he was actually clearing it for anything unfriendly before returning to me. If this had been somewhere dangerous or unknown, he would have stuck by me while doing more passive scans.


    "!Ay Guey! En la madre, Genio!" Jackie said as he stumbled back when Duke tried to jump up on him. "He''s like a real freakin'' dog! Like from old movies!"


    "Just about," I responded with a smirk, watching Duke run from Jackie to Kaytlyn, who was shocked and speechless. "It''s a complicated bit of programming, but that might as well be my bread and butter at this point."


    "This¡­ holy hell, Jackson, this blows other robotic companions out of the water, at least the ones I''ve seen," Kaytlyn admitted. "He moves so fluidly¡­"


    "That''s thanks to the artificial muscle I and the three gyroscopes I used," I explained. "I built him tough and strong since he is meant to protect me."


    "He is gonna stick out like a sore thumb," Jackie pointed out. "You realize that, right?"


    "I did, which is why¡­"


    I whistled a command, and Duke''s demeanor immediately changed. The fluid and agile motions vanished almost mid-stride, replaced by much more precise, robotic movements. A lot of his armor-plating seamlessly pulled up slightly to cover more of his artificial muscles, disguising how much he was using. In just about half a second, he went from a creation several decades ahead of most robotics in this world to the awkward and robotic movements that most people were familiar with. As he walked mechanically around the table on his way to me, I sat down in one of the chairs.


    "Fuck me, that''s uncanny," Kaytlyn said, watching as Duke approached me and robotically sat down, his head scanning the area for threats. "Yeah, that''s more typical of what I would have expected¡­ just how advanced is he, Jackson?"


    I eyed Kaytlyn before signaling Duke that he could leave his disguised mode. He barked once before laying down fully, partially curled up as he waited.


    "Pretty advanced," I explained vaguely, holding up a hand when she rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to complain. "He is more advanced than basically anything similar on the market, and most likely anything in development or will be developed for quite a while."


    "How¡­ Look, I get that you didn''t trust me, but with Sable potentially working with us and us teaming up for gigs¡­ I think I''ve earned a little," She pointed out with a frown. "I''ve seen a lot of crazy crap over the last few weeks¡­ could I get some sort of explanation? Even if it''s just basic? This shit is not normal..."


    I was silent for a long moment before looking over at Jackie. As he caught my eye, he nodded, signaling he at least trusted her. I let out a sigh before leaning back in my chair.


    "To be clear, I don''t actually trust Sable," I explained. "She might be useful, she might even eventually be loyal to the group if she doesn''t fuck it up, but I don''t trust her for a second now. So don''t think she skipped the line or anything."


    The pout that Kaytlyn gave me, plus the refusal to meet my eyes, told me that I had pretty much hit the nail on the head. After a moment, I continued, recapturing her attention in the process.


    "I¡­ my brain isn''t exactly normal," I explained with a frown. "I don''t really know the whys or hows, but every few weeks¡­ I get bursts of inspiration. Sometimes it''s small things, sometimes big things, sometimes I''ll spend two weeks barely leaving my shop, and sometimes I''ll be done within two days. I''m accumulating knowledge that is either strange and out there or about esoteric energies or materials that open up doorways into concepts that were previously impossible."


    "That''s¡­ where does it come from?" She asked, her eyes filled with doubt. "I mean, I would just flat-out call you crazy if I hadn''t seen you create so much¡­ bullshit."


    "It''s¡­ hard to describe," I admitted. "But it clearly works. And what''s even bigger is that I am picking up speed. Three weeks ago, it would have taken me days to build Duke, probably close to four. Now, it only took me several hours, and most of that was because I kept getting distracted."


    "Jesus¡­ No wonder you''re so confident about changing things," She said, shaking her head. "How long until the corporations just can''t keep up?"


    "Not nearly as long as I would like," I admitted with a frown. "I''m progressing much faster than I''m ready for, which is why Sable and the garage addition is so important. Between the safety net she described and my production ramping up even more, I can finally start making some crazy moves. Of course, that all depends on my inspiration being useful."


    "It''s not always useful?" She asked, looking confused.


    "Yeah, this week was more or less a dud, at least when it comes to making progress to being safe or making a difference," I responded with a shrug. "It might be useful eventually, but who knows."


    "So strange¡­ Well, I guess that''s it then," She said. "All or nothing, taking a chance to change the world¡­ Count me in."


    I looked up at the blue-haired woman, my eyes wide. So far, the only reason she had been hanging around was that she was being paid, in cash from our gigs and in tech, for being a bodyguard and working security. I did not expect her to just want to join in the cause.


    "Hey, don''t look at me like that," She said, rolling her eyes. "Just cause I know how important being paid is doesn''t mean I don''t want to be a part of something bigger. As little as I trust her, Sable was right about that whole golden goose, iceberg thing."


    I chuckle and nod, not denying that the two descriptions fit pretty well.


    "I''m glad to have you on board, then," I said with a smile. "Things are only going to get crazier from here."


    For a while, the three of them had lunch together, and Riggs and Murtaugh eventually joined us. We spent about an hour just chatting, mostly about each other, about what we wanted in the future, and what exactly the group would be doing next.


    "I would like to build this town back up," I admitted, leaning back in my chair. "I would love nothing more than to turn this monument to corporate greed into a damn utopia. I mean grass, trees, flowers, real food for everyone, and no constant threat of gangs or corporations breathing down your neck."


    "They won''t make that easy," Jackie pointed out. "No one will. Night City just ain''t built like that, amigo. Everyone is going to want a slice."


    "I never said it would be easy," I responded with a shrug. "This world is already on fire, Jackie. If the cost of saving it is to throw some more kindling on in the meantime? I can live with that because every step forward is better than where we are now."


    "...Fuck, and I just wanted a couple of cars and my own full-sized house. Though, now that I see Duke, you''ll be making me a cat, too," Kaytlyn said with a smirk. "But you''re thinking big, huh? Guess it makes sense for what you''re capable of."


    "I just want to have a drink at the Afterlife," Jackie said, chuckling and nodding in agreement. "Not overthrow the world order."


    "What can I say? It''s hard not to aim for the moon when you know you have a shot of hitting it," I responded with a shrug. "I got a chance to do it, so I have to at least try."


    Kaytlyn and Murtaugh nodded in understanding while Riggs and Jackie just shrugged. The both of them had similar mentalities, though Jackie''s obsession with making a big name for himself, even if it killed him, was something I didn''t think Riggs shared.


    Jackie was the first to leave our impromptu long lunch, as Padre and Carlos had both agreed to meet u. I assured him I would be at his house the next morning to pick him up, and then he left. Kaytlyn was next, stopping by the door to point at me.


    "I was serious, by the way," She said, giving me a rather intense look. "I expect a cat sooner rather than later. Consider it my next payment or whatever."


    She left without another word, and I couldn''t help but chuckle and shake my head.

 Chapter Thirty

    I left the BD shack not long after Kaytlyn, exiting just in time to wave as she headed into the city. We needed a better view of the neighborhood around the Tyger Claws compound, so she would chip away at it over the next few days. Part of me was tempted to try and build some sort of invisible drone. It wouldn''t even be that difficult. I already had a bunch of newly finished, half-invisible drones flying above the town. Unfortunately, while I could visually hide a drone, I could do nothing about silencing one. There were only so many ways to make something fly, and none of them were quiet. While I could make a halfway decent glider, surprisingly using plans from Become Human, they weren''t really suited for the city environment.


    That really only left the tried and true art of casing the joint.


    After seeing Kaytlyn off, I made my way back to the garage. Samwise was working on molly-maker parts and preparing for the completion of the addition, which was still a day or so off. Duke followed behind me inside as I claimed an empty crate as my seat, watching Samwise carry a pair of parts from our medium molly-maker into the side room. He returned a moment later and paused, turning to me.


    "Is everything alright, Jackson?" He asked, his forward screen blinking a question mark.


    "Yeah, everything is fine," I responded. "I''m a bit nervous about the new gig Jackie found us, and I''m wondering what Sable is up to. Oh, and I''m trying to figure out what to work on next¡­ But that''s all fine. I can handle it."


    Samwise looked at me for a few seconds before nodding in understanding.


    "What would you like to work on next?" He asked, checking on the molly-makers before turning back to me. "Do you have anything you would like to make?"


    "I don''t know," I admitted with a shrug. "Anything big that I make would get in the way of the expansion, but beyond that¡­ I''ve gotten used to having my tree provide guidance. With a bum tree¡­ Not sure what I should build."


    "Well¡­ while our current production is taken up by preparing for expansion, your designing station is not," He pointed out. "If you complete the designs for various additions now, we will be able to produce them while you are working on the next tech tree."


    "Thats¡­Damn, Sam. That''s a good point," I said, rubbing my chin. "Our next priority after getting the addition up and running is security and defenses¡­"


    For a few minutes, I sat there and brainstormed. Murtaugh and Noah eventually joined in as we spitballed some design ideas to fortify the town. My head of security desperately wanted hardpoints, armored positions through the town to provide cover and serve as stations for heavier weapons. Noah also pointed out that reinforcing or replacing common structures would also be smart.


    "Okay, our first priority will be hardpoints, a dozen of them in total, with half of that armed with heavier weapons," I decided, both Noah and Murtaugh nodding in agreement. "For now, I want to keep them focused around the parts of the town we use, so you are free to tear down the trailers or clear out anything else to make them."


    "A reasonable decision, trying to defend the whole town would stretch us thin," Murtaugh agreed. "I would prefer to have multiple lines of defense, but that is a good start."


    "Exactly. Once the hard points are done, we can start building our own buildings. I say we tear up the parking lot and build a proper security station," I suggested. "Something tailor-built for its function, rather than just temporary housing."


    "I will begin designing the plans in my downtime," Noah agreed. "I will likely need to collaborate with you, Murtaugh, as well as do some research on my own."


    "Good, that''s perfect. I want the security building to be a hard point in and of itself."


    Murtaiugh nodded appreciatively at that idea, while Noah seemed to take an interest in it, nodding a single time before I moved on.


    "After that, when the security building is done, we can knock the current security building down and replace it with a visitor or meeting center, someplace where people can take breaks and where we can meet people," I explained. "And when that''s done, we can tear down the BD shack and replace it with¡­ well, actually, an apartment building might be nice. Nothing major, four or five apartments in a stack or something."


    "Apartment building?" Noah asked. "Any particular reason?"


    "Besides being spoiled and wanting a bigger place to live?" I asked with a chuckle. "I want more space for more people. I was thinking of looking for some more human security to add to our current roster. Plus, having a place for people to stay will always be handy."


    "Very well. With proper production set up in the garage addition, we should be able to complete those tasks," Noah readily agreed. "Do we have a set timetable?"


    "No, not quite yet," I explained. "Work on your designs, but focus on the addition. Once that''s done, we can clear the parking lot, and if your design works, you can get started. It''s difficult to plan so far ahead without knowing what will change in a week and a half. We should have plenty of production capability for what comes next, but I don''t want to risk resources being taken up just in case."


    "A buffer is sensible," Noah agreed. "But should we consider the hard points necessary?"


    "Absolutely, yes. We desperately need to reinforce this town, and the hard points seem like a good first step," I agreed. "I plan on working on some heavier firepower the second we are done here."


    We talked a bit more about potential options, and Noah brought up the idea of creating a second scrap truck. The first was paying dividends already, both in relieving the strain on our resources and also in leveling out what we were low on. I was down to spending a tiny fraction of what I was paying for before, and my bank account could feel it.


    "It''s not a bad idea," I agreed. "Especially if we can get it done before the new tech tree. Okay, Samwise, see if you can''t find a used Thornton like we have, and see if you can''t convince them to deliver it for a few extra eddies. Converting it shouldn''t be too difficult now that everything is designed, correct?"


    "A MRVN could do most of it alone, Jackson," Samwise confirmed with a nod.


    "Great¡­ should also set up a resource building nearby too, Noah, someplace to store raw resources, rather than junk storage like the BD shack," I pointed out. "The closer to the garage, the better."


    The conversation continued a bit after that before we went our separate ways. Noah got back to work on the addition, preparing to cut and lay down doors to connect it to the garage, while I got to work on a heavy weapon emplacement.


    At this point, I was a master at creating mag weapons, having truly explored all levels of it, from pistols and submachine guns to snipers and cannons. It didn''t take me long to put together a few ideas.


    Rather than commit to making a jack-of-all-trades-style heavy weapon, I decided to split the idea into three chunks. The first would be anti-personnel, the second was anti-armor, and the third was anti-air. The <u>anti-personnel turret</u></a> was pretty easy since I could just take a mag rifle, beef it up by increasing its size, and apply Titanfall tech. I then borrowed inspiration from my world with a massive drum container of slugs for the weapon, fed directly into the weapon from a belt.


    The finished product would be considerably more powerful than the standard mag rifle. In fact, I ended up cranking down the default power settings a bit in order to give it more fire time before it overheated.


    The turret could easily be controlled by anyone, as it was pretty intuitive to use, but it could also be controlled by a system similar to the specters, heavily modified with Spot''s help. It was a perfectly safe system, which Murtaugh had control over through the security station. They would be connected by a hardline, meaning no chance of being hacked. Its "brain" was stored in the base of the turret and would use sensors built into the weapon to read out targets.


    Turret number two, the anti-armor option, was based around Rigg''s cannon, at least at its core. I took the design for that and upscaled it as best I could. This was not a weapon we would be firing willy-nilly, so I didn''t bother with in-person controls. Instead, the security station would designate targets. Since I didn''t need to worry about making it people-friendly, I could beef it up and <u>make the system robust</u></a>. I was confident these turrets could take down tanks, firing massive metal slugs the size of my forearm. Hell, I was pretty sure one of these cannons could probably hit Arasaka Tower from anywhere in the Ridge.


    I would probably keep them hidden until they were necessary.


    It was with the final design that I first hesitated. Anti-Air was a bit of a misnomer, since its purpose would not be to take down aircraft. The anti-armor cannon would be more than capable of doing that, especially if I put them on the rooftops of our new buildings. No, the Anti-Air would be responsible for stopping missile barrages, which was why I hesitated.


    Back home, one of the more common anti-missile systems was called the <u>Centurion C-Ram</u></a>. The system basically brute forces its way through the issue of bullet drift, firing an insane amount of projectiles in order to take down incoming missiles. It was practical and effective, for sure, but wasteful and... inelegant.


    I, on the other hand, have access to laser weaponry that was nearly one hundred percent accurate, as long as it is fired from a perfectly stable weapon system. The XCOM laser rifles could be upscaled considerably with Titanfall tech, and with the right sensors, I could shoot down hundreds of missiles with just a few turrets.


    Of course, that would mean revealing that I have access to laser weaponry.


    Then again, if we were under attack by a missile barrage, or even just one large missile, shit had already hit the fan, and hiding what I could do would be pointless. On top of that, this world had lasers already. In fact, this is precisely the scenario in which it wouldn''t be strange to see a laser in use. A big, nonportable turret connected to a large power generator and used to hit quick, distant targets.


    After running the idea by Samwise, who agreed with my logic, I finally decided to go with the laser defense grid rather than downscaling to a system similar to the Centurion.


    Unfortunately, I wasn''t nearly as familiar with laser weapons as I was with mag or coil. Thankfully, I still had plenty to go off of. I started with a simple upscale, mixing in more advanced materials and upping the energy outputs as much as I could, all while still maintaining a fast fire rate. With a bit of tweaking to the energy input cycler, I was able to design a system that would continuously fire the powerful red laser rather than settle for individual blasts.


    The more I worked, the more I realized that the most challenging part of the project was going to be designing the sensor and programs that would direct the weapon to the target. Hell, even coming up with a gearing system that could handle swinging the turret around at high speed to track missiles was going to be more difficult than actually getting that much power out of the laser system. I managed to finish the <u>turret design</u></a> by the end of the day. Thankfully, Samwise agreed to work on the programming and sensor system while I was asleep.


    I did manage to design the disguise for the defensive weapon, which basically equated to a large metal box design to look like an innocuous piece of rooftop equipment. On command, a series of explosive pins would fire, slamming open the box in seconds. After all, when trying to shoot down a missile, even waiting a moment or two for something to open up or move out of the way was unacceptable.


    By the time I finished up the physical design of the turret and disguise, it was getting pretty late. After thanking Samwise for volunteering to finish the programming and sensor system design, I made what was becoming my usual rounds. I spent an hour walking around, talking to everyone and making sure everything was in order, before heading back to my trailer. Duke followed me around, of course, running around the streets, sniffing and picking at everything he could get at. I had to admit, even as the one who programmed and designed it, he was an incredible facsimile of a real dog.


    When I finally climbed into my trailer, the cool air of the climate-controlled space pushing at me from the interior, I couldn''t help but let out a long sigh. The night in the badlands tended to cool off nicely, but even that was far from what I preferred to relax and sleep in. Duke followed me inside before I locked up and flopped down into my bed. I laughed when Duke tried to jump into bed as well.


    "No, you big lug, you''re not allowed in the bed," I said to the dog, who rolled off with a huff. "You''ve been running through the whole town, stepping in who knows what. I''ll come up with a way to keep you clean, but until then, floor only."


    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.He barked and whined before eventually settling down near the door, curling up and pretending to close his eyes. I knew for a fact that he never really shut off and was now in a deep scanning mode, feeling for every sound and vibration.


    I also knew he didn''t actually want to stay on the bed, as that would impede his scans a bunch. He would have waited until I was asleep before crawling off to the ground.


    Early the next morning, after getting a wake-up call from Duke in the form of him nudging me with his snout and barking relatively softly, I got ready for the day, quickly washing up and getting dressed. Jackie and my own appointment with Vik was scheduled pretty early, and I didn''t want to be late.


    As I stepped out of my trailer and turned to shut the door, I spotted something stapled to it. It was a piece of paper, folded up and stuck firmly to the fake wooden exterior. I reached out and pulled it free carefully, unfolding it to find the image of a black cat, with "Don''t Forget" written on it, underlined several times.


    I snorted and shook my head, refolding the image and sliding it into a pocket to use as a reference later. I would get to work on Kaytlyn''s gift after I got home, barring any other projects coming up. Her officially joining the¡­ whatever all of this was meant a lot to me, so I wanted to make her something special. I already had a few ideas. I just had to get them all to fit.


    I waved to Murtaugh and Riggs, who were both up and about, before climbing into the Chevillion. Once again, I made a mental note to find something less ostentatious and more easily drivable. I had some vague ideas of turning the truck into our mission vehicle, armoring its paneling and reinforcing its interior, and maybe even wholly replacing its engine. It would be nice to have a vehicle I knew could take everything I could throw at it.


    That said, I might actually be better off just building something from scratch. Become Human had plenty of truck designs I could use to gain knowledge of vehicle making., but those would be pretty serious projects, especially with most of our resources focused on the addition.


    With Duke sitting in the back, I pulled out from under the garage''s canopy, heading down the asphalt road to Night City. Riggs nodded as I passed, but Murtaugh and the three specters with him rigidly saluted until we left the town behind.


    "Alright, Duke, you''re going to have to be in incognito mode while we are in Night City," I said as I reached behind to scratch his head. "I know it sucks, but I can''t have anyone catching on to what you can do just yet."


    He let out a bark and quickly went rigid, enough that I could tell just by scratching his head that he had switched modes. The drive to Jackie and Mama Welles''s house wasn''t too long, and when I arrived, Jackie was waiting for me. For once, he wasn''t wearing his ever-present jacket. Instead, he settled for a simple t-shirt with some sort of TV show image on it.


    He climbed into the passenger seat without a word, and that alone was enough to show how tense he was about this.


    "You alright?" I asked as we pulled away, heading directly for Vik''s.


    "Yeah, I''m good," He responded with a nod. He paused for a second before continuing, shaking his head. "Sandys have a reputation for doing bad things to people. Some people can handle them, some people can''t."


    "You''re going to be staying at the Ridge until you are stable and healed. Frank will keep an eye on you during your recovery," I assured him. "He will see any negative side effects a mile away."


    "That''s not what I''m worried about, Genio," He said, shaking his head. "It''s not required, but cyberware like Kerens or Sandys is how people like me make it to the big leagues. If I''m not compatible, how the hell am I gonna hack it?"


    "By letting me kit you out, dumbass," I said, punching him lightly in the shoulder. "What we have so far is just the start. Do you really think I have any plans to stop making sure we have the best gear in Night City? I have no idea what''s next, but I can tell you that what we have so far? That is just the fucking start. And if you can''t use a Sandy, I''ll just have to make you something better."


    For a moment, Jackie just looked at me before he chuckled and shook his head.


    "You know, choom, if anyone else had said that, I''d tell them they were full of shit," He admitted with a smirk. "But I don''t doubt you for a second."


    The rest of the ride was a lot less tense, and by the time I parked in the usual spot, we were chatting casually. After arriving at the parking lot, it was just a short walk to Vik''s shop. Duke got quite a few stares, but no one was freaking out as the robot stiffly followed behind both Jackie and I. We ignored the stares, and instead of focusing on getting to Vik''s


    Since Misty hadn''t opened up her shop yet, we entered through the alley, making our way down the steps into Vik''s domain. The security gate was already opened, and the interior of his setup was very different from the last time I had stopped by. The medical chair, which usually sat in the middle of the room, was off to the side, replaced by a gurney designed specifically for someone lying face down taking its place. Several different pieces of medical equipment were set up around it, the whole space having a recently sterilized feel to it. I could even smell it in the air.


    After a moment of standing alone in the front room, Vik appeared from the back, spotting us as he walked in.


    "Hey guys, right on time," He said, shaking our hands. "I''m gonna take care of your muscle lace first, Jackson, since that- What in God''s name is that?"


    Duke had finally made his way to us, having finished navigating the stairs and entering the ripper docs space. The canine construct gave a bark, but rather than the impressive imitation he usually did, he just opened his mouth, and a speaker played a poorly compressed recording of a bark.


    "That''s Duke," I explained. "Companion and bodyguard. Built him myself."


    "That''s¡­ he looks impressive," He admitted, which got a snort out of Jackie, causing the ripper to frown. "What?"


    I smirked and whistled, Duke instantly dropping his restricted movement. He began sniffing and inspecting the room, though he never went more than a few feet from me. Vik''s eyes went wide as we watched him move around.


    "What¡­ What the hell?" He asked, still clearly shocked. "How¡­ what?"


    "It''s just a bit of artificial muscle and some really fancy programming," I assured him with a shrug. "Oh, and some powerful gyroscopes. Can''t let people get too curious, though, so he has an incognito mode to appear less advanced."


    By now, Duke was done investigating the area, so he approached Vik. After a moment of looking down at the robot, the ripper reached down and ran his hand over Duke''s head, scratching behind his ear. It was actually kind of interesting how quickly people adapted to Duke''s presence. Dogs and cats were all but extinct in this world, as were a terrifying amount of other animals. Plenty of people in this world had gone their entire lives, having never seen any mammals besides humans. And yet, every biological person I had introduced Duke to so far immediately knew to scratch his head, especially by his ears. Granted, my sample size was three people so far, and I knew dogs showed up in movies that survived the datakrash, but it was still interesting.


    "That is... Remarkable," Vik said, his genuine amazement clear in his voice. "It seems so life-like, so fluid¡­ It is better than most cybernetics¡­"


    "If you look closely, there aren''t any servos, it''s all artificial muscles. I developed some advancements that¡­ Well, let''s just say he is a lot stronger than he looks, and his movement is more fluid as a result."


    For a moment, Vik was focused on just petting Duke. After a full minute, he shook his head and focused on us, a smile on his face.


    "You did mention you were making some impressive stuff, guess you weren''t joking," He responded before gesturing to me. "I''m going to start with you, Jackson. Your muscle lace will only take a few dozen injections, and then you''ll be done."


    "Sure, what kind of symptoms are we looking at?"


    "Muscle lace will feel like an extreme workout for several hours after the injection," Vik explained as he guided me to the normal medical chair, which was now set off to the side. "That will slowly fade over time. Getting rid of it is similar, but instead of fading, it gets worse."


    I nodded at his explanation and sat down on the chair while Vik went off to find the injections, returning with the same sort of case the other treatments had been in. He laid it on the table and cracked it open, revealing, unsurprisingly, <u>injectors</u></a> that were very similar to what the bone lace had been in.


    "Alright, kiddo, this is gonna sting, but not nearly as bad as the bone lace," He warned me. "You''re also free to move, as this step is much safer as well. The worst that could happen is some extra bruising."


    I nodded, and after a moment of prep, he got to work. He made around forty injections in total, moving much quicker than he did with the bone lace. Each injection was like a deep muscle shot from back home, and I quickly began to feel the pain and soreness he had described spreading throughout all of my muscles. After he was done, we sat for around twenty minutes so he could check the initial progress.


    "Alright, Jackson, the nanites are behaving normally, I''m happy with the results so far," He commented. "I''m going to start on Jackie''s surgery, and when that''s done, and he is sleeping off the sedation, we can run another test."


    "Sounds good."


    Vik quickly got Jackie situated, the large man lying face down on the gurney. The ripper doc once again went over the general procedure, explaining, in broad terms, the steps he would be taking. He also agreed that I could watch as long as I stayed more than eight feet away, so even if I tripped, I wouldn''t hit anything important. When he was done explaining everything, Jackie gave the final okay, and Vik injected the sedative.


    Once Jackie was out, Vik prepared his setup and wiped down his back, getting everything ready for the surgery. About twenty minutes after Jackie was out, he began to actually cut into him.


    The process was just about what you would expect when installing an invasive implant like a Sandevistan, starting by removing a strip of skin along Jackie''s back and neck. From what I remembered from the clips of Edgerunners I had seen, the main character''s Sandy had required the entire removal of his spine, an insane concept in and of itself. While I didn''t know the whole story, I did know that the version that Jackie was getting was not that intense. It was more of a commitment than the "civilian" version that was much more widely available, but it did not require the whole spine to be removed.


    Instead, the cyberware was grafted to the back of the neck and down, all the way to where the cervical vertebrae stopped, and the thoracic began. I watched as, slowly but surely, Vik removed the top third of each cervical vertebra, giving running dialogue as he did. He then injected each one with specially designed lacing nanites, which would radically toughen those specific bones.


    Once the removal process was complete, he began attaching the implants to the nervous system precisely, pushing and weaving them into Jackie''s now exposed central nervous system. Those got a dose of nanites as well, with the intent to help them heal together rather than rejecting them. The final step, nearly two and a half hours after Vik began, was to affix the new spine pieces and seal everything up by affixing the outer plate.


    All in all, the process took three and a half hours. When it was finally done, Vik and I both shared a drink, me a beer, and him a water, while he recovered. Jackie was still lying down, the back of his neck and upper spine now replaced by realskinn, the telltale lines of cyberware outlining his new implant.


    "Impressive work, Doc," I said, both of us sitting, watching over the still-unconscious Jackie. "Do you do that often?"


    "I''ve put in a few dozen civilian models over my career and a few military models like this one," He admitted. "Had to remove about half as many. To be honest, I probably should have removed more of them. They aren''t good for most people."


    "I have faith," I said, getting a scoff in return. "And I''ll be keeping an eye on him for the next few days, and we have someone on hand who can identify any issues that pop up. They could even remove it if it is a huge problem, but most likely, we will come to you for that."


    "You have a ripper at the Ridge?" He asked, a bit surprised. "How did you manage that?"


    "I built one," I said with a smirk, laughing at Vik''s expression. "They aren''t really a ripper. They just know enough to treat people who have cyberware. They could install them if they had to, but unless it was life-saving or quality-of-life-improving, they would likely refuse.


    About an hour later, Jackie finally started to come around. Vik handed me a bag of meds and sprays that Jackie would need to take for a while before he helped me carry him out of the clinic. I used my keyfob to summon the truck, which showed up about five minutes later. Jackie laid down on his stomach in the back seat while Duke stiffly climbed into the passenger seat.


    A quick goodbye to Vik later later, and we were headed back to the Ridge.

 Chapter Thirty One

    When we got back to Rocky Ridge, Duke was the first one to leap out of the truck, heading right toward the BD shack. He was carrying a message, Lassie style, to Frank, asking him to come help us as the town''s doctor. It didn''t take long for both of them to return, Frank helping me guide Jackie out of the truck and to one of the remaining, cleaned and restored trailers. Misty was planning on stopping by after running her shop for a bit, and until then, we would be keeping an eye on him. At this point, he would just be sleeping off the anesthesia, anyway.


    I left Frank in charge of the recovering man, heading back to the garage to spend the rest of the day trying to be useful. Duke followed closely behind, probably sensing that I was really starting to feel the effects of the muscle lace. My limbs burned like I was pushing through the last legs of a marathon, my muscles feeling tired and weak. Vik assured me as we were leaving that I was fine with being moderately active, but anything past that would put the muscle lace at risk.


    Not that I was eager to push myself, my body ached and burned too much for that. Working in the workshop, where I would spend most of my time designing things, was fine. As long as Samwise and a few MRVNs were around to help, at least. As I walked into the shop, Spot rose up from his perch and floated around, following me in.


    "Samwise, how''s it going?" I asked as I made my way to my workstation, the modified MRVN AI turning around to look at me.


    "It is going well, Jackson," He responded. "I have been working on acquiring a new Thorton truck. We can expect to arrive today in approximately seven and a half hours.


    "That''s good. I''m hoping that with two trucks, we can build up a solid surplus of materials," I explained. Should make Noah happy, at least."


    Speaking of Noah, he wishes to talk to you as well," Samwise revealed. "He wants to brief you on their progress and discuss some things."


    "Alright. I''m probably gonna start getting to work on Kaytlyn''s cat after that," I responded, grabbing the radio from my desk. "It might seem dumb, but I have a bunch of good ideas for it that I think will actually really increase Kayt''s effectiveness."


    I flicked on the radio and got in touch with Noah. Normally, I would have gone out of my way to go to him rather than asking him to come to me, especially since he was working on important things, but my legs were already killing me. It took a few minutes to finish what he was doing and make his way to the garage, but once he did, he was all business as usual.


    "Sir, we are prepared to begin connecting the addition to the garage," He explained almost immediately as he arrived. "We are putting the finishing touches on the room, but the room is waterproofed and ventilated, and we have the doors prepared."


    "Alright, Noah, it''s your show," I agreed. "What do you need us to do?"


    It turns out he didn''t need much from us. Not long after I gave him permission to get started, it was pretty clear that that was all he really needed. The door to the garage space was being cut into the wall at the furthest space of the second garage bay, just at the end of Samwise''s workstation. Both Sam and I were pushed back, and our equipment was quickly covered with plastic to prevent dust from getting into anything important.


    Within fifteen minutes, Noah and two other MRVN units were cutting the door space clear, then quickly reinforcing the structure on either side. When that was done, they installed a door that was wide enough for me to walk through with my arms spread and not touch either side.


    At the same time that they were installing the door in the workshop, they were also putting one into the side room. This door was normal-sized, since there wouldn''t be any large parts moving back and forth frequently through it.


    The whole process took an hour, and when it was done, I stepped into the addition for the first time since they had started putting up walls. The <u>interior</u></a> was pretty simple, with the basic design taken from the prefab structure plans I copied while I still had the Titanfall tech tree. It was basically just a large open space, slightly taller than the garage itself. When it was finished, we would stuff it with molly makers, massively increasing our production capabilities. Opposite the newly installed workshop access door was a massive garage door.


    The plan was to have the three extra large-scale molly makers, even bigger than the large model we had in the side room, along the back by the garage door. This was so that pieces made by the extra large molly-makers could be quickly taken outside and used for buildings. Next, we would have two rows of large makers, then two rows of medium makers, followed by a whole wall of small-scale makers. All of this would be hooked up to the control and processing area, which we would build in the side room. The control room would take care of all the filtering and metal suspension needed for all our new molly makers.


    For now, however, the room was empty, save a half dozen MRVNs working on small projects. I couldn''t help but smile in appreciation for the progress Noah had made so far.


    "Noah, this is excellent work. I know the project wasn''t exactly stimulating," I admitted, patting the upgraded MRVNs shoulder. "But it''s encouraging that you can work so well and produce something that fits what we need. I look forward to what you build next."


    "Our next project is the various hardpoints around the town," Noah reminded me. "We will begin construction once Chase arrives with our delivery of concrete mix."


    "Well, use that time to relax for a while," I suggested with a wince. "Find a hobby or your own project you wish to work on. Maybe your own house¡­ or maybe a separate garage for large-scale building materials and tools? It''s going to be busy for a while, but I don''t want anyone to think that they don''t deserve time for themselves."


    "My purpose is building large-scale structures," He pointed out. "It is what I enjoy. However, a garage for meters and equipment does sound... interesting. I will consider it."


    "That''s all I can ask, buddy," I said with a smile. "If you want some time for yourself, all you have to do is ask."


    Once the doors were set and installed, we sealed up the addition for its final prep, while a pair of MRVNs cleaned up the mess. Once that was all set, I finally got to work on my next project, Kaytlyn''s cat. Originally, when she first asked for it, I had agreed under the assumption that it would be a simple project, a basic companion with no frills and only simple parts. However, the more I thought about it, the more ideas I began to have for it.


    One of the more dangerous things that can happen to people who rely on tech or equipment for weapons or power is being caught without it. In all honesty, it was one of the positives of cyber and bioware. It was hard to get caught without your armor or weapon when your weapon was built into your arm and your armor was already in your skin.


    That said, having an animal companion by your side was an excellent way to carry basic gear with you. Duke had enough room in his chest for a full mag rifle and enough ammo to take over a small country, while still having enough room to carry lunch for five. While a cat wouldn''t have that much room, if I upped its size a bit, making it something akin to a large Maine Coon, it would have enough room to carry some basic gear and still be small enough to be stealthy.


    The design process was pretty simple, though I did want to pull the cat in a slightly different visual direction from Duke. I built my companion to be a function over form, though personally, I thought he came out looking badass. For Kaytlyn, I wanted her cat to be able to show off a bit, which I''m sure she would love. So, while the robotic cat did have the same general design of an AA frame with dense artificial muscle acting anchored to it and AA plating on top, I also included several dozen flexible strands of glowing lights, which would enable her cat to glow from underneath her outer layer of muscle fibers.


    On top of that, since it wasn''t designed to be a frontline fighter, I gave it slightly thinner armor, only really protecting critical areas. This decreased the overall weight and maximized its maneuverability. The final design almost had a <u>sixties robotic chic</u></a> feel to it, belying its rather dangerous nature, its AA claws and teeth hidden from view.


    While I had yet to figure out what I was putting inside Duke, I already knew exactly what was going inside Kayt''s cat. First was a foam block that contained a mag pistol and three magazines of ammo. That would get clipped to the side so she could pull it out in seconds. There was a small first aid compartment, which would probably get filled with a few max docs, or whatever else Frank decided should go in there.


    The rest of the space was filled with six custom-designed <u>circular drones</u></a>. They were small enough to fit into your hand, but were also stuffed to the brim with scanning software and cameras. They could be deployed to scan an area, surveil a location until the target arrived, or even track that target in a crowd. They were the perfect tool to keep a sniper from being ambushed or keeping an eye on a target that was hiding behind a barrier or in a building. Even better, the drones used the same process as Spot to fly, so they were fast and maneuverable. Due to their small size, they shouldn''t even be that noisy, the thrumming and snapping sound easily lost in the typical Night City ambiance.


    I also stuffed the cat itself with as many sensors as I could, letting it scan any area it was in. I even included vibration sensors in its feet so it could feel people approaching Kayt while she was focused on shooting. Overall, I was pretty happy with the results, and I was already looking forward to Kayt''s reaction. Unfortunately, I didn''t have any leftover fur or any other options. After a few minutes of consideration, I decided that I would present it to her without fur, but then offer to add some later if she really wanted it.


    With the design complete and the garage small molly-maker working to produce the parts, I left the assembly process to a MRVN unit. There was usually one standing around, waiting for something to do, and since this wasn''t from a tech tree, there was no reason for me to assemble it myself. Instead, I got to work on a different project, something I had been wanting to do for a while. Something that slipped through my fingers a few times already. Something that was extremely important.


    Despite the fact that all I had access to at the moment was tech that was only slightly more advanced than what I had back home, I would make due.


    I was finally going to work on weapon attachments.


    Honestly, part of me was glad that I would be starting with something low-tech. I tended to prefer simple and straightforward when it came to accessories, as I thought making things complicated often made them unreliable or hard to use. I remembered preferring two of the most simple weapon sights in the Cyberpunk game, the <u>Kanetsugu</u></a> and the <u>Add-Vantage</u></a>. Part of that was because when I was a pistol punk in most games that I played. Further than that, though, I also just preferred clean and simple looks.


    Starting with bare-bones concepts first would let me build up to adding more things to the scopes at my own pace, rather than starting with something overly complicated and picking it apart until it was simple enough for my tastes. I ended up designing and building several dozen flashlights, laser sights, knife attachments, and bayonets, as well as more than two dozen varieties of scopes and sights, including one similar to the style I liked.


    Once they were designed, I printed out almost all of the parts at once on the medium molly-maker. The parts were so low-tech that I could have probably printed them all out at once, already assembled, but I didn''t know how the Tinker of Fiction would react to that. So, instead, I spent a few hours assembling them, absorbing the knowledge around their design. By the time I was done, I had a pretty solid grasp of the design methods and methodologies. I was confident I could build my own from scratch or simply continuously upgrade the options I had now through new tech and concepts that I learned. Already, I was ready to apply several bits of material sciences to one of the long-range scopes to increase its level of magnification.


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    During my time working on scopes and weapon attachments, our new vehicle, the second Thorton arrived. I took a break from working to pay the man who was selling it, the older gentleman thanking me for the good deal, and for the extra pay to have it dropped off. I assured him it was fine before he drove away in a companion''s vehicle. He had barely made it out of town before Samwise and a pair of MRVNs got going over the truck''s internal. They quickly and efficiently pulled it into the garage to open up, inspecting it carefully.


    At the same time, another MRVN got to work clearing out the interior and making the required modifications to its cargo space. Like the first iteration, it would be a self-contained salvage vehicle, capable of intaking scrap and outputting a significant amount of materials every morning. Between the two salvage trucks and the improved mass recycler that Samwise expanded on, our materials were looking very well stocked.


    That night, I went to sleep after helping Samwise do some work on the Thorton''s motor. He actually knew a bit more about the subject of vehicle repair than I did since I had yet to make my own vehicle, so that was an interesting experience. I went to bed relatively early, sick of dealing with my sore muscles. Frank prescribed me some simple pain medication, and I managed to fall asleep relatively quickly.


    The next morning, I woke up to someone pounding on my door. I dragged myself out of bed, idly noting that my muscles were no longer sore. I put on the bare minimum to be presentable before pushing the door open. Kaytlyn was standing there with a big smile on her face, her arms full of robot cat.


    "She is fucking perfect!" The blue-haired woman said with an excited smile, patting the cat''s metal head, the robot letting out a meow and nuzzling against her owner. "I love the bits you fit inside her back, it''s absolutely perfect."


    "I''m glad you like it," I said, letting out a yawn. "Did Samwise show you how to access the chest cavity?"


    "And explained the drones," She said, running her finger along the spine of the robot, from the back of its neck all the way to the base of the tail. There was a voice command, too, of course, but the physical method looked cooler.


    The compartment opened up, revealing everything I had designed for it, including the foam block that contained a pistol. She closed it back up with another motion, looking back up with a smile.


    "Well done," I said with a yawn, wiping the sleep from my eyes. "Do you want me to put some fur on her like I did with Duke?"


    "...maybe¡­" She said, frowning in thought. "I''ll think about it."


    "That''s fine. It''ll take a few days to get the material, so let me know¡­" I explained, trailing off when my brain started to fire on all cylinders. "Wait, was that all you had to say? You woke me up to thank me?"


    "Nope," She said, popping the "p" with a smirk. Sable is back and waiting for you in the BD shack. Said to take you time."


    I scowled, shaking my head and turning to head back into my trailer to get appropriately dressed. I stopped, however, and looked back at Kaytlyn.


    "Go find Frank and ask him if Jackie would be up for a meeting," I said. "If he is, ask him to wake him up."


    "Sure thing, captain!" She said, giving a sarcastic salute and letting her cat jump down from her arms before walking away.


    I shook my head and headed back into my trailed, quickly showering off and getting dressed. Duke waited patiently for me to get ready before following behind me as I made my way to the BD shack. Sure enough, Sable''s fancy high-end car was parked in front. I spotted Murtaugh standing guard, along with several specters. He gave me a salute as I waved and headed inside. As I stepped in, I spotted Riggs nearby, leaning against the wall and watching our guest. Sable was sitting in the same seat as before, patiently waiting for me to arrive.


    "Sable, welcome back," I said as Duke pushed into the building after me.


    Duke, immediately noticing someone I hadn''t introduced him to, locked up into incognito mode automatically. Sable was not one of the pre-programmed people to trust, after all, so he defaulted to hiding his nature.


    "Thank you, Jackson," she said with a smile. "And who might this be?"


    "Duke, part bodyguard, part companion, all badass," I explained with a smirk, whistling the free and clear command that released the robot from its stiff movement.


    "Interesting design, it-" She stopped talking the moment Duke slipped back into his much more lifelike mode.


    The robot canine made his way around the table to her to sniff at the corpos side, getting her scent before walking back around the table to sit beside me. I couldn''t help but laugh at her dumbfounded expression.


    "What¡­ how?" She asked, her golden eyes wide, shifting between myself and Duke. "I have never seen any robot like that¡­ not even high-end military models¡­ It reminded me of my grandfather''s actual dog! Did you make this? What am I saying? Of course you made it. How did you make it?"


    "A lot of complicated programming and my own special artificial muscle design, a version far beyond what I gave you," I explained with a shrug. "The current market is obsessed with servos and hydraulics because there have been a lot of advancements in scaling them down due to the success of cyberware. Artificial muscle, however, is your best bet for actual fluid, realistic movement."


    "Absolutely incredible, and you''re not wrong¡­ The market is currently saturated with servos and similar products¡­" She admitted, looking at me with a nod. "And artificial muscle has fallen out of popularity since servos are generally more powerful and more precise. I assume that''s not an issue for you, though¡­"


    For a moment, she watched Duke in silence. I could see a want in her eyes, but I decided to cut her off before she could get any bright ideas.


    "Before you ask, they aren''t for sale," I said, leaning back in my chair. "Prove you''re loyal to the group, and I might make you something, but until then, no dice."


    "Of course not. Something like this needs to be kept close, and I know I have an uphill battle when it comes to earning your trust," She responded, her hands raised defensively. "But perhaps a progress report might help?"


    "Depends on what kind of progress you''ve got to report."


    She chuckled and nodded, pulling out a tablet and sliding it to me. It blinked on as I caught it and lifted it up. As I scrolled through, I realized it was all a load of corpo legalese and data, probably compiled by a VI to present as a well-designed report. I put the tablet back down and gave her a look. This time, she rolled her eyes, nodding at the unspoken directive to explain what she had been up to verbally.


    "Creating the company went about as well as you can expect," She explained. I used my name to push it through, loathe as I am to do so, which means it happened pretty quick. Congratulations, as we agreed, you now own ninety percent of TinkerTech, while I own the remaining ten. I am-"


    Before she could continue, the front door opened, and Jackie stepped in. He looked tired, moved a bit sluggishly, and winced when he sat down, but other than that, he looked fine. Frank stopped by the door, standing by the side opposite Riggs. Sable eyed them both before focusing on Jackie.


    "Everything alright?" She asked, watching as he purposely leaned forward. "Rough night?"


    "Recovering from getting chipped," He explained. "Finally got myself a Sandy."


    She opened her eyes in surprise, the skeptical, unappreciative look she had given him for what she assumed was a hangover disappearing. Instead, she gave him another look before responding.


    "Those can be dangerous," She said, raising an eyebrow. "You''re willing to gamble on your health?"


    "Sometimes you need to bet the house, chica," He explained, wincing when he shrugged. "Besides, my chooms are keeping an eye on me, and I''m not stupid. If I start to crack, I''m getting it removed."


    "... Fair enough, I suppose. Anyway, as agreed, I own ten percent of the company, and I am the current CEO, at your pleasure."


    She made a grand gesture, mocking the specific wording of the contract, before pulling a cigarette from somewhere and lighting it with the same finger-snapping flourish as the first time she was here. After she took a long pull, she continued, smoke flowing from her nose lazily.


    "The products that you gave me are patented, and I have already pushed them to a few contacts of mine," she continued, focusing back on me. "I received several rather large offers to purchase the patents outright, but since the purpose here is to establish the company as a neutral entity providing designs to everyone, I denied them. I then started selling out licensing. You''ll be happy to know I have closed three deals already and have several more to discuss within the coming week."


    "Way to go, Genio," Jackie said, slapping my shoulder, wincing as he did. "Looks like you are on your way to the big leagues!"


    "Hold on there, hot shot, I want to prepare you," She said, holding a hand out to cut off Jackie''s celebration. "Our company is completely unknown, with no reputation. These companies are going to be putting a lot of money into confirming that your tech works as you claim it does. Also, since I assume we are going forward with the second stage of the plan, a significant portion of ongoing profits will go to me building up a business around your inventions. I''m building this from the ground up, after all."


    "Your point?"


    "That your cut might not be as large as you might expect," She explained. "As discussed, I won''t be receiving any payment until the company is stabilized, but even so¡­ Temper your expectations."


    She made a gesture, and my keyfob began to vibrate¡­. And vibrate and vibrate. I pulled it out of my pocket and watched the numbers spin up past the highest I had ever seen on it. I looked up at Sable when it tripled that.


    "I know it''s not much," She said, shaking her head. "But this is the cost of starting a business. Give it a few more months and a handful more devices, and that number will go up considerably."


    "Sable¡­ This is a lot of money," I said, putting my keyfob down on the table. "I understand you might be used to bigger numbers, but I thought the point was to stay under the radar until we can set up the networked neutrality?"


    "Jackson, for the environment you just stepped into, these are small numbers," She explained, shaking her head and sighing. "I am basically letting these licenses go for free. These numbers will disappear into project costs without an issue, giving us more time to make a stable base of friends."


    I leaned back in my chair, steadily ignoring the fact that my keyfob was STILL FUCKING VIBRATING.


    "Okay, I''m trusting your expertise here in that we didn''t just send up a red flare," I said, still shaking my head, sagging a bit when the vibrating keyfob finally stopped. "What sort of the time scale are we looking at? What''s the next step?"


    "The next step is, in a few weeks, we start another round of patents and licensing," She explained. "A different box of middle-of-the-road upgrades. After that, I can start hiring some people, and we can move on from me tapping into contacts to doing actual business."


    We spent another hour discussing the ins and outs of what Sable was planning, talking about what sort of items she suspected would be a good choice for our next round of patents. When we were done, she tapped the table with her nails, giving me a thoughtful look.


    I have a suggestion, something you might consider for this town if you''re willing to hear it?" She asked, and I raised an eyebrow, which apparently she saw as the go-ahead. "Right now, you''re a small group of people doing strange things. I saw that building you threw up behind your workshop. I can only imagine what sort of crazy shit you''re putting in there. This whole place stands out like a sore thumb."


    "And what is your suggestion for solving that?"


    "You need a crowd to hide in. A group to cover up some of your activities," She explained. "Find a gang, a group, something to populate this town and redirect those eyes somewhere else. Right now, you''re a curiosity, but if that changes before we can secure our position, you''re gonna get vanished."


    I sat there, considering her words. After a moment, Sable said her goodbyes. Jackie and I both shook her hand, watching the woman leave before we both sat back down.

 Chapter Thirty Two

    When Sable was finally gone, I dropped back heavily into my chair, sagging it as I closed my eyes and rubbed my face. I should have expected this to happen. I knew that corpos played with different numbers than almost everyone.


    "Jackson¡­ how much did you make?" Jackie asked, watching as I picked up my keyfob passing it to him so he could see for himself.


    When he cursed and nearly fell out of his chair, I had to lean over and keep him steady. It was a shocking number, to be honest, though he was being a bit dramatic, eight hundred and twenty-seven thousand dollars was enough to throw most people off.


    "That¡­ I mean, Genio¡­ You basically gave her junk, right?"


    "Pretty much. Castoffs, lower version from basic parts, stuff I had modified myself," I said. "Basically, the worst bits of everything I''ve been making. I mean, the hardest part of this whole thing is going to be making sure I don''t accidentally give her something groundbreaking that can be upscaled easily without me noticing."


    We were silent for a long moment before I quickly sent Samwise a message to look into buying a third Thorton to turn into a salvage truck. I then sent a message to Kaytlyn that I needed her help buying a car I could upgrade, as well as a message to Noah and Murtaugh that they should go as heavy as they want with the fortifications, I could absolutely afford the concrete. As long as it was something small-scale, money was no longer a problem.


    When I was done sending people messages and getting some balls rolling, I let out a long breath and looked over at Jackie. He looked tired but mostly okay.


    "How are you feeling, really?" I asked, pushing down the ludicrous amount of money I had just been given. In truth, it could solve a lot of problems, but it could also cause just as many.


    "I''m¡­ feeling okay. Vik told me to pay attention to anything weird, but so far, all I feel is sore," He admitted. "I half expected to wake up seeing things and talking crazy, but it''s been normal so far."


    "The real test is when you start using it," I pointed out, and he nodded in agreement.


    "Yeah, that won''t be doing that for a day, maybe two," He said, disappointment clear in his voice.


    "Hey, count yourself lucky," I said, shaking my head. "I broke my arm when I was a kid, and it took months to get my cast taken off. You guys are spoiled with all your crazy tech."


    "What- oh, right. Damn, choom, I guess your right," He said, wincing as he started to move his hand up to rub the back of his neck. "I kinda forgot you didn''t have a lot of this stuff growing up. Must have been rough."


    "It was all I knew," I responded with a shrug. "Was all anyone around me knew."


    He nodded in understanding, and we sat there for a while, just shooting the shit. It was clear Jackie was still tired, as the surgery took a toll on his body, but you could still see that fire in his heart. He was happy to be alive and glad to have the chance to improve. I could tell he was still nervous, but he seemed to be working through it. Eventually, the conversation turned to Sable''s suggestion.


    "Do you think she was right?" Jackie asked with a frown, fiddling with his glass of water. "You spent so much time working to stay independent of gangs and groups, now you gotta invite them over?"


    "I don''t have to do anything," I pointed out, leaning back in my chair. "But the idea¡­ might hold merit. As long as I can find the right group."


    "Why didn''t you align yourself earlier then, Amigo?" He asked, leaning forward onto the table and letting out a groan before continuing. "Some of this stuff would have been much easier backed by the Valentinos or even a small corporation."


    "Because¡­ I didn''t want to be part of the cycle, Jackie," I admitted, shaking my head. "Night City¡­ god, this place is fucked. I know it''s your home, Jackie, and I know you love it, but this place is fucked. I mean, the whole planet is fucked, but Night City is particularly bad. I don''t want to be a part of that, not even a little."


    "It''s the city of opportunity, pendejo!" Jackie retorted. "Anyone can claw their way up to be somebody here."


    "Jackie, that''s just not true," I said, just shaking my head. "Sure, with enough violence and fighting, occasionally a few particularly fucked individuals can kill and steal enough that they get a drink named after them, but what is the cost?"


    "That''s the price of doing business, choom," Jackie said, starting to sound defensive. "It''s a dog-eat-dog world. You can''t-"


    "Except it''s not, Jackie. It''s not," I said, cutting him off. "You are sitting here, missing a chunk of your spine because you want to be better at killing. And yes, so far, we have kept ourselves to acceptable targets. But this city is a fucking machine, choom, and it uses the blood as its oil. It doesn''t care if you''re holding a gun. It kills gangsters, civilians, women, and children alike. Innocent people like Misty, who would like nothing more than to lead a peaceful life. Kind people like Vik, who just want to help people where they can. Loving mothers, like Mama Welles, who just wants to see her son live and be happy."


    I stopped for a moment, standing up from my chair. I walked to a nearby window, looking out into the desert. The distant city rose above the sand like a monolith of corruption and greed. From here, it was shiny and perfect despite how broken I knew it was.


    "The truth is, Jackie, is that people like us, the dogs who reach for more? The dogs who want more and are willing to claw and climb to get it? To us, this place is a paradise. But to people like them? The innocent? The kind? The weak? To them, this is fucking hell on Earth, Jackie, because they aren''t dogs, and they still keep getting eaten."


    I kept staring out the window for a moment before closing my eyes and letting out a long breath. I turned around, looking back at my friend. He was still leaning over the table, turned away from me enough that I couldn''t see his face.


    "I''m not gonna pretend to know what growing up here was like, because I have no idea," I admitted with a frown. "But it could be so much better, Jackie. Imagine a world where corporations aren''t in control of everything, where you don''t have to worry about someone killing you in the street for looking at them wrong. Were the police actually do their job, and aren''t just another gang. Were corruption is something that needs to be squashed, not the industry standard."


    "You think you can do that?" He asked, pushing back from the table and turning to face me. "I already told you, Jay, I''m with you to the end. But do you really think you can change the world like that?"


    "...with enough time? Absolutely," I said confidently. "But buying time by joining the gangs wouldn''t have worked. There''s always a catch with groups like that, always a way to keep their grip on you, even if it''s psychological. You know that better than me, how hard was it for you to finally get out?"


    "It was hell," He admitted. "I get your point, choom. It''s just hard to imagine something other than what I''ve known for my whole life."


    "That''s¡­ fair. And I''m sorry for being preachy," I said, shaking my head. "It''s just hard not to be dramatic sometimes."


    "Don''t worry about it, Genio," He said with a smirk, shaking his head and slowly standing from the chair. "So what are you up to today?"


    "Well¡­ I got a few things I want to build, but nothing that will take me very long," I admitted. "I got some time. Are you up for designing your pistols?"


    "Damn, choom, I forgot you wanted to do that," He admitted with a frown. "I''m not sure I''m gonna like tech weapons, but I''ll give it a shot. Just don''t get winey if I end up preferring my <u>Nue</u></a>."


    He patted his pistol, which was holstered at his hip.


    "Yeah, yeah, just promise you won''t get whiny when I say I told you so," I responded with a smirk, pushing open the door for him. Frank followed us out as we made our way to the garage.


    I led him into my section of the garage and sat my friend down on a crate, starting to design a pistol for him. I started with the already existing pistol before pulling it apart and upgrading it considerably with Titanfall tech. That didn''t take too long, since I had already done it several times at this point. When I was done, I saved the <u>base model</u></a> as an updated pistol, storing the old one as outdated. Once that was done, I worked with Jackie to add in a few extras, like a holographic sight built into what would be called the slide on a standard pistol, with a toggle to turn it on and off. When I was done, I showed the design off to Jackie.


    "What do you think?"


    "It¡­ looks a bit boring¡­." He said, rubbing his arm. "Got anything in gold?"


    I snorted and spent a few minutes adding some gold plating, as well as some artistic etching. That sort of thing was a bit out of my wheelhouse, so I used some existing art to turn into a raised print on the pistols plating.


    "How about now?"


    Jack sat up and leaned over my shoulder to get a better look, studying the pistol carefully before nodding.


    "It looks good, Genio," He said, patting my shoulder. "As long as it shoots good too¡­"


    I nodded, waving him away as I quickly got a printer working on the pistol, before sitting down and designing the ammo for it. Within an hour, we were both standing out by the parking lot, looking out over the desert, watching a pair of MRVN units set up targets made from the scrap polymer that the mass recycler made. As they worked, we loaded and readied our weapons. Jackie was sitting on a folding chair, two identical pistols sitting on a table in front of him, while I was sitting on a concrete divider, holding a single upgraded base model. It was lighter than Jackie''s "unique" version, with marginally less standard power, but I preferred the more streamlined, lighter feel.


    The MRVN units rushed back, and I slid Jackie a mag of slugs, quickly sliding my own home.


    "So these are gonna kick less than you expect, but a lot more than the tech weapons you''re used to, mostly due to the density of their slug," I explained. "Compared to the old pistol, they hit harder and are more accurate, with just about the same weight."


    "Hey, choom¡­ how come the <u>first one</u></a> looked¡­ cleaner?" he asked, peeking at the slugs through the top of the magazine.


    "Because I was only working with¡­ my first bits of inspiration, so I had less to go off and more to fill in," I responded, clicking the weapon on with a satisfying whine and clunk. "That let me get away with being a bit more artistic. This one is all working parts, no room for flash stuff. Well, unless you make room for it like you did."


    "Hey, having recognizable weapons is important," He responded. "Especially if you''re looking to gain a reputation."


    "Sure, sure," I sarcastically agreed before lifting up my new pistol and aiming it down range.


    Together, we tested our new weapons, and I had to admit, I really liked the new pistol. It was an all-around upgrade from the original pistol and had several of the features the first model was missing. Even better, the ammo was significantly improved as well, and much more flexible, as Jackie found out when I held him a red magazine.


    "These pack a bit more of a punch," I said with a smirk.


    "What are they, armor piercing?" He asked, ejecting the previous mag and sliding the red one in.


    "Something like that," I responded, watching as he sighted in down range and fired.


    The projectile whistled down range, breaking the sound barrier and then some. It slapped into a polymer cube and promptly detonated, utterly destroying the cube and scattering the several around it. It was a significant explosion, with way more impact than any normal explosive ammo available could do. Jackie let out a string of Spanish and English curses while looking down at the pistol.


    "That was fucking Nova, how the hell did you manage that?"


    "It''s just a common explosive material I borrowed from other explosive bullets," I explained with a shrug. "The only difference is that with how the mag pistols work, we can afford to put significantly more explosive compound into each round."


    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    "How come no one else does that?"


    "Can''t say for sure that no one has, but the reason you don''t see them around is that most tech weapons are all about steering and guiding bullets or stuffing tech into the bullets," I explained, loading in my own magazine of explosive ammo. "but my mag weapons are basically just normal guns that shoot without propellant. The lack of complicated stuff in the projectile means that no ECM is going to work, and I have a lot more room in mine."


    "They are safe, right?"


    "Yup. Though if the mag gets shot, it could go off," I admitted. "High energy impact is what activates the compound, so it takes something like slamming into a target to go off. Unfortunately, that also means that if the magazine takes a bullet, that would probably be enough to set some of it off instead."


    "Hmm¡­ not sure I want to carry that around,"


    "If you are wearing the extra mags on your hip, your armor and armored undersuit should be able to handle it. You''ll have a pretty serious bruise, maybe some broken bones, but nothing is gonna get blown off. I¡­ would avoid wearing them to the front."


    For a moment, I thought Jackie was gonna throw one of his empty magazines at me. When he was done scowling, he turned back and focused on practicing with his new weapons. After another mag of explosive ammunition and a handful of standard mags for each of us, we were both satisfied. I printed us both out an adjustable holster, Jackies with two slots for his guns and mine for only one. At this point, my old holster was looking a bit rough, so I was glad to retire it. The old pistol was set up as an emergency weapon, attached to the underside of my workstation.


    With Jackie satisfied with his new weapon, he also retired his Nue, with plans to give it to his mother as a security weapon for the Coyote. I think he was intending it to make her feel safe as he started spending more and more time out here at the Ridge. I didn''t have the heart to tell him I was starting to consider the idea of inviting her out here to open a bar, whenever we figured out who we were going to have populate the rest of the town.


