"Open it" Zero said again, this time as soon as I was out of my armor. Placing my helmet on a white marble table in the kitchen. A stack of packages neatly stacked across the table.
"Someone's been here," I said, interrupting Zero's persistent need for the book needing to be read.
"I ordered some packages while we were out. Now can you please open it, I haven't seen the book in 7000 years." Zero said.
"7000 thousand years, how old was this guy?"
"He was crowned king at around one hundred years old and became the last king at around five hundred years of age. He ruled for another thousand years before he passed away. He ushered in three eras under his reign and is still hailed the greatest ruler of the Uzal. Now, open the book, Leo."
"Wait, he was 1500 hundred years old. How is that possible?"
"He was an aura cultivator, their lifespans can become greatly extended. Though by my knowledge the second oldest Uzal was barely 900 when they ended up passing away. I guess it resources factor in as well, after all, he was a king of his entire race. Also, I will not ask again, Leo, the book!"
"Okay... Okay," I said, sitting down in the large white sectional easily able to accommodate a dozen others. Opening my bag, I slowly and carefully took out the other tomes and set them on the wood coffee table. Do Uzal even drink coffee, I thought, shaking my head. I finally pulled out the tome of the king.
"Absolutely splendid," Zero said in his thick European accent.
"Are you ever going to change from Anthony Hopkins' voice?"
"No, why?"
Shaking my head, "It's nothing, as long as you like it."
"I actually do, it's grown on me, plus I can tell it gives you the creeps every once in a while."
"Great," I say. Splendid, he's being funny and now learning to mess with me.
"So what exactly is aura, and cultivation, like cultivating plants?" I ask.
"No, not like cultivating plants. It's a process of accumulating and processing aura."
Nodding, "I still don't get it, what is aura?" I asked.
"Well, the Valik would tell you it's subatomic exotic particles. The Uzal would say it is the essence of all life in the universe. Either way, it's beneficial to you."
"What do you mean, I can do this cultivating too?"
"Yes, I mentioned before that you could use the book. There are techniques and practices written within this book, Leo."
Flipping the cover to the very first page, the pages were heavily stained. Red circles and lines crisscrossed the page, the next page, and the next after that all looked similar. No words, no instructions, no pictures. "Well, this is going to be a quick read."
"Oh, right, put the new contacts in. It's the small package on the counter." Zero said.
Sitting the tome down and grabbing the package, seeing five other packages waiting for me. "What's in the others?" I ask.
"Largest one is some clothing, the other box is full of nutrition packs, the flat one is a new updated tablet, we'll need to modify that before we use it." A pause happened as I was putting the new contacts in. "The small square one is an upgrade, I thought it would come in handy, and finally the last one is for our hunt." Blinking my eyes and adjusting the contacts, the contacts flash.
Initiating, syncing...error syncing...syncing failed
Would you like to try again?
The HUD came to life, but it didn't sync correctly. "I stopped the sync, it would have used your ID, alerting everyone we are here." the HUD changed, shifting colors, moving icons, and modules, adjusting scale and opacity to fit my preferences, looking identical to HUD in my helmet.
"Now look at the pages," Zero said.
Opening the cover to the first page. The lines and circles began to glow. A small projection appeared within my HUD, small faded letters started to rise from the page.
"I can't read this," finally seeing the letters appear.
"Of course you can't, but I can, I'll start walking you through it."
HUD started lighting up each word, filling the page. "This first part, this one is pretty universal to all cultivation. It's for sensing the exotic particles or aura. I don't want to keep saying one or the other which do you prefer aura or particles?"
"Let's go with aura, it will translate better, won't it?" I asked.
"You're right, it will." Zero said, "Now let's begin. Sit on the floor and cross your legs. Palms on your knees. Slow, deep breaths, and clear your mind. Now try to sense the aura, it won't come easily but try to visualize it.
Closing my eyes and getting into position. I close my eyes and... couldn't focus. Sitting cross-legged and breathing steadily, but my mind wouldn't clear. "Anything?" Zero asked.
"No, I don't really know what I'm doing, Zero."
"This isn't something that you can learn overnight it takes years in most cases."
"Okay, I'll keep working on it, I have never meditated before, clearing my mind, especially with you there is hard," I said.
"I know the feeling," Zero said with a chuckle.
"Mister funny guy," I said.
"Well, why don't you... My spoof is gone, we'll pick up another one in the morning, why don't you open up the other packages."
Nodding, I sat the book down and headed over and started opening the boxes. The first and the largest of the boxes contained a few sets of clothes. All the fabric was soft but sturdy. All of it was on the casual clothes side, loose pants and t-shirts, one set of gym shorts. "We expecting to stay here long term?" I asked.
"Hopefully not, but we will stay as long as we need to."
