[Warning: New cyberware detected.

Kiroshi Mk3 Customs (Thermal/Telescopic/Color shift/LowLight)

Medium Capacity Monowire Battery]

“You should be able to see, Ms. Xu,” A female doctor, different from the last time, moved away.

My eyes adjusted near-instantly. No blur, or a hint of vertigo as one could get most of the time with the auto-adjusting features with fast transitions. Such were the desired features in the higher-quality optics in the Kiroshi lineup. The doctor brought a mirror around.

“As our valued customer has selected, your Mk3 was outfitted with the Lowlight, Thermal, Telescopic, and Color Shift options. Two more than your Mk1s!” Her sweet high pitched voice sounded in an almost robotic manner. “You’ll be able to activate them in the same fashion as you did your telescopic before. If you have an issue, you can activate each mode by opening a menu. Please activate your thermals first.”

I struggled for a few moments but managed to bring it up. My world became dyed in purples, oranges, and browns. The mirror itself was a dark purple while the doctor’s face was a solid orange human head-shaped mass. Her clothing was darker hue, as well as her hair. Thus, I could vaguely make out the shape.

“If you find the default colors jarring, you can switch it to the White-Black.” She said.

I did so and the hots became white and the cooler surfaces became shades of grey. It was far easier on the eyes… Brain…

“Now, please switch to your Telescopic,” She said.

I did so, my vision returning to normal. I zoomed in on my eye, watching the small lens in my eye slowly turn.

“Alright, I’ll dim the lights to test your LowLight function.” She said.

The lights lowered to about the level of a full moon night. The room when dark for a moment then lit up enough for me to make out details.

She continued. “Now, please remember that your optics do not have the infrared option. You will not be able to see in complete darkness, but your thermals will work in them. Now then, please shift the color of your irises for me.”

I did so. They ranged from a nice deep amber to an ocean blue before I returned them to my accustomed white.

“Now then,” The doctor smiled before she moved her hands to my left forearm. “We equipped you with a Medium capacity battery for your monowire. You’re no longer limited on normal charges - the ones that would slice flesh. But you’re limited to 10 full charge uses an hour. Once used, your wire will become useless during the recharge time. We recommend only using 8 of the 10 charges to be sure your normal strikes will stay unhindered. Not everything is 100%.”

I nodded. “Noted. It’s still better than the low-capacity one.”

“Speaking of the other one,” She rolled the tray behind her over to the chair I was in. “Two Kiroshi Mk1s optics and 1 Low-capacity battery. Do you wish to keep them or sell them to use?”

“How much would I get?” I asked as I slid off the chair.

“The optic pair would net you 10,000 points,” She said. “The battery would be 700 points.”

“How much was my Mk3s?” I asked.

The doctor looked to the air beside my head, her eyes glowing. She then looked back at me. “Retail would be 40,000 points, but we gave the Goddess a discount. Your old eyes retail new at around 20,000 points.”

I thought for a moment, then figured “Do I really need my old cyberware? What safety would I have to worry about out here?”

Certain cyberware still held information that could compromise, mainly anything that needed to store data - even if temporary. It was incumbent upon people for them to wipe their hardware, or keep them if it was not an option. It didn’t matter anymore if mine still had information.

“I’ll sell,” I said.

“Funds have been transferred,” She bowed her head respectfully. “Please exit the AV then. We look forward to your next call!”

I stepped out into the cold mountain air as the guards loaded in past me. As both my feet were planted into the snow, the large medical vehicle took off. It cloaked itself just as it pushed forward. Curious about the cloaking capabilities, I switched to thermals. I saw the AV lifting diagonally into the open skies. I saw something akin to a portal open up for it. Just as it was about to enter, I switched back to my normal vision. There was nothing.

That was interesting.

A’s call came in a moment later.

“Yes?” I answered.

“I was told you got your loan,” A mused. “You know, I think you’re the first mortal to ask for a loan from a deity.”

I looked away from where the AV disappeared to find another AV - specifically, a Manticore. Manufactured by Militech, they were sold to any company with the credits. My father’s own company had a fleet of them as well. Gutted, cleaned, and reprogrammed to remove spyware and killswitches of course. And just as I requested, this AV had “Star Inc.” plastered across the side as well.

