Morning broke over Chancery Hills, and Lightforge was nowhere to be seen on the streets. For the first time since his arrival, he was sleeping in. Having made the decision to become a shopkeeper for the various supers around him, he knew that there was a lot of planning to be done. Things to do, places to be. But there would be plenty of time for that later. Now he was taking just a little bit of extra rest.

Or at least that had been the plan. Just after dawn he found himself tossing and turning on the couch, unable to find a comfortable position. To be fair, the couch wasn't particularly comfortable to begin with. It was, unfortunately, the best option he had available. Since in-game characters didn't actually require sleep, the only bedding options were decorative upgrades that he wouldn't have the cash for anytime soon.

Honestly, he was just grateful that the bases included a bathroom. There had never been a need, but they'd always been included anyway. According to rumor, one of the game devs hated how science fiction settings never seemed to include bathrooms, and so they made it their mission to have the proper facilities available and visible in game. Before that had always been just an amusing anecdote. Now Lightforge was endlessly grateful for the quirk.

He rolled off the couch and stood, stretching muscles that should have been knotted and sore. He suspected that only his statistical resistance to damage had prevented that. Of course, that also led to the possibility that getting a papercut or stubbing his toe could result in lost HP. And while that would be easy enough to test, he didn't have much interest in trying to intentionally injure himself in any way.

Instead he rose and took a shower. The water was the perfect temperature, and he could feel his mind and body resetting themselves after a difficult few days. He couldn't stay in for long, but he was going to enjoy it for as long as he could.

Then, finally, it was time to start the day. He dressed in his costume and grabbed his Gate Controller, slipping it into his inventory. Ever since Circe's warning he'd taken to changing the location of his base's entrance at least once a day. Eventually he would lose the habit, but he hadn't found a secure enough space yet.

He stepped outside from the backside of a gas station on the far end of Chancery Hills from Decker Row. At level 2 he wasn't ready to venture out of the starter areas, but that was no reason to stay where the danger was the highest. Even here he crept around, checking for signs that someone was watching him or readying an attack.

Once satisfied that death wasn't sitting around the next corner, Lightforge set off back towards the Row. While this area was safer, the more dangerous areas were more likely to have cheap prices on their storefronts. If what he'd heard was true, then there likely weren't many buyers at the moment.

While there were still players hiding in the shadows, it seemed that many of them had given up the practice for now. Instead they openly patrolled the streets, waiting for any signs of trouble. He would occasionally nod to one of them as they passed, acknowledging their presence without showing concern. He quite literally had nothing to fear. Heroes could only attack villains without repercussions. His status screen still showed him as being neutral, so there was nothing to be gained by anyone he was passing.

Of course, that requirement only protected him from heroes. Villains could gain XP from anyone, even other villains, though that included some serious limitations. This was at the forefront of his mind as he came closer to Decker Row. He constantly swept his surroundings looking for the red aura that would signal an attack.

Whether by luck or skill, he made it to the area he was looking for without incident. It was a mostly empty strip mall near the boundary between the two neighborhoods. Only a couple of the storefronts were in use at the moment, which was a good sign. But the most important thing to him was behind the strip mall. Since they were all small stores, there were no loading docks in the back. Instead the whole row was up against a wall that separated it from a self storage place. That was the key.

For now, it was a good way to keep the place secure. Only one way in and out, so people wouldn’t be able to surprise him. And he was sure that he could find a way to make use of the storage units behind given enough time. Of course, he was getting ahead of himself. First he needed to actually get a storefront of his own.

He walked up to one of the empty stores and tapped on the window. Nothing happened. He tapped a few more times before pressing his face to the glass to peer inside. Yup, it was empty. He wasn’t entirely sure what he’d been expecting, but there had to be a way to do this.

Heavy breathing and quickened steps approached him from behind. He whirled around, daggers forming in his hands as he went. But what he found wasn’t an enemy attack. Instead it was a heavyset man in a cheap suit, huffing and wheezing as he hurried over. By the time he was standing in front of Lightforge, the man was doubled over and struggling to catch his breath.

The weapons vanished into thin air and Lightforge reached out towards the man. “Sir?” he asked, “Are you alright?”

“Please,” the man said between gasping breaths, “There’s nothing to take here. Please leave us in peace.”

Lightforge felt the heat rising in his cheeks as he realized what he must have looked like. With all the villains running around and causing havoc, it was no wonder that the man would jump to conclusions. Honestly, it was impressive that the man had been willing to jump in front of a presumed villain to protect the stores here.

The hero raised his hands over his head and said, “I’m so sorry, this is all a misunderstanding. I’m not here for that. I was actually hoping to open a shop in this area, but I don’t know who to talk to.”

The large man finally managed to stand up straight and eyed Lightforge up and down. He considered the words with a suspicious eye, plainly unwilling to believe what he was hearing.

“What are you talking about?” he asked, “Your type don’t open shops. Too busy throwing each other through windows for that.”

That one hurt. Lightforge really needed to start working on the image of heroes around here. He gave a halfhearted shrug and said, “I know. I would like to be different. My name is Lightforge, and I’m new in town.”

