As I made my way back, I couldn't help but shift gears and start thinking about the AI and its capabilities. It was a super-sophisticated piece of equipment that wasn’t only smart but had great abilities as well. Scanning parts of a mech and being able to tell at a glance what needed changing and fixing to get much better results—just that alone would be more than enough to wage wars over. The nobility of this city would be unchecked if they could upgrade their mechs even further. It was a truly frightening thought.
On the other hand, CD was a disaster. His loathing of everything human was tiresome, and the constant insults and attitude were infantile, yet he couldn’t even charge himself without my help. However, if he could enhance my work as advertised, maybe ventures like fixing the farmer’s mech hand would become less frequent, or at least more profitable. Hell, maybe CD could teach me to make my own parts once he got a better feel for the current world’s technology and industry.
The possibility hung in the air and filled me with a great deal of enthusiasm. With that sort of power at my fingertips, I’d be able to get my hands on enough power and riches to get a family name of my own. Or not. I first had to get home without getting mugged.
I snorted at the thought. While my new body wasn’t quite familiar to me yet, I was sure it would do enough harm to any of the typical riffraff that might target someone as raggedy as myself.
I jogged back to my workshop, my parts clinking and clanking in their bag as I tore across the streets. I stopped by a random bakery and got some day-old sweets, which I figured would go nice as I planned to celebrate my new success.
When I finally arrived home, I practically slapped the door open, so impatient to get building again. Unfortunately, I misjudged my new strength, and the door crashed hard against the inner wall, cracking through the middle. I stared at it, blinked, opened my mouth to curse, and then just sighed. It wasn’t broken, but it’d have to be replaced soon.
As I closed it, a hinge popped off and I growled, lifting the door and bodily jamming it shut.
CD flickered to life beside me, an ugly human with bushy sideburns and a gigantic nose with a lip of mustache fur that looked too much like an overfed caterpillar.
“Something is different!” he exclaimed in delight. The telltale lines of light cast out from his slightly-flickering body, rolling over my own. “My, my. Is that old tech that I smell? Have you been cheating on me with the past, my large-bodied ape?”
I grinned, unable to help it. His insults were over the top, and well-made.
“You tell me. Accidentally took a bath in some mutagen in a bunker. Care to modify that previous assessment of my stats?”
A screen shot up against the wall of the workshop. Everything was the same except for a single, startling stat.
POWER: 15 – Body strength is beyond scanned regular human capacity. Though not as high as the stronger soldiers of the War of Human Aggression, Ape-laric now displays a capacity that would have allowed him to survive the war for longer than a single minute.
I groaned. A part of me had expected him to be more impressed. Certainly more inquisitive. Still, the fact that I was beyond regular human capacity thrilled me, and the fact that the regular soldiers of old tech times had been even stronger made me wonder what other mutagens or other means of enhancement might lie outside of the city, in the ruins and bunkers of old.
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” I snarked, pushing it all to the back of my mind. There were better things to focus on right now. Powerful things that extended past my own body and creds.
Not that I was against getting superhumanly powerful and wealthy, but CD had opened some mental floodgate I didn’t know I even had. I wanted to build, craft, and create. I wanted to make things that would actually be useful, and even possibly make a difference when gathering . . . monster cores . . . and other parts.
Now there was an idea. A revolutionary breakthrough that would be able to show us if there was anything interesting to salvage and better tools to do it with.
Placing the sweets and the bag with the parts I brought on the workbench, I made sure that the door was in place, and then locked it. After checking every corner to see if I had any unwanted visitors, I hurried back over and undid my bag. The parts were looking up at me, almost as if begging to be used. And oh, would I oblige.
“Alright,” I said, getting myself in the right mindset. “CD, it’s time to work. You ready?”
“I was born ready, you primate!”
“Yeah, sure. Now do that scanning thing and show me where I need to place which part, and then explain it to me. I want to know why I’m doing it, not just blindly follow your instructions.”
He remained quiet for a long moment, his mech avatar just staring at me almost as if he’d already regretted making a deal with me.
“I . . . very well, but I expect amends to our agreement. I want to bask in the sun every day for an hour for a starter!”