“Really?” I asked. “I figured asking for loans from gods would be far more beneficial than asking a bank.”

“Oh?” A chuckled. “How so?”

“For one, I’m getting the equipment I specifically asked for,” I said. “And you didn’t breathe down my neck about keeping costs down or how I was going to repay it.”

I didn’t need to spell it out to A. She knew what I was getting at, or at the least, I hoped she was smart enough to figure it out. I also hoped I was right.I asked for a loan on points as a two-fold strategy. The first point was that given it was an underground structure that primarily dealt with monsters, I figured thermals would be a good approach. The second point was that if she had an investment in me, she’d be less likely to turn on me.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Now, that last part was a roll of the dice.

It hinged on the hope that A wouldn’t want to abandon someone they’d invested in. As A was supposedly a mighty god, it could go either way in that aspect. The deciding factor would be if A valued their time and resources. I didn’t particularly trust them, but seeing that they had a vested interest in going against the one that brought me here… I figured I’d see where this path leads me.

Besides, it was either return to Loviata’s fold or stick it out on my own.

Back to the other AV, I stepped to its right side. Both side doors opened and five bots stepped out. All ten of them then lined up across the front of the AV, facing outward. I looked into the AV and found 5 boxes neatly secured under the five seats.

“Lucky me,” I mused, having approached the right side for the boxes on luck.

I walked over to the bots and inspected them. Each of them were painted with the white outline of our logo, a 4-point star, on their chest plates. Underneath it was “S T A R”. 5 of them were equipped with Dakota-7s - modified designs of Avtomat Kalashnikovs 47s. A cheap design that originated from Old Russian over 100 years ago. The design was dated, but that was what made them perfect options for war bots.

Now, how did they differ from the old design? For one, their name. The name was copyrighted by some backwater Russia state-owned company whose only claim was that its owners came from the original designer’s bloodline. Not that it mattered in this day and age. The name change was to avoid an onslaught of daemons being hurled at us. Not that Star Inc didn’t have a plethora of attacks on a daily basis to begin with - so it had probably been futile from the start.

Starting from the stock, the old downward-angled design was replaced with a straight honey-comb plastic stock. Since it was for a drone, it had no creature comforts for cheek wields. Moving to the receiver, the stamped metal was boxier - for the previously stated reason, with slated sides rather than the iconic curves. Chambered in 7.62x39mm, due to the dies needed being abundant, and rechambering meant spending money on reengineering.

The charging handle was made beefier with its protrusion extended half an inch. Internal parts were stolen design upgrades from that aforementioned company. Released before they ever knew they’d been stolen.

Our company cut and fluted the barrels down to the piston block. We left enough to thread and attach a boxed suppressor with an integrated muzzle break at the end. Legally, it was a Dakota-7. But for anyone who knew about Aks… Well… It looked like an affront to an AK. The Net thought so. R-n-D thought so, and so did Mercy. But, it satisfied the lawyers.

How was this cheaper?

With a stolen design that was modified by unpaid engineering interns, and made in automated factories; the AK was pennies to dollars compared to other weapon platforms. Especially when you considered that very few parts were milled. Milled parts - with consideration to automation - took longer and cost more. Stamping metal was simply folding metal. It could be done with cheap machines.

It held no electronics and fired a larger caliber compared to the 5.556.

I connected with them via my link similar to the way I was connected to Yang.

[S-LIB 1-9 CONNECTED

///

3 units offline.

//

Connect to the current unit?]

I didn’t and allowed them to stay within their own unit. Yang and I have, on a data level, been in our own squad for five years. I’d like to say I’ve grown sentimental about that.

[Squad 1 | Pilot (Mercy), S-HIB (Yang)

Squad 2 | S-LIB 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,6, 7, 8, 9, 10, S-Wyvern 11(OFFLINE),13(OFFLINE), 14(OFFLINE).]

Directing 1 through 5, they stifly raised their rifle arm over their hands and attached their rifles to magnetic plates. They then moved to the door I’d stood by, and lined up. From there, they each took a box. Once the last one was removed, the AV started up. It sent snow everywhere before it lifted into the sky, closing its bay doors and cloaking itself. I didn’t follow it this time.