    I also wanted to invite Vik, Misty, and anyone else I considered friends or even just safe. It seemed like a waste to try and build a safe haven, only to waste it on myself and a few other people. Of course, that would also put them in the crosshairs should everything go to shit, so I would need to explain that to them as well.


    Jackie retired to his temporary trailer to get some more sleep, his recovery catching up with him after being active for a few hours. When he left, I got to work.


    While initially, I was rather disappointed with the Become Human tech tree, and I kind of still was, I did realize over time that completely ignoring it was a rather poor idea. Yes, plenty of it was completely pointless, but as I was working on the weapon attachments, I realized that in the grand scheme of things, it didn''t matter if the end product was useless because everything I made would expand my knowledge. Yes, just how much this tech tree would allow me to expand my knowledge was minimal, but that didn''t mean I should ignore it completely.


    So, for the last third of the sixth day, I sat down and began designing random bits and bobs. I started with things that might be useful, like advanced screen technology, which was actually not bad, all things considered. From there, I designed cell phones, tools, and other bits of tech, trying to absorb every little bit that I could from the setting. Most of the things that I designed could be printed out on the small scale molly-make in two or three pieces, drastically cutting down on the time needed to construct them.


    By the time I went to bed, I had learned a good amount of basic knowledge for designing and building electronic equipment, including computers and phones. I also learned basic knowledge about medical equipment, material sciences, and engineering, as well as less rigid concepts like ruggedization, ergonomics, and user-friendly designs.


    I also spent the last hour of the day upgrading my keyfob. I expanded its screen, basically converting it into a cellphone like I knew from back home, integrating and upgrading the design as much as I could with Titanfall tech and materials. I was very happy with the result, especially since it had plenty of room to run the upgraded hacking software that Spot used, as well as his programming assistant system. I would most likely continue to upgrade it as I learned new things, but for now, it was nice to have something more than just a tiny screen to check my bank account and see the number that was trying to contact me.


    As I finally left the garage, I watched our two salvage trucks leave on their trash run, the MRVN units waving to me as they drove past. I idly questioned if it was safe for them to be driving, before realizing that I trusted them more than I did most of the people in Night City. Duke followed behind me as I finally made my way home, laying in bed after a quick shower and a late-night snack. Thankfully, it didn''t take long for me to finally get some sleep, reaching over the side of the bed to pet Duke as I drifted off.


    The next morning, I went right back to working on my low-tech foundation, spending my time building random stuff from Become Human. It was funny, if I pushed back far enough I could see the things that were much more familiar to me, like PC systems that looked almost identical to what I used to game on. The only difference was the name brand. I even eventually identified the time when people started being obsessed with future-looking tech. It happened in the same way that RGB lights seemed to take over the computer industry, only this fad quickly expanded to all sorts of markets.


    Around noon, Kaytlyn returned from her latest trip to Tyger territory. As she was approaching the town, she radioed ahead to get everyone together. She arrived not long after that, carrying a few pizzas and looking concerned. I grabbed the boxes from her, almost tripping over her cat as she led me into the BD shack, where Riggs and Jackie were already waiting. The door to Frank''s space was open, no doubt so he could listen in, just in case Jackie needed some help.


    I placed the pizzas down on the table and took a seat, watching while Jackie grabbed a slice for himself. He cursed and dropped the slice onto a plastic plate, shaking out his fingers, trying to cool them off. I was focused on Kayt, though, as her expression was concerning.


    "So¡­ what''s the news?" I asked, even as Jackie passed me a plate with a slice on it. "You don''t look very happy."


    "Cause I''m not," She responded, shaking her head. "I''ve been going over the extra info Padre got us and comparing it to what I''ve been seeing. I''ve gotta say, this mission not looking so good."


    "What''s the problema, Chica?" Jackie asked, impatiently waiting for his pizza to cool. "We know from the scavs they can''t keep up with us."


    "Scavs might not have been able to, Jackie, but Tyger Claws, specifically these ones, just might," She responded, shaking her head. "We knew this was a hotspot for the gang already, but it turns out the intel was underselling it. Tyger Claws owns the whole building and the two on either side of it. It''s used to house people who need a safe space. Informants, info brokers, gun dealers, higher-ups who have a little too much heat on them, even a few lieutenants."


    She looked at Jackie, her eyes glowing as she sent him the data. I waved and gestured to my new keyfob cellphone combo¡­ my keyphone, and after a moment, I could see the data she was sending too. I scrolled through, pausing on a wireframe of the building. It was labeled with possible occupants.


    "So I tried to get a rough guess of just how many people they have on patrol inside the walls and how many are inside, but as far as I can tell, it''s more than fifteen. Could be twenty, or it could be fifty," She admitted. "They keep people rotating, and they switch out frequently. Worse, these aren''t some punk gangbangers. These are hard bastards with a lot of chrome and plenty of experience with it. I counted at least seven of them that are really chromed out, as well as at least two full borgs. I don''t know who they are or how many there actually are, but these are not mismatched scavs."


    "Dammit, that''s gonna be rough¡­" I said, shaking my head. "Any idea where she is being kept?"


    "So, I figured out what floor she is on cause her father goes to the balcony for smoke breaks," She explained, pointing out a corner of the large building, two floors down from the roof, eight floors up from the ground floor. "I kept an eye on it for a while until I spotted her inside as well. Just a glimpse, but she is there."


    "Fuck, on the ninth floor?" I asked. "That''s not gonna work."


    "You really think we can''t tear through nine floors?" Jackie asked, looking disgruntled. "We can clear floor by floor, take our time and get there eventually."


    "That won''t work here," Kaytlyn pointed out, her cat jumping up onto one of the free chairs, sniffing at one of the pizza boxes. "Places like these? They have designated communicators. The second they know something is up, an alert is going to go out to every Tyger in the area, and some that aren''t. By the time we hit the fifth floor, the first floor is going to be filled with Tygers again, chasing us up the building."


    "We may be good for twenty, thirty, maybe even forty claws of various strength, but not even we can take down the whole gang," I pointed out. "Especially when we have an asset to protect."


    Jackie cursed, leaning back in his chair, wincing as it put pressure on his newly installed cyberware. He seemed to be doing much better than yesterday, and with any luck, he would be able to start practicing by tomorrow. I was looking forward to seeing what he could do. I was also starting to generate ideas in case the Sandy didn''t agree with him. So far, I didn''t have much, but I was hopeful that whatever tech tree I had next would have something.


    "We can boost up a few floors," Riggs pointed out. "That should cut down on time."


    "We could¡­ or we could go down instead of up¡­" I suggested, trailing off after a moment, scanning through some of the pictures Kayt took.


    "You got something, Genio?" Jackie asked, leaning over to peek into what I was looking at.


    "Maybe¡­ Kayt, this was the closest non-Tyger building to our target, right?" I asked, holding out my keyphone and pointing to a building across the street from our target. "How far was it, exactly?"


    "From the compound? Maybe thirty feet?" She guessed, scratching her forehead. "Between the actual roofs? Maybe¡­ sixty, seventy feet? It''s pretty isolated on the corner of this street, which is probably why they picked it."


    "There is no way we can jump that far, loco pendejo," Jackie said, shaking his head. "The jumpkits only get us a good thirty feet, if we get a proper run and jump."


    "Yeah, but I can make us something that gets us across," I said with a shrug. "Hell, I could build a half dozen things to get us across. All we need is to get up to this building here, and then we jump."


    "You sure? Kayt asked. "I mean, I won''t be doing it since I''ll be on sniper support, but are you sure you can do that? I mean, I''ve seen some of the stuff you can make, but that''s a long way up¡­"


    "I''m sure. Give me a few days and I''ll have something." I replied confidently.


    "... Okay, so we start from the roof and work down," Jackie said. "That means two floors we have to deal with. But how do we get out, and how do we get away?"


    We spent another few hours coming up with a basic plan, which included getting up to the roof of the closest building, as well as how we planned on getting out once we reached our target. Once we were done planning and done with lunch, I headed back to the garage.


    I was tempted to jump right into the design process for the contraption I promised for our mission, the one that would get us from one building to the other, but I wanted to finish off working on Become Human designs first. I didn''t plan on holding on to the tree once it ran out at midnight, so I would have to make do with the time I had.


    I wasn''t overly concerned as the little bits of knowledge I was picking up were nice and would probably come in handy when I was designing my own things, but they weren''t required. In most cases, they were mostly redundant, specific to materials and tech that I was already way past with what I had learned from Titanfall.

 Chapter Thirty Three

    I spent the rest of the day designing, building, and then throwing away a few dozen different bits of tech. None of it was really worth mentioning specifically, but together, they did end up expanding my knowledge base. I didn''t quite regret not realizing the usefulness of just expanding my knowledge earlier, but I was glad I realized it when I did.


    I now felt more confident in working different bits of technology together, and I was starting to feel good about where I was for the next tech tree. I ended up staying up until midnight and letting the Become Human tech tree fade as I worked. As usual, the timer slipped into its place, reading down from seven days. While I was a little annoyed that the break time was the same as it would have been if I had held on to the subject for an extra week, that was mostly because I was anxious to see what would happen next.


    Once the tech tree faded, it didn''t take long for me to head to bed, staying up just long enough to toss my creations into the mass recycler.


    The following morning, I crawled out of bed and into the shower, spending too much time under the warm water before eventually making my way out of my trailer. As I made my way to the garage, I was surprised to find that Jackie was up before me. I found him sitting on the roof of the garage, watching the sunrise as I first got there.


    "What the hell are you doing up?" I asked, climbing up stair along the side of the building. "Aren''t you supposed to be taking it easy?"


    One of the first things Noah did when starting the garage addition was to take the stairs along the back of the garage and swing them around to the side so they would be out of the way. I was pretty sure he had plans to replace them with something a bit more sturdy, but they worked for now. Once I was on the roof, I made my way to the side of the building, sitting beside my choom.


    "I''m just about healed," He explained, passing me some sort of pre-packaged coffee drink that reminded me of the Starbucks glass bottles you could buy back home. "And I couldn''t sit still anymore. I woke up a few hours ago and couldn''t fall back to sleep."


    I cracked the drink open and took a small, hesitant sip. It actually tasted pretty good, all things considered. Coffee was one of the few plants still mass-produced enough for ordinary people to have access to it, and I wasn''t surprised that a coffee-flavored beverage was pretty accurate.


    "How are you feeling?" I asked, sneaking a peek at his neck and shoulder. There wasn''t any redness or swelling, and to my amateur eyes, everything looked pretty healthy.


    "I feel fine. I guess my neck feels a bit heavier, but that''s normal," he responded with a shrug, noticeably not wincing. "Frank says I can test the implant out later today."


    "Good, I''m ready to see what you can do," I said, slapping his stomach. "Don''t worry about it. Even if you aren''t compatible, I''ll come up with something better. You might not be blurring around like a ninja, but I guarantee I''ll be able to make something better eventually."


    He nodded in agreement, and we chatted for a few hours before the sun got too much for both of us. I left to get to work designing the necessary gadgets for our next gig while Jackie got some ammo for his new pistols and spent a few hours practicing his shooting. He complained that they had a different feel than guns, but once he had some practice under his belt, he was shooting better than ever before.


    When I finished the design phase for my newest piece of equipment, I left the construction to a MRVN unit. Jackie, Kaytlyn, Murtaugh Riggs, and Frank had all gathered at one of the parking lots further into the town, waiting for me so that Jackie could start testing his Sandevistan.


    "Finally, took you long enough," Kaytlyn said when I arrived. "C''mon Jackie, let''s see it!"


    "Wait a minute!" Frank said as he fiddled with something for a moment before affixing a small device to Jackie''s neck. "This is a sensor. It will allow me to monitor your vitals closely as you experiment. Please be careful. It is very delicate."


    "Thanks, doc," Jackie said, standing up straight and stretching a bit. "I appreciate all the help you''ve been giving."


    "Of course, it is my job," The AI robot responded with a nod, watching his patient as he made his way to one end of the parking lot.


    "Are you sure he is ready?" I asked Frank under my breath so that Jackie couldn''t hear me.


    "The scans are all clear, his body is mostly healed, and all signs point to the cyberware being properly implanted," Frank confirmed with a nod. "The sensor will alert me if there are any major issues, and I brought enough equipment to supply a small army. He is as ready as we can make him."


    He gestured to a large white bag with a red cross stenciled on the front. I nodded, trusting the AI to know what he was talking about. I programmed him to, after all.


    "Okay, Jackie. Let''s start off with a single short use, just a few seconds, relative to you," Frank said, increasing his volume slightly so Jackie could hear him clearly. "Whenever you''re ready."


    Jackie nodded, taking a moment to shake out his tension. After he was settled, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.


    Then he was a blur.


    In a split second he was more than halfway across the parking lot, having moved across the entire space in a blink and you''ll miss it moment. He stopped at the other side and turned back to face us, standing there as if he expected to collapse any moment despite the fact that he looked fine.


    "Well done!" Frank called out. "I''m reading some raised vitals, elevated heart rate, stress on your nervous system, elevated temperature, slightly lower glucose levels¡­and few others, but¡­ everything is within acceptable levels. How do you feel?"


    "I feel¡­ okay, like I just ran around for a bit," he responded, standing up straight and examining himself for a moment. "Nothing I haven''t experienced before."


    "Good, very good," Frank said with excitement. "These readings are fascinating. Why don''t you try again, another short burst like before."


    Jackie nodded, and after a moment, he blurred again, suddenly standing back where he had started. This time, he stumbled forward a bit, recovering after a moment.


    "Readings are a bit higher," Frank said, raising his hand to tap his metallic chin. "I''m worried about the increase in temperature and his heart rate. Jackie, come back and sit down for a minute or two. Then I want to test a long sustained burst, the maximum the unit is capable of."


    The next few hours were spent testing how well Jackie''s body could handle the Sandevestan. At some point, both he and I put on our armor and undersuits so that we could spar a bit, which was really just me getting tossed around a bit, but really fast. Jackie also spent a not insignificant portion of that time sitting down and recovering, eating sugary foods to maintain his glucose levels. He handled the experiments pretty well, and by the end of the testing, Frank delivered the verdict.


    "As you can obviously tell, since I didn''t immediately tell you to stop, your physical compatibility with the Sandevistan system is pretty decent," The AI doctor explained. "The pace we set for taking breaks and refueling is more or less stable, but I suspect it is also your normal limit. What it comes down to is the frequency of use. Using it once or twice over the span of an hour, every hour, all day would leave you feeling like you put in a long, hard day''s work, assuming you hydrated and consumed enough food. On the other hand, using it six times in five minutes will leave you feeling like you are recovering from a bender under the hot sun. It won''t kill you, but you might wish it did."


    "That''s great news, Doc," Jackie said, sitting back in his chair. "I''m really all set?"


    "Physically, your body is handling the stress well. You will come in for a check-up after every mission to make sure it stays that way," Frank said in no uncertain terms. "I''m also going to formulate a pre-mission supplement. It will help your body resist the shock of using the Sandevistan system several times in rapid succession."


    "Yeah, alright, Doc Frank. Thanks."


    "You are welcome. How do you feel mentally?"


    "I¡­ I''m happy, excited, and eager," he responded. "Other than that? I''m fine."


    "Fascinating. Very well, I am giving you the green light to use your Sandevistan system while on missions," The AI confirmed with a nod. "You will come in if you or anyone else notices any change. Do you understand?"


    "Yeah, Doc, I understand."


    "Good. Now, take it easy for the next several hours, and then come see me in my office. I want to run a full workup, just to make sure."


    Jackie nodded while Frank grabbed his things and walked away, heading back to the BD shack.


    "Congrats Choom!" Kaytlyn said, thumping the bigger man on the shoulder. "Sounds like you''re keeping it!"


    "So far so good," He admitted with a smirk. "We''ll see if I can mentally keep up with it."


    "Cyberpsychosis is most prevalent with people who are already mentally unhealthy," I assured him, patting his opposite. "We will keep an eye on you, and as long as you''re honest if you feel off, I have a feeling you''ll be okay."


    "Thank''s choom," He responded, patting my shoulder as he stood. "I need to give Misty a call and tell her that everything is going well."


    "Fuck that choom!" Kaytlyn said, shaking her head. "Cmon! This is something to celebrate! Tell her to get out here, and we can have a party!"


    "Chica, I think it''s a bit early to be throwing a party," Jackie said, scratching his cheek. "Besides, it''s just a bit of chrome."


    "Just a bit of chrome? Don''t be stupid, Gonk! That Sandy is worth more than all the other chips you''ve got in you, and then some!" She said. "What''s going on with you? You''ve been a mopey mess since we found them!"


    Jackie looked at me for support, and I made a vague agreeing gesture.


    "I wouldn''t put it like that, but you have been putting a lot of thought into it," I responded to his unasked question. "I get it, though. It''s a big deal. But she is right about this being something to celebrate. You got some major chrome, and you''re still healthy. It doesn''t have to be anything big, just call Misty out here, and we can do what we did when I got my skin bioware. And considering the paycheck I just got, it''s on me. We can go grab some food and celebrate. To good health and friends."


    "... you know what? You''re right. This is something to celebrate," He said, shaking himself off a bit and nodding in agreement. "Okay, I''ll give Misty a call. Do you mind if I invite Vik out as well? He is the one who installed it, after all. That, plus I can tell he has been dying to know what you''ve been doing out here."


    "That''s a good idea," I agreed with a smile. "He is more than welcome out here."


    Jackie nodded and walked off, standing up straighter than before. A hunch I had missed was already gone, and he seemed to be a bit more awake and happy.


    "Good call," I said, giving Kaytlyn a look. "I noticed his funk, but I was just hoping the good news would break him out of it."


    "Any idea what''s causing it?" She asked with a frown. "He''s not the kinda guy to get mopey usually. You don''t think it''s the Sandy, do you?"


    "No, it started before that. It''s a guess, but a lot has changed over the last couple of weeks," I guessed with a shrug. "He might have just lost his bearings, between us becoming a deadly hit squad basically overnight. Now he has a bit of cyberware he never dreamed he would get. It''s possible he is starting to wonder what happens after we get into the Afterlife and ''make it big.''"


    She frowned, nodding at my explanation.


    "Guess we will just have to keep him busy, show him what happens next," She guessed. "I should probably keep it to myself that I''m already allowed into the Afterlife as well."


    "Really?" I asked, a bit surprised. "How did that happen?"


    "Got hired to protect someone, ended up getting ambushed in our safehouse," She explained with a shrug. "Had to fight our way down and out of a six-story building. Ended up skipping three floors by jumping and using a big squishy solo as a cushion, then blew up the building to slow them down. Cost me an arm, but I completed the mission, so I got an invite."


    "Damn."


    She nodded before slapping me on the back and heading off to prepare while I went back to my trailer. I stopped by the garage first to let Samwise know what was happening, and he promised to get the MRVNs to help set up the firepit and some chairs.


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    I quickly took a shower and changed before stepping out to find Jackie waiting for me, his customary grin on his face.


    "C''mon Genio, I got an idea for what we can eat, assuming you don''t mind buying a few expensive things?"


    "We are celebrating, so it''s fine," I said with a smile. "As long as you don''t completely bankrupt me."


    "I won''t, I know a guy who will give us a good deal," He said. "And I''ll make you a family recipe."


    We hopped into the Emperor and pulled out of town, heading back to the city. Both Vik and Misty had agreed to come, but thankfully, we had just enough room. However, rather than pick up our friends first, we went shopping. Our first stop was a higher-end store around the corporate plaza. We got a lot of looks walking in there, but they weren''t crazy enough to kick us out. Jackie filled a basket with a few things while I bought some drinks, and it was all charged to me, waving my Keyphone over their scanner. I couldn''t help but wince at how much my money dipped, but judging from what Jackie was hinting at, this was nothing on our next stop.


    When we were done, we headed back into Valentino territory. Jackie directed me to stop by a random-looking house, nodding for me to come with him. We walked up to the front door, and Jackie knocked, ignoring the doorbell. He then talked in rapid-fire Spanish before the door opened, and a man armed with a <u>Carnage</u></a> and enough chrome to use it properly was revealed.


    "Jackie, good to see you," he said, gesturing for us to come in. "Been hearing good things about you and your new team, congrats!"


    "Thanks, choom. Listen, is Armando in?" Jackie asked, the armed man nodding.


    "Oh, he is in, down in the basement with the goods, you know the way."


    The shotgun-toting man sat down heavily on a worn-out couch, leaving Jackie and I to head downstairs. As we stepped out of the stairs and into the basement, the temperature dropped several degrees, and I could see the room was filled with freezers.


    Armando, the only person in the basement other than us, greeted Jackie like an old friend. After a few minutes of polite catching up, he walked us back to one of the large freezers along the back wall. He cracked it open to reveal a bunch of frozen food. To my old life, it would have looked like an ordinary freezer, but now, the dozen bags of frozen vegetables and the pile of frozen meat looked like nirvana on Earth.


    The old man laughed at me while I stared at it, my jaw hanging open. He explained that he was at the tail end of a smuggling operation that mostly dealt with food stolen from Corpo hoarders. Jackie negotiated for a bit to buy a big slab of fish, the cheapest meat he was selling. When he was done, I bought a chicken breast and a small cut of steak, as well as a few bags of frozen fruit and vegetables, including peas, corn, and strawberries. Jackie looked at me like I was crazy, but Armando looked like he had won the lottery. He offered me a cut of bacon for cheap since it was technically past its prime, and I bought that as well.


    In total, including what I bought from Jackie, I spent thirty thousand eddies on meat and vegetables. Armando threw in a portable freezer for free, shaking my hand as we left.


    "Jackson, that was a lot of fucking money!" Jackie said as I put the freezer in the back. "You buying with your stomach, not your wallet."


    "We aren''t eating most of that food, Jackie," I explained, shaking my head. "I''m handing it over to Frank and asking him to try and find a way to make more."


    "What! You''re not even gonna eat it?!"


    "No! It''s thirty thousand eddies worth of food!" I said, shaking my head. "There is no way I am eating it until I know if I can replicate it or not!"


    Titanfall had never had the food issues that Cyberpunk had, since their expansion included worlds on which they could grow more food, and they never experienced the same sort of apocalypse that Cyberpunk did. Those two things combined meant that the Titanfall tech tree did not have a clear-cut solution to my food dilemma. That said, the medical equipment I had access to was way beyond what Cyberpunk had access to, and the molly makers were impressive tools that were in the same boat.


    I was hoping that between the two advancements, and with the right samples, that I would be able to reproduce or create more palatable food. Up until this point, I had simply been biding my time, trying to come up with a way to get access to the samples I needed. Now I find out that Jackie had a contact this entire time. Looking back, I should have probably guessed he would, as the friendly Gonk had a contact for everything.


    If I had known Jackie had access to real food¡­ well it was probably better that I hadn''t, because I probably would have ended up spending a lot of money buying some, money that, until now, we really couldn''t waste. I wasn''t sure if it was going to work, after all, even if I was hoping and praying it would.


    After we picked up food the ingredients for Jackie''s surprise dish, we stopped by Misty and Vik''s to pick them up before heading back to Rocky Ridge. Vik was excited to see what we had been working on, and Misty was just happy to get out of the city. When we arrived, Duke greeted us with an excited bark. We had been forced to leave him behind since we weren''t sure if the Emperor would have enough room if he had come with us. By the time we got back, a fire pit and grill area had been set up, and Kaytlyn was starting the fire.


    It didn''t take long after we arrived for Jackie and Misty to get to work cooking up a storm. While they did that, I gave Vik a short tour of the town, starting off by introducing him to Riggs and Murtaugh, followed by Noah and Samwise. After that I brought him to Frank, carrying the portable freezer of food with me.


    "And this is Frank, our doctor droid," I explained, the medical robot reaching out to shake Vik''s hand. "He''s been keeping an eye on Jackie as he recovered. Frank, this is Vik, our Ripperdoc."


    "Nice to meet you," Vik said, shaking the AI''s hand.


    "And you as well. Your work is exemplary," Frank said, genuine approval in his voice. "Jackie''s latest Cyberware has healed well and was installed beautifully."


    "Yeah, about that. Did he really try it today?" Vik asked, sounding a bit concerned. "It''s about a day or so too early for that, but I gave it a quick look over earlier¡­ It looked remarkably well healed."


    "I prescribed a few¡­ additive ingredients to the regimen you gave him," Frank explained. "They lower his swelling, increased receptiveness, stimulated nerve growth, nothing too intense so it would heal as stable as possible."


    "Where did you get those?" Vik asked, confusion in his voice and face.


    "We made them," Frank explained, gesturing around his workspace. "We have access to¡­ a few extraordinary tools here."


    Vik gave me a look, and I shrugged.


    "I''m sorry, I know that look, but how quickly do you think a corpo would be kicking down our doors after we start feeding you miracle cures?" I pointed out. "We have our own Corpo¡­ You know, maybe I should have invited her¡­ Anyway, we have someone working on a way to prevent that from happening, but until then, and honestly after then too, we have to be careful."


    "Yeah, I get it," He said, letting out a long breath. "Just so sick of giving kids drugs I know are cheap or inferior. Ignore me, I shouldn''t have brought down the mood."


    I nodded in commiseration, patting his shoulder before putting the portable freezer up on one of the clinic countertops.


    "Frank, I have a new project for you," I said, getting the AI''s attention. "I want you to work on scanning and analyzing the food that''s in here as precisely and completely as you can. I want you to have records of every aspect of its internal structure, chemical makeup, everything. Then, I want you to work with Samwise to come up with a way to print it on a modified molly-maker. Compromise on that part if you have to, but do your best."


    "Interesting. Sounds like an acceptable challenge," Frank said, nodding his head. "I will see what we can come up with. Working alongside Samwise will be an interesting experience. If I might make a request?"


    "Yeah, of course."


    "Working on biological projects such as this would be made significantly more simple with proper laboratory space," He explained before gesturing to the room around us. "This room is¡­ acceptable for my current needs providing emergency treatment and care, but it is ill-fitted for proper experimentation. On top of that, should you ever have the... desire to study biology, it will come in handy."


    I frowned, and for a moment, my mind was filled with images of what would happen if my next tech tree was Zerg, or maybe the Yuuzhan Vong from Star Wars. I might voluntarily skip those if I ever got them, just to keep any of their stuff from existing in this world, but having a biological research space was very smart. So far, I had only rolled tech trees that require engineering, but who knew what I would get next?


    "That''s a really good point, Frank," I admitted with a frown. "But it''s going to be a while before I can build you a full lab."


    "Why not allow me to work with Noah to convert the BD shack into an appropriate space?" He asked, tilting his metallic head slightly.


    "Because we use it as a meeting and break area," I explained. "We were gonna tear it down and put something else here, but we have plenty of room¡­"


    I turned and stepped out of the side room, looking around the BD shack interior. After a moment, I nodded and returned.


    "Okay, how about this. We seal off the open space on the second floor and convert that into a lab space for you," I explained. "You can even add something to get equipment up to the lab using the bar space. The rest of the bottom floor stays the same¡­ and I want you to keep all the equipment movable or at least marginally transportable. Eventually, we are going to knock this building down, and I want your gear to be moved out into its new home before that."


    "Thank you, Jackson, I will start discussing the idea with Noah," Frank said with a short bow. "I am sure he will run further plans by your first."


    After discussing what his first steps would be, all three of us made our way out of the BD shack and back outside, where everyone had gathered around the fire pit. The pit was now full of burning cacti and bramble while Jackie stood close by, still cooking up a storm with Misty''s help.


    "Sit down and grab a beer!" He said as we got closer. "No more talking about business or projects!"


    Vik chuckled and shook his head, both of us claiming seats. Murtaugh was sitting down beside Kaytlyn, while Riggs leaned against the garage. Even Samwise and Noah were close by, sitting on a crate, listening and enjoying a break.


    About twenty minutes after we sat down, all of us drinking and laughing around the fire, Jackie''s feast was done. He set out the food along a folding table, showing off a line of ingredients for fish tacos, including the perfectly grilled fish. Misty and Vik, both of whom had apparently had these before, were in line first, but soon enough, we had all gotten our food. Once we were all sitting and eating, the only noise making it around the fire pit was the crackle of burning wood and the occasional noise of appreciation.


    "Holy fuck, Jackie, these are Nova," Kaytlyn said eventually between bites. "What the hell?"


    "I can''t take credit, Chica, it''s a family recipe, handed down on my mother''s side," He explained with a smile and a shrug. "I made a solemn vow to Mama Welles to never make them with anything other than real fish, and never for people who aren''t friends, or better yet, family."


    With a smile, he raised his beer, holding it up to all of us.


    "To family," He said. "Always happy to cheer you up and knock you out of your blues."


    "To family," Everyone said, taking a long drink.


    I just barely managed to smother my chuckle and keep from calling Jackie Vin Diesel since none of them would get the reference anyway.


    Together, we spent the rest of the night talking and laughing, trading stories and making jokes. I was happy to see that all of the AI were fitting in, and equally satisfied that no one questioned how the obvious robot could make a joke good enough to get Jackie to spew beer from his nose. When the night was finally winding down, MRVN units showed everyone their trailers, and I spent some time putting out the fire and cleaning up. When I was done, I said goodnight to Samwise and the others before making my way back to my bed, Duke trailing after me.

 Chapter Thirty Four

    <div>


    "Damn, Samwise, how many makers did you have ready to go?"


    "Quite a few, Jackson," He responded, passing me a tablet filled with more detailed information. "We have been printing the parts whenever the makers are free and storing them in several of the less livable trailer homes. After stripping them of furniture and making a few quick repairs, they made excellent temporary storage."


    "Well¡­ good work," I said, watching as a MRVN unit pushed in a cart of more parts. "This is much faster than I thought we would be going."


    "Sir, I expect we will be finished transporting the parts in the next hour or so. After that, four concrete trucks are scheduled to arrive and pour the foundations for the first twenty-four hardpoints," Noah explained. "By the time the concrete has solidified, these facilities will be complete, meaning we can immediately begin fabricating the defensive structures."


    "Sounds like a solid plan," I said with a nod. "I spotted a few MRVN units working last night, I assume they were digging the foundations?"


    "Correct."


    "Excellent work, guys," I said with a smile, patting them both on the shoulder. "I knew I could trust the both of you, and you''re still outdoing my expectations. Thank you for all your hard work."


    We chatted a bit more, discussing what the final defensive hard points would look like, as well as their current demand for MRVNs, before I went into my section of the workshop. There, weighting for me was the finished gadgets I had designed the day before, the equipment we would use to clear the large gap between the Tyger building and the nearest civilian building in our current mission. I spent a few minutes going over one of them, checking to make sure that everything was functional and together, before putting on my full uniform, including my jump kit.


    I was climbing up to the sniper''s nest on top of the temporary security building when Kaytlyn spotted me.


    "What are you doing?" She asked, standing at the base of the ladder as I looked down. "What''s that you got with you?"


    "It''s the key to jumping the gap!" I explained before running and leaping off the roof of the tall building.


    My jump kit fired off just as my feet were leaving the roof, carrying me forward a significant distance, before my forward momentum started to fade. Just before the downward momentum really started to affect my forward movement, I held my glider up above my head, and the winged device activated. It looked depressingly like a Fortnight <u>glider</u></a>, with the wings and base replaced by three large GREMLIN thrust paddles. They fired hard, using a row of lightweight capacitors to output considerably more thrust than normal, enough so that I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck being dragged around by the moving air.


    Once the internal gyroscope stabilized from my movements, the wings tilted back slightly, and what had been a slow forward-moving descent was now a much quicker forward descent. I traveled further and further down the road, past the garage and past the first parking lot. When I finally touched down, I was all the way down at the first row of trailers along the paved road.


    I skidded a bit, but when I stabilized I couldn''t help but jump, pumping my fist and shouting.


    "That''s what I''m fucking talking about!" I shouted, watching as Kaytlyn cheered from about halfway back to the security building, rushing toward me.


    "Choom, that was fucking Nova!" She shouted, slapping my side. "I assumed you were gonna make some sort of grappling gun or something!"


    "Nope, this is the solution," I explained, a big old smile on my face. "It''s a bit overkill, but nothing wrong with that."


    "Overkill? Jay, you glided like twice the distance we needed, easy!" She said, shaking her head. "Maybe more!"


    "Gotta make sure," I responded with a shrug. "So, I guess you like it?"


    "I''m pissed that I don''t get to use one during the mission," She said with a frown, though that quickly washed away when she reached out and snagged it from me. "But I can use it now!"


    "Hey, be careful!" I called out after her as she rushed back to the temporary security building. "You need to put on your armor first, if you fall without your jump kit you''re gonna break something!"


    The overeager woman skidded to a stop, and passed the glider to Jackie, who had just stepped out from beside the garage, Misty right beside him. He looked confused as to what he was holding, and why Kaytlyn had run past him like a bat out of hell.


    "What''s going on, Genio? We heard you cheering," Jackie asked, looking over the glider. "What did you build this time?"


    "That''s what''s going to get us between buildings for our gig," I explained, accepting the equipment as he passed it to me. "Just watch."


    I quickly climbed up the bird''s nest again, once again leaping off with a boost from my jump kit. I could hear Misty gasp as I did, before once again activating the glider. Rather than aiming down the road, this time, I aimed for the garage, landing smoothly on the much closer target.


    Jackie blurred up the stairs, literally, activating his Sandy and damn near appearing beside me. He looked just as excited, if not more so, than Kaytlyn.


    "Holy hell, Genio! You got some serious air time!" He said,l moving around, trying to get a better view of the glider. "That thing going to hold me and Riggs?"


    "Yeah, should do fine with either of you," I assured him, pulling it back when he reached out to touch it. "Go get your gear on if you want to try it."


    I chuckled as he nodded and ran, heading back down to the trailer he had claimed as his own. I made my way down a bit slower, stopping by Misty.


    "Are you sure that thing is safe?" She asked, chewing a bit on her cheek. "It''s not gonna run out of batteries or anything, right?"


    "It''s as safe as I can make it," I assured her. "And even if it does fail, that''s what these are for."


    I reached back and tapped my jump kit, directing Misty''s attention to it.


    "This is a jump kit, and it''s what gave me that initial boost of forward momentum," I explained. "It would automatically stabilize and engage to prevent any injury from falling, and it works from pretty high up. Not terminal velocity or anything, but certainly a dozen stories or so."


    That seemed to mollify her slightly, though she still didn''t look ecstatic about it. Unsurprisingly, Kaytlyn returned first, snagging the glider and running across the street to the gunner''s nest. She was wearing all her armor and her jump kit, using it to boost halfway up the ladder before scurrying up the rest. With no hesitation whatsoever, she leaped off the building, her kit launching her forward. Because she liked to show off, she did a flip mid-air before activating the glider and slowly gliding to the ground.


    Jackie showed up, followed by a groggy but interested-looking Vik. Jackie was about to run after Kaytlyn, but I stopped him.


    "There are more in the garage. Just make sure you turn it on," I warned. "It''s the big green button on the end of the handlebar."


    Jackie''s first leap was a bit more hesitant than Kaytlyn''s, but he let out a whoop of excitement as he slowly glided to the ground. Vik watched with wide eyes as his good friends floated through the sky, eventually angling down and skidding to a stop along the asphalt.


    "Well¡­ That''s not what I expected to wake up to," He admitted, rubbing the back of his head. "Is that safe?"


    "Yup, as safe as I can make it," I repeated. "I''d offer for you guys to try it, but you don''t have the right armor."


    "Yeah, thanks, but hell no," Vik said, sounding horrified by the idea. "I''m feeling nauseous just watching them. There''s a reason I work in the ground."


    "Phobia of heights?"


    "It''s only a phobia if it''s unreasonable."


    I chuckled and nodded, using my hand to block the rising sun from my eyes, watching Kaytlyn jump again. The two of them jumped several more times, eventually trying to compete on who could get the furthest. Even Riggs tried it twice, wanting to get a feel for the activity before we actually had to do it under pressure.


    Eventually, while trying to improve on her earlier flip, Kaytlyn finally pushed too far, and the glider''s gyroscope lost its bearings. She spiraled for a moment, the glider almost recovering before her jump kit kicked in, boosting at full to cushion her landing. Misty gasped, and Vik almost threw up, but she climbed to her feet and dusted herself off.


    "I''m okay!" She called out, wobbling for a second before shaking it off completely. "Wooo, that was a bit of a trip."


    "Your welcome, would have sucked falling from the sky without the armor, wouldn''t it?" I pointed out, the woman waving away my words.


    "Yeah, yeah, I never said putting on safety gear was wrong, Gonk," She responded. Before I could react, Jackie spoke up.


    "Hey, Jay¡­ how hard would it be to fly with this?" Jackie asked, looking down at his glider, having made his way over when Kaytlyn fell. "I mean¡­ the jump kits put out some thrust, right? Couldn''t they like... boost us up or something?"


    For a moment, I stared at him before quickly doing some math in my head. By design, the jump kits put out a considerable amount of thrust for short bursts. That said, they could be modified to fire less powerfully but for a more prolonged period¡­


    "It''s not impossible, but I would have to modify the programming of your jump kit," I answered, running my hand through my hair as I considered the idea. "It would also be a mess to fly, it''s really not designed for that. I could make something else that was¡­ More stable. Even then, it would probably be a bit clunky, and you would be a pretty easy target."


    "Easy target?! Bendejo, who cares about getting shot, I just wanna fly around!" He said, waving around the town. "Do you have any idea how much fun that would be?"


    "This is crazy enough, Jackie," I said, shaking my head. "We start flying around all day, and someone is going to see and come find out how we are doing it. Someday though, someday I''ll make you something that you can fly around in, promise."


    "Fucking corpo bastards, ruining all our fun," he said, though he nodded in understanding. "I get it, choom, sucks though."


    "It really does," I agreed, shaking my head. "I wish I didn''t have to worry about it. I would be releasing all sorts of shit by now. Unfortunately, we can''t. At least not yet."


    The mood turned down a bit after that conversation, though we ended up having a relatively enjoyable breakfast with everyone. Once we were done, Jackie drove everyone into town while I, as usual, headed to the garage. The plan was to attack our target the following night under the cover of darkness, and I needed to prepare two things.


    First, I needed to put the final touches on our gliders. The design was finished, and as they were, they worked perfectly, but for this specific mission, they needed to be altered slightly. It only took about an hour to finish, but once it was done, I had them put to the side, with a specter watching over them to keep anyone from using them again. I had a MRVN unit print and assemble another one for people to use if they wanted.


    With the gliders finished, I had something else to design. As a rescue mission, our main priority was, unsurprisingly, to rescue our target. It didn''t matter how tough or clever we were. If Akiko was hurt during our rescue attempt, we failed. One would think that the Tyger Claws would hold their fire so as to not hurt the woman they had gone through so much effort to drag back to Night City, but I did not trust them to be that smart. While our plan was designed to avoid as much combat as possible, it still meant we would be dragging around an unarmored, squishy civilian through what was probably going to be our most intense firefight yet.


    Not that I had a particularly long list at this point.


    Rather than just buy a kevlar vest and cross my fingers, I had a better idea. I designed a loose, kevlar, and Alien Alloy suit, one that anyone smaller than Jackie would be swimming in. Then, I laced it with my advanced artificial muscles. When activated, that would pull the suit tight, scrunching up all the access material into areas that wouldn''t get in the way. The result was a one-size-fits-all suit that could be put on as easily as stepping into a pair of particularly loose sweatpants. These would then immediately tighten up to normal pants level, making them more reasonable to wear while moving around.


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    This full-body suit wouldn''t be particularly athletic, nor would it offer any sort of physical enhancement other than durability. Primarily, this was because I didn''t want the user to get overconfident because they could bench press a small <u>MaiMai</u></a>, and suddenly decide they could help. On top of that, while I was being paid to rescue her, I didn''t know much about Akiko, nor would I necessarily know much about anyone I ended up using this on. It was designed for rapid deployment and protection, but I wasn''t about to hand over some sort of uber-strength-enhancing armor just because someone paid me to help them.


    For the same reason, the suit could also tense up, locking the wearer up completely. This would prevent them from doing something stupid should they get any dumb ideas like wanting revenge before we left. It would also allow Riggs to pick them up like a sack of potatoes and carry them, just in case Carlos was wrong and this hadn''t been a kidnapping, or, again, any future clients could be kept out of trouble for their own good.


    I was putting the finishing touches on the design, handing off the printing process to a MRVN unit, when the first of the concrete trucks arrived. It wasn''t really necessary for me to be around for the pouring, Riggs played Borg well enough to cover in-person stuff, but I took a break and headed out to the perimeter anyway. The <u>concrete truck</u></a> was already prepared to pour out into a foundation framework along one side of the asphalt road. Riggs was standing close by, talking to someone wearing a hard hat and an orange vest. The AI noticed me, directing the man he was talking to to me.


    After a quick conversation, confirming that all foundations were dug and ready, as well as a quick walk around the perimeter to show them all to him, the man hopped back into the truck and began to pour. Soon, the vehicle was driving along the perimeter, filling frames and running over bush and occasional cacti. Not long after the first truck showed up, two more arrived, eventually followed by a fourth. With permission and an explanation already given, the three other trucks and their operators immediately got to work, and within three hours, they were done.


    After a quick check to make sure everything was correctly filled, and a quick test to confirm they had used good-quality concrete. When we were done, I shook hands with the man in the hard hat, who thanked me for the job as the other three trucks rolled away.


    "Sir, this concrete should be ready to work on by tomorrow night and fully cured for the following afternoon," Noah explained as the last truck pulled away. "With your permission, I would like to set up half of the completed molly makers preparing parts."


    "...that sounds reasonable," I agreed with a nod. "When the makers are complete, use the new and freed-up machines to make five more MRVNs and ten more specters, arming each of them with a rifle and a pistol. I want them in one of the empty trailers, ready and waiting for us to need them."


    "Understood, sir. I will get everything started."


    Noah walked away, and for a moment, I stood there, looking out into the wastes. I could see Night City in the distance, and part of me wondered just what kind of threat would meet us out here first. I knew for a fact that the other shoe would drop eventually, it was just a matter of time. I needed to reach out to some people and figure out who was willing and able to help by being our cover. My first instinct was to reach out to Dakota, because, depending on who was around, a nomad family would be the perfect fit for what I needed.


    In canon, the Aldecados should be around, but who knew if that was true or not.


    With the foundations for our first defenses poured, I went back to the garage to start putting together the suit. It was basically printed in batches that I just fused together and finished off with a control unit that ran along the user''s back. It looked like the same nervous system readers that functioned as the brain of our suits, but was really just a power and control unit, taking commands from a remote that anyone on the team could be carrying.


    Call me paranoid, but I was not about to have the rescue mission go wrong because Akiko was confused and did something stupid. I would rather drag her along screaming and trying to break free of the locked-up suit, than try and coral her as she, or any other future target, ran around panicking or otherwise causing problems.


    I was testing the rescue suit, having Kaytlyn put it on and try to break free, and testing the range of motion and things like that when Jackie returned. He had spent some time with Misty, then visited Carlos to tell him when to show up here to pick up his wife. Finally, he had gone to the Coyote to say hello to his mother.


    When he arrived to see Kaytlyn jumping into the rescue suit, he unsurprisingly had questions. When I explained the creation, he nodded in understanding.


    "Not a bad idea, wouldn''t be the first civilian to get themselves in trouble ''cause they panicked," He admitted, his experience shining through. "Though I don''t think Akiko quite counts as a real villain, not if she grew up a Claw."


    After confirming that the suit worked, we all went about our ways to prepare. I went over everyone''s weapons, checking for any issues and even tinkering a bit to update them, though nothing massive.


    Jackie spent a while practicing and training with his Sandy, learning how to shoot and dodge while moving as a blur. By and large, we were basically just killing time until our mission was on. We all went to bed early, knowing that we would be up late for the following night.


    Unfortunately, while I was hoping to get some extra sleep, going to bed early, for me at least, just meant waking up early the next day. Now I had a whole day to kill, the sun barely rising as I walked to the garage, Duke running around me. Samwise greeted me, assembling a mag rifle at his workstation with his small arms while typing on the computer with his normal ones.


    "Jackson, we completed the installation of molly makers last night," He explained. "Current projects are now specter and weapons production, as well as the armor plating and heavy weapons for the hardpoints."


    After having a brief discussion with Noah and Murtaugh, we concluded that using Alien Alloy to reinforce the armored hard points was not worth the effort. My Alien Alloy production hadn''t really changed that much, mostly because it wasn''t all that necessary anymore. I liked using it as armor because it was light and very strong, but I had gained a lot of material science knowledge from Titanfall, so I had several alloys that were actually comparable to the strange material. It was still unbeatable in terms of strength-to-weight ratio, but for an emplacement that wasn''t going to be moving, what was the point of making it lighter?


    Still, I should probably bump up the production rates for the impressive metal. I would hate to run into a project that AA would genuinely work well in, only to realize I couldn''t produce it nearly as fast as I wanted to. Worse, I would have to engage with the building process directly since it was a black-boxed material, meaning only I could make it.


    Either way, the production of the armored hard points was going to include mainly, if not wholly, mundane materials, though mixed and matched to create some impressive alloys and combinations. Luckily, the polymer cubes that we were producing by the thousands would finally be used as filler for the armored barriers.


    The material had other uses, of course, namely in several advanced polymers that were used in Titanfall tech, but only in small amounts. We produced a staggering amount of them from the mass recycler, and after some intense processing, they would be the perfect barricade filler.


    "Alright, buddy. Just keep me updated on how that''s going. I can''t wait to see what you guys have come up with."


    Sam nodded and focused on his work while I sat down in my chair and spun around. I had a few hours, several in fact, to kill before it was time to start gearing up. So, rather than solve the problem that I just described, namely the AA rate of production, I started working on a design that had been sitting in the back of my head.


    Now that I had Duke and Kaytlyn had her cat, I was starting to wonder, what if I made an animal for everyone? One for Jackie, each of the AIs, and even something simple and generic for the specters and the MRVNs. In fact, the MRVNs could really use something to carry tools and materials, and the specter''s largest flaw, by far, was how useless they were in a melee. A robot that could compensate for either of those issues would massively increase their effectiveness¡­


    With a smirk, I leaned over my computer and opened up my design software. First, I would make something for Jackie, since I knew my AI could be more patient than him. At first, I considered making him some sort of bird or something small, but eventually, I realized something. He was not a gentle person to fight beside, he tended to walk right into the thick of it. That meant that whatever animal I built for him, it needed to be something that could hit hard and get hit hard, all while still kicking ass.


    An hour of brainstorming later, and I settled on building him a big old fuck off ram. With the right bit of flair and detail, I was sure I could make something that could bash down doors and would still fit Jackie as a companion.


    I was mostly through the design process and was starting to tinker with the coding, using Duke''s basic programming as a base, when I realized that it was late afternoon and it was time to start getting ready. All of us put our armor on, tested our weapons, and loaded up on ammo. Each of us took another try with a newly made glider, not one of the mission ones, of course, just to make sure we could handle it while we were all loaded up.


    When we were finally ready, we all piled into the Emperor. It was a bit of a tight fit, especially with all our gear, but it wasn''t the time to complain about having no legroom.


    We left the Rocky Ridge at five o''clock, and by six, we had backed the Emperor into a long alleyway close to the row of buildings across the street from our target. Carefully and quietly, we unloaded, the sky getting darker and darker by the minute. With our weapons strapped to our backs and our gliders over them, we slowly began to climb a ladder, with Riggs in the lead. Once we were all on the rooftop, we began the process of making our way from one to the other, keeping low and quiet as we jumped, boosted, and climbed our way across the skyline.


    Finally, after ten minutes, we reached the last building, the corner from which we would have to leap across to get to the Tyger Claw compound roof. Once we were settled, I carefully made my way to the furthest edge of the building.


    Taking cover beside an air condition unit, I peered around and down slightly. We had the perfect angle to see the roof of our target. Currently, there were five people, all dressed and tattooed like Claws, all heavily armed and significantly chipped. Unsurprisingly, they were armed with sniper rifles, ranging from smaller calibers meant to mop up, to larger rifles meant to put heavy targets down.


    After confirming we were in the right location, I slid back into cover behind a large vent and gave Jackie a thumbs-up. He nodded, sitting down out of sight as well. We were finally in position, and all we had to do was wait for the sun to set, and for Kaytlyn, who slid in beside me and was peeking over the lip of our building, to confirm that Akiko was, in fact, where she was supposed to be, namely safe in her apartment room.


    Time passed, and eventually, as the city slowly got darker, sunlight fading as streetlights and more came on, Kaytlyn pulled back.


    "The target is in her room, under guard but safe," Kayt said, pulling back from the edge, and sitting behind cover. "We are ready to go whenever."


    "Right¡­ Well, settle in, everyone. Another hour or so, and then we move." Jackie said, the rest of us nodding in confirmation.

 Chapter Thirty Five

    We took turns keeping watch, which was little more than peeking over the side of the building to make sure that the Tyger Claws were not suddenly freaking out over anything. Eventually, after another two hours, the sky was as dark as it was going to get, which meant it was time for us to move.


    Riggs, Jackie, and I all lined up, our gliders in hand, standing at the far back of our temporary waiting space on the roof. Kaytlyn got herself situated, raising her sniper rifle up over the side of the building. For a long moment, she was silent, adjusting her position slightly. Finally, after nearly two minutes of her just looking through the scope, she finally spoke a single, simple word.


    "Go."


    Riggs was first to move, followed by Jackie and then myself, each of us pausing long enough to give the first person time to boost off the edge of the roof toward our target. By the time Jackie''s feet left the roof, Riggs had activated his glider, the same for Jackie and myself. Just after the sound of my glider turning on filled my ears, the crackling thrumming sound that meant the XCOM tech was working at full power, the rapid snapping of Kaytlyn''s weapon echoed across the street.


    Ahead of us, on the roof of the target building, we watched as, one by one, Kaytlyn punched holes in the gang members who were keeping watch. The last one had just enough time to turn and raise his weapon before his head exploded.


    Seconds later, Riggs touched down on the roof, quickly walking further along to give Jackie and me more room. Without breaking stride, he walked forward ten feet and then fifteen to the right. Then, as Jackie touched down, he placed his glider upside down on the roof. A few seconds later, as my feet touched the roof, he cracked open a red safety cover and flicked the switch underneath. As Jackie and I quickly moved to the far side of the roof, hiding behind an air conditioner unit, Riggs tapped the glider activation switch three times rapidly, which turned on the thruster paddles, pushing the glider down against the roof.


    The device set, Riggs rushed over to join us, carefully leaning over Jackie and me to protect us both. Before I could complain that he should be in better cover, the shaped charge I had rigged around the frame of the glider, extra special for this mission, detonated, sending dust and shards of concrete flying as the explosion rattled my teeth.


    If anyone had somehow missed the shots Kaytlyn had taken, they had definitely heard that.


    When the dust began to settle, I could see that the explosives had worked, punching a surprisingly clean hole down to the floor below. With our way down complete and any security or mounting forces now bypassed, all three of us rushed to the hole and jumped down.


    Through the hole was a dust-choked hallway, the tattered remains of two people, and a whole lot of stunned Tyger Claws. Riggs, who was first through the hole, immediately opened fire with his pistols, taking two chunks out of a katana-wielding maniac before he could take a swing.


    "Riggs, cover the stairs, Jay, the hall!" Jackie called out as he slammed his axe into the skull of a tattooed Claw as they came out of their rooms swinging.


    I nodded and sprayed down the nearest Claw, forcing the rest to take cover as he dropped. I stopped at the intersection of three hallways and peeked out around the corner, barely pulling back in time for a man wielding an <u>M2038</u></a> shotgun to blow a watermelon-sized hole in the corner I was hiding behind. I cursed as the pellets and chunks of material scattered off my armor. Rather than risking getting shot by that, I simply pushed my submachine gun around the corner and dumped half the mag. This time, when I peaked, the shotgun-toting man was on the ground.


    "Get clear!"


    Jackie shouted as he ran past me, pulling me around the corner of the hall I had just cleared. A moment later, his-shaped charged glider detonated, the explosion echoing down the hall. Both of us would have been deafened by the shockwave that kicked up dust all the way down to and past us, but both our helmets protected us from that. We finished off the rest of the claws who were struggling to keep up, before charging back around the corner.


    We came around just in time to watch Riggs drop down into the newly made hole, both of us to follow him in without hesitation. As I landed and cleared the drop zone, I saw that Riggs had his mag cannon out, aiming down the hall at a seven-foot-tall chromed-out bastard. The borg was charging at us, shouting obscenities in Japanese as he did. His <u>gorilla arms</u></a> were bulky and looked powerful, while his legs were the kind of cyberware that looked industrial and brutal. Riggs obviously didn''t care to fight him, instead firing a single shot from his mag cannon, driving a doub-fist-sized hole through his sternum, as well as blowing the arm off of a katana-wielding punk behind him.


    Riggs fired a second shot, obliterating the borgs head and killing two more bastards behind him, before he quickly clipped his cannon to his back and drew his pistols.


    While Jackie covered the stairs and Riggs covered the hall, it was my turn to place the shaped charge. I yanked my glider free from the magnets along the back of my armor, quickly putting it on the ground before carefully activating it.


    "Stand clear!" I shouted, running to Jackie and pulling him down the stairs.


    As we took cover from the explosion, I got a look at why we were bothering with them in the first place. As Katylyn and Riggs had predicted during our brainstorming session, the floors were separated by rather robust-looking security doors. We would have had to clear them floor by floor, breaking through each security door, which would have slowed us down considerably, giving more time for the Tyger claws to prepare. With the glider-directed breaching charges, we were able to make incredible time and disorient the Claws at each breaching point in one quick move.


    We dropped down after Riggs again, who was now grappling with another borg, this one prepackaged model decorated by dragon paints and golden highlights. I didn''t recognize the make or model, but if Jackie or I had gone first, they would have been standing in the hall waiting for us. Judging by how Riggs was struggling with him, neither of us would have faired very well, though Jackie did have his sandy.


    Thankfully, we had seen that issue coming, and Riggs had gone first, meaning Jackie and I simply shot around him, taking down the borg''s support team. They dropped easily, and while Jackie turned to cover the stairs, I watched as Riggs twisted the borgs arm around violently, the gangster''s limb unable to keep up with strange angle, its elbow joint crumpling in a shower of white lubricated fluid.


    With one arm now useless, Riggs manhandled the borg, slamming his now free hand into its chest, tearing out chunks of parts before he finally gripped something and yanked at it violently. The borg''s head jerked back and down, pulling partially into its frame as Riggs yanked half of its reinforced, robotic spine out through a hole he punched in its stomach plates. He followed it up by tearing the borg''s other hand free from its shoulder.


    "Damn, Riggs," I said once the borg had fallen to the ground. "You got something against spines? Your damn near tore out that scavs too."


    "Can''t move if you can''t communicate with your body," He responded with a shrug.


    I snorted before quickly looking around. We had descended enough floors, now we just needed to find the right room. Riggs covered me as I oriented myself, finally finding the right place. I was just hooking myself into the door''s controls, ready to use my own enhanced auto-hacker when the thick security door suddenly slid open.


    A string of Japanese curses followed me as I dove backward, a muscular Tyger Claw already stepping out of the room. He was wearing pants and a black oni mask, a glowing red katana already swinging downward at me. Despite my surprisingly quick reaction time, he still managed to slash me twice, his body blurring as he activated some sort of speed-enhancing device, probably a Sandy.


    Both of his strikes hit my chest, carving an X into the durable metal plating. Even with the multiple layers, I could feel the heat of the blade.


    My attempt to dodge threw me across the hall, the far wall dented from the impact. I lowered my hand to grab my weapon, only for the Claw to blur again. I instinctively flinched, raising my arm to protect myself, only for another blur to blitz the Claw, Jackie''s ax catching the glowing katana.


    "Hey fucker, pick on someone your own speed," Jackie said, winding up and cracking the bigger man''s jaw with his armored fist, both of them blurring as sparks and glowing trails flew.


    As Jackie fought the fellow Sandy user, I was forced to take his place covering the stairs, spraying a pair of reinforcements before turning my head to look back at Riggs.


    "Fuck safe, smash it, Riggs!"


    The brutal AI nodded, quickly dispatching a pair of charging gangsters coming from down the hall. He turned to the door, which had closed after the katana-wielding man had crossed the threshold. Riggs ran around Jackie and his opponent, who blurred again, this time whipping around and coming back to normal speed. Jackie didn''t fall for it, blurring for a moment before both of them stopped. The gangster''s katana was hanging limply to the side, while Jackie''s axe was buried in his opponent''s neck, deep enough that it flopped at a weird angle from the force of impact.


    Before the dead man could finish sliding off Jackie''s weapon, Riggs slammed himself into the door, the thick, reinforced paneling buckling and bending under the impact. With a backward yank, Riggs pulled himself free and raised his leg, slamming one, two, three kicks into the door, each one cracking dust free from the building''s concrete structure. Finally,l after the third kick, the door gave way, slamming inward and sending sparks everywhere.


    Jackie blurred inside, sneaking through the doorway before the door even finished slamming open, leaving Riggs to step into the apartment second and me to slowly pick up the back end, charging in with my weapon raised, just in time to hose down a gangster with a tanto, trying to catch Jackie off guard from his blind spot.


    Of course, before Jackie could even realize that I had saved him from being stabbed, returned the favor by shooting past me and taking down a shotgun-wielding punk coming from a room off the side.


    "Where''s Riggs?" I asked.


    Before Jackie could respond, a crumpled mess of what used to be a chromed-out Tyger came flying from another side room, slamming into a window and shattering it, the corpse falling out of view. Riggs stepped out from that room, his chest marked with a few dents and a single line of scoring.


    "Akiko is currently locked in the bathroom, alone," He explained. "Didn''t want to hurt her trying to get her out."


    "Riggs, Jay, hold the door," Jackie said. "Let''s hope she recognizes my voice."


    Riggs and I nodded, both of us turning to the door. Riggs actually made his way to it to peek outside. He quickly pulled back, reached down to his belt, and pulled out a quartet of grenades, quickly throwing two down each hall. The explosions kicked up dust as the pressure wave washed over us, but this time, when the AI brute looked, he nodded confidently.


    "Clear for now," he said. "We-"


    A groaning came from behind us, and I whirled, ready to put down any survivors. When no immediate target presented itself, I stepped further into the apartment. Five minutes ago, it would have been a pretty decent place, with more open space than most people in Night City got to enjoy. Now, it was a warzone, with half a dozen dead bodies and a consistent amount of blood and gore. There was also an older man, still alive, with a singular gut shot in his stomach. He was struggling to sit up, collapsed back on a half-broken coffee table. The moment he spotted me, he started choking out words, none of which I understood. Rather than listen to him, I pulled out my pistol, ready to finish him off.


    "Wait!" A woman''s voice called out. "Please don''t."


    I rolled my eyes, having foreseen this very problem when we first took the mission. I turned to see Jackie and our target, Carlos''s wife, Akiko.


    "That''s my father," She said, stepping forward with a surprising amount of confidence.


    "Right, well-"


    Before I could finish, she reached over to Jackie and pulled one of his pistols from its holster. With a pretty fast draw, she put three rounds in the shocked-looking man, two in the chest and one in the head.


    "Sorry, I just wanted to do it myself."


    Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    I looked at her for a moment while she passed Jackie his gun back, who accepted it back with an equally stunned look on his face. After a moment, the sound of Riggs firing his mag cannon, as well as the accompanying explosion of noise, kicked me into high gear.


    "Great, fantastic, I assume Jackie explained the situation?" I asked, waiting for her to nod. "Wonderful, in that case¡­"


    I made my way to Riggs, grabbing the wound and bound mass that was the emergency escape suit I had built, pulling it off his back. I unbuckled several straps, flicking the metal and cloth armor open before passing it to her.


    "Put this on, it''s one size fits all armor to keep you from getting hit by a stray," I explained, watching her look at it with a raised eyebrow. "Please? We are technically on a schedule here, so..."


    She winced and started pulling on the armor, struggling a bit before I helped. When she was wearing the very baggy pile of metal and cloth, she gave me a look like I was an idiot. Rather than correct her, I tapped the controls along her back, and the suit tightened and sealed itself in seconds, pulling all of the bunched slack to her back. The last bit to tighten was the hood and mask, giving me a chance to adjust and fix it as it seated itself on her head.


    It looked dumb as hell, but she was protected and wasn''t going to get insta popped by gonk with bad aim.


    "Alright, Jackie," I said, giving him a thumbs up. "We are ready to rock."


    "Okay. I''ll call her in."


    Jackie pulled out his radio and started talking to it while I switched places with Riggs, covering the door. At this point, the hall was more broken than intact, with massive chunks of the building blown out by Riggs'' mag cannon. I turned to watch as Riggs unloaded his weapon, dropping the cylinder magazine, and pulled another from his back, slapping it home in one fluid movement. He quickly kicked the balcony door open, raising his weapon and looking down to the grounds of the compound. I could see him through the door as he opened fire, raining down lethal power from on high like a fucking meteor.


    "Okay, She is on her way, one minute!" Jackie said, looking out of the balcony and guiding Akiko to the open space. "How we looking, Riggs?"


    "... clear enough." He said, after firing two more rounds.


    I reached down to my belt and grabbed a pair of grenades, throwing them down the hall, just as Riggs had done before, mostly to discourage people from rushing in the next fifteen seconds, before turning and jogging to the balcony, the explosions rocking the building as the grenades went off.


    "Jackie, how are we getting down?" Akiko asked. "You got a rope or-"


    Riggs reached around the small woman, firmly grasping a reinforced loop especially built into the armor. Then, while holding her up and out, he rolled over the railing, grabbing the edge with his free hand. While Akiko screamed, Riggs dropped, falling two floors before he snagged another balcony edge, stopping just enough to absorb the sudden deceleration before repeating the pattern. Jackie and I watched them both descend, leaning over the railing.


    "You sure the jump kits can handle this height?" Jackie asked calmly.


    "Of course I am," I answered. "I just wasn''t sure one could handle Riggs and a passenger."


    "Fair."


    I laughed before jumping up and over the railing, letting out a whoop as I fell. I could hear Jackie doing the same, right behind me, angling slightly so we wouldn''t hit each other. Our jump kits activated just as Riggs reached the ground, Princess carrying Akiko through the corpse and rubble-covered compound front entrance. As the G-forces made me sag, I idly noted I could see where each one of Riggs''s mag cannon shots had impacted, destroying the front gate, four guards, and three cars.


    My feet touched the broken and cracked asphalt a moment before Jackies did, so I pushed forward, rushing past Riggs as he made his way through the front gate, still holding Akiko. Our rescue target had sagged, hanging limply enough that I was pretty sure she passed out. Before I could even worry that maybe something worse had happened, she began to stir, jerking back to consciousness and wildly looking around, breathing heavily and panicking.


    "What? How? Wh¡­."


    "It''s alright Akiko, hard parts over," I called out as I covered the streets, spotting Kaytlyn driving the Emperor. "Just keep it together for another five minutes."


    Kaytlyn screeched to a stop in front of the compound, reaching over to throw the doors open. Jackie ran past and climbed into the front seat, while Riggs popped the back seat open and practical threw Akiko inside. I jumped up and over the Emperor, climbing into the opposite back seat. As I climbed in, I could feel the whole vehicle sink slightly, and I looked back to watch Riggs climb into the truck bed.


    "Alright, Chica, go!" Jackie shouted, and Kaytlyn put her foot down, the large, imposing vehicle lurching forward.


    Akiko, still recovering from our hasty escape method, was clawing her way into a proper sitting position. At the same time, Kaytlyn pushed our behemoth of a truck to its limits, flying down road after road. After Akiko slammed into the side of the truck because Kaytlyn clipped a smaller car on a turn, I spoke up.


    "Let''s get you buckled in, Akiko," I suggested. "We are at the home stretch. It would suck for you to get ejected from the car or something stupid like that."


    She nodded and, with my help, got strapped in. Her movements were slightly more restricted by my suit than I intended or realized they would be, but that hardly mattered once she was securely buckled. Just after I finished clipping her in, something slammed into us from the side.


    "Fuck! Tygers from your side, Jay!" Kaytlyn shouted, prompting me to look out my window.


    Sure enough, a van with damage along its front bumper, probably matching damage to our side, was following along beside us. Just as I spotted it, the side door began to open. With a curse, I smashed the window and opened fire, my mag submachine gun pumping out a spray of rounds that dimpled and punched through the van, from the passenger seat all the way to the back tire, which exploded into a spray of rubber and sparks.


    The Tyger vehicle swerved away from us, the driver screaming as he lost control, blood pouring from his leg as the man opening the back side door fell out of the vehicle, limp and bleeding. Before he could recover, the vehicle slammed into a line of parked cars, vanishing behind us in an instant.


    "Not done yet! One from-"


    The sound of Riggs'' mag cannon slammed into us, echoing in my ears. Behind us, I could hear the sound of destruction, tempting to me to peek out the window. Behind us was a car with its front end crumpled, like it had struck an invisible, unmovable pole, with a fist-sized hole through the radiator.


    "-behind. Never mind, nice shooting," Kaytlyn finished with a chuckle. "Keep your eyes open, we have two minutes before we are out of Tyger territory."


    Three more times, we were ambushed, two of which were immediately obliterated by Riggs, while the third was taken down by Jackie, who used a short burst of accelerated speed to line up the perfect shot on the driver of an open-roofed car. The driver''s head exploded, the vehicle swerved and drove right off the road, slamming into a concrete pillar that held up the road above us.


    The rest of the ride was tense, but eventually, we left Night City behind, passing under the highway street lamps. Eventually, we turned off that road to the lone, two-lane asphalt strip that led to Rocky Ridge. By then, the tension had started to lessen, though it was nowhere close to disappearing. When we finally pulled into our town, all of us quickly exited the vehicle, Riggs jumping out of the back.


    "Murtaugh, everything alright?" I asked, pulling off my helmet and letting out a long sigh of relief.


    "All is well, sir," He responded with a salute. "All patrols have been increased, we have held back salvage trucks for the night, and all specters are charged and activated, ready to reinforce the patrols if necessary."


    "Good. I''m sorry to do this, but I would feel better if you were keeping an eye on the security feeds¡­"


    "Of course, I was simply waiting for the group to return."


    "Thank you, Murtaugh. I appreciate all the hard work you''ve been putting in," I said, patting his shoulder.


    "Happy to serve, sir," He responded with a nod. "Carlos is waiting for you in the BD Shack."


    He saluted again before rushing to our temporary security building, heading inside to keep an eye out for intruders or aggressors. Meanwhile, I turned to find that Jackie was helping Akiko out of her protective armor. As she stepped out of the cloth and metal, I approached.


    "Well, it seems we made it out, why don''t we get you inside," I said, guiding her away towards the front entrance to the shack.


    "We should keep moving," She pointed out with a frown. "The longer we stay here the more likely we are going to get caught."


    "This place is much better defended than you realize," I assured her. "Just relax and let us take care of it."


    She chewed her lip but nodded, letting me guide her into the shack. Carlos nearly jumped out of his seat as we entered, charging across the room to wrap his wife in a tight, spinning hug. They kissed and whispered to each other, continuously reassuring each other that they were okay, that everything was alright, and that it was finally over.


    After a few minutes, when both husband and wife had calmed down, they sat down at the table, along with Jackie and Myself. Kaytlyn had happily returned to her nest, keeping her own watch over the desert around us.


    "Thank you, thank you so much," Carlos said, almost gushing, the relief and happiness dripping from every word. "I, oh god, I was so scared I would never see you again."


    He turned back to his wife, who was leaning against him, her arms around his, her head on his shoulder. He seemed to get lost for a moment, eventually turning back to Jackie, his eyes glowing.


    "Here is the full payment, as promised," He said, his eyes glowing for a few seconds before fading. "I¡­ I don''t think I could ever really repay you, but this is the best I can do."


    "I''m just glad we can help," Jackie said with a smile, patting his old friend''s shoulder. "You guys going to be good?"


    "Your offer to stay the night was generous, but our daughter has been with our neighbor for long enough," Carlos explained, shaking his head. "I bought a junker that should get us home, and I''ll be autopiloting most of the way so we can rest."


    I frowned, listening to their plan. I pulled out my radio and whispered a few orders. After that, we only had to wait a few minutes before a MRVN unit carrying a box arrived. The low-level AI put the plastic box on the table, and I began unpacking it, revealing <u>two pistols</u></a> and a <u>machine gun</u></a> to the couple, as well as a few clips of ammo. They were just a few random guns we had collected and kept, inferior in nearly every way to what I could make, but perfect for handing out.


    "Take these for your trip back, so you can defend yourself," I said, Carlos nodding while Akiko expertly picked up one of the Lexington and checked its slide. "And¡­ Let Jackie know when you''ve gotten home safe."


    We talked a bit more, including a rather unhappy conversation about how we had descended the compound, which Akiko had momentarily forgotten after seeing her husband. I assured her it was the quickest and safest way we could get her away without having to fight through hundreds of converging Tyger Claws. She reluctantly agreed and asked us to thank Riggs and Kaytlyn for their help.


    After sending Padre confirmation that the gig was closed, Akiko and Carlos quickly packed up and climbed into the beat-up car that Carlos had bought. We gave them some water and some basic food, and the couple left, bound for their own home, eager to see their daughter.


    "I hope they make it," I said with a frown, watching them drive off. "The whole family."


    "I do too, Choom," Jackie agreed. "I do, too."


    When the car disappeared from sight, we both headed off for bed, tired from a day of work. I managed to make it all the way to my trailer, climbing into bed. For a moment, I lay there, whistling for Duke to come join me. He quickly jumped up onto the bed, laying down beside me, letting me pet his head.


    Watching the married couple''s reunion had been tough, reminding me of my own family, though admittedly only by approximation. I hadn''t left behind a girlfriend, wife, or, thank god, any children. Still, thoughts of my old life danced in my head as I lay there, waiting for sleep to take me.

 Chapter Thirty Six

    Waking up to the sound of my radio calling out to me and Duke barking loudly was not what I would call a good way to start the day. Up until that point, I had been sleeping pretty well, a combination of completing a hard day''s work and the knowledge that we had helped someone in need. Of course, we had killed a lot of people to do it, so my immediate assumption, as gunfire erupted not too far away, was that the Tyger Claws had come for us.


    "Jackson! Come in, Jackson!" Murtaugh''s voice said, calling from my radio. "We have incoming! Sending more specters to reinforce and bring you back to the garage!"


    I rolled out of bed and quickly started putting on my equipment. Luckily, with how tired I was after our rescue gig, I hadn''t even bothered to go back to the garage to take off my undersuit and armor, instead just kicking in a pile by my bed. As I was pulling up my suit, I snagged the radio and shouted into it.


    "I copy Murtaugh, but I have my armor and suit with me," I said into the radio. "Repeat, I am a combatant, not a VIP. Put the specters to better use!"


    After that, I got dressed as quickly as I could, though it was hard considering my armor and undersuit was just tossed to the corner of my room. I cursed as the sound of running motors got closer and closer. When I was finally ready, I kicked open the door and let Duke out ahead of me, several bullets skipping off his armor plating as he ran.


    "Get ''em, boy!" I shouted, watching the robot charge off to the left.


    With a general location in my mind, I dived out the door, my pistol up and ready. As I moved, I looked around, first spotting a trio of specters ruined by gunfire. I kept scanning as I ran, expecting to see Tyger Claws coming to get their girl back or just to get revenge. What I saw instead were several vehicles, all nomadic versions, painted black with blood red and electric blue highlights.


    "Are you fucking kidding me?" I shouted, diving into cover as one of the vehicles swung around, unleashing another barrage of bullets. "<u>Wraiths</u></a>? Now?"


    I slid into cover behind a concrete barrier, bullets pinging off the thick material, bullets streaming from their vehicles, showering me in dust and shards of stone. After a few seconds, the gunfire stopped, and I could hear people moving around, quickly climbing from their cars. I peeked my head up, quickly spotting people disembarking from <u>two</u></a> <u>cars</u></a> and a <u>truck</u></a>, armed with a range of weapons. Three of them were focused on Duke, who had been chasing the vehicles as they tried to shoot me. They opened fire almost immediately, catching the attention of everyone else.


    Seeing the opening, I stood, targeting the closest Wraith and opening up, quickly taking down two of them before all of their attention shifted back to me. I dropped back behind cover, only to hear someone call out about a grenade.


    I peeked out around my cover just in time to see one of the Wraiths, a woman with a black metal arm, overhand a blinking, cooked grenade in my direction. I could see the slowly blinking light as it soared through the air. Before I could even think about what I could do, a blur intercepted the grenade, slapping it back toward the Wraiths before diving behind cover with me. Jackie ducked low, having a bit of a more challenging time hiding behind the concrete barrier due to his larger size.


    "Thanks for the hand," I said, slapping Jackie''s shoulder. "Took you long enough to wake up."


    "What can I say? I''m a heavy-"


    The grenade he had swatted away detonated, and a breath later, we both popped up over cover, firing as fast as we could manage, driving the remaining Wraiths near us to the ground. The only ones we didn''t kill were the ones Duke took down by himself, jumping over the back end of a truck as we opened fire. His armor was dinged up, and one of his eyes was a broken mess, but he still tore the neck out of one Wraith, before tearing at another one''s leg, both of them bleeding out in seconds.


    "Heavy sleeper," He finished with a smirk. "You good?"


    "Never better," I responded, whistling once. Duke perked his head up immediately, rushing back to my side, blood on his face. I pulled out my radio and clicked it on again.


    "Murtaugh, Jackie, and I cleared a batch of Wraiths on our side. Are there any more coming in on yours?" I asked, ignoring Jackie as he double-tapped the nomad gang.


    "Several Wraiths are taking cover in the northeast part of the town. They have a mounted technical and have already destroyed most of our specters," Murtaugh answered. "I have disabled the primary vehicle, but they are out of our view."


    "Okay, moving forward to handle it," I said, nodding to Jackie, who was pulling grenades off of the Wraiths we killed. "Where are Kaytlyn and Riggs?"


    "I''m at the BD shack, keeping the fuckers from running," Kaytlyn said with a surprising amount of vehemence. "They caught my leg, so I can''t help. Riggs¡­ Riggs carried me to cover. He is down."


    I cursed, looking at Jackie, who froze. Unless Riggs got hit directly in his head by something armor-piercing and big, then it was unlikely his AI core was destroyed, meaning I could probably fix him. But Kaytlyn had no idea he was an AI, so if he shut down from damage, she must have assumed he was dead.


    "Copy that, cover us as best you can, and stay safe," I responded. "Murtaugh, how many specters do we have left?"


    "Eight."


    "Alright, keep them up tight to protect everyone," I ordered. "We can handle these guys."


    "Sir, May I suggest a distraction?" Murtaugh countered. "I can send a pair of specters out in two minutes, right down the front. It should give you a moment to work unhindered."


    "Good call," I responded. "We will go on your signal."


    The AI strategist confirmed my message, and Jackie handed me a pair of grenades, which I then pushed into my utility belt. Together, we immediately started pushing northeast, taking cover behind trailers, dumpsters, vending machines, and anything else along the.


    "Is Riggs¡­"


    "I don''t know," I responded, shaking my head. "It depends on where and what hit him."


    After that, we both went silent, focused on making sure none of the Wraiths got away with attacking us. As we moved, occasionally, the sound of gunfire echoed from in front of us, usually followed by the sound of Kaytlyn''s sniper rifle immediately firing from around the BD shack area. Finally, Jackie peaked around a corner and immediately pulled back.


    "Found them," He said quietly. "Three houses down this road."


    "Good," I said. "We have like thirty seconds left, let''s get as close as possible."


    He nodded, taking the lead as we moved across the back of the trailers, now moving even slower than before. We jumped two fences, easily clearing them with our enhancements suits, getting into position with seconds to spare. Only a hundred or so feet away, I could see the trailing remains of several specters, most of them obliterated by a heavy weapon of some sort, leading back down the road and out of view behind trailers. We could also hear the Wraiths, who were all suitably panicked about being pinned down and unable to run.


    Just as a few of them started talking about abandoning their cars and running on foot, I could hear specters running down the road. They were dodging and weaving, running in zig zags while firing at the exposed vehicles wildly. The first one barely lasted long enough to see the technical, which was just a truck with a <u>stationary HMG</u></a> in the back, before being obliterated. Immediately, Jackie and I rushed around the corner.


    While I brought my pistol up and fired, aiming for the most dangerous person, the Wraith standing behind the HMG, Jackie blurred and sped forward, zipping to a position with a better angle. I got three shots on the technical gunner before Jackie opened up with his pistols, firing at the surprised gangers.


    With a whistle, as I lined up my next target, I sent Duke out, who charged the nearest psycho at a terrifying speed. Intellectually, I knew that he was capable of moving with some impressive acceleration and quickness, but watching him tear furrows out of the asphalt as he moved was something else entirely. As I pulled the trigger, my undersuit handling the recoil as I triple-tapped another Wraith, Duke slammed into his target, knocking him off his feet.


    We finished the group off quickly, the only issue rising when the last one panicked and ran, dropping his gun and slipping away between two trailers. Rather than try and chase him down, I gave Duke a whistling order, the metal canine bolting off to run him down. The eager canine robot returned not long after with blood dripping from his metal teeth.


    After going around and double-tapping everyone, Jackie and I hoofed it back to the town center, both eager and scared to see the damage. As we approached, the first thing I could see were the four wraith cars on the road. One was lightly crashed into the concrete barriers of the parking lot, while the other three were parked out by the entrance.


    I could also see that Kaitlyn''s car was dotted with bullet impact spots, dents, and holes depending on how much armor they had run into. As we walked past that, I finally found Kaytlyn and Riggs.


    The former was leaning against her car, her sniper rifle up on the hood, aimed toward the targets we had just eliminated. Her leg was wrapped and taken care of, with Frank learning over her to patch up a cut she had on her cheek. I couldn''t help but notice that her eyes were red and agitated, as if she had been crying.


    Laying on the ground next to her was Riggs, unmoving and deactivated. He had several massive dents and bullet holes in his torso, legs, and arms, which could really only have come from the HMG. Most worrying was the head wound, a large hole that punched through the back of his helmet and out the visor. I quickly knelt down beside my friend, doing my best to lift his body up into a position where I could more easily access his head. I peered into the hole, doing my best to see inside. There was definite damage, but I couldn''t tell how bad. I cursed and grabbed my radio.


    "Sam, you okay, buddy?" I messaged, immediately getting a response.


    "We are okay, Jackson," He said. "Noah, myself, and all but one of the MRVNs made it to the Molly Maker room and are unharmed."


    "Good, glad to hear it. Look, Riggs is down. I need you to bring my toolkit to the Shack as quickly as you can," I explained.


    "I will arrive shortly."


    I continued to diagnose Riggs as best I could, checking the over two dozen impact and bullet holes. My primary concern, beyond the head damage, was whether or not his power core was stable and undamaged. I had worked hard to make my power nodes as safe as possible, but Elerium was, under the wrong circumstances, a plasma bomb ready to go off at any second. I was really sure they hadn''t breached the Elerium node, though, so there are no explosions yet.


    About a minute later, Samwise arrived and started handing me tools, allowing me to carefully remove Riggs'' outer armor parts, starting with the helmet. Once his outer layer of armor was removed, I could better see the damage.


    The bullet had punched through the back of his helmet and slammed against the Alien Alloy armor plating around his central core, which was his inner "head," which looked identical to Murtaughs. It had not penetrated the interior plating, but it had created a significant dent before punching back out the visor, meaning a lot of energy had still been transferred.


    The ALEO units had a lot of protection against kinetic energy transfers like that, but it could only go so far. I would need to crack open his head, remove his central core, and scan it for faults. If there weren''t any, or they were minor enough, I could repair the rest of his systems and turn him back on. If too much was damaged¡­ Riggs was already gone.


    "Okay¡­ this could be worse," I said. "If the bullet had penetrated here¡­ it would be bad, but there is a chance that he is okay."


    "What? How? The bullet punched through his head! There''s not enough room in that casing to protect him from that much damage," Kaytlyn said. "I''ve seen that before, Jackson. That''s too much trauma for the brain to handle."


    "Yeah¡­ Listen, Kaytlyn¡­ I''m about to let you in on a big secret," I explained, using a specially design tool to unlatch a security port, which gave me access to securing screws. "Riggs is not a Borg. He is a centralized AI, designed by yours truly."


    She looked at me with wide eyes, watching as I unsealed Rigg''s head, revealing not a brain as she would have guessed, but the exterior processing chips. A few more seconds later, I was passed them, too, revealing Riggs'' central processing core. His entire being.


    "No¡­ wait, he wasn''t alive?" She asked, sounding a bit hysterical.


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    "Riggs is an AI," I repeated. "And judging by the internal damage¡­ he very well still might be. Samwise, Murtaugh, please carry Riggs'' frame to the garage and hook it up at the drone station."


    I ordered, reaching down and carefully extracting the central core. Very carefully, I held it in my hands, standing slowly.


    "An AI¡­ Wait, does that mean Murtaugh is an AI, too?" She asked, looking at Murtaugh, who was waiting by the security building.


    "He is," I responded, making my way back to the garage.


    "Are all the robots AIs?" She asked as I walked away.


    "The specters are not, nor are our pets," I explained. "Some of the early MRVNs are very young, slow-growing AI, while Samwise, Noah, and Frank are more advanced. As are Murtaugh and Riggs."


    "How- No, wait, how is the easy part, why?" She asked, following behind me. "Do you have any idea how dangerous AIs can be? And how heavily Netwatch comes down on people who figure out how to make them?"


    "The AIs I create are different," I assured her. "They are more in touch with humanity than the crazies behind Black Wall because they have physical bodies that can be destroyed. Riggs¡­ if Riggs is okay, then he is basically as lucky as a human who took a bullet to the head. As for Netwatch, why do you think I''ve been keeping it a secret?"


    "Did you know about this?"


    I looked over my shoulder to see that Jackie had helped Kayt to her feet and was helping her follow after me. Not far behind them were Samwise and a pair of MRVNs carrying Riggs'' body.


    "I knew it was something like that, but I never asked," Jackie responded. "I never cared. They seemed alive enough, so I treated them like they were alive."


    I quickly sat down at my workstation, carefully laying down Riggs'' central core. While Jackie was helping Kaytlyn sit down, I was grabbing spare processors and other parts, quickly linking them together to run alongside Riggs''s core, allowing him to function without his primary body. As Samwise got his frame hooked up to the drone bay, MRVNs were already starting to pull off parts and remove his outer layer of armor. I activated his core, slowly running a scan at first to make sure that there was nothing damaged. When the first scan came back clean, I ran it twice more, just to be safe.


    "Okay, scans are coming up clean... I think he is okay," I said, everyone letting out a sigh of relief, though I could feel the conflict in Kaytlyns. "The computer has a mike and a camera, so he won''t just be in a void¡­ Just need to write a program for him to access it¡­"


    I quickly whipped up a simple program giving Riggs''s central core access to my computer, which, if I left open, would be a massive security risk, but for now, it was fine. Once everything was set, I slowly began giving his core power, waiting for it to finally initialize. It took a moment, not surprising considering the massive amount of data he was processing, but finally, the AI core locked into the program I had created, and he spoke.


    "I take it I''ve been damaged badly?" He asked, the familiar and welcoming voice coming from my computer. "Is Kaytlyn okay?"


    "I''m okay, you big¡­ you big lug," She responded. "Are¡­ are you going to be okay?"


    "I will be fine," He assured her. "My primary core is undamaged."


    "Just give us a few hours to get your parts printed out and installed, and you''ll be good as new," I assure him with a smile, sniffing back my own happiness that he was okay. "In the meantime, would you prefer to stay attached to my computer so you can interact with us, or would you prefer to power down?"


    "I would prefer to sleep, sir," He responded. "But first, I¡­ want to apologize to you, Kaytlyn. I am sorry I hid what I am from you. And you as well, Jackie."


    "I¡­ don''t like being lied to, even if it''s just by omission," Kaytlyn said. "But I can understand why."


    "Thank you."


    "No, thank you for saving me, Riggs," Kaytlyn responded, sniffling and rubbing her eyes. "You put your life on the line to save me. Thank you."


    "Umm, Kaytlyn, why don''t you sit here and talk to him for a bit," I suggested, standing up from my stool and offering it to Kayt. "You can sleep later, Riggs, unless¡­"


    "I would not mind talking for a while."


    I nodded and helped Kaytlyn into my seat before nodding for Jackie to come with me. We stepped just outside, giving them some space.


    "Samwise, I want you to focus on Riggs," I said, the AI nodding in agreement. "Before that, though, get most of the MRVNs working on gathering the destroyed specters. I want all of the easy fixes up and running ASAP. The rest they can scrap. Noah!"


    Noah, who had been waiting inside the garage addition, made his way to us as we stood just outside the second garage door, under the shade of the CHOOH2 station hood.


    "I want you to spin up production on defenses, getting going now, ahead of time. I want turrets ready to install the minute the concrete is stable and the armored cover ready not long after that. Then you''re going to switch to specter production. Oh, and get the MRVNs to move the corpses out of town."


    "Of course, Sir."


    "Jackie, I want you to call Dakota Smith and explain what just happened," I said, the larger man nodding. "Ask her where the hell our warning was and if a couple of cars and some guns is enough payment to get a few guys down here to help watch over the place until we are at full strength again. Not all of the cars, though. I want a few of the better ones to work on.


    "You really want people wandering around?" He asked, scratching his head.


    "No, I don''t, but until the hard points are finished, I''m not sure we have much of an option," I responded. "If a bunch more Wraiths decide to come and finish us off tonight, I don''t know how we would handle them by ourselves. Also, tell Dakota that I have an offer she might like to hear at some point as well."


    "You''re going to have nomads move in, aren''t you?" He asked. "It''s not a bad idea, better than the gangs."


    "It''s a good option, but they won''t be the only ones moving in," I responded, waving away his curious look. "Don''t worry about it for now, I''ll explain later."


    The group separated after that, and I made my way to the temporary security building. I wanted to know what had happened and why we didn''t get more of an advanced warning. When I stepped into the cool building, I found Murtaugh sitting at the security computer, pouring over images and sensor readings.


    "Murtaugh, how are you doing?" I asked, giving him a look over.


    "Sir, I am functional, but-"


    "Let''s start by going over what happened, Murtaugh," I said, cutting him off. "Then we can start handing out blame."


    Together, we went over the attack. Apparently, the Wraith had first come from the southeast, splitting off into two groups. One group had gone around, that was the batch that Jackie, Duke, and I stamped out. The other group was much larger and had come in from the front. Murtaugh and I could only assume that they had meant to overwhelm us, but they hadn''t expected Riggs to obliterate two of their vehicles before they could even get into the town.


    A wave of vehicle-mounted gunfire had stunned Riggs, breaking his weapon and forcing him to take cover behind Kaytlyn''s vehicle. Even with his Mag Cannon destroyed, Riggs, Kaytlyn, and the specters had managed to take down three more cars and the Wraiths within them. Unfortunately, this was when Kaytlyn was injured.


    Rather than getting pinned down, the technical and a couple other vehicles drove off, most likely to come around and attack again from a better angle. In the process of pushing through, the technical got a full view of Kaytlyn. Before the mounted HMG could turn her into a paste, however, Riggs charged in and took the barrage, carrying her to better cover as the truck drove off.


    Kaytlyn wasn''t having that, though, and managed to disable the technical and one other car, forcing the group to stop. Murtaugh then tried to finish them off with a rush of specters, but the HMG more or less wiped them out. Then Jackie and I came along and caught them from the side, wiping them out in turn.


    "I don''t think this is your fault, Murtaugh," I said, shaking my head. "I think we overestimated how powerful the specter unit is, but more importantly, I think we assumed our better tech would let us come out on top no matter what we got challenged by. With defenses finishing in a few days, I will feel a lot better about it, but¡­ well, I''m hoping to redesign the specter unit, maybe with the help of my next tech tree. Between that, the defenses, plus having a chunk of the town filled with other people, I''m hoping we can be a bit safer."


    "We will have to watch the people," Murtaugh Pointed out. "The nomads might owe you, but that won''t stop people from being nosey."


    "I have an idea for that as well," I assured him, shaking my head. "I need some time to put it together, but with any luck, I''ll have someone to watch over them."


    Having gone over exactly what happened, we started talking about our options. Riggs would hopefully be back online within an hour or so, and three specters had already been repaired by mixing and matching parts from different broken ones. With some help from Dakota, I was hoping that would be enough to hold off any retaliation attacks until we could get our defensive line set up.


    From what I could tell, the majority of our losses boiled down to basically fighting from a seriously disadvantageous position. The specters did not have nearly enough satisfactory cover, and what cover they did have was soon made pointless as the vehicles drove around them. Between the HMG and the other car-mounted weapons, they were torn to shreds. The only reason we managed to stage a defense at all was because of our early warning system, which had spotted the Wraith coming, allowing us to start moving ourselves in to position. Or in my case, manage to put on my undersuite and armor.


    Once I left the security building, I leaned back against the door for a moment, running my hand through my hair. This had been one hell of a way to wake up, but the adrenaline and excitement were now fading completely.


    This entire morning had been way too close for comfort. We had come out on top, but if Jackie and I hadn''t brought our armor to our trailers, both of us would have been in a much more awkward position. Who knows what would have happened if we hadn''t been able to fight off the attack coming from our side?


    This was skin of our teeth territory, and it frankly scared the shit out of me. Before I could even start making my way back to the garage, Jackie flagged me down.


    "Dakota is on her way," He said, walking alongside me. "Apparently, they were already mounting up."


    "Lockdown the garage and the addition before they get here, get a specter at each entrance," I said, scratching the top of my head. "Wait, you mean Dakota herself is coming?"


    "Yeah. She sounded intrigued by your offer of a deal," He said with a shrug. "Guess you made an impression."


    True to the message, Dakota and a small crowd of her people showed up only two minutes after Jackie warned me. Her people pulled their cars and trucks around to form barriers and cover while the woman herself headed for the BD shack, where Jackie and I were waiting. Her bodyguards stayed outside, a show of respect I hadn''t expected.


    "How many did you lose?" She asked, sitting down at our table.


    "We are down about seventy-five percent of our defenses," I explained. "But that should be back up to fifty within the next hour. Thankfully, that was all drones. We did come within an inch or two of losing Riggs, though."


    "Not bad, considering," she said, shaking her head. "You got the short end of the stick here, Jackson. Bad luck, to the core."


    "What happened?"


    "A shift in leadership," She explained, shaking her head. "Last night, the previous leader of the local raffen shivs, the Wraiths, got into a fight with one of their lieutenants. I don''t know much of the details, but the leader got flatlined, and the lieutenant took over. To¡­ ''celebrate,'' they decided to go on a raid. It was between you and the Aldecados camping to the East, and they bet on you being an easier target. Considering I spotted the lieutenant getting dragged around by one of your worker bots, you know how well that bet went for him."


    "And you didn''t see this coming?"


    "How come we didn''t see a random lieutenant getting lucky and somehow zeroing his boss coming?" She asked, looking at me with a raised eyebrow. "Or how come we didn''t see that lieutenant being a fucking nutcase and immediately going on a raid? We keep an eye on them as best we can, but we can''t read the future."


    She didn''t sound angry about my question, as I could imagine she understood my frustration.


    "I''m loaning you some muscle," She said. "No cost. How long do you need them for?"


    "Two, maybe three days," I responded. "We are literally in the middle of upgrading our defenses, with hardpoints and turrets getting set up here. What''s going to happen with the rest of the Wraiths?"


    "We don''t know," She responded, shaking her head. "It''ll take a few days and a few busted heads, but someone is going to take control again. How they react to you taking so many of them out is a lot less predictable."


    "Great, uncertainty. Just what I wanted," I said, rubbing my face. "Well, I do have an idea, something that should help keep nomads and us safe."


    "...I''m listening."

 Chapter Thirty Seven

    Dakota looked at me for a long moment, as if she was trying to pull the idea from my brain by glaring at me.


    "Considering how much your last idea helped us, the least I could do is listen," She admitted, gesturing for me to continue. "What is your idea?"


    "Well, see, I own the whole town and a chunk of the land around it, which is way more than I will need for quite a while," I explained, leaning back in my seat. "My problem is that, at the moment, my group is too small. It makes us easy to pick off, easy to spy on, and easy to see through as a harmless little group of entrepreneurs. Now, I could go crazy and build an army of robots, but¡­ in the end, that would probably have the opposite effect."


    "Too much attention," she agreed with a nod. "Always a bigger fish looking for a quick target."


    "Right. So, what I need is a group of people to live next to mine. A group I could trust, who I could look to for labor, parts, to sell things to and buy things from," I explained. "I don''t want anything to do with gangs, not when I''ve worked so hard to keep myself separate from them. But groups of nomads, coming in, living on my land where they will have plenty of power, space, protection, and access to cheap parts and tech¡­ That is something I could happily agree to."


    "Wait, hold on. You''re saying you would let nomads settle on your land?"


    "Not settle, though if someone wanted to move in on a more permanent basis, I would be happy to talk to them directly," I explained. "Think of it as a long-term pit stop. According to your own info, the Aldecados were just as at risk as we were this morning. How would they have fared if they had been picked instead?"


    "Not well."


    "But here, we could build hard points around the whole area, extend my sensor network, increase early warning systems, and put down heavy weapons. They or any agreeable nomad group could move in, stay for a month or so while they make their purchases, do some business, and then move on."


    She looked at me for a minute, contemplating the idea. I could almost see the numbers rattling around in her skull as she tried to come up with the value of that kind of protection.


    "How much are you going to charge for this?" she asked. "Ideas like this have been tried before, but it never lasts. Nomads are often forced to make trades with services and materials because eddies don''t flow well when you move around. Without the need to buy water, it''s been easier, but the problem remains. What will you do when you don''t need labor or scrap, and we don''t have the credits to pay?"


    "Who said anything about charging?" I asked, shaking my head. "This is about mutually using each other to our own benefit. Nomads get somewhere they won''t get kicked out of, someplace with resources and materials. I get a shield of activity, a mask of normality that will cover up a lot of my craziness. Plus, the mutual protection alone is worth it. Separate we are easy targets, but together, we are a much tougher nut to crack."


    "You¡­ Why does it seem like you have an idea for everything?" She asked, shaking her head. "Ostensibly¡­ I do not hate your idea. You make good points, and keeping eddies out of the equation would make the situation more flexible. I do not know how others will react to the idea."


    I nodded, understanding that while Dakota might be in charge of her group, she was just a single point in a larger community. She couldn''t just make a unilateral decision and tell people to come stay here.


    "Well, when you do bring it up, keep in mind that willfully ignoring what I am making is part of the deal," I pointed out. "None of it will be dangerous to them, but if someone asks, I''m just the waypoint''s handyman."


    "If there is one thing that Nomads are good at, it''s lying to corpos and nosey neighbors."


    I chuckled at that, and we continued with the impromptu meeting, though it didn''t last much longer than that. The men that Dakota had brought were prepared to stay for several days, food included, so all I needed to do was let them do their work and send them on when they weren''t needed anymore. When we were shaking hands at the end, the older, weathered woman had one last thing to say.


    "I''ll encourage the Aldecados leader to come pay a visit in the next few days," She said. "Saul is¡­ an interesting person, but he has a good eye for people. Get on his good side, and your idea will become a lot more likely."


    "Sounds like a plan."


    I walked the fixer and nomad out of the Shack, waving as she and her bodyguards drove away. As the dust settled from her vehicle driving out of town, I looked around at the on-loan muscle. They had already set up basic positions, sitting in shaded spots by their vehicles, armed and relatively professional-looking. I radioed to Murtaugh, and he agreed to make the rounds and talk to each of them.


    As I stood there, surveying the damage that the Wraiths had done, I couldn''t help but smirk as a few MRVN units had already started repairing the damage, patching holes in buildings and dragging the cars that were not worth trying to salvage to the mass recycler area. We now had four cars and three trucks, all nomad specs. Some of them had minor damage from the fight, but that could be easily fixed. All of them were one paint job and cleaning away from being perfectly serviceable company vehicles. It also sparked the need for my own vehicle, something custom under the hood but that still fit in on the streets.


    I let out a sigh, feeling the troubles that I needed to solve stacking up, and the pressure of my oncoming tech tree beginning to set in. I had a good number of things I needed to do before I could focus on new tech, even more after the attack, so I needed to get my ass in gear. As I started to make my way back to the garage, I pulled out my radio again.


    "Frank, are you busy? I want to run an idea or two past you," I explained. "Anyone else who wants to talk about what''s next should stop by the garage as well."


    I got a handful of confirmations as I stepped inside my workshop. Riggs and Kaytlyn were still there talking through my computer. As she spotted me, Kaytlyn shifted in her seat, preparing to get off as I walked in, but I waved her away.


    "Don''t worry about it, I don''t need my seat right now," I assured her. "Got some thinking to do before I can get to the drawing board."


    She nodded and went back to talking with Riggs, while I helped Sam with fixing Riggs'' body. A few minutes later, Jackie and Frank both arrived. Once everyone was settled, I claimed a crate as my seat before starting to talk.


    "So, I discussed the idea of setting up a sort of Nomad campground with Dakota," I explained, sitting on a crate and leaning against the wall. "We would have access to a workforce and camouflage, while the Nomads get the security of staying on someone''s land with their permission, as well as our material resources. Plus, both of us would get some mutual security from each other."


    "So you''re just going to let a bunch of random people stay so close?" Kaytlyn asked with a frown. "That sounds like a recipe for security leaks, especially if you''re going to leave them alone."


    "Oh, they won''t be alone," I assured her, before turning to Frank. "How difficult would it be for you to fake someone being a borg?"


    "Well¡­How convincing do you want it to be?" He responded, folding his hand behind his back. "I could fool most scanners pretty easily, with the right parts and biological matter."


    "How difficult would it be without using a real brain?" I clarified.


    "Marginally more difficult," he answered. "What would the purpose be?"


    "I recently got the inspiration for an android system that would physically blend in nearly perfectly with a human," I explained, crossing my arms and leaning back. "Now, if it got out that I could create near-perfect human simulacrums, with programming powerful enough to blend in seamlessly, I would either be crucified by Netwatch or handcuffed to a computer by Arasaka. However, if I were to create a new full-body conversion similar to a <u>Gemini</u></a> suit, people would be interested, but not insanely so. These fake borgs would be visually indistinguishable from humans, but if they were scanned or damaged, they would show up as a borg. They would be permanent residents of the ''campground'' working to maintain the space and workshops and town."


    "Would these be full AIs?" Samwise asked.


    "I plan on making one of them an AI, to be in charge of the people and maintain the ''residents''," I explained. "I refuse to mass produce AI. Some of the early MRVNs are simple, slow-forming AI, and I regret being so impulsive about that. Creating life should not be done en mass or on a whim. Save the one leader, the residents will be extremely convincing virtual intelligence, able to easily blend in with people."


    "And if it gets out that we have a whole bunch of full conversions working for us?" Jackie asked. "Those are rare, choom, even in Night City."


    "We act skittish about it, and if pushed, we reveal they are victims of some sort of bioware experiment," I explained with a shrug. "It went wrong, and the only way to save them was a full conversion. Maintenance for a full conversion is extremely expensive, so they came here because Riggs or Murtaugh told them I can do maintenance work at a heavy discount if people work for me."


    "So you would go through all of that effort to create, what, a couple dozen mindless workers that can also keep an eye on the nomads?" Kaytlyn asked. "That doesn''t seem entirely worth it in the long run."


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    "They will function in the same way that the MRVNs do, though a lot of them would probably be assigned less mechanical tasks like general maintenance and janitorial duties," I explained. "They would be an always present way to keep an eye on anyone staying with us."


    "About them," Jackie said with a frown. "Anyone else not exactly impressed by their performance? Don''t get me wrong, Genio, they are preem, but¡­"


    "They got mulched," Riggs said from my computer.


    "Absolutely obliterated," Kaytlyn added.


    "Completely ruined," Jackie finished.


    "Yeah, yeah, okay!" I said, shaking my head. "It''s not entirely their fault. Without proper infrastructure, they were sitting ducks, and they were going against vehicle-mounted weapons. But yes, I plan on redesigning them. Their original design leans a bit to mass production than it does to each unit being the best it can be¡­ I''ll see what I can do."


    In all honesty, I was at a bit of a loss as to why the specter units failed so miserably. Their frames were not the most advanced I could make, that would be Mk.6 ALEO frames that Murtaugh and Riggs wore. But even so, their performance should be just barely under a well-trained, veteran soldier. On top of that, they were packing weapons that I knew outmatched what the Wraiths had access to. We even had a good bit of warning before the Wraiths reached us, even if I squandered most of it getting my equipment on.


    In the end, I had to chalk it up to a combination of poor defenses and an unlucky match-up, namely my specters versus the armor cars and heavier weapons they wielded. I would design a top-of-the-line improvement, but I had a feeling that the infrastructure that we built up around the town would be just as important, if not more so, than the strength of the defenders themselves.


    We spent a while longer discussing the idea of having the nomad campground next door, eventually deciding that as long as the situation was even, as in they depended on us as much as we depended on them, it would probably be fine. Having fake borgs around to keep an eye on everything would only help keep everything under control. Kaytlyn understood my worries about the advanced, perfectly hidden androids, but she still thought my solution was a bit overkill.


    I recognized that she wasn''t entirely wrong, either, that it was a lot for a few dozen workers. However, she also didn''t know the backup plan. While the fake borgs would not have any hint of AI capability, I planned on leaving room inside each one for an AI core. The fake borgs would exist as VI, making memories and gaining real-world experience, and should I desperately need someone to join the team or for anything else, I could simply build a core, fill it with what I needed before inserting the core into the VI, and tadaa! A newly born but already experienced and lifelike AI. It was a hell of a shortcut and not something I would, hopefully, do often, but it would be handy to have in the wings.


    As for the design of those fake borgs, once the impromptu meeting was over, Frank and I got to brainstorming. Apparently, the fake brain would be easy, just a mass of biological material he was pretty he had a lead on already, though he asked for some time to do some more testing before revealing the idea.


    Integrating the fake brain would be even easier, as we could print out some seemingly functional braincase systems, which were basically the container for a human brain with an artificial spine attached. We could then modify them to throw off the right signals. We could even implant fake cyberware into the fake brain to make it even more realistic, keeping it warm and sending out signals.


    By the end of our brainstorming, I was confident the androids would be indistinguishable by most scans, and if one of them was damaged enough to "kill" the robot or reveal the brain matter, we could include a secondary explosive device. This would fit rather well into the experimental bioware story, as a bomb big enough to destroy any evidence of modifications is exactly the kind of thing a big company would force victims to agree to in order to receive treatment.


    It did occur to me that, in an attempt to hide the fact that I had access to visually indistinguishable humanoid androids, I had created a way to keep them even more hidden. Now, not only where they visually indistinguishable, but with the fake brains that would be indistinguishable from most scans as well.


    It was tempting to simply use the designs from the Become Human tree, maybe work a bit of upscaling in them to get them working up to my standards, but ultimately, I decided the ease of development wasn''t worth the later cost of maintenance. The tech from that branch was anywhere from fifty to five hundred years out of date compared to the tech I had access to, and even by the standard of its own time, the androids weren''t exactly known for being sturdy.


    So, instead, I started from the ground up, designing a completely stand-alone android system. That isn''t to say the BH tech tree wouldn''t come in handy. They had put considerable time and effort into getting the human body down perfectly, and I benefited from all of that work. Using a combination of servos and artificial muscle, I designed a simple, sturdy, and easy-to-maintain <u>android</u></a>, with space for the fake spine and braincase, and with the underlayer for the liquid skin system used on Become Human androids.


    I spent a good chunk of time debating whether I should use the BH liquid skin or Realskinn to cover the fake borgs. Eventually, after using Samwise as a sounding board, I finally settled on the liquid skin. While Realskinn was a frankly incredibly lifelike product, it lacked the pure flexibility and adaptability of the liquid skin. Where high-quality Realskin could mimic things like blushing or bruising, the Become Human liquid skin could do that as well as act sunburned, scuffed, cut, burned, punctured, and torn. There were dozens of "status effects" that could be portrayed through the fake skin, and it had the best chance of hiding their true, fake borg nature.


    It was also, logistically, the easiest to fix since all I would need to do is print out more of the liquid skin in solid form, apply it to the robot, and let the control systems take over and shift it to whatever was necessary. On top of that, I was confident that by extending the internal reservoirs, the android would self-heal any damaged skin.


    Overall, the design process only took a few hours, as by this point I was an android pro, and I was intentionally not reinventing the wheel. These would be simple, easy-to-maintain robots with only marginally superior strength and resilience compared to humans. These were not combat models.


    I left most of the head and upper neck empty, free, and ready to accept Frank''s contribution to the project, the fake borg proportion of the disguise. Once he had finished that, I would combine the two together, and we could start producing the robots.


    After I was done with the basic, simple model design, I wanted to make the advanced model. This creation would be an AI, and would be the "leader" of the other fake borg. I had the idea of them being visually identical in terms of overall chassis, but by utilizing superior components and overall design, they would be far superior in ability. I leaned much heavier into the artificial muscles, which, while increasing the overall weight and density of the model, would greatly increase its strength and flexibility. Where the base models were barely passable in a fight, this android would be fully equipped for combat, either in defense of the town or with the team as a new member, should they be so inclined.


    In the end, the advanced model was just about twice as strong as a normal human, meaning it would benefit greatly from its own enhancing undersuit. On top of that, since its outer plating was designed to interact with the BH liquid skin, it was only lightly armored, which meant it would need an armor suit like mine, Jackies, or Kaytlyn''s. While it was internally armored, with most of its skeleton made from Alien Alloy and plenty of advanced alloys from Titanfall mixed in, its utilitarian-focused outer shell was still vulnerable. It made me wonder if I had made a mistake going with the BH liquid skin, since Realskinn could be layered over concrete and still look relatively real.


    Of course, since I was only building one advanced version, the AI that would function as the base for the final version was a no-brainer. An enhanced and improved <u>Connor</u></a>, with tweaks to add a few extra options and fields of expertise, would make an excellent addition to the team. Designing and programming them was pretty simple, starting with the basic package and removing their restrictions before upscaling and upgrading everything I could. I pulled the original version''s focus away from detective work, though they still had most of that skill set. Now, it is more focused on management and social interactions. How they developed would be up to their experiences, of course, but I wanted them to have all the skills they would need to survive.


    Their construction wouldn''t start until after Frank had a bit more time with whatever he was working on, but after that, we would be ready to start production.

 Chapter Thirty Eight

    By the time I finished designing the advanced fake borg model, the one intended to be one of our new AI member, Riggs'' body was repaired enough to put his core back into place. Some of his armor plating wasn''t finished, but his primary ALEO build was at a hundred percent, so he was all set. Kaytlyn hung around as I inserted the powerful AI core back into place, watching his systems boot back up with a monitoring tablet.


    "Welcome back," I said with a smile, patting his shoulder. "Listen, do you mind just hanging out without your armor for a bit? You can stick around, but with most of the molly makers working on the defenses, it''s gonna take another hour or so."


    "That is fine," Riggs responded, working his way through a series of "stretches" to test his range of motion. "I will wait."


    "We can go find somewhere more comfortable to wait," Kaytlyn suggested. "These crates make my butt hurt."


    "... Alright."


    Both of them left, but not before Riggs strapped a normal pistol around his waist. The ALEO unit was just about the most advanced robotic form I could make, but even it would struggle to accurately use the massive pistols I specially designed for his fully armored form.


    With the workshop now empty save Samwise and myself, I leaned back in my chair. This attack had really thrown me for a loop, and while I wasn''t exactly happy to admit it, it also put a severe hole in my mental armor.


    Until now, I had been leaning pretty heavily on the "my techs is better, so I would win in a fight" mentality. Previously, the idea that a group of twenty-five Wraiths could plow through all my specters and threaten me and my friends directly would have been laughable. And yet, I had walked through through town, counting the bullet holes and corpses. Riggs had almost died, sacrificing himself to save Kaytlyn.


    What little illusion of safety that I had built up was well and truly shattered. Even now, as I worked to repair and improve our security, I could feel the instinct to run and abandon the town, since it clearly brought much attention. Maybe we could try the whole Nomad thing, disappearing into the wastes of Central US. We could set up a town, somewhere nobody could find us, hidden underground or in a valley. We could-


    I slammed my hand down on my desk, focusing on the pain in my hand, forcing the rising panic down. Slowly, I regained control of myself, taking long, deep breaths to slowly release the panic back into the air. When I felt I was calm enough, I leaned back in my chair again.


    I needed to focus on the here and now. My choice to set up at the Rocky Ridge had been a calculated risk, and now I needed to deal with the fallout of some of that risk coming back to bite me. I had more important things to do than panic and flail about what may or may not have been a better choice.


    I took another long breath before turning my mind back and focusing on my current list of things to do. For a while, I considered my current project before finally speaking.


    "I have two options," I said, idly tabbing through older designs as Samwise half listened to my ramblings. "I could try to redesign the specter now, do my best, and hope it''s sufficient. Or I hold on for a few days and cross my fingers that I get a tech tree that has plenty of new ways to improve them."


    If I didn''t wait and upgraded them now, there was a very good chance this redesign would be a waste of time. I would feel pretty stupid spending time updating the specters only to roll a tech tree from Destiny or Terminator.


    On the other hand, if I did wait, then designing them would definitely have to take place during my next tech rush. I needed a defense force, one I could rely on to not crumble just because the enemy had a vehicular advantage. Even worse, the tech tree might not have anything to contribute, meaning not only would I have to sacrifice time, I might not actually be rewarded for waiting with better tech.


    I was weighing my options for a full minute before Samwise spoke up, cutting through my dilemma.


    "You should redesign them now, Sir," My AI assistant suggested. "I can personally integrate any upgrades we uncover for the next tech tree if we discover anything worthwhile. Leave keeping things up to date for my team and me and just focus on designing new concepts and solutions, as well as the new tech trees, Jackson."


    "Okay, fair enough," I agreed with a nod. "So one specter redesign, coming up."


    After a few minutes of pouring over designs, I decided that rather than use the designs that I already had, I would start from scratch. While I had called this a redesign, I had no real attachment to the base model.


    First up was the skeleton. Rather than design something all new and creative, I decided to go with a system I knew worked, or at least one based on a design I knew worked. The <u>internal skeleton</u></a> was heavily based on the human skeleton, with modifications and tweaks to maximize its inherent strength.


    Over that, I plastered on artificial muscle, the best I had access to, in a dense layer around the body, anchoring it to the durable alloy frame. Rather than stick with the human look, I immediately deviated as I worked through the design, adding servos and extra add-ons to the movement system, making sure they worked with the artificial muscles. This would, hopefully, give them the grace granted by artificial muscles but the speed and strength for repetitive motions that servos and hydraulics allowed.


    The process of adding these servos and hydraulics gave them a <u>terminator-esque</u></a> twist, layered on top of the artificial musculature, as many of those servos and hydraulics required mounting plates that further fleshed out their form.


    The final step was the armor plating that protected them. Specters were largely only lightly armored, including the ones we were producing. I wanted my new design to have much more protection than that. So, using a ceramic polymer armor that I got from Titanfall tech tree, I designed a plating system that was meant to absorb impacts and slowly break apart. They were easily replaceable and were essential disposable armor, though that made it sound like they were less effective than they were. Each piece was incredibly durable, it was just designed to break and absorb energy before it could transfer and damage internal parts.


    The idea was that when the new units were under fire from larger weapons, the armor would fail but stop incoming projectiles in the process. While it wasn''t better than, say, a half-inch of Alien Alloy, it was significantly better than what the original design had access to. Of course, underneath the ceramic plater was a weave of fibers from the Titanfall universe, patched and plated to reinforce the robot even further.


    The actual armor <u>design was basic</u></a> and bulky, designed to specifically invoke images of clunky robots rather than smooth, crisp human armor. The helmet, in particular, was designed to be angular and inhuman. I didn''t want people to doubt these were robots for a second.


    In fact, as I programmed their software, I specifically added an extra bit of robotic movement, sort of like how Duke had an incognito mode. It didn''t harm their effectiveness or efficiency, but it did make them a lot less impressive-looking. However, the system could be switched off with a simple command, or set to automatically turn off if the situation required it.


    When I was done with design and programming, I told Samwise that any specter that they could get up and running with minimum repair should be fixed, but everything else should be scrapped. I also ordered Noah to give Samwise some printer space from the back, so that he could make more of the new units. I wanted them to replace the specters entirely within the next few days.


    After Samwise assured me that he would stick to the project, Duke and I headed home. The canine robot had been following me around all day, and other than getting the damaged parts of his eye stripped out to keep them from shorting and causing further damage, he hadn''t been repaired at all.


    "I''m sorry, buddy," I apologized, rubbing his head as I examined the empty socket, which was more than just his eye, but rather a chunk of the armor around it as well. "I''ll get you set up with a new one first thing tomorrow morning¡­ though the rest of your armor might take a bit longer. We are in a bit of a crunch period."


    If he was bothered by his injury, he certainly didn''t show it, simply giving me an appreciative huff before making his way to his bed and lying down. I chuckled and shook my head, climbing into bed.


    It took a while for me to fall asleep, and when I did, it was of poor quality, tossing and turning restlessly. I woke up more than once, hand reaching out for my pistol, pointing it at the door before I could even kick my brain into gear.


    "A psychologist AI might be a good investment," I mumbled to myself, wiping the sweat off my face after the third time I woke up dramatically. It was just barely past five AM, but between my rapidly beating heart and my white knuckle death grip on my pistol, I could tell that I wasn''t getting back to sleep. "That''s gonna get old if I can''t get a grip on it."


    I quickly showered and cleaned myself, making myself a cup of coffee before leaving my trailer, Duke padding along beside me.


    "Okay, buddy, the first thing is getting your eye started," I said, my hand on his head. "Then I want to see what they''ve gotten done for the defenses."


    Duke barked softly, and we headed to the garage. As we did, we passed a pair of MRVNs pushing a metal cart through the streets, bearing parts to the outer perimeter of the town center, which was a good sign. I knew that Noah had been installing stuff since before I tried to get some sleep, and had been printing parts since almost immediately after the Wraiths attacked. I was eager to see the kind of progress he had made.


    I quickly popped into the garage, spending a minute checking out Riggs'' finished armor, which looked brand new and shiny. After that, I got Duke''s replacement eye going on the workshop''s smallest molly maker.


    "I wonder where the big guy is," I asked Duke hypothetically, referring to Riggs. "I would have thought he would want right back in his armor the second it was ready¡­"


    Once the replacement eye was slowly being printed, Duke and I walked back out of the garage and headed out, making our way along the road and heading to the main entrance into the town. Once we were past the security building, we got a better view of how far the defenses had gotten.


    They started about thirty or so feet from the town buildings themselves and were broken up into two different forms. One was the cheap and easy form, simple <u>Hesco barriers</u></a> made from dirt, stone, and sand-filled cubes. Looking around, I realized that all of the dirt they had dug up to pour the foundations was gone, and I moved into the thick, wire-reinforced cloth boxes.


    The Hesco barriers were tall enough to hide behind at a slight crouch, though many of them were built sunk into the ground, with a slight berm on the defending side, probably to make it easier to shoot over. While they were not the prettiest things in the world, they were big enough that I knew they would protect against a whole hell of a lot of firepower. Plus, the fact that they were cheap meant we could use them to fill in large portions of the town outskirts.


    The second part of the town defenses were the hard points being built at intervals all around the perimeter. They were still under construction, but quite a few of them had fully completed <u>anti-personnel turrets</u></a>, several of them slowly moving around, scanning the horizon for any threats. The platforms and defensive points that these weapon emplacements were being built on ranged from multilevel bunkers that would probably take another few days to complete to smaller platforms, more frequent points.


    MRVN units walked back and forth, filling more Hesco barriers and welding armored plated around a polymer inner filling. I could also see, as I continued to walk the perimeter, several spots along the walls were clearly intended for heavier weapons, most likely the <u>high-powered cannons</u></a>.


    I continued to follow along the construction zone, nodding to the MRVNs I passed as they worked. I made my way down the southeast border of the town, walking until I reached the corner. There, I could see that Noah had torn down several trailers, solar panel farms, and other structures to create an open, coverless area around the main section of the town that we occupied.


    We would have to change that eventually, if we managed to get the nomads to agree to my idea, since having enough firepower to vaporize them into a fine powder pointed at them would probably make them nervous. Until then, though, the cleared area would make approaching the defensive line much more difficult.


    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    It took another ten minutes for me to make my way all around the town, having stopped for a few minutes to chat with Noah, who was closely watching over the build''s progress. He assured me that, eventually, they could get rid of the Hesco barriers, but for now, they were too effective and too easy to set up to not take advantage of.


    When I finally made it back around and back to the garage, I was intercepted by Frank and Samwise. They both had something to show me. At first, I was confused, but then I realized that the only project that they were both assigned to was food production. I happily followed after them, excited to see what they had to show.


    I entered the Shack, and Samwise guided me to the table. As I sat, I looked around, spotting the first signs of the top floor being converted into a lab space for Frank, the entire area being deconstructed and reinforced. The development was paused for the moment, as all available MRVN units were working on the defenses or repairs, but they had obviously started.


    "Alright, guys. What''s going on?" I asked, leaning forward. "I have an idea, and I''m really hoping I''m right."


    "I believe you are," Samwise assured me, both of the AIs taking a seat across from me. After a moment, a pair of MRVNs, both marked as having a young AI inside them, entered the room from Franks''s medical office.


    Samwise had more or less adopted all of the AI MRVNs, and he understood to keep them safe. I was glad that he was keeping an eye on them, and I could hardly imagine a better mentor for them.


    The two young AIs were carrying metal boxes, and as they approached, they gently put them down in front of me. I reached for the rightmost box and lifted it up, taking the cover off like a cloche.


    Under the cover was a series of cubes, all in various colors. They were organized neatly in rows, with a small image and labels above each one. A quick scan showed that the labels were all food, and I couldn''t help but smile. I leaned in over the plate, looking closely at the one labeled as chicken. The cube was a pale white, very similar to the color one would expect from chicken, but it lacked any striations or physical variations. It was just a pale white cube, an inch tall and wide. I poked it with my finger, and the cube shifted under pressure.


