“Ah...You’re playing with the big boy’s now,  lad.” The dwarf’s eyes gleamed at the promise of further profits.

“C’mon. What level 2 mods do you have?” I asked leaning forward and my heart quickened. I had waited for a long time for this. Super Strength. Here I come!

“Let me see...” He checked his holoscreen and I waited eagerly. The dwarf took a long time and I felt a flash of annoyance. He was dragging this out and I wanted to grab the dwarf and shake him.

“Hmmm. I have a couple of enhancement mods available. A Neural mod, Auxilium mod, Oculus mod, Reflex mod, Musculoskeletal reinforcement mod...” He finally said and he smirked when he saw my impatience.

“What’s a Neural mod?” I interrupted him. That intrigued me. Super Intelligence?

“It improves the synchronicity of your installed mods with your brain.” When he saw my face of incomprehension. He explained further.

“Your Storage mod for example. When you want to retrieve your stored items, you do it manually. With a neural mod, you can retrieve the item you want with your thoughts. I was going to suggest you buy one. It needs a lot of practice to master it though.”

“That’s useful.” I thought about situations where I don't have the time to press buttons.

“Right. Hmmm...Here, I’ll send you the list.” He flicked something in my direction and I opened a holoscreen. There was a -received a document, accept or deny- prompt and I pressed -Accept-.

I examined the products and found there were dozens of mods available for sale. There were mods that I didn’t know what they did. But, there were mods that I did recognize and I want them all. I saw the listed prices and that put a damper on things. I made a decision to get three Mods and not blow all my money in one purchase. I need to leave some creds for mods that I might need in the future. The muscular-thingy mod or strength mod was a must, but the second and the third one was harder to choose. I could get the neuro mod and visual enhancement mods. The Neuro Mod was more useful than I initially thought. Instead of manually controlling every mod that I had, I could control every one of them with my thoughts. The Oculus mod was essential for my job as it had a night-vision, infrared, and could vastly improve my eyesight. I finalized the mods I wanted and asked for the price.

“Hmmm. I could sell it to you for...let’s say… three thousand creds.” My eyes widened. That was steep. I had only eight thousand plus creds on me...

“C’mon, Tordan. Can you give a discount? I’m your best customer.”

“The best? Ha! Not even close! You rascal. Hmmm...I could do twenty-eight hundred.”

“Can you go a little lower? We’re friends right?” I wheedled the dwarf. The dwarf thought about it and made a counteroffer.

“I’ll sell them for twenty-five hundred and you get a ten percent discount for a year but on one condition. I get exclusive rights to any animal items you hunt.” He offered. I thought about it for a long time. Tordan wasn’t the only Altech trader in our area, there was one in a neighboring town if I recalled correctly. The dwarf always traded fairly with me and I didn’t find anything wrong with those stipulations.

“Exclusive rights for one year. In Washington State.” I amended his offer. I caught a flicker on his face and I knew my counteroffer surprised him. That cunning dwarf!

“One year, in this state. Deal.”

“Deal.” We shook our hands and we both smiled.

“Oh. Try to visit in a month or two. I heard rumors that they might release some new Mods for humans.” He said while he placed the items on the counter. I examined one and the Enhancement Mods were larger than the Level 1 mods.

“Sure. Oh. I almost forgot. Can you make an armor vest for Hera? I need one that stretches as she grows up.” I didn’t want her to rely on her thick skin for protection and I wanted to put a -Sheriff- logo on the vest.

“I recommend you visit the store next door. That’s where I had your jacket made. You’re not getting a rifle upgrade?” He smiled and wiggled his eyebrows.

“Eh. I kinda like the Gauss Rifle. It destroys the animal on full auto though.”

“I told you it was a good rifle for hunting. I might know a thing or two about hunting.” He bragged.

I paid the dwarf and stored my precious Mods. We made our farewells and went outside and went to the elf clothing store. When I walked into the store, I was greeted by an elf and asked for my jacket. I assumed they were going to store it, I shrugged and gave it to him. The store was different from Tordan’s. While Tordan had a pawnshop looking interior, the elf clothier was more fancy and stylish, for a lack of better term. It looked like one of those shops that sold expensive suits for gentlemen. Another elf approached me and bowed. He had long blonde hair tied in a ponytail and wore an impressive looking English style suit.

“Welcome, to my humble shop. My name is Litharen. I make one the finest clothes in this country.”

