After the interview was complete, regardless of whether someone was accepted or rejected, they would exit through the back entrance. If someone was rejected, there would be markers indicating the way to the exit where their luggage would be waiting for them by the gate. The inner force fields prevented them from going anywhere else, and would… gently… nudge them along their way if they took too long.
If someone was accepted, it differed slightly depending if they were a resident or a member. If they were just a resident, Mallea would be waiting to personally guide them to their new home. Their residences appeared to be luxury apartments from the outside, but were closer to townhouses in the interior. After a quick tour, Mallea would ask them if they’d like any help in getting settled. Most would refuse the offer, but some were a bit less capable, frequently calling Mallea back with questions or menial tasks.
Members would be redirected to Nathym’s workshop where they’d have their combat gear looked at. From there, Nathym would upgrade where he saw fit, or make new items entirely to cater to each person’s unique fighting style and abilities. Every member and resident also received a state-of-the-art smartphone and a laptop if they wanted.
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◆Tize◆
Tize walked up to the counter in Nathym’s workshop. There was a visitor area that had never been used up until now for members to come and make requests without being actually allowed into the workshop. Nathym was waiting at the counter, sitting behind it on a stool. He had a few basic tools there with him for quick jobs but would go back into the main workshop for more complicated projects.
Thankfully, the vastly reduced acceptance rate for members allowed for Nathym to give each person the time they needed to make sure they got the best gear possible. Some only took Nathym a few minutes, but more complicated things could take quite a while. There were comfy seats and a restroom in the waiting area, so it wasn’t too grueling.
Nathym carefully inspected each of Tize’s firearms along with his shield. He then promptly disposed of all of them in the trash bin next to him.
“Hey, what the hell are you doing?” Tize protested, befuddled by the act. “Do you have any idea how rare those are? And I’ve customized each one personally. You better not—”
To cease complaints in cases like these, Nathym pressed a button and a shutter would violently slam down onto the counter, preventing all access until Nathym finished his work.
A few minutes later, the shutter slid back open and Nathym placed a single pistol on the counter along with a small puck. “The weight will probably take some getting used to, but you should find it fully equipped to replace your entire previous arsenal.” Nathym also slid two different types of ammo onto the counter, both of which could be inserted into the pistol at the same time.
“Uhh, yeah, going to need a bit more explanation, please,” Tize was curious but still a bit aggravated.
“I’d show you myself, but I literally can’t,” Nathym mentioned, “They’re locked to your genetic signature now, and will only operate for you. Of course, the higher ups along with myself can disable them, but even we can’t use them anymore. So, it’s entirely on you to learn them. I guess start by putting the shield on the back of your hand.”
“So this was a shield then…” Tize picked up the puck and examined it for a moment before putting it on his hand as instructed. The puck glowed for a second, and then a handle shot out, wrapping around Tize’s hand. Somehow, Tize could tell what to do by looking at it, and squeezed it to make the shield grow bigger, about the size of a small kiteshield. “It’s pretty impressive, but still much smaller than what I’m used to working with.”
“You don’t need to worry about that,” Nathym assured him. “The actual protective area is much bigger than what you can see. I figured that’d be best to confuse enemies about your actual range of protection. While I can change it so that the perimeter of the barrier glows if you like, I’d recommend trying it out and learning its limitations on your own first.”
Tize moved his free hand to the end of the metal, and then found his fingers sliding along what seemed like nothing. Eventually, he found the edge of the shield’s barrier, and it glowed slightly when touched. After moving his fingers around the perimeter to learn the actual dimensions, Tize was significantly more reassured.
He then picked up the pistol, immediately off-put by the weight of the thing. It was at least three times heavier than a standard pistol, and the handle was a bit thicker to accommodate for both ammo slots.
Despite all that, the weight still felt good and it was comfortable in Tize’s hand. The next thing he noticed was that each of his fingers were resting perfectly on top of a button below the trigger. Carefully pointing it away from himself and Nathym first, Tize pressed the top button with his pointer finger, but nothing happened. Confused, he pressed the second button and the gun in his hand immediately morphed, changing shape in under a second.