    "Okay, so you guys have clearly been working on making reproduction food," I guess, getting a nod from both of them. "What have you discovered?"


    "As I suspected, the current technology of this world is incapable of truly replicating food, either mechanically or any other method," Frank explained. "Any research I have done has revealed chemical substitutes, not replications, and even those are of poor and sometimes dangerous quality."


    "Thankfully, we are not restricted to current technological levels," Samwise continued, excitement leaking into his robotic voice. "After some late-night conversations, as well as taking apart and analyzing the molly maker, we were able to create a version specifically designed to replicate the cells and structure of living food. Each food requires a specific, specially designed slurry, but the result is, from what we can tell, encouraging."


    "We understand the replicas are far from one hundred percent," Franks said, gesturing to the food cubes arrayed on the metal plate. "But from what we can tell, the taste should be considerably closer to what you are familiar with than anything you can find in Night City."


    I looked down at the array of colored cubes, spotting labels for fruit, vegetables, and meats. I checked under the second cloche to reveal another nearly identical plate.


    "I assume you want me to try this?" I asked, looking at Samwise and Frank, both of whom nodded eagerly. "Alright. I trust you guys plenty to make sure that everything is safe and edible, but I do want to confirm how much this cost to make. Would be a pity to eat them without knowing."


    "It varies from slurry to slurry, sir, but none of them are exorbitant. Nothing close to what you spent to purchase the samples. In total, the entire plate costs less than twenty dollars," Frank assured me. "As for safety and health, not only are these all perfectly safe to eat, but they also contain the same vitamins and nutrients that the originals would. Consuming a variety of these would be a complete and healthy diet."


    "Huh¡­ well, you guys clearly worked hard on this," I pointed out. "The least I could do is try them."


    I reached down and grabbed the chicken cube, quickly popping it into my mouth before I lost my nerve. As I chewed the cube, two things were readily apparent. One was that it tasted incredibly close to chicken. It wasn''t perfect, but holy hell, it was close. With the right seasonings and the right preparation process, I could see the taste being completely indistinguishable from the original. The second thing I noticed was that the texture left a lot to be desired. There was a bit of rubbery, fat-like texture to the chicken, like all the worst aspects of biting into a thick layer of fat on a cut of meat that has been overcooked.


    The texture was strange, obviously, but the taste more than made up for it.


    "Holy fuck, guys¡­ that was incredible," I said after swallowing the mouthful. "The texture was off, yeah, but it tasted almost exactly like chicken."


    I looked down at the other cubes, picking up a red one labeled as strawberries. I looked at it for a moment before tossing it into my mouth, crunching down on it with a hum of appreciation. Part of me had expected another rubbery chew, but instead, this one was much crunchier than the original source, almost like the texture of an onion. If I hadn''t been bracing myself for a strange texture already, I might have spit it out in surprise.


    I ate chunk after chunk, trying vegetables, fruits, and meats alike. By the end of it, I was wiping away tears of joy, as not a single one of them tasted bad. A few of them, like the green bean cube, were off, possibly because there were two separate structures in a green bean, but they still tasted good.


    "You guys¡­ you did it," I said, wiping my face and standing from my chair, rushing around the table to hug both of the AIs tightly. "This is incredible, beyond what I thought possible. I was expecting meal pastes with vague flavors, but this?"


    "I am hopeful that as we get the printing and slurry mixtures down, we can start working on their textures," Samwise pointed out. "Correct me if I am wrong, but getting them to match isn''t as important as making them more pleasant to eat."


    "Yeah¡­ I mean, all of them were edible, so that''s a great place to start," I agreed with an eager nod. "But making them a bit more texturally palatable would make these fucking perfect."


    We spent a while talking about the science and their methods, revealing that the molly maker had actually only been half of the equation. The slurry was made using the same tech as the Auto-Pharma, just scaled down to a much more limited task.


    Several aspects of the molly maker had been modified as well, specifically its material delivery process. The system was radically changed to use the semi-organic slurry required, and the injection method was refined to compensate for the different materials.


    Some of the conversation went over my head, unsurprising considering how little biology, biochemistry, or any of the wet sciences I had been exposed to through my tech trees. I was interested to see if I would get anything like that eventually, but part of me hoped I wouldn''t, not for a while at least. I couldn''t imagine I would be able to do much with Zerg tech without causing some issues.


    I asked Frank to whip up another batch for Jackie and Kaytlyn to try, as I wanted them to experience it as well. They would be up eventually and when they were, we were going to blow their minds.


    Frank agreed, and both of them promised they would continue to work on the systems to make the less palatable textures better. With a full stomach and a purified soul, I made my way back to the garage. Duke followed me closely as if understanding I was going to be fixing his eye. As I carefully took the printed parts and prepared to place them into his head, I looked over at the canine robot.


    "I want to build an emergency kit for you as well," I explained, the canine turning his head. "Nothing special just yet, a submachine gun and some ammo, maybe a medkit¡­Just the basics for survival in case we get caught up again like yesterday. It was honestly a miracle I had my armor and stuff at my trailer."


    After I finished installing his new eye, I quickly designed a storage system for a pistol, two mags, a submachine gun with three mags, some space set aside for medical stuff, and some grenades. Most of the space was left open to store extra armor or an extra pair of my undersuit. Unfortunately, there was only enough room for one, so I had to choose.


    Since my undersuit was armored and the key to my greatly enhanced strength, I quickly realized it was kind of a no-brainer. With the simple packaging design complete, I basically put a work order into the MRVNs running the molly makers. Most of it would be done by the garage makers, but if some of the mass production rooms were free, they would use those.


    By the time I finished with that side project, the sun was a bit higher in the sky, and people were starting to wake up. I waited impatiently for Jackie, who spotted me waiting by the Shack and made his way over to me.


    "What''s up, Genio?" He asked, still rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "I was thinking about making a coffee run. Do you want anything for breakfast?"


    "I already ate," I said with a smirk. Before I could even open my mouth to mess with him more, he gave me a look.


    "What the hell did you make?" He asked, looking around, even up into the sky, trying to spot whatever it was that was making me smirk. "No, let me guess, you made an invisible dinosaur? A spaceship? A new type of gun that shoots smiles and rainbows?"


    "Nope, I didn''t make anything," I assured him. "Sam and Frank did. C''mon, I''ll show you, you''re gonna love this."


    Jackie followed me inside, sitting down at the table in my direction with a curious expression on his face. A few minutes later, Frank gently placed the same metal plate in front of him, revealing the cubes of food.


    "Is¡­ is this food?" Jackson asked, leaning down and poking the red cube. "They look like meal replacement cubes."


    "What are those?" I asked, watching as he picked the red one up, the one I knew tasted like strawberries but chewed like onions.


    "Bottom of the barrel food crap," He explained, shaking his head. "Absolutely disgusting and-"


    He tossed the cube into his mouth and chewed, his words cutting off immediately as his eyes went wide. Then they closed, and he chewed slowly, enjoying every second of the mouthful. When he finally swallowed, he looked at me, clearly in a bit of a daze.


    "I¡­ what was that, Jay?" He asked, looking like he was at a loss for words. "That¡­ that tasted like real food¡­"


    "That was Sam and Franks''s attempt to replicate the food I bought from your friend, using all the tech I''ve created so far," I explained. "A modified molly maker printed it out, and a few other bits of tech helped scan and make the materials. It''s all edible and about as good for you as the original food. Its texture is a bit off, some more than others, but the taste is just about spot on."


    Jackie nodded as he listened, picking up a yellow cube that I knew was corn. As he popped it into his mouth and chewed, he groaned in appreciation, quickly getting to work eating all of the cubes.


    "How much did that cost?" he asked around the last cube, green beans.


    "According to Frank, that was about twenty eddies of materials. Technically, the time and research would put that a bit higher, but to actually make that, it would be just a few bucks."


    "I¡­ Jay I¡­"


    "I know, it made me speechless, too," I assured him. "We are going to pay that guy another visit so we can get them some more samples."


    "Absolutely Amigo¡­"


    When the big guy was finished eating, he polished off a large glass of water and leaned back in his chair. He looked satisfied but still frowned and shook his head.


    "This is another miracle you can''t share, isn''t it?"


    "Unfortunately," I admitted, sitting down at the table with him. "If I tried to sell the process, we would be dead within a week so Arasaka could make billions off of it. Plus, the molly makers are too advanced for me to feel comfortable spreading around."


    "But once you change things?" He asked. "You plan on sharing stuff like this once you''ve changed things, right?"


    "Jackie, once I''m done, this is what poor people will eat," I assured him. "It''s cheap, easy, on-demand food. Everyone else will be eating real food or better."


    He nodded and opened his mouth to speak, only for the door to open and for Kaytlyn and Riggs to step inside, the latter still without his armor.


    "What''s going on in here?" Kaytluyn asked, a hand on her hip. "You guys look like something serious is happening."


    "You could say that," I responded with a smirk before gesturing to the table. "Now sit down, it''s your turn."

 Chapter Thirty Nine

    Predictably, Kaytyn had the same sort of reaction to the new food cubes as Jackie had, though she realized a lot of the textures were bizarre and sometimes uncomfortable. Where for me, this marked the beginning of the end of lousy, horrible food options, and for Jackie, it was probably the first time he was tasting "real" food, Kaytlyn had a bit more experience in the world and had had more opportunities to try some higher quality grub. She had been a successful bodyguard and mercenary for a while, meaning her pockets were quite a bit deeper than what Jackie was used to as well.


    "Are these actually healthy?" She asked, slapping Jackie''s hand away as he tried to snag one of the darker cubes, beef, I think.


    "They are made of the same elements that the original organic material is," Frank explained. "We are still working on the structuring, but with more time, we hope to create food that is closer to the original, maybe even some that can react to cooking in the same way that normal food does."


    "What would happen if we tried to cook some of this stuff?" Jackie asked. "Would it melt or something?"


    "We don''t know," Frank admitted. "I could hypothesize that the sweeter fruits might caramelize partially from the contained ''natural'' sugars, but beyond that, I do not know. I do not believe the meat is capable of undergoing the Maillard reaction, but my experience is biology, not cooking."


    "...I can find out," Jackie suggested with a shrug. "I''ve learned a bit of cooking from my mom¡­ I could spend some time working with you guys to figure out the best way to make stuff. Maybe come up with recipes using the cubes."


    "They do not have to be cubes," Frank corrected but nodded in understanding. "Then you may be my assistant in this project. The technical aspect of it is more or less complete, so Samwise can continue working on his own projects."


    "Thank you, Frank," Samwise said, nodding toward his AI peer. "I enjoyed working on this with you, but my other work is important as well."


    "This is pretty important too, Samwise," I pointed out, gesturing to the empty metal plates.


    Before he could respond, Kaytyn started to laugh, shaking her head and rubbing her face. After a few seconds, she seemed to recover, leaning back in her chair.


    "What is it?" I asked, a bit confused.


    "I''m just imagining how Sable is going to react to this," She explained. "You guys explained how she reacted to learning you created the nomad water gatherers, imagine learning that you cracked cheap, delicious food, enough to bankrupt just about every food provider on the planet. I mean, biotechnica alone would be done within a few weeks!"


    "Don''t they make CHOOH2?" I asked with a frown.


    "They have their hands in a lot of stuff, and food is a big one," she explained. "They would probably survive, but it would not be pretty. Assuming you release this to everyone like you did with the water stuff."


    "I can''t," I responded, shaking my head with a wince. "The tech that''s used to make it is so advanced, it would really shake things up. They might be able to reverse engineer a molly maker from it, which would be a big problem."


    "Damn¡­"


    "Trust me, I would love to release this to everyone," I said truthfully, shaking my head.


    "I understand," Kaytlyn said. "Just sucks to have the solution for something and not be able to release it."


    "If I may," Frank said, stepping forward a bit. "I was not aware this was intended as a solution to this world''s food crisis."


    "It wasn''t," I assure him. "I asked you to do this because I was sick and tired of eating crap. It just so happens to have worked really, really, really well."


    "I understand that. What I meant was that if you wish for me to work on something like that, I can," Frank explained. "I cannot promise miracles, so it may depend on what sort of¡­ inspiration you next gain, but it is something I could work on."


    "That would be a good idea," I said after a moment of thinking. "As a sort of a background project, sifting through what I create and trying to apply it to making cheap, easy food that could be produced without tipping the whole world into chaos would be an amazing achievement, Frank."


    "I will work on it as I can then, Sir."


    "I''ll have Noah bump up and renovation of the second floor on the list," I said. "Still gonna need to focus on defense and the next batch of specters, but after that, we could have time to work on a proper lab. Though we might have my next inspiration to focus on, depending on its scale."


    "That would certainly help move things along," Frank agreed, before taking the metal plates, which I realized had been repurposed from medical equipment of some kind, and returning to his office. Before he disappeared, I called out to him.


    "Thank you, Frank," I said before looking at Samwise. "Both of you. I was going crazy with the crappy food and¡­ well, this could be the start of helping a lot of people eat better and more healthy, and I''m sure I don''t need to tell you how important that is."


    "You''re welcome, sir," Frank responded with a nod before focusing on Jackie. "Stop by later today, and we can discuss¡­ dinner."


    "Will do choomba," Jackie said before the AI doctor disappeared into his workshop and office.


    All of us, including Riggs, energetically discussed just what sort of things we could make with the food cubes. I pointed out that with a few more fruits, the easiest thing we could have was a fruit salad. When Jackie asked what a fruit salad was, I explained that it was a mix of sweet fruits in a bowl, lightly mixed and served cold as a side to lighter breakfasts or as just a snack.


    I then used my keyphone to transfer forty thousand credits to him.


    "Orale! Puta Madre amigo, what the hell is that for?" He asked after his eyes glowed orange.


    "That is for you to visit your friend Armando and buy up everything you can. Fruits, vegetables, starches, one of everything," I explained, patting his shoulder and holding it, looking him in the eye. "Then you ask him if he has anything else interesting. So help me god, Jackie¡­ if you find a way for me to have a real plate of spaghetti and meatballs again, I will make you the fucking king of Night City."


    He looked at me for a moment before laughing and nodding.


    "Aye, choom, ya spoiled brat, I''ll get you some real food, just leave it to me."


    I slapped him in the stomach, rolling my eyes. He wasn''t exactly wrong, after all, when it came to food, I was incredibly spoiled. In fact, my pallet was probably as refined, if not more so than someone like Sables.


    "I''ll leave it to you," I said with a nod. "Okay, guys, breakfast is over. We all have work to do. Kaytlyn, how are you doing, how''s your leg?"


    "It''s fine. Frank has got me some sort of mechanical brace, it''s helping me walk," she explained, knocking on the side of her leg, revealing there was something solid under her pants. "Why, what''s up?"


    "I wanted to talk to you about working on some cars," I responded, walking out of the Shack and making my way to the parking lot across from the garage, where the MRVNs had dragged or pushed all of the Wraith cars. "Here''s the deal, I want a personal car, and I want some company cars. But I''ve got the tech to replace almost a hundred percent of these cars with something better, and I don''t doubt that will keep happening as I get more inspiration."


    "What do you mean?" She asked with a frown, looking at the cars as we approached them. "Replace what?"


    "I could replace the armor and frame with better metal alloys, the electronics with more compact and more efficient versions, and improve their sensors, engines, brakes, and tires," I said, listing off the potential modifications I had come up with, just on the spot. "I could do most of these cars better and more efficiently. But in order to apply all of that, I would basically need to start from scratch. So, my question is: do I take these cars and upgrade them into something pretty good, or do I go all out, scrap them, and make something real special and completely custom."


    For a moment, she was quiet as she contemplated my question. She walked around one of the cars, considering her response before she eventually shook her head.


    "... Neither," She responded, looking back up at me. "Just upgrading what already exists would be a waste of what you could do. But making something new from the ground up would stand out like a sore thumb. Being able to blend in is just as important as being able to drive faster or turn sharper."


    "So¡­."


    "So, we scan these cars, disassemble them, throw them into that crushy grindy thing you got spitting out scrap," She explained. "Then build them again, but this time upgraded to hell and back. That way you can use all your fancy alloys and parts, but they will still blend in."


    "Huh¡­. okay," I nodded in agreement. "I''ll have Samwise have the MRVN unit come out here and start running some scans and measurements. Actually, it might be better to disassemble it piece by piece and scan everything that way¡­ Do you mind sitting around under the CHOOH2 hood and watching over them? I want your help on this project, so feel free to take notes on any ideas you have. Assuming that''s something you would like to be involved in...?"


    "Working with a smart pants engineer to completely rebuild some cars with tech far beyond what most people get access to?" She asked, looking at me with a raised eyebrow. "Sure, why not? It could be fun."


    "Glad you agree. While we work on this, we could finally get around to doing some upgrades to your car as well," I pointed out, a fire lighting in her eyes. "Plus, get all that damage cleaned up."


    I walked back to the garage, and Samwise agreed to have a pair of MRVNs start disassembling the cars, recording and scanning as they went. My hope was to have two trucks and two cars for the company and then make my own personal vehicle. Samwise also got a third MRVN to clean and repaint three of the still functional Wraith vehicles after thoroughly checking their programming and internals. They would serve as backup cars for now, and the rest would be scrapped immediately.


    I sat down at my computer, considering what project I would be working on next, when Riggs knocked on the side of the garage door, stepping into the workshop.


    "Jackson, do you have a moment?" He asked, in a tone that caught my attention immediately.


    "Sure, Riggs, what''s up?" I asked, spinning around to face him as he walked into my side of the garage. "Everything alright?"


    "Well¡­ Not long ago, you made us an offer," He responded. "You offered to help us change our exteriors so that we could blend in better with humans."


    "I remember, and the offer stands," I said seriously. "I want you guys to feel comfortable in your shells, and if that means blending in with humans better, then so be it. What sort of change are you thinking?"


    "I¡­ believe I would like to have the liquid skin system in place on my body," He explained. "I have been talking to Samwise about its specifications, and I believe I would prefer that over Realskinn or any other options."


    "Hmm¡­ okay¡­" I said with a wince. "Well, in order for me to do that, I would likely have to reduce your external armor by a not insignificant amount, maybe by a good thirty percent. The liquid skin system requires the entirety of your shell to be covered by a specific type of paneling."


    "I understand, sir," He said, bowing his head slightly. "If that is not an option-"


    "Oh, woah, it''s absolutely an option, Riggs. This is your body, how we change it is one hundred percent up to you," I assured him. "We will have to rethink how we come at certain problems while on gigs, but that''s fine."


    "I¡­ thank you, sir."


    "Can I ask what changed?" I asked gently. "If I remember correctly, you out of everyone seemed to see the idea as silly."


    "Well¡­ I almost died," He rightly pointed out. "A single inch is what saved me. I never considered what dying would be like, and now that I have¡­"


    He trailed off, the usually brief AI running out of words to describe what he was feeling. He seemed self-conscious but still certain in what he wanted.


    "That''s more than enough, Riggs," I assured him, reaching out to pat his shoulder. "I''ll get to work on it right away, with any luck we can start applying the changes tonight or tomorrow morning. In the meantime, start thinking about what you want to look like, if you want to have control over that at all. A lot of that is tied to what I learned building the base models, so I''ll have to be the one who sits down and creates your look, but there''s no reason why you can''t give me a few points to start with."


    "Thank you," He said. "I''ll keep that in mind."


    He nodded and turned away, clearly not exactly sure how to feel about the situation. He eventually left, heading back out into the town while I turned back to the computer, quickly getting to work. The process of converting an ALEO into a liquid skin-capable unit shouldn''t be that difficult, considering that almost a hundred percent of his body was covered in plating of some kind.


    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    About ten minutes into the process, I realized I was missing something rather important. The liquid skin system that the Become Human universe used was very interesting and, honestly, a stroke of genius, but it was still built with tech from around 2030. I had a whole range of knowledge that I could use to improve the system, including how thick the control plating was.


    I spent an hour redesigning the control system and plating for the liquid skin, as well as updating some of the materials in the skin replica itself. No miraculous changes to the skin, just a small boost in wear and tear resistance. The control system, however, was vastly improved, taking what was a quarter-inch platting down to something only slightly thicker than three layers of duct tape. I would still need to thin down a lot of Riggs'' armor since the skin itself had a certain thickness as well, but now it was significantly less than before.


    With the designs complete, I began to work with the improved designs, shaving off the outer layer of all the replacement plates before adding them to the appropriate reservoir and control system. Luckily, there was plenty of room for the new parts inside my version of the ALEO unit since I removed all of the batteries and power cells and replaced them with Elerium nodes.


    The hardest part of the redesign was his head, as while the ALEO unit did have some emotive abilities, it did not have nearly the articulation required of a human skull. I had to redesign the whole thing to give it more flexibility and, most importantly, an anatomically correct mouth. Within three hours of Riggs telling me what he wanted, half of which was spent on the head alone, both the small and medium garage molly makers were working on printing out his new parts.


    I considered updating the fake borgs with the new liquid skin system but ultimately decided that I would only update the advanced Connor model. The basic models were basically disposable, but the advanced one would be an actual AI, so it deserved the best I could give them. I spent an hour updating the design, using the extra space to add a layer of flexible armor under the android''s skin, as well as improving a few other systems. The frame was actually turning into something rather impressive, especially considering it still had a ton of empty space along its spine and head.


    When I finally finished the updates, I took a minute to leave the garage and walk around. Jackie had left at some point to visit Armando, his food connection, returning after some time to drop off another batch of samples for Frank. Both Jackie and I watched the process of him printing out food, nothing new as the samples would need to be analyzed and converted into a slurry, but some of the samples we had already tried. Frank printed out several "cuts" of meat and some vegetables, which Jackie carried into the meeting room. There, he used a large pan and a portable cooktop to make some hot meals. They were basically just simple stir fries, with salt and other simple ingredients added, but just the fact that it was hot and spiced made it delicious.


    "I think we might be in trouble," the amateur chef admitted, sitting back and in his chair, all of our plates clean. "I might not be able to go back to normal food after this."


    "Hear that Frank? You ruined the poor man, he will never enjoy Kibble again!" I said with a smirk, catching a balled-up napkin and throwing it back at him. "Hey, would you rather never get the opportunity to know what real food tastes like? I mean, you had fish occasionally, but real, actual stir fry? Strawberries? Peaches?"


    "Yeah, yeah, fair enough," he said, waving me off as Kaytlyn laughed. "Seriously though, thank you."


    "I am happy to help," The AI responded. "In fact, this is not far off from my duty as a doctor. The food sold here at Night City is abominable at best and terrible for your health. Now you can eat proper food with proper nutritional value and no damaging chemicals."


    After we finished eating, I headed back to the garage. At the moment, while I had several irons in the fire, I was waiting for most of them to warm up. Frank needed to design a fake brain and cyberware implants for the fake borgs, Kaytlyn was watching over the deconstruction and scanning of the Wraith vehicles, and Noah was working on the town''s defenses. My designs were done and either waiting for final parts or already being printed out.


    Since I was basically just waiting, I figured I would get to work on finishing something I had started before and take it up to the next level. If the fight with the Wraiths had shown me anything, it was that Duke was an incredibly potent resource in a fight and that getting my friends something equivalent was now a high priority. Jackie''s Ram design was almost complete, I just needed to finish the programming and make a few tweaks to the design. Once it was done, I borrowed a few molly makers and got them working, assigning a MRVN unit to assemble them together.


    With Jackie''s companion on the way, it only made sense to get to work on everyone else''s. Picking Samwise''s companion was easy, and I quickly put together the plans for a raven. Because there was no I would be able to get a solid metal Robot to fly by Flapping, I instead turned its metal feather into electropulse thruster like GREMLINs or the stealth surveillance drones I made. I pulled heavily on the animal design info I got from building the animal drone replicas from Become Human, creating a metal-plated raven that should be able to fly quite fast. It was smaller than SPOT, but would contain the same sort of programming and hacking software, as well as a life-like raven "personality."


    By the time the raven design was done, the parts for Riggs'' update were complete, so I called him on the radio. Samwise took a break from his work to assist me, slowly removing the armored plates and replacing them with the liquid flesh versions.


    While he worked On that, I worked with Riggs to design his new look. Luckily, I had already recreated the program required to do so when I built the first BH androids.


    Unsurprisingly, Riggs did not have any grand, avant-garde requests when it came to his looks. Instead, he requested that he have black hair and brown eyes, with rugged features. While I was basically painting his new body, he brought up a valid point.


    "Shouldn''t I have a fake brain, like the fake borgs?" He asked, watching as I designed his hair, trimming it a bit to match his skull better.


    With a frown, I turned to look at him, his face plates already having been replaced. His expression was curious, though I could also see he was very much dreading the answer.


    "Honestly? Probably," I admitted with a shrug. "But you don''t have to. I can see how that would not sit well. I don''t know if AIs can have body dysmorphia, but an unwanted hunk of fake brain sounds like a good way to cause it."


    "What about the advanced model?" He asked. "won''t he have a fake brain?


    "I¡­ Dammit, that hadn''t occurred to me¡­.", I admitted, chewing my lip before nodding. "Okay, new plan. We can initialize him on a specter or MRVN frame. That way, we can ask him for his opinion face to face."


    Once I was done designing Riggs''s new look, I helped Samwise install the liquid skin reservoir and related attachments, including the control chips. Once it was all hooked up, we finished the plating replacement.


    While his body was basically the same shape, the coloring was vastly different, as was the texture. His <u>plating</u></a> was now primarily blue and white, like many of the BH androids, and he looked more¡­ textured than just a metal plate. I gave him another quick look over before patting his shoulder and nodding.


    "Okay, Riggs. You should have access to the proper control interface. Can you find it?" I asked, standing next to him, watching him carefully.


    "I''ve found it." He responded after a long moment.


    "Okay, so the first step is to initialize the skin. This will spread the liquid from the reservoir to your entire body," I explained. "Go ahead and do that now."


    A slight hiss was audible from Riggs'' body, the sound of the liquid skin spreading through his outer frame. While visually, there was no change, we could hear it slowly spreading out over his entire body. After a full two minutes, the sound stopped, and Riggs spoke up and said that it was complete. I told him to perform a systems check to make sure, which he quickly did and received confirmation he was ready.


    "Okay. Then the final step is to activate the control system and select the look we designed," I explained. "It should be intuitive and-"


    Before I could finish, the liquid skin began to spread out along his body, emerging from his plating before shifting and settling into place. The liquid seemed to spread across his body in several waves, all of them spreading across his plating. It was actually a relatively slow process that eventually filled out across his skin in seven or eight seconds. When it was complete, he looked completely indistinguishable from a human¡­. Save for the fact that he looked like a Ken Doll below the waist.


    "Okay, Riggs, I want you to stand and slowly spin around for me, then you can put on some clothes," I said, watching as the android stood up with his arms out and spun in a circle.


    I closely examined his skin, checking out what I knew could be problem areas to confirm it was seamless and looked good. His body was muscular, with a thickness that made him look like a tank. He was muscular but less of a gym bro and more construction worker.


    He looked like a middle-aged <u>Josh Brolin</u></a>, with a short, military-style haircut, combed back like it was styled. His eyes were brown, with a hint of circuitry to make them look like implants to explain his improved vision. He even had several scars and blemishes marking his body, including some facial marks indicative of living a rough and tumble life.


    "Damn," Kaytlyn said from behind me. I whirled around to see that she and Jackie had both shown up at some point to watch.


    "Yeah¡­ we do good work, buddy," I said, slapping his shoulder, his skin feeling almost a hundred percent real. It felt a bit sturdier than natural skin, but that could easily be explained by a strong skin weave.


    Samwise handed him a simple shirt and a pair of shorts, both printed out from synthetic fibers on molly makers. After the newly skinned AI was dressed, he finally spoke.


    "I¡­ thank you, Jackson," He said, looking down at his hands, touching and exploring his new look. "I feel¡­ good. Thank you."


    "Sure thing buddy. Go take a look in a mirror and get used to your new look," I said with a smile. "Then come back and we can run some diagnostics, just to make sure everything is running right."


    He agreed and stepped out, Kaytlyn following after him. I heard her comment about him needing a whole wardrobe when I sat down on a crate.


    "I¡­ I think I understand why you were so paranoid about that stuff," Jackie admitted, sitting down on a separate crate. "Watching that in progress¡­ that would set off a lot of alarm bells."


    "Mhmm. Well, with any luck, by the time anyone finds out, it won''t matter anymore," I responded, rubbing my forehead. "Alright, I need to set up some scanners for when he gets back. Do you need anything?"


    "No, though, I am going to head back home for tonight," He responded. "I haven''t seen Mom in a bit, and she is getting worried. Plus Misty feels a bit neglected."


    "You know, she is more than welcome to stay out here with you," I pointed out.


    "Yeah¡­ maybe after we are fully set up out here," He said. "I don''t exactly feel happy after the wraiths."


    "Yeah, me either," I admitted. "It''s gonna be a bit before I can trust our defense fully again. Or sleep through the whole night."


    Jackie nodded in understanding before reaching out with his fist. I tapped it with mine before returning to work. There were three full days left before my specialty switched over to a new universe, and there was quite a bit I wanted to get done before that happened. Some of it was happening without my input, like the new specters replacing the old, for example, or our general defenses. The rest would most likely need me to finish them, though honestly, I was sure Samwise could handle the new cars.


    Still, I had a lot of work I wanted to finish and only a certain amount of time to get it done. It would be tight, but I was confident I could make it.


    Or at least make do if I couldn''t.

 Chapter Forty

    When Jackie left to head back to Night City, I took a minute to collect myself, have a cup of cold water, and just relax. I had three days to complete my current projects and, more importantly, prepare myself for the next tech tree. That should be enough time to get it all done without working myself to the bone. I needed to resist the urge to push myself too hard since starting off a new tech tree exhausted and stressed was probably worse than not getting everything done in time.


    When I was done with my unwinding moment, I got up from my computer and did a quick visual inspection of our three scrapper trucks. They needed to start going out again on their nightly excursions, or we would likely be starting the new tree in a material deficit, which was not something I wanted. I couldn''t see anything wrong with the vehicles, no bullet holes or shrapnel damage from the Wraiths, so they should be good to send out.


    After my quick inspection, I went out to find Noah. I could have radioed him to come find me, but at the moment, I didn''t want to drag him away from working on the town''s defenses. At this moment, his time was more valuable than mine.


    Even though it had only been around ten hours since I had last checked them out, I could see how much progress had been made around the defensive parameter. The town center was surrounded by a significant portion of large Hesco-style sandcrates, all of them positioned and set up as proper cover. On each corner, the large multi-floor defensible hard points were coming along nicely, as were the smaller but still reinforced points between them. Dozens of the lighter turrets dotted each side, with the heavier ones set slightly less frequently. Everything was coming together smoothly, no doubt due to Noah''s constant attention. When I eventually found him, he was watching a pair of MRVNs weld an armored plate to an already-built armored structure.


    "Noah, you got a minute?" I called out, the AI continuing to watch for a few more seconds before nodding and making his way to me.


    "What can I do for you, Sir?"


    "The defenses are coming along well," I commented. "Do you have a time of completion in mind?"


    "Of the major functions? Early tomorrow morning," He answered decisively. "Assuming you plan to decrease the MRVNs working on the project after that, full completion a few days after that."


    "And what effectiveness are we at now?"


    "In terms of functioning weapon emplacements and armored defenses, seventy-eight percent."


    "Great, this is all amazing work, Noah. This whole project would have been a gigantic issue without you around to guide it. Thank you for your help."


    Noah simply nodded, accepting the compliment and thanks silently.


    "Tonight and into tomorrow morning, I am having most of Samwise''s team focus on specter production. I want the old versions replaced by tomorrow night so I can send Dakota''s people back," I explained. "I also want some MRVNs to go out scrapping. Can you spare six units and still hit your projection?"


    "Not exactly, but we won''t miss it by far," He responded. "I agreed that we need to continue gathering scrap. I will send six units out once the sun has set and it is appropriately dark."


    "Thank you, Noah, I''ll see you around," I said, patting his shoulder before making my way back to the workshop.


    I found Samwise working in the production addition next to the Garage. I told him to keep one of his MRVN workers pulling apart and scanning the vehicles, and that the rest should focus on specters. Already, they had produced seven of them, the much more dense and sophisticated version of our combat unit taking much longer to make. He agreed before bringing up another point.


    "We seem to be low on MRVN units," He pointed out, his arms still working the controls for a molly maker. "Should we not add that to the list of things to make?"


    "Yes, absolutely. Once we scale back the defensive perimeter construction, we will have quite a bit of production freed up," I explained. "Once that happens, specters and MRVNs should be our main concern until we shift to something else. I need to think about how many specters I want around, but fifteen more MRVNs and another dozen or so spares, just in case, should be good. Eventually, we will be working on clearing out the rest of the town, and we will need more manpower for that."


    We chatted a bit more about the projects before I headed back to my workshop. I had completed Jackie and Samwise''s companion, so it only made sense to keep on going and make something for everyone. I spent a few minutes considering what I should make for each person before deciding that a massive bear would be the perfect fit for Riggs. It would be a bit impractical for tight spaces but an absolute powerhouse in any other situation.


    The design would be simple, following the same design style as Duke rather than Nova, which was what Kaytlyn had started calling her cat. This would be a combat-focused companion, and I knew that Riggs would appreciate the no-nonsense heavy hitter style.


    When I was finished, about an hour and a half later, the design was complete, and <u>it was a monster</u></a>. A mass of armored plates and artificial muscle, the massive robot was powered by two large Elerium nodes, which fed directly into the bear''s muscles, giving it incredible speed, stamina, and strength.


    As I was finishing the design, I realized that there was a lot of empty real estate on its back, which led me to develop a deployable cover system. Essentially, the armored panels that covered the bear''s back were three layers deep, and the top two layers could swing over and out, creating two car door-like panels of heavy armor on either side of the bear, turning it into a mobile cover that could easily hide a large person on each side.


    On top of that, I also had an idea of what I could fit into the chest cavity. It wasn''t as large as one might think, given how much it had to shift and flex as the bear ran, but there was plenty of room for some advanced concepts. I just needed to run them by Riggs first since I ultimately wanted to keep it up to him.


    By the time I finished the design, it was getting pretty late. The sun had long since set, and I had heard the scrapper trucks leave at least an hour and a half ago. I stretched in my chair for a minute before whistling to Duke, who was pretending to sleep in the corner of the workshop. We made our way to my trailer, pausing to watch a pair of new specters being activated. Samwise, after waving to me, ran them through a few quick diagnostics before they walked off to the security office for assignment.


    They moved in a robotic fashion, looking much closer to what Arasaka offered in terms of humanoid robotics. Had I not just seen them do jumping jacks and a back flip as Samwise tested their gyroscopes, I would have assumed they were near useless fodder.


    When I finally arrived at my trailer, I spent a few minutes laying out my undersuit and armor, making sure it was easily accessible. I also made sure my pistol was loaded but with the safety on, and that my submachine gun was sitting on the table, locked and loaded. With any luck, being prepared to wake up to the worst would help me sleep a bit better.


    The next morning, I woke from a fitful but mildly restful night''s sleep to Riggs knocking on my door. His new face startled me for a moment before it clicked in my still-tired brain.


    "Dakota Smith called, warning us that Saul from the Aldecaldos is going to make his way here," He explained. "We have an hour, maybe two."


    "What? Why didn''t she call me?" I asked, walking over to where my keyphone was charging and double-checking that it hadn''t gone off.


    "Kaytlyn says that''s how these things work," The newly humanized AI said. "People in charge don''t call each other, their people call each other."


    I turned and looked at him, before shaking my head with a smirk.


    "They called Kaytlyn, but she refused to play secretary, didn''t she, so she passed the buck to you," I guessed, Riggs'' nod telling enough. I chuckled before continuing. "Alright, let me take a quick shower and I''ll join you guys. Do me a favor and tell Sam I will be by in a few to talk about how the night work went,"


    He nodded and left, leaving me alone to clean up, as well as put on my armored underlayer, covering that with a normal pair of clothes. While I wanted to be prepared, I didn''t want to come off as aggressive, so I left my armor behind. When I finally made my way to the workshop, Samwise was waiting for me with a tablet and a list. He gave me a rundown of the night''s activities. The new specters were up to fifteen, with ten old ones still around.


    "Listen, let''s designate the new specters as¡­Shades, Since they are painted all black and have that more uniform armor," I suggested.


    "Very well. We currently have fifteen shades and ten specters," Samwise explained. "We will continue focusing on producing more. Have you decided how many are you looking to have?"


    "I want the corners to have at least eight each, and each defensive point between them to have three, and I want another twenty to patrol around the interior, both to stop anyone who sneaks and to reinforce any of the sides when we are attacked," I explained. "How many is that in total?"


    "Fifty-six around the perimeter and twenty on patrol," He responded. "A considerable increase from what we had before."


    "I know, but we are already tipping our hand a bit with the defensive perimeter," I pointed out. "creating some robots to man that wall is just a bit extra."


    "Any thoughts on production speed or density?"


    "Spe-Shades are a priority as long as they don''t drain us off too many resources or get in the way of the new tech tree," I said after a moment of thought. "After we have thirty along the walls, we can scale back a bit, but only if we need to. How long will it take?"


    "At current speeds, we will be finished before the next tree," Sam assured me. "We can slow down our production if we start cutting into supplies too heavily."


    "Good, sounds good," I confirmed with a nod. "How is the wall?"


    "Noah reported eighty-two percent completion of our perimeter defenses," My assistant reported. "All that remains are safety devices, cosmetics, and convenience features. As ordered, he is scaling back construction by seventy-five percent."


    "Good, okay. Put some of the relieved MRVNs on MRVN production, then some on making more shades. The rest can focus on scraping and repair. There are bullet holes everywhere, and most of the vehicles aren''t scrapped yet. Just keep the ones I designated alone. Oh, and keep a few to help me. I''ll be working on some stuff after I''m done talking to Saul."


    We continued to talk for a bit longer, going over some of the material numbers and some of the stuff I should consider buying rather than waiting to get lucky through scrap. Considering the incoming tech tree, I told him to triple the order he was thinking of. We had plenty of room, and I wanted to be ready to rock once I finally had some new tech to explore. It had been a while since I had gotten a new source of knowledge, and I was excited to expand my tech base.


    The last thing he did was warn me that Jackie had shown up an hour before and had immediately gone to see Frank, but he hadn''t left the Shack since.


    I entered the Shack to find that it was empty, but I could hear Jackie and Frank talking in the small doctor''s space that Frank worked from for now. When I knocked and stepped in, both of them turned to look at me.


    "Morning, what''s up?"


    "Jackie is discussing some of the options for cooking while I run some of the new food samples he managed to find. I believe I am close to reproducing a facsimile of egg yolk, and I have already finished the whites."


    "Damn, well out of anything that''s going to be easy to cook with," I commented. "Assuming the texture isn''t disgusting. Stacking egg, bread, and some sort of meat, preferably bacon, would make a passible breakfast sandwich. Assuming the bread was edible."


    "I would require a sample of bread in order to make that happen," Frank pointed out.


    "Bread is something I can get," Jackie responded, "Do we need to make a printable version?"


    "Depends on how it turns out. The bread you guys eat is like fifty percent, not grain, which is horrifying," I pointed out. "If he can take an expensive all-grain bread, sample it, recreate it, and we can use that to make a semi-decent bread substitute, then it will be worth it. Otherwise, we might need to find alternatives."


    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    Jackie opened his mouth to comment before shaking his head like he changed his mind.


    "We are getting sidetracked, choom. I came ''cause Riggs said we are having the Aaldecaldos visit," He explained before posing an interesting question. "Would a printed meal make your offer more enticing? Should we show off what we can do that much? You said that revealing the foodstuff could be dangerous..."


    "I¡­waving ''Real'' food in front is a good way to get them very interested in what you have to say, for better or worse," I admitted. "But there''s not a lot of way to make sure that''s only good attention. Once, or rather if they move in, we can talk about letting them in on the secret."


    "So, no miracle meal?"


    "Let''s¡­ maybe we create one simple thing, maybe a fruit or maybe just a sample of meat," I suggested. "Then we present it as the pinnacle of our work, a lone, singular facet of what we are working on. Once we have their trust, and us theirs, we can reveal what''s really going on."


    Jackie agreed with the idea, and even admitted he had some thoughts on what he could make. Apparently, the somewhat impulsive choice to volunteer to experiment with cooking had given him a bit of a bug. He had been making notes for ideas all night, hence why he managed to get here so quickly when Riggs called him. He was already up and planning on coming over.


    Everyone spent some time getting ready for our guests, mostly just cleaning up and repairing some small bits of damage around the place. I put out water, ice, and a few booze options nearby, but left the food to Jackie. It was just after two in the afternoon that Murtaugh radioed me.


    "We have three cars approaching on the road," He said. "They are covered in Aldecaldo and nomad markings."


    "Sounds like our guests are arriving," I responded, calling out to Jackie before continuing to talk to Murtaugh on the radio. "Keep the heavy weapons pointed away from them, but form up seven or eight shades to cover us just in case. Keep them out of sight."


    "Seven or eight what?" he asked after a moment, sparking me to rub my eyes, knowing that the confusion was my fault. I waited way too long to rename the new defense robots.


    "Shades are the designations for the new specters," I explained. "Spread that around if you can. I should have done it sooner."


    "Copy that, Sir," the security AI responded. "Guest ETA in forty-five seconds."


    "Thanks, Murtaugh, keep up the good work."


    I made my way outside, making sure that everyone was in position. Riggs joined me as I stepped out of the Shack doors, wearing his fully repaired armor and looking like a full eight-foot-tall borg. He was fully armed, pistols on his hips and his massive mag cannon on his back.


    "You good?" I asked as he followed behind me. "Armor fit properly with all the adjustments?"


    "Yes, everything is fine," He acknowledged. "I do¡­ find myself looking forward to taking it off now, though. That''s new."


    "I''m not surprised you''re picking up new wants and needs, big guy. You went through some trauma, and that always changes people. No reason for AI''s to be different. Just make sure you aren''t bottling anything up. We are all here to help if you want to talk."


    As we waited, watching the distant dust cloud get closer, I could see the two anti-personnel turrets on either side of the town''s main entrance swivel away and aim upward, an obvious sign of non-aggression. As the three vehicles came around the final turn, emerging out from behind a shallow hill, I settled into a comfortable stance. With Riggs standing behind me, as well as what they had to drive past, I''m sure it cut an impressive visage.


    As the vehicles pulled into town, I got a good look at them. All of them were obviously nomad style, covered in dirt, but clearly well maintained. The Aldecaldos ran their equipment hard, but they also took care of it, which made sense. When you were traveling across the badlands, the last thing you wanted was something to give out due to poor maintenance.


    All three vehicles parked smoothly along the Shack, with the final Type-66 stopping right in front of me. After a moment, an older man climbed out. He had wild hair, a full beard and mustache, sun-slapped skin, and light eyes. He approached me, stopping within a few feet.


    "I assume you''re this Jackson that Dakota talks so highly of?" He asked, giving me an obvious look up and down.


    "And you must be <u>Saul</u></a>," I responded, reaching out to shake his hand, watching from the corner of my eye as three more people climbed out of the other two cars. "Got a bit of a proposal, Dakota says getting you on board will help make it a reality."


    After a moment, the slightly older man reached out and shook my hand, squeezing it a bit harder than necessary. Unfortunately for him, I could easily match whatever he was outputting with my underlayer. I didn''t hurt him, though, as that would be counterproductive. I simply matched his strength, applying the same amount of pressure as him. When he finally released my hand, he nodded.


    "I don''t know about a proposal, but she suggested that I hear what you had to say," He admitted, giving me the eye. "You got some sort of presentation, maybe some slides for us to watch?"


    "Nothing that corporate," I assured him. "Why don''t we step inside before it really starts to warm up. We have drinks inside."


    He nodded and followed me as I turned and headed back into the Shack, his three bodyguards following along. Part of me had expected Panam to show up, which made me wonder where she was. Before she left the family, according to the lore that I knew, she was more or less Saul''s right-hand woman. If she had already left the family, it meant that Saul was already openly talking to Biotechnica, looking for ways to better feed the Aldecaldos, and generally getting screwed over.


    We sat down around the table, Saul happily accepting a beer from Jackie, his bodyguards sitting around the room. Riggs stayed by the door while Jackie sat down beside me. I waited for Saul to enjoy a sip of his beer before leaning back in my chair.


    "How much did Dakota tell you before suggesting you pay me a visit?"


    "She claimed that you were a halfway decent sort who would probably deal fairly with me," He admitted, sipping his beer. "Said that you had an idea for us."


    "I suppose that''s the best I could have hoped for," I said with a smirk. "I do have an offer, not just for you and your family, but for friendly nomads in general. You see, own the entirety of Rocky Ridge, as well as a good chunk of land around it. At the moment, it is sitting there, filled with junk and scrap."


    "And what, you wanna hire us to clear it?" He asked, looking confused and not a small bit insulted.


    "No, I''ve got bots for that," I assured him. "What I want is to create a safe place for traveling nomads to settle down, do their business, refuel, recharge, and buy their parts. It will be defended as well as my section of the town is and will have plenty of room for two, maybe even three groups at once."


    That seemed to get his attention, his attitude shifting from basically only half listening to fully paying attention. He sat up straighter and focused on me, putting down his beer.


    "And what''s the catch?" He asked, watching me closely.


    "The catch is that we would be mutually using each other for protection," I explained. "The groups would be safe from raffen shiv, other gangs, and from being asked to leave for trespassing, since I own this area. In turn, you would be my cover, acting as a distraction and a filter to keep people''s eyes and ears away from my work."


    "And what exactly is your work?"


    "I''m an inventor, a builder with big dreams and a lot of ideas bouncing around in my head. For everything from armor," I said, gesturing to Riggs standing by the door. "To robotics, weapon systems, and¡­ well, I think my second has something you and your men can enjoy."


    Jackie smirked and stood, heading to Frank''s space, returning with five frosty mugs of red blended ice, each with a straw. He placed one in front of everyone, but nobody made any move to try it until I took a big sip of one, letting out a refreshing sigh when I was done. As near as I could tell, Jackie had blended up the strawberry chunks to get rid of their texture, frozen them to make ice cubes, and then blended them to make a fruit smoothie-like slush thing. Then, because he was Jackie, he poured some sort of sweet liquor over it to make a bastardized and broken strawberry daiquiri.


    Somewhat hesitantly, Saul took a sip, ignoring the straw. He nearly coughed it up before taking another, much more eager taste. He savored it for a long moment before swallowing it down.


    "Did¡­ Is that real strawberries?" He asked, his eyes wide as he looked at me.


    "Nope, it is a synthetic recreation," I explained. "Same nutritional value, with no additives, stabilizers, flavorings, or anything else. We are still working on getting the texture right, but honestly, just having the flavor and nutritional value is impressive enough."


    "...Why strawberries?" He asked, taking another sip.


    "Why not?" I asked back with a shrug. "They are tasty and healthy, and we were able to get the right samples. It seemed like a great place to start."


    I was being purposely misleading, acting like the strawberries were all we had developed and that we were still in development. I didn''t know how deep I would let the nomads into this whole charade, but keeping them at a slight distance was the best bet for now.


    "So you make things, including food," He commented, though I could hear a slight interest in my ability to make food. "Why''s that require a cover? Besides the obvious threats."


    "Because I have plans that don''t involve being tied to some big company that can yank my leash whenever they feel like making some cash," I said. "I have no interest in being a corpo stooge or a chained genius."


    He watched me as I spoke, listening to the words I said, seeming to weigh them as I spoke.


    "Now I understand that nomads generally default to trade rather than eddies, which is why I want to do away with the idea of anyone paying anyone anything," I explained. "A mutual exchange of services, with benefits to each side. That way, we don''t get at each other''s throats when you''re short on eddies."


    "And what type of services would we be offering each other?"


    I smiled and leaned in, glad to finally have some of his interest. I started going down the list of what I planned on creating, a place where traveling nomads could buy cheap parts, upgrades, recharge their batteries, and even fill up on CHOOH2. They could stay somewhere close to Night City, defended from gangs and Wraiths, and do their business with the knowledge that they weren''t going to get harassed for staying where they shouldn''t. I would even have the occasional job for them. And, given that I understood how eddies didn''t flow through Nomad families, I was happy to accept rare or valuable scrap as payment. I had iron, aluminum, and other basic metals coming out of my ears, but I could always use a bit of the more rare materials.


    The only draw was that they would be hanging around me, a potential target for companies. A risk, for sure, but they were used to being under threat from major corporations. I would also ask that they do any major illegal business away from the compound.


    Saul asked a few more questions before eventually leaning back and finally bringing up the topic I knew he really wanted to ask.


    "What about food?" He asked. "You''re working on your strawberries, but what about growing food?"


    "Well, alongside the project for recreating food is another project, one about creating cheap, healthy food," I admitted. "The idea is to replace or augment normal meals to vastly cut down the cost and quantity needed to survive at a healthy level."


    "But we would have to purchase that from you," He accused, shaking his head. "And while Dakota might trust you for some bizarre reason, I doubt you could supply all of the Aldecaldos, never mind the other nomad families."


    "There are plenty of other opportunities," I assured him. "This is just the beginning, and while I don''t have the kind of solution you''re looking for now, that doesn''t mean I won''t in the future. Besides, this proposal is not specifically about food. I understand your worry and desire to improve your people''s lives through access to better food, but don''t pass over the silver because you''re looking for gold. Especially when it is very possible to pick both."

 Chapter Forty One

    Saul considered my words for a long moment. While he presented as a rough and tumble, simple folk kind of guy, I could see an intelligence in his eye that ran counter to his rough exterior.


    "You offer a lot, but you ask a lot as well. I''m not thrilled at the idea of using my people as human shields," he said, leaning back in his chair. "That said, Nomads are used to threats from corporations, and we are used to being under scrutiny. Dakota Smith mentioned you''re the kind of person the Nomads want as connected as possible to them. I''m not sure exactly what you did for her, but she isn''t usually one to speak so positively about someone."


    "It''s a rough world out there," I said with a shrug. "Sometimes doing what you can to help is worth the effort for no other reason than it makes life better for someone else."


    "It takes a certain amount of wealth to engage in charity," He responded. "Maybe not in eddies, but wealth all the same."


    Saul took a long sip of his drink, following it up with a sip of his strawberry smoothie. He placed the beer down, leaning forward as he looked down at the red slushy drink.


    "Say we give you a chance," He said. "How long would it take for you to clear out the space for us and start building defenses?"


    "You mean the Aldecaldos?" I asked. "Well, this was never a weekend plan. We would need time and materials, and we are currently waiting for another group, a small community of people who will be living with us full-time. They will need space and infrastructure as well."


    "So we are talking a couple months," He responded with a frown. "We have no plans on leaving Night City for at least that long, but what''s the point of moving in if we leave only a month later?"


    "No, getting everything cleared would only take a week or two," I assured him. "And we can start work on the defenses while things are being cleared."


    He seemed surprised by that number, but he nodded in agreement anyway, leaning back in his chair. For the next hour, we discussed some of the possibilities of work, the services I was looking to provide, as well as what sort of infrastructure we would be installing in the cleared space. I explained some of my ideas and the general design for the defenses. It wasn''t going to be anything special, just the same large defenses at each corner, with smaller defensive points running along the gap between each. Noah and I were also considering building large secondary structures since the distance between each corner would be much longer.


    Eventually, the Nomad leader ran out of questions and finished his drinks. He didn''t have much to say once he was satisfied, promising to think about the offer, as well as discuss it with his family. He seemed interested, but it was hard to tell with a group so used to keeping their cards close to their chests and keeping as independent as possible. We shook hands, and Riggs escorted him and his guards out, leaving Jackie and me alone in the meeting room.


    "I think that went about as well as we could hope," I said, leaning back in my chair. "Jackie? Thoughts?"


    "It''s hard to deal with Nomads like this," He admitted. "There''s good ones and bad ones. The good ones are pretty honorable, at least until it''s every man for himself, but that''s normal. The bad ones, though? They don''t see people like us as anything but potential marks. Only their family matters to them."


    "The Aldecaldos, they have a good reputation though, right?"


    "More or less," He responded with a shrug. "I haven''t heard anything off about them. Plus, Dakota Smith wouldn''t have sent him over if she thought we would get each other in trouble."


    "How do you think he took the offer?"


    "He seemed wary, not that I can blame him," He admitted. "Not many people are looking to just help, Genio. It makes people like us nervous."


    "So I should have been a bit more demanding? Made him pay or something?" I asked, looking at him with a raised eyebrow.


    "Maybe," He said with a shrug. "I''m a just a solo, choom. I know how to smile my way out of a ticket and get a couple of eddies off a deal, not negotiate with Nomads that I''ve never met before."


    "I think you''re selling yourself short, but fair enough," I said, letting out a long breath before nodding. "Okay. With that done, we need to talk about something important. What are we going to do about the Wraiths?"


    "About fucking time, Genio," Jackie said, slapping the table. "You got a plan?"


    "I''ve got a vague idea of a plan," I admitted with a nod. "I''m gonna gather everyone up. We can go over it then."


    Jackie nodded and grabbed our mugs before heading back into Frank''s room. Meanwhile, I used the radio to call Riggs, Murtaugh, and Kaytlyn. They showed up just as Jackie was bringing out cups of more of the strawberry slush drink, this time with one for Kaytlyn as well. When everyone had settled and those who could had had a few sips of their drinks, we got down to business.


    "So what happened a few days ago was unacceptable," I said, crossing my arms. "I don''t care if we already got the asshat who''s brilliant idea it was. We need to send a message that the Ridge is off limits and that we don''t fuck around."


    "Wait, we are getting back at the Wraiths?" Kaytlyn asked, pumping her fist when I nodded. "Fuck yeah! What''s the plan, Jay?"


    "Well, as much as I would like to, we can''t go full scorched earth. We could, given enough time and effort, technically hit all the hotspots around here. But the Wraith around here are just the ugly end of a much larger group. Not only would they be back eventually, but they would have a pretty strong grudge against us as well. Not exactly something I want."


    "Then what? A couple of smaller hits?" Kaytlyn asked, now frowning. "I mean, that kind of seems¡­ like it''s not enough."


    "I agreed. Which is why we are going to engage in some classic psychological warfare," I said with a smirk. "If we can''t target them all directly, then we are going to target them all indirectly. I want them too scared to even look in our direction."


    Kaytlyn grinned at my idea, and Jackie nodded in agreement. Riggs, who had taken off his helmet, just listened stoically, but I could see his expression shift as well, a small smile quirking at the edge of his mouth.


    "I plan on talking to Dakota for as much info on some of their bases as she can get. She owes us after all, plus clearing a few hotspots benefits her just as much as it does us," I explained. "Then, we can pick some of the juiciest to target and hit them hard. Wipe the bastards out. "


    "I like the idea, but what exactly makes that psychological warfare?" Kaytlyn asked.


    "Well¡­ That''s where I''m not exactly sure," I admitted. "I have a few ideas, but I want to hit at least three or four spots, so I could use a few more."


    "Please, Genio, you''re smart for sure, but you grew up sheltered," Jackie said, shaking his head. "You really think you can spook some hardened gangers. Whatcha got?"


    "Well¡­ I was thinking we could hit a target hard and wipe them out fast. Then, once we have control of the location, we could pick a spot that''s pretty central," I explained casually. "Then we have a couple MRVNs crudely tear the cybernetics out of every single Wraith, including internal stuff like liver implants and cyberdecks. Then we stack up all the cyberware in that central location we picked out. For added effect, we take the bodies with us to bury somewhere in the desert or burn in a kiln or something. Plus, we can leave a calling card to make sure they are all tied together."


    Jackie stared at me with wide eyes, clearly not having expected such a brutal answer. Kaytlyn seemed surprised as well, but she only nodded in appreciation.


    "Jesus Christ, no orale, Jay! Where the hell did you get that from?" Jackie asked, cursing a bit more when he was done.


    "Video games and history classes," I said with a shrug. "The world might be fucked now, but history had plenty of bad moments for inspiration."


    "Well, what''s your other idea?"


    I smirked, and together, we began a brutal and dark brainstorming session. I did have to draw a few lines since Kaytlyn was taking what they did to us personally, and Jackie, for some reason, felt like he needed to one-up me. While I had no problem mutilating a corpse, since to me it was just wet waste once the person was dead, I had to stand firm about mutilating or torturing people while they were still alive. Killing was one thing, but there were lines I refused to cross, no matter what they did. They might deserve punishment, but delivering that isn''t worth hurting our own mental states.


    This world might be filled with psychopaths, cyber or otherwise, but I was going to do my damndest to make sure my people didn''t join them.


    After a few hours of discussion, Kaytlyn volunteered to reach out to Dakota and figure out what they knew about our options. We tentatively planned to hit our first target the following night, since, by then, the walls would be fully manned by shades.


    Once the meeting broke up, I headed back to the garage. Two MRVNs were already set assembling <u>Jackie''s ram</u></a>, having made serious progress while I was spending the morning in meetings and planning. By that point, I had completed the companions for Jackie, Sam, Riggs, and Kaytlyn. That meant that all I had left was to make Noah, Frank, and Murtaugh theirs before I could present them all. I also had an idea for the shades and MRVNs, but they could wait for later. Now, I wanted to focus on our security expert.


    I sat there for a minute, trying to come up with a proper companion idea for Murtaugh. On the one hand, as a commander of our security forces, making him a horse to ride around made a certain amount of sense. Plus, it was big enough that I could add some interesting things. On the other hand, he rarely left the security building. It was his dominion, and from there, he kept in touch with all of our shades and specters, as well as now controlling and directing our turrets. That made me think something more cerebral would be more helpful.


    After a few minutes, I finally came to a decision and got to work. Rather than go big for the security specialist, I decided to go small, compensating for the lack of space by creating multiple companions that work as one. I quickly whipped up a <u>small bird</u></a>, much smaller than Samwise''s raven, giving it flight with a similar electropulse thruster design.


    This time, however, due to its small size and lightweight carbon fiber and polymer construction, it was almost silent as it needed significantly less thrust. I finished the design with some lightweight, detailed cameras and a tight band short-range radio system to communicate. Then I added our stealth tech, allowing the bird to vanish into thin air. It had some power limits, meaning it couldn''t remain invisible and fly around at the same time, but it was still silent and almost impossible to spot.


    Murtaugh would also get a dozen of them, as well as a hardware and software package that would allow him to better connect, direct, and interpret the information they were picking up. Altogether, he could use them to watch over the town in a much more close-up way than our drones did and investigate issues without ever leaving the security building.


    After I finished the design for Murtaigh and sent it off to the molly makers, it was time to tackle Noah. He, out of all of my AI creations, had maintained a strict and direct nature, remaining computer-like even as he aged. Because of that, designing him a companion was difficult. Still, I eventually determined that he would most likely appreciate a company that would improve his efficiency. In the end, I was glad I had gone with the bird idea for Murtaugh, because designing a <u>large horse</u></a> for the stoic AI was a pretty solid fit, especially when I filled its large chest cavity with dozens of tools and a computer terminal he could link to to access design software and other stuff. Basically, it was a minor mobile workshop he could ride around on, heading between construction sites.


    After putting the finishing touches on the horse and sending off the design, it was finally time to work on Frank. I approached this companion''s design process a little differently. Rather than starting by brainstorming what sort of companion Frank would like, I instead started by designing what I wanted it to contain. When I was done with that, then I designed an animal around it.