"Okay," I opened up the next largest box, the rations. It was all supplements and quick meals. Opening up one right away, remembering I haven't eaten anything since before landing yesterday afternoon, consuming the strawberry and banana-flavored drink, feeling disappointed at its lack of flavor. Sighing, already missing the food printers on the base.
Still chewing on the nib of the container, I grabbed the flat one with the pad. Opening the seal on the side of the box, inside was a thin flat tablet. Picking it up, I noticed it had some flex to it. "The tablet it top of the line, try smacking it with your wrist." Lightly hitting the tablet against my wrist, it easily wrapped around and firmly stayed in place. "Nice," I said.
Taking it off and placing it on the counter, a charging icon popped up on the screen. The device was completely clear, with only a thin black border around the edges to break it up from the white of the table.
"Which one next Zero?"
"The smaller one, I'm personally excited about this one."
Grabbing a small white square package, with the words "Nebula technologies" written on all 6 sides. "How do I open it, I don't see any seems?"
"Place your palm on it, I'll do the rest." Placing my open palm on it, the Nebula technologies began to slowly light up, becoming a mixture of purple, reds, blues, and pinks. When they fully lit up the box fell away laying completely flat against the table in the shape of a "T". Inside looked like a 5 legged daddy long legs, it was draped over a clear pedestal. "What is this?" I asked.
"Place it on your palm, I would suggest your off-hand." Zero explained.
Carefully picking it up, taking a better look, I noticed it was made of segmented metal fibers and the body of it was a circular ring no bigger than a cap of toothpaste. Finally, placing it in the palm of my left hand. "Now what?" I asked.
"Now this," the circular ring showed little blue lights started to glow, then it extended to each segment and finally ending at the tips of each one glowing bright blue. It lifted its body until it was perfectly vertical on my palm, its weight almost nothing. Looking at it, "Is it some kind of drone?" I asked.
"No, this is going to hurt for a second," With that, the spider-like object cut my palm and slither under my skin.
"WHAT THE FRACKING FRACK!," I said, holding my wrist.
"Calm down, give it a second, it won't hurt you... again." my hand felt like it had fallen asleep, that feeling of pins and needles. A single small incision was on my palm, No blood even came out, my vision highlighted something on the box I didn't notice before. A circular piece of thin, clear fabric... a medical band-aid. Placing it on my palm, it quickly sealed the small incision.
Internalizing complete... setup complete
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Fuming, "Zero, what the frack did you just put in me?"
"Place your hand on any hard surface," he said.
Tentatively, I placed my palm on the marble counter. A small projection showed a duplicate of my vision through my HUD in real-time. Lifting my hand, the projection disappeared. Looking at my palm, the tips of my fingers had a light blue glow under them, and a circle directly in the center of my palm. "It can do basic 3d imaging with no backing, but higher definition within with it. Theoretically, it has the potential to do more, but I gotta do some testing first, don't want to break it right away after all," said Zero. '
"It's cool, but before you make any more modifications that require me or my body, please... please... let's talk about it first."
"You don't like it?"
"It seems cool, I don't know how practical it is, we'll see, I guess. It's just what if I didn't want it, what then, did you think about that Zero?"
"I guess I didn't, I'm sorry, I'm not really used to not having my own body, I got excited, it won't happen again."
"I understand man, but this is my body for the long run," I said, thinking about it, "Where is your body, anyway?"
"I'm not sure, I don't even know where my core is, I would need that before getting a body."
"Can't you just take over another body, like an Arbiter's?"
"No, I tried that before. My core is encoded to only me, for all I know it's been destroyed or lost. I tried forcing my mind into an Arbiter, and well it became a splinter of my mind and he went rogue. I was able to use your implant just cause it's so similar to Valik's neuro-implant. Just to fit, I had to dump about 90% percent of my data stores and just keep my personality, and some useful data."
"Oh, I didn't know, maybe we'll run across it."
"Maybe... we'll I'm sorry for forcing the projection implant on you, it won't happen again, now why not open the last one, I promise this one won't get under your skin."
"Haha, also that scared the shit out of me."
"I know, sorry."
Reaching over, I grabbed the last package. It was long and narrow; the case was gray and made of a hard polymer plastic with an electronic lock under a carrying handle. Putting my palm on it, I heard the soft clicks of the locks releasing. Inside held a long rifle and pistol. Though it didn't look quite like I was expecting. The bodies and barrels were rectangular and sleek looking featuring a thumb stock, and the rest of the stock held a slot for the large mags, also inside the gray box. Noticed the scope on the rifle was low profile, and electronic. Reaching in for the pistol. The pistol looked similar, almost like a vector but more compact with no stock. It had a holographic red dot instead of iron sights. Long thin mags held next to it. "They use the same rounds as your rifle from the Njord, I couldn't procure you any military-grade ammunition but I got some close enough."