It was now an assault rifle, pretty standard issue but Tize could tell it was high-spec. Somehow, it didn’t change the balance in his hand at all, allowing him to hold it steady through the transition. Getting a bit excited now, Tize pressed the third and fourth buttons, where the gun turned into a shotgun and a sniper-rifle respectively. Now able to guess the context, Tize pressed the top button again and the gun returned back to its original pistol form.
“Never should have doubted your work, Engineer,” Tize eagerly praised him as he cycled through the guns again. He had noticed it earlier, but now he drew his attention to the toggle on the back of the grip, just above his thumb. It was currently glowing red. He pressed the toggle, and it changed to yellow. Those were the only two modes, but Tize was still completely unsure of what they did. He assumed it was related to the two types of ammunition.
“Okay, since I don’t want to fire off in here, mind telling me what these do?” Tize inquired.
“Uhh, the red is your standard kinetic shot, like you’d find in any old gun. Meant to maim or kill,” Nathym explained. “It doesn’t actually fire metal, but may as well. The ammo will adapt to whatever type of gun you’re using. You’ll notice you can slide your thumb up and down on the toggle, that’ll modify the power, err, caliber as you’d say I guess. The ammo is actually in a gelatinous state before it’s fired, and higher caliber ammo will use up more of it. So keep that in mind.”
“For the other…” Nathym collected himself for a moment, trying to think of the best way to explain it since combat wasn’t his forte. “It isn’t meant for killing. It’s an energy based ammunition. When it comes into contact with skin, it has a paralyzing effect. Potent as zjik, but not permanent. Anything that’s not skin, though, well it’s corrosive and will eat away at anything until it either reaches skin or runs out of energy.”
“Very impressive.” The earlier aggravation had all but fled, and now Tize was left with nothing but praise. “You really thought of everything.”
“Oh yeah, and one more thing,” Nathym slid one more item onto the counter. “Made a special holster for it as well. Can either equip it to your hip, or back, or arm, or whatever’s most comfortable for you. The shield puck will also slide right onto the top of the gun when you’re not using it.”
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◆Gatrim◆
“Hmph, I have no such need for frivolities like armor, they’d only slow me down,” Gatrim claimed boastfully. “And my rapier is already pure perfection. I don’t know how you could improve upon it.”
“Well, I’ll try anyways.” After snatching the rapier away, Nathym slammed the shutter shut once more. This modification only took a few minutes since he didn’t have to make something from scratch. When he reopened the shutter, he found Gatrim on the verge of tears, sniffling at his lost rapier.
A second later, Gatrim impatiently snatched it back and gave it a few test swings to check the damage. “Hmm, it’s a bit heavier, but I don’t notice anything else. Did you actually modify it? Oh, there it is,” Gatrim finally noticed the new button on his hilt and pressed it without question. He then leapt back in panic as the pointy-end of the rapier elongated until it stabbed into the nearby wall.
After quickly letting go of it, the rapier retracted back to its normal size. “Yeah it does that now,” Nathym rightfully condescended him as he stared at the new hole in his workshop. “I figured it’d work well with your speed move, extending your reach and adding to the element of surprise. Even I’m not completely sure how far it will extend now, just please test it outside and away from anyone.”
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◆Chorus◆
“Okay, I’ve made all the recording equipment you wanted,” Nathym lifted a heavy case onto the counter and slid it over to Chorus. “They work basically the same as what the Drazah’s used during their museum heist, so you can set them to follow specific targets or just record the entire area. They’ll also record perfect audio even from a distance, separating each entity into their own tracks, so no need to use mics or anything.”
“As for the broadcast station you asked for, that’s a bit more of a bigger project that I’ll work on at a later date. I should be able to get it to hijack other broadcast signals like you’ve requested, though.”