    As the team biologist, doctor, and medic, I wanted to give Frank a portable medical lab, something that could follow him around the town and be used to help treat a variety of injuries. I ended up making a <u>cow</u></a>, something nonthreatening to put people at ease but still big enough to fit an entire lab inside it. When it was stocked, he would have a version of damn near anything he might need to stabilize and treat just about any injury that could occur, at least by Titanfall standards, since that''s where a lot of the tech came from.


    With the final design finished and shipped to the production room, I worked on assisting in assembly, working with the MRVN units to put the final touches on Jackie''s Ram before getting to work on Riggs'' bear. It really was a monster of a robot, its head coming up to my neck. If we wanted to bring him on missions, I would probably need to modify a vehicle to fit him. The Emperor would be large enough, so maybe I would make something similar. Or he could hang out in one of the beds of the trucks I already planned on making.


    If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    We kept working, the two MRVNs and I, for most of the day, eventually assembling all of the companions. Each one got a simple test before being shut down and dragged out of the garage and under the CHOOH2 canopy outside. I then carefully covered them in sheets to keep people from seeing them as well. When the sun was starting to set and all the companions were finished, I then gathered everyone around to present them.


    "Welcome!" I said, like a presenter of a show. "I have gathered all of you here to present you with your new companions!


    "Our what?" Jackie asked with a raised eyebrow. "What did you make now, Genio?"


    "Well, if fighting with the Wraith on our turf showed me anything, it was just how effective Duke could be in a fight," I explained. "Plus, I already made Kaytlyn her Nova, so it only made sense to make a companion for Riggs and you as well. And I wouldn''t want to leave everyone else out, so¡­"


    I gestured to the covered robots before stepping back and putting my hands on top of the bear, looking at Riggs with a smile.


    "First up, Riggs!"


    As the AI stepped forward, I pulled off the cover to reveal the massive, armored, <u>robotic bear</u></a>. Everyone gasped while Riggs paused for a moment, as if deciding if the bear would attack or not. When he was sure he wasn''t about to get chewed on, he crossed the remaining distance and gently put his hand on its head. The bear reacted by lowering its head slightly, letting the large AI more easily rub its armor.


    "Holy hell, Genio! That thing is huge!" Jackie said, his eyes wide. "Will it even fit inside a building?"


    "Most of them," I said, pausing for a moment before adding. "Probably."


    "Does it have a name?" Riggs asked, still looking at the bear, walking around to see it from every angle, his hand rubbing its back.


    "Not yet," I responded. "That would be up to you."


    "Arthur," He responded instantly. "Arthur the bear."


    "More like Author the four-legged tank," Jackie whispered, only for Kaytlyn to swing her arm back and slap him across the chest. "Ow! Okay, sorry."


    After I explained some of his abilities and limits, as well as promising that we would talk about what he could store in his chest, I turned to Jackie next.


    In all honesty, I was a bit nervous about introducing my friend to his companion. I was worried he would expect something like a tiger or a lion, only to be disappointed by a horned ram. To my surprise, my worries were completely unnecessary. When I pulled off the sheet covering his ram, he let out a whoop of excitement.


    "No mames! He looks like he could do some damage!" Jackie said, grabbing onto the ram''s horns and giving it a firm tug. "Holy hell, he is built like a tank too! You tested him out yet?"


    "No, but going by how much I reinforced his skull, there isn''t much he shouldn''t be able to punch through," I assure him. "We can test it out on some of the ruined buildings in the bigger part of town. I want to demolish most of them and save the good ones."


    "Sounds like fun," He said before resting his hand on the ram''s head. "I''m gonna do some thinking about your name, so bear with me for a bit."


    After Jackie, I showed Murtaugh, Noah, and Frank their companions as well, and both of them greatly appreciated the extremely useful gifts. Frank was already considering how to attach a stretcher to their cow, which they named Betsy. Murtaugh was equally happy when I introduced him to his companions, all twelve of them. Unfortunately, they needed to remain depowered, as I needed to install the internal components into him before he could interact with and control them properly.


    The last to receive their companion was Samwise, who happily let his <u>raven</u></a> hop up on his shoulder. The bird chuffed and pecked gently at his neck before straightening and looking around.


    "Thank you, Jackson,'' Samwise said with a smile. "I believe I will call him Lucky."


    "Sure, it works for him," I said with a smile before my expression turned more serious, and I looked around at everyone. "Just don''t forget guys. These are robots. They are meant to work with you and support you, and if necessary, get destroyed to protect you. I know how it works, I already feel attached to Duke, but you need to keep in mind they are not alive, and they may sacrifice themselves to save you. I can, of course, rebuild them, so if you''re going to get attached, try to think of them as progressive, conceptual things rather than this frame in particular. Grow attached to their idea rather than this exact version."


    Everyone nodded in understanding, and we spent some time going over their capabilities and letting everyone experiment with their new companions. Samwise and I also pulled Murtaugh to the side to install his new hardware, and the AI happily experimented with his companions after that. When it started to get dark, everyone split off to either head to bed or do their own thing. I headed back to my trailer, with Duke following behind me, sniffing around and keeping a watchful eye out.


    When I woke up the next morning, Samwise was waiting for me with a report, explaining that they now had thirty-five shades manning the walls, as well as letting me know that they would have it fully staffed by around midnight, probably slightly after. He also reported our next run of MRVNs was complete, and he had put them and all of the currently unused units to work gathering scrap and hauling car wrecks closer to the scrapping yard. I thanked him for the report and his hard work before leaving to find Noah, who was overseeing all of the "extra" MRVN units. He was also using his companion horse to work on some of the designs for our future buildings.


    "So, we need to start working on getting this space ready for whoever is moving in," I explained after greeting the stoic AI. "I quoted Saul two weeks, so we should try to vaguely stick to that. Someone is going to be moving in as our cover, even if Nomads don''t."


    "Very well, I assume you want to tear down the trailers and other structures?" He asked, turning away from his horse computer.


    "Yes and no. We need space for the Nomads, but we also need space for the fake borgs, and the sooner we can move them in, the better," I responded. "I want you to inspect the trailers. If any of them are intact and stable, even if they will only last a few months of use, I want you to drag them to one side of the town. Face them together with a little space in between so it doesn''t look like a prison camp, but the idea is to create a living section for the fake borgs when we start making them. Over time, we can make our own buildings, but these trailers will have to do for now."


    "How will we move them?"


    "You have free rein over the extra vehicles, and feel free to commandeer a couple of molly makers to build a temporary trailer moving kit or something," I answered. "Tear down the trailers that are junk, pile everything in the scrap yard forming by the scrap area."


    "What about the structures that aren''t trailers?" Noah asked, gesturing to a nearby kiosk of vending machines.


    "Use your own judgment," I said with a shrug. "A shed or two might come in hand, but once you''re done moving everything, your next project will be building defenses for this area of town, but that''s a few days away at least."


    "Most likely, moving the structures without damaging them will take time," Noah agreed with a nod. "Very well. I will start by designing a frame to move the trailers, starting by taking some measurements."


    We talked a bit more before Noah went off to get started, and I left to head back to the garage. Kaytlyn and a pair of Samwise''s AI MRVNs had finished deconstructing all of the car models we were looking to replicate with advanced tech, meaning it was time to sit down and design the new versions. I wasn''t sure when we would get a chance to produce them, as I had no idea how busy I would keep the production room when my new tech tree came in, but we would get them designed now so they would be ready to go when we had time.


    The start of the design process was pretty simple for all the vehicles since all it was was the same frames, this time with a super strong, lightweight alloy from Titanfall. Once that was done we added some more frame reinforcement, as well as adding mounts for future armor plating. From there, we descended into the nitty gritty details of what we wanted these vehicles to be capable of. We quickly decided that they would be electric since I had two different electric Titanfall motors. I understood the general principle of these motors, though I hadn''t built them out during the tech tree. We could still make them, though, I just wouldn''t be a complete expert.


    The electric motors would be able to output all the power and torque that we needed, even for the trucks. They were also smaller and could run damn near forever on an Elerium generator.


    A lot of the basic parts, like the drivetrain, transmission, axles, and suspension, got simple upgrades in materials so that they would last longer and work smoother. A significant portion of their internal electronics were upgraded as well by simple upscaling. We fully armored the interior, including an interior lining of advanced Kelvar to catch any shrapnel that managed to make it through the armor. The reinforced materials continued on the outside shell as well, where Kaytlyn and I decided to go for more coverage than the original cars, including wheel wells. The wheels themselves were filled with a lightweight filler, making them completely bulletproof since they didn''t deflate.


    Even with all of our upgrades, added armor, and reinforcement, we still had a significant amount of room in each of our cars. I expanded the storage in my Quadra Type-66, before finally deciding to add internal weapons. I "cut off" the two exposed machine guns and instead got three mag cannons, pared down and modified to be fed from a much larger, reinforced magazine. I then stuffed two of them under the hood and the third in the back. I now had seventy-five rounds of "fuck you" ready to take out any trying to stop me or chase me.


    While my personal ride would be a Quadra Type-66, modified to be a cross of the <u>Avenger</u></a> and <u>Javelina</u></a> exterior, the company vehicles would be a pair of <u>Mizutani Shions</u></a> and a pair of <u>Thorton Colbys</u></a>. All four of them would be reinforced with extra exterior plating to cover the wheels, even though they weren''t going to pop from simple bullets. On top of the other modifications making them faster and more agile, both of the Thortons would have <u>anti-personnel turrets</u></a> collapse in the back, ready to deploy for some heavy firepower. Unfortunately, with the Colby acting as a heavy lifter and the Shions acting as small, speedy, more maneuverable vehicles, they didn''t have as much room under the hood as my jack-of-all-trades Quadra. I still had room to mount smaller weapons under hoods, but nothing like mag cannons.


    We also included a clamping system on the back of the Shion so a large crate could be affixed to the back under the spoiler. This would allow the smaller car to carry some cargo, whether it was a delivery or some of our groceries.


    In the end, while the designs were completely functional, I decided not to call them complete just yet. Part of me hoped I would gain access to some interesting things with my next tech tree, but I also wanted to give Samwise a chance to look at the designs and for me to just consider them for a while. It wasn''t like they would be getting built in the next few days anyway, and on top of that, the temporary cars we had were more than enough for most work.


    Kaytlyn and I spent most of the day designing the vehicles, only stopping as the sun was slowly setting and the Badlands started to go dark. It was the end of my second to last day with no tech tree, and it was time for us to make the first payment on our vengeance plan for the Wraiths. Kaytlyn already had a spot for us to clear, and we had already decided on my first idea as the heavy impact psychological attack.


    All that was left was for us to wait for it to be suitably late for our attack. In the meantime, we all went through our gear, cleaning, prepping, and generally getting in the zone for the night''s mission.

 Chapter Forty Two

    It was about two AM when we finally left Rocky Ridge, heading to our first Wraith target. Our defensive perimeter was fully staffed with fifty-six fully armed shades manning the hard points and walking around behind the Hesco barriers. I was confident that even as I took all of our team out into the field, our home was now finally adequately defended. Looking back as we drove away, the town now cut an impressive visage, looking like a heavily defended military base than a simple town.


    During our planning sessions, after some discussion, we decided our first target would be the <u>Wraith camp</u></a> built in the broken and abandoned <u>Corp-Bud</u></a> cement factory. The Wraiths had set up shop there a few years ago and had been running some of their business through it, including using it as a staging point for their work in Night City. It was not their primary stronghold, but it was their most well-known. I vaguely remembered it from the game, though I don''t think I quite ever made it to that mission, so I must have watched a video about it or something. Still, it was a well-known location, so Dakota was able to provide us with images, which made planning for the raid easy.


    Our first task was finding the perfect position for Kaytlyn, so she could do the most damage with her sniper rifle. In all likelihood, Riggs, Jackie, and I could have bulldozed through the base ourselves, but not taking advantage of apparent opportunities when you had them was an excellent way to get yourself killed. This opportunity existed because the abandoned factory was set down in a terminating gulch, with rocky cliffs all around it, which was basically a sniper''s dream. Kaytlyn had laughed when she saw the pictures, promising it would be like shooting fish in a barrel.


    Our second task was getting the rest of the team around the back of the factory. While Kaytlyn would be in front, we would attack from the back, pinching them between a high-powered sniper hard place and three heavily armed rocks.


    As we approached our destination, we stopped far from it. Jackie and I hopped out of one car while Riggs and Kaytlyn stepped out of another. A third car, the Emperor, was filled with five MRVNs. Once we cleared the place, they would help us grab anything worthwhile, as well as enacting our psychological attack and driving any extra vehicles home.


    Slowly but surely, we silently walked closer to the factory, stopping at the final turn before it became visible. Kaytlyn gave us a mocking salute and a nod to Riggs before activating the cloaking tech I had gifted her, her backpack turning on as she vanished from view. Out of all of us, she was the most vulnerable since she would have to wait in position for us. Letting her use the cloaking tech, especially since no one would get close enough for her to really identify it, was the best way to keep her safe. We could see her footprints in the sand as she walked away, her cat Nova following behind.


    We counted down for a few minutes before using our jump jets to quickly jump on top of the nearest cliff. From there, we stayed low, making our way around the gulch until we arrived at the back. Technically, it wasn''t exactly the back, but it was enough to keep the Wraiths between Kaytlyn and us. Once we were in position, we settled in to wait for Kayts signal, keeping low on the rocky high point overlooking the factory. From there, we could see the <u>entire back half of the facility</u></a>, including the processing plants behind and next to the warehouse. Honestly, to me, the plant looked more like a quarry than a factory, but what did I know?


    Finally, after waiting for several minutes, over the factory itself, we see a blinking light before four drones fly up into the air, easily getting lost in the darkness. They were the drones that fit into <u>Nova</u></a>, and once they were in good positions, they would feed tactical information back to the cat, who would interpret it into a 3D layout for Kaytlyn.


    The three of us stood, all of us leaning forward, preparing for the final all-set signal. When we received it, in the form of a simple radio click, we were off like greyhounds after a rabbit. Together, all three of us dropped down to the platform below us, running full tilt towards the main warehouse. Most of the facility was surrounded by a barbed wire-topped fence that sat on top of a concrete wall. Thankfully, with our own jumping abilities and the jump kits, each of us could easily clear it, especially when we ran, one after the other, up a large pile of gravel, vaulting up off of it like a ramp. Our jump kits kicked in, and one after another, we dove through a decent-sized window on the side of the factory.


    The sound of smashing glass echoed through the area as Riggs entered the window first, but that was quickly drowned out as Kaytlyn opened fire, no doubt taking out her first target in the <u>front area.</u></a>


    As we passed through the window, we landed on a walkway on the far side of the building. Each of us quickly rolled to the side to make room for the person after us, save for Jackie, the last one in. By the time he recovered enough to pull out his pistols and sight in his first target, Riggs and I were already laying down fire across the broken down, overgrown interior.


    Rigg started by slamming a kick into an unsuspecting Wraith barely a few seconds after he dove in. I had only just arrived in time to see the man slam into a crate behind him hard enough to visibly break his spine. He didn''t suffer for long, though, as Riggs immediately double-tapped him as he drew his first pistol. After watching Riggs, I turned around, hosing down a Wraith coming at me with one of those weird <u>throwable axes</u></a>. Before he even dropped, another Wraith turned and opened fire with a small submachine gun. I tanked three rounds before I could drown him out with my much higher rate of fire and larger caliber weapon.


    Once we were all inside, we quickly moved forward. Riggs leaped over the side of the walkway, dropping down with a burst from his jump kit, landing easily on the ground. There was a fair bit of mess and <u>overgrowth on the ground floor</u></a>, but Riggs landed safely beside a train car full of trash and vines.


    While Riggs jumped, I walked left, and Jackie walked right, both of us moving down the catwalks on either side. I saw a pair of Wraiths pop out of the door on Jackie''s side, only for him to blur and continue on, leaving his ax buried in one of their skulls and the other with a crumpled face. As I scanned back, I raised my weapon and fired down the catwalk, taking down a man armed with a pistol as he stepped out of a control room at the far end of the warehouse.


    Before the first man could even hit the ground, a second man stepped out, this one significantly more chromed up than the first, armed with a machete. I fired the rest of my magazine, my gun clicking empty as the wounded man continued to charge me. I dropped my submachine gun and pulled out my pistol, firing as quickly as I could line up my shots. The first one hit his shoulder, and then the second skipped off his cyberware arm. The third and fourth hit his chest, but he must have had subdermals because they barely even slowed him down. He swung his machete at my hand, probably looking to take it off, only for my layers of armor to block it easily. It was hard enough to knock my pistol from my hands, however, and open me up to a follow-up punch to my face.


    Again, my armor stopped there from being any damage, the man''s chrome knuckles sparking off my helmet. I stepped back from the blow, lessening it somewhat, before reaching behind my back. I quickly pulled out my unlit fusion <u>daggers</u></a>, getting them ready with a flick of my wrists. Before the Wraith could prepare, I lunged forward to slam them both through the man''s reinforced stomach and chest. He stumbled back, reaching for both weapons.


    Before he could manage to grab them, most of his torso exploded into chunks, spraying along the wall.


    I looked down and spotted an inch or so-wide hole in the catwalk''s guardrail systems. I took a peak over to find Riggs there, holding his mag cannon. He gave me a two-finger salute before turning around and firing his large weapon again, this time eviscerating a woman with a pair of <u>mantis blades</u></a>.


    "I had him!" I shouted, picking up my submachine gun and sliding my pistol back into my holster. "Better not have broken my daggers¡­"


    Despite wanting to see if my fusion daggers were intact, we were still in a combat area, so I ignored them for now and charged down the rest of the catwalk, kicking the door open and starting to step inside. I just happened to catch a shadow from the corner of my eye, and my body reacted without thinking, throwing myself backward as a Wraith tried to cut my head off with a <u>Cut-o-Matic</u></a>. The swing missed me completely, but due to my undersuit and enhanced strength, my back slammed into the wall behind me hard enough to dent it. I cursed loudly but raised my weapon and fired into the wall beside the door.


    The control room was clearly designed as a place for higher-ups to hide away from the dangerous dust and equipment, somewhere they could watch their subordinates toil away in the Badlands heat in pleasant, climate-controlled conditions. It was not designed to protect them from anything more than some dust. What that meant for the Wraith who had swung at me was that they were hiding behind the equivalent of tinfoil and cardboard, meaning the entire clip I dumped into the wall they were hiding behind made it through the wall and into them. They collapsed in a bloody mess on the other side of the wall, chewed to pieces by my bullet.


    After a moment to reload my weapons, I stepped in again, this time checking both sides before finally clearing the room completely. Even as I did, Jackie stepped in the opposite side, weapon at the ready.


    "All clear?" He asked, looking around for himself even as he did.


    "Unless they somehow fit in that locked, yeah, all set."


    He nodded, and we both made our way out of the control room, passing through the door he had entered through. As we left, he put two rounds into the locker, just in case.


    Once the control room was clear, we rushed to check the rest of the building, specifically heading through the set of doors that two Wraiths had come through, which Jackie had killed with a burst from his sandy.


    While Riggs was securing the first floor, Jackie and I pushed down a hallway, a bridge over the grounds. As we did, I peeked out the window, smirking slightly when I spotted several bodies that Kaytlyn had already taken down. She had been firing the entire time we had been clearing out the warehouse, and now she was silent, probably scanning for more targets.


    There was a door into an empty room along the hallway, but past that, it terminated into a small, single-car garage. A Wraith-colored Coyote was sitting on a car lift with most of its wheels removed. As we made our way down, a mechanic covered in grease and wearing a crappy pair of overalls stepped out from under the car, brandishing a pistol. Both Jackie and I shot him before he could even finish drawing a bead on either of us.


    We cleared the rest of the room before I finally took out my radio.


    "Kaytlyn, Riggs, we cleared the garage, and more we missed?" I asked, releasing the radio to wait for a response.


    "My drones are picking up a pair of-"


    The sound of Riggs'' mag cannon echoed through the gulch twice, cutting Kaytlyn off. After a moment, Kaytlyn spoke up again.


    "Scratch that. My drones are now reading an all clear."


    "Great. Signal the MRVNs to come in. Everyone, keep your eyes open for anything valuable."


    Over the next twenty minutes, Kaytlyn, Jackie, Riggs, and I looked over for anything worth taking back home. In all honesty, that category boiled down pretty quickly to grabbing anything made of valuable materials or rolls of eddies hanging around. We also drove all the vehicles, with some help from my keyphone hacking program, out past the walls.


    Meanwhile, the MRVNs dragged the Wraith corpses to the very <u>front of the warehouse</u></a>, only a dozen or so feet from the main entrance. There, they scanned the body and tore out the cybernetics with their bare, metallic hands before stuffing the remains in sealed bags. When the bloody corpses were properly wrapped up, the robots basically throwing them into the Emperor.


    If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Between Kaytlyn and the interior team, we killed twenty-five Wraiths in total, each of them having several different implants and cyberware. By the time the MRVNs filled the Emperor and we started stuffing the corpses into the extra cars, we had a good knee-high pile of limbs and internals. By the time the MRVNs were done, it was up to Kaytlyn''s thigh, a bloody pile of motors, wires, and the clumps of human flesh that clung to them.


    The very last thing that we did, before piling into our cars and leaving the factory behind, was use an artificial liver to paint "The Ridge Stands" over the large blocky "WRAITHS" That was painted over the warehouse''s main entrance.


    "Should we be drawing attention to ourselves like that?" Jackie asked as we watched a MRVN, standing on a crouched MRVNs back, paint out the words. "Can we take the heat?"


    "Well, I''m much more confident in our defenses than I was before," I responded, my arms crossed. "With as much firepower as we have laid out around the perimeter¡­ I don''t want to jinx us, so let''s just say the Local Wraiths only have so many resources to play around with. You''ll probably sleep through the next time someone attacks."


    "Probably," Jackie admitted with a shrug, continuing when I gave him a look. "What? I really am a heavy sleeper, Genio."


    When the MRVNs finished up, we left the factory behind, heading directly home. While most of us just wanted to sleep, I stayed up a bit longer to make sure the MRVNs could handle getting rid of the bodies. Samwise had whipped up an Elerium-powered plasma furnace, so all they had to do was dump a few bodies in, flip on a switch, and wait a few seconds. Then it was just rinse, literally, as the ashes needed to be cleaned out, and repeat.


    Duke, who I had left behind because we weren''t sure if our companions would be of any use in such a quick mission, met me as I made my way back to my trailer. He followed behind me diligently, even as I took off my armor and laid back in bed. It didn''t take long for me to fall asleep, finally feeling a bit more relaxed about the attack, feeling a bit safer and more in control. I should maybe feel a bit bad that killing nearly thirty people was making going to sleep easier for me, but I couldn''t bring myself to care.


    The next morning, I woke up and looked up at my ceiling. Today was finally the day, my new tech tree was finally on its way. I could feel the mental timer clicking down, and I resisted the urge to roll over and go back to sleep until the numbers were even lower. I was excited to get my new tree, but just as the low countdown meant I was closer to getting something new to play with, it also meant I was down to the wire to prepare for it.


    I rolled out of bed and made my way to the workshop, where Samwise was waiting, tablet in hand.


    "This going to be an every morning thing?" I asked, spotting a plate of food cubes, mostly fruit with some chunks of protein, on my table. "I appreciate all the effort, Samwise."


    "You''re welcome. To be honest, Jackson, I most likely should have already been preparing briefings for you in the morning," He admitted. "I am your assistant, after all."


    "Well, it''s a good idea. I''m glad we are doing it now," I said, chewing on a chunk of peach with the texture of a potato. "S,o how was the night?"


    For about half an hour, Samwise updated me on what had happened while I was asleep. The MRVNs had finished disposing of all of the bodies, burying the ashes in a hole dug far outside the town. Production-wise, they finished the shade replacement program. The remaining functioning specters were stored away. They could be scrapped, should the need arise, but until it did, there was no reason to throw away working robots.


    The next run of MRVNs was also done. At the moment, most of them were helping move and tear down the trailers in the soon-to-be guest section of the town. So far, seven trailers had been moved, with five more in good enough condition to be worth moving as well. Eight of the trailers were intact enough that they could be used as storage but weren''t suitable for people to live in for one reason or another. Once he explained that, I radioed Noah that he had the go-ahead to drag the storage-ready trailers to a different side of the area for later potential use.


    Samwise also explained that the scrap yard was in overdrive, preparing resources and scraping material to build a buffer. They even created a surplus of the liquid used in the molly makers so that we could run at a higher speed for some time. Eventually, we would drain the surplus, but it would boost our production speed by something like twenty-five percent until we did.


    The last thing we discussed was that we were due for another meeting with Sable. It wasn''t urgent quite yet, assuming we trusted her with some extra time to herself, but she had mentioned that soon she would eventually want more items to patent and sell, though she had claimed that would take multiple weeks, and it had only been one since she last visited.


    "It would be nice to check in with her, but it''s not important," I eventually concluded. "Maybe another week and we can have her stop by, assuming she doesn''t show up unannounced."


    Samwise nodded in agreement, marking something on his tablet. After that, he went over the process of turning the second floor of the Shack into a biology-focused lab for Frank to work in. Apparently, now that we had slowed down on the frantic build-up of shades and our defenses, actual progress was being made.


    "We have reinforced the already repaired flooring and stripped down the personal booths," Samwise explained. "Two of the spaces were turned into a sealed rooms, one a freezer and the other simply a sterile, sealed storage room. The third one has been cut down to make more room. Of course, most of the lab space will be created as we cover up the balcony that looks down at the first floor. Once that is filled, with accompanying supports on the first, we can begin to fill it with lab equipment. That process is on hold until your next tree is revealed."


    "No, don''t put it on hold. Just schedule it to end before midnight," I said. "I assume this won''t take any rare resources?"


    "Just standard materials. Steel, plastic, aluminum."


    "Then keep building parts and getting it ready, assuming the scrap team can keep up. The sooner the Bio lab is working, the sooner Frank can start doing serious work on the fake borg brains and fixing the textures for the food cubes," I requested. "Actually, it''s doubly important because there might be a biological component to the next tech tree. We missed out on that in the Titanfall tree because I was focused on other stuff, but depending on what we get, it could be a big thing going forward."


    "Very well, I will get someone on it," Samwise said with a nod. "Is there anything else, Jackson?"


    "No, I think I am good for now. Thanks for the report, Sam."


    My AI assistant nodded and put away his tablet before heading off to get the Bio-Lab started. It wasn''t long before he returned with a cadre of MRVNs, the production addition quickly becoming busy as they got to work.


    While they did, I called up Chuck and put in another order for some of the rarer elements we were struggling to get through the scrap yards. He wouldn''t deliver by halfway through the week or longer, but that was the idea. We had plenty of stuff for now, but who knew what we would be running low on by the end of the week.


    I also cut out a good-sized chunk of eddies for Frank. While I had a lot of Titanfall medical tech crammed into his room, most of it was more colony-specific, multipurpose doctor equipment. It was all potent and significantly past what the rest of the world had, but it wasn''t exactly what he needed. Thankfully, he could buy a lot of it through Robin, the second acquisition specialist the Dakota lent us.


    If this tech tree ended up having a large biological aspect to it, I would convert the first floor into a temporary Bio lab until we could finish the second floor.


    By the time we were done with the morning review and I had finished talking to Frank about his new budget, as well as the plans for the Bio-lab, I got to work preparing for my new tech tree. First, I cleaned and reorganized my workshop. I had learned a bit about efficient workspace design since I first set the place up, and some tweaking would hopefully make the construction process more efficient. At this point, with the production addition at my beck and call, focused on what I was working on, I could produce things at an astonishing rate.


    What had once taken three or four hours for the molly makers to print and complete could now be done in a quarter, or even a fifth of the time. I had dozens of small molly makers just waiting to print out individual parts for me to assemble. Unless this next tech tree required a level of precision that the molly makers weren''t capable of, or the scale was too big for my production to get a grip on, I was primed to really get the most out of whatever came next.


    When I was done setting up everything, I made one more trip around the town, inspecting the defenses, taking a look at everything, and talking to everyone. The AIs were preparing as well as they could as well, fully aware that I would likely be working hard for the next few days, getting a grip on the new tech tree. Jackie was spending time in the city, but considering he promised to come by tomorrow morning to check in, he knew something was up as well. Kaytlyn had clearly picked up on the fact that something was going on, connecting it to my previous mention of "Inspiration" pretty easily.


    "So it''s happening soon, then?" She asked, watching as MRVN units scrapped most of car wreck, moving faster than usual. "I didn''t realize it was going to work like this, like everyone is waiting for a countdown."


    "Midnight tonight," I explained. "Unless it''s a complete dud, I''ll likely be pretty busy for at least a week, probably two."


    "Strangest things I''ve seen," She said. "It wasn''t like this last time, was it?"


    "Well, we were still hiding it from you," I pointed out with a wince. "And this one¡­ with the production addition, the finished defenses, and everything else¡­it feels different."


    "A tipping point?"


    "Maybe. It''s certainly going to be interesting," I said, rubbing my hands together.


    We chatted for a bit longer before I headed back to my trailer. It was three o''clock in the afternoon, and even if I wasn''t tired, I wanted to spend the rest of the day sleeping so that I would have as much energy as possible at midnight. Thankfully, the Auto-Pharma had three saved sleep aids that would put me right out, and Frank was nice enough to leave it by my bed.


    I woke up ten minutes before midnight, almost jumping out of bed. I got dressed and walked quickly to the garage, where Samwise, Noah, Frank, and Riggs were already waiting.


    "How''s everyone doing?" I asked, chewing my lip as I paced around the garage, eyes flicking up to the clock Samwise had installed on the wall at some point. "Ready to rock?"


    "I believe we are ready," Samwise responded. "Half of our MRVNs are paused and waiting in the production facility, and all production is stopped. We are ready to receive your designs."


    "Good, good¡­" I said, looking internally, shaking off the encroaching nervousness. "Two minutes left."


    I climbed into my chair, spinning around before leaning back and closing my eyes. Just as it had before, as the countdown shrunk, the connection pulled back, and after a few seconds, the new one connected.


    A rush of information flowed through my mind, flashes of tech almost overwhelming me. I saw robots, clunky and crude-looking, yet somehow effective in ways that were hard to imagine. Scientific developments that had no right to be built from vacuum tubes and tape decks. I saw a world where SCIENCE! had long since triumphed over common sense, creating a world that had lasers, AI, miracle drugs, demented chems, plasma cannons, conscious brains in jars, robots, and fucking teleportation and fusion generators, despite the fact that they didn''t develop transistors or integrated circuits until 2023.


    "Well¡­ I guess that''s about as good as I could hope for," I said. "Kinda poetic justice to get this after the Wraithss attacked us, and then we basically declared war on them."


    "Why is that?" Samwise asked.


    "<u>Because¡­War¡­ War never changes</u></a>."


    For a moment, I sat in my chair, a smirk on my face, just a bit giddy, and I managed to get the quote in at literally the perfect time when Samwise spoke up.


    "I suspect that was some sort of reference, Jackson." Samwise guessed. "Unfortunately, I do not believe any of us are familiar with the media in which you are referencing."


    "Sounds like a bit of a stretch anyway," Riggs added with a shrug. "We aren''t really at war with the Wraiths."


    I glared at both of them, shaking my head.


    "Really? You have to rain on my parade?" I asked, looking at both of them. "You guys are jerks."

 Chapter Forty Three

    I was tempted to try and explain my reference, but it was already too late. Instead, I just shook my head and shoved the slight embarrassment aside. I had more important things to deal with, even if I knew I was going to get back at them somehow, especially Riggs, whose smirk told me he knew exactly what he had done.


    "I am more curious about what sort of options he got, not what references he can make about it," Noah said, standing by the door, clearly waiting for me to explain what I needed.


    "I got the tech from the Fallout universe¡­ all of the human stuff, as far as I can tell," I explained, closing my eyes and looking back at the tech tree. "It''s a video game from my home. I''m actually relatively familiar with it¡­"


    Now that the connection was complete, I could look back at what I had access to much more clearly. I could see the basic tech, the older stuff quite effortlessly, the design for normal cars that ran on fossil fuels, as well as countless other devices I recognized at my fingertips. Other than the fact that there were a lot of weirdly advanced jumps here or there, everything from further back seemed to be perfectly understandable, if stylized a bit strongly. I did notice that the further back I looked at the tree, application of SCIENCE!, the jumps in tech complexity or introduction of new, advanced ideas became less and less frequent, with the jumps becoming non-existent around a hundred years before the bombs fell.


    Then suddenly, at around the year 2000 in the Fallout universe, things began to get crazy. The SCIENCE! jumps began to happen incredibly frequently. Around that time and further, I could see the starting points for dozens, even hundreds of different advancements, but how they worked was hidden from me, too advanced or out of my current knowledge for me to understand.


    "What sort of technology is it?" Samwise asked. "Is it useful?"


    "Considering they have stable fusion generators that fit in the palm of your hand?" I asked. "Yeah, I think it''s going to be useful."


    For the next twenty or so minutes, I gave my AI friends a quick rundown of the setting and what kind of tech we were looking at. Fallout tech, including its biotech, was a study in contradictions. A lot of what that world was capable of was crude, brutal, and often dangerous to the user. And yet they managed to achieve some wildly impressive feats. Stimpaks alone, assuming they worked even remotely like they were described, were roughly equivalent to what MAXdocs were like in the Cyberpunk video game. The fact that they had functional power armor that worked, and worked well, on low-end hydraulics, servos, and pressure sensors was just as astounding.


    Honestly, in a lot of cases, I was more interested in what I could do with the knowledge I gained from making the tech rather than the base items themselves. I could only imagine how the application of Titanfall and XCOM tech would enhance an <u>AER12 laser rifle</u></a>.


    Perhaps the most astounding thing, though, was that I could clearly see that the Institute technology was included in this tree, ready for me to unlock and explore. Science developed by unchecked scientists, with two hundred years to mess around, was at my fingertips. I just had to work my way up various branches of development.


    "Okay¡­ So I need to start somewhere," I said, mostly talking to myself as I examined the wide tree around me, focusing on the highest and most complicated tech I could access on each of the hundreds of branches.


    I scanned each branch, eventually spotting something that made me grin. While it wasn''t the most optimal choice, considering the low-tech nature of its components, it only made sense that the first thing I made from the Fallout franchise was a Pip-Boy. After a quick debate on which one I should make, I settled on the most advanced version I could see, the <u>Pip-Boy 2000 Mark VI</u></a>.


    I quickly set to work, designing the wrist-mounted device on my computer. As I was working through the internal and screen, I got my first look at how Fallout universe tech compared to the video game equivalent.


    First off, I was pleasantly surprised at how accurately the device could read a person''s vitals. The device basically had two modes, invasive and normal. In normal mode, the device could read your pulse and a few other health features. In this mode, it was basically an advanced <u>Fitbit</u></a>. In invasive mode, the Pip-Boy implanted a small sensor into the person''s wrist. This sensor could measure a frankly impressive long list of afflictions and health statuses. It was a startlingly advanced little sensor and was the first point on my theory that most of the clunky, vacuum tube, overly robust style that was so prevalent around the Fallout universe was, at least partially, voluntary. That was the only explanation I could give that a sensor the size of a thumbnail, capable of reading so many different bodily conditions, could exist and work with a device like the Pip-Boy 2000 Mark VI, which used a single color ray tube screen.


    Unfortunately, while the wrist-mounted device''s medical monitoring function was impressive, it definitely did not contain a dimension pocket to store stuff, like it seemed to have in the video game. Its ability to store things was sadly restricted to its function of scanning and recording the contents of your bag in a robust list program. It also could not slow down time while engaging in VATS mode.


    When I finished the design process, I sent the plans to Samwise, who got the production room started on making the parts while I worked on the programming. By the time I was done with that, the majority of the parts were complete, and I could begin assembly. The device was surprisingly easy to put together, and when the final part slid into place, the rush of information I got was interesting, though maybe not the most useful. I knew way more than I needed to know about ray tube screens, but I could also fully understand the sensor the wrist-mounted device could implant. It was an impressive little creation, and while it wasn''t nearly as accurate as I think Rob-Tech might have claimed, it was still an interesting little bit of tech, something I might use in the future. It was certainly more impressive than I had expected.


    With the device complete, I sat it down on my workstation, tucking it into someplace it could stay as a desk decoration. I had achieved something of a childhood dream, even if I didn''t plan on wearing it quite yet.


    "Okay, that was fun, but I need to get serious now," I said, looking over at Samwise. "I need to figure out what I''m making, what I am focusing on, and when I am focusing on it."


    "Any ideas?" he asked, holding up his tablet, waiting for me to respond.


    "We are going to have to put off the chems, medicine, and biological stuff until later. We need a complete and secure lab first, and that won''t be done for a bit," I said, running my fingers through my hair. "That should be the night and off-hours project for now, all the way until it''s complete."


    "I''ll let Noah know," Samwise said, the large-scale engineer having left at some point. "What else?"


    "Well¡­ I think we can scratch off conventional weapons. There is nothing new there worth making," I explained, though secretly, I considered making <u>That Gun</u></a> if I had some free time.


    "What about less conventional weapons?"


    "The fact that I already have high-powered energy weapons means it''s not mission-critical," I reluctantly admitted. "That said, there are a lot of interesting energy weapons I want a crack at, especially the Pulse gun. Unless I''m mistaken, that should be a pretty serious weapon here since it was designed to work in Fallout, and most electronic hardware here isn''t nearly as robust. Also, judging from how little I can see into that branch, even if I have energy weapons, I clearly have more to learn from the Fallout versions."


    "Energy¡­ weapons¡­" Samwise said, adding a bullet point to his list. "What about power armor? You mentioned that."


    "Yes, I definitely want to take a look at the power armor, though not for the tech. Or rather, mostly not for the tech," I explained, leaning back in my chair. "From just how much I could see, the science behind Fallout''s power armor isn''t the brilliant part, it''s implementation is. The armor is basically plates of metal slapped onto hydraulics and servos, and yet they made a surprisingly dexterous power armor that can tank high-powered sniper rounds and punch through concrete while also retaining enough fine motor skills to work things like weapons and vehicle controls. I can''t imagine I''ll care what a T-60 power armor is made of, but I need to know how its frame was designed."


    Samwise nodded and added that to the list before gesturing for me to continue.


    "Power is a big one, too," I said, examining the massive tech tree connected to my mind. "As far as I can tell, the world gave up on fusion reactors years ago, but Fallout has ones that fit in your hand."


    "Are they better than Elerium nodes?" Samwise asked, looking up at me with a curious tone.


    "It''s kind of a switch-off. For small devices, our Elerium nodes are by far superior," I answered, making a so-so gesture with my hands. "But from what I can see, the large-scale fusion reactors are completely superior."


    "Very well. What else?"


    "Vaul-Tec, the bastards, had dozens, maybe hundreds of innovations for long-term underground living, things like water purification and¡­"


    A flash of memory passed through me, and I immediately dove back into my mind, focusing on the very ends of the tech tree branches. I needed to see if it was possible, if the G.E.C.K was something I could build. If it was, it would be the last thing I could make in a long line of inventions. The pinnacle of what I could achieve...


    I searched and searched, eventually starting to look lower down the branches. Eventually, I found it, only to let out a long sigh.


    In Fallout, the G.E.C.K is described as being the vault dweller''s one-stop shop for post-apocalyptic civilization revival. In Fallout 3 specifically, it is shown to be a hilariously overpowered, <u>Clarke Tech-esque</u></a> matter conversion system, capable of taking large tracts of land and forcibly converting it into a verdant paradise. One is basically Vault-Tec propaganda, meant to give vault dwellers hope, the other is something that is mind-bogglingly advanced for a civilization like the pre-war Fallout universe.


    One guess as to which one my tech tree considered canon.


    The G.E.C.K device that I had access to was one part seed vault, with an admittedly interesting stasis system that I might eventually look into, one part advanced data repository. What I could create would obviously be empty, but in its home universe, it was intended to be filled with tech and knowledge to restart civilization. I cursed under my breath and, for far from the first time, wondered if the entities that had put me here were curating my tech trees to keep me from advancing too far too fast.


    Moving past the disappointment of the G.E.C.K, Samwise and I continued to make a list of topics that I should focus on and that I really wanted to get done before my two weeks were up. As we were making the list, my first project became rather clear. In order for me to complete any equipment that requires a microfusion cell, energy cell, fusion core, or any other Fallout-specific power source, I would actually need its required power source since turning on a device is required. That meant designing and building each of those first. Since I wanted to understand as much as possible about fusion anyway, starting power generation and storage seemed like the perfect plan.


    My first start? The humble <u>fission battery</u></a>.


    Or, more accurately, a Fission battery, since the large, heavy batteries were not tiny little nuclear fission reactors. Fission was the brand name for a company that made all sorts of power and energy-related things, including miniature nuclear reactors. The Fission battery, however, was simply an advanced acid battery, which held a shocking amount of electricity for a long time and could recharge using ambient heat.


    Still, despite being a "normal" battery, it was first on my list of energy-related designs. Thankfully, it took minimal effort to design and print the parts since, while it was definitely not a standard battery, the ingredients weren''t precisely overly exotic. Within thirty minutes, I successfully put one together.


    After the Fission battery, I constructed an <u>energy cell</u></a>, which, like my previous product, were acid batteries. Three AAA-sized batteries that worked together to provide a high output of power to small devices that didn''t quite require a microfusion cell. I could see the energy cell being actually useful in the future, as their small size and staying power meant they would be used in small devices. Even better, since they were just batteries, they did not have the same potential for destruction that microfusion cells had.


    From there, I continued to work on energy sources and generators alike, working through half a dozen different designs, most of them going straight to the mass recycler when they were done, as long as it was safe. With each finished design, my understanding of energy production, specifically the style and methods that the Fallout universe liked to use, increased.


    Eventually, as the sunlight just started to appear on the horizon, I made my first leap forward. A portable generator, barely up to my knees and weighing just about the same as Duke, that would generate more power than a dozen fuel-burning generators the same size. The only problem was that it was a <u>nuclear fission generator</u></a>.


    Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    The design was simple, basic, and robust, as I was finding most Fallout tech was. That was good because if you were going to fuck with nuclear energy like this, you better make sure your systems are strong enough for it to not blow up in your face when you kicked it by accident. The generator worked with a simple turbine-style system, meaning the nuclear fusion would generate heat, turning water into steam, which would then spin a turbine and generate energy. The water was then efficiently cooled with a specially designed coolant.


    In all honesty, the coolant itself was interesting enough for me to make the reactor just to get access to it. It was significantly more efficient at absorbing and releasing heat than any liquid I had gotten my hands on in Titanfall and was better than anything Cyberpunk had by miles. In total it took three hours to design and print the generator, as well as mix the coolant.


    It also took that long to put together the single core that was the heart of the generator, including the uranium that was the source of energy. And it wasn''t a small amount, either. Luckily, molly makers were more than capable of working with radioactive materials, meaning we could print the safe and stable core out by itself, without having to worry about exposing myself or anyone else to harmful radiation. Still, we took several extra precautions just to be safe.


    Activating the generator was rather anti-climactic. After spending three hours preparing and making it, we slid the core into place, sealed everything up, double-checked its systems before flicking it on¡­ and immediately turned it off again when the wave of understanding finally hit me. Samwise immediately took the core back for disassembly, and the whole machine was scrapped. I had no need for nuclear energy, not when Elerium generators were more powerful, cleaner and exploded with a lot fewer long-term effects. Still, I had gotten what I wanted from the whole process, a deluge of information concerning generators, access to designs that were both larger and smaller, and most importantly, access to the designs for several fusion generators.


    So again, the process started, designing parts and programming software. The <u>design we settled</u></a> on was a model large enough to power a good-sized, active, multistory building on its own. It didn''t quite match the usual Fallout aesthetic, but from what I could see, this unit was meant to be mounted behind a protective facade, which would have followed the usual aesthetic. Again, the bet that things looked archaic and clunky on purpose was getting more and more likely. I could imagine people in that setting, out of a need to pretend everything was okay or by blind faith that older meant better, refusing to use or trust products that didn''t follow a particular design mentality.


    Because of the larger scale and complexity, building and designing the fusion generator took considerably longer than the fission generator. I also had to do a not insignificant amount of programming, as the generator metrics needed constant monitoring and tiny, nanoscale adjustments to be kept stable. By the time its parts were done and everything was assembled, Jackie had arrived.


    He stopped by to say hello before making his way to see Frank, where he got some of our printed food and began making us a late breakfast or early lunch. Kaytlyn woke up as well, stopping in just as we were about to insert the tritium and deuterium, the two low-density isotopes of hydrogen that served as the "fuel" for the fusion generator.


    "Hey, breakfast is- What is it?" She asked as I inserted the tritium core while Samwise inserted the deuterium.


    "This is a fusion generator," I explained.


    "What? Like a nuclear generator?" She asked, suddenly concerned. "You built a nuclear generator in your garage?"


    "Yes, but that was a while ago," I explained. "Already disassembled that one. This is fusion, not fission."


    She stood there for a moment, stun locked about what was going on, while I tapped a button next to the computer screen, the relatively thin ray tube display pushing out a keyboard from underneath itself. I tapped on it and started a start-up checklist, the generator humming as its internal sensors set up tests and scans to make sure everything was correctly assembled. Just as Kaytlyn was about to ask another question, the scans were complete.


    "Okay, ignoring that you did, in fact, make a nuclear generator¡­ this is Fusion?" She asked. "The thing that companies gave up making a couple of dozen years ago?"


    "Don''t know about them giving up on it," I admitted, reading through the scan results. "But yes, this is a fusion generator."


    "...Oh. Okay."


    I chuckled before tapping the start for a system warm-up sequence, which would activate the generator for only a split second, bleeding off any charge before shutting down. All of the scans were clean, and I was ready to see the fruits of our labor.


    The machine hummed slightly, vibrating just enough to be noticeable until the spinning parts around the core stabilized and balanced out, all vibrations fading to zero. A countdown appeared on the screen, and when it hit zero, a slight thrum engaged as minuscule amounts of deuterium and tritium fused to create hydrogen. The machine continued to run as it bled off energy, dumping it into a deep grounding rod we had set up a while ago. After a few seconds the machine slowly shut down, all of the moving parts slowing to a stop. A final series of scans showed up on the screen, but I didn''t see them. I was leaning against the desk behind me, holding my head as a large information dump dropped into my brain. The power generation branch opened up even more, as I learned several other plans for larger and smaller fusion generators, as well as unlocking the fusion core and microfusion cell to build.


    When I recovered from the most recent download, I stood back up straight and shook my head. It was an interesting sensation every time it happened, but the large downloads lingered for much longer.


    "Uhhh¡­ what the fuck was that?" Kaytlyn asked, looking me over. "You okay? Should I call Frank?"


    "I''m fine," I assured her, stepping forward to shut down the reactor completely. "That was just¡­ the inspiration settling in."


    I answered vaguely, watching as the reactor console shut down, the faint humming fading out. Samwise, who had been monitoring the run with external sensors, stepped forward.


    "Sam, I''m gonna take a break to eat with Kayt and Jackie," I explained. "You think we should try and keep this or scrap it? It generates a decent amount of power, and we can buy the fuel for next to nothing. Hell, we could make the tritium and get the deuterium from the ocean if we needed to."


    "I propose we keep it," Sam responded. "I will design a small building for it and connect it to the power network. It will make a good emergency generator if needed."


    "Good enough for me, I''ll be making some smaller things after this, so take your time moving it."


    Samwise nodded, and Kaytlyn and I both left for the Shack. We stepped inside, and I got my first recent look at the changes. The bar was now a small, covert cooking area for Jackie and his experiments, and the second-floor opening was in the process of being sealed off. The place was well cleaned up, however, since it was still our primary meeting space.


    "Alright, Jackie, what have you got for us today?" I asked, peering over the counter to try and catch a look at what he was making.


    "Oi, you''ll see when I serve it," He said, throwing a spoon at me, which I thankfully caught. "Fucking Kayt tried to do the same thing."


    "Whatever it is, it smells good."


    It took a few minutes for Jackie to bring the food to the table, presenting us with large breakfast burritos, made up almost entirely from our printed food. He also put out an orange and pineapple slushie, thankfully with no alcohol. While I tried the smoothie-like drink, Kaytlyn took a big bite of the burrito, and both of us groaned in appreciation.


    "That''s fucking nova, Jackie," Kaytlyn said, her mouth still filled partially with food. "The strange textures are completely lost since everything is cut up and mixed, but it''s all good."


    "Fruit smoothie is good, too," I added. "The blending, freezing, and then blending again makes it hard to tell you''re not just eating normal fruit."


    Jackie accepted the compliments graciously before chowing down on his own serving. We ate silently for a few minutes, save for a few happy noises, before Jackie spoke up between bites.


    "How did your tinkering go?" He asked, raising an eyebrow before sipping his drink. "Got some good inspiration?"


    "Certainly looked like it," Kaytlyn cut in before I could answer. "He made a nuclear reactor before the sun came up, then took it apart and made a fusion reactor."


    "Nuclear?" Jackie asked. "He fit one into the garage?"


    "Pffft, I fit one into a wheelbarrow," I said, shaking my head. "It was literally small enough for me to drag around. Before I got any bioware."


    "And the¡­ Fusion generator?"


    "Much bigger," I explained. "Wanted to reach as deeply as possible into my inspiration to unlock as much as possible. Gonna set it up as a backup generator, just in case. It''s powerful enough to run the entire town by itself."


    "Damn¡­ nice," Jackie said, bobbing his head a bit. "What''s next?"


    "I wanna finish off some power-related stuff," I explained. "There are a lot of bits and pieces that will require specific types of energy sources, so I want a firm grasp on those. The fusion reactor was a great big step into the middle of that, but there are at least two more things I want to make before I can move on, probably more. Once that''s done¡­ I can figure out what''s next."


    "Are you going to be coming with us when we go after the next Wraith base?" Kaytlyn asked. "I''m looking into the next one now."


    "Yes, of course," I responded with a frown. "No way in hell I''m not going. I might leave quickly instead of hanging around once it''s done, but I''m not letting you guys fight without me there to help. Just give me as much time as possible to plan ahead."


    "Sure, it won''t be for at least two days. Dakota is looking for some photos," Kaytlyn assured me. "I might take some on my own."


    We finished eating shortly after that, and I, unsurprisingly, headed back to the workshop. Jackie made his way back to the city to help his mom around the bar. As I got back, Samwise was working with his MRVN units, the older models with actual AI systems developing, to prepare the fusion generator so they could move it.


    As I sat down, I got started on my next chunk of designs, starting with the <u>microfusion cells</u></a> and then moving on to the <u>fusion cores</u></a>. Both of them functioned on the same general science as the larger fusion generator but at a much smaller, disposable level. I quickly got everything designed and sent out for both of them, one after the other, so I could start to build the micro fusion cell while the fusion core was still being printed out.


    The cell and cores were essentially just the same thing, reinforced and stabilized fusion generators with a set amount of fuel in each one, just at different scales. While that may sound like enforced disposability, it actually made a good amount of sense. While standard fusion reactions were cleaner than fission, they were still dangerous. If there was an easy way to refill the cells and cores, it would most likely cause a whole lot of issues, especially because both the cells and cores had no room for extra safety features or control mechanisms. So, rather than tempt danger or mistakes, they sealed it off completely and made them disposable.


    Still, I wouldn''t be using them very often in the grand scheme of things, at least not past completing the things I was building. While they did put out a remarkable amount of energy, their short lifespan was too annoying when I had Elerium. Eventually, when I start distributing large chunks of my tech, I might sell them, but that was a big if.


    My last project in the power branch was unlocked when I finished the fusion core. It was a compact device that was like the cells and cores, though this one was not usually meant to be removed. It was the same power generation tech used in the recharger rifles, an "infinite" source of fusion energy.


    In reality, it was just fusion with a slightly less energetic reaction between Boron 11 and Protium. It was considered "infinite" because the Boron was kept in a solid form inside the stand-alone generator and was slowly turned into a gas, a process that produced massive amounts of gas for very little solid matter. The boron gas then reacted with Protium, which was the most common form of hydrogen on the planet, accounting for 99.9% of what was in the atmosphere. They would take in gas from the atmosphere, separate it, then turn a minuscule amount of boron 11 from a solid into a gas, and start the reaction. That energy would then be stored in capacitors to charge whatever the stand-alone unit was inside of.


    The only downside was that the Boron 11 and protium fusion was noticeably less energetic than the standard tritium and deuterium, which made it useless for items with a high draw.


    When the charging unit, commonly known as a Microfusion breeder, was complete, I set it aside on my desk, letting the knowledge flow and settle in my mind. I now had an incredible understanding of the Fallout-style fusion, including several large-scale and small-scale designs built for cars, buildings and more. I was more than past the point where I could easily design my own from the ground up, the knowledge stored in my brain in crystal clear detail.


    "Alright. Step one, power, complete," I said, cracking my fingers and neck. "Time to start diving even deeper."

 Chapter Forty Four

    By the time I had finished exploring Fallout''s power systems to my satisfaction, it was only about two in the afternoon. I found myself in awe of what we had accomplished in twelve hours. The difference that the additional production speed had made when I was pushing for speed was incredible.


    With a solid foundation and the remainder of the day clear, I had a lot of time to work on whatever I decided was next. Which, of course, was my first challenge. Samwise and I had put together a solid list of options, and as much as I wanted to make some power armor and go stomping around, I knew I had more important things to focus on.


    Chemistry and biological technology were two huge subjects I desperately wanted to get involved with. They were composed of several massive branches that were just teasing me with untold advancements. Unfortunately, while a lot of the chems and medicine from Fallout were deceptively simple, it was still better to wait until the bio lab was finished.


    Any attempt to push into the medical or chemical branches would be slowed by needing to make every device necessary. So, rather than struggle with that, I would likely spend a good chunk of the second week on it once Frank finished setting everything up.


    So, for now, I decided to focus on something at least slightly more familiar and achievable.


    Vault tec.


    More specifically, the tech required to turn a giant, maze-like metal tomb into something that could survive being nuked and that someone could live in for over 200 years. It was a decently large portion of the tree, split off into several other branches, some of them pretty significant in their own right.


    Vault-Tec and its partner companies had created a significant amount of tech that was explicitly about maintaining, running, and feeding a vault. On top of that, just as important as the individual pieces of tech was the information I would be getting from completing them. Information about how to protect and prevent damage from radiation, wear and tear, earthquakes, water damage, contamination, corrosion, and many more destructive influences, both man-made and not. If I could learn the majority of things on that chunk of the tree, I would know everything there was to know about making my own secure bunker.


    Which was good because I had every intention of making one.


    The longer I considered the idea, the more I realized that it could solve a significant portion of my problems. Especially if I could pair it with teleportation tech from Big Mountain or the Institute later. Even if I couldn''t, having a safe, secure place where not even the major corporations could blow me up? The only issue with the safety of a vault was that it was stationary, but even that could be offset by keeping it hidden.


    A properly hidden vault, buried deep inside the earth, was exactly the kind of place I wanted to have to retreat to. I just needed to pick where to put it, someplace safe from prying eyes.


    I put Samwise up to that when he had time, as sifting through information was something AIs excelled at. Meanwhile, I would start working my way through Vault-Tec''s secrets, starting with air filtration and working my way deeper.


    Quite a bit of the vault-specific tech was already partially visible to me. As far as I understood, this meant that the tech functioned in ways that I at least partially understood, but there was still a lot for me to learn from it. This was different from tech that I could see and understand completely, which I would only copy down if I wanted to remember the exact design. Most of these bits were lower down the tech tree, like the vehicles that ran on gasoline. This was also separate from the completely dark sections of the tree, which I would need to build up to reveal. Most of the time, I only had the vaguest sense of what the dark sections contained.


    After one last scan through my chosen selection, I started designing the air filtration system. Immediately, I could tell that this system worked in tandem with a separate system, one that recycled air that had already been breathed and filled with carbon dioxide. This was nothing too miraculous, as I knew that space missions in my time had ways of recycling air, often cycling carbon dioxide through several forms to remove the carbon and attach a single hydrogen atom, thereby creating water. The difference was that the systems that Vault-tec had designed were nearly ninety percent effective.


    The air filtration system I picked to start off with was more about removing internal contaminates and was way beyond anything Cyberpunk was capable of, a shocking level of filtration that had to actually be purposely dialed back, or the occupant''s immune system could be stunted over several generations. Frankly, it was overkill, considering the lowered levels of air filtration approached 99.9 percent effectiveness. Then again, I wasn''t going to complain about a filtration system that could be cranked up to ludicrous levels in an emergency and had filters that worked for nearly a hundred years without needing to be replaced.


    Once I completed the filtration system, which was really just like systems I was familiar with, but with new advanced materials from Fallout, I started working on the air recycling system. It was a multi-staged chemical process that heated, cooled, combined, and worked with all the chemicals that a system could have on hand without getting more from the surface. There were even backup systems that used large furnaces to cook the nitrogen out of stone, to be mixed with oxygen separated from water. It was nearly a completely closed system designed to work when going to the surface was absolutely not possible.


    I continued to work until the sun began to set, completing the filtration system and the recycling system, both of which were smaller models than would usually go in the heart of a vault, but since I already understood a good chunk of how they worked, completing them filled in the blanks for the larger models. Rather than rush directly into a new project, I decided to call it early in hopes that I would be up and ready to continue the next morning.


    Before heading to bed, I talked with Samwise about working in the bio lab while I was working during the day. I was really itching to get into the chemistry and medical sciences that the Fallout tree had to offer, and I wanted that to be an option. According to Frank, we would likely be getting a few deliveries of equipment two or three days from then, and I wanted the lab set up to accept them. Samwise agreed, and after some discussion, we decided to set up about thirty percent of our production during the day to complete the lab. With any luck, once I was done with the vault tech branches, I could move on to some miraculous breakthroughs in medicine.


    As I left the garage, I made a detour north, heading to the town center''s defenses. The shades saluted as I made my way to the corner, climbing up to the top of the larger defensive point so I could look out over the rest of the town. Noah had already made a significant dent in reorganizing the area. The trailers that were usable as homes had already been set up along the back end of the town, each pair getting a forty by forty square foot yard between them. By Night City standards it was downright luxurious, but it looked small to me. I had a lot of room, most of which I planned on encapsulating in the defensive walls, but Noah had warned me that even "a lot of room" disappeared pretty quick when I started restricting myself.


    The trailers labeled as being good enough for storage were still being moved, pulled into the town center, and lined the long way with only a foot or so between each one, all along some space cleared by the west defensive wall. Their side doors and windows were sealed, and new doorways along the short side facing inward were installed, all with new doors and ramps leading inside. They would probably last another five or six years as storage, if we even kept them for that long.


    The rest of the secondary part of town was still being cleared, with trash, car wrecks, broken vending machines, and worthless trailers all being dragged to be torn apart for easier recycling. The project was progressing nicely and ahead of schedule if I remembered the timeline that Noah had given me correctly. I watched the MRVNs work for a few minutes, only leaving when I saw the scrap trucks leave for their nightly trip. Duke followed me silently, his feet barely leaving a trail beside me as we climbed into my trailer.


