It’d been four days since my meeting with Athena and Captain Roger of the Crimson Company, and things hadn’t been going all that well. At first, I thought I’d get done with the whole Blackout thing in barely a day, but the truth hadn’t been all that kind. It’d been four days, and not only were most of my printed components gone, but I was still back to where I started.

I threw my latest creation, a scrap metal ball sparking with electricity and glowing red, to the side in frustration. There were many reasons why Blackout was harder to make than I thought it would be, but it boiled down to the reaction of the Rykon crystals. To be frank, it was hard to control the reaction.

Basically, the Blackout module relied on the unique, harmless radiation Rykon crystals released when electricity ran through it. It was quite a bit more complicated than that, but that was the basic premise. The issue came in that the reaction caused the crystals to vibrate, generating heat and weakening the mechanism.

I only got a glance at Blackout’s blueprint through a reflection on glasses, so I didn't have the exact material list nor was the blueprint entirely complete, hence my struggles. I was basically trying to figure it out by reverse-engineering the blueprint. It was difficult.

I looked over the scrap. It looked as big as an eye, though the metal had ruptured around the Rykon containment parts in a way that would’ve been incredibly painful had it been in someone’s head. The vibrations were just too strong. Probably why the original Blackout overheated so much back when I used it.

Advent must’ve used some expensive materials to get it all working. Materials I didn’t have on hand. I’d tried other workarounds, of course, but nothing worked all that well. It was incredibly difficult to add anything into the mix without messing something else up.

At the very least, it was working. Outside of the vibrations ruining everything, the devices I made worked until they broke. For several long moments, my test recordings would blank me out as if I was never there. Sure they would break, but I knew if I could just solve this little glitch in the blueprint, I'd have a working Blackout module up before too long.

In my experimentation, I noticed a few other issues with Blackout that I hadn't originally noticed. Interestingly enough, Blackout didn’t seem to work nearly as well if the recording started while I was already in the frame. It just turned me into a vaguely human shadow. That wasn’t too big of an issue considering my most common use was duping security cameras and the like, but it was something to keep in mind.

That just left getting the thing to hold together. My latest idea involved stuffing some of those anechoic fibers from the padding I cut out of the stealth suit into the ball. It worked, somewhat. They absorbed most of the vibrations and the heat generated by the Rykon crystal, but they also absorbed part of the electricity. My latest test saw me flickering in and out of the camera like a ghost till the copper electrode connected to the crystal melted.

At least my other plans had gone fairly well. The Muffler for my drone had been easy to put together and worked like a charm. It took a while to set up the program, so I cheated and copied the Sonic Suppressor’s programs. Only a few small adjustments and voilà, it was up and working.

Incorporating it into the drone body was even easier. The most difficult part of it was setting up the controller for the thing. I’d initially wanted to set it up so I could jack into a receiver and control it all mentally, but that was quite a bit more complicated than just having a joystick where up goes up and down goes down. That, and I ran the risk of frying myself with my spaghetti code. No matter how much I wished it wasn't true, Net stuff just wasn't my thing.

I settled on getting the controls set up on my deck. It had likewise been painful to code. I got a lot of help from the Net by copying and cross-referencing dozens of different sets of codes to get rid of anything unsavory. Drones had been around for a long time, so it was quite easy to find everything I needed. ‘Course, it wasn’t the best, but it would work for my purposes.

My gaze shifted from the mostly completed drone down to the scrap spheres all around me. Maybe I was thinking about this the wrong way? I couldn’t exactly copy the original, so why keep trying? I had a basic idea of how everything worked, so did it really need to be as big as an eyeball? It’s not like I’d stuff it into my own face. No way I'd use a homemade eye considering how easy it would be to fry my brain. And I could get rid of all the optic chrome that just complicated the circuits.

I could just scale the thing up to the size of my Scouters. It’d be far easier to get everything set up without having to get into all the microelectronics that I’d been making with the printer. It would also reduce the structural stress that microelectronics make.

Yeah- this could work. More space meant more room to include some of my own adjustments… Maybe I could take the Muffler design and change it a bit? Sound was just vibration through the air, right? If I set up a redesigned Muffler just right, I might be able to completely nullify the vibration coming from the Rykon crystal. That’d solve the overheating problem from Advent and my current rupturing issue. Assuming some of the heat wasn’t coming from the radiation itself, that is.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Then I could swap out some of the copper components for the leftover scrap Ti-Cube from the katana. It’d be way more resistant that way. Especially the electrode responsible for shooting electricity into the Rykon crystal would be able to hold up better against heat and vibration.

Now this would be quite a bit bigger… hmm… maybe I could slap a rig together and incorporate it into my pack so I could keep my hands free? That way I could also connect it directly into the battery pack for extended charge.

I could even incorporate a few sensors with it scaled up to keep watch over the structural integrity, heat, and other factors. I’d be able to turn it off just before something went south instead of trying to guess when I needed to disable it.