"Thanks, should I use this over my rifle?"
"Up to you, your rifle is suppressed though, so keep that in mind."
Nodding, I grabbed the box of rounds and started loading my empty mark, two mags, and the pistols. Finally, looking over at the 5 rounds for the other rifle. "These are huge, how is this even legal?" I ask.
".50 bmg, this ammo has been around before your people even landed on the moon of Earth, still popular today. It's legal as of 60 years ago."
"Shit"
"Well, I couldn't get more than a mag's worth for the Nebula AM-150, and the NMp-7 on this rock, last of what the vendor had. They sell this as the guild starter set, at least that's what they marketed it as."
"Guild starter set, what guild, why would they be selling guns?"
"Weapon" Zero corrected me.
"Whatever"
The glass wall to my left flashed on, directly to a commercial. You can always tell tv from commercials even at a glance. It showed children playing. Then a busy coffee shop full of people, then an overview of a city. Then the screen flickered and the playground with the kids was smoldering, the slide twisted and uprooted; the swings hanging and craters littered the spots where the children were playing just minutes ago. In the background, the city was on fire. Then it changed again to the coffee shop, glass, and debris scattered around the upturned tables. The windows boarded shut. Then finally the overview of the city, streets were on fire, the skyscrapers were now ruins or rubble, you could hear screaming, and alarms as the camera panned over. Soldiers in black marched through the streets. The skyline angry and red filled with smoke, explosions going off in the distance, orbital bombardment seen by the flashes from the sky.
Then it faded to black, "You can make a difference, you can help the future, be a hero, be a savior, join the Nebula mercenary guild today, it's just a click away." The letters on the screen faded, being replaced by the letter "N" with the same swirling colors as the Nebula projector box.
"Wow, so mercenaries, I guess it makes sense," I said.
"I lost my connection, I only have this commercial cause it's part of the material for the rifle." Zero explained.
"We can look into it further later, put something on the feeds."
"We don't have a connection, remember."
"Shit, no forgot, again."
"How about from the data cube, you said it had some movies, right?"
"It does, I'll give you a list."
My HUD lit up showing about 40 movies with tags, and only a couple had descriptions.
"I'm in the mood for something funny, just play something fitting that."
The projection shifted from the wall to the area of the lounge, filling the entire wall.
Moving from the kitchen to the lounge, I sat down. Falling asleep during the movie, waking up in the middle of the night, transitioning from couch to bed stripping along the way. Waking up before the sun even started to rise. I sat up on the bed and decided to try meditating again. After some time, I gave up. Nothing happened, well other than feeling more relaxed. Getting dressed in my workout attire and started heading to the courtyard for some workout. "What's on the agenda today?" I asked Zero.
"After you're finished working out and getting ready for the day, I made an alternative route to try and search for an Arbiter. Split our search into different sectors. So we are only out for a few hours at a time. So we don't draw any attention to ourselves. During our downtime, I have come up with a training regimen."
Inside the courtyard limbering up, "Sounds good. What kind of training?" I start jogging around the house instead of the gym inside. This has a better view, in my opinion.
"Well, there are some movements within the book you should start practicing, then some VR training."
"Okay," I said, wiping the sweat from my brow. The humidity here is pretty high. Not so bad during the morning though, gotta keep that in mind for the future... hopefully I won't be here that long, I thought.
Finishing up my morning routine, quickly showering and putting on a new set of clothes, and finally dawning my armor. Putting my helmet on as the gate opens, noticing my HUD didn't switch over to the helmet but more reading synced with my implant. The route took us around the city, quickly stopping by the shipyard and ship pads. Then making our way to the mining dome. Still nothing. Our return route to the villa brought us right through the city into the trading district. I didn't stop at any stalls, noticing how many people were wearing armor surprised me. "Mercenaries?" I said.
"They're all with the guild, must be something here for them to be this far," he said.
"Yeah," turning down the street, the same one with the vendor I got the book from. Seeing familiar armor in the distance. All shiny black armor, four sets of it, walking into the auction house. "What are Ghul doing here?"
"This is Eldera territory, they're neutral in the war. As long as the Ghul behaves then the guards won't get involved."
"Shit, I didn't even think of that. Have we seen a single Eldera?" I asked.
"No, they own many planets but rarely leave their homeworld, only keeping a small controlling force on planets like this."
"Keeps them safe, and profiting, I guess."
"That it does, and they do enjoy their credits."
"Should we follow them in?" I asked.
"Why, isn't like we have a reason to provoke them."
"I don't know, last time I saw a Ghul you shoved my fist through his rib cage."
"True, I do recommend checking out the auction house, the Ghul are inside, so two birds?"
