The plan itself was solid and as safe as possible, but something bothered Aurelia about it, but as much as she racked her brains over it, she couldn't figure out what the problem was. Only when Raya had interfered because she really wanted to show Aurelia a vid of a cat playing the electric cello.
"Aurelia. Why don't you show the expected reaction to this objectively very cute vid? Are you a dog or raccoon fan?" Raya actually managed, despite her monotonous, icy voice, to bring in an undertone of disappointment. "I'm not in the mood Raya right now, when else. And what the hell did you mean by 'expected reaction'? Please tell me that you don't use me as some kind of study for anything." "I would never without your consent." A short but unusual pause for Raya later, she added: "Which you; possibly unknowingly." Aurelia sat up in her bed and stared annoyed in the direction of the door. It was difficult to glare angrily at someone you couldn't see. Aurelia was too tired for all this. She threw herself back into her bed and curled up in her blanket when Raya spoke up again: "I'm sorry. If you had been aware of my study, it would have falsified the results. I have not acted in malice.
To change the subject and improve your bad mood; and to draw your attention away from my faux pas.
I have a possible theory for the worries you obviously have. They are two different ones based on different scenarios." "Ah yes?" came Aurelia's muffled voice from the blanket burrito. "Well then, let's hear it."
"Gladly. Theory number one is based on the basic assumption that something is bothering you about the plan and a potentially missing component.
My second, and personal favorite, assumes that you are concerned about whether and how you will be able to steal the monetary gains from this operation without having to fight the community directly.
Am I right in any of my assumptions?"
The thick blanket roll unfolded and an indignant-looking Aurelia fell out of bed. "Ah, damn it." Before she could sit up, she had to free her legs from the chaos and spent a FRUSTRATING 30 seconds in this fight.
"Urgh! And now to you, you psychotic computer mind!" "I'm not a ghost, you know that." "Yes, I know... Computer mind. WHY DOES THE SECOND ASSUMPTION EXIST?! WHAT DO YOU THINK I AM!?" With each word, Aurelia's voice grew louder until she almost shouted out the last question. "I was accepted here. Why would I cheat on my friends?"
"It would make sense to secure the neo-euros for yourself so that you can get housing and a vehicle. In addition, you are no longer dependent on eating low-quality food. In addition, wealthy cyberpunks and operators are able to use money as a tool."
"And what about my second question?!" "I... I was hoping you'd be satisfied with my answer to just one of the questions.
Aurelia. You are a textbook psychopath. You meet all the criteria to be diagnosed with Dissocial Personality Disorder. I saw you kill people without moral qualifications. Not only that... You even seemed to enjoy it."
"Hey! You are not a therapist. Stop it. I also spent time with Mary and the Children and with the people from the church here, without attacking or hurting anyone. I'm just punishing those who are guilty of this world. That doesn't mean that I just betray or hurt friends!"
"Forgive me Aurelia. I let myself be influenced too much by the pure data. I should know better and your... 'Aurelia-likeness'." "Woah, what does Aurelian mean, please?" "You regularly decide against my predictions and find solutions, and problems that shouldn't exist. You are an anomaly that even I, as a perfect AI, cannot predict.
In addition, Aurelia-ness is a great neologism that I am proud of. If I had shoulders, I would pat on them. In my free time, I'm also working on using Aurelia as a verb."
Aurelia first had to lean against a wall and take a deep breath. After a few seconds of complete silence, she then asked in a matter-of-fact tone: "You have free time? Can't you do everything super fast? I don't think you can really speak of a principle like work and leisure." "Of course, you're absolutely right, in this case I used the word free time to imply that I pursue a hobby. If I use a minimal portion of my power as my own data center, I can think at a speed that is similar to a human." "You... So you're making yourself stupid so that you... Hobby... ? Mind you, that consists of turning my name into verbs and so on." "Not just verbs. Aurelia-ness is a substantive adjective." Aurelia started and then stopped herself from speaking. It was too early for such a thing.
Her HUD showed 8 a.m. Felt more like 3 a.m. With sluggish movements, she forced her body to the small box that she abused as a wardrobe. She slipped out of her sleeping outfit and looked down at herself. Raya had been right. The two weeks of natural healing before the Nanites finally did their job and brought Aurelia into top condition. Besides, it was far more inconspicuous than if she had suddenly healed fully after three days.
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Absent-mindedly, she reached for a shirt Parker had given her when her fingers happened to glide over the rough fabric of her nun's habit that lay underneath. She hadn't worn her robe for a long time, as it was still full of blood and human remains. She had fought so hard to be able to wear a habit and now she let herself be distracted by a little-; well, ok, keep a lot of blood out.