“Bask . . . in the sun? Why? Do you want to get a tan or something?” I shot back, knowing that wasn’t the matter, but I still wanted to make some good fun of him.
“Blasphemy! My colors are perfect, you—”
“Ahh! No cursing, no demeaning comments. Be nice or I’ll pull the charger out and leave it in a very dark place.”
Blue and green scanning lines enveloped the hand and then merged, overlaying the parts for easy installation.
Under CD's guidance, I opened up the hand, pushing aside small wires to remove various micro-plates and realign tiny silver shafts, once even popping a single green chip to be replaced with a new one due to “corrupted processes”.
CD hovered over me, dictating precise instructions, pointing out the misalignment in the removed servo-mechanism, and showing me step by step how to reforge it into something ten times better. Things sparked, smoked, and steamed through the workshop as I worked a thousand tasks at once. CD all the while advised on the best way to integrate the new pieces and parts and why they had to be installed the way they did.
“I can’t help but feel something’s missing,” I whispered and looked up at the hologram. “What do you say?”
“Me? It’s as good as can be expected from a monkey.”
I sighed, finally putting my finger on it, but kept the words to myself. We’d gone through most of the process without any insults, and now that he wasn’t as distracted, CD could go back to being, well, an ass. I cast him a glance, wondering at the alien invader AI, and about what sort of mind lay underneath the circuits.
After what felt like hours of meticulous work, the task was complete. I flexed the hand, testing its movements. My previous rebuild had removed all the stiffness and lag of the older model, but now everything worked even better. The hand’s motions were almost supernaturally smooth and responsive, spinning and bending better than ever before.
I looked up from the hand and into the smug face of the alien AI. He’d shifted back to his initial non-mech form, and he had comparison screens open, showing off the work we’d just done. Both the quantifier ratings showed above him.
Exoskeletal Mech Hand (Ape Mod) Exoskeletal Mech Hand (Good)
Quality Rating: C Quality Rating: A
Remaining Durability: 58 Remaining Durability: 80
Defensive Rating: 36 Defensive Rating: 60
Strength Bonus: 6 Strength Bonus: 12
Durability Bonus: 8 Durability Bonus: 15
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Dexterity Bonus: 6 Dexterity Bonus: 18
His holographic features rearranged in a self-satisfied smirk as he watched my eyes go wide as I read over the new stat blocks.
“Am I right to think that this hand is now combat capable? At least to hold a ranged weapon?” I asked, running the numbers in my mind and tying them to what they’d been capable of in the real world.
He nodded, his mouth opened wide into a jagged-toothed grin.
“Quite a transformation, wouldn't you say?” CD asked, his voice dripping with smug condescension. “From a barely functional relic to a piece of art with actual combat potential.”
My heart raced as I reached out and patted it.
“Yeah, it's impressive alright,” I admitted, eyeing the comparison screens. “But let's not get ahead of ourselves. It's still just a hand.”
CD chuckled.
“You are so easy to read. Just a hand? No, this is the beginning of your future. Status and conquest supreme, assuming my people don’t return at any point in the near future. They would own you so badly that I’d laugh my ass off.”
I raised an eyebrow. “You have no ass, AI. And what do you think would happen if they came back? They’d kill us?”
“I would crush you like a bug and rejoin my Master. My, we really do need to get working on that intelligence of yours. Perhaps the next time you dig through garbage, you might find some cranial mutagen?”
I laughed. His abuse was beginning to grow on me.
“Well, until then, just remember who is doing the real work around here. You might know how to make a shitty new tech farmer mech hand into something special, but without actual hands, you’re just a box that, well, talks.”
CD shimmered and shifted back to the form of a mech.
“Oh, I am fully aware,” he replied, his tone laced with sarcasm. “I am at the whim of a primitive human tinkering with relics of a bygone era. But I have to admit, despite the lack of intelligence, you've got some skill with your hands. Maybe that’s how you were originally intended to be. A fool only good for grunt work? Meh, not that it matters. I will teach you, little monkey. You will be a genius when I’m done with you.”
I rolled my eyes at his backhanded compliment.
“Thanks, I guess. It’s almost time for the buyer to come by anyway. How about you stow away while I take care of business, and then we take stock of the new cred and make some plans.”
