Chapter 27. Inspector Gadget.
I didn’t know what to expect on the second floor, but there was no point waiting around on the first floor. I had nine floors to clear before I could leave this godforsaken place. I looked at the large stone archway that was my exit from the first floor. It looked straight out of a medieval fortress. Large grey rough-hewn stones were stacked on top of each other to create an archway. There were no walls surrounding the arch; it simply existed in the middle of the swamp island. I approached the arch to see a silky substance filling the entirety of the inside of the archway. The substance was a silvery grey in color and shimmered in the light, much like an oily film on the surface of water. I walked around to the back of the archway to see nothing. I could walk straight through the arch from the rear, but from the front was some sort of portal.
“What do you think Sherlock? Do we just walk through?” I asked.
“I have yet to see any illuminated exit signs, so I am going to assume this is our only way out of this disgusting swamp. I say we take our chances; what is the worst thing that could happen?” Sherlock replied.
“Seriously? I can think of several right off the top of my head! There could be giant spiders, alien demons, werewolves, hell; there could be any number of unknown dangers on the other side of that archway just waiting to eat me or kill me in some other equally terrifying manner.”
“Well, won’t it be exhilarating to find out?” Sherlock said in a tone that was way too excited.
“You are nothing if not a constant source of inspiration, Sherlock. Well, here goes nothing,” I shrugged and stepped forward into the shimmering center of the arch.
As I made contact with the unknown substance, it began to invade every inch of my body. It filled my eyes, nose, and mouth as I tried to scream but failed to make a noise as the liquid choked out my screams. There was a sensation of bitter cold followed by shocking heat as the world went black. I wasn’t unconscious, as I could still feel the sensation of the liquid. I still had a conceptual grasp of time and could feel several seconds slip by before I was spat out onto the ground on the second floor.
“Holy shit!” I coughed as I got to my hands and knees, “Let’s hope we don’t have to do that after every floor; I feel like I have pins and needles running over my entire body, not to mention that I might… might…”
I vomited the entire contents of my stomach up onto the ground in front of me. I rolled onto my back to catch my breath when I finished.
“You biologicals are disgusting. I mean, really, you travel through one tiny interdimensional portal, and you proceed to vomit up filth all over yourself and the ground. Pull it together, man,” Sherlock said.
“I really, really hate you, Sherlock,” I said, “Let’s try to get the lay of the land so we can get this party started.”
I got up to my feet and looked around. The terrain was mountainous, with snow-capped peaks stretching as far as the eye could see in every direction. It was a welcome change from the muggy, dirty swamp lands I had just come from.
You have reached the second floor of – Tower of Power
Bonus experience earned for completing the first floor. Progress to a safe zone to consolidate bonus XP.
The message flashed across my interface as I lay on my back, recovering from the wave of sickness that had just caused me to lose my lunch.
“That helps make it a little more worth it,” I grumbled, “We need to find a safe zone soon, Sherlock. I gained bonus XP for completing the first floor and I need to consolidate my gains and see if I gained another level.”
“Captain, we seem to have lucked out this time. The safe zone is just ahead. I suggest we head to the safe room so you can rest and prepare to push through this floor,”
Sherlock had helpfully marked a spot on the map on the heads-up display, and he was right: the safe room was only a couple hundred yards north of where we started.
“Let's hope we don’t run into any trouble on the way. I am tired and hungry and don’t feel like dealing with any weird alien monsters right now,” I said as I started walking toward the spot that Sherlock had marked on my HUD.
After walking a few hundred yards and cresting a small hill at the base of a large mountain, I saw what looked like a cave carved into the sheer rock cliff at the base of the mountain. I craned my neck to look up from where I currently stood and tried to gain a sense of scale. The mountain was enormous. It stood like a monolithic spike protruding from the very earth around it.
As I surveyed the mountain and surrounding area, I could see that the mountain I was at the base of was much taller than every other mountain surrounding us. As a matter of fact, even the base of the mountain was elevated above all the other mountains I could see. I approached the cliffside to see how far up we were and was surprised to see only clouds below me with the mountain peaks cutting through the clouds like white-tipped daggers through a blanket of pure white silk.
“Sherlock, do you have any idea how big this place is? From what I can see, it is massive, much bigger than the last floor,” I asked as I stood with my hand shielding my eyes from the sun while I tried to get an idea of how big this place was.
“You seem to forget that I am an AI localized to the Havok Bringer armor. I have no physical body and am wholly reliant on the sensory systems of the armor and whatever dribble I manage to pry from the peanut-sized brain of the monkey who pilots it. I would remind you that you have the ability to create weapons and constructs from the armor, Captain,” Sherlock said.
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“I am aware of that, Sherlock. I use that ability every time I conjure my plasma pistol or rifle. I also use it passively at all times since my arms got cut off. I’m not sure you noticed, but having advanced prosthetic arms isn’t exactly common amongst humans.”
“Oh, yes, aren’t you special? You have robot arms. You realize that you have the ability to create basically anything you can imagine and yet you haven’t learned to create anything useful. You conjure guns and the arms to shoot them; other than that, you have completely neglected the inherent power of that ability,” Sherlock said.
“What ability? I wasn’t even aware that I had that ability. I understood that I could create the guns the first time I equipped the armor. I created my replacement arms after a conversation with the Coeus collective. I assumed it was something they allowed me to do. Is there something I am missing?” I asked.