“I’m Deputy Hunter.” I introduced myself and we shook hands.

“I saw you wearing my creation as you came in. How did find the jacket?”

“I love it. It fits like a glove. It also saved my life on one occasion.”

“I’m pleased to hear that. My products have a limited lifetime warranty. I am that confident of the quality of my wares,” He waved in the direction of the clothing.

“How can I be of assistance? A suit for a formal event or for business, perhaps? Or a ballistic, energy, and fire resistant clothes.” Wow! This guy can really talk. Tordan could learn a thing or two from this guy.

“I need something for my bear, Actually. A K-9 vest for her. Something light but can also protect her from claws or bullets. She’s still growing, so maybe something stretchable.” I hope I didn’t insult him for asking him to make something for an animal.

“Hmmm. Something strong yet flexible...” He was unfazed by my request. He pursed his lips and examined Hera. I liked him already. He didn’t mind that it was for a bear and I respected him for that.

“Any material can only do so much in terms of stretchability. The more the material expands, the weaker it gets. Hmmm...We could use carbon-nano weave fabric with a stretchable cloth for the seams and straps for easy removal. But we need to resize the vest when the bear gets a lot larger though. Yes, I can do this.” He nodded to himself.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“How much will it cost?”

“Seven hundred creds.” He said and looked at my face for my reaction. I didn’t know him and this was our first deal, so I refrained from asking a discount. It was also for Hera and I didn’t want to skimp on her armor.

“Okay. But give me a discount when we resize the vest.”

“That’s agreeable. Your bear, please. If it’s no trouble. I need to measure her.”

“Hera. Come here. Stay.” I told her and she tilted her head at me.

I held her arms out wide and but the tailor said I didn’t need to do that. I let go of her arms and she grunted in annoyance. Ever since we killed that cougar she was getting a little strong-willed lately. It must be the hormones. The tailor measured her with a laser tool and he said the vest would take two days to finish since it was a custom job. I paid the elf half of the cost and we left the store. Instead of following me, Hera went straight to a food stall and begged the vendor for some food. I took pity on the halfling and bought some for Hera and she ate the barbequed kebab with gusto. We left trader’s street after some kids asked for some selfies with Hera. I was happy that the town was getting used to her. There were no calls for a hunter that day and we got home before dinner.

--

I decided to install the Strength Mod first and I examined the mod. It was the size of a box of playing cards and it had the same wafer texture. Tordan recommended a different way to install the mod. I laid down on the bed with my shirt off and placed the mod on my chest. The mod melted on my chest and it was absorbed by my skin. After a while, I felt a something tingling in my chest. It was like there were spiders crawling inside my body and I didn’t like it one bit. I resisted scratching my chest and the sensation spread throughout my body. After twenty minutes my body started getting hot like I had a mild fever. I was sweating profusely and then weird the feeling transformed into pain. It was like pinpricks at first, but after a few minutes the pain increased and it felt like I was dropped in a vat of boiling oil. I swore at the vengeful dwarf for not warning me. I heard Hera’s roar in my room while I grimaced in pain. I shouted in agony and I promptly blacked out.

I woke up early in the morning and groaned, my whole body was so sore like I was exercising all day. It was good thinking that I asked the sergeant for a day off. I didn’t think I was in good shape for work and tomorrow was Sunday, so I had time to recuperate. I tried stretching my body and the pain increased. What did the nanites do to my body? I’ll need to test it when I felt better. I took a shower to wash away the sweat from last night torture session and went to the kitchen to eat.

“Morning.” “Morning.” “Morning, hon.” My parents were at the kitchen table eating breakfast. I placed some food on my plate and ate it ravenously.

“Did you install some mods last night?” My dad asked

“Uhuh. How did you know?”

“The screaming kinda gave it away and you told us last dinner.”

“Oh, right.”

“As long as it wasn’t a girl screaming. Hehehe.” My mom teased. My dad choked on his coffee.

“MOM!” “BABE!” We looked at her horrified. I think I need to move out.

“You going to work today?” My Dad quickly changed the subject.

“I asked for a day off today. I don’t think I’m in the best condition.” I stretched my body again and it was still painful.

“That’s good. When we installed our mods, it felt horrible. But it was worth it.” My mom shook herself at the memory. I took a good look at them both and their faces looked younger now. The wrinkles on their faces disappeared and they looked energetic. I patted myself on the back for buying those mods for them.