“New, huh? Maybe someone with some sense finally showed up. I’m Lou Whitmore, and I run the mini mart over there on the corner. I guess I’m technically in charge of this whole little strip, but there’s not much to it at this point.”

“Does that mean you could sell me a storefront to use?”

“Depends. What are you planning to sell? And why here?”

“Well, I’m a Gadgeteer. I’m planning to sell my services to heroes who need better equipment. And there are a lot of them around here who could use the help.”

“Hmph. Fine, I guess that makes a certain amount of sense. Why should I let you bring your trouble here?”

“Well, think about it. This whole area is trouble anyway. But if I have a place here, then it will be in my best interest to get rid of it as quickly as possible. It’ll be like having a full-time guard.”

Lou was already nodding to himself, seeing the logic of what Lightforge was saying. It made perfect sense, and they both knew it. All the same, the wide man made a show of thinking it over, clearly shifting over into salesman mode. It might be a perfectly reasonable deal, but that was no reason not to get the most out of it as possible.

Gingerly, Lou pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and began dabbing the sweat from his face as he continued to consider. To Lightforge, this felt suspiciously like the last time he’d had to buy a car. The only hope was to not let himself get screwed over like he had that time. He waited patiently, not willing to let Lou’s theatrics unnerve him.

Finally Lou nodded softly to himself and said, “I suppose that all makes sense. Now that I think about it, I’ve been trying to place someone into that one on the end there.”

It didn’t escape Lightforge’s notice that the indicated store was as far from Lou’s own as was possible. That was fine; in fact, Lightforge preferred the idea of the other shops being apart from his. While he could talk a big game about keeping the chaos away, there was only so much that he could do alone.

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He did his best to keep a cool, detached demeanor on his face as he shrugged and said, “I guess that one could work. It all depends on the price.”

"Well, there you're in luck. Normally this area goes for a high premium. Given the current circumstances, I can offer you a significant discount. How about… 1400 Bux?"

This place was a piece of crap in a low-level area. Even in the best of times, it shouldn't cost that much. The man was openly trying to screw Lightforge over. Take advantage of the new meat who didn't know better.

Lightforge bit back those thoughts, only letting a smirk slip through. He shook his head and said, "Sorry, that's not going to happen. I need things cheap more than I need them in the right area."

"Is that so? While I can assure you that you won't find better prices anywhere, you can feel free to try. But this deal won't be available when you return."

"Is that so? Let's be honest here: you saw someone in the area and your best guess was 'looter'. You need something to bring customers back."

"While you clearly don't understand the complex nature of running a business, I suppose you're not completely wrong. I suppose I could bring the price down a little. As low as 1150."

That was probably what it would have cost in the old game, with all the systems working correctly. In other words, it was supposed to be a fair deal. Just not in the state that things were now. Lightforge wracked his brain, trying to think of more reasons to lower the price. Something more polite than "this whole area is awful."

Lou saw the hesitation and grinned. He was about to win the negotiation, and he knew it. Before the businessman could pounce on the opening, both were interrupted by a cacophony of metallic scraping and clanking.

Lightforge turned to look, and his eyes went wide. A pair of robotic spider creatures were bearing down on them, scuttling along the ground with limbs that looked far too thin to support their weight. Each was the size of a motorcycle, but flattened and twisted like they'd already passed through a shredder.

The robots closed in, and Lightforge summoned his shield and a dagger. The things weren't particularly fast, but their clawed feet left shallow grooves in the pavement as they moved, so it probably made up for their lacking speed.

"Run!" Lightforge commanded, "Leave them to me."

He didn't even glance back to see if Lou had listened. He raised his shield and leapt forward at the nearest spider. They collided with a mighty crash, shield flashing brightly as it absorbed the hit. For a moment, the robot halted, and the hero twisted underneath it, using his shield to flip the thing onto its back. Hopefully that would take it out of the fight for a few–

As soon as the robot hit the ground, its legs flipped around. It rose, indistinguishable from before he'd thrown it. He swallowed hard at the sight; that was very, very bad.

Before it could get moving again, he dropped on top of it with all his weight, leading with the dagger in his hand. The shining blade found a soft spot in the metal exterior, driving into the robot's back all the way to the hilt. The thing shuddered beneath him, but it hadn't fallen.

He had just enough time to grin before claws dug into his sides and hurled him aside. He flew across the parking lot of the strip mall and crashed hard into the pavement, cracking it and sending a quick shock of pain running through him. His HP bar flashed and dropped a little.

Right. There were two of them.

He scurried to his feet, hands glowing as daggers appeared in each. He let them fly, desperately needing them to explode on impact. For the first time, he was completely successful. Each robot got an exploding dagger to whatever passed for their faces. It made them stutter, but they were already on the move towards him.

As soon as the first set of knives hit, he was forming more, painfully aware of the few seconds required to conjure them. He threw them and began the process again, only to realize that he wouldn't have time to launch another volley. They were getting too close.

He glanced at his skill icons to check the status of his shield. It was still at 80%, so it should still last a bit longer. As soon as his new weapons formed, he darted forward to keep the things from surrounding him.