“Captain, I will try to explain this in a way that makes sense. I understand that the Havok Bringer armor didn’t come with a user’s manual. Do you know why Elvis decided to program a localized integrated AI into the armor?” Sherlock asked.
“I just assumed it was so I would have some help when I needed it?”
“While I want nothing more than to be your babysitter, that is not the reason I was created. Elvis and Tiffantrimore are, to you, extremely advanced synthetic life forms. While not biological, they are more advanced than anything the human species could have even postulated for at least the next millennia. Even with the advanced understanding of robotics and programming that the two of them possess, they were unable to comprehend the origin and full functionality of the Havok Bringer armor,” Sherlock said.
“So how the hell am I supposed to figure it out? I barely understood how to create Excel formulas before the drop. Now, I am in possession of probably the most advanced weapon in the universe. You understand how that can be a little overwhelming, right?” I asked.
“Yes, brain small, think hurt brain. I understand, Captain,” Sherlock said.
“Really?” I crossed my arms and sighed, “Sherlock, there will come a day of reckoning for the piles of bullshit that you keep shoveling on me,” I said.
“Yes, I’m quite terrified. Explain to me how you are going to hurt the AI that lives deep within the code of the armor that you need to survive. I’ll wait…”
“Ok, just get on with whatever you were trying to explain, ass,” I said in defeat.
“Elvis programmed me into the Havok Bringer subsystems to penetrate the code and learn everything I could. He did this to help you, yes, but also to learn what I could of the weapon's origins. I am making some progress, but I have yet to crack the, for lack of a better term, firewalls that explain where the armor came from, how it was created, and for what purpose,” Sherlock said.
“Okay… that’s good news, right? You can tell me how to use the armor better?” I asked hopefully.
“I, in fact, can. For example, you can conjure constructs from the armor. However, the armor is not unlimited in its ability to form. Anything you create will utilize the existing mass of the armor. This means the bigger your creation, the less of the original mass you have at your disposal. The guns and arms that you have already been using are small constructs and, therefore, don’t limit the abilities you can perform while having them conjured. If you, however, were to create larger constructs or several smaller constructs, you would see diminished ability in the armor you use.”
“How did I not know about this? How was I supposed to figure it out on my own? It feels like the Coeus gave me the armor and wanted me to fail,” I sat down, frustrated, “Can you tell me how to use it?”
“The armor isn’t armor at all, Captain. You already knew that. In terms you can understand, the armor is basically a connection of billions of advanced nanobots. The means of construction and the ways in which they work are still a mystery to me, but I am working to learn more. The nanobots were genetically synced to you when you accepted the armor. The general understanding of a genetic bond is that it allows a user to bond an item and have no fear of said item being stolen or used against them. Genetic bonding is rarely used due to the expense and time involved in creating genetically bonded items. These days, it is mostly seen among members of high-born or royal families. Your armor, however, seems to be a more advanced symbiotic bond. The armor is bound to you, but in turn, you are bound to the armor; as you grow and progress, the armor seems to be doing the same thing. You have progressed significantly in the months since receiving the armor, yet you still are utilizing its basic abilities only,” Sherlock said.
“Well, like I said, I haven’t exactly had a user's manual. I didn’t know that the armor was growing with me; this is the first I’ve heard of it. How can I be expected to just figure these things out?” I asked.
“Captain, the material that makes up the armor is part of you down to the genetic level; It is part of your DNA now. With that being said, it is important to treat it just as you would any other part of your body. If you want to strengthen a muscle, you must break and rebuild it repeatedly. You must make the muscles uncomfortable, do new things, and try new techniques. The armor is now different; it is inherently powerful. Therefore, you are inherently powerful. Some of the functions of the armor will not be accessible until you have become powerful enough to sustain the physical or mental strain that those abilities will undoubtedly incur on you. Several functions of the armor are currently accessible, but you just haven’t used them. Now is the time to try,” Sherlock said.
“Okay, lay it on me. What do I need to do?” I asked.
“You asked about the size of the floor that we are currently in. Instead of asking me, why don’t you find out for yourself?” Sherlock asked.
“I can't exactly survey the entirety of this floor; in case you missed it—it’s huge!” I said, raising my hands out and gesturing in all directions.
“Before the drop, if you were going to work on a new job site, say during the startup phase, what are some of the tools that would have been used to survey an area?” Sherlock asked.
“I mean, there were several. People would go out to the site, walk and flag the area, and take measurements. In some cases, they would send out drones to get aerial….” I stopped as the idea hit me, “A drone? Can I make a drone?”
“I think it would be worth finding out. You need to visualize the construct and its desired function. Focus on the Havok Bringer armor; tell it what you want it to be and what you want it to do,” Sherlock said.
I closed my eyes and focused on a micro drone. It needed a camera as well as thermal sensors; it needed to be small, so hopefully, I could make more than one. I felt a surge of power pulsing toward my chest as a small globule of black pulsing liquid separated from my chest piece and hovered in front of me. As I watched the globule pulsed and slowly formed into a small X shaped drone and began to hover in front of me.
Drone Construct created.
Biomass consumed = .25%
Warning: Consuming more than 40% of your available biomass will have detrimental effects on the effective capabilities of the Havok Bringer armor.
Create more Drone constructs? Y?N
“Ha! I can make my own robots! I’m basically Inspector Gadget now!” I shouted as I threw a fist up in the air in triumph.