“You’re a doll, Nathym, a doll,” Chorus clasped their hands around Nathym’s. Similar to the crisis Ahvra faced earlier, Nathym’s gynophobia really didn’t know if it should be reacting or not. So, it just made him extremely uncomfortable all over. “You’ll be getting your own spin-off series, but what to pick?! Maybe a tech vlog or an educational children’s show. Hmm, maybe making giant robot’s fight? Think on it, dear. If you don’t pick something, then I’ll just pick for you~”
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◆Crucion◆
“You brought the outfit with you, right?” Nathym asked Crucion the moment he stepped into the workshop.
“Umm, yes,” Crucion handed the bag over to Nathym as he’d been instructed.
Nathym pulled out Crucion’s new work uniform and it was a far cry from what he expected. It was basically just a hoodie and matching sweats, though they still had a professional air to them. “I was expecting something quite a bit more elegant like the butler clothes Miss Mallea wears. Maybe she just wants you to remember your place in the pecking order. I guess for a normal human, a suit on top of what I’m about to add would be a bit difficult to move in.”
Crucion was Nathym’s last visitor of the hiring event, so he had already made everything in advance while waiting for him. Nathym inserted the premade lining into the clothes which immediately stitched itself in place. It only took a few seconds in total before Nathym was returning the outfit.
After slipping it on over his normal clothes, the outfit tightened a bit on its own to form to Crucion’s body. “Congratulations, you’re the first artificial Lesser,” Nathym half-heartedly congratulated him. “I heard you made some speech about wanting to do what you can as a human, but that won’t work with what Mallea’s going to put you through. You’ll need the added strength of that lining.”
“It basically works as a less robotic power suit, boosting your own strength and resilience. There’s still an element of effort required. The stronger you become, the more the suit will adapt and boost you. If I had it use its full potential right away, I’m pretty sure it’d snap your body like a twig.”
Crucion jumped around in the outfit a bit, already seeing the results. His motivation soared through the roof, and after thanking Nathym, he raced off to whatever the next task was that Mallea had assigned for him. He’d already been working since he’d been accepted several hours ago, but still had endless energy with the sun coming up. Nathym on the other hand was now heading straight to bed to crash.
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◆The Beacon◆
“Sorry about your rejection,” Nathym attempted to console The Beacon when she entered, but she didn’t say a word, her head hanging low. Nathym assumed she was in despair, but couldn’t exactly tell with her full body being covered. “Well, this may not quite make up for it, but they still wanted to give you something special.”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Like everyone else, The Beacon received a state of the art phone, but Drim had messaged Nathym ahead of time to have something prepared. Nathym slid the large and heavy object onto the counter. It looked like a large bowl with clips around the edge.
“It’s a portable bath. Just drop it near any water source, regardless of quality, and it’ll take care of the rest. It will also put up full privacy walls so no one will be able to see you from any angle. The clips there will automatically attach themselves to the back of your clothes so you can take it anywhere, and it will replicate their design to respect the religious significance. There’s a hot spring up in the mountains that the others said you could use if you want to take it for a test drive.”
The Beacon still never broke her silence, but Nathym could tell her mood had improved. She slid her fingers around the bowl to feel it out for a moment, and then she jumped at Nathym without warning. She hugged his neck tightly, then grabbed the heavy bowl and ran off with it as if it was as light as the kite. Meanwhile, Nathym was left there paralyzed for a moment, doing his best to not slip into a panic attack.
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◆Itsy◆
“I heard you didn’t use any weapons to fight, and seeing you now, I can clearly imagine why,” Nathym was as awestruck as everyone else when he saw Itsy’s size and sheer muscle. “But I heard you like tinkering yourself and working on cars, so I’ve got something unique in mind for you.”
Nathym returned after a while and clunked the toolbox onto the table, with an extra large handle to make it comfortable for Itsy to carry. “Every tool in there is the finest quality, which I’ve adjusted to match your hand size. I can speak to their proficiency, since I use them myself. They’re all self-adjusting as well to whatever size you need, so no worrying about changing toolbits or losing some.”