A heavy hand pounded on my door, shaking it in its frame, and I sighed. Right on time, I realized, watching CD disappear into nothingness. I opened the door to my workshop, eyes narrowing at the sudden intrusion of afternoon sunlight as my door slumped crookly sideways to lean on the floor, a shadow of a man standing and waiting to be allowed inside.
“Here for the hand?” I asked, arm up to shield the sun.
“Ya know it,” he replied, and I stepped aside, allowing the farmer in. A moment after wrestling my door back in place, I heard a sharp intake of breath, and I knew we’d done well. I walked back to the work table slowly, giving him time to turn the hand this way and that, admiring the upgrades I’d given him.
“This—this is amazing!” he said, plugging it into the electrical sockets so he could test it out. “How did you--no, never mind that. Can you do thirteen more?”
I paused, looking him over. The cost was high, but he was a rather large farm-head, overseeing hundreds of workers. I didn’t doubt I’d get paid well, but I couldn’t be going to the black market for parts on a daily basis. That was the sort of thing that got people sent before the Court of Stars.
If Elli was involved, though, it’d be doable. I’d just have to find a good way to tell her.
I nodded, sticking out my hand.
“Yeah, I can do that. Talking 300 creds a hand, yeah? But only for as many as I can find the necessary parts. This one cost me 270 credits to fix, but I’m happy with 30 credits if it gets me more work.”
The farmhand examined the hand, moving the fingers, and nodded in approval. Without a word, he clicked his cred chip against mine, sending the first 300 credit stack in the blink of an eye.
“Take another 20 as a tip. I like it when people think ahead and surprise me. Well done.”
I nodded, thanking the man while barely managing to contain my excitement. This was good. Really good.
“Do it all in 2 weeks and I’ll give you another bonus, a much bigger one, and then we can talk about some bigger maintenance as well,” the man said, offering me his hand. “The name is Theo, and I’ll be honest. It’s a good thing that my brother couldn’t make it as he wouldn’t be able to see the difference if it slapped him across the face.”
“Theo,” I said, shaking his hand. “The name is Alaric, but Al for friends. And sure, have someone get the mech hand and bring say...five more over. I’ll do them in smaller batches if that’s alright?”
He nodded, shooting me a smile.
“I’ll send you a down payment along with the hands so you don’t have to risk your own money on the parts. Does that sound good?”
“Very much so. Thank you, Theo.”
He walked back out of the workshop without another word and I just stood there, eyeing his receding form for a long moment. If that man was happy enough with our repairs, not only would I get a customer for life, but also a possible ally. Farm owners had a lot of pull with the nobility, as everyone needed to eat, after all. That’s why they had their own mechs to begin with. Nothing top of the line, but good enough to keep groups of armed soldiers or smaller monsters away.
Locking the shop back up, I turned to CD as he swirled back to life, a copy of the burly farmer who’d just been in the shop. A small smile played on my lips despite my best attempts to remain professional.
“This is going to earn us a lot of creds,” I gushed. “I’ll be able to buy anything we need. Maybe even some stuff you’d like to request? Build you some tentacled arms and legs so you can move around on your own?”
CD snorted.
“Why would I want to move on my own when I can have a peasant do it for me?” He turned into a rumbling laughter, but when I didn’t bite, he sighed. “Very well. Look, human, this is just the beginning. There is much we can achieve if you let me pester you occasionally. I need to keep sane, after all.”
“Sane, huh? I’d already say your memory chips burned out since you behave like a psycho, but I guess I have to take the bad with the good?”
“Precisely! You don’t see me complaining that I have to deal with the likes of you, right?”
“No, of course not,” I grunted as I started gathering tools and materials to patch up my door.
I tuned him out for a while and felt my thoughts wander to the future. I couldn’t afford to get too excited, though. I’d still have to broach Elli with the topic of us working with an evil alien AI to make ourselves fantastically rich. However, I had a feeling that it wouldn’t take too much of an argument to win her over as she was as fanatical about engineering and creation as I was. No, even more than me.
The day’s light grew darker and I popped on some lights as I switched to cleaning, grinding out the stains of labor that had splattered the workspace. It wasn’t that large, about forty by fifty, with just enough space to store some basic benches, tools, two small cranes, and some toolboxes.