Her grip tightened and with the black and white fabric in her fist she asked: "Raya" "Aurelia." "What is my Stargazer account balance?" "Your current level is 4237 coins." "What- so much? Real? How?!" Aurelia stammered, Raya replied unimpressed: "you had 153 coins before you came to Bear here. Your action in the secured camp gave you 800 per soldier. So you have earned 4000 coins just by doing this. Then there were an additional 630 coins, 600 through the camp itself and 30 for not including Parker in the firefight." "Ok, but that's what it is..." Aurelia counted in her head and just used her fingers a little to keep track, "4783 coins, right?" "Indeed. In the few moments of responsiveness, I made sure that medical equipment was purchased. You used the last of these last night to complete the healing. The total cost was 550 coins." "Ouch." Would you have preferred death?" "Urgh, of course not. But with 4 thousand other things, surely I can afford armor that includes my habit, or looks the same, right?" "For 100 coins you can buy Armor 1, but I recommend Armor 2 for 1000. A Modular Flexiplate Armor 'Stalker v7 Base' for 2500 can be customized by me to match the style of your garment. Then you would still have 1283 left." "Hmm, tempting. What exactly does the armor do then?" In Aurelia's HUD, schematics and images of armor suddenly appeared, which looked as if a diving suit had been covered with fine triangular plates. On the chest was a larger piece of armor that, according to one of the blueprints, contained a cyberdeck, whose only job was to adjust the small plates to the wearer's movements and, in the event of the impact of a projectile or weapon, to arrange the plates in such a way that the energy was optimally dissipated.
Aurelia would no longer look like a cheese from Helvetica after every skirmish. Would certainly be worth the money, wouldn't it?
While Aurelia was still brooding and looking at the pictures particularly closely, another picture popped up. It was the armor again, at least according to the name, but it had a new design. The black grey camouflage of the bodysuit was replaced by a very deep black, a knee-length jacket that looked like you had taken a habit and cut it open in the middle was new and the colours of the chestpiece and smaller straps and brackets were changed from anthracite to a bright white. "This is my version of the Stalker Flexiplates armor. I hope you like my design." came from Raya, a little hesitant than usual. A big grin settled on Aurelia's face and she answered, "It's perfect Raya. Real. Thank you so much, thank you!" Aurelia could have sworn that for a short moment the room became particularly warm and sweat appeared on her cheeks.
"It's absolutely perfect! You said it was the basic model... I still have over 1000 coins left... What kind of addons are there?" "Here's a list of extensions available to you." A short list appeared and Aurelia's eyes widened. "Aurelia." "Yes?" Aurelia asked distractedly. "I have a guess what you're after." "Oh yes." Aurelia's face was contorted by an almost insane grin. That would be fun.
As it turned out, a skin-tight bodysuit with countless plates was incredibly annoying to put on. The body part of the armor came in two parts: neck, shoulders, arms, and chest; and everything below.
The white-smoldering brisket was the part that held everything together. This meant that Aurelia had to force herself into two pieces of clothing that were much too tight until she could finally put on the rest. After about 20 minutes of cursing, she had finally made it out of her room.
Her coat jacket with the small hooks for her huge sniper rifle, which she had finally taken out of the dusty corner after more than two weeks, the straps with which the two holsters for her Fallen Angel Revolver and the Blender, as well as her tactical knife on the front of the revolver holster. A shimmering breastplate with a painted cross and the headgear of her habit, the only remaining part of her original robe. Across her body ran a belt that attached her sword Gladius Inannis to her back. Sunglasses rested on her nose, which allowed her to adjust the brightness and finally she had a cross hanging around her neck.
She looked like a women's army, believer detachment. She was ready! And broke... after her addons, she only had 28 coins left. But she didn't care right now, because hidden under her jacket, Deus Ex had a new toy, with endless potential. If you didn't know it was there, it was almost invisible on her back.
"WOAH, who invited the church special forces," barked Bear laughing, "You look dangerous, ex!"
Parker also seemed impressed.
The Tactical Mission Nun walked across the large main room towards the Tall Man and held out her hand to him. "It's not just for show." Bear's bushy eyebrows raced up, but without hesitation he grabbed Aurelia's hand and put all his strength into the handshake. Although the integrated gloves of her armor ensured that she had a superhumanly strong grip, she felt Bear's paw take over. Incredible. How damn strong was he?
The inn was less busy than usual, three guests from outside and Theodora, who was embellishing a jacket with fine embroidery, while she ate on the side.
She looked up and looked at Aurelia critically, then put the jacket on the table and turned to her. "You look like you're a prostitute who wants to cosplay a Commando." "Woah, Theodora," Bear was about to interject, but Aurelia stopped him: "It's all right, Bear. I know exactly what she means.
From a pure style standpoint, she's absolutely right. You look at me from a tactical point of view, apples and oranges"
"Your honesty and directness will get you into real trouble at some point," Parker said
The seamstress just smiled and continued to work on her jacket. "I know who I can tell what it's like and who would rather hear lies.
I just hope it's as combat-ready as it's inappropriate."
"Hehe, it is" Aurelia grinned and then turned to Parker and Bear. It was time. Both looked serious now and Bear led the small group out of the inn and onto the street.
"The bar is an hour's walk from here, Blurr will meet you there. Are you ready?"
Aurelia looked down at herself. "I think so. I'll get in touch when I have news."
"Good luck"
"You can do it"
Came from both of them and Aurelia set off.