“I will never forget the day I was asked to go to a hospital to treat a patient. I was bored out of my skull so I figured ‘why not?’”
“I came to regret that decision when I found out my presence was requested because a tik-tokker decided to use a WoundStop to spackle his asshole shut.”
-Conversation between Shadowtag and a journalist, 2049
“Wh-Wha, h-hold on here. Is this for fucking real?”
Evie’s trademark snark was laced with worry, “Yes Spark, unfortunately you did actually get yourself ripped to shreds.”
Yes it is, also for your initial efforts…
Targets Eliminated!
Model One x11
Reward… 11 Points
Model Three x13
Reward… 130 Points
Model Four x1
Reward… 15 Points
Total… 156 Points
Those numbers typed themselves out in an anomalously opened notes app on my glasses as the voice continued.
Including your Initialization Bonus of 100 points you now have 256. I advise you use the funds to first heal yourself, and then purchase more appropriate weaponry for facing down a fully fledged raid alone.
Knowing that I was now either completely off my rocker or incredibly lucky, I decided to indulge the voice in my head. “Fine, what do I need then?”
Evie’s eyes shine with worry as she looks down at me, “You need a goddess damned body transplant, you idiot!”
You are currently suffering from multiple series of gashes made by the Model Three. This is a simple issue that the Class I Medical Utilities Catalog can easily fix! From said catalog a Class I Woundstop and Class I Nano-Regenerative Suite would be quick to halt further damage and bleeding and heal the worst of the injuries. Finally a Class I Hemo-Restore would replace any of the blood you lost over the next few hours. The total would be 80 points.
The situation had settled enough in my head that the full force of the pain was starting to really hit me. Letting out a pained whimper as Evie finally laid me down in the center of my workshop. As Evie rushed to quietly shut the door,I could see the thick trail of blood I had left behind. Before addressing the still not yet confirmed to be fake AI in my head, I looked to my left to see the faces of the kids staring at my sorry state with pale faces, and tears in their eyes.
“Welp Pyridae," I wheezed out through gritted teeth, “Hit me already.”
Understood!
Class I Medical Utilities unlocked!
Points reduced to… 206
New Purchase: Class I Woundstop
Points Reduced to… 201
New Purchase: Class I Nano-Regenerative Suite
Points Reduced to… 181
New Purchase: Class I Hemo-Restore
Points reduced to… 176
Three dark cyan boxes then plopped onto the loose gravel next to me. I could no longer deny that this wasn't all in my head, especially after not only the sound of four separate gasps filled the air, but I had reached out and brushed my hand against the first box and actually felt the damned thing. Whether I should be thankful or curse my new life I didn’t know, so I did the only thing I could do; open the box.
“Pyridae,” I mutter, holding my purchase in my trembling hand, “why is it that you sold me a tube of caulk?”
I ignored the choked laughs and did my best to look stern at the actually real computer in my head.
That is in fact your Woundstop. To use it, press the button down and fill the gashes in with the material. I do advise to be quick but careful, considering that there is still an antithesis presence in the area and you have established yourself as a threat to them. You could also ask for help from your cousins, as your motor functions are significantly impaired currently.
Eyes widening with realization I turned to Evie, “Can you play amateur doctor for me?”
Before I could even blink, the tube was ripped from my hands and my blood soaked shirt was torn open the rest of the way. While I cringed at the fact that I was now topless in front of all of them, (I was never comfortable going without a shirt in front of anyone), I could only barely prevent myself from hurling when I saw the utter carnage that had been hidden beneath the torn fabric. Multiple wide gashes were torn down my front, staining my skin with my own crimson blood. Feeling myself get all fuzzy, I relayed the instructions to Evie, then watched as she held the tube and got to work.
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“This feels like you’re putting applesauce in my body,” I stated incredulously, “What the actual fucking shit.”
Once she finished filling the first gash with medicinal fruit paste, I could feel the pain from that area of my chest lessen. My gasp of relief had Evie pausing to look at me, her face far more pale than normal. With a pained breath I nodded to her, and she moved onto the next gash and started filling it in as well.
Next largest box, the suite is dispensed via inhaler.
“Evie, the second largest box.”
Before she could do anything, Summer had the box open and the inhaler in her hands.
“You’ll be ok, right Spark?” Taking a deep breath after her anxious words, Summer gives me a reassured, but weak smile., “You have to be ok, because you’re built different.”
As she brought the inhaler to my mouth, a bit of anxiety flashed through my head. ‘You see Benny use one all the time, how hard can it be?’ The answer to that question was not something I enjoyed. Inhaling nanites is something that I quickly found was extremely unpleasant. It felt like inhaling wriggling sand and then being unable to cough the stuff back out despite my best efforts. Once my lungs were properly hacked up, and the others seemed to be certain the inhaler hadn’t killed me, I eyeballed the final box with trepidation.
