Lightforge stood in the doorway to his new shop. Lou Whitmore, the heavyset landlord, had handed him the keys and dashed away. It was hard to blame the man; the last time they had been near one another they’d been attacked by killer robots. It was the type of thing that tended to make people jumpy. It was interesting to imagine how the man would have reacted if he knew that it had been a negotiating tactic.

The mastermind behind that tactic, Circe, stepped up beside him as soon as the civilian had left. He might have balked about having her step on this moment for him, but she had provided two thirds of the money to pay for the store. He really didn't need to give her any more ammunition to mock him with.

The store hadn't looked particularly large from the outside, but it seemed even smaller now that he could walk around inside. It was on the end of the strip, so the front and one of the sides had floor to ceiling glass. It was narrow, and the back half of the space was blocked off to be used as an office. The only furniture was a service counter tucked into a corner. Other than that it was completely bare.

All the same, Lightforge couldn't help but grin at it. He could already see the possibilities for how to use the space, and he was excited to get started. His body was practically buzzing with energy as he turned towards Circe with his grin.

"Here we are," he said, "Time to get to work."

"At last we're on the same page. How familiar are you with the ACS?"

"Uh… what? What's an ACS?"

"Adaptive crafting system? The reason why an entire update was devoted to getting Gadgeteer online? Sound familiar?"

"Vaguely. Honestly, I figured the devs were just behind so they shoved out a small update that time."

The smack echoed through the empty shop as Circe's hands clapped to her face in a rather epic facepalm. She breathed slowly and muttered quietly under her breath for a full minute before turning to face him again. When she spoke this time, it was very slowly and methodically, like she was trying to hold back anger that was just under the surface.

"The ACS lets players invent new gear and items. If you create a new combination or do something unique during crafting, AI pulls from existing game items to extrapolate something new that still fits the setting. Most of them end up as gags or trophies, but there's a winner every once in a while."

"Woah, that's really cool."

"Cool? Try 'revolutionary'. Honest question, did you actually play the game before getting stuck here?"

"Of course I did! I just wasn't interested in support powers; I've always preferred to be a bit more direct about these things. Why do you know so much about it?"

"I made it my business to know what all the power sets are capable of. And this is pretty basic information."

"Well, not to me. But I guess I need to start learning about it. So what do I do?"

"Stay here and play with your broken robots. I was never good at babysitting, and I'm not starting now."

She turned and walked away, quickly vanishing into the still rainy streets. What was her deal? He still didn't know, but he had other things to worry about at the moment. And if she stayed away for a while, that was all the better. More chances for him to stay at arm's length.

Before getting too deep into anything else, he opened his friends list and shot a quick message to Cannoneer and Sunbird. Nothing fancy, just letting them know that he'd opened up shop and to drop by if they ever needed anything. For the moment, that was the best advertising that he could afford.

As he went to close the window, a bell sounded and a message popped up in front of him.

"Already?!?! What the [BLEEP] man? Congrats! I'll come by later today to see it."

-Sunbird

He grinned at the quick response. Excitement was bubbling to the surface; this was really happening. He had his shop and now all he needed was to start getting materials to sell and sharpening his skills.

He walked over to the service counter and opened his inventory. There were dozens of slots that he could fill, but he was only using a handful at the moment. In addition to the broken robots, he had his Gate Controller and some food that he'd brought from the base. And, of course, there was his money tracker, which showed that he was now completely broke. Circe had given him the exact amount to pay for the shop, and not a single cent more.

He hadn't asked where she'd gotten the money. Since it was almost certainly stolen, he'd decided that it was better not to know for sure. His conscience was already shaky on the whole idea, so he refused to give it any more reasons to rebel. He'd made his choice, and he would live with it.