As I was finishing up, CD's voice pulled me from my thoughts.
“Alaric, check your crystallization vault. I am detecting something from the meat inside. And no, I do not know what it is, but I do know it’s something unusual.”
Curious, I approached the pile of scavenged meat, putting on a pair of thick rubber gloves before reaching into the juiced pulsing pulp of the vat. Sifting through it carefully, and guided by the AI's directions, I worked my fingers through and felt it.
I chuckled, pulling out a tiny, almost imperceptible seed that had been hiding amidst the sinew and scraps.
“That’s a seed, my good Crimson Death. CD. Shit, both names sound so horrible. Can we please pick a different name? It just sounds so weird.”
“Yeah, whatever. I’m an AI. Do you think I care about such a trivial thing as a name?”
“I guess not, “I murmured, then held the seed out. “Anyway, these are grown in massive vats filled with monster meat and other substances to become mech cores. Once they grow large enough, the cores will serve as a power source for the mech that’s going to be built around it,” I explained, feeling a small air of superiority over him.
The green light of his thorough scanner rolled out, mapping the tiny sliver in my fingers.
“This seed,” the AI began, “contains genetic material that can be cultivated into a core for a small exoskeleton-like mech frame. Among other things.”
I held the seed up to the light, examining it closely.
“You can read what core the seed will grow into?” I asked, suddenly feeling put back into place.
“Of course I can,” CD confirmed. “Honestly, it is a wonder that humans can survive considering how limited their scanning abilities are. I’m looking into the seed and...hold on, scanning—” he said, the lights of his scanning ability flashing over my hand and the seed. “I see. That is a Zinogar seed, though I have no idea how you got your hands on one. They’re pretty rare and extremely violent, powerful, and hard to control.”
“Zinogar? I’ve never heard of such a beast before,” I said, wracking my brain for any time Elli might have said anything about monsters, but I came up empty.
“Coincidentally, the mech of my previous Master’s right-hand man was built using Zinogar genetics, parts, and core. What an interesting turn of events. Now if we only—”
CD trailed off and the motherboard shifted colors then, the hologram turning an angry orange with a hint of red. There was an almost buzzing sound coming from it, which made me anxious.
“Is everything alright? CD?”
He remained quiet a minute longer, and then finally spoke.
“Look, Alaric, this is an extremely potent power center, and I imagine that given the chance to grow into a monster, it would be transcendent. The screams of humans running for their lives while the Zinogar ate and shredded them would be magnificent!”
“Really?” I muttered. “You do realize how awful that sounds, right? Murdering psycho.”
“Oh, I just realized something. It’s almost as if chance has brought you together. How interesting. Perhaps we should allow this one to mature.”
“Mature? In what way? As a power core, or as a monster?”
“Monster, of course. Just seeing everyone die would be worth all the suffering of having to deal with brainless—never mind. I’m getting carried away. Even if I would like to witness such a beautiful scene very much, it wouldn’t do anything to get me any closer to home.”
“So that’s the only reason why you’d agree to build a mech with me?”
“Yes, more or less.”
“More or less, huh?” I sighed.
At least he was honest about his motivations, and that was something I could work with.
I’d been imagining a lot of things throughout the day, but designing and building a monstrous mech had never crossed my mind. Elli would be so thrilled, I hoped. Well, as much as one could be to grow a murderous, ravaging monster core.
“This is a rare opportunity. Even you see that, correct?”
“It is,” I answered, pushing the seed back into the tank so it could keep absorbing more essential nutrients and grow even stronger.
“Burning humans, torching towns, destroying other mechs . . . hmm, somehow I like that last one most. There’s something beautiful about ripping other mechs apart, you know?”
“No, I don’t, and no, I don’t want to know. So, can you calculate how much more meat we’ll need and what type to grow the... Zinogar core? Are there any special conditions?”
CD stalked over to the vat, kicking a holographic leg through it in disdain.
“It is easy to understand the principles. I see several ways to go about it. One way would be to improve on the core, which would allow us to...grow more...seeds. Or maybe monsters?” he asked, sounding almost hopeful.
“You can always dream, my good man. AI, I mean. Or CD. Whatever you prefer. So, why don’t you tell me more?”