Itsy couldn’t contain her excitement and plunked open the top of the box. She started sifting through it, pulling out the tools one at a time and fidgeting with them. “This is rad!” She then tried snapping one of the wrenches in half but it didn’t even budge. “And wow they’re so tough. Most store-bought stuff breaks if I even twist too hard. Thank you, sir. I’m going to make the best vehicles with this.”
“Ah, I heard about that,” Nathym recalled. “I’m happy to turn over most of the automotive modifications and repairs to you, besides the stuff only my Curse can do. Got a small fleet ready to go if you want them. Now that I’ve built a hoverbike, all my transportative fantasies have already been fulfilled, so not much passion left for me in that regard.”
“Hoverbike?!” Ahh crap, Nathym had hooked another one by mentioning it, and they spent so long discussing the intricacies that quite the long queue had formed behind Itsy in the meantime.
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◆Roque◆
“Yeah, I’ve got no interest in weapons and such. Unless, you’re going to let me resell them,” Roque mentioned shortly after his arrival and initial questioning. “I do better when I’m stealing, uhh, no, legally taking possession of items from others anyways. What I want is to know about money! All of it, everywhere, all at once. You get me?!”
“Uhh, not really,” Nathym recoiled a bit from Roque’s overenthusiasm.
After a brief sigh, Roque tried to elaborate further. “I want to know where the money is at all times, and every time it changes hands. Every corporation bought, every stock traded, everytime a snot-nosed kid gets money from their grandma for their birthday. All trade flows through Common Cards now, so it should be easy for you, right?”
Nathym was unsure about giving all that information to such a new and chaotic factor, so he texted Drim for confirmation first. The boss simply replied with a shrugging emoticon. After that there was a bit of followup text about making sure the group had access to all that information as well along with including appropriate lock-down features if needed. Nathym felt that last part was unnecessary as it’d basically become standard practice for all the tech he was giving out if it held any threat to society.
“Alright, here you go,” Nathym handed a singular coin over to Roque along with a lengthy instruction manual. One of the best pieces of tech Nathym had ever invented was a neural link to a special printer that allowed him to print instruction manuals for his devices straight from his Curse. Otherwise, he’d waste his entire life trying to write them.
The gist of the coin was that it displayed a holographic projection map of money transfers. It could be filtered however Roque wanted: as broad as the entire world and as focused as an individual person’s spending. The coin also compiled endless monetary data and could be used to answer just about any query Roque gave it on spending habits and analytics.
For whatever reason, Roque bit the coin, gave it a flip, then stowed it into his pocket. He then transferred a few million over to Nathym’s personal account for the trouble.
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◆Kaizu◆
“Sorry about this,” Nathym immediately apologized when the doors locked right after Kaizu entered. “I’ve been instructed to not let you leave until this is done.”
“Sure, whatever it is, let’s get it over with.” Kaizu sighed and walked over to the counter.
“It’s just… I’m going to need you to… they really picked the wrong person for this.” His discomfort was making it difficult for Nathym to speak. “But I understand that Ahvra’s busy, so… Well I need to see between your shoulder blades. Whatever you believe is the best way to do that is fine with me.”
Nathym’s discomfort clearly didn’t extend to Kaizu as she’d take any opportunity to let her Curse Marks breathe, quickly shedding her blazer and blouse. “Ah, I see you’re already wearing bandages, that’ll make this easier. Though, you’ll need to change them soon until Ahvra can treat you properly. I really wish she was doing this entirely, incisions really aren’t my thing.”
Kaizu’s disposition changed a bit when she heard the word incision, so Nathym did his best to dissuade her fears. He held up a device that looked a bit like a small leaf. “I’m going to attach this to your spinal cord. If you’re worried about it, don’t be. The others risked their lives on the idea of this tech working, so you have nothing to fear. It’s a toned down version too.”