He picked one of the broken robots from his inventory and it appeared on the countertop in front of him. It honestly looked just like a pile of junk. If he hadn't seen it try to kill him, he probably wouldn't believe that the thing could move. But it had, and he needed to figure out how. He activated Inspect

Name: Junk Spider Remnants

Type: Construct

State: Destroyed

Perform Specialized Inspection? Y/N

Well, that was new. He'd never had the option to go deeper than the baseline inspection until now. But what had caused the change? It was probably because he had the time to sit down and be methodical about it, but he couldn't rule out some unknown factor as well. Whatever the case, there was only one way to get more information.

He accepted the prompt and expected the screen to fill with additional information. Instead, his hands glowed and the table in front of him filled with an array of glowing tools, faintly translucent and ready for work.

Ah, so that's what it meant. It wasn't going to just give him the information outright, but provide the tools to do it himself. He tried to roll up his sleeves, but his costume was so tight to his body that they simply didn't move. He picked up a screwdriver and began to examine this thing that had attacked him.

The outer layers of the robot were exactly what they looked like: random scrap. It looked like someone had used whatever was handy for the armor protecting the machine's innards. Considering how much trouble it had been to get through, it was a surprisingly effective strategy. He took the pieces off carefully, setting each aside so as not to damage anything.

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Once he'd removed all the armor, his concentration was broken by the system window that opened in front of his eyes.

Name: Scrap Armor

Type: Component/Junk

State: Damaged

Random bits of metal junk that have been salvaged and retrofitted into a basic set of armor for a robot. Provides significant protection, but it is also heavy and unwieldy. In the current state, it cannot be used for crafting.

Now that it was arrayed on the table in front of him, he could see the individual pieces of junk that had been welded together to form the armor. Something in the back of his head told him that he could probably separate them and restore each piece to what it had been originally, but he forced the thought aside. That would undoubtedly be far more work than the junk would be worth.

He set back to work, carefully disassembling the rest of the robot. While it was a mess of wires and circuits, it was simpler than it appeared. With a little work, he was able to pull the components apart in sections. For the most part, the individual parts weren't particularly interesting. The battery, weaponized arms, and sensor package were all exactly what they appeared to be, without any surprises to be found. Each was damaged and would need repairs if he wanted to use them.

Then, at the very center of the robotic corpse, something glinted with reflected light. With as much care as he could manage, he gently pulled at it to reveal a silvery green circuit board, the first component he'd seen that appeared to be completely undamaged.

Name: AI Control Chip

Type: Component

Quality: Common

State: Undamaged

A computer chip which provides the brains to an artificial construct. Contains the instructions and priorities which dictate the construct's actions. This is a cheap alternative to the more complex AI Cores used in high end robotics.

Generally frail, this unit is still in perfect condition. With the proper equipment, it is possible to read the instructions coded into it.

With the last component removed, the remaining bits and pieces on the table flashed blue once and collapsed into a pile of junk. Literally.

Name: Junk

Type: Junk

Unusable remains from a construct. Cannot be used for crafting unless recycled with specialized equipment.

Huh, good to know that not everything could be reused automatically. He was starting to see why Circe had walked away; this crafting system was incredibly in depth and complicated. Trying to bring a beginner like him up to speed would take a lot of effort. She didn't seem to have the patience for that. She wanted things to run at her pace and on her schedule. Which was exactly what had landed him this robot to play with.

He stored all the pieces of robot in his inventory and brought out the second robot. The process began all over again, though the experience was all but the same. Different parts had different levels of damage, and different types of scrap used to hold everything together. But the basic design was the same; as expected, these had been built by the same person.

The greatest difference, once again, came with the control chip. Unlike the first, this one was bent in half and ready to fall apart in a stiff breeze. It was truly trashed.

Name: AI Control Chip

Type: Junk

State: Destroyed

Any information once held by this component has been lost. It cannot be repaired, and recycling will yield minimal return.

The area where the chip had been looked no more damaged than the first robot. Apparently he'd simply been lucky that the first chip had survived. He would need to do some research into the item, but that would come later.

He stood up straight and stretched after standing over the counter for so long. A quick glance outside told him that it was late afternoon. The rain had stopped at some point while he'd been working, and shadows were growing longer by the moment. He blinked a few times at the sight; he hadn't realized how long he'd been working.