    I took a long, warm shower before crawling into bed, falling asleep almost immediately despite the excitement and eagerness I felt to build and expand my knowledge. I had been up for a while at this point, and while I couldn''t wait to continue building, exhaustion took me down pretty quickly.


    It felt like I was woken up almost immediately, though I could tell by the light coming in through the window that that wasn''t the case. I didn''t have time to contemplate the feeling, however, as the radio was blaring, calling for me. I quickly slid out of my bed and picked it up, clicking it on.


    "I''m here, Murtaugh, what''s up?"


    "We have a large group of people coming in from Night City," He reported. "They aren''t flying a flag, but judging by the colors of the vehicles, I think they are Tiger Claws."


    "Fuck¡­ Do they look like they are riding for war or¡­?"


    "Given how heavily armed they are, yes."


    "Dammit. When they get close enough, give them a warning shot or three," I ordered. "If they ignore it¡­ well, you know what to do. I''ll be with you shortly."


    "You got it. ETA two minutes."


    "Roger that."


    I quickly put on my reinforced underlayer, but only bothered pulling on my chest armor after that. I learned my lesson trying to put on everything during the Wraith attack. I grabbed my helmet on the way out the door, whistling for Duke to follow me. I ran towards the security building, jumping up and over Kaytlyn''s trailer before boosting down the road. I skidded to a stop as I reached the main asphalt road that ran through town, standing next to the Shack parking lot. I could see the shade patrol teams getting into position and Riggs standing beside his bear while pulling on the last of his armor. The large robotic bear had deployed his cover, keeping an eye out as his owner prepared for battle.


    "You good?" I asked as I quickly crossed the road, Riggs pulling on his helmet. ''Where is Kaytlyn?"


    "I''m set," He responded simply, grabbing his mag cannon from his back and shouldering it before nodding upward. "She is in her nest."


    I nodded and stepped past him, entering into Murtaugh''s domain.


    The interior of the security building had changed a lot since it was just a liquor store. Several armored cabinets filled with guns lay along the back wall, which itself had been reinforced with thick metal plates from various scrapped sources. Dozens of screens displayed real-time feeds from drones and continuous scans from the sensor net that ran the immediate area around town. There was also raw data from turrets and from the shades, all of which Murtaugh was reading at once, his attention spread through everything, both through his eyes and through a data link that plugged into his chest.


    "Firing warning shots," Our home defender stated before tapping some controls and zooming in with a drone.


    Four cars, flashy and brightly colored, as well as three motorcycles, were screaming down the road towards us. With a final button press, two anti-personal turrets opened fire on the forwardmost vehicle, aiming for its tires, which were immediately shredded. The car swerved and spun out, eventually coming to a stop. All of the other vehicles swerved around that one, dodging the suddenly decelerating car. Once they were past it, all of the vehicles accelerated, weaving around a bit to try and be harder targets.


    "Fucking idiots," I said, shaking my head. "Melt them, Murtaugh."


    "Yes, sir."


    Murtaugh reached and tapped a single button on his main control panel, and suddenly, every turret that had a shot was shooting. The three remaining cars were fucking wrecked in a split second, as each one took at least one massive round from our anti-armor cannons. The motorcycles didn''t do much better, as the anti-personnel weapons shredded their riders. Within seconds, all vehicles had skidded, rolled, and tumbled to a stop. I opened my mouth to say something, but one final anti-armor shot fired, eviscerating the car with the ruined tires.


    The scraps didn''t get within two hundred feet of the defensive line.


    "Well done, Murtaugh," I said, patting his shoulder. "This is what I meant by you doing much better when you had the right tools. Put together a group of shades to double-tap anyone still breathing, then lay the bodies by the side of the road. I''ll get some MRVNs together to drag in the scrap."


    "Yes, sir."


    "And push the drones out as far as they go, make sure there isn''t a second group waiting for us to relax."


    Murtaugh nodded, and I patted his shoulder again before making my way out of the security building, pulling off my helmet and clipping it to my hip. Riggs was standing there, weapon clipped to his back, as Kaytlyn jumped from her nest and landed beside us.


    "Time well spent on those defenses, huh?" Kaytlyn asked with a chuckle. "Didn''t have to shoot a single time."


    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    "They weren''t exactly facing an Araska hit squad," I pointed out. "But yes, they did well."


    I quickly set up a group of MRVNs to recover the scrap before giving Jackie a call. He was planning on coming over later, but I asked him to make a stop and meet with Padre. The attack, as ineffective as it was, was most likely the result of our mission to recover Akiko, so he needed to know.


    "Do you think they will send more?" Riggs asked as we made our way to the workshop, unbuckling my armor as we walked.


    "Depends on how many important people we killed," I admitted with a frown. "I was hoping that Padre would be able to keep the heat off of us, but if we killed someone too important¡­ We might end up needing to send a pretty big message before they stop."


    "Should we hold off on our Wraith raids?"


    That question made me pause, passing my armor to a MRVN, to take back to my trailer. After a moment of thinking, I shook my head.


    "No, I think we can handle it," I decided. "It might be risky if both sides decide to escalate it too far, but if that happens, I''m sure we can find a way to convince them to reconsider."


    I left my underlayer on as I sat down, stretching a bit, finally letting my heart rate and adrenaline fade away. That had been one hell of a wake-up call, but watching our new defenses go to work had been fantastic. Granted, the vehicles hadn''t been armed, but the turrets made such quick work of everything that I was still satisfied. I was just opening my eyes after taking a few calming breaths when Samwise stepped out of the production addition.


    "Samwise, you guys alright?" I asked, turning on my computer as a few MRVNs, clearly marked as the AI models, stepped out as well.


    "We had sufficient warning to retreat to safety," He responded, nodding his head. "How did our defenses fair?"


    "They never even got close," I said with a smile. "And the only reason they got as far as they did was because I told Murtaugh to give them a chance and start with a warning shot."


    "That is good news," he agreed, his smaller limbs tending to his workspace while his primary arms shifted a larger tool to the side, hanging it up on the wall. "What do you plan on working on today?"


    "First, I want to tackle water purification," I explained. "In the Fallout universe, they had a water purification plant that was so efficient that it cleaned the Potomac River, reducing the radiation to safe levels. It might be a bit embellished, but I still want a peak at that level of throughput. Water isn''t nearly as much of a problem for us with the electrocondensers, but if we are locked underground with a tainted water table¡­ It''s better to have than not to have. Plus, someday I''m hoping to clean the oceans¡­"


    Most water purification processes, both from when I was from and in Cyberpunk, used a method called reverse osmosis, which is just a fancy way of saying that you push water through a filter, specifically one that is semi-permeable, meaning it allows some things in, but not others. This was usually stacked with things like UV lamps, sediment filters, and other filtration processes. The problem was that the semi-permeable filters needed consistent replacing, sometimes quite frequently, and the process of reverse osmosis was slow. It worked fine when you''re trying to clean your family''s tap water, but when you''re trying to keep two hundred to a thousand people hydrated and clean, it just didn''t cut it.


    Not to mention that every filter needed a place to be stored, and with space being a premium inside a vault, Vault-Tec was eager to find a better solution. Luckily for them, they found it in a process called centrifugal clarification. Basically, by spinning water around really fast, anything with a different density than water would be separated out. Vault-Tec took this idea and ran with it, designing a multi-stage turbine system that could clean ten gallons in one minute and fifteen seconds, all without taking up more space than three five-gallon buckets stacked on top of each other.


    Now, there were some drawbacks. The centrifugal clarification process they created was not 99.9 percent effective like most reverse osmosis systems. Instead, it was 93 percent effective at eliminating contaminants and 98 percent at eliminating microbes and other bacteria.


    So they just ran the water through the system twice and called it a day.


    It wasn''t perfect, but it produced water that was perfectly healthy to drink on a daily basis. The best part was that the method was basically infinitely scalable. As long as you could create a stable enough system, with enough power and built from materials that were capable of handling the stress, any size was possible.


    Once I finished the small version, since the design was clearly made to be scaled as needed, I wasn''t surprised to get enough information ratios needed to make them any size I wanted. Square cube law meant that there was, theoretically, a limit in size, but with the materials and tech I had and would eventually get my hands on, my limit was sure as hell bigger than the Jefferson Memorial.


    From there, I continued moving down the line, cracking several inventions in a row, building and scrapping as I went. Low-wear pumps, fanless ventilation, and a handful of other bits of equipment critical to living underground. I also made a large pile of things simply because I wanted access to the engineering methodology so I could better understand the vault design in general.


    I crafted a heavy-duty interior door, a reinforced long-lasting light, external paneling, a few switches, in-built kitchen systems, and two dozen other simple pieces, quick and easy Vault-Tec? parts. I even crafted a panel of the burnished metal plating that the floors were made of. Together, the info I gained from them gave me wide swaths of information about building vaults, from internal parts to common setups and everything in between. By the time I was done, around three pm, I could have filled in for any one of Vault-Techs engineers.


    The vaults, at the end of the day, were mostly modular. There were specialty parts, sure, and things that needed to be custom crafted and modified according to the vault''s population numbers and composition of the bedrock, but by and large, all vaults were built from the same pieces stacked and tesselated differently. There was even a "default" vault design, which I knew because of how some of the modular parts were labeled.


    The last bit of tech I put together was a few of the hydroponics options that usually populated the vault. Part of me was hoping it would lead to more advanced agricultural options, like genetic modification or something like that, but it just filled in a bunch of information about growing different plants underground. It was not exactly critically useful information, not when I could feed twenty people healthily and heartily for thirty-five eddies a day with the food printer that Sam and Frank developed, but still something decent to grab when I could.


    "Alright. We have air, water, food, power, and general construction¡­ is there anything else we need to worry about?" I asked, rubbing my chin. "I''m sure there are bits and pieces that will come up as I keep exploring, especially as I reach the Institute tech, but for now¡­ I think we need to move on to the next step."


    "Which is?" Samwise asked, watching as the MRVN units slowly walked a large, vertical hydroponics pillar out of the garage to be scrapped.


    "We have the parts to make a vault, more or less, now I need the tools, too," I explained, closing my eyes and looking back at the branches of the tree. "We could buy heavy machinery to dig holes with, but I''m hoping they have something better than that."


    I dove back through the available tech, finally latching on to a branch following a line of industrial jackhammers and other mining equipment from long before the Fallout apocalypse. Following the line, things become more and more advanced, even making it up to plasma drills, something that existed back in my world but was generally considered too sensitive for rough, high-activity drilling. In the Fallout universe, however, they had several critical advances in plasma generation, meaning plasma drills were a lot more common and hardy.


    Past the plasma drills, however, there was more equipment hidden from my few despite my high level of understanding of energy and plasma. I first got to work making their advanced plasma drills, which ranged from hand-held drills used to set bolts in stone to much larger units. Once I finished both of those designs, I absorbed their information before going to the more advanced topic. It was clear a good bit of SCIENCE had happened in its development because the system was incredibly complex.


    The device was, essentially, a particle accelerator cannon, firing exotic bundles of particles from the business end of the machine. The particles would hit each other and release a small shockwave, as well as minor amounts of heat. The device drank a ridiculous amount of energy, and the small shockwaves didn''t do much damage, especially to soft materials, but it did have one thing going for it.


    It could pass through solid objects.


    That meant that the exotic bundles could be fired through stone, passing through several feet before finally colliding. The internal shockwave was enough to create hairline cracks in the stone just around the collision area. Repeating the process a few thousand times over the span of five minutes, the particle bore could turn solid bedrock into gravel. Even better, the level of precision it could achieve was far better than blasting. It was an incredible device, despite the fact that it sounded like overkill.


    Still, there was no way I wasn''t going to make my own version. I desperately wanted a better way than simple explosives to carve out space for my future vault. Not only would that be safer and much more subtle, but it was also more precise. With any luck, it would significantly speed up the proccess.


    By the time I finished designing the particle bore, it was about six pm. The bore was a large piece of equipment, with the main piece half the size of a twin mattress. That main part was connected to the projector by thick, heavy-duty cables and looked like a big bulky TV on a stand, only with a solid metal screen. The MRVNs were already printing out the parts, preparing them for me to assemble as I gathered everyone together in the Shack to discuss what was going on.


    "Alright, so here is the deal," I said, leaning forward in my chair once the whole group was together, gathered around the table. "I plan on making a vault, a bunker of sorts. It will either be a safe place to retreat to or, if I can get my hands on some specific bits of technology, a safe place for us to live."


    "You''re gonna dig a bunker under the town?" Kaytlyn asked with a frown. "I mean, a bomb shelter would be nice."


    "No, I''m hoping to make the bunker somewhere far from here," I explained. "The more hidden, the better."


    "You''re abandoning the town?" Jackie asked, cutting me off and sounding disappointed. "Jay, I can''t go any farther from night city, at least not for long¡­"


    "I''m not abandoning the town, it will become something of a forward operating base for a much larger complex," I explained, shaking my head to get myself back on track. "Living securely in a vault, someplace we could all retreat to for safety? It solves a huge swath of our problems. For example, we could abandon the fake borg plan, since if my lab was somewhere else, we wouldn''t have to worry about keeping an eye on our nomad neighbors. We would have to rely a lot less on Sable''s success to protect us from other big corporations. We could finally start using some of my crazier inventions because we wouldn''t have to worry about it all blowing up in our faces."


    "So you move your workshop and stuff to a secret bunker," Jackie asked. "How do you get back and forth? Or would you only live in the bunker?"


    "I... I think I might be able to come up with a method of teleportation," I explained, a bit nervous to admit it since there was a chance that the teleporters weren''t included in this tree.


    "Teleportation? Genio, thats..."


    "I know. Everything would change," I said with a nod. "We could be safe and finally start to help make this world better."


    "So why are you nervous about it?" Kaytlyn asked with a frown. "Is it dangerous?"


    "Not that I know of. I''m more concerned that I''m wrong, and I won''t get access to it at all..."


    "So you''re rolling the dice and betting that you''ll get it," Jackie surmised. "What happens when you don''t?"


    "If I don''t get it, then the vault would just be a safe place to retreat to," I admitted. "Still not a bad thing. I would sleep better at night knowing I had somewhere secure to run to if it all went bad."


    "I don''t know if I could move even further away from Night City," Jackie admitted. "I already feel like I''m cheating when I sleep out here.


    "I get it, I won''t try and convince you otherwise," I assured him. "I just want you guys to understand why things might shift a bit. This bunker represents, I hope, the final step before we finally start pushing back. Once I can guarantee a level of safety, we can finally start making a difference."

 Chapter Forty Five

    The others seemed to understand where I was coming from, even if they didn''t necessarily agree with me. I had been hesitant to discuss creating a teleporter since I wasn''t sure I would get access to it, so I didn''t want to start bragging about it. At the very least, Jackie seemed to believe me when I said I wasn''t abandoning the town or Night City, even if I was putting the vault before a few things.


    "Samwise, Noah, the bunker is going to be a major priority. I still need to be able to do my work, but once the bio lab is done, I want at least fifty percent of our production capabilities focused on that during the day and a hundred during the night," I explained. "I want the two of you working out what we need to start a solid base operations there and getting it ready. Samwise, work on finding the perfect spot for us. Until we do, we can build up the equipment that we will need."


    "What projects are you canceling?" Samwise asked.


    "As of right now, the fake borg plan is kaput. It was already more trouble than it was worth, but with my workshop being moved to my bunker, the nomads wouldn''t have anything to stick their noses in, so I don''t need anyone watching over them," I explained. "Other than that, not much is being canceled, but plenty is being moved around. The plans for more buildings, apartments, and the like are still on, just further down the road. As I said, a secure vault is our first big step to really being able to affect the world.


    We talked for a while longer, and by the time we went our separate ways, Kaytlyn, Riggs, and Jackie seemed to understand me a bit better. All though, I could tell that Jackie was still clearly worried about what moving to a bunker further away from the city would do to the team. I assured him I was with him to the end, no matter where I went, which seemed to satisfy him.


    With the little update slash meeting over, I headed back to the garage. It was seven thirty, which meant I had some time to work with, but not enough to tackle something too massive. That was, of course, after I finished putting together the particle bore, which was now ready to assemble.


    "Alright, Sam, how about we give the power armor a shot?" I asked, sitting down and spinning around in my chair. "I''ll probably end up making a few different sets to get everything that I want, but I can at least make one tonight."


    "Very well," He responded. "Noah and I will be conversing about possible locations and what we may need for a base of operations. I will send a few MRVNs to assist you."


    "Sure, buddy, thank you for your hard work," I said, giving him a short wave as he left to find Noah.


    Once the MRVNs arrived, we started putting together the particle bore. The heart of the device was the accelerator core, which created the tangles of exotic particles, split them, and fired them down the dual tubes, where the TV-esque device at the end would adjust the final shot. Beyond that, the rest of the device consisted of control mechanisms and safety systems, as well as thick insulating barriers around most of the essential parts. The creation of the exotic tangle did generate some unsavory things, but the insulation was actually in place to isolate the sensitive acceleration process. Without it, the particle tangle could unravel due to outside influence, causing a whole heap of problems.


    When the mining tool was finally finished, I paused as the flow of information started. It was a relatively interesting chunk of knowledge concerning exotic particles, though a lot of it felt theoretical. In true Fallout universe fashion, the people who created the particle bore didn''t quite know how the particles worked, or at least they didn''t when they built the bore. Instead, they saw what it could do, did a few tests to make sure it wasn''t spectacularly dangerous and then turned it into a way to turn bedrock into gravel.


    It was a classic case of Fallout SCIENCE!, and if I couldn''t tell that this device was used on a daily basis by Vault-Tec workers, I would be a lot more hesitant to use it.


    When we were done with the particle bore, I reclaimed my seat, tapping my computer awake. I quickly started up my design software before diving back into my mind to examine the power armor designs I had access to. Even if it may not be a groundbreaking source of new tech, I was eager to get started on the power armor. The idea of walking around in Fallout-style power armor was a dream my younger self would have been very jealous to hear that I was going to achieve.


    The first <u>power armor</u></a> I had access to was the <u>T-45</u></a>, and it was almost completely revealed to me. I understood all of the tech in the basic, unmodified model, as none of it was groundbreaking. The most technologically advanced part was its power systems, and by now, I probably knew more about the Fallout world''s power tech than anyone who actually lived in that universe.


    The T-45 was unique among power armor developed by the US in conjunction with <u>West Tek</u></a> because the first models were not built around power armor frames. Instead, the entire suit was divided into limbs and torso sections, which were put on one at a time and locked together around a recon suit, which the user would wear. This made it harder to repair, slower to put on, difficult to clean and maintain, and difficult to improve through multiple iterations. That''s why, in later T-45 models, and for all proceeding models, power armor was set on top of the power armor frame. The frame provided strength and power, while the armor system around it provided protection and other technological advantages.


    Not only did the power armor frames make it easier to replace parts, but it also made it easier to maintain, clean, and upgrade individual pieces. The armor platting became almost replaceable parts, switched out when damaged rather than repaired on the spot.


    Since the T-45 was basically a prototype for the proper power armor, and I had access to the next version, the <u>T-51</u></a>, I decided to skip it entirely. Instead, I began working on the power armor frame for the T-51, eagerly copying down the design, doing my best to focus and not start redesigning it using better technology already.


    The power armor frame worked through a combination of hydraulics and servomotors. These would take orders from pressure sensors built in all over the frame interior, which would react to the pilot''s movements as they shifted around inside the frame. The whole system actually reminded me of how the original version of the Warden armor worked from the XCOM tech tree, which had the same if significantly reduced issue of being on the slow and ponderous side.


    It was a bit confusing, because I knew that Fallout, hypothetically, had the tech to directly link someone''s nervous system to technology. And yet, they still went with the clearly inferior method of control. While this style of power armor would never be what I would consider agile, getting rid of the pressure sensor system would be a top priority once I started tinkering with the design. I would have to play around with the system to find out if there was a reason for the inferior method that I wasn''t seeing.


    I spent an hour and some change getting the frame design onto the computer, before letting the MRVNs get everything printed out. While they were working, I got to work on the armored parts, starting with the helmet and working my way down. I was halfway through the chest plate when the parts were ready, and we started to assemble the frame.


    After getting a good chunk of the frame assembled, we eventually moved it to the drone station, where we hoisted it into the air by chains. When we were finished, we carefully let it back down and confirmed it was stable before I grabbed the fusion core I had made not too long ago.


    After taking a minute to confirm the process, <u>I slid the power source into place</u></a>, locking it in place with a slight twist of the core. When it was firmly locked in place, I could finally feel the download of information finally flowing into my brain. I now understood a great deal about why certain servomotors were set at certain angles and why specific parts were used in particular sections of the armor rather than just using a more uniform construction method.


    Once the short download was completed, I reached out and gripped the wheel along the back, turning it until I could feel it clunking into an active state. With a hiss and a series of clicks, the power armor frame opened, revealing the interior space.


    "Well... in for a penny, in for a pound," I muttered before climbing inside, gripping the preset handholds to pull myself in.


    Once I was in position, I activated the switch that I knew closed the frame up, the back structure swinging down and locking me into place. I could feel the legs and arms doing the same. For a moment, I was stuck, unable to move or shift. Logically, I knew that the suit was going through its final boot-up and that systems were coming online. The sensors wouldn''t respond until everything was locked in place and the suit was ready to be moved. Despite knowing all of that, and despite my head being completely uncovered, even if it was just for a split second or two, it was still unnerving to be completely sealed inside, unable to move at all.


    "Make a note, emergency bolt releases, just in case the system has a catastrophic failure," I muttered to myself, looking down at the robust metal frame surrounding my body. "Being sealed inside one of these would be horrifying."


    Finally, the systems engaged, and I was free, the sensors reading my movements properly so that when my limbs moved, the heavy metal limbs moved with them. I resisted the urge to jump around or immediately test my flexibility. Instead, I calmly stood up straight, slowly flexing my body to find my range of motion.


    The armor was easier to move than I thought, though it was clearly slow to respond, the movement and pressure sensors reacting split seconds after my limps moved against them. It was enough to be noticeable, but it was also small enough that, if you stopped paying attention and got used to it, it wouldn''t hold you back much. Of course, this was only the frame, who knew how much input lag I would get with several hundred pounds of metal and polymer.


    "How does it feel?"


    I turned my head to see Riggs, still in his armor, walking closer as I stepped slowly out of the garage.


    "Clunky, slow, heavy," I commented. "But it''s still way better than it has any right to be. And this is only the first iteration of this frame. There are like five more in the base tree and like dozens of iterations around those."


    Unlike the video game, which only had one model of power armor frame, there were actually several different versions of the supportive system used throughout Fallout''s history. Most of the differences in strength and power came directly from advancements in the frame itself. Luckily, every progressive version was backward compatible, meaning that even the frame designed to accompany the <u>X-01</u></a> would fit T-51 armor on it.


    I spent a few minutes messing around with the frame before activating the release and climbing out. I then helped Riggs resize the internals a bit so he would fit inside, the taller, bulkier AI sliding into the frame once he stripped down out of his armor. Once everything was locked in place, he started going through the same sort of stretches and flexes I did just moments before to test the armor.


    "It does feel remarkably similar to my warden armor," He agreed after a few minutes. "Less responsive, but also more sturdy. The warden armor always makes me feel as if I could break it if I pushed too hard."


    "Even the improved version we made for you?" I asked curiously. "I thought we did pretty well with that."


    "You did, and you''re right, the second version that was less of a problem," He admitted. "But this feels like heavy armor, while the warden feels like light armor."


    "I think your perceptions might be a bit skewed by what you''re used to wearing," I pointed out with a snort. "But I get what you mean. All right, hop out before you drain the fusion battery. I don''t want to make another of those if I can help with it."


    As Riggs more or less stepped out of the frame and began the much more protracted process of putting his usual armor on, I realized there was another pretty big advantage with the power armor. It took a few seconds to get in and out, meaning that it was completely viable to do during a fight, especially since I was sure I could cut that time down considerably.


    For a moment, I envisioned soldiers slamming down into a combat zone and unloading with heavy weapons. Then, once their weapons were empty or the obvious targets were gone, they would pop out the back of their armor, grab their weapons from a pack, and start cleaning up stragglers or runners. A group could simultaneously be the heavy hitters and their agile backup as long as they could find some cover for a few seconds.


    Stolen novel; please report.


    Filing the idea away for potential future use, I climbed back into my chair and got back to work with the rest of the T-51 plating and armor. Out of everything, the helmet and the boots took the longest, but I managed to finish by ten thirty, and we finished putting it together and mounting it on the frame an hour later.


    "Fucking hell¡­"


    I said, walking around the hung-up behemoth of steel, unique alloys, and durable tech. The style and shape were familiar, since through the many hours I spent playing various Fallout games, armor like this was usually a prized piece of my collection.


    Despite that sense of distant familiarity, it was impossible not to feel how intimidating the armor was. It dwarfed all members of the group, and the thick plating screamed durability that could outlast just about every borg on the planet.


    "It makes an impression," Riggs admitted, standing behind me as we admired the final product. "You gonna try it out?"


    "No, I just need to turn it on,"


    I re-inserted the fusion core, locking it in and finally getting a suffusion of knowledge. I wasn''t all that surprised that, due to its simple nature, the knowledge I gained was pretty widespread, including things like several upgrades for the armor, a few dozen modules for the helmet, and other parts. It was some solid information and a deeper understanding of how the methodology behind the power armor system worked, but ultimately nothing major.


    "Alright, with that, I am officially done for the night," I said, brushing myself off a bit and standing up straight. "If you really wanna play around with it some, ask Samwise if he could replace the fusion core with an Elerium node. Shouldn''t be too hard."


    Riggs nodded, and I whistled to Duke, who came running from outside and followed me back to my trailer. I spent some time unwinding in a hot shower before crawling into bed and getting some much-needed sleep.


    I woke up the next morning refreshed and ready to get back to work, a full night''s rest under my belt. It was a bit later in the morning than I would have liked, but by and large, that was fine. With my knowledge of bunker and vault building secure, it was time to start digging into the higher-end branches, looking for the single branch that would eventually lead me to teleportation. There was a solid chance I would end up wasting some time, but the ability to teleport in a world where No one else could would be so fucking broken that I would an idiot not to push hard to unlock it, even if it took me the rest of the week.


    Unfortunately, while I knew what I wanted, I had no idea how I would go about getting it done. My best bet, at least until I picked up a trail, was to chase down any exotic energy devices that I could find in the tech trees, building them so that I could unlock more, and hopefully, after repeating that process for a bit, finally reveal the proper path or maybe even reveal the tech itself.


    Thankfully, it seemed that working with the particle bore had helped, revealing several possible exotic energy options to toy with.


    The first option I selected was the Fallout universes shield or barrier tech. It showed up in quite a few different places along the tech tree, and while all of them more or less functioned on the same principle, there were some minor differences between them. Rather than tackle all of them, I decided to go with the most advanced version I could find, the one developed by the Institute. They took designs from the old world, which were developed by Big MT for a variety of uses, and improved upon them. This was very different from what the enclave had achieved, which was an inferior version of the pre-war options. This was, as far as I could tell, because they were using patchwork designs and improvised solutions to missing design plans.


    The force fields were technically called photonic resonance barriers, and they were remarkably similar to the only other barrier tech I had learned so far, the particle shields from Titanfall. Like the Titanfall shields, it used an energy field to force light to release its energy as it passed through, creating the tactile illusion of a solid barrier. On the one hand, it was absolutely inferior to the clean, crisp shields that Titanfall had. However, on the other, it used a combination of electromagnetism and advanced particle physics to create the necessary energy field that interacted with light. This meant that the Fallout version didn''t require a back-boxed space crystal that originated in a different universe, while the Titanfall version did.


    Unfortunately, the Fallout version also had an extreme weakness for electromagnetic pulse weapons, which interacted with the electromagnetic portion of the field creation, shutting it down with one or two shots as long as they were comparable to the amount of power being poured into the barrier. Both the pulse gun designed by the US military and stored in Vault 34 and the one designed by Big Mountain could do this.


    Once I put together a small field projector, gave it a quick test, and sat through the information download, I was happy to see a few more spots light up, including one further up a branch I was realizing was part of a Big MT grouping.


    The <u>hologram tech</u></a> from the <u>Sierra Madre Casino</u></a> was developed in the Big MT and was the next step in the progression of the photonic resonance barriers. The holograms, which were not technically holograms, were essentially complicated barrier systems projected at a significant distance rather than only a few inches away from the projector.


    It was an impressive system, for sure, but it was not exactly what the game portrayed it to be. Whether it was a lie fabricated by <u>Father Elijah</u></a>, or just another variation between the game and "reality," the hard light holograms were not unkillable or unstoppable. First off, they required multiple projectors for each hologram, meaning there was a limit to how many a system could create at once. On top of that, the projectors themselves remained a weak point. If they were damaged or obstructed by anything thicker than a robust piece of cardboard too close to the projector, the hologram would fizzle out.


    On top of that, the holograms retained their weakness to EMP pulse weapons. In fact, due to the complexity of their fields, they were actually more sensitive. They could also just simply be overloaded with sufficient force, which was the most significant deviation from their in-game counterparts. It was hard to do with handheld weapons, but with enough firepower, you could punch through the barrier, usually causing feedback that would damage the projector. On top of that, the strength of the barrier did not increase with size, so a four-inch projection would take the same amount of abuse as a four-story one.


    Their reliance on electromagnetic field projection also meant they were absolutely useless in many working roles since they needed to be kept away from anything sensitive to magnetic fields.


    Still, despite all those weaknesses, they would make incredible stealthy security. Alone, once people figured out their trick, they would probably become next to useless, but if combined with other types of security, their weakness could probably be mitigated.


    Once I completed a couple of projectors and finished programming the control systems, I turned the system on to project a simple spinning cube. While the electromagnetic field the "hologram" put off made it difficult to work with in some scenarios, it was impossible to deny that having a way to project solid surfaces on command was something that could absolutely come in handy. Even more interesting, as the Inspired Inventor was done downloading the extra info to my brain, Samwise made an excellent point.


    "Combining this technology with the version from Titanfall could have interesting results," He pointed out, looking at the designs curiously. "While it would rely on a black boxed material, the hologram would also be immune to EMP pulse weapons since the Titanfall version does not use electromagnetic fields."


    "That¡­ is a solid idea," I admitted, nodding my head. "If you have some free time, feel free to investigate it if you''d like. Our main focus is the bunker and related projects, but that doesn''t mean you can''t take any time for other things."


    Samwise nodded, starting to take down the projectors, which we had stuck temporarily to the walls of the garage. I was tempted to have him leave them in place for now, but with the way that the "hologram" had pulled a chunk of steel off Samwise''s workstation with its electromagnetic field, it was better to move out. Samwise might be protected from that to a degree, but plenty of our projects might not be as hardy.


    With the holograms done, it was time to look through what sort of information and tech we had unlocked. It seems like they were experimenting on how to make mounted shields for tanks and even power armor, but they were having issues with the hologram programing keeping up with fast-moving tanks, never mind the ever-active soldier inside power armor.


    "Teleportation, teleportation, where are you?" I mumbled to myself, searching through the tech tree. "Alright, time to pick something else¡­"


    For the next eight hours, I bounced around the tech tree, building anything I thought would advance my understanding of exotic energies and SCIENCE! that eventually led to either Big MT or the Institute''s teleportation system. I would be ecstatic to have either of them, though if I got the Big MT one first, I would continue to look for the Institutes since it was superior in some ways and I wanted to know as much about the tech as possible.


    Seeing the chance to kill two birds with one stone, I designed and put together a handful of random energy weapons, both <u>lasers</u></a>, and <u>plasma</u></a>, before moving on to a <u>pulse gun</u></a>, <u>LAER rifle</u></a>, and <u>proton axe</u></a>. At this point, building things of that size was easy, and I pumped out fifteen weapons in about four and a half hours. By the end of it, I had the plans for most of the energy weapons from the Fallout universe in my head, so it was time to move on. I would leave the study and analysis of how effective they were compared to what I already had access to for later.


    After finishing with energy weapons, I bounced around building some high-tech lab equipment with various uses, including a miniature particle bombardment chamber, which was designed to accelerate various exotic particles and slam them into basically whatever you wanted to observe the effects. It was definitely something that existed to test and run experiments with, and completing it unlocked a whole lot of information about the particles it could work with.


    Finally, after spending almost the entire day messing around with exotic energies and dangerous equipment, I finally got the first hint of teleportation. It was not the final device but rather a proof of concept, consisting of two sealed boxes that were foot wide and just about as tall. They were connected by a thick cable and powered by a specially designed fusion generator, which fed into a custom capacitor bank. I could barely see the outline of this device, and it was the first of its own branch with several items on it.


    The problem was that I could feel that the machine required a specific exotic ingredient, which I would need to create on my own. Thankfully, finding my first real lead on teleportation had swept away any fatigue I had started to feel, replacing it with an eager, excited energy that I had to take several deep breaths to keep from becoming manic. I quickly got to work building the Quantum Particle Entangler, which was a machine that essentially took either a pair or multiple photons and linked them together inexorably on a quantum level.


    They did this by slamming them into each other as an appreciable fraction of the speed of light, which was counterintuitive since the photons are light, so the entangler was actually slowing down photons. This required building another particle manipulator, which was made easier, thankfully, by the parts of the one I had finished making earlier.


    When the QPE was done, we hit another roadblock, this one forcing me to call it a night and pick up where I left off the following day. While the QPE was relatively safe and easy to use, it also took an incredibly long time to complete its primary task, namely four hours per paired photon.


    So, despite me being practically wired with excitement, I went to bed relatively early, requiring a sleep aid from Frank in order to have any chance at all of actually getting any shut-eye. When I woke up the next morning, barring any issues, Samwise would have run the QPE at least once


    Yeah, a sleeping aid was absolutely necessary.

 Chapter Forty Six

    I was up and out of my bed before I even realized my alarm was going off. I had gotten a solid eight hours thanks to the help Frank offered me, so I was feeling pretty good as I took a rushed shower and quickly got dressed. When I stepped out of my trailer, Duke was hot on my heels, almost like he sensed my excitement, following me as I quickly walked through the town. I was about to cut across the road towards the workshop when someone called for me.


    "Jackson!" Kaytlyn called, prompting me to stop and turn towards her. "Jackie is making breakfast for us again. Samwise says you need to eat before you get to work, anyway. Today''s session of the too-smart-for-your-own-good club is apparently going to be pretty intense. Plus, I doubt you want to make Jackie pout that you skipped his hard work."


    I gave Kaytlyn a glare as she leaned against the doorway of the Shack, before letting out a long breath and nodding, making my way towards her. She chuckled at my suffering, pushing off of the wall as I got closer.


    "We just don''t want you to burn yourself out, Jay," She pointed out. "Even if what you''re making is mind-boggling."


    "I''m careful not to overwork myself, Kayt," I assured her, pushing the door open. "But you guys know what I''m working on. Surely that is worth putting in a bit of extra time?"


    I stepped into the cooler room to find that not only was Jackie cooking in his little area, but that Misty would also be joining us. She smiled as we stepped inside and gave us a wave from the table where she was sitting. Jackie looked up from his area and nodded, a smile on his face. He was wearing an apron that said something I didn''t understand in Spanish.


    "Good morning, everyone," I said, smiling and nodding to Misty. "It''s good to see you, how are you?"


    "I am doing well, sorry about just showing up without calling," She said. "Jackie promised me a breakfast that I wouldn''t ever forget, so I wanted to come to see what was making him so confident. Did he buy a bunch more fish or something?"


    "Not exactly," I responded with a chuckle, sitting down. "A couple of our friends made a breakthrough in re-creating artificial versions of various foods. They taste about as close to the real thing as you can get, though quite a few of the textures need work. Jackie volunteered to be our experimental chef and come up with recipes that work despite the weird textures."


    "Oh, that''s exciting¡­ and it''s healthy?" She asked, a hint of concern working its way into her voice.


    "Completely. This isn''t chemical slop we mix up to make a quick eddie, Frank, the man in charge of the development, is very careful," I assured her. "In fact, almost every single thing we have replicated is as good for you as the original."


    "It''s true, Mi Vida, it''s incredible, and I have felt terrible keeping it from you," Jackie admitted, before wincing and looking at me. "I know we need to keep it quiet, but¡­"


    "I get it, Jackie, I get it," I assured him. "I trust Misty, I know she isn''t the type to spread secrets."


    Both Misty and Jackie smiled before the latter turned his focus back on his cooking. I wasn''t sure what he was making, but it smelled really good. I was trying to figure it out by smell alone when Kayt brought something up.


    "Just in case you forgot, Jackson, tonight is the night we hit another Wraith base to klep some major goods."


    "Are we going to go with the same calling card as before, or do you want to mix it up?" I asked. "And please keep it clean, we are about to eat."


    "Wimp. And honestly, it might be hard to beat what we did last time," She admitted. "Let me do some thinking."


    "Sure, I''ll tell Riggs to look out for the smoke," I responded with a smirk. "How many- Is that orange juice?"


    I was talking to Kaytlyn when, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Misty lift a glass of light orange liquid to her mouth and take a sip. My mind immediately cut me off to discuss what it clearly considered more important.


    "Yeah, it is!" Misty said excitedly. "Jackie said he made it using some of what you guys are working on, but I guess it''s what Frank is working on...."


    I quickly grabbed one of the glasses on the table and poured some for myself from a large pitcher, letting out a groan of appreciation as I gulped it down. I finished the glass and refilled it, this time drinking it more slowly.


    "I take it you''re a fan?" Kaytlyn asked with a raised eyebrow.


    "It''s been way too long," I responded, taking another sip. "My family, well, orange juice was kind of a staple for every breakfast. There was almost always a carton of it in the fridge. I just didn''t realize how much I was craving it until I saw it."


    "Good to know, I''ll make sure to make extra next time," Jackie said with a smirk before looking back down to his work. "Alright, guys, breakfast is just about done. Just be careful ''cause the pan is hot."


    After a few more seconds, Jackie stepped away from his cooking area, carrying the large pan over to us at the table, where he placed it down on a towel. Inside was what looked like a skillet breakfast, a sort of mish-mash of breakfast foods, including bacon, hash browns, and scrambled eggs. Most of that was hard to see, however, as it was covered by a layer of gooey melted cheese.


    "Jackie¡­ Is that cheese?" I asked, my eyes wide. "Did Frank make real cheese?"


    "That''s right! I got a few samples and passed them onto Frank a few days ago," he said with a proud smile. "He finished one this morning. It''s nothing super classy, according to him, but it is a decent run-of-the-mill cheddar. The texture is a little soft, but it melts better than most cheddars should, according to what I''ve been reading, so you win some, you lose some."


    "Jackie¡­ I¡­ you¡­ please, for the love of god, serve me some before I start to cry."


    Jackie laughed and used a spatula to serve out the food, giving the first bit to Misty, but laying the second on my plate. I took a minute to just sit there and enjoy the smell before digging in. It was amazing. The cheese wasn''t the sharpest cheddar, but for something like this, that was more than okay, as something too sharp would have distracted me from the rest of the food. I did my best to slow down and enjoy the meal, but I still finished it way too quickly. When I was done, I looked up to see everyone else was just as enamored with the food as I was, maybe even more.


    "Jackie¡­ I''m so glad you volunteered to cook and work with Frank," I said, eyeing the leftover scramble. "This is fantastic."


    "I just have good ingredients, Jay. I''m no super chef," he said modestly, smirking as he spotted me eying up seconds. "Go ahead, I have another skillet already going."


    I immediately served myself a second plate, pouring myself more orange juice and digging back in. By the time the food was gone, we had all eaten way too much, but that wasn''t surprising, considering it was as good or even better than his breakfast burritos. When we were done, we chatted for a few minutes, everyone digesting the heavy meal before I finally headed off, back to my garage.


    As I walked in the side door, closing it up tight behind me, I found Samwise working on the QPE, checking its internal sensors. Not far from it was part T-51 power armor frame, mostly disassembled so Sam could get a closer look at the servos.


    "Don''t get too attached to the design," I warned him as I sat down in my chair, nodding to the parts. "I plan on making a few more advanced frames until I have the whole branch locked down."


    "I was just curious as to the composition," He explained. "An idle curiosity to keep me busy while I monitored the GPE."


    "Fair enough," I said with a shrug, my warning delivered. "How did the monitoring go?"


    "As well as we could hope. The first run was a failure, but I managed to isolate the fault and repair it," he explained. "The second and third runs each created a single pair of entangled photons."


    "Let''s see them, then."


    Samwise reached over to his work surface and pulled out a small, carefully constructed case. He snapped open the latches and opened it for me, revealing a foam interior with four container inserts, two marked with red bands and two with yellow. I carefully pulled one of the capsules out, turning it over in my hand before pushing it back into the foam slot. As far as I could tell, the capsules felt completely empty, but I couldn''t imagine a single photon weighing that much anyway.


    "Fantastic, Samwise, well done," I said with a smile, watching him close the case up and put it gently back on his desk. "We are getting closer, Sam, I can taste it. This technology will give us a massive edge, something that no other group could hope to trump. Hell, it''s even impressive on the grander, multiversal scale. Plenty of advanced Sci-Fi settings don''t crack safe teleportation."


    We quickly got to work, meaning I copied down the proof of concept teleportation chambers, while Samwise cleaned up the workshop, including the power armor and the frame. He then built a quick table, welding it together and leveling it, as a place to place the parts, capacitors, and fusion generator.


    The machine itself was one hell of a complicated design, and some of the more delicate parts were reaching the upper thresholds that the molly makers were capable of. Not nearly at their limit, mind you, but certainly high enough that it must have been an absolute nightmare to build this in the Fallout universe.


    Slowly but surely, we assembled the large machine, starting with the fusion generator and capacitors, before moving on to the control systems. When those were all set and in place, we finally began building the sealed boxes and cables themselves. It was interesting to find that the thick connecting cables were not part of the transfer process or anything. Instead, they carried a ludicrous amount of power to both of the thick sealed boxes from the capacitors


    Once everything was in place and the chambers were set, we began locking it all in place, attaching the thick cables and capacitors. After that, we attached the fusion reactor. We did a lengthy double-check to ensure that everything was hooked up and ready to go before moving into the final step. In the base of each chamber was a small cavity, just big enough for one of the entangled photon capsules. After carefully inserting a capsule in each, I sealed them up tight.


    Finally, after five and a half hours of work, programming, and careful building, the proof of concept machine was finished. We turned it on, and a sweeping wave of information flooded me.


    The system''s primary piece was, unsurprisingly, the contained photons, a process that was mind-boggling in and of itself. I had been in such a rush to jump to the next step that I had barely stopped to examine the tech and knowledge that came with the QPE. Now, as I was absorbing the proof of concept teleporter, I was stunned at what I had missed.


    Again, in standard Fallout practice, scientists and engineers from that universe were perfectly happy to use something that they didn''t fully understand as long as it worked, but even with that, I still gained a ton of knowledge that was still theoretical in nature in any other universe I had knowledge from, including cyberpunk.


    What the entangled photons meant for communication alone was wild, and yet the Fallout scientists had been happy to stuff it in a teleporter and basically forget about it. I made a note to investigate it more when I had time. For now, I needed to focus on the teleporter, which was hopefully the first model of a few.


    The entangled photons represented a bridge, connected together through ways I could now describe with math, but honestly struggled to describe with real words. What mattered was that that connection could be charged with the right amounts of energy, which was applied to the photon capsule. This charge would change how the connection reacted to the very fabric of reality, basically spreading it open.


    The best way I could describe it was that the two entangled photons are set apart by an unimportant amount of space. However, photons were connected by their entanglement, and the connection passed through space, the very fabric of reality. When a charge was forced into one of the photons, that charge would pass through the entanglement and affect the other particle. This charge would also expand the field that naturally ran along the entanglement, which was what allowed it to pass through space. The result was a field that repealed reality itself, creating a tunnel of sorts, which allowed something to be sent across the photon''s entanglement like a train following a rail.


    It felt important to note that the traveling happened towards the originally charged photon, meaning the "catching" photon was the one that needed all of the power systems.


    "Are you alright, Jackson?" Samwise asked as I contemplated what I learned.


    "Yeah, there''s just a lot to consider," I explained, letting out a huff before standing up straight and pushing off the seat I had been leaning on. "Good news, so far, I''m not seeing any sign of teleporter murder happening."


    Teleportation came in many forms in science fiction, from the stargates of Stargate to the transporters of Star Trek. The concept was an old one, but it often skirted around the <u>teleporter paradox</u></a>. Basically, if you were disassembled at an atomic level, taken somewhere else, and reconstructed, are you still you, or is the old you dead, replaced by a newly assembled version of you.


    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    It was a relatively popular topic for discussion and was often mired in questions about the existence of the soul, what constituted consciousness, what constituted "self," as well as where you might draw the line around the concept of death. Personally, I found that the more new-aged and transhumanist someone was, the more likely they were to shrug it off and declare it was just teleportation, and that there wasn''t any death involved. In the opposite direction, the more a person leaned towards old-age concepts, like the sanctity of self, personal identity, and individualism, the more they considered this to be a problem.


    Unsurprisingly, considering my opinion on cyberware, I wanted nothing to do with any system that disassembled me completely. I didn''t even like the idea of Stargate or Star Trek teleportation, as both claimed to account for the transfer of self and individualism, but still completely deconstructed someone to base parts.


    Thankfully, there were no sign of disassembly or destruction in this teleportation system so far. According to the data I was seeing, this would open up a tunnel through reality, allowing matter to pass from one location to another, without traveling the actual distance between the locations. Of course, there was no way to predict what would happen with later interactions of the tech, but so far, so good.


    Desperate to finally try the proof of concept device for myself, I quickly assembled everyone together. By the time it was ready, Jackie had taken Misty home and returned, and was now watching as Samwise and I prepared for the first example of real teleportation on this planet.


    "Just to warn you guys, this is just a proof of concept," I repeated for the third time. "It''s not going to look incredibly impressive. All I''m teleporting is nitrogen."


    Despite being incredibly impressive, both technologically and from a purely physics standpoint, this concept was still in its infancy, at least at this point in the tech tree. The "tunnel" formed between the two charged photons was minuscule, meaning there was no hope of teleporting a physical object beyond even the finest dust. So, rather than struggling with some convoluted method of testing, one chamber was filled with nitrogen, or any neutral gas, really, while the second chamber was put under vacuum. Then, the second the "tunnel" was opened, the gas would be pulled through, and you could test for it.


    If you found nitrogen in the vessel that was supposed to be a pure vacuum, congrats, you successfully teleported nitrogen atoms through space.


    Working together now, Samwise quickly pulled a vacuum in the catching vessel while I filled the other with nitrogen. Then, when everything was ready, we started the fusion reactor, which slowly but surely filled the capacitor banks with power. It took the fusion reactor five minutes to successfully charge the capacitor banks. When they were full and the system was ready, the control screen blinked green, signaling all systems were a go.


    "Alright, everyone. This is it. We are about witness history," I said, carefully setting a thirty-second timer on the activation and stepping back, joining the rest of the crowd. "Try not to sneeze."


    The counter slowly counted down, until finally it reached zero. The fusion reactor spun up as fast as it could, producing as much power as possible. Then, the sounds of the capacitors going off filled the workshop, dumping their power into the "catcher" photon.


    "Correct charge achieved!" Samwise said, reading off the screen. "Holding charge disperses in seven¡­six¡­ five¡­ four¡­ three¡­two¡­ one¡­ Charge lost, readings stabilizing¡­ systems reading green¡­"


    "And the catching vessel?" I asked, holding my breath, staring at the machine set up.


    "Vacuum pressure has decreased, sampling now¡­" Samwise trailed off as he waited for the results before finally perking up. "Detecting nitrogen in the catching vessel. Teleportation achieved."


    I pumped my fist, slapping Jackie''s hand in a high five as Kaytlyn stood there with her eyes wide, as if not really ready to accept the possibility that I had succeeded. Jackie, bless his heart, believed me without an issue, congratulated me with a bear hug, joining my celebration. None of my AI companions doubted me in the slightest, of course, so they joined in as well.


    "Are you sure?" Kaytlyn asked, still stunned. "It actually worked?"


    "Yup. We just achieved what many would wave off as impossible," I said, unable to keep a big grin off my face. "Even if this is as far as it goes, this could change the world as we know it. How effective was the exchange?"


    "The vessels reached complete equilibrium," Samwise responded, still reading data from the device''s sensors. "The vacuumed vessel pulled nitrogen through the entangled tunnel until the pressures equalized."


    "Excellent!" Okay, let''s start disassembling this and running it through the scrapper," I said, giving the system a long last look before nodding. "Yeah, the only thing I could see keeping is the fusion reactor, and it''s too specialized to be easily useful. Scrap it all, other than the photon pair, and I''ll get to work designing whatever is next. It''s quite a bit bigger than this, but with any luck, we will be able to teleport objects around by midnight. I-"


    "Woah, hold up! We have a target to hit tonight," Kayt pointed out, cutting me off before I could build up any more steam. "We are leaving not long after midnight, and I need you prepared and ready, not haggard and manic from whatever law of physics you manage to break next."


    I opened my mouth to argue, only to close it and look at the clock hanging on the wall. After doing some quick mental math, I frowned, realizing that, in all likelihood, she was right. Slamming down on the instinct to prioritize my work over a raid that could likely be done any time we wanted, I took a long breath and nodded. My people came first, and this was not something to brush off.


    "Fine, fine, you''re right. I can¡­ put this off until tomorrow," I said, looking around. "I''ll keep working on the power armor with my extra time. I can stop that whenever I want, and it''s not gonna make me ''Manic.''"


    Kaytlyn nodded, seemingly satisfied, before heading back out to go about her business. Jackie hung around to take a look at the power armor frame, which Samwise had successfully gotten working off a series of Elerium nodes, set under the armor of the back.


    "It''s an interesting feeling, Genio," Jackie said as he tested his range of motion with the heavy-duty armor on. "Totally different from your under-armor. Closer to the warden get-up that Riggs wears, but not quite."


    "I hesitate to call them power armor after experiencing this," I added, Jackie nodding in agreement. "They are more like power suits, while this is armor."


    "Can''t you get rid of the delay?" Jackie asked, waving his arm around, watching it hitch. "It''s not terrible, but..."


    "Probably, but I would need to experiment with it first," I explained. "Samwise is pretty busy, or I''d ask him to take a crack at it. Would you wear one if that was fixed?"


    "I don''t think so, Genio," He admitted, turning around and making his way to the power armor station. "It would definitely make my Sandy useless, right?"


    He turned and faced away from the stand, and after a moment, the armor went rigid, parts swinging open so he could climb out easily. Once he was clear, the armor closed back up, hunched over slightly in its unpowered mode.


    "Uh.. yeah, most likely," I confirmed with a frown, doing some quick maths in my head, trying to figure out just how light and responsive I could make it, only to frown and shake my head. "Yeah, I wouldn''t be able to get that working. It''s a wrecker, not a finesser."


    "You plan on wearing one?"


    "Probably," I admitted, looking away from my computer to look at the T-51. "It depends on how I can max it out. It''s funny, ''cause I don''t really see it as specialized equipment. Maybe I''m biased from the base material, but when I see that, I think of standard armored infantry, not edgerunners or solos. Imagine forty of these, armed with miniguns or mag canons."


    "Can I not?" Jackie asked with a snort. "What could you need that much heat for?"


    I looked at him with a raised eyebrow, slightly confused.


    "Jackie¡­ you realize when I said I wanted to change the world¡­ most companies are going to fucking hate me for it, right?" I asked. "Militech, Arasaka, Biotechnica, KangTao, and everyone in between is going to hate me. It''s most likely going to be a global war. I''m hoping to avoid anything drawn out enough to cause mass casualties, but¡­ It''s still going to be a war."


    "I guess, kinda hard to imagine that while working out of a garage like this," He gestured around us, and I nodded in understanding.


    "Maybe, but it''s what we are heading for," I said, looking back at my computer. "Night City is just the first step, and that, in and of itself, is going to be a major conflict. Most of the gangs are going to have to be stamped out, and I''ll have to straighten out the police. Hell, I''m probably going to have to dissolve the police completely and come up with something completely different, or no one will trust them."


    For a few moments, I stared at the computer blankly before shaking my head free of the encroaching rush of incoming responsibilities.


    "Either way, it''s going to be a fight," I repeated. "Nobody is going to give up their slice of power without a fight."


    Jackie nodded, seeming contemplative as he sat down on a stack of crates, looking at the large power armor set. Meanwhile, I started to work on designing the next version. I was going for a clean sweep of all power armor and its many different permutations, upgrades, and equipment, so I couldn''t afford to skip any more than I already had in passing by the T-45. That meant that, after completing the T-51, it was time to work on the <u>T-60</u></a>.


    The T-60 was an all-around improvement from the T-51. It was stronger, faster, tougher, and more maneuverable. It used slightly less energy and was easier to repair and maintain. Plus, it was significantly more modular, meaning it could hold a substantial array of equipment without losing its original functionality.


    The frame itself was also vastly different, showing the same design leaning toward modularity or at least ease of upgrading, that the armor plating did.


    It was about ten pm by the time I finished designing, printing, and building the armor and frame, which I immediately sent to get scrapped. I had only wanted the knowledge and the progress from the T-60, which I got the moment I plugged in the fusion core.


    "Should you not scrap the inferior version first?" Samwise asked, a bit confused, even as he directed a pair of MRVN units to disassemble and take the armor and frame away.


    "Well, for one, I don''t ever plan on using any of these as they are. Any power armor that actually sees any use is going to go through an extensive redesign using everything I have learned so far," I explained, leaning back in my chair, watching the large T-60 get carted away, piece by piece, "As for why I''m keeping the T-51? Well, you see... the games I know this universe from? I grew up with a certain iteration, and in that iteration, the T-51 was the top of the line. It might not be the prettiest one ever made, but it''s got a special place in my nostalgia-choked heart. This is either gonna remain mostly unmodified, or I will modify it while specifically trying to leave the look and feel as close as possible. Like a pet project or something."


    "Very well¡­ though I do not quite understand, I will follow your orders," He admitted, turning to clean up his workstation.


    "Well¡­ People sometimes feel overly connected to certain things, even if it doesn''t always make sense," I explained, standing and stretching, my back popping a few times. "Familiarity is safe because it hasn''t hurt us before, so it probably won''t hurt us in the future."


    "I see¡­ like having a preferred set of tools?"


    "Kind of, but I''d say more like having a preferred tool brand," I correct slightly. "Having a favorite hammer is likely because you know it works well, whereas buying a new tool from a trusted company makes you feel safe, despite not having experience with that company''s version of that specific tool."


    "I see..." He said in a tone that clearly showed he didn''t. "I will think more about this, Jackson."


    After Samwise and I finished our conversation, I started to prepare myself for our next challenge, the Wraith hideout. Once I was armed, armored, and prepared, I whistled for Duke to follow me, the loyal robotic hound sidling up next to me as we walked to the Shack, waiting for the rest of the team to file in.

 Chapter Forty Seven

    It didn''t take long for the rest of the team to show up at the Shack. Everyone was wearing their game faces, armored and ready. Once we were all gathered, Kaytlyn, who had definitely been spearheading this revenge or justice effort to drive the Wraiths out of the Night City area, got everyone''s attention.


    "Since our fearless leader has been busy making the space-time continuum cry, I took over the majority of the planning for this raid," She explained, most of us nodding while I fought back a wince. "So, our next target is a strip of tunnel not far from here. It used to be an old abandoned mine, but sometime in the last few years, the Wraiths have set up shop."


    Her eyes glowed as she sent out information, my keyphone buzzing in one of my pouches. After pulling it out to check out the information packet, I could see that it was a basic wireframe outline of a tunnel that ran through the low edges of the hills, several miles away from Rocky Ridge. It wasn''t exactly our backyard, but it was a lot closer than I expected.


    "That''s closer than I thought," I said with a frown. "How have these guys not been a problem before?"


    "Because, while most of the Wraith bases around Night City would be more than happy to start a fight, this is a major contraband shipping and receiving center. Basically, Raffen Shiv groups drop stuff off here, they get paid, and then it gets smuggled into the Night City. Glitter, illegal cyberware and weapons, information, cars, and even people sometimes. Basically, this is the one place they run where they don''t want any attention."


    "How much ground are we going to need to cover?" Jackie asked, his eyes glowing as he reviewed the information. "You said this was a mine? Those can get pretty big, right?"


    "It was, but the lower levels were purposely collapsed a long time ago when the mines ran dry, and Night City was concerned about it being turned into a haven for... well, shit like this," Kaytlyn explained. "Only the top tunnel remains, plus a few short offshoots, barely more than side rooms."


    I noticed the offshoots she was mentioning, scrolling through my keyphone as Kaytlyn continued.


    "The most important aspect we need to remember is that this place is a lot more likely to call out for help," She pointed out. "This isn''t just party joint or hang out. This is a major money-making location for the Wraiths. If we let them, they will call for reinforcements, and while we could probably handle them, it would ruin the mind game aspect of our missions.


    "So¡­ stealth?" Jackie asked with a frown. "Not exactly my skillset."


    "It''s not any of ours besides you, Kayt," I pointed out. "What about speed? Hit them fast enough so they can''t call out?"


    "Not without knowing how many people are waiting," Riggs responded, shaking his head. "Ten people? Sure, we could handle that before anyone has time to think. But twenty? Thirty? Can''t make any assumptions. Especially not with this much space to cover."


    "So stealth is our only option," I concluded, both Kayt and Riggs nodding in confirmation. "Well, all our weapons save Rigg''s mag cannon have a silent mode, and we have one cloaking rig someone can use. Actually¡­ we should all switch to a mag rifle. Their silent mode has the most impact, and it will give us an advantage for distance. Spraying and praying or mag dumping while trying to be silent is counterproductive."


    "Agreed, save for me since I''ll be wearing the rig and acting as the scout," Kaytlyn corrected. "I''ll be in the lead, we will slowly push into the main room. Once that is clear, we can push out the opposite side. Then, depending on how the first half went, we either spend some time cleaning them out of anything useful or valuable or just burn it all to the ground as quickly as possible."


    "And the intimidation?" I asked.


    "I''m thinking we will run a repeat of last time, only in reverse," Kaytlyn said. "MRVN units will tear up the cybernetics but leave the bodies behind."


    We talked a bit more about the plan before finally leaving the Shack, our faces set and determined. We quickly hopped into several vehicles, mainly the civilian and company trucks, making sure to have as much cargo space as possible. After one final check for gear, we headed out, crossing the desert at a modest but safe pace, ignoring the roads.


    It took nearly an hour to arrive near our destination, at which point we disembarked and headed out to cover the remaining distance on foot. Jackie, Riggs, and I all stopped before we reached the cave entrance while Kaytlyn continued on. Riggs was clearly not the biggest fan of that, and I didn''t blame him at all. Sending someone off alone, even when they were invisible, was just asking for trouble.


    About five minutes after she left, Kayt sent a series of clicks to us, signaling us to approach slowly, as there were still threats. We all but crawled to the entrance, eventually cresting a small cliff. Below us was a single dirt road, which cut into the mountain to our left, creating a small rocky valley of sorts until the road disappeared into the hillside. There, parked along the road, were a pair of cars, both marked with Wraith colors. Around them stood four people, armed and looking down the road, clearly on watch, waiting for trouble.