"Good," I said. Walking up into the guild house. The outside was pretty extravagant compared to the other vendors on the street. The inside was even more so. Large marble columns and polished dark woods filled the main floor. The walls held glass shelves with everything from trinkets to artifacts, and even some weapons and armor being displayed, each with a price tag being proudly displayed under each item.
They stationed Two armored clad guards before entering the show floor. A grand staircase leads up to a second-floor which held more shelving and a few doors. In the back was an elevator leading to the upper floors, probably.
"How can we help you today sir, a young, beautiful Uzal woman said, She wore a green dress that showed her curves but modest enough to not show off more. She was naturally beautiful, with bright green eyes. She looked up and down my armor, "How about an upgrade, your armor is a bit dated."
"I just came to check out your beautiful shop," I said, my voice coming out the speakers set within my helmet. She visibly blanched at the noise, forgetting that Uzal are more sensitive to loud sound. "Tone down the speakers, Zero" I mentally said.
"Sorry, I am in need of an upgrade, I guess," I said. She didn't look disturbed this time.
"We have a public auction starting in 20 minutes with a few sets of high-quality armor up for auction. If you don't want to wait, we do have some sets on hand, and even more within our online catalog." She said with less enthusiasm now. She was still being polite, though.
A message from Zero came up on my HUD, "Do the auction"
"Oh, well, if you don't mind, I would like to participate in the auction," I said to the young women. Noticing she had small intricate tattoos wrapping around her long pointed ears, and down her neck in swirling intricate patterns.
"Yes, though I need verification on your residence, even if it is off-world your ship or even a drop point is fine then you need a minimum of 5000 credits to enter the auction."
Luckily during our first stop looking for an Arbiter, Zero reminded me to touch someone and now we have the net and a large sum of credits. Grabbing my old tablet, Zero adjusted everything and sent them to her tablet, already within her hands.
"Oh, I didn't know you're in one of our residence," She said, her voice sounding more enthused now to be dealing with me, I must look like a beggar in my old and outdated armor with visible repairs made to it. "Please, follow me, I'll place you in one of our VIP boxes." She leads me to the elevators, I didn't stop the Ghul on the main floor, they must be in the auction or someplace else.
She brought me up to the elevator. The doors opened revealing wood paneling, polished marble floors, and painting on the walls in elaborate frames. Each piece I saw was from different species. Some from Gaian, others from Uzal, and Eldrea.
"No Ghul art?" I asked the women.
"The Ghul have no artists, at least none that we know of. They only create tools of war and buy lost-tech." She said, giving my side-eye as we walked.
She stopped in front of a dark stained door. "Here you go sir, there is a pad inside for placing your bets, all bets within the VIP rooms are anonymous, and if you so desire all refreshments are complimentary and you can order anything, a drone will promptly deliver them right to you."
"Thank you," I said and transferred her 100 credits as a tip, She accepted the tip happily. Stepping inside the room, closing the door behind me. The walls were of dark stained wood. The wall opposite the door was one-way glass, a couch sat in front of the window, enough space for five to comfortably sit. A countdown was on the glass showing when the auction would start. A glass tablet sat on the edge of the couch, the upcoming auctions catalog was shown. My HUD syncing with it, allowing me to skip the tablet and use my implant instead. I still sat down and browsed the catalog. She was right, there were multiple sets of armor up for auction as well as many weapons, some artifacts, manly Valik lost tech. Then some other miscellaneous items.
I looked over the general admissions floor, instantly spotting the Ghul I saw enter. Four of them all wearing matching armor, "It doesn't look like their armor has changed much," I said.
"No, it was already good armor at the time, only slightly better than your own," Zero said.
"Should we pick up a set from this, will it matter?" I asked.
"I think we can find something better later, I'm betting the price here will by more than market due to this being so far out from the core planets."
"Okay, what are we here for?" I asked.
"I would like to see what the last-tech is, it doesn't give a description in the database, typical for auctions, Valik tech is always sought after, never know what you could get your hands on."
"There is that much of a market for it?" I asked.
"Even more so than before the war, finding a Valik ship, or working jump drive could change the current stalemate in the war in a matter of minutes than years."
"We have a Valik ship, how many credits would that be if we sold it at an auction?"
"I would estimate our scout ship would sell for upwards of hundreds of billions of credits."
"HOLY FRACK"
"No, we are not selling one, and no, this isn't up for discussion."
"What, why?"
"Just imagine if one of these ships fell into Ghul hands, they could bring a weapon capable of destroying a planet without even being seen, or jumping troops into combat in a flash, and out again before anyone knew what happened." He explained.
"I didn't think of that, you're right, it could change the whole dynamic of the war."
"I know I'm right. Now the auctions starting."