After storing the second robot's parts in his inventory, he called up his system messages.

You have completed specialized inspections of the following items:

* 2x Scrap Armor

* 2x Bladed Mechanical Leg Sets

* 2x Reclaimed Power Pack

* 2x Refurbished Basic Sensor Suite

* 2x AI Control Chip

Total Experience Gained: 30

Well, that sucked. He'd been hoping that using the skill would gain him more experience than that. Of course, they had all been low level components of junkyard quality. He shouldn't be too greedy about the return on investment, especially since he'd also gotten raw materials out of the deal.

Gadgeteer wasn't the only power set to grant XP through skills. It was common for non-combat oriented powers. Healers, scouts, spies, and a few others all benefited from the same thing. To keep those powers balanced, they all carried a common weakness. Skills generally granted a minimal amount of XP. It was enough to let noncombatants keep pace with others, but only just.

The full implications of his choice to be a shopkeeper were becoming clear in his head. He would be able to level up even when the crime rate was low, but he would rarely experience the leaps in power that he'd gotten by defeating the robots. It was a slow and steady approach. He thought he'd made peace with that, but now the difference was even clearer.

Absently, he wandered to the doors, where he turned off the lights and headed out. He locked the doors behind him and stood back a few steps, admiring his shop again. It still looked like an empty storefront; he didn’t have anything to decorate with yet. But it was his, and he was going to put it to good use.

Even in his reverie, he heard the scraping footsteps behind him. The glass of his shop showed the dim reflections of three people advancing on him. Two were moving forward with a bat and a sword, respectively. The third was standing back, silver energy dancing across his hands.

The blood drained from him and he felt cold. This was the same bunch that had jumped him outside his base. In all likelihood they were back to finish what they had started.

He whirled around to face them and forced a grin onto his face. With a nod to their leader he said, “Good evening. I’m afraid the shop’s closed for the evening. Come back in the morning and I’ll be happy to fix up those weapons for you.”

The approaching thugs froze in place, and Lightforge got a good look at them for the first time. The one with the bat was a short man nearly as wide as he was tall. His costume looked like a fancy baseball uniform. The one with the sword was a woman draped in a flowing dress that seemed to always be clinging without actually being in the way.

The pair shared a look; this was not how victims were supposed to react, after all. Run, scream, even fight, sure. But cheery small talk? Something was wrong.

With a casual air that he wasn’t truly feeling, Lightforge sauntered around them in a wide circle, slowly turning their backs to his shop. If things did get messy, then the last thing he needed was to have his new purchase in the line of fire.

“I promise my prices are fair,” he said, “and my work is impeccable. I haven’t had a complaint yet.”

The leader, a gaunt man who looked like old leather stretched over bones, grunted and said, “Shut up. Do you know what you cost us, cape?”

“I know, I know. You feel like you wasted a trip. Tell you what: since you’ll be my first official customers, I’ll give you your first upgrade free of charge. How’s that sound?”

“Stop stalling, you little [BLEEP]. You’re not getting away this time. Now are you going to lay down quietly for us? Or do we get to have some fun?”

Lightforge opened his mouth to speak, mind racing for ways to escape. And then it happened. Golden light surrounded them and the ground shuddered as something crashed to the ground between him and the villains. They all stumbled and threw up their arms against the light, which was already fading away.

In its place stood Sunbird, standing from where she’d cracked the pavement on impact. Golden energy sparking and barely constrained in her fists. She wore a wicked grin and the light reflected in her eyes only made her look all the more wild.

“Do I get a vote?” she asked, “Because I’ve been looking for some fun.”

Lightforge stepped up beside her, a war hammer and a shield made of light forming in his hands. The villains snarled and charged. Sunbird’s enormous grin threatened to break out from the bounds of her face. She leaped into the air and shouted, “Hell yeah! Let’s go, mother-[BLEEPERS]!”