The bolo knife had more utility in that, besides chopping, hacking, cutting, and slashing my enemies, I could also chop, hack, cut, and slash other things. Ropes? Vines? Writhing tentacles? And I liked the appearance of the broad, heavy blade.
On the other hand, the trench knife had more versatility. The primary mode of attack would be plunging the narrow dagger into my target, with the added bonus of being able to use the subtly spiked knuckle guard to bludgeon opponents.
For some reason, my instincts were overwhelmingly telling me to go with the trench knife.
Ideally, with my expanded ammunition reserves I could consistently attack from range for longer. Then again, the snubnosed revolver did not have the best range. With the exception of the hedge maze, most of my battles had taken place in urban environments. And even the hedge maze could be considered close quarters.
But crazy old Camel favored a long gun, even in this endless cityscape. I wondered why, remembering his scoped, bolt-action rifle and ghillie suit. A different approach.
I removed the push dagger from my Inventory to make room for the new gear. Then I finalized the purchase of the tactical jacket, ammunition belt, two .32 caliber rounds, and trench knife.
I scanned the smart ink on my left wrist, then my Volunteer ID barcode on my right.
[5% Armory Discount accepted]
I paid the reduced total of 2,869 Crypt. It was a lot, but I was getting a good bang for my buck.
[Tactical jacket selected. Selection confirmed. Would you like to equip this armor?]
[Ammunition belt selected. Selection confirmed. Would you like to equip this accessory?]
[Mark I trench knife selected. Selection confirmed. Would you like to equip this weapon?]
Yes to all of the above.
With each acceptance, my appearance changed. The smart-looking black jacket easily fit over my layers of the promotional t-shirt and ballistic vest. The ammunition belt slotted perfectly around my waist over the tactical pants. Lastly, I held and admired my new melee weapon before dematerializing it out of sight.
“Thank you for shopping at the Armory, soldier. Remember–don’t shoot until you see the whites of their eyes!”
I went over to the memory hole to recycle the push dagger. I scanned my ID, watching the pink triangle shine cyan, and dropped the small weapon in. The dagger was instantly sucked into the void with a terrible rushing sound.
[You received 10 Crypt. Thank you for recycling unused data!]
I double-checked the new additions to my Equipment menu.
[EQUIPMENT
* WEAPONS
* * MARK I TRENCH KNIFE
* * SNUBNOSED REVOLVER
* * * 5 / 5 .32 caliber ammunition (chambered)
* * * +10% fire damage (Hellhound)
* * THROWING KNIFE
* ARMOR (70)
* * HELM: N/A
* * BODY: TACTICAL JACKET
* * * BALLISTIC VEST
* * * PROMOTIONAL T-SHIRT (cosmetic)
* * ARMS: N/A
* * LEGS: TACTICAL PANTS
* * * TACTICAL BOOTS
* ACCESSORIES
* * AMMUNITION BELT
* * * 12 / 12 .32 caliber ammunition]
I also checked my Economy menu and Storage submenu.
[ECONOMY
* CRYPT
* * 3,971 (stored on B3-9S7-C10K chip)
* CRYSTALS
MEMORY
* STORAGE
* * 326 / 300 (340) (+40 soft storage cap)]
Not enough room left to refill my Energy to full. But I had a plan, inspired by the storage lockers during my brief visit to the MAR Master Terminal.
I left the crowded Armory and crossed the lot to the bright siren lights of the Supply Depot. I entered just in time to glimpse the legs of multiple Volunteers disappearing from the top of the spiral staircase to the upper floor. The Auction House. I was curious about it, but that wasn’t the reason I was here.
To my surprise the aged vendor was not seated at her usual spot behind the counter. Instead, I found her rearranging items on one of the novelty aisles. I greeted her.
“Oh, ho ho. Don’t mind me. Just refreshing the retail displays. They–I mean we–have a new seasonal assortment coming in.”
▶ Do you sell any personal data storage cubes?
“Storage cubes? We sure do, dearie. But they are in the back. Follow me.”
The woman walked very slowly, shuffling down the aisles until we came to a doorway in the rear corner leading to a small back room. An overflow area for additional goods. We passed through a hanging curtain of plastic slats and she gestured to various large cubes stacked haphazardly on the floor. They reminded me of the same cubes or lockers for rent at the Master Terminal, but looked run down.
▶ Why do you keep them back here?
“They are not a popular item. Most of your kind keep accounts at the Repository. And they are a hassle to move. Very heavy. Too large to fit in most Inventories.”
▶ I see.
“Also, many rains ago there was a rash of break-ins and thefts. Such a shame, really. I remember a time when your kind was more noble...”
The old woman sighed deeply, staring off into space. There was that phrase again–’your kind.’ These vendor bots were something else.
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
I carefully looked from box to box until I found the least expensive option, and one that appeared to be in good condition. And it was on sale! In fact, most of the cubes were steeply discounted.
▶ Are these really so unpopular?
“They fixed the faulty locking mechanism long ago, but by then the cubes had a bad reputation. As I said, there was a crime wave back then.”
I reached out my hand to highlight the box.
[Item: Storage cube
Cost: 1000 Crypt (500 with 50% discount)
Capacity: 100 metabytes
Details: A personal data storage cube that holds up to 100 metabytes of data. Cannot be used to store Crypt due to CEC regulations. Accessible by Volunteer ID of owner.
Size: 500 metabytes]
▶ Wow. This thing is really dense! How can I get this back to the Residential Towers?
“I can deliver it for you after hours, dearie.”
▶ You? How?
“On my bicycle of course.”
▶ Okay…
I couldn’t tell if she was joking. Were vendor bots programmed to joke?