“Theirs induced a coma-like state when activated, all this will do is disable your motor functions when needed. You’ll still be fully aware of your surroundings but be unable to move. The only person who will regularly be able to activate it is Drim. Whoever is in charge of monitoring you on missions will temporarily be given permission, like Nachi in the coming days.”
“Normally, Phon would be given such a permanent power like this as well, but Drim decided it was best that she didn’t due to her own… disposition and tendencies. He worries you’d be treated like a ragdoll when he isn’t around, so it’s for the best. Now, if you’ll please turn around. I uhh, can’t speak to the pain on a Lesser, since it only has been tested on Fiends previously.”
Kaizu did as she was instructed without complaint, knowing it was something she’d have to do to move forward. Nathym actually went into the waiting room to make the incision properly, which Kaizu made it through with just a wince and a grunt. However, once the fusion to her nervous system began, she keeled over and collapsed onto the ground. It became overwhelming, and she almost screamed out in pain, but was able to grit her way through it by bashing the floor repeatedly with a heavy fist.
She eventually flopped over onto her back once the pain started to subside. Her entire body was drenched in sweat and she was panting heavily, her face fully flushed. Nathym was glad now more than ever that they were the only ones in the room with the door securely locked. And maybe, just maybe, Phon wasn’t watching with her Curse and couldn’t bring this up at the most inconvenient and embarrassing time.
As Kaizu started to recover and work her way to her feet, Nathym quickly retreated back to the safety of the other room and behind the counter. “Can I go now?” Kaizu asked, her voice still gravely and weak.
“Umm one more thing actually,” Nathym braced himself for the scowl that immediately came his way. “This one you’ll like, I promise. Please hand me the chain around your waist.” He could see the heistance in her eyes so he clarified. “You can keep the daggers. I won’t try to take them from you. I just want to make the chain more convenient.”
As expected, Kaizu was more cooperative now, and she unraveled her chain from her stomach without further resistance. The upgrade was a simple one. Nathym split all the links of the chain so they’d come apart and reconnect magnetically when prompted. It meant Kaizu could easily pull it off of her stomach without having to unravel it every time. The magnets were also quite strong and drastically reduced the chance of the chain being broken through, so it could be used defensively.
“I also regret to inform you that surveillance systems have been set up in your quarters.” Nathym broke the news. “It’s the compromise for letting you live in the dorms with the rest of the members. I doubt anyone will regularly check it, though, unless there’s an incident, and we’ll have a log if someone does.”
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◆Niloy◆
“Yeah, if you could make my water guns more powerful that’d be totally awesome!” Niloy made her request. “It’d be nice to not have to pump them too. Doing that motion in public is hella awkward.”
Nathym took her requests into consideration and once again entirely disposed of her water guns. Instead, he made entirely new ones from scratch. They could be fired like a traditional water gun, with a stream of water with adjustable power, or they could be fired like a regular gun with bullets made of water.
After getting the approval from Niloy who was already ecstatic with the results, Nathym requested that one of the new non-member recruits briefly join them for a test of their Curse. It was one of the college students who could control the maximum capacity of containers. Ironically, their name was Pak.
With his Curse, the storage for the water guns was increased to that of about a large swimming pool. Pak told them that filling them anymore beyond that could cause the guns to implode and create a flood wherever they broke. Niloy took the warning to heart, mostly because it’d ruin her makeup.
“Okay, now that all the sciencey stuff is out of the way, we need to talk design!” Nathym had thought he was free, but they were apparently just getting started. Niloy had him repaint the guns several times and wanted them adorned with jewels. Eventually, Nathym got annoyed and gave her all the components for her to do it herself, the decorating already taking way longer than the guns had taken to make.
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◆Rezin◆
“Hmm, it’s quite difficult to really suggest anything for you since you have virtually no combat experience,” Nathym was slightly perplexed by the conundrum. “For now, I guess I’ll just give you a standard issue stun baton and stun gun, but if you ever figure out what you want you can come back and let me know.”