The plan was simple: fend off one of them with his shield while fighting back the other. Unfortunately, 'simple' is not the same as 'easy.' He shoved his shield into one of them, but it was prepared for the blow. Instead of being pushed away, it grabbed onto the shield and wrapped around it, digging at his arms with its claws.

The sudden imbalance made it all but impossible to swing at the second robot. Lightforge's long reach allowed him a couple of quick swipes, but the thing scampered around, only coming close to reach out and stab at him.

Little by little, his HP was trickling away. This was bad; he had no idea how to fight these things. He was starting to get desperate. He jumped and struck with both legs at the robot that was dancing around him. The blow was glancing, but the thing was knocked off balance and backed away for a moment.

He and the spider on his shield fell to the ground, where his shield shattered into light. He raised his other arm high and rammed his dagger into a lightly protected section of the robotic torso, digging in but not sticking. Over and over he hammered the knife home, quickly digging through the armor and sinking into the circuitry underneath.

The second spider arrived and roughly kicked him away so he tumbled and rolled across the ground, leaving a dagger sticking out of its companion’s back. He popped up as quickly as he could manage, checking to see how long until he could form another shield. Still twenty seconds left. But there was another icon blinking below his shield skill. Inspect was flashing like it was ready to use. It was so surprising that he instinctively activated it.

Name: Junk Spider

Type: Construct

Level: 4

Quality: Common

State: Hostile, Damaged

Repair: Y/N

Upgrade: Y/N

What the hell? While he didn't have much experience with Gadgeteer, he was sure that it didn't let you work on enemy equipment. Why would you even want to? The absolute best case scenario was failing and…

His eyes went wide, and he hit the button to upgrade the bot. He got exactly the system message he was hoping for.

Warning: Target is above your level. Reduced chance of success.

Warning: Target is hostile. Reduced chance of success.

Total Odds of Success: 35%

Proceed? Y/N

He grinned like a madman and confirmed the choice. The dagger that he'd left in the robot expanded, forcing open a section of the armor and providing access to the soft electrical innards of the beast. Glowing tools appeared around him as he sprinted ahead and shoved his hands into the opening.

He wasn't even trying to fix anything. He just caused havoc on the inside of the machine. Within moments it was sputtering and shooting off sparks in all directions as its systems began to fail. He ripped his hands free and jumped back, narrowly avoiding the remaining spider as it tried to impale him on half a dozen pointed legs.

He smirked as the first robot collapsed into a wreck. He subconsciously reached out to repeat the maneuver with the second spider, but nothing happened. All of his Gadgeteer skills were grayed out; no cooldown timer or anything like that, they simply couldn’t be used.

He dove to the side as the robot tried to pounce like a whirlwind of pointed limbs. Why wasn’t it working? What was different about this time?

The dagger. He’d left a dagger in the broken spider-bot. Apparently he couldn’t just obliterate all machines with his mind, which was probably a good thing. All the same, this would require some research to figure out what other secrets his abilities might hold. But that would have to wait until after the fight.

The remaining spider came whirling at him again, and there were still five seconds left on his shield, so he summoned a dagger into either hand and stood his ground. It crashed into him, knocking him back about a foot but he was able to stay on his feet. He wrapped his arms around the thing, keeping it close.

All of its appendages flailed, leaving cuts all over his body. His HP was closer to one quarter than to half, and was still falling. A white glow surrounded his remaining life as it slowly slipped away. He needed to hurry. While still holding tight, he hammered away on the thing’s back with his knives. It held for the first few hits before giving way and allowing the blade to sink in.

He dropped the mad machine to the ground and flew through his ability screens, activating his upgrade power and ripping apart the insides of the thing as it struggled to continue striking at him. Finally it fell to the ground, nothing more than scraps at last.

His breath was ragged and he doubled over to try and catch his breath. Somehow he was still alive. While it worried him to do so, he pulled up his status screen to see just how bad the damage was.

Health Points (HP): 27/512

Ability Points (AP): 7/276

He blanched at the sight. He had come far too close to dying for his comfort, but he hadn’t even considered watching his AP. In retrospect, he’d used almost all of his abilities in that fight, most more than once. Throw in the dozen or so daggers that he’d thrown and it was no surprise that he was running low. In fact, it was miraculous that he hadn’t run out.

Slowly, he straightened up and took a look around. His HP and AP would recharge on their own, now that he was out of combat, but that was an extremely slow process. Best to be cautious and keep an eye out for trouble for the time being.

He found himself looking at the quivering form of Lou, who was shakily coming closer. In all the action, Lightforge had completely forgotten about the strip mall’s pudgy manager. He nodded to the man, too tired to continue arguing over price after that fight.

Luckily, Lou surveyed the scene and said, “Color me surprised, but you weren’t kidding about keeping watch over this place. That was an impressive fight. If you plan to keep fighting like that to protect this place, then I’ll drop the price. How’s 750 sound?”

“I think I can make that work.”

They shook hands, and the deal was done. Exhausted but happy, Lightforge turned towards home. He was about to walk away when he realized that the former chunks of robot were still strewn across the parking lot. He scooped up the materials and dumped them in his inventory before leaving.

Clearly it was time to get a better handle on what being a Gadgeteer actually meant.