“I may not look it anymore, but I am more than capable of making a simple delivery. Are you staying in your designated residence or at another location?
▶ The default room that was assigned to me. The one with my number on it.
“Then don’t you worry. Buy whatever one you like and I’ll be sure it gets to you before you can answer the following riddle: ‘A face marked by time, silent stories to tell. Holding secrets of heaven, in each dent and swell.’”
I blinked at her, not comprehending. Was she malfunctioning?
▶ Right… I’ll just go ahead and buy this one then. 500 Crypt?
She simply smiled and nodded, opening the special vendor menu in the air. Transaction completed. I would just have to go check and see if my property showed up.
Any way I can get a receipt on this…?
My plan was to keep the storage cube at my place in the Residential Towers. I would stash whatever I wasn’t actively using or planning to use, freeing up more space and also providing an extra layer of protection against losing things from an untimely death or other mishap. The crafting materials, the card fragments, the throwing knife–even the Voynich manuscript pages could be kept for safekeeping until I decided what to do with them. That would free up 26 metabytes right off the bat.
3,471 Crypt remaining. I needed to save enough for the data backup and any travel required for my next bounty, but I had decided to check out the Advanced Body modification options downstairs.
Yes, the last time was a nightmare. Getting the axis port installed in the back of my head was one of the most unpleasant experiences of my time in The Collective, and that was saying a lot. But I had now seen multiple Volunteers using implants. The katana-wielding woman in the warehouse raid came to mind. Rook was riddled with them. I even suspected that Little Knifey used some sort of implant.
I also remembered that an anesthesia option existed, but I forgot how much extra it cost. Maybe there was a way to mitigate the horror of additional modification procedures.
Leaving the vendor to her own little world, I descended the spiral staircase and stepped onto the black slate floor, scanning my number under the waiting sensor. The image of my avatar filled the large central screen. Decked out in my black tactical gear, I didn’t look half bad.
Ignoring Cosmetic changes for now, I scrolled through the available options on the left panel until I reached the Advanced Body Modification submenu.
Implants or modifications were a way to improve my performance without needing Crystals to upgrade my statistical categories. A way to shortcut the gradual progression process through cold, hard Cryptocurrency. Right now, Crypt is what I had. And I wanted something that would give me an edge.
I scrolled through a long list of brain jacks, limb augmentation, synthetic organ replacement, and myriad other categories before pausing at the ocular implant submenu.
Hmmm. What’s in here?
As with the chip in the back of my head, I soon realized I would need to complete another prerequisite procedure.
[Modification Integration Procedure - Ocular Port Installation:
One-time surgical procedure to install ports in both eye sockets for ocular implant access.
Cost: 1000 Crypt]
Oh no. Body modification surgery involving removing my eyeballs did not seem pleasant in the least. But it could pave the way for additional benefits, and the implants could be swapped out over time for better upgrades. Instead of body modification, I tried to conceptualize this instead as data surgery.
Whatever programming or code comprised my avatar would be permanently altered. Because I was grafting a new segment of code onto myself, the subsequent implant would not take up any storage. The port itself offset any additional data burden.
But that wouldn’t make it hurt less. The good news was that anesthesia was advertised as on sale for 50% off. It was my cycle for large discounts! Could this have something to do with a new retail season approaching, whatever that meant? Everything must go at a low, low price? The bad news was that 50% off still came to a steep 1,000 Crypt. There were different kinds of pain: physical, and financial.
If I decided to get the port installation, what implants could I actually afford? I found a few options, with improved implants in the same series dramatically increasing in price relative to the benefits they provided. And I saw that I did not have a high enough Protocol stat for the advanced models.
[977-C-ING-I 1
Ocular implant that enables monochromatic low light vision in dark conditions.
Cost: 1000 Crypt
-
977-C-ING-I 2
Ocular implant that enables night vision in dark conditions.
Cost: 5000 Crypt
Alert: You do not have the required minimum Protocol for this device.]
I also saw further upgrades in the series advertising thermal vision, dark vision, and even X-ray vision. What exactly was the difference between low light, night, thermal, and dark vision? I thought of the shielded thermal goggles from Antisoc, now in the hands of ColSec, and muttered a curse.
[IE-9NLYS-I L/R 1
Single eye ocular implant that enables analysis of the Essence of {common} invasive entities.
Cost: 1000 Crypt
-
IE-9NLYS-I L/R 2
Single eye ocular implant that enables analysis of the Essence of invasive entities up to {uncommon} frequency.
Cost: 5000 Crypt
Alert: You do not have the required minimum Protocol for this device.]
Could this have been how Little Knifey knew how much Essence the minotaur had? I suspected so, although I hadn’t noticed anything unusual about his eyes during our time together.
Similar to the first series of implants, I saw additional iterations allowing analysis of Rare, Legendary, and even Mythical entities. The price of the last option was astronomical.
-
[B1-N0C-PRCPT-I 1
Ocular implant that grants a bonus of +20 value to the Perception statistical category and enables 4x visual zoom capability.
Cost: 1000 Crypt
-
B1-N0C-PRCPT-I 2
Ocular implant that grants a bonus of +40 value to the Perception statistical category and enables 8x visual zoom capability.
Cost: 5000 Crypt
Alert: You do not have the required minimum Protocol for this device.]
Wary of the potentially excruciating pain though I was, I rationalized that the benefits would outweigh and outlast the temporary suffering. Like childbirth.
It would cost 1,000 Crypt for the port installation, and another 1,000 for the implant of my choice. With the special sale, I could opt-in for anesthesia for an additional 1,000. Either way, I was looking to drop between 2,000 to 3,000 for this, out of my remaining 3,471 Crypt.