“Oh. I almost forgot. I got a surprise for you, hon.” She stood up from a table and took something from the dining room. It was a square item covered in brown paper. She took off the paper cover and I groaned when I saw the surprise.

“Tada! I had it framed a few days ago. Babe, look. Brian looks so handsome in his uniform. I’ll post this on Phasebook. My son’s a real hero.” She beamed at me and showed the framed local newspaper front page. She breathed on the glass and wiped it with a napkin.

“Deputy Hunter saves a colleague from a cougar attack. You did good. I know that man’s father.” My dad read the headline.

“I going to hang it in the living room or maybe in the dining room. Maybe, I should bring it to class to inspire my students.” She said out loud. Please no!

“That’s a good idea, babe.” My dad nodded. I ate my breakfast swiftly and got out of the kitchen before they started making more embarrassing ideas.

At least my cutie was above all that nonsense and she gave me a big hug. Hera started sniffing my chest and I felt a sense of approval from the bear. I looked at her face and she had her tongue out. Can she smell the new nanites in my body? Stranger things had happened.

--

“Hi, Hera! I missed you!... Ey, Hunter. You look chirpy this morning.” Harris kneeled on the floor and gave her a big hug. I felt great actually. My body felt lighter and stronger. I still need to go the gym to try out my strength.

“You’re early today.” She said to me after giving Hera her daily rub.

“I had some errands before coming to the station. I could say the same for you.” I raised an eyebrow. Harris was always ten minutes late and she had to make it up by leaving work later.

“Oh. I’m turning over a new leaf this week. My horoscope said so.” She said without meeting my eyes.

“Really? I suppose that ass-chewing you got from the sarge had nothing to do with it.” I teased.

“Of course not.” She huffed. She gave Hera her favorite jelly donut. She didn’t offer me one though.

“Briefing in five minutes!” A deputy shouted and we made our way to the second floor. For some reason, Hera followed me to the briefing room and I thought it was fine as long as the sergeant didn’t mind.

“Aw, shit!”

“Be careful now, Beck. She might eat you. Right Hera?”

“Look what I got, Hera. Come here, I know you love this.”

“Hey, Hunter.”

The stupid hazing ritual finally petered off and I, for once was thankful for the respite. I sat at the back as usual and watched Hera being fed copious amounts of donuts by the deputies. I think they treat her as a mascot. A mascot that could maul them if she wanted to. I looked at the empty seat on my left and looked for Connelly. He must be still at the hospital and I knew Harris was bullshitting again. Right on time, the sarge entered the room and we stood up.

“Morning, take your seats.” He saw Hera in the briefing room and looked at me. I shrugged at him.

“Okay. Let’s get this started. Hunter, I want your report on my desk at the end of the day. Got it?” I nodded quickly.

“We received reports that a group of dwarves and humans are mining illegally at the abandoned Tiller Quarry...”

I listened to the briefing carefully even though it wasn’t really my job to arrest offenders. Most of the crimes being committed were relatively minor and we wanted it to stay that way. The sergeant gave his last thoughts and the briefing ended. I hurried to my desk to finish my report and hopefully, the sergeant would accept it. The phone rang as I printed the report for the sergeant.

“Hello, this is Deputy Hunter... uh-huh...what’s the address...gotcha...bye. ” I put down the phone and called Hera. I took the package I picked up earlier and kneeled on the ground next to Hera.

“Don’t move, you runt.” The bear cub grunted in annoyance.

“C’mon, Hera. Lift up your paws. No, the other one.”

*Chuff!*

“Stop moving.”

*Chuff!*

“Almost done. You big baby.”

*Chuff*

“Done.” I looked at Hera critically and was satisfied with it. The other deputies were crowding us and were admiring Hera, especially the female deputies.

“Let’s go.”

“Awww. That’s so cute.” Harris said looking at us.

We walked away from the gathered deputies without acknowledging them and I grabbed the leather jacket on my seat. We passed them slowly in slow motion and I wore my jacket, and I adjusted it for a better fit. I took out my Oakleys and wore them one handed. I put on my non-regulation brown Outback hat and I heard a female deputy sigh deeply. Following me with her head held up high, I felt the sense of smug satisfaction radiating behind me. Hera was wearing her new dark grey vest with a large yellow -SHERIFF- and a small -Hera- patch on the side.

*Chuff!*