We all headed back into town, where I found Hembree, Duke Reverie, and Viscount Henry with their guards watching me. Each of them looked in awe as we walked past them. As we did, I created profiles for all of them and filed them under “Caution”.

There were four base categories for autonomous armed robots: Blacklisted, Caution, Friendly, and Whitelisted.

Blacklisted meant Hostile. They would shoot on sight, no matter how far unless other parameters were set. Caution brought in the age-old rules of engagement - only fire once fired upon. Friendly meant they would not shoot unless certain parameters were broken. Whitelisted was the level of the Pilot, no matter what, they would not harm their pilot and would go so far as to throw themselves in the line of fire to protect anyone whitelisted.

Only Hembree was set as friendly with his parameters as followed

[// Sir Oxnard Hembree was set to Friendly!

Engagement Protocols: Fire only when attacked 3 times and malicious intent to Pilot discovered.

Forgive accidental damage to Units. Accidental damage to the Pilot is forgiven upon given clearance from the Pilot. If the Pilot cannot give forgive command within (10 seconds), units will terminate Sir Oxnard Hembree (Friendly). ]

They followed us as we entered the town square. The burn pile had been reduced to charred bodies. It was a horrendous stench.

We only stopped once we were within the dungeon building.

It was similar to the adventurer guild back in the Fort Town of Snowfield (AN:I forgot the name:’3). Wooden plank floors were covered in dirt and dried blood trails. Trails that led through a stone archway that opened up to a dim stairwell. I glanced down into the dimness. Sporadic dim light had been scattered here and there. Mainly around the steps down 30 feet.

Hembree approached. “The duke wants you to spearhead the attack with your… Golems…”

I nodded, and the robots placed all five boxes down by the entrance. I opened the first one.

Inside was a Militech-made Wyvern, reprogramed and rebranded for my father’s company. It was slim enough to fit inside a standard briefcase and looked like either a beefy laptop or a slim computer tower - depending on your point of view.

It was equipped with a Tsunami Defense Systems integrated Smart SMG, chambered in 9mm SM (Smart Munition). Due to its relatively small structure, it only housed 800rnds of the 9SM. Smart munitions were what the 2.223 / 5.556 debate wished it was. 9mm rounds were small and compact for pistols. 9mm Smart Munitions had longer bullets with a 4cm longer neck to house the extra micro boosters.

If it didn’t use 9SM, it could house up to 900 rounds, but our company’s tests showed that the drone’s accuracy fell below 5% due to recoil. Hence, SM rounds were needed to keep that 95% accuracy. Last I heard, Star Inc was in the process of creating our own smart weapon line to compete in the high-end market. I guess it never came to fruition since this was what I got.

I activated the drone after I pulled it out of the case and it floated upward. Its camera glowed a soft blue color. I did the same with the next two cases. Three floating drones lined up. Once they were together, I sent them down the stairs. Forming a staggered line, they floated down as I opened the second last case.

Inside, there was a Tsunami-9 Smart SMG with six 40 magazines. The slick aggressive-styled frame was coated in matte grey. It was equipped with a flashlight and an interlinked holo sight. It also came with a detached suppressor, muzzle break, and sling. Putting the magazines into my inventory, I pulled out the SMG and suppressor. I didn’t need the muzzle break. I screwed the suppressor on tight before I took the sling out and attached it.

I closed the case and set the SMG down.

Opening the last case, inside was a soft-shell ballistic/stab-proof vest. It had no markings. I transferred it and my carrier into my inventory. From there, I transferred the pistol magazine pouches over to the vest. I brought it out with the 9SM magazines in the pouches and loaded one into the SMG. The vest was fitted to my body, neither hindering me nor burdening me.

Looking to Hembree, who was interested in what I was doing, I nodded. “I’m ready.”

I split the remaining 10 robots into two fire teams. One would take the front with two-two columns skirting either wall with the remaining robot taking the center to form a box. The other fire team would work as a rearguard. They would form a tight box behind me. Hembree decided to walk with me in the center of the formation along with Yang.

Mid-stairs, we heard shots ring out from deeper in.