    Kaytlyn sent another clicking signal, and all three of us raised our weapons and sighted our targets in, waiting for a moment before the Wraith closest to the tunnel dropped, his head nearly decapitated as Kaytlyn cut his throat, an odd sight considering we couldn''t actually see our friend. Before he had even finished crumpling to the ground, all three of us on the hill opened fire, a burst of nearly silent metal slugs punching through all three remaining Wraiths, blowing chunks out of their bodies.


    For a moment, we all paused, waiting for an alarm or a burst of action that would mean we missed something or someone had spotted us before we spotted them. When nothing happened, those of us who needed to breathe let out the breaths we were holding. A moment later, we all jumped down to join Kaytlyn, who faded into view as we dropped.


    A couple of simple hand signals later, we were pushing into the cave, our lights off, relying on the night vision built into our helmets to illuminate the dark spots of the underground tunnel. Every so often, we passed a support pillar, a good chunk of steel built with hydraulics and machinery, though most of it looked rusted or fused from lack of oil and maintenance. All along the walls were wires and cables, as well as old reinforcing metalwork, most of which hung uselessly, though judging by the occasional light, at least a few of the wires were still live.


    We were walking for only a few minutes, taking each step slowly, before Kaytlyn clicked another warning. All of us dropped low, sliding out of the harsh lights and into the shadows along the tunnel walls, our pace reduced even further. Sure enough, just around a corner was another group of Wraiths. In a slight outward bulge of the tunnel was a pair of cars, one of which was hauled up on a pair of simple trunk jacks. They were parked along the wall, with a few lights illuminating them and the area around them. There were also several shelves and crates filled with parts, as well as a few toolboxes.


    Around the cobbled-together garage was a trio of Wraiths. One of them was looking under the hood of a vehicle, while another was sitting in the passenger seat of the same car, working on its interior. The third Wraith was partially concealed by the raised vehicle, his upper torso under the car as he worked on it from underneath.


    As Riggs and I peaked around the corner, me crouching down and the larger AI standing above me, Kaytlyn gave us another series of clicks. Once again, we waited for her signal, which this time was her firing three shots into the Wraith sitting in the passenger seat. Riggs and I opened fire a split second later, taking down the two others. As we approached, Kayt once again decloaked, double-tapping all three Wraiths as she worked her way out of the garage.


    Again, we pushed forward, this time stopping almost immediately as we ran into some sort of patrol. They were probably moving out to the garage or even past them to the entrance. Rather than signaling for us, Kaytlyn simply drove her knife into the back of one of their skulls, up and into the brain, before firing another trio of slugs into the other one''s back. Jackie and I dragged the corpses into the darkness that hung around the cave walls.


    Unfortunately, even if Kayt managed to take them down silently, active patrols were still a bad sign, as it meant they might expect people to return and change out for a break or a shift. That meant we were officially on a timer, with who knows how much time left on it.


    As we walked deeper into the retired mine, we had to take down two more patrols, another pair, and a trio. The pair was clean, with Riggs and I dropping them while Kaytlyn kept an eye out for anyone else. The trio, however, almost went south. As Jackie and Riggs took down their targets, Kaytlyn attempted to slice the spine and throat of the third. Instead of flesh and blood, her attack failed, revealing an armored bit of chrome that resisted her blade.


    Thankfully, Kaytlyn was far from an amateur, and even as her blade did nothing, she had clamped down on his throat, giving her just enough time to draw her pistol and unload into his side. Again, this all looked incredibly strange, as she was invisible as she did this. Still, it was easy to see that something had gone wrong, and for a moment we all froze, wondering just how screwed we were. It was only after she finally clicked out an all-clear that we all relaxed.


    Our next challenge was a doozy, as it was the main chamber. It was a partial crossroads between the main tunnel and a collapsed branch, but according to the data that Kayt shared with us earlier, it also had a few infrastructure buildings. It was also the most open area in the tunnel, the crossroads widened to create a staging area of sorts.


    All this meant that it was likely where a majority of the Wraiths would be, with who knew what kind of defenses. Even worse, it wasn''t like we could drop our stealth and blitz the final group because while most of the remaining Wraiths were likely to be here, there was still the "exit" side of the tunnel, which would likely have its own patrols and lookouts. We couldn''t go loud without alerting them.


    So, what we were left with was a large concentration of chromed-up psychos, all stuck around one area, which we needed to kill silently without alerting any of the other psychos.


    Not exactly a walk in the park.


    The process started with Kaytyn killing a single Wraith as he leaned against the tunnel wall, having smoke. He was just outside the main hub but far enough around the corner that he could be taken down without being seen. Kaytlyn stabbed him in the heart, followed by the head, the man dying before he even really knew what was going on. She carefully dragged him away, passing the corpse to Riggs, who carried it away even further.


    With a small cut punched into their perimeter, we could now get a good solid look at just what the hub/crossroads looked like. There were two main structures, both of which were on top of catwalks on opposite sides of the hub. One, the structure to our left, was a stand-alone unit that was probably some sort of overseer''s office. The one to our right was built on what appeared to be a security gate of some kind, with a catwalk that rose up and over the road further into the mine.


    It was clear that the Wraiths intended this place to be secure, as there were concrete barriers set up for coverer, as well as a few heavy weapon emplacements set up to sweep over the exit and entrance tunnels. There were also several patrols moving around, constantly passing by dark places and other spots. If we were going to do this, we would have to get it perfect, or the whole thing would fall apart.


    Slowly, we pushed forward, taking cover behind two large shipping containers. We waited silently in cover until a pair of Wraiths came around the corner. Before they could even see us, Riggs and I grabbed them, hands around their throats as we cut them deep. It was brutal, stabbing away at someone, but I knew these people were barely better than Scavs and would gladly murder innocent people for a quick buck.


    Once they had stopped twitching, Jackie and a decloaked Kayt dragged away the bodies, before we once again pushed forward, slowly making our way to the structure on our left, the stand-alone structure with the least entry points. Quickly, Kaytlyn vanished, her cloak covering her. She carefully jumped and pulled herself up along a section of the catwalk that was missing a railing system. While she moved, the rest of us took cover as best we could, hiding in the stark shadows cast by harsh lights.


    If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    After a few seconds, Kaytlyn clicked an all-clear, and I quickly followed her, jumping without my jump kit and quickly pulling myself into cover, only pausing for a nearby Wraith to face away from me, tapping the controls of a radio as he adjusted its volume.


    When I found Kaytlyn, she was peeking out of the window, a pair of nearly decapitated Wraiths bleeding out on the floor. From this structure, we had a much better view of the entire hub, and since we now "owned" a corner of the room, we could push from one spot to the rest slowly but surely, with me providing almost silent covering fire if something were to go wrong.


    After taking a good look at the space from the superior angle, Kaytyn left, leaving me to set up in the relative darkness, weapon at the ready. I watched as Kaytlyn, Riggs, and Jackie methodically swept over the room, stabbing and killing nearly twenty more Wraiths. Perhaps the most impressive kill was when Riggs was forced to deal with a Borg almost as tall as he was without his mag cannon. Instead, he took his plasma sword and waited for the large, chromed-out bastard to turn, flicking the weapon on just long enough to slam it through his chest and drag it out through the side, nearly cutting the borg''s torso in half. Kaytlyn was quick to follow up, using her knife to silence him entirely by activating it and punching it through his armored skull.


    I continued to keep watch as they slowly made their way up the stairs, using some that were underneath the catwalks, coming up and catching the people inside off guard. Jackie managed to slam his axe into the closest Wraith before tearing it free and blurring as he activated his Sandy, slamming it into the skull of one of the Wraiths standing along the catwalk. Kayt and Riggs leaped forward, Kayt catching one of the three remaining Wraiths with her knife, carving his neck and stabbing his chest. I honestly had no idea she was so good with a knife, but watching her use one made me glad she was on our side.


    While Kaytlyn was cutting into her target, Riggs lept after the final two Wraiths. The big brute of an AI was a simple man, and stealth was not his strong suit. Being strong, however, was, and he showed just how much when he wrapped his armored hands around the head of the two raffen shiv and slammed them together, dragging them along, the brutal impact causing their skulls to deform enough that I could see all the way from the other side of the room.


    Despite the impressive and brutal takedowns, my three teammates unfortunately missed a pair of Wraith as they walked up the stairs opposite the main structure on the other side of the road. They had just stepped up to the platform as Jackie appeared beside another Wraith, his axe in their skull.


    Before they could shout and or scream, and therefore alert everyone down the "exit" of the tunnel, I fired five times, my mag rifle silently sending five slugs whipping across the crossroads. Each of the Wraith dropped, hitting the catwalk, one of them rolled down the stairs. Unfortunately, while I had managed to keep them from shouting out in alarm, between the whipping sound mag rifle slugs made and the very dead Wraith rolling down the metal stairs, the takedown had been far from silent.


    Two Wraiths, partially hidden further down the tunnel, stuck their heads in, looking for the source of the unknown noise, while another pair stood up from a table not far from them, several playing cards in their hands. One last man stepped from behind a few crates, only a half dozen feet from Jackie, rubbing his eyes like he was waking up from a nap.


    Immediately, I swung my rifle around, firing twice more at the pair stepping in from the tunnel. Two of my shots hit dead center on the first Wraith, while I had to fire twice more to take down the second. Jackie pulled out his pistol and killed the napping shiv before he was even fully awake.


    "Wh-!"


    Just the barest of sounds managed to escape one of the poker players before his head exploded, his associate already slumping and sliding out of his chair.


    We froze, waiting for more noise to rush in, waiting for whoever might have heard the commotion to come running. Kaytlyn, who had dropped her cloak, made a quick gesture to Jackie and Riggs, who quickly made their way off of the catwalk. The tunnel that ran across the main one didn''t go deep, but there was room for storage, which needed to be cleared. As Jackie and Riggs pushed into the partially gated-off space, Kaytlyn and I pushed down the "exit" tunnel, running into three patrols but making quick work of them between my backup and Kaytlyn''s cloak.


    Somehow, by some miracle, we had managed to clear the entire tunnel without alerting anyone. Well, without alerting someone irreparably. Once Kayt and I finished dragging the bodies from the "exit" guard inside the darkness of the tunnel, we headed back to the crossroads to check in with Riggs and Jackie.


    As we walked back, I radioed the MRVNs outside to start clearing cars and moving inwards towards the crossroads. They confirmed my orders quickly, so I clipped my radio back to my hip.


    "Why don''t we have more of these?" Kaytlyn asked, tapping her cloak projector, which was currently off.


    "Stealth has never really been our MO," I responded with a shrug. "If you had told me you wanted to do this one quietly, I could have made more, but you seemed determined to do this today. Doesn''t matter, though, I''m pretty sure I''m going to have something better from this batch of inspiration. It''s going to mean re-making all our armor, but it''s going to be absolutely worth it."


    If I got access to teleportation, there was no way that the stealth tech from Fallout was not somewhere in the tree. It would be a lengthy process to get to the ultimate iteration of it, be it <u>Chinese Stealth Armor</u></a>, the <u>Stealth Suit Mk II</u></a>, a <u>Stealth Boy</u></a>, or some other stealth tech I didn''t know about, but it was too perfect not to get for our armors, just in case we needed it.


    Judging from my experience with this mission, stealth was never going to be our first, second, or third choice, but it would be nice to make it easy on the off chance it was necessary.


    As Kayt and I got back to the crossroads, the MRVNs had already arrived, carrying bodies and piling them up in the center of the main room. Jackie and Riggs were already going through crates and boxes, cracking them open to see what sort of stuff the Wraiths were smuggling.


    For nearly an hour, we stuffed crates of weapons, supplies, tech, food, cyberware, and more into our trucks, as well as into the spare seats of various Wraith vehicles. Perhaps the most interesting find was a cargo truck, a cyberpunk-looking version of a box truck. It wasn''t military surplus or armored or anything, just a moving truck that we crammed absolutely full of anything worth anything. The only thing we didn''t take that was worth money was any drugs. While I respected any mentally culpable adult''s right to kill themselves with any flavor or variation of chemical, the drug trade was always entangled in less savory crimes, so I had no intent to aid or contribute to it. All the drugs we found were smashed and ruined in the corner of one of the collapse tunnels, finished off with a pair of incendiary grenades, courtesy of the Wraith''s own stock.


    The last thing we did was order the MRVNs to tear the cyberware out of the main Wraith corpses, which they purposely mangled until they were useless. We left them in separate piles before Kaytlyn decided that there needed to be a bit more. She gave the MRVNs a few more orders, the mindless worker drones continuing to "play" with several of the Wraiths. I don''t know what they ended up doing because I did not have the stomach to stick around and watch, but even Jackie left the tunnel looking pale and slightly wobbly.


    The trip back to the town was quiet, mostly because we had all split up into different cars to drive as many of them back as possible. Even the ones that the Wraiths had been working on were being driven back by MRVNs. Most of them would end up as scrap, since at the moment that was our biggest drive. We were already buying more trucks to convert into scrap trucks, and I was still nervous about keeping up with our need for steel and other commonly used metals.


    I also wanted Samwise to convert the trucks we had stolen tonight into more cargo-capable designs. That way, the MRVNs who went out scavenging could offload the more common material into them rather than dump it to make room for more rare ones. Between the increase in scrappers and transportation, I was hoping we could keep up our soon-to-be sky-rocketing demand.


    By the time we got home, those of us who were biological were more than ready for sleep. The stealth aspect of this had kept us on our toes for a lot longer than we were accustomed to, and as a result, we were dead on our feet. Adrenaline could only do so much once everything slowed down. I barely made it to my trailer before I was asleep. Duke joined me in bed for a while, eventually going down to his own bed a few hours later.


    The next morning, I woke up to my alarm going off, waking me up a few hours earlier than I would usually. I was pushing my limits in terms of sleep, but I was absolutely determined to get teleportation down by the end of the day. Judging by what I could see in my tech tree, I was hopeful that I was only two or three large creations away from an actual, working, human-safe teleporter. What it would mean, what it would change, and what kind of work I would need to do after it was done was still up for debate.


    While I might get access to teleportation in a few creations, that didn''t mean I was going to start throwing people through it. Materials, non-AI MRVNs, and drones, sure, but humans weren''t getting teleported unless I was satisfied with my understanding of the science behind the tech.


    After our morning briefing, I warned Samwise it was going to be a long day. I told him to let Jackie know that any of the cyberware that was under a certain grade could get taken to Vik''s and sold for cheap. The lesser stuff was useless to us for anything beyond scrap, and Vik''s less fortunate clients could use the cheap gear.


    I wanted to store the weapons we gathered in one of our storage trailers since it was a sizable amount. It was enough that, in an emergency, we could drop them somewhere to supply a large group of people with weapons to defend themselves. I wanted Kaytlyn and Riggs to go over the rest of what we got, organize it, and decide what it was worth. Anything worth keeping could be stored away or spread around, while everything else could be sold in bulk through Dakota, preferably, since we were still working on getting the Nomads on our side.


    Samwise warned me that we were due a large delivery of medical tech, but Frank was confident that he could handle installing it properly with a few MRVNs. The Biolab was almost ninety percent complete by this point and should be completed by the time I woke up the following day.


    My assistant also reported that, as we had discussed, Noah had completed plans for a teleporter room under the garage and that he was ready to begin construction. It was to be heavily reinforced and run off of three of its own large fusion reactors, which should be enough for a pretty consistent teleporting speed. Noah was already working on a real teleport hub in the bunker, so there was no reason to go too crazy with the station built here. It only needed to handle local traffic, after all.


    After signing off on Noah''s design and giving him the go-ahead to get to work, as long as he didn''t interrupt my work, Samwise finished his report, going over the prep and number we had prepared for our vault construction. The additional production room had been working nearly constantly since I decided to prioritize a bunker as our next large-scale project, and we had accumulated a significant amount of ready-to-go infrastructure and tools.


    All that was really left was for me to unlock the last pieces of teleportation tech and pick a spot for my vault, which Samwise and Noah were working on finding. I could feel the excitement in my bones, a wired energy running through me. We were so close I could practically taste it. I just needed to knuckle down and get it done.

 Chapter Forty Eight

    Once we settled into work, the day turned into a blur. I was dead set on finishing the teleportation tech as soon as possible. As fantastic as the opportunity was, I had now been spending almost three days on it and I needed to get past it before it started to seriously cut into other fields. There was a lot of tech I wanted from Fallout that I wanted, and only a week and three days remaining to work with it. With biotech and medicine looking like it would be a big chunk of time by itself, I needed to get going quickly.


    I studied the tech tree for a few minutes before beginning to design the next piece of tech in the teleportation branch. This seemed to be the first, real, functional teleportation system recognizable as what would eventually become the system I knew from the games. Basically, at an incredibly boiled-down level, the system was made of two parts. One was a large hexagonal <u>metal pallet</u></a> that would contain one of the entangled photons, while the other, <u>the "catcher,"</u></a> contained the second photon and was where most of the actual sciencey magic was happening.


    See, the next big revolution in the entangled teleportation tech was the ability to use the tunnel between charged entangled photons like a knife, slicing through reality to create an actual hole large enough for large objects to pass through. By manipulating the movement of the entangled photons, literally spinning them around at incredible speeds, you could drag the tunnel fast enough to cut between the two entangled photons. Of course, reality would reassert itself almost immediately, sealing the cut in seconds. However, the process of the cut in reality healing actually gave it a sort of momentum, allowing the tear to scoop up an object and pull it through to the other side. It was sort of how cutting compressed rubber would release its contained energy, pulling and pushing whatever it was attached to or pressed against.


    It was mind-boggling to consider that I was building a device to slice through reality, but thankfully, all the data I had access to said that this was only reality, not Reality. The first one was just the concept of space in our local setting, with no real risk beyond the physical mechanics breaking down or material failure releasing dangerous exotic energies. The other, Reality, was a much more serious concept, and with its potentially eldritch connotations, much more concerning. Thankfully, it very clearly stated that we were working with the minor, relatively safe version.


    It was so clear, in fact, that I wondered if one of the entities that sent me here had added that little addendum for my own sanity.


    Once the two-part pallet and catcher system was complete, we tested it a single time. A basic MRVN unit was ordered to stand on the pallet, the system was activated, and the unit was teleported a total of ten feet, from one side of the workshop to the other. The resulting sound nearly deafened me, even with the safety equipment I was wearing. It was a clattering, tearing, and grinding sound that echoed like thunder despite happening in a closed, small room. Samwise also noticed that the teleportation released some worrying energy yet also dropped the temperature in the room by ten degrees.


    Luckily, all sensors said we were fine, and the energies wouldn''t cause any real damage unless I was continually blasted with them. Even better, all of the sensors that we loaded the test dummy MRVN up with said that the journey lasted a fraction of a second, wasn''t even really detectable by cameras or anything else, and did not expose the MRVN to anything horrible or lethal.


    Technically speaking, I could hop onto the pallet and experience the teleport myself. In fact, the temptation was rather hard to resist, as everything I could see was telling me that this was one hundred percent safe for me to ride, as long as I only did it a few times.


    Thankfully, or perhaps unfortunately, depending on your outlook, my paranoia won out, and I kept with my own promise that I wanted to get the full breadth of available knowledge before I started shipping people back and forth. That meant I had one last build to create, and this was one I actually recognized since it involved a familiar handheld device, the <u>Transportalponder</u></a>. The Big Mountain teleportation system was the final permutation of the system I just built. According to my data, this new system had improved accuracy, lower power consumption, more precision, and a level of flexibility that I did not expect.


    Basically, using a greater understanding of the systems and the quantum physics involved, though it was still far from complete, they were able to remove the need for both photons to be moving while also drastically reducing the motion required by "Catchers" entangled photon. This resulted in a single cut in reality, rather than the looping, scooping action that the previous model generated. Not only did this reduce the amount of energy required to perform the teleportation, but it also drastically reduced the amount of exotic energies released.


    Even better, the designs came with a sort of protective energy field projector already in place. It was a simple energy-absorbing system that was installed just under the user''s landing location, but with it, the number of trips a person could safely take in a year went from a few thousand to eight or nine times that.


    The new design also was a significantly smaller system, both because the pallet had been replaced by a unit as small as a pistol and because the catcher didn''t look anything like a teleportation unit anymore. With the movement required to cut a slice in reality now adjusted, there was no reason to spin the catcher photon around at high speeds. All you needed was a single swiping motion. This drastically reduced the moving parts and made the system much more simple and smaller.


    On top of that, while the catcher was where the second entangled photon was contained, it was not where the items were teleported to. The cut in reality could be moved several feet out and around the catcher, meaning the device could be buried in the floor or wall.


    Altogether, the construction process for the next version of the teleportation system took five hours to put together. This was cut down from a much higher number because I temporarily halted all other work in the production room to produce all the parts. By five PM, I had a safe, effective, and reliable method of human teleportation.


    This, of course, meant it was time to try it out.


    Rather than gather everyone together, I made my way to the Shack, where I knew Riggs, Murtaugh, Jackie, and Kayt would be, the latter two enjoying an early dinner. They were all surprised to see me since I had explicitly said I would most likely be busy for most of the day. Jackie happily served me a portion of steak stir fry, which was unsurprisingly fantastic.


    "So, what happened?" Kayt asked. "You seemed hellbent on getting your teleporter done. Something came up?"


    "What, a guy can''t take a break?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "I''ll get it done, don''t you worry."


    "Alright, I believe you," She said, holding her hands up. "Learned my lesson when you showed off that stuff yesterday. Still can''t believe you managed to do that, even if it was just a bunch of gas."


    "Yeah, I got a lot of work ahead of me," I admitted, shaking my head. "I¡­ damn, I really don''t have time for breaks, I guess."


    I stood up from the table, pushing my chair in and grabbing my bowl. Jackie gave Kayt an annoyed look, and the blue-haired woman looked guilty.


    "Hey, no, taking breaks is a good thing, gonk," Kayt said. "You need to eat and unwind."


    "I''ll finish next door," I said, now struggling to keep a smile off my face, reaching down to grab the bowl. "I''ll be back at the workshop if you need me."


    Rather than turn towards the door, I reached into my pocket, pulled out the completed transportalponder, pointed it at the ground, and pulled the trigger.


    From my perspective, it was a blast of sensations. First, a flash of light, near-instant, stunned my eyes. It was strange, like a single flick of a strobe light, so fast it confused your eyes as to where it was coming from. Then, almost like it followed the light, there was an extreme level of coldness, but again, only for a split second. It was so intense that it made me think of how water would skip and float above an extremely hot pan, but only in reverse. Like my residual heat was just enough to keep the absolute freezing temps away, but only for the split moment I was in contact with them. Finally, almost buried under the extreme cold was a complete lack of¡­ anything. For just a single moment, besides the clothes that I was wearing, there was nothing around me. No air, no gravity, pressure. Just¡­ nothing. I could only imagine it was what a deep space vacuum felt like, and only the extreme brevity of the experience kept the water from boiling from my eyes.


    All of that happened in a moment, in the space between moments. It was so fast that I could only examine the sensations by looking back because there was no time to contemplate the sensations during the actual event.


    For a moment, I stood, stunned by the experience. Then I heard Jackie and Kaytlyn calling out for me, so I quickly sat down in my chair, doing my best to act innocent as I ate Jackie''s stirfry.


    Jackie burst into the workshop first, coming in from the side door, nearly tripping over nothing as his eyes darted around the room before eventually locking on to me.


    "Jackson! No mames! Son unas mamadas?!" he shouted when he saw me, getting shoved forward when Kaytlyn, Riggs, and Murtaugh pushed in as well. "You did it? No fucking way, choom! You fucking Genio!"


    With cheers and celebration, I gave a brief overview of how the device worked while assuring everyone that it was safe. Within an hour, everyone had experienced the teleport at least once, usually from the back of the production addition, getting teleported back to the workshop. Each jump was accompanied by more shouts of amazement as well as baffled expressions about the experience of being, for a single split second, between reality.


    Once the excitement and congratulations settled down, we all made our way back to Shack, where Jackie poured shots for us, toasting me and my achievement. I felt a bit weird at first, a bit of imposter syndrome leaking into my mind before I brushed it aside. While the tech wasn''t mine, what I had achieved with it was, and that was worth celebrating.


    Once we had all gathered up, including Frank, who had been working to set up his lab, Kaytlyn eventually spoke up, like she couldn''t hold herself back anymore.


    "So... what''s next?" She asked, wired with eager, nervous energy. "I can''t believe you got a working teleporter, this is fucking nova."


    "Well, first off, we build a second teleporter and send out half of it to wherever Samwise and Noah have picked for our vault," I explained, leaning back in my chair. "Once it''s set up, we ship everything we prepared to the location, and the two of them get started building our home away from home. That''s going to be a pretty long project, all things considered, but the first goal is a teleport network station, so I can start handing out emergency beacons to everyone. After that, the focus will be on living quarters and basic living requirements. Then Noah goes really wild and starts¡­ well, I hesitate to say a whole underground city¡­ but maybe town? I want to make this place as absolutely self-sufficient as possible."


    "That kinda just sounds like what Noah and his guys will be doing," Jackie pointed out. "What will we be doing?"


    "Right, well, I''ll still be working on my inspiration, but until we have a certain amount of build-up at the bunker, it''s basically just business as usual," I explained with a shrug. "We can take jobs and keep hunting Wraiths and scavs, too. Eventually, I''m moving my workshop to the vault, but that''s just the details. When the vault is ready for us to live in, and emergency beacons have been spread around to anyone who might be in danger, then we will be prepared to start stirring up some trouble. That''s when things will kick into high gear. For now, we wait, keep going, doing what we do."


    "Huh¡­ well, in that case, I''ll start looking for our next Gig," Jackie said, leaning back in his chair. "Been holding off on accepting any since we''ve been busy with the Wraiths and with your stuff."


    "And I''ll get looking for another Wraith base to hit," Kayt volunteered happily. "I know there is a party base somewhere around the outskirts. It might be a good target. Not gonna be a lot worth stealing there, but should do nice to send a message."


    "Those both sound great, and should give me time to get back to work. Frank?" I said, turning to the doctor. "Once you get your lab open, Let me know. Assuming it all works out, I want to start making some medical and working on biotech as well. This... inspiration has a whole lot to work on, and I''m really trying to get everything I can out of it."


    After about an hour of discussing what was next and what our plans were, as well as sitting down and eating Jackie''s food in peace, it was time for me to get back to work. Time was ticking already, and I didn''t have any to waste.


    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    When I returned to the workshop, Samwise was already deconstructing the teleporter so we could move it and make some modifications. Noah was already mostly done building the teleporting room beneath the garage, basically just a ten by twenty-foot room with a trio of fusion reactors and the catcher device buried under the floor. It would also have a locator for the second teleporter, which would allow people to bounce back and forth between this place and the teleport hub that would eventually exist at our bunker.


    Once the modifications to the teleporter were complete and the second pair was being built, Samwise would start developing a transport drone. Nothing complicated, just something to carry Noah, a pair of MRVNs, a fusion reactor, and the teleporter equipment. Once that was set up at the new location, we could start sending stuff over as quickly as possible.


    According to Samwise and Noah, I only had to wait twenty to twenty-five hours before I could teleport off to the new bunker. Both of them had been working incredibly hard on this process, even as Samwise was helping me put the teleporters together. This included coming up with a list of available locations for us to build the vault.


    "The first option we considered was any area with solid bedrock, safe for digging," Noah explained. "Then Samwise realized that was already a requirement for most stable mines."


    "Not only would that satisfy the question of stability, but an intact mine would give us a significant bonus in the speed of creation," Samwise pointed out. "Yes, our particle bore makes our drilling speed already incredible, but being able to maneuver around the rooms we are making via already mined-out sections would make the process significantly easier."


    "And it wouldn''t weaken the structure either, as long as we were careful," I agreed with a nod. "Smart."


    "Indeed. Unfortunately, neither Noah nor I enjoyed the idea of settling somewhere that already exists on corporation records," Samwise admitted. "As unlikely as it would be for any corporation to connect the dots, it is not impossible. Therefore, we concluded that our best bet was to find a natural cave system."


    My keyphone vibrated, and as I pulled it out, I revealed a map of the west coast of North America. It was divided up in ways I didn''t recognize, most notably with a north and south California. A red star appeared and was quickly labeled "Night City." After a moment, a wide half-circle appeared, covering the land around Night City. Hundreds of smaller green dots appeared within the circle.


    "Within a hundred miles of Night City, there are more than a hundred and fifty known cave systems, many of which start with a river descending into the ground," Samwsie explained. "I designed a drone to travel to and scan likely locations of unknown cave systems. Eventually, we found a suitable location."


    Another image showed an aerial view of some large hills with rocky faces alongside several spots. In the center was a sort of sinking valley, a stream running through it before disappearing. The drone, because that was the only sort of thing that could be recording this type of footage, circled around the area, giving me a better idea of the scale. What I had thought was that the hills were actually quite large. They weren''t exactly full-scale mountains, but they were still quite large and definitely what I would consider defensible positions.


    Once the drone was finished flying overhead, the footage turned into scans, showing off the data the drone collected. Apparently, the rover went deep into the Earth, following a cave river that sank downward. The river was just one part of a vast cave structure that, if the scans were correct, varied from thin, body-squeezing cracks to full-on theater-esque caverns, big enough to fit the entire garage inside. With the addition!


    "The scanning systems the drone had on board could only go down so far, but ecological data from the surrounding area suggests the system should go down even deeper," Noah explained. "Even if it doesn''t, the cave system shown is more than enough space to start. I would like to preserve some of the caves for their natural beauty, but this medium-sized chamber would provide a sufficient starting point for further spreading. I suggest we temporarily set up the teleporter catcher there."


    Noah pointed out what he was referring to, and I nodded in agreement. Any time we could save digging was time well spent, and these caves did look interesting.


    "Alright, I''m glad you guys went above and beyond for this. I like this location, and I agree it should work for our needs. Well done," I said with a smile, patting each of them on the shoulder. "I want you guys to run with this. You know the schedule, and you know the plan. Just keep me updated on your progress, and expect me to stop around randomly because I won''t be able to resist seeing your progress myself. While you guys are working on that, I''ll focus on getting as much as possible from this tech tree."


    Both of the AIs agreed and, after a bit more talking, split off to continue their work. They promised another update when the teleporter was set up at our new base.


    As I watched them walk away, I had to forcibly turn to my seat in my workshop. I desperately wanted to be involved with making the vault, designing the look, and planning its overall shape and organization. Every aspect of it appealed to a baser instinct of mine to build shelter, build home. But I couldn''t because only I could take the knowledge from my tech tree and bring it into this world. I was responsible for the tech we would use, and without me copying it down, who knows what we would lose out on.


    After all, this was exactly why I had created my AI companions, to expand what we could work on while I was still keeping up with my Tinker of Fiction tech. It kind of made me want to draw another dud tech tree. That way, I could have plenty of time to work on my own creations without wasting time with any valuable universe tech.


    I let out a long breath, shook my head, and finally turned to the screen. I had gotten through vault technology, energy generation, energy weapons tech, some more exotic energy and particle sciences, and now through teleportation.


    Technically, I could see another teleportation creation further on, connected to some Institute tech involving information and wave compression, but I was satisfied with my level of understanding for now. Not only that, but I could also see that the design for the Institute teleportation system, which was admittedly much more flexible than the Big Mountain version, was substantially larger, requiring significant setup and a facility around half the size of the garage. As it stood, it wasn''t worth the effort or time it would take to make and assemble, not when what I had worked perfectly well already for what I needed.


    With everything that I had managed to make my way through up to this point, it was time to start a second, reorganized list of what I wanted from this tech tree. If I dedicated a solid five days to medicine, chemistry, and biology, I would have only four days left to build more generalized tech. This was not as much time as I wished I had since there were a lot of niche little things that I wanted from all corners of the tree.


    First up, I wanted the stealth systems. I could see several different instances of the tech emerging through the whole tree, and while a large part of me wanted to study all or at least a few of them, it was officially time to start cutting down on what I was working on. Ultimately, I decided to create both the Stealth Suit MkII and the Chinese Stealth Suit. The MkII was the pinnacle of stealth technology that Big Mountain could bring to bear, with several innovations that made it superior to the Chinese Stealth Suit in almost every way¡­ except they couldn''t quite get a grip on the long-term stealth field itself. Working with both of them would hopefully allow me to integrate the best aspects of both into our armor, giving us the stealth field, enhanced stealth capabilities, and some of the best armor on the planet.


    Beyond the two stealth suits, which I was hoping to finish before the day was over, part of me wanted to take a crack at the auto-doc systems. I had, obviously, created a firmly superior doctor when I made Frank, but the idea of a non-AI emergency aid system¡­ I would have to talk to Frank and discuss what he thought before officially adding it to the list.


    I worked for a few hours to finish my list, or at least the next version of my list, and immediately, finally, got back to work. I started by selecting which version of the stealth suit I would make, quickly settling on the most advanced version that China had developed before the Fallout universe burned their Earth. This armor was the version assigned to the<u> Crimson Dragoons</u></a>, China''s most elite stealth soldiers. Luckily, I had advanced far enough in my understanding of exotic energies and the behavior of photons that I could build it without diving into earlier bits of tech first.


    The two stealth suits I wanted to make functioned by mitigating the two primary aspects of stealth, visibility, and audibility. The Chinese suit created the infamous stealth field, creating a low energy field around the wearer that caused photons to weave around it like water around a streamlined stone pillar. It was not perfect, as some photons do not reintegrate into their proper angle, causing the slight scattering effect I remembered from the games. That scattering of light caused an almost mirage-like effect and became a lot less noticeable when the wearer stopped moving. Still, even when the wearer was running at full sprint, the most advanced version kept the image relatively clear.


    On the flip side, the MkII from Big Mountain primarily functioned by negating the sound made by the user. Not only did its materials absorb sound extremely well, especially the boots, but the <u>chest plate</u></a> was made of an advanced microphone and speaker system. It would, over time, listen and learn to the noises that the user made, everything from squeaking boots to cracking joints and even the user''s heartbeat. It would then use <u>Active Noise Control</u></a> to minimize or even erase the user''s auditory presence. It could even negate things like creaking floorboards and squeaking doors if the learning system was trained enough.


    Which, interestingly, was why the suite required repeat testing under harsher and harsher conditions. In the game, each time you ran the simulations in Big Mountain, the armor would get better and better. This directly represented the armor system''s ability to learn and predict sound before using its noise-canceling tech to silence it. A half-trained suit could turn something like shattering glass into a series of random soft clicks, while a fully trained suit would disguise it as a low hum, like a generator or light kicking on.


    Combining the two systems together would result in an incredible level of stealth, especially for someone like Kaytlyn, who was already skilled at sneaking around.


    Completing both pieces of armor took me into just barely the following day, the early morning air cool rolling in through the air vents and into the garage. While it was late, I couldn''t help but want to try the suits on. With an MRVN''s help, I carefully put the Chinese stealth suit on, feeling the suit actually contract slightly as it is pulled and settled on me. The suit had minimal armor, so little that I would hesitate to call it even stab-proof. As far as I could tell, however, there was no mechanical reason for it. The stealth field was not sensitive to metal or ceramic plating, nor was it restricted by being skintight or anything like that. As far as I could tell, the Chinese army simply thought that someone relying on stealth shouldn''t lean on armor as a crutch.


    Activating the suit was as simple as activating a hidden button on the belt. Once pressed, it caused a rush of noise to resonate over me as the stealth field activated. It honestly sounded nearly identical to the sounds from the games, causing a wave of nostalgia to flow over me, just like the noise. I turned to the MRVN unit, the one that had helped me get dressed, and spread my arms out.


    "How do I look?"


    "The field is effective, sir. I am detecting a near ninety-two point four percent reduction in visibly, eight two point seven when you move," the young, undeformed AI responded. "User is still visible with thermal scans, though it is muted."


    "I bet I can get that beat when I redesign them," I said with a smirk, looking down at my barely detectable hands. "Okay, this is fantastic, I''m putting it in everyone''s armor. It''s way too useful not to have."


    I tested the flexibility and limitations of the stealth suit before finally taking it off and heading out. I still hadn''t tried on the MkII, but that could wait. I had a long day tomorrow of building and designing, and I needed to get some sleep before it was too late.

 Chapter Forty Nine

    I woke up the next morning to my alarm blaring. I was bleary-eyed and very much not ready for the day, which was exactly what I got for staying up so late in the first place. I quickly made myself some coffee and enjoyed the first cup while still lying in bed, my back against the headrest. It wasn''t until I had poured my second cup that I finally felt mentally prepared to leave my trailer.


    I headed to the Shack, to the small kitchen we had tucked into the corner. Jackie wasn''t in town, having returned to help his mother around the bar. That was fine. It just meant I would put together a simple fruit salad for breakfast, as well as a big chunk of cheese with some surprisingly decent crackers. I could have done something more fancy, but Kayt had already eaten, and cooking big things just for one person always seemed silly to me.


    When I finally made my way to my workshop, watered, fed, and ready for the day, it was a bit later than I usually started. Then again, considering the state I was in when I woke up, getting to my workshop at all was a win.


    With the stealth suits finished, it was time to start tackling the rest of the list. At that point, I had finished some of the big things, which just left a lot of smaller things to tackle. For instance, Vault-Tec and several of its subsidiaries and branching companies have gone out of their way to develop methods of cleaning and repairing ecosystems. Some of these devices were trash, excuses to prop up and show off as cures and fixes for the world after the apocalypse. Other things, like the water purification system I had made for during my bunker/vault spree, were actually incredibly effective and advanced for their time. Most of this technology and science would have been crammed into the G.E.C.K. database.


    One of the bits I wanted the most was a method of radiation decontamination that allowed a person to remove radioactive particles and contamination from topsoil. It was a process that was significantly faster and more effective than removing the topsoil and stuffing it away in a radiation-proof container or just simply burying it, which was both how the Cyberpunk world and my old home primarily dealt with heavy radiation contamination.


    Having a way to actually clean dirty was not something anyone else had here, as far as I knew. Since I just wanted to have a full understanding of the process, I built a simple, small version of the machine, which looked kind of like a miniature combine harvester.


    Essentially, the machine chewed up the dirt in front of it using a grinding and digging apparatus. The dirt is then passed through a purification system, which uses a series of fields similar to the photonic resonance barriers, though not quite the same. These barriers had unique interactions with radiation, namely that particles of contaminated materials had a harder time passing through them. By passing the dirt through a dozen of them at an angle, you could slowly shift it to the side, sorting the contaminated material out of the dirt.


    The result was cleaner dirt coming out the back of the machine and radioactive materials being sucked up into a storage container. Unfortunately, the process wasn''t a hundred percent effective, so each strip of contaminated dirt required multiple passes to truly be considered clean and safe.


    Of course, the process was far from perfect. The grinding and digging would kick up a good amount of contaminated dust, and the machine you are using will no doubt get covered in contaminated materials. Still, the process, as well as the background information about the specifically tuned projected field, was making the device worth it.


    Creating the device, which was about the side of a large home refrigerator, laid out on its side, took about three hours and unlocked a solid understanding of how radioactive contamination spread and could be handled. That knowledge alone got me looking at my list again, looking to add other decontamination methods for other issues, with the hope that they would fill in more gaps in my knowledge.


    I was just considering what to do next when my radio chirped.


    "Jackson, we have an incoming vehicle," Murtaugh said, voice coming through clear. "It appears to be Sable Arcturus'' vehicle. She is three minutes out at current speed."


    "Alright, spin up the defenses, but keep them off of her directly," I ordered. "I''ll be waiting for her by the Shack."


    "Yes, sir."


    I quickly patted myself down, confirming my pistol was on my hip, before making my way out of the workshop, sealing it up, and locking the door. I could see security tightening up as well, the AI MRVNs retreating into the production addition, where Samwise and Noah already were. Kayt and Riggs also showed up, the former jumping down from her spot on top of the security building.


    "No armor?" She asked. "Guess you trust her now?"


    "I feel like I''m starting to," I said, pulling down my shirt to reveal I was wearing my undersuit. "Not completely, mind you, but at this point, I''m giving her the general benefit of the doubt since she has stayed faithful to her promises."


    She nodded before boosting up onto the Shack, leaving Riggs alone to defend me. Luckily, he was in his full armor, including his helmet. Arthur, his bear robot, was not far behind, looking intimidating as hell. Duke, having followed me out of the garage, sniffed around Arthur''s feet before going to sit by me. I ran my hand over his head, scratching his fur as we waited for Sabel to arrive.


    "Any idea what she wants?" Riggs asked, his hand casually resting on his belt, just by one of his pistols.


    "Last time she was here, she mentioned eventually needing more parts to sell," I responded. "Wish I had thought of coming up with them while I had the time. I''ve got no idea what to give her now."


    "Procrastination is a bitch."


    I snorted and shook my head, looking out down the road, where I could see the approaching cloud of dust, still behind a small hill. Eventually, Sable''s <u>Rayfield Caliburn</u></a> came into view, pulling out from behind the desert terrain. After a few seconds, the vehicle noticeably decelerated before returning to its original speed until it finally approached the town. The vehicle slowly pulled in through the road, passing the undeployed bollards before finally pulling in front of the Shack. A moment later, the familiar white hair, golden-eyed woman stepped out of her vehicle. She took a look around, turning to face the walls that now encircled the town center, shaking her head.


    "Looks like you''ve been busy," She said, turning to focus on me. "You really aren''t good at playing it low-key, are you?"


    "We were attacked by Wraiths, and it was a knee-jerk reaction," I said with a shrug and a "what can you do" tone. "I''m surprised you didn''t hear about it."


    "Oh, there are plenty of rumors and questions floating about what''s going on at Rocky Ridge. I just underestimated what a ''whole defensive perimeter, overnight'' meant," She assured me, shaking her head. "You''re lucky that, so far, I''ve managed to keep people focused on what you''re offering."


    "Oh, goodie, I love knowing people are asking questions," I said, shaking my head. "C''mon, let''s get out of the sun."


    I led the way inside, holding the door open for the Corpo woman. She smirked and stepped inside, only to stop and look around. The interior of the shack had changed a lot since she had last been here, including the open area above the meeting space being covered to make more room for Frank''s lab.


    "Looks like it''s not just the outside that''s changing," She said, shaking her head, before turning back to look at me, her hip cocked with her hand resting on it. "How are you making things this fast, Jackson? This kind of speed usually means some serious backing, usually a corporation burning some heavy Eddies to push things along."


    "No one is backing us, Sable. Just pushing the limits of tech," I assured her. "You know what kind of stuff we are building here. You''ve peeked behind the curtain."


    "Pushing the limits? And I''m secretly Johnny Silver''s kid," she responded, shaking her head. "Fine, I won''t push for more. Keep your secrets."


    She turned and made her way to the table, taking a seat with her usual subtle grace. As she settled, I watched as she pulled out a cigarette, casually lighting it with a snap of her fingers, something sparking as she did. She took a slow pull as I sat down across from her, leaning back in my chair. Despite the fact that it all seemed very... average for her, there was something off.


    "So, what''s up?" I asked, looking her over. "You seem¡­ different today."


    She pulled her smoke from her lips and looked at me, just a slight hint of surprise on her face. As she breathed in the last bit of smoke, she chuckled lightly.


    "Surprised you notice, Jackson, I thought your friend, the big guy with the pretty eyes, was the people person in your group," She said. "Did someone get a behavioral reader when I wasn''t looking?"


    "No, but you''re not so difficult to read," I said, ignoring what she dig at Jackie. She absolutely knew his name, probably knew it before she even met any of us. "Everything okay?"


    "Everything is fine. TinkerTech is doing well, the team is growing, and money is still coming in," She assured me. "We have proper accountants now, which means they set up an account for you, with your profits being sent there. Here is your access."


    She slid a data chip across the table to me, and I grabbed it, carefully sliding it into my keyphone. The automated systems scanned it in depth for any harmful code before accessing it. It was the account security information, which I could pair with my own. After a bit of connecting, I could now tap into both to send money around. I steadily ignored the rather large number sitting in the account, though I did make a mental note to get Jackie asking around for more fruits and vegetables to buy.


    I was desperate for him to find some salmon.


    "That''s good. I''m glad the business is doing well," I asked, giving her an eye, which caused her to snort.


    "Nosey, aren''t you? And after I promised not to poke into your secrets. Everything is fine. My grandfather called a family meeting, which I was forced to sit through," She explained. "I don''t get along with them, mostly since I''ve been so determined to strike out on my own, while most of them are happy to ride the family name."


    "What was the meeting about?"


    "Family business," she responded, giving me a harsh look and holding it for a moment before laughing. "No, nothing like that, Jackson. A rival group has been getting active, and my grandfather is concerned they may be pushing for some sort of acquisition or political action. Nothing for you to worry about. It won''t affect your group in the slightest. I''ve separated TinkerTech pretty well from my name, and even if they did connect us, they can''t just go around tearing down non-connected businesses. At this point, we are starting to arrive at a safe zone, where attacking us would threaten several large-scale projects they, or anyone for that matter, can''t mess with."


    "I assume you''ll need another batch of parts?" I asked, the corpo woman nodding. "Alright. Sit tight, I''ll go get some stuff."


    "...Do you think I could come with you? Maybe get a tour?" She asked, suddenly very concerned about her nails. When she looked up at me, seeing my surprised face, she shrugged. "What? You keep talking about what''s happening behind the curtain. You can''t expect to keep teasing a girl and for her not to get curious."


    I narrowed my eyes at her, trying to judge her expression. As far as I could tell, she seemed genuinely curious. Unfortunately, she had been correct earlier when she stated that I wasn''t the team''s people person. Jackie was. Then again, she knew we were doing crazy things already, like my plasma pistol and how Duke actually moved. Showing a bit more wouldn''t be the end of the world.


    Besides, the garage had already been cleared up of anything to do with teleportation. Even the teleport room under the garage just looked like an empty room, with an attached room filled with three heavy-duty fusion generators.


    "Alright. We can check out some of my worship," I agreed. "Don''t expect me to answer all of your questions, though."


    "Probably wouldn''t understand the answers," She admitted, standing from her seat. "I know next to nothing about tech and engineering."


    I stood after her, Riggs following us both as we left the Shack and made our way over to the garage. We entered through the side door, passing through the room, which now had an extra stairway going down, sealed off with another heavy-duty door. I led Sable into my workshop, heading over to my computer and sitting down. The Corpo walked around Samwise''s section, admiring the room.


    "Seems basics, but I''m guessing that appearances may be deceiving," She said, running her hand along the helmet of the T-51 power armor. "This looks¡­"


    "Crude? Yeah, it''s a proof-of-concept helmet for a new style of power armor," I explained. "Something a user can hop in and out of as needed and is much cheaper and easier to manufacture than other suits. This is just the basic first iteration. I want to spend some time refining it into something really impressive."


    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    She looked shocked for a moment, studying the helmet for a moment before looking back at me.


    "Rapid deployment power armor?" She asked, with a hint of confusion. "How quick can you get in and out of it?"


    "At the moment, five or six seconds," I answered with a shrug. "I''m pretty sure I can lower that, though. Like I said, the systems are crude at the moment, just a proof of concept. Some work should bring the armor and tech up to more realistic levels."


    "Fucking hell, six seconds? You realize you''ve got your closest competitor beat by a minute or two already," She assured me, pulling her hand away from the helmet. "How did you manage that?"


    "By simplifying the system until there was enough room for several parts to fold out, letting the user climb in and out as they wish," I explained. "Would you like to see it? It''s stored away at the moment, but I could go get it. The helmet is more of a desk ornament than anything."


    "No, that''s fine. I don''t want to bother you for too long. We both have work to do, after all," Sable responded, her eyes still trailing over the shop. "What can you give me to bring back?"


    "Well¡­If I''m honest, I meant to put a box together over time, but I forgot," I admitted. "So-"


    "Sir, Sam mentioned putting some suggestions together on a list synced with your keyphone," Riggs said from beside the doorway. "You''ve been busy for the past few days."


    "Damn, he is a lifesaver," I said, pulling out my phone, quickly finding the list app we used.


    Samwise, brilliant AI that he was, had created a list of a dozen different items, ranging from the new coolant liquid we had just formulated from the Fallout nuclear generator to a more durable LED that was cheap and powerful. I quickly went through the list and selected four of them, including the LEDs. The Fallout coolant did not make the list, as I was pretty sure it was actually too good for the moment. It did, however, give me an idea. I had several coolant mixtures from Titanfalll, which were definitely better than what they had here. Even better, the formulas that were on the lower end of quality were not so dramatically superior, unlike what the Fallout universe had provided. For that, I simply wrote down the chemical information and a method for synthesizing it.


    For everything else, I needed to print out a model with a molly maker.


    "You ready to see how I''m making changes so fast?" I asked, before gesturing over to the small molly maker array in the corner of my workspace. "Just watch."


    Sable, the cool-as-ice Corpo veteran, approached the small molly makers, peering into the viewing panel that was built into them, just as I started them up. She startled a bit as they got going but watched them closely as the machine furiously created a stack of LEDs.


    "Your trick is 3D printing?" She asked, looking back at me with a frown.


    "At a molecular level," I explained. "No seams, no defects large enough to interact with significantly advanced tech, and fast as well. It takes raw materials and prints out entire parts, sometimes entire devices, at once. The LEDs contain several different materials, and yet the printer will complete them without any input from me, and no assembly. Metal, polymer, glass, other complicated materials, they do it all, and they do it fast."


    "That''s¡­ ridiculous," she said, turning back to watch the molly maker work. "We have printers that work with special alloys, but¡­"


    "Of course, that only works with production, I still need to design the items," I explained, gesturing to my computer. "Then print them out."


    "Incredible. I certainly made the right decision seeking you out, Jackson," She said, undaunted by my second statement. "We are going to change the world, assuming we don''t get ourselves killed too soon."


    "Yeah, I''m working on that as well," I said, shrugging when she looked back at me. "Stop by in another week or two, I might have something for you to keep on you, something that will keep you safe."


    She narrowed her eyes for a moment before snorting and shaking her head.


    "Alright, keep your secrets, you already shared enough," She said, sitting back on the edge of my desk. "Just keep in mind my situation. I can''t exactly go carrying around a big briefcase with dangerous materials in it, or walking around with a big armored Borg. Well¡­ actually, that might be nice¡­ My very own Adam Smasher would be an interesting image¡­"


    "Nothing like that, unfortunately," I admitted. "Just a nice, subtle, get-out-of-jail-free card."


    Her eyes narrowed again, but this time, she said nothing, simply rolling her eyes after a moment. We talked for another thirty minutes, discussing some of my other projects and explaining that the Pip-Boy still on my desk was more of an artistic desk piece than a functional creation. I showed her my plasma pistol, which I kept by my desk, letting her hold it herself. I also showed her some advanced tools from the Titanfall universe, as well as showing off my enhanced strength, which was given to me by my undersuit.


    I debated showing her a fusion generator but figured that might be too much for the moment. She might play the cool, unflappable Corpo, but even that had limits.


    Probably.


    When the LEDs were done, a MRVN came out from the production room, carrying a plastic box, which contained everything else I was handing over. I slipped a shard that held the technical information into her hand before Riggs carefully lifted the box, and we left the workshop, heading to her car. As we got close, Sable took the box from Riggs and stored it on her passenger seat, walking around her vehicle partially before topping to lean back against the hood of her extremely expensive supercar.


    "So, something you''re probably not going to like," she said, her tone at least slightly apologetic. "We are getting to the point where people are going to want to see you, the person responsible for all this."


    I barely held back a groan, putting my hand to my forehead. Why I never saw something like that coming, I didn''t know.


    "Is it really necessary?" I asked.


    "Honestly, yes," she responded. "People want to be able to put a face to the name. So far, we have deals with seventeen major companies, including Militech and Arasaka, so we are quickly reaching that equilibrium we talked about, where you are too sensitive to be worth trying to fuck with."


    "You sure I can''t do the whole secret eccentric genius, who only meets people over video calls? Preferably while pixilated and with a voice changer?"


    She gave me an annoyed look, and I held my hands up in surrender.


    "Alright, alright, we can do your PR tour," I said. "As much as I might hate it."


    "Good. I would also like to, at this stage, introduce a bit of a falsehood," She said, continuing with a nod. "I suggest we present you as the head of a team rather than the sole genius."


    "Okay... I have no issues with that. I''m not here to impress anyone after all," I responded. "But why?"


    "Well, for one, it knocks the surprise factor down a few levels," She answered easily. "It''s a lot easier to explain that a group is developing these things rather than just one person.


    "So, I''m the leader of what, a think tank?"


    "Pretty much, and now we are building a company around what you have been developing in relative secret," She said with a nod. It explains the speed and quantity of what you are releasing."


    I nodded, chewing my lip for a moment, just long enough for her to pick up on my nervousness.


    "Don''t worry about it too much," She assured me. "We can sit down and have a much deeper conversation about it when the time comes. We have plenty of time to plan and for you to prepare. I just wanted you to know that it''s something we may need to think about in a few weeks, maybe a month."


    "You sure that is safe?"


    "About as safe as we could hope for," She responded with a shrug. "You may be¡­ something else, something unique, but the situation we are trying to set you up as is nothing new. Smart people or groups pop up in weird circumstances sometimes, and the corpo world is used to handling whatever it needs to to make money. And believe me, you are already starting to make people a lot of money. I know for a fact that the artificial muscle you gave me is going to be part of a new batch of precision cyberware from two different companies, and the micromotors solved some big problem Militech was having with one of their drone projects."


    "Alright, I suppose I needed to step out of the shadows eventually," I said with a smirk. "We can talk more about it when you get a better idea about what''s going on."


    "That''s the plan, Jackson," she responded, pushing off of her car and giving me a nod. "I''ll be around, call if you have any questions."


    "Will do," I said, watching her walk around to the driver''s side of her fancy car. "And Sable, you are welcome to come by more often. You know, get to know everyone around here a bit better. I''m starting to feel that I can trust you, so who knows what kind of stuff you might learn."


    She stopped for a moment, before eventually nodding, just the barest hint of something unreadable on her face, before her door opened and she slid inside. It took a moment, but her car started, and she pulled away. The vehicle was traveling at a much more sedate pace than Sable usually pushed it as she drove away. Once she was past the walls and heading down the road, still moving slower than I expected, Riggs stepped up closer from behind me.


    "You really starting to trust her?" He asked, sounding curious.


    "Well, she has invested so much time into us, it wouldn''t make sense if she was just going to hand us off," I responded with a shrug. "I suppose she might be playing some sort of long con, though I have no idea what kind. I can''t imagine any corp just patiently waiting for¡­ well, anything like this, honestly. If this was some sort of scheme¡­ I mean, she could be looking to start her own massive business, using my tech as a foundation¡­ but if that''s her goal, she is going to be pretty surprised when she realizes I''ve blown past everything she knows about us and I''m working on things far beyond what she would imagine."


    "The money sounds good, too," Riggs pointed out, getting a nod from me in return.


    "It lets us expand as far and quickly as we have, without constantly taking jobs or doing crazy sales to the gangs," I explained with a shrug. "Not to mention, the money we are making from selling the parts is funding a lot, including everything we can''t find through scraping, which is a relatively short but very expensive list."


    "It also funded most of the machines in my workshop," Frank said, startling me a bit as he stepped out of Riggs'' shadow. "My apologies. I was merely following along, waiting for our business partner to leave so I could reveal the good news. The Bio lab is finally complete."


    "Really? That''s fantastic!" I said, doing a bit of a fist pump. "Everything is installed and properly hooked up?"


    "Correct, the Bio lab is fully operational," he confirmed. "I will continue working on the food production full-time until you are ready to begin work."


    "I¡­ think we might be starting tomorrow," I admitted. "I want to give it as much time as I can. There is still stuff that I want to get done before shifting gears. How is the production set up in the lab?"


    "There is a considerable array of molly makers prepared," Frank responded. "It should meet any need for anything you wish to make, barring anything larger than might fit in the lab itself."


    "Alright, then we can get to work tomorrow."


    Frank nodded, before turning around and heading back into the Shack, leaving Riggs and me alone.


    "Do you think making something called the Bio lab on top of where people eat and meet with people was smart?" Riggs asked, looking up slightly at where the second floor of the building was.


    "Maybe? We won''t be using it for that for long, maybe a couple of weeks before we move it all to the Vault," I pointed out. "Besides, you''d get exposed to worse things in the rain here than you would with what we will be working on. The only thing I have access to this week that is that bad is the FEV crap, and I''m not touching it with a ten-foot pole. I don''t care what I lose access to."


    FEV was, as far as I was aware, on par with something like the T-virus, except rather than squishy zombies, it created hulking mutated freaks that could tear you limb from limb. I knew it was somewhere in the mostly dark biology-focused branches, but when I found it, there was no way I was touching it. Birthing that into the world was just asking for some stupid fucking crop to get their hands on it and accidentally turn a whole city into super mutants or something.


    Besides, what was the point of turning people into super mutants? I could build a robot that was smarter, stronger, faster, and tougher in half the time, all without being an evil bastard. There was, admittedly, the allure of a possible cure for aging lurking in the research of FEV, but even that wasn''t worth bringing the horrific liquid into this world.


    "Alright, Riggs. I''m gonna go get back to work. I have a whole list of stuff I want to get done before tomorrow, and limited time to get it done," I said, patting his shoulder as I walked by, Duke trotting along beside me.

 Chapter Fifty - Sable Arcturus and Dakota Smith Interlude

    <h2>Sable Arcturus Interlude</h2>


    Sable had been trained from a very young age to handle just about any sort of business situation. Her family, while nowhere near as famous as some of the other dynasty families, was known enough that there was a certain expectancy attached to her name. Her generation, namely her siblings and cousins, were expected to rise up the ranks and add glory and power to the Arcturus name. They were expected to push the name to new heights, strive for profit and influence, and then use that influence to elevate their family further.


    Yet somehow, she was the disappointing one for refusing to take the family job Grandfather had chosen for her. A job defined by her name, where she had no chance of pushing beyond what they had already created.


    She shook her head, trying her best to calm her thoughts. The fact that her mind, trained from such a young age to stay calm and logical, was so¡­ frazzled, showed just how disquieted she was. She ran her fingers through her hair, a move well practiced to seem casual despite how dangerous her nails could be.


    Her Rayfield continued to drive itself away from Rocky Ridge, setting a sedate pace that seemed even slower compared to her normal hair-raising speed. As much as she hated letting the car drive itself, she was not really prepared to drive herself.


    "Crazy fucking geniuses," She said to herself, shaking her head.


    Really, that was unfair. Yes, the incredibly smart did have a reputation for being strange and eccentric. Sable had even met a few people who undoubtedly counted as eccentric geniuses. Difficult to handle people who could, if directed properly, make your company exuberant amounts of money.


    That was not what Jackson was.


    No, Jackson was another beast altogether. She hesitated to even call him a genius, as somehow, that seemed to undervalue what he was. Besides, other than a few spots, he was a surprisingly normal person.


    Now, technically, she hadn''t been entirely honest when explaining to the inventor that she was more than a bit clueless when it came to the tech and innovations they were selling. Her education, after all, had been extremely thorough, and the idea of not being able to at least hold a conversation about the products they were selling was unacceptable. If nothing, she needed to know enough to make them sound good while making sales pitches.