Okay, okay… I got back on my deck and ran some numbers as I scaled up the blueprint and adjusted the components. If my calculations were right, It’d be done just before I had to go meet up with the Crimson Company.

I set stuff to print once more and left to go load up for the trip ahead of me and finish the rest of my prep. Oh, and I also need to revert the breathing mechanisms of my mask back to its original state at some point. Jeez… I really should just make it quickly swappable at some point considering how often I swap it around to keep my identities separate.

I stretched out and got back to work.

— — —

A yawn split my jaw, sounding quite loud so early in the morning. I barely woke up in time after spending all last night with final prep. It was a bad idea to stay up so late, but testing my newest iteration of Blackout took a while. Speaking of, I should come up with a new name for it. It was Advent’s any longer… hmm… how about Blacker or Outer… needs some more work. I’ll come up with something eventually.

The ever-present neon of the city reflected off a light drizzle that gently fell from the sky, dropping onto my worn-out Slasher’s baseball cap as I snuggled into the warmth of my poncho. Crazy to think in a few hours I’d probably be begging for cool rain and that almost permanent moisture that Aythryn City’s air held. The Outlands’ heat was oppressive on the best of days. If it wasn’t for the constant storms that passed over Aythryn City, this place would be even worse.

I stood out like a sore thumb as I approached the location Roger sent. I’d already gone and changed the poncho’s preset to my desert camo, and it wasn’t doing me any favors here in the midst of the city.

It was close to the Outskirts of Little Yukoto, right on the dividing line between the district and Bricktown. I took in the place, noting the hustle and bustle as forklifts drove in between giant trucks. Crates of goods moved to and fro constantly as beeping machines, humming engines, and screamed orders drowned out the sounds of the city around.

The Crimson Company’s HQ looked closer to a remodeled trucking depot than anything. Boxes sat scattered around everywhere stacked upon dozens of racks. Some of them looked as though they’d been around for a while, the synthwood dyed with pollutants and dust from particularly unhealthy storms. The forklifts and trucks scattered about reinforced that idea, though there was a certain militaristic vibe from the entire place that warned it was more than it seemed.

Maybe it was the armed guards patrolling around and the security towers keeping overwatch? Or maybe it was because everything was painted tan? Probably the latter. The military and I guess by extension this PMC group did so love their tan colors. Not that I could blame them since we were about to head out into the desert.

I checked out the bulk of Prowlers and large trucks scattered around. I recognized the model of truck from my time learning Land Vehicles. They were Sentinel MOUS-345s, or Mice, an older model commonly used by the FSA military. Could easily carry ten tons of cargo, if not more depending on any vehicular modifications. Truly a beast of a vehicle. There were four of said trucks being loaded up by workers bustling around in high-visibility vests.

Definitely a large-scale operation I stumbled into. When I first heard of the Crimson Company, I didn’t think too much of it considering the circumstances I was hired for this gig. Originally, I was thinking of a small-scale team with maybe a dozen people. Not this. This was closer to the Constellation Company that protected the Night Market. I’d have to watch myself even more.

I approached the front gate, almost immediately getting stopped by armed guards. Similar to the Constellation PMCs, the duo that stopped me had a certain level of uniformity to them. Unlike the group I could see further in dressed in desert camos, these two wore similar dark blue clothes and black vests. Red cross patches, drawn as if by a bleeding finger, sat on each of their shoulders.

They were both heavily equipped. Raijin International rifles of some kind and even more weapons strapped around in holsters. Grenades too- no flashes. But some kind of weird-looking flash? They kinda looked like EMP grenades merged with a flashbang. Maybe a workaround to get past auto shielding? First time I'd seen them.

“What’s your business here?” One of them called out to me. He was the bigger of the two, though both had that highly trained and muscular-looking body I’d expect to see in FSA soldiers. He hefted his rifle in what looked like it was supposed to be an intimidating fashion. Unfortunately for him, I was too tired to care.

I activated Lethargic Presence just to mess with the guy as I felt another yawn coming. Mine triggered a chain reaction as not only the two guards, but several people around also yawned. ”Here for the job. Captain Roger is expecting me.”

The other talked quietly into an earpiece before calling out. “Let her through. Head on up to the main building. Third room on the right-“

The guy cut himself off as he listened to the earpiece again. “Actually, the Captain wants you to take a look at one of the trucks first. It’s having issues starting. Benny!”

One of the patrolling guards came over a few moments later. He tensed as if barely resisting the urge to salute. “Sir?”

“Take- uh-“

“Zuku.”

“Right. Take Zuku over to Gold-3.”

“Sir.” Benny saluted the man. He looked me over before turning back and walking off to where the caravan of vehicles awaited us. “Come along.”

Already so early, yet the first thing I know I’m getting put to work, eh? I should’ve asked for more money…