“Pyridae, please tell me that thing isn’t an inhaler.”
It is not an inhaler.
“Good! Summer, can you do the last box please?” with that Summer opened the damned thing up and paled. She pulled out what was absolutely not an inhaler, but instead a syringe’s fucked up cousin, that got loaded with goopy kool-aid and then got body modded to hell.
It is a specialized injection that delivers the compound right to your bloodstream. Tell Summer to inject it into the outside of your thigh.
“Fan fucking-tastic. Outside of my left thigh, Summer.”
The girl pushed up the leg of my shorts and pushed it into my skin. Thankfully, the liquid fruit punch drained into me with barely even a pinch.
Excellent! As long as you don’t stress your wounds too much, you should be completely back to health in a few hours!
A few hours for gashes that serious was something that made me do a mental double take. If this is basic gear, imagine what high end stuff looks like! The thought was sobering, knowing the sheer medicinal capability I now had at my fingertips. Just imagining the firepower I would eventually have was equally terrifying, but yet also, it had me chomping at the bit to go out and shoot something to get closer to that point.
Not to mention the possible things I could do with food production in the Wastes…
Evie pulls me out of my musing, “Spark, before your head goes up into the clouds, we need a plan. There’s far too much blood,” she chokes on her words, “They’ll smell it soon and then beat down the door. Please tell me you have something in this place that can get us to the actual shelter.”
“I-,“ I look around the shop as Evie helps me to my feet, “I don’t have anything in here like that assembled, maybe if I had an hour to cobble something together, but there’s a reason I don’t have any sort of explosives at hand.”
I can actually help you with that.
“You can?” I mutter, looking up a bit as if I could see the AI, “How?”
Spark dear, how did you receive medical attention?
My face heats up as I look down at my boots.
“In my defense, it’s been a long fifteen-ish minutes,” I mumble. Before anyone could continue the blood drained from my face, as a wave of discomfort washed over me.
“Fucking… eurgh!” I grimace, doing my best to push down the sludge filling my heart, “Where’s my PPE drawer?”
I turn my head on a swivel as I pull the location from my memory. As I go to hobble towards the drawer, I notice one important thing. I’m not in pain. Well, nothing worse than feeling a bit sore anyways.
“Fuck, that’s trippy.” I mutter, finally reaching the drawer I yank it open and dig past the safety goggles, gloves, and assorted pads until my hands latch onto the treasure I was searching for.
A nice mostly clean t-shirt.
As I pulled it on with a sigh of relief, Pyridae chimes in.
Now that you are comfortably clothed, I was specifically thinking about the slightly modified pressure washer kitty-corner to you. With the Vulgoran Electrical Utilities Catalogue, you will be able to purchase a few attachments that can attach to the washer that will for one, give you a large enough supply of water to get your family to proper shelter, two, heat and pressurize the water to the point it will cut into low tier antithesis flesh. Finally, we’ll electrify it, to not only make it carry a decent enough charge to do significant damage to their nervous systems, but also increase the stream’s range to around 20 meters before dispersal.
“That's fine. Evie, can you grab the pressure washer in the corner for me please?”
Evie gives me a look as she walks over to grab it, “Okaaaaay? Didn’t you say this thing was only good for washing the outsides of buildings?”
“The overlord in my head says she can make it stronger.”
She scoffs, “If the overlord says so.”
As she brings it over, I realize something, “Pyridae, what about Ones? Twenty meters is a lot for Threes, but the chickens can close the gap a bit better. Is there anything extra for them?”
For the record, I am not an evil overlord. As for the impromptu weapon, the dispersed mist will be hot enough to scald any Model Ones should they fly through it.
“Good enough, go ahead and buy the stuff.”
Gladly!
Class I Vulgoran Electrical Utilities
Points Reduced to… 26
Vulgoran Hydroelectric Injector
Points Reduced to… 10
Class 0 High Velocity Nozzle
Points Reduced to… 9
Pressurized Water Tank (Modified) x1
Points Reduced to… 4
Specialized Protective Gloves
Points Reduced to… 3
A set of five plastic boxes appeared on my workbench at nearly the same time Evie set the washer down onto it. Opening up the first box had me looking down at a pressure wand and hose. It was a sleek storm cloud gray with light cyan highlights. Right above the trigger there was a glowing cylinder with rapidly spinning components arcing electricity between them. I could feel a smile stretch across my face.
“Oh, now this is going to be fun!”