    She would never describe herself as a technological genius, but she knew enough to know the general gist of what was being said to her. And what Jackson was saying was insane. He had shown off his molecular printers, his Molly Makers, as some sort of grand, incredible achievement. And yes, if his description was accurate, they absolutely were. What he didn''t seem to realize was that nearly everything else he talked about was just as groundbreaking. Half the tools he showed off were tech she didn''t recognize in the slightest, and some of the things he mentioned doing were downright baffling.


    Then, one of his worker robots walked in, moving smoothly and steadily as a real person. It had put down a box of goodies, all built in the room behind Jackson''s workshop, before smoothly walking out, with no input or orders from anyone.


    And then there was the fucking bear!


    Following Jackson''s bodyguard around was a massive robotic bear, as big as a fucking <u>MaiMai</u></a>. Jackson''s companion robot, the incredibly smooth and steady canine Duke, was one thing, but that monstrosity? Sable didn''t think things that big could move so steadily and quietly, and yet there it was, following along with barely a sound.


    And let''s not forget what Jackson showed off when she first visited the town! Casually, like it was no big deal, he had pulled out a pistol not much bigger than an <u>Overture</u></a>, and then used it to blast through a boulder with some sort of energy blast. Even if it had been a laser pistol, it still would have been insane, but the pale green energy did not match any laser weapon she knew of. He then casually promised more, like this was just the tip of the iceberg.


    Perhaps worse was that she believed him.


    Sable took a deep breath, closing her eyes and slowly releasing it. She worked to calm herself, focusing on what mattered. This was a good thing. Learning that the golden goose you had stumbled on was actually a platinum goose, and that it could also occasionally pump out eggs or rhodium when it was feeling frisky was a good thing.


    As long as no one else found out about it.


    After a minute of mentally spinning her wheels, she cursed loudly, resisting the urge to slice through the center console with her fingers. Instead, she tapped into her cyberware and dialed a number. This was not a situation where she could rely on resources scratched up from nothing. She needed real professionals, and she needed them as soon as possible. Which meant doing the unthinkable.


    Calling a "family friend."


    The phone call, passing through her Rayfield and projecting up along the front windshield like a hologram, rang for a few seconds before a face popped up. It was a woman, young, peppy, and clearly sculpted to look perfectly attractive.


    "Hello, Ms. Arcturus. I am Mr. Diminski''s secretary," She explained with a perfectly programmed thousand-watt smile. "I apologize, but Mr. Diminski is currently in a meeting. Could I take a message for him?"


    "Yes, tell him Sable is looking to hire his services," Sable explained. "And I''m willing to pay the extra discrepancy fee."


    "Very well, Ms Arcturus, I will see that Mr. Diminski receives this message as soon as his meeting is complete," The secretary said with the same smile plastered on her face. "Is there anything else?"


    "No," Sable answered simply.


    "Very well, have a nice day!"


    The call cutout and Sable chewed the inside of her cheek. Diminski was a specialist service provider who was well-known in the field of obfuscation. His job, or rather his company''s job, was to quell rumors, squash whispers, and spread misinformation. This would likely seem small time to him, but with her name attached, he would pass the job off to one of his teams anyway. She was loathe to use her family name or contacts like this, but Jackson was well past what she had managed to pull together so far. She needed a professional team in play, cutting out any rumors that were spreading.


    She let out another long breath, finally reaching forward and tapping the autopilot off, taking control of the vehicle. She slowly pushed the pedal down, speeding up, but she still didn''t return to her usual breakneck speed. Instead, she simply watched the speedometer climb to a more realistic speed than what the autopilot kept. As she drove, she mentally went over her plans, re-evaluating them heavily after seeing more of what Jackson had shown her. A lot of them would need to speed up to cover the extra help, while some could be postponed while she prepared.


    She was only about a minute or so out of Night City when a call came through from a familiar number. Sable couldn''t help but smile as she put the number through. The face that appeared as she switched back to autopilot was not a business contact or a new hire. In fact, it wasn''t even an adult. It was a girl, ten years old, with white hair down to her shoulders. Her eyes were purple, but other than that, she could have been a copy of Sable when she was young.


    "Sable! Guess what!" A voice cut through, excited and happy, not a trace of guile or deceit.


    "Hello, Cassie," Sable greeted, unable to keep the smile off her face. "What is it?


    Young Cassiopeia Arcturus, daughter of her oldest brother, was as innocent and sweet as you could imagine. Somehow, despite growing up surrounded by people like her father and mother and the rest of the Arcuturus family at that, the young woman was growing up to be kind, genuine, and infectiously happy. Her parents were horrified to find that the preteen failed to take to any of the business lessons they tried to teach her. Her mother was disappointed, instead choosing to dote on Cassie''s older brother, who had taken to the family''s business practices like a pig to shit. Her father had stopped caring, barely interacting with any of his children at all.


    Cassie didn''t mind, though. Despite the poor treatment, her smile was not squashed for a moment.


    Of course, Cassie caused Sable no end of anxiety. The poor, sweet little fish was swimming in a tank full of sharks. It was only a matter of time before someone saw her as an easy target.


    "Today was Miss Rizorio''s day for lessons," The young girl said happily, talking happily about her tutor. "We spent the afternoon painting, I managed to finish¡­"


    The bubbly preteen continued to talk and talk, gushing about her lesson and about how much fun she had with her friends over the weekend. Sable listened with a smile, happy to talk to her favorite family member. Eventually, not too long before Sable was about to pull into the parking garage, little Cassie was forced to hang up. She said goodbye, promised to talk to her soon, and hung up, leaving Sable alone in her car, which now felt all too quiet.


    The smile that had been stretched across Sable''s face slowly faded as she drove the last lap around the garage before finally finding a parking spot near the elevator. At that point, she was only going through the motions, her mind far away.


    Cassie, in a lot of ways, reminded her of herself when she was that age. Not because she had not been a fount of ever-flowing exuberance, happiness, and positivity. No, Sable''s acerbic, sarcastic, and often scathing personality had been set in stone when she was born. Instead, it was her inability to conform, her refusal to just accept and sink into what her parents had told her. It made her want to scoop her up and shield her, to keep the reality of Night City, of this whole fucking world from crushing her spirit.


    She knew how that went. What it did to a kid. She didn''t want that for her.


    She desperately wanted to take care of Cassie, to take her under her wing and teach her how to survive in this world. She could do it, maybe even in a way that would let her keep her open, optimistic nature. But her brother would never go for it, not as she was now. To him, to her whole family, she was the black sheep, a failure. The one who refused to work with them, who struck out on their own and failed.


    But now, she was on a different gig. One without influence from her family, one she had found and fostered on her own. A business that was thriving, even if it was dancing on a razor''s edge. All she had to do was push it further, grow it into a real business¡­ If she could take Tinkertech to the next level, then maybe her brother would let Cassie work under her. She could give the poor girl what she actually needed, support, rather than what her family felt she needed, a good brainwashing.


    Letting out a long breath and leaning on the steering wheel, Sable finally activated the vehicle''s gull-wing doors, stepping out of the door smoothly. By the time she was out of her vehicle, she had schooled her features perfectly, and the cool, smooth look she always sported had returned. She needed to focus on growing this business into a powerhouse, and then she could think about saving her niece.


    She casually scanned the parking garage, more by habit than anything, before making her way around her vehicle and retrieving the box of goods she had just received from Jackson. After making sure everything was secured, she left her car behind, making her way into the primary business elevator.


    Once inside, she entered the floor, followed by the security code, and the elevator began to ascend, rising up about thirty floors before finally stopping. She stepped out into the hallway, making her way into the rented rooms TinkerTech worked from. The moment she stepped inside, she was immediately greeted by her assistant.


    "Welcome back, Ms. Arcturus," the pale, blacked haired woman said, following after her as she walked. "Two messages were left for you while you were gone, one from the lawyer firm you are in talks with, as well as a supplies company you contacted."


    "Tell Richard and Sons that I will call them within the next fifteen minutes," Sable responded, her pace not slowing. "Tell the supplies company that they have their offer. Either agree to the deal, or I''ll find someone who will. It''s not even a bad deal."


    "Yes, Ma''am," her assistant said, turning back to head to her desk, leaving Sable alone as she made a turn to one of the larger rooms on the corner of their floor.


    The door ahead of her slid open silently as she stepped in, revealing a room with three other people in it, set up in relatively open cubicles. All three employees, an older man, a younger man, and a middle-aged woman, were visible from the doorway. As she entered, all three of them stood and turned to her, various looks of interest on their faces. As she stepped inside, the older man stepped forward, greeting her with a slight bow.


    "Ms. Arcturus, welcome back," He said, his eye drifting to the box she was holding. "Is that...?"


    "That''s right, our next wave of goods," She confirmed, carrying her box past the older man to the fourth, empty cubicle.


    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    Inside was a bench, which was covered by the previous batch of Jackson designs. She used the edge of the box to push them to the side before turning to address her salesmen. She had hired these people for a mix of their technical know-how and their ability to sell their products. Each of them had friends in different industries, and with their help, she would be able to disseminate Jackson''s developments across several businesses. Already, this group was making progress from the last batch, but this next one would set them apart as an independent development company, not just a one-hit wonder.


    "What did we get this time?" Parker, the younger man she had hired, asked, peeking up over the edge of the cubicle.


    "Another set of five things, including a supposedly more efficient coolant liquid and high-powered LED system," She responded, stepping back to let them get access to the box. "Samples and information on the parts should be there, save for the coolant, which only has specs and manufacturing instructions."


    "We''ll need to get some whipped up then," The older man responded, pulling out the data shard labeled ''coolant.'' "Should we use the same company as before?"


    "Yes, I finished signing a contract with them yesterday. They should accept any requests you need under a certain ten thousand eddies," Sable confirmed. "Anything past that will require sign-off from me. Do not abuse that, as I read the end-of-the-month list anyway."


    Sable listened to and discussed some of the options her employees came up with immediately before eventually leaving them to their jobs. They were all doing their best, working hard to secure their positions in the company. All of them had been sold on Sable''s assurances that this was only the beginning and that if the company withstood the early stages, it could become a pillar of Night City and beyond.


    After she left, she made her way to her office, the corner space overlooking a decent view. It was hard not to see the buildings around her and imagine just how much better their business would be in a few years. As long as they survived, the sky was the limit with what Jackson was producing.


    After a minute or so of daydreaming, the corpo woman steadied herself, shaking the thoughts of grandeur away. If she wanted to get the company to that point, she would need to make sure that it survived that long. She idly tapped the phone system on her desk, resigning herself to an afternoon of phone calls and messages.


    <h2>Dakota Smith Interlude</h2>


    The hot, dry desert air was much more bearable when sitting under the shade, sipping a glass of clean water. The fact that it was free, that it had been pulled from the air in a method that still confused her and her other techie''s, made it all the better. She had taken to sitting in the shade, just outside her shop, enjoying a cold glass while looking out over the desert at the monolith that was Night City. A fuck you to the corpos, that they had shed a major chain, the major chain, that they had wrapped around the nomad families'' necks for generations.


    Saul might be obsessed with food, and finding a way to feed the Aldecados without the help of supply chains or stores, but he was a minority, by and large. The truth was that Nomads had access to the same food that most people did, and while it was a pain to have to go into a city to purchase it, it was hardly something that held them back.


    No food company had prepared to restrict their food to individual people, so they lacked the ability to use their food to force any one group into servitude. It wasn''t like the XXL Burrito machines could tell who was feeding them eddies. Hell, ten minutes and a thousand eddies and you could find dozens of workers willing to lose large shipments of food, most of it stuffed full of enough preservatives to last for months.


    No, food was not the noose around the Nomad''s neck. Water was.


    And then Jackson came and cut that chain free. Not to demand payment, not to squeeze the nomads for all they were worth, but to show that he was a friend, someone who wouldn''t just screw them over the first chance they had. Now, several water purification companies were bankrupt and pure, clean water was as good as free.


    Dakota finished the last sip of her water, placing the glass on the table. The medical unit on her chest hissed softly, and a flush of oxygen flowed for a moment, her breath coming a little easier, the weight on her shoulders lifting just enough to be noticeable. Despite the fact that her afternoon routine was complete, she remained sitting, waiting. After a few minutes, one of her guards walked around the side of her building, approaching her calmly.


    "Saul and his second in command are here," She said simply, waiting for her response.


    "Send them around," Dakota responded, leaning back in her chair.


    The armed woman nodded and went back the way she came, disappearing around the corner. A minute later and the two familiar faces of Saul and Panam came around the corner. Saul approached first, and after a moment, Dakota gestured for him to sit in the only other chair in her little shaded spot. Panam remained standing behind him, her arms crossed and reeking of frustration and agitation, her default state these days if what she heard had any truth.


    Not hard to imagine, as Saul could be¡­ difficult to work with.


    "What is it going to be, Saul?" She asked, giving him a look. "I told you before the decision is up to you and your family and that you would need to make it soon. So what is it? Did you reach a decision?"


    "It''s not that simple, Dakota," He complained with a frown. "Especially not after what he and his band did to the Wraiths."


    Panam had a physical reaction to what he said, shaking her head and barely restraining herself from saying anything. Dakota''s only visual reaction was to raise her eyebrow.


    "What he did to the Wraiths was extreme, but earned," Dakota said, with no room for debate.


    "Earned? It was monstrous!" Saul said, sounding disgusted. "I saw the cement works slaughter with my own eyes, he mutilated them!"


    "And? Have the Wraiths done anything less to us?" Dakota asked, fighting her rising frustration. "At least he had the decency to kill them first, where the Wraiths are just as likely to make people beg for death first. Jackson was sending a message, and so far, it''s been an effective message. Raffen activity has dropped since news of the second attack cleared. As far as I am concerned, he is doing a public service."


    Dakota noted that Panam nodded her head in agreement, visibly confused about her leader''s outlook. Saul himself seemed to struggle with what he was hearing, eventually shaking his head and smartly dropping the subject.


    "I''ve decided not to take him up on his offer," Saul finally said. "And I plan on sending word back to the other Aldecados to steer clear of him as well."


    Dakota sent a look up to Panam, who had opened her mouth to speak. The younger woman, a spitfire by all Dakota knew about her, seemed to at least be smart enough to read the look correctly, as she quickly shut her mouth. Meanwhile, the static Nomad looked back down at Saul, who had somehow missed the moment.


    "Why?" Dakota asked, the simple word carrying weight.


    "Because I don''t trust him," He responded with a slight hint of petulance in his voice. "His deal is too good to be true, and I could feel how he plans on taking advantage of us. Use us for cheap labor, or worse. Once gets his hooks into us, we will never be free."


    "Like you would be free after signing a deal with Biotechnica?" Dakota asked, the question shocking Saul, causing Dakota to snort. "Please, do you really think I wouldn''t have heard? Answer the question, Saul, what is the difference?"


    "The difference is that getting our own food would give us more freedom," Saul explained. "We wouldn''t have to worry about coming to these places, losing our people to the cities, because we could make your own food."


    "And in exchange, you would put a noose around your family, giving a corp the perfect place to anchor us down," Dakota fired back, staring him down. "Any contract you sign with a corp like that would only weigh us down and give them chances to legally subjugate us. It would only be a matter of time."


    "The contract-"


    "Was so riddled with bullshit I''m surprised it didn''t stain your hands brown," Dakota responded, cutting him off. "But you were so sure of yourself, you never even asked me to take a look at it. No, you were preparing to chain yourself and your whole family down for some tools and seeds that may or may not actually grow in harsh conditions. Do I have the general idea down?"


    Saul, for a moment, seemed ready to stand up and refute her claims. It was only the fact that movements in the shadows not far from where she sat that stopped him. Someone like Dakota Smith was never really alone.


    "Now, Saul, I could call you many things, but stupid isn''t one of them. Which is why I think there must be something behind your bout of idiocy," Dakota said. "Tell me if this sounds familiar. With a slowly shrinking group, the only one from all fifteen Aldecado families, mind you, you begin to fear that your group, your little fiefdom, might be broken up and absorbed. You''d lose everything, since you most certainly wouldn''t retain a leadership position in the process, especially not when we were eyeing your methods as one of the reasons for the most recent losses."


    Dakota paused, reaching out her hand and snapping her fingers. One of the few people from her security stepped closer, handing her a tablet, which she put on the table.


    "Faced with the potential loss of your little piece of power, you were desperate to find a way to tie everyone to you. To keep everyone locked together, under your leadership," She said, painting a picture that had Panam''s jaw slowly dropping. "Anyone there when you signed the papers could never leave, not without facing whatever bullshit repercussions Biotechnia wrote into the fine print. They wouldn''t even be able to run to other families, since no other group would take someone tied under a contract to a corp."


    Panam was now looking murderous at her leader, who was now looking at the ground by his feet. He said nothing, but that didn''t seem to bother Dakota.


    "Whether you are willing to admit it or not is immaterial. You said you would reach out to the other Aldecados? Well, you''re too late, I already did," the older woman revealed. "We had a meeting when I first put what was going on together. The other family heads agree by majority. The last test was Jackson. We guessed, rather accurately, I imagine, that the real reason you didn''t want to work with him was you were scared people would leave even faster if they had access to proper living quarters, support, and an ally helping them settle in."


    Once again, Saul''s silence was damning. Panam looked like she was moments away from strangling him with her bare hands.


    "The family heads agreed that if you refused to accept Jackson''s hospitality without proper reasoning, you would be stripped of your position," Dakota explained. "It is clear you are scared of losing control, and you have put that fear ahead of what is best for your people, making you unfit for leadership. If you wish to remain in the family, Darius has volunteered to take you in. Otherwise, you will be exiled."


    Silence hung over the group, both Saul and Panam staring at Dakota with wide, stunned eyes. It was a full thirty seconds before Saul recovered enough to say anything.


    "You¡­ you can''t. You don''t have the power."


    "You''re correct, I don''t. I simply presented what I uncovered and my own theories to the family heads, and they agreed with me," Dakota said, shrugging casually. "Your time as a head is over, Saul. Respect the family''s choice. Panam."


    The younger woman jumped slightly at being addressed directly, standing straight, a bead of sweat dripping down her temple.


    "It was discussed that you might take over Saul''s position, but it was decided that you are still too young and untested," she explained. "You will retain your position as second in command, under the new leader, who is currently on their way. The current schedule has you taking their place in a few years in a more natural way, with less harsh feelings and more time to teach you the ropes."


    "I¡­ I understand," Panam said, though it took a moment for her to swallow her first response. "I¡­ just want what''s best for the family."


    "Which is why you''re retaining your position as second," Dakota confirmed. "Now, Saul. Are you going to make this transition difficult, or will you accept the family head''s decision, suck it up, and do what''s best for the family?"


    "I¡­I won''t make things difficult," He finally said, his face pale and gaunt as if he had aged twenty years sitting there.


    "Good. We can start by coming up with a speech for you to give when we return," Dakota said while leaning forward. "Something honest that won''t stir your people up to do something stupid. Then we can contact Jackson and accept his hospitality. As far as we can tell, he is being honest, and having a legal, protected place for this branch will give us time to recruit from the city and hopefully expand our members, undoing the damage you did."

 Chapter Fifty One

    <div>


    It also caused lung cancer like asbestos on steroids, but that could be mitigated in plenty of situations.


    For every one interesting tidbit, there were four or five tedious inventions that were barely worth the time. Sure, every bit of engineering was useful in some way, expanding my knowledge and understanding, but working on a stand mixer was still dull, even if it descended from the ceiling for some reason.


    I spent the rest of the day plowing through branch after branch, jumping around and searching for what my final topics would be, which was the real reason I was building so many things. I planned on spending four to five days with Frank on medical and biology stuff, but once that was over, I wanted a list of specific items to cram in as the timer ran down. In order to ensure that I could cram the most valuable creations in, I needed to explore the tree as much as possible. The little tidbits of SCIENCE! I was uncovering was only a bonus.


    I was already planning on asking Frank for some safe stimulants to stay awake for at least forty-eight hours at the end, just to give myself an extra fourteen more hours to work.


    Eventually, it started getting late, but I wanted to work on one last project before I went to sleep. I quickly took apart my designs for the power armor frame and modified them into a higher version, before designing from scratch the X-01 power armor suit. It only took about two hours to design and build since I saved a bunch of time with the frame design, and the result was a significant boost in my design knowledge. By my estimation, I was rapidly approaching complete saturation in the power armor field. I was pretty sure that my next design would unlock the full breadth, a sizable download of mechanical engineering, material sciences, and several fields in between.


    After sending the finished armor away to be scrapped, I made my way to my trailer, sleep finding me not long after I settled into bed.


    The next morning, I woke up and headed over to the Shack, where Jackie was just starting to make breakfast. He was making a mush from bean cubes, cooking them into a refried bean paste, which he planned on using to make breakfast burritos. I was about to head up the stairs to see Frank when he beat me to it, stepping out of his doctor''s space.


    "Sir, good morning," He greeted. "While I am sure you are eager to start, I was told Samwise and Noah had something to show you at the Garage."


    I narrowed my eyes a bit as I tried to remember just what they could have, when I realized that they probably wanted to show off their progress on the Vault. I quickly apologized to Frank, promising to be back within an hour, and that we would start after breakfast. When I arrived at the garage less than a minute later, Samwise was waiting for me.


    "Good morning, Jackson, I assume you are here to tour the most recent facilities?" He asked, like he would be showing off some new trailers, not the first step to an underground super-facility. "Noah already waiting for us on the other side."


    "Hell yeah, I am ready," I said with excitement. "Show me what you''ve got."


    Samwise nodded and guided me into the side room of the garage before leading me down into the newly carved-out basement. It was crazy to see a space that didn''t exist less than a few days ago, already plated and completely finished, with <u>paneled walls and floors</u></a>. It was simple, sure, but some that could be fixed easily by someone who knew how to interior design.


    Along the walls of the new room, there were several raised platforms, each one lined with safety railings. Only one of them had a plinth in the middle of the platform topped with a green light, signaling that it was active and ready to use. On the far wall, past the raised platforms, was a thick, sealed double door, behind which was the teleport systems power generation in the form of two fusion reactors and a whole series of capacitors.


    "If you would stand on the marked-off area, whenever you are ready, just press the button," Samwise directed, leading me to the raised platform with the green light. "Noah will handle your tour."


    I nodded and stepped up onto the platform, noting that the floor had a yellowed area denoting the teleporting zone. I approached the plinth, realizing that the green light was a button.


    "See you on the other side," I said with a smirk, before hitting the button.


    In a second, with the same strange cold flash of darkness, I was standing on a different platform. The room looked pretty similar, though it was substantially larger, with quite a few more platforms. The most glaring difference, however, was that the far wall was unfinished. As I watched, several MRVN units were hard at work putting the framework together. I watched for a moment before realizing that Noah was standing at the bottom of the platform, who nodded when I spotted him.


    "Welcome, sir. You will be happy to hear that construction is currently ahead of schedule," he explained, gesturing around the room. "The teleportation hub frame is almost complete, though there are no actual teleporters under the other platforms yet."


    I nodded, looking again around as I stepped down off the platform. As I did, Noah handed me a pair of ear muffs designed for loud construction zones, before leading me towards the unfinished wall. As I put the earmuffs on, we crossed through an unfilled doorframe, walking out of the teleport hub. Stepping through the frame was like walking into another world.


    The teleport hub was set almost completely into the solid stone wall of a large semi-circular cavern. Originally, the floor was solid stone that sloped down drastically to the left. Thankfully, most of that seemed to have been filled with gravel from carving out room for the hub, leaving the space mostly level, with more gravel being dumped already.


    Three separate teams of MRVN units were working together all around the cavern. To the left, I could see MRVNs using particle bores to carve out an already existing tunnel, with another crew doing the same in front of me. One crew was digging downward, while the other seemed to be moving straight ahead.


    To the right, another room was being carved out, chunks of gravel being shipped back and dumped into the main cavern. This room was taller, wider and appeared to be deeper than the teleport hub.


    "This, when it is complete, will be our primary production room for the first stage of development," Noah explained, gesturing to the incomplete space. "Eventually, when the Vault is complete, it will be repurposed as a sort of equipment and staging rooming for excursions outside."


    "Smart," I said with a nod, still looking around the cavern. The space itself wasn''t that awe-inspiring, beyond being a cavern deep in the earth, but I could see a shelf along one wall, where a flowing river carried water down and around. I could see the water was crystal clear, and the lights that lit up the cavern made it easy to see into its depths.


    "The river seems to have first carved this system, before a partial cave-in, which we already investigated and stabilized, forced it onto a partial new path," Noah explained, his voice coming clearly through my high-tech earmuffs. "The small gap that we descended through has already been sealed up as naturally as we could. The next time a sandstorm blows through or it rains, any trace we were here will be covered or washed away."


    "Good, good. How deep are we exactly?" I asked, walking towards the center of the cavern.


    "We are currently two hundred and thirty-two feet deep," he answered.


    "Damn¡­ That''s deep¡­ Still, I want you to plan on reinforcing that at several layers, just for some added protection," I instructed. "Sometime after the Vault is complete, but just keep it in mind."


    "I already had plans to add several layers of anti-busting armor and other protections," Noah assured me. "It has already been worked into the schedule. ."


    "This is all fantastic, Noah, you''re making incredible progress," I complimented. "I can''t wait to see what you do with everything."


    "Thank you, sir," He said with a nod. "And thank you for the opportunity to build such a critical structure."


    "Hey man, I know you can handle it," I said with a smile. "Just don''t forget to work with Samwise too. He will have some good points of input, I''m sure."


    We spent another few minutes talking about what the next few steps were in the plan, before I eventually stepped back into the hub and back through the teleporter. I couldn''t help but be excited about the progress, even if it was just in the first stages. The Vault represented a level of safety that I had been craving from the moment I woke up in this world. An untouchable space that I could easily retreat to, someplace even the nuclear weapons that these major corporations like to throw around couldn''t touch. Once the hub was finished, I would work up some emergency teleporter beacons for everyone, so that at the drop of a hat, any one of us could drop out of trouble and back to the safety of our Vault.


    That was at least a week or so away, though, and would probably end up being my first task of my break week. For now, I just had to patiently wait. We were so close to finishing the first step to real change, that I could practically taste it.


    When we were done talking and exploring the chamber, I stepped back onto the teleporter to return to Rocky Ridge. Samwise was waiting for me, and I couldn''t help but excitedly pat his shoulder.


    "It''s looking great, my friend. I am so excited to see the progress you and Noah make over the next few weeks," I said with a smile.


    "Thank you, Jackson," He said, nodding deferentially. "We will do our best."


    "That''s all I can ask for, and I''m sure that will be more than enough," I assured him, before letting out a sigh, mentally shifting gears a bit. "Okay, I''m going to see if Jackie is done with breakfast, and after that, I''ll be working with Frank, so feel free to do your own thing."


    "Of course, Jackson," He responded, nodding again. "Good luck with your work."


    I gave him a wave as I walked away, heading up the stairs to the side room, exiting the garage, and heading back to the Shack. Kayt was already sitting at the table inside, nursing a large cup of coffee, steam flowing up over her face.


    "Buenos d¨ªas, Jay," Jackie said, stuffing his burrito shells with cheesy, beany meaty goodness. "These are just about done, so get some coffee and have a seat."


    After pouring my coffee and sitting down, Jackie quickly served up breakfast, a pair of burritos for each of us. As we ate, he promised something interesting for dinner, though he refused to tell me what it was. Once I was done eating, I poured myself another cup of coffee and excused myself, heading towards the stairs to the Bio lab. Before I could get to the door entrance, Jackie reminded me he was looking into finding more work, so I shouldn''t be surprised if he has a mission for us soon. Kaytlyn shouted up after him that she was already looking for a new Wraith target, so I should expect that as well.


    When I finally stepped into the lab, I looked around, checking out the decent-sized space. This was the first time I had been up there since it was finished, and it was easy to see that Frank had done a solid job setting it up. Various bits of equipment were lined up along the exterior wall <u>opposite the top of the stairs</u></a>, and there were also cabinets for storage and free space for more gear, should we end up building anything new. Where there was previously an opening to the first floor was now a lab area, with black slate counters, a sink, gas taps for burners, and everything you could need for a chem lab. It really did come off as the perfect blend of medical and chemical laboratory. Along the far wall, beyond the lab station, was a computer set up with a dozen molly makers, a few small, two medium, and one large.


    "Greetings, sir. Are you ready to get started?" Frank said, standing in the lab area. "Do you have a subject you plan on starting with?"


    "I am, and I do," I said with a nod. "The Stimpak is too good to be anything but the first thing we make. Just give me a minute to settle in and find it. I''ve been purposely ignoring the medical, chemical, and biological branches since I couldn''t really do anything with them."


    Frank nodded, and I made my way to the chair in front of the computer, sitting down and closing my eyes. By now, I had explored a good chunk of the Fallout tech tree. I had a solid grasp on its breadth, though there were several depths I hadn''t even touched. For a long moment, I slowly scanned around, looking for the Stimpak recipe. It took me a moment to realize that due to my incredibly low knowledge of medicine in general, I would probably not be able to start making the more imprecise chems and medicine, right off the bat. It had been such a long time since I had needed to do it that I had almost forgotten what it was like.


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Hopefully, we would be able to push past that relatively quickly.


    "Okay¡­ looks like we are going to have to start at the bottom and work our way up," I said, my eyes still closed. "Let''s start off with a disinfectant they have, it''s pure chemistry, so we should be able to whip it up pretty easy¡­"


    The instructions for chemical creations, as I had seen on a smaller scale a few times, were presented differently in the tech tree. Where most of my inventions presented as technical diagrams and blueprints that I had to copy out of my head and then replicate, the chemistry-focused creations fed me a recipe, like a complicated, chemical-filled cookbook, and it was up to me to put the process together. In some ways, it was more difficult since the "cooking" process usually had quite a few failure points, which could result in the entire process not counting towards the creation.


    Luckily, I had Frank here to help me. He would prevent me from making any amateur mistakes, sort of like a master chef watching over a new cook to keep him from putting water in the deep fryer.


    I rattled off a list of ingredients, writing it on a list for my own benefit while Frank went to the storage and began gathering what we needed. As he did that, I pulled on a full <u>body covering suit</u></a>, a thin and sterile body cover that would keep me from contaminating anything, as well as keeping anything from splashing on me. When I was all dressed, I started exploring the lab area cabinets, pulling out a few different types of flasks, funnels, condensers, and beakers.


    It only took about half an hour to set up, and when it was finished, we started adding the proper mixtures and powders, slowly refining a potent disinfectant that was surprisingly skin-safe. It took about thirty minutes to create about five ounces of the liquid, which was finally when the process ticked over, and I got credit for the creation. A flow of chemical knowledge, low level but still useful, flowed into my brain.


    "Alright¡­ It''s not much, but it''s a start," I muttered to myself, looking into the small brown bottle full of the newly created disinfectant. "It''s gonna be a long day, but I''m already looking forward to what I can get through. Let''s get to work!"


    I handed the bottle to Frank, who took it downstairs to enter into his Auto-Pharma. It was an effective disinfectant, on par with some of what was used here in Cyberpunk land, but it was also surprisingly easy on human skin. While he did that, I worked on cleaning up, putting the glassware through an accelerated dishwasher specifically designed for hazardous chemicals.


    Over the next four or five hours, Frank and I brewed several different chemicals, until finally, I stumbled on tech tree breakthrough, finding a precursor to <u>Med-X</u></a>. In the game, it was heavily intimated that Med-X was basically morphine in its usage, so much so that initially, before the game was released, that''s what it was called. However, in the "real" Fallout universe, that was incorrect. In universe, Med-X was actually a mix of an artificial recreation of morphine, as well as a stabilizer that made it more difficult to overdose and reduced the euphoric feeling opioids normally caused. This was why what would have been an incredibly dangerous drug was so readily available to the public. It did not eliminate the risk of addiction, as it still relieved pain and induced low-level pleasant feelings, it was just less likely to kill you or ruin your life.


    As far as drugs that I had access to, it was inferior to what I had access to from the Titanfall, specifically the Auto-Pharma, as there were several painkillers programmed into the machine that were significantly safer and less habit-forming. Still, once I was finished with the precursor, which was just the artificial morphine, I immediately began making the real thing, hoping that it would be the start of unlocking deeper items on the medical and chemical branches.


    Oddly enough, perhaps because it was such an iconic item from the universe, or perhaps because it was a patented recipe from a specific company, but in order for the Med-X to count, it needed to be inside one of the injectors you see in the game. It was a mostly metal syringe with a stable glass panel to look inside. Depending on what stabilizer was used to decrease the risk of overdose and addiction, the glass panel would reveal the liquid to be teal blue or bright purple.


    On the plus side, because I only had to make a single syringe, I had to make a significantly smaller portion than the previous chemical creations. On the downside, it was still a two-part mix, so I was forced to make two separate mixtures before adding them together for the final product. The precursor I had just made was, unfortunately, slightly different from the final form, so it would not work in Med-X.


    When I finally finished the syringe of Med-X, a flow of knowledge came through that was significantly larger than the previous ones. I could now see several more medicines and drugs, including Psycho and Calmex, as well as a slew of drugs that weren''t in the games. Frank and I were just starting to discuss what we were going to make next when Jackie radioed from downstairs, explaining that dinner was almost ready and that I should head down.


    I quickly cleaned up a bit, stripped off my safety suit, and headed down to the main Shack area. Kaytlyn was already there, talking to Jackie and Riggs. Jackie was standing by his cooking area, watching me as I entered, ribbing me, and telling me to sit down when I tried to take a peek at what he was cooking.


    Eventually, he made his way over to the table with a large bowl, which he placed in the center of the table. After a moment for dramatics, he pulled off the cover to reveal a beautiful sight. A pile of pasta with a white sauce. He added a plate of grilled chicken, which looked amazing by itself, never mind next to the pasta noodles.


    "So, we figured out how to do a powdered flour and a liquid egg and yolk," Jackie explained. "So I made handmade pasta. Now, pasta isn''t anything new, but our version is free of fillers, so it should still be better."


    "It''s beautiful," I said, feeling my mouth fill up with saliva.


    "You don''t even know what it is yet," Jackie said, shaking his head and rolling his eyes. "It''s far from authentic, but it''s kind of a bastard child of carbonara and chicken alfredo. It was a struggle to get the cheese not to split, but we figured it out."


    I couldn''t help but smile as Jackie talked proudly of his work as our chef. Part of me was beginning to hope I could convince him to be a chef or something, instead of pursuing his crazy dream of being an edgerunner or solo, but I doubted that would ever happen. When he was done talking about his creation, Jackie served us each a generous helping of the pasta before packing away some for Misty, who he would be going to visit after we ate.


    Unsurprisingly, the food was amazing. The noodles were perfect, worlds above what we had been eating up to that point. Somehow, I had gotten used to the subpar crap, and tasting handmade noodles of actually good quality was like meeting an old friend over a beer, and rediscovering why they were such good friends in the first place.


    Dinner was quiet for the most part, everyone enjoying way too much food, considerably faster than we probably should have. Jackie received plenty of compliments on his increasing talents, and when we were done, I made sure to compliment Frank on his work with the food printing.


    "I take it that the pasta went over well?" he asked, standing by as I pulled on my sterile protective suit.


    "It did, much better than what they offer around here. How did you manage to make powdered flour?" I asked. "And will it work with bread?"


    "That was actually Jackie''s idea," Frank revealed. "We printed the flour into a solid, dense cube, which we then blended in a food processor. It works quite well. And yes, it could easily work in bread or any other flour recipe."


    "That is fantastic, can''t wait to try that," I said, rubbing my hands together before grabbing a pair of gloves. "Maybe I''ll take a crack at bread baking when Jackie is out. Anyway, are you ready to continue?"


    "I am. All our glassware is clean and ready to be used again," The AI confirmed. "All that''s left is to pick what''s next."


    "Well¡­ if our target is Stimpaks¡­ There was an anticoagulant we unlocked, we could go with that," I suggested. "Psycho can wait forever as far as I''m concerned. This world doesn''t need another addictive rage drug. I might make Calmex later, but we have better alternatives in the Auto-Pharma, so only if I have time."


    We talked a bit more about it and decided to try something new, making two drugs at once. The anticoagulant I found did have a long distillation time, so I picked another drug, an antibiotic. The antibiotic had a long brewing time as well and would need to be compressed into a pill, which Frank thankfully had the right equipment for.


    Together, Frank and I assembled the proper glassware apparatus, first putting together the anticoagulant process. Once the process was started, we then got to work on the antibiotic, setting up a totally different apparatus setup. Both of these would be turned into pills, but one would be pressed, while the other would be put into a dissolvable pill capsule.


    Because we were making two at once, both of us were constantly going back and forth, checking and double-checking every aspect of each apparatus, making sure all of the reactions were running well. Eventually, after about forty minutes, we had enough product from each reaction to make a single pill of each. I hastily dumped the antibiotic into the capsule and fed the anticoagulant into the pill compressor, absorbing the flow of knowledge as I finished each. Again, the branches of medical and chemical science cleared up, revealing dozens of drugs and finally showing me the Stimpak.


    "Hell yes! I can finally see it," I said, shaking my head and dropping down into my chair outside of the main lab space. "I can see the Stimpak."


    "What are the ingredients?" Frank asked, still cleaning up from the last production. "Anything drastically exotic?"


    "Uh¡­ Well, it''s going to be a multistage process," I responded. "We need two chemical enzymes¡­ and we need some donated blood. Not a lot, just half a liter, but that''s what it''s going to take to make each Stimpak."


    The fact that it took actual human blood to make a Stimpak was not a surprise to me. In all the games, there were a few different recipes, and all but one of them involved a blood pack, literally a blood donation bag. I was pretty sure that the only recipe that didn''t use one was from New Vegas, and I was pretty sure that recipe represented a different aspect. That recipe took a <u>Xander Root</u></a> and a <u>Broc Flower</u></a> and combined them with an empty syringe, which could easily be used to draw the blood for the recipe, as well as store the finished product.


    Plus, if I were a betting man, I would bet a good chunk of cash that the two enzymes we would have to make came from the Broc flower and the Xander root. In fact, I was almost certain of it.


    "Okay, so I have no idea how this is going to work in detail. It''s too advanced for me to see very deeply into the technical stuff, but I can see the recipe, and that''s all we need, so let''s get started," I said excitedly, eager to learn the miracle treatment''s secrets. "I''ll design a syringe while you finish cleaning up. When you''re done, you can take some of my blood."


    "Unfortunately, sir, your blood contains nanites from your Bioware," Frank pointed out. "It would probably be better if we use Jackie or Kaytlyn''s blood, assuming they don''t have something similar already."


    "Damn¡­ I''ll be honest, I kinda forgot about the nanohive regen implant¡­" I admitted sheepishly. "Okay, I''ll start us off, and you can go track down Kayt for a bit of blood. Then we can get to work."


    Frank nodded and made his way out of the lab while I got to work setting up the chemical process for making the enzymes. It might have been my imagination, but I was pretty sure I heard Kaytlyn shouting at Frank not long after he left.

 Chapter Fifty Two

    Once my business was done for the day, I spent the rest of it expanding my knowledge of Fallout tech. It quickly settled into a huge black or white, on or off dichotomy in terms of usefulness, where I would be working on something boring, like a microwave. I would be struggling through the old, outdated tech, crossing my fingers and barely staying awake, before discovering that the magnetron, the main component of a microwave, had some sort of SCIENCE! based coating that reduces wear and tear on its moving parts to such an extreme degree that it easily competed with Titanfall tech.


    It also caused lung cancer like asbestos on steroids, but that could be mitigated in plenty of situations.


    For every one interesting tidbit, there were four or five tedious inventions that were barely worth the time. Sure, every bit of engineering was useful in some way, expanding my knowledge and understanding, but working on a stand mixer was still dull, even if it descended from the ceiling for some reason.


    I spent the rest of the day plowing through branch after branch, jumping around and searching for what my final topics would be, which was the real reason I was building so many things. I planned on spending four to five days with Frank on medical and biology stuff, but once that was over, I wanted a list of specific items to cram in as the timer ran down. In order to ensure that I could cram the most valuable creations in, I needed to explore the tree as much as possible. The little tidbits of SCIENCE! I was uncovering was only a bonus.


    I was already planning on asking Frank for some safe stimulants to stay awake for at least forty-eight hours at the end, just to give myself an extra fourteen more hours to work.


    Eventually, it started getting late, but I wanted to work on one last project before I went to sleep. I quickly took apart my designs for the power armor frame and modified them into a higher version, before designing from scratch the X-01 power armor suit. It only took about two hours to design and build since I saved a bunch of time with the frame design, and the result was a significant boost in my design knowledge. By my estimation, I was rapidly approaching complete saturation in the power armor field. I was pretty sure that my next design would unlock the full breadth, a sizable download of mechanical engineering, material sciences, and several fields in between.


    After sending the finished armor away to be scrapped, I made my way to my trailer, sleep finding me not long after I settled into bed.


    The next morning, I woke up and headed over to the Shack, where Jackie was just starting to make breakfast. He was making a mush from bean cubes, cooking them into a refried bean paste, which he planned on using to make breakfast burritos. I was about to head up the stairs to see Frank when he beat me to it, stepping out of his doctor''s space.


    "Sir, good morning," He greeted. "While I am sure you are eager to start, I was told Samwise and Noah had something to show you at the Garage."


    I narrowed my eyes a bit as I tried to remember just what they could have, when I realized that they probably wanted to show off their progress on the Vault. I quickly apologized to Frank, promising to be back within an hour, and that we would start after breakfast. When I arrived at the garage less than a minute later, Samwise was waiting for me.


    "Good morning, Jackson, I assume you are here to tour the most recent facilities?" He asked, like he would be showing off some new trailers, not the first step to an underground super-facility. "Noah already waiting for us on the other side."


    "Hell yeah, I am ready," I said with excitement. "Show me what you''ve got."


    Samwise nodded and guided me into the side room of the garage before leading me down into the newly carved-out basement. It was crazy to see a space that didn''t exist less than a few days ago, already plated and completely finished, with <u>paneled walls and floors</u></a>. It was simple, sure, but some that could be fixed easily by someone who knew how to interior design.


    Along the walls of the new room, there were several raised platforms, each one lined with safety railings. Only one of them had a plinth in the middle of the platform topped with a green light, signaling that it was active and ready to use. On the far wall, past the raised platforms, was a thick, sealed double door, behind which was the teleport systems power generation in the form of two fusion reactors and a whole series of capacitors.


    "If you would stand on the marked-off area, whenever you are ready, just press the button," Samwise directed, leading me to the raised platform with the green light. "Noah will handle your tour."


    I nodded and stepped up onto the platform, noting that the floor had a yellowed area denoting the teleporting zone. I approached the plinth, realizing that the green light was a button.


    "See you on the other side," I said with a smirk, before hitting the button.


    In a second, with the same strange cold flash of darkness, I was standing on a different platform. The room looked pretty similar, though it was substantially larger, with quite a few more platforms. The most glaring difference, however, was that the far wall was unfinished. As I watched, several MRVN units were hard at work putting the framework together. I watched for a moment before realizing that Noah was standing at the bottom of the platform, who nodded when I spotted him.


    "Welcome, sir. You will be happy to hear that construction is currently ahead of schedule," he explained, gesturing around the room. "The teleportation hub frame is almost complete, though there are no actual teleporters under the other platforms yet."


    I nodded, looking again around as I stepped down off the platform. As I did, Noah handed me a pair of ear muffs designed for loud construction zones, before leading me towards the unfinished wall. As I put the earmuffs on, we crossed through an unfilled doorframe, walking out of the teleport hub. Stepping through the frame was like walking into another world.


    The teleport hub was set almost completely into the solid stone wall of a large semi-circular cavern. Originally, the floor was solid stone that sloped down drastically to the left. Thankfully, most of that seemed to have been filled with gravel from carving out room for the hub, leaving the space mostly level, with more gravel being dumped already.


    Three separate teams of MRVN units were working together all around the cavern. To the left, I could see MRVNs using particle bores to carve out an already existing tunnel, with another crew doing the same in front of me. One crew was digging downward, while the other seemed to be moving straight ahead.


    To the right, another room was being carved out, chunks of gravel being shipped back and dumped into the main cavern. This room was taller, wider and appeared to be deeper than the teleport hub.


    "This, when it is complete, will be our primary production room for the first stage of development," Noah explained, gesturing to the incomplete space. "Eventually, when the Vault is complete, it will be repurposed as a sort of equipment and staging rooming for excursions outside."


    "Smart," I said with a nod, still looking around the cavern. The space itself wasn''t that awe-inspiring, beyond being a cavern deep in the earth, but I could see a shelf along one wall, where a flowing river carried water down and around. I could see the water was crystal clear, and the lights that lit up the cavern made it easy to see into its depths.


    "The river seems to have first carved this system, before a partial cave-in, which we already investigated and stabilized, forced it onto a partial new path," Noah explained, his voice coming clearly through my high-tech earmuffs. "The small gap that we descended through has already been sealed up as naturally as we could. The next time a sandstorm blows through or it rains, any trace we were here will be covered or washed away."


    "Good, good. How deep are we exactly?" I asked, walking towards the center of the cavern.


    "We are currently two hundred and thirty-two feet deep," he answered.


    "Damn¡­ That''s deep¡­ Still, I want you to plan on reinforcing that at several layers, just for some added protection," I instructed. "Sometime after the Vault is complete, but just keep it in mind."


    "I already had plans to add several layers of anti-busting armor and other protections," Noah assured me. "It has already been worked into the schedule. ."


    "This is all fantastic, Noah, you''re making incredible progress," I complimented. "I can''t wait to see what you do with everything."


    "Thank you, sir," He said with a nod. "And thank you for the opportunity to build such a critical structure."


    "Hey man, I know you can handle it," I said with a smile. "Just don''t forget to work with Samwise too. He will have some good points of input, I''m sure."


    We spent another few minutes talking about what the next few steps were in the plan, before I eventually stepped back into the hub and back through the teleporter. I couldn''t help but be excited about the progress, even if it was just in the first stages. The Vault represented a level of safety that I had been craving from the moment I woke up in this world. An untouchable space that I could easily retreat to, someplace even the nuclear weapons that these major corporations like to throw around couldn''t touch. Once the hub was finished, I would work up some emergency teleporter beacons for everyone, so that at the drop of a hat, any one of us could drop out of trouble and back to the safety of our Vault.


    That was at least a week or so away, though, and would probably end up being my first task of my break week. For now, I just had to patiently wait. We were so close to finishing the first step to real change, that I could practically taste it.


    When we were done talking and exploring the chamber, I stepped back onto the teleporter to return to Rocky Ridge. Samwise was waiting for me, and I couldn''t help but excitedly pat his shoulder.


    "It''s looking great, my friend. I am so excited to see the progress you and Noah make over the next few weeks," I said with a smile.


    "Thank you, Jackson," He said, nodding deferentially. "We will do our best."


    "That''s all I can ask for, and I''m sure that will be more than enough," I assured him, before letting out a sigh, mentally shifting gears a bit. "Okay, I''m going to see if Jackie is done with breakfast, and after that, I''ll be working with Frank, so feel free to do your own thing."


    "Of course, Jackson," He responded, nodding again. "Good luck with your work."


    I gave him a wave as I walked away, heading up the stairs to the side room, exiting the garage, and heading back to the Shack. Kayt was already sitting at the table inside, nursing a large cup of coffee, steam flowing up over her face.


    "Buenos d¨ªas, Jay," Jackie said, stuffing his burrito shells with cheesy, beany meaty goodness. "These are just about done, so get some coffee and have a seat."


    After pouring my coffee and sitting down, Jackie quickly served up breakfast, a pair of burritos for each of us. As we ate, he promised something interesting for dinner, though he refused to tell me what it was. Once I was done eating, I poured myself another cup of coffee and excused myself, heading towards the stairs to the Bio lab. Before I could get to the door entrance, Jackie reminded me he was looking into finding more work, so I shouldn''t be surprised if he has a mission for us soon. Kaytlyn shouted up after him that she was already looking for a new Wraith target, so I should expect that as well.


    When I finally stepped into the lab, I looked around, checking out the decent-sized space. This was the first time I had been up there since it was finished, and it was easy to see that Frank had done a solid job setting it up. Various bits of equipment were lined up along the exterior wall <u>opposite the top of the stairs</u></a>, and there were also cabinets for storage and free space for more gear, should we end up building anything new. Where there was previously an opening to the first floor was now a lab area, with black slate counters, a sink, gas taps for burners, and everything you could need for a chem lab. It really did come off as the perfect blend of medical and chemical laboratory. Along the far wall, beyond the lab station, was a computer set up with a dozen molly makers, a few small, two medium, and one large.


    "Greetings, sir. Are you ready to get started?" Frank said, standing in the lab area. "Do you have a subject you plan on starting with?"


    "I am, and I do," I said with a nod. "The Stimpak is too good to be anything but the first thing we make. Just give me a minute to settle in and find it. I''ve been purposely ignoring the medical, chemical, and biological branches since I couldn''t really do anything with them."


    Frank nodded, and I made my way to the chair in front of the computer, sitting down and closing my eyes. By now, I had explored a good chunk of the Fallout tech tree. I had a solid grasp on its breadth, though there were several depths I hadn''t even touched. For a long moment, I slowly scanned around, looking for the Stimpak recipe. It took me a moment to realize that due to my incredibly low knowledge of medicine in general, I would probably not be able to start making the more imprecise chems and medicine, right off the bat. It had been such a long time since I had needed to do it that I had almost forgotten what it was like.


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Hopefully, we would be able to push past that relatively quickly.


    "Okay¡­ looks like we are going to have to start at the bottom and work our way up," I said, my eyes still closed. "Let''s start off with a disinfectant they have, it''s pure chemistry, so we should be able to whip it up pretty easy¡­"


    The instructions for chemical creations, as I had seen on a smaller scale a few times, were presented differently in the tech tree. Where most of my inventions presented as technical diagrams and blueprints that I had to copy out of my head and then replicate, the chemistry-focused creations fed me a recipe, like a complicated, chemical-filled cookbook, and it was up to me to put the process together. In some ways, it was more difficult since the "cooking" process usually had quite a few failure points, which could result in the entire process not counting towards the creation.


    Luckily, I had Frank here to help me. He would prevent me from making any amateur mistakes, sort of like a master chef watching over a new cook to keep him from putting water in the deep fryer.


    I rattled off a list of ingredients, writing it on a list for my own benefit while Frank went to the storage and began gathering what we needed. As he did that, I pulled on a full <u>body covering suit</u></a>, a thin and sterile body cover that would keep me from contaminating anything, as well as keeping anything from splashing on me. When I was all dressed, I started exploring the lab area cabinets, pulling out a few different types of flasks, funnels, condensers, and beakers.


    It only took about half an hour to set up, and when it was finished, we started adding the proper mixtures and powders, slowly refining a potent disinfectant that was surprisingly skin-safe. It took about thirty minutes to create about five ounces of the liquid, which was finally when the process ticked over, and I got credit for the creation. A flow of chemical knowledge, low level but still useful, flowed into my brain.


    "Alright¡­ It''s not much, but it''s a start," I muttered to myself, looking into the small brown bottle full of the newly created disinfectant. "It''s gonna be a long day, but I''m already looking forward to what I can get through. Let''s get to work!"


    I handed the bottle to Frank, who took it downstairs to enter into his Auto-Pharma. It was an effective disinfectant, on par with some of what was used here in Cyberpunk land, but it was also surprisingly easy on human skin. While he did that, I worked on cleaning up, putting the glassware through an accelerated dishwasher specifically designed for hazardous chemicals.


    Over the next four or five hours, Frank and I brewed several different chemicals, until finally, I stumbled on tech tree breakthrough, finding a precursor to <u>Med-X</u></a>. In the game, it was heavily intimated that Med-X was basically morphine in its usage, so much so that initially, before the game was released, that''s what it was called. However, in the "real" Fallout universe, that was incorrect. In universe, Med-X was actually a mix of an artificial recreation of morphine, as well as a stabilizer that made it more difficult to overdose and reduced the euphoric feeling opioids normally caused. This was why what would have been an incredibly dangerous drug was so readily available to the public. It did not eliminate the risk of addiction, as it still relieved pain and induced low-level pleasant feelings, it was just less likely to kill you or ruin your life.


    As far as drugs that I had access to, it was inferior to what I had access to from the Titanfall, specifically the Auto-Pharma, as there were several painkillers programmed into the machine that were significantly safer and less habit-forming. Still, once I was finished with the precursor, which was just the artificial morphine, I immediately began making the real thing, hoping that it would be the start of unlocking deeper items on the medical and chemical branches.


    Oddly enough, perhaps because it was such an iconic item from the universe, or perhaps because it was a patented recipe from a specific company, but in order for the Med-X to count, it needed to be inside one of the injectors you see in the game. It was a mostly metal syringe with a stable glass panel to look inside. Depending on what stabilizer was used to decrease the risk of overdose and addiction, the glass panel would reveal the liquid to be teal blue or bright purple.


    On the plus side, because I only had to make a single syringe, I had to make a significantly smaller portion than the previous chemical creations. On the downside, it was still a two-part mix, so I was forced to make two separate mixtures before adding them together for the final product. The precursor I had just made was, unfortunately, slightly different from the final form, so it would not work in Med-X.


    When I finally finished the syringe of Med-X, a flow of knowledge came through that was significantly larger than the previous ones. I could now see several more medicines and drugs, including Psycho and Calmex, as well as a slew of drugs that weren''t in the games. Frank and I were just starting to discuss what we were going to make next when Jackie radioed from downstairs, explaining that dinner was almost ready and that I should head down.


    I quickly cleaned up a bit, stripped off my safety suit, and headed down to the main Shack area. Kaytlyn was already there, talking to Jackie and Riggs. Jackie was standing by his cooking area, watching me as I entered, ribbing me, and telling me to sit down when I tried to take a peek at what he was cooking.


    Eventually, he made his way over to the table with a large bowl, which he placed in the center of the table. After a moment for dramatics, he pulled off the cover to reveal a beautiful sight. A pile of pasta with a white sauce. He added a plate of grilled chicken, which looked amazing by itself, never mind next to the pasta noodles.


    "So, we figured out how to do a powdered flour and a liquid egg and yolk," Jackie explained. "So I made handmade pasta. Now, pasta isn''t anything new, but our version is free of fillers, so it should still be better."


    "It''s beautiful," I said, feeling my mouth fill up with saliva.


    "You don''t even know what it is yet," Jackie said, shaking his head and rolling his eyes. "It''s far from authentic, but it''s kind of a bastard child of carbonara and chicken alfredo. It was a struggle to get the cheese not to split, but we figured it out."


    I couldn''t help but smile as Jackie talked proudly of his work as our chef. Part of me was beginning to hope I could convince him to be a chef or something, instead of pursuing his crazy dream of being an edgerunner or solo, but I doubted that would ever happen. When he was done talking about his creation, Jackie served us each a generous helping of the pasta before packing away some for Misty, who he would be going to visit after we ate.


    Unsurprisingly, the food was amazing. The noodles were perfect, worlds above what we had been eating up to that point. Somehow, I had gotten used to the subpar crap, and tasting handmade noodles of actually good quality was like meeting an old friend over a beer, and rediscovering why they were such good friends in the first place.


    Dinner was quiet for the most part, everyone enjoying way too much food, considerably faster than we probably should have. Jackie received plenty of compliments on his increasing talents, and when we were done, I made sure to compliment Frank on his work with the food printing.


    "I take it that the pasta went over well?" he asked, standing by as I pulled on my sterile protective suit.


    "It did, much better than what they offer around here. How did you manage to make powdered flour?" I asked. "And will it work with bread?"


    "That was actually Jackie''s idea," Frank revealed. "We printed the flour into a solid, dense cube, which we then blended in a food processor. It works quite well. And yes, it could easily work in bread or any other flour recipe."


    "That is fantastic, can''t wait to try that," I said, rubbing my hands together before grabbing a pair of gloves. "Maybe I''ll take a crack at bread baking when Jackie is out. Anyway, are you ready to continue?"


    "I am. All our glassware is clean and ready to be used again," The AI confirmed. "All that''s left is to pick what''s next."


    "Well¡­ if our target is Stimpaks¡­ There was an anticoagulant we unlocked, we could go with that," I suggested. "Psycho can wait forever as far as I''m concerned. This world doesn''t need another addictive rage drug. I might make Calmex later, but we have better alternatives in the Auto-Pharma, so only if I have time."


    We talked a bit more about it and decided to try something new, making two drugs at once. The anticoagulant I found did have a long distillation time, so I picked another drug, an antibiotic. The antibiotic had a long brewing time as well and would need to be compressed into a pill, which Frank thankfully had the right equipment for.


    Together, Frank and I assembled the proper glassware apparatus, first putting together the anticoagulant process. Once the process was started, we then got to work on the antibiotic, setting up a totally different apparatus setup. Both of these would be turned into pills, but one would be pressed, while the other would be put into a dissolvable pill capsule.


    Because we were making two at once, both of us were constantly going back and forth, checking and double-checking every aspect of each apparatus, making sure all of the reactions were running well. Eventually, after about forty minutes, we had enough product from each reaction to make a single pill of each. I hastily dumped the antibiotic into the capsule and fed the anticoagulant into the pill compressor, absorbing the flow of knowledge as I finished each. Again, the branches of medical and chemical science cleared up, revealing dozens of drugs and finally showing me the Stimpak.


    "Hell yes! I can finally see it," I said, shaking my head and dropping down into my chair outside of the main lab space. "I can see the Stimpak."


    "What are the ingredients?" Frank asked, still cleaning up from the last production. "Anything drastically exotic?"


    "Uh¡­ Well, it''s going to be a multistage process," I responded. "We need two chemical enzymes¡­ and we need some donated blood. Not a lot, just half a liter, but that''s what it''s going to take to make each Stimpak."


    The fact that it took actual human blood to make a Stimpak was not a surprise to me. In all the games, there were a few different recipes, and all but one of them involved a blood pack, literally a blood donation bag. I was pretty sure that the only recipe that didn''t use one was from New Vegas, and I was pretty sure that recipe represented a different aspect. That recipe took a <u>Xander Root</u></a> and a <u>Broc Flower</u></a> and combined them with an empty syringe, which could easily be used to draw the blood for the recipe, as well as store the finished product.


    Plus, if I were a betting man, I would bet a good chunk of cash that the two enzymes we would have to make came from the Broc flower and the Xander root. In fact, I was almost certain of it.


    "Okay, so I have no idea how this is going to work in detail. It''s too advanced for me to see very deeply into the technical stuff, but I can see the recipe, and that''s all we need, so let''s get started," I said excitedly, eager to learn the miracle treatment''s secrets. "I''ll design a syringe while you finish cleaning up. When you''re done, you can take some of my blood."


    "Unfortunately, sir, your blood contains nanites from your Bioware," Frank pointed out. "It would probably be better if we use Jackie or Kaytlyn''s blood, assuming they don''t have something similar already."


    "Damn¡­ I''ll be honest, I kinda forgot about the nanohive regen implant¡­" I admitted sheepishly. "Okay, I''ll start us off, and you can go track down Kayt for a bit of blood. Then we can get to work."


    Frank nodded and made his way out of the lab while I got to work setting up the chemical process for making the enzymes. It might have been my imagination, but I was pretty sure I heard Kaytlyn shouting at Frank not long after he left.