“Now to help your Curse… I saw something about it not working well when you’re nervous right?” Rezin gave a hesitant nod, but Nathym had a good idea how he could help him. He returned a few minutes later with a baby blue band that matched Rezin’s hair color. Rezin tried putting on his wrist, thinking it was a bracelet, but it was far too big for that.
“It’s actually a choker,” Nathym corrected. “Unfortunately, it needs to be close to your head or it won’t work as well. The other option is to bolt it directly to your skull. Sorry, I know it looks a bit feminine, but I think it’ll suit you.” Rezin put it on, and blinked out of existence a few times from the nerves of being stared at as he did.
“Any time you get nervous like this, just rub your neck and the choker should induce a calming effect.” After doing as instructed, Rezin stopped blinking away and calmed down almost immediately. “Now, is there anything else you’d like?”
“Umm well…” Rezin was still hesitant, but now thanks to his calmer state he could at least impose a little bit. “I’m very addicted to video games. Today’s the longest I’ve gone without playing them and it’s been really hard. If I have to be away from them for so long, I’d probably be a lot more hesitant to go out on missions and stuff. Do you think you could make a way for them to be portable without being crappy?”
“Well, now that’s a genius idea,” Nathym gave some genuine praise. “I can bet you’re not the only one to think that. I’ve got something in mind now that will probably be our next hot-ticket item.” This one took a bit longer to make since there were a lot of intricate components involved. Eventually, Nathym returned and handed over the device.
It was basically a smartphone screen but with halves of a controller on either side. “You’re getting the robust test model. The version we’ll sell will have to go through licensing hell, I imagine. But that one will work with any game from any console as long as it exists in a digital format using the same tech as your new phone to download it. It will also pay for any current and new releases out there automatically that you want to play. Don’t worry about the cost of them. I just made a few million I have no need for, so go crazy.”
Rezin didn’t even wait before leaving to turn it on and start downloading something. It was already loaded up onto the game’s start screen before he walked out the door.
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◆Jaid◆
“I keep telling you, I don’t want any changes!” Jaid kept inching her fingers closer to her broadsword that Nathym was holding, seeing if there was a way she could snatch it without being overly rude. “I don’t want it to turn into a surfboard. I don’t want it to coil around people like a snake. And I definitely don’t want it to double as a self-playing piano!”
“Hmm, you’re making this quite difficult,” Nathym noticed her wandering fingers and pulled the sword back further. “This is such a fine piece. I don’t know that I’d be able to make one as nice as this, even with my Curse. It just pains me to see something like this not living up to its full potential.”
“Let’s change gears. If you don’t want it doing anything crazy, maybe we could talk imbuement. We could have it coat itself in fire, inject poison into anything it stabs, or I could even make it into a railgun.”
“How many times do I have to say I don’t… a railgun?” That concept caught Jaid off guard as she started thinking about it. “You mean that thing in sci-fi sometimes that shoots lightning or however it—”
Nathym then did something that men must never do and took her light interest to mean consent, slamming down the shutter and getting to work. He had to put on headphones to block out all the banging and yelling. The moment he opened the shutter again, Jaid was ready, pouncing over the counter and ripping the sword out of Nathym’s hands.
She then proceeded to expect every inch. “Well it doesn’t really look different, thankfully,” Jaid breathed a sigh of relief. “Guessing the new buttons and the trigger on the hilt are to operate the railgun part, then?”
“Yeah, I’ve also made a few ammo cartridges to get you started. Come see me when you need more,” Nathym slid them onto the counter. “They go into the bottom of the hilt.”
Jaid looked at the hilt after he mentioned it and couldn’t see any noticeable seams or gaps. She then pressed the main button. Her blade slid apart vertically along the crossguard until there was a slight gap in the middle. Electricity began to swirl between the halves of the blade as it charged. She closed the sword without firing at anything, imagining it could cause severe and expensive damage.
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