I stopped pacing, and squinted my eyes a little. “Of course I have purchases I want to make, the problem is deciding what to prioritize. I really want to upgrade my creation engine, but I still need to go through and purchase the other blueprints to make that worth it. That can wait until downtime. I want something that’ll be useful right now.”

Glancing around my eyes fell upon Bandit, who stopped firing every once in a while to glance around. “Hey Nyx, if I unlock the Class II Robotic Sensor Modules catalog will Bandit be able to detect Model Nines and Twenty Ones like Bright Eyes?”

I doubt he’ll be able to outline them like she had, but with some improvements he should be able to detect them consistently, and identify the general area.

“Good enough, I’d rather have that than walk into one unaware again. I assume I can upgrade him on the fly.”

For the most part, I can provide you with another nanite applicator that’ll update most of his sensors, but his acoustic sensors will require a remodel.

“Bigger ears?”

Bigger ears

“Excellent,” I held my hand out, “Do it, and gimme the applicator.” Bandit wandered over as soon as the large syringe fell into my hand. After inspecting the capsule for a moment the little bot held out his arm.

Unlike the applicators I was used too, which made a hissing noise when they injected their payload, this one made a deep ‘glorp’ noise. “Nyx… was it supposed to do that?”

It’s fine. The bots don’t need to worry about things like bursting veins if the nanites are administered too quickly, so a single massive injection is more efficient.

“Are you sure?” I asked, waving my hand in front of Bandit’s face. The bot’s eyes were flickering on and off and it’s head twitched occasionally.

Pretty sure.

I frowned, “Nyx, pretty sure isn’t good enough. If something happens to Bandit you and I are…” I didn’t get a chance to finish my threat, because Bandit lurched forward, grabbed my arm, and pointed. I looked down at the little bot, concerned that something went wrong in the upgrade process. Bandit looked back at me for a moment, only to return to pointing, in addition to sending multiple pings to my augs.

I finally glanced up, trying to figure out what was so important, only to find someone literally standing over one of my bears on the east wall waving some sort of device. The figure was dressed in dark clothing and their outline was indistinct, like they were behind some sort of heat haze.

“Hey! Who are you, and what are you doing?” I yelled as I rushed across my little compound, Bandit at my heels.

The figure looked up at me, and waved. “Hello! Hi! I came to investigate the steam pouring out into the streets topside, found one of the farms boiling and then I saw your adorable little fort here, and felt that I had to investigate."

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

With a single bound I jumped up onto the barricade, to warily inspect the intruder. On closer inspection it was definitely a woman in something that looked like a combination of light armor and a wingsuit, almost certainly Samurai made. “And you decided to, what? Scan my bots instead of introducing yourself?”

“Introduce myself?” The woman’s head tilted to the side for a moment, like she didn’t understand. “Oh! Right! Sorry, I get so excited when I see new tech. No one around here was willing to try new things, it’s Soooooo boring.” The woman reached up and pulled off her helmet, revealing a semi familiar face. “My name is Maggie Artell, aka Magpie.”

I pulled off my own helmet, showing her the same respect she showed me. “I’m Evelyn Claire, also known as Teddy.” My eyes narrowed, “You know, you were reported missing. Celestia and Atlantica were looking for you.”

“Psshhh… those worry warts, I was busy fighting Antithesis.”

I raised an eyebrow, “Too busy to even send them a quick text message?”

Maggie paused for just a moment, which was odd because the woman had not stopped moving since I had spotted her earlier. “I forgot ok, I was so excited to unlock so many new catalogs that I got carried away. Guess I didn’t even check my messages.” Maggie's eyes unfocused for a moment, then she flinched, “Two hundred and seven messages, guess I did get carried away.”

“Well, you can contact them now. Or go help them take out the rest of the hives located in the farms, assuming you have a way to get past the Antithesis out there without getting mauled.”

“Plenty!” Maggie’s eyes lit up, “I can try my new Sensory Disruption Catalog, or the Localised Distortion Catalog, or maybe even the Sonic Disassembler Catalog. So many choices!”

“Did you use one of those to sneak in here without me noticing?” I asked.

“No, that was probably my Presence Dampening Catalog, boring.”

“Wait, how many catalogs do you have?”

“I’ve unlocked an additional one hundred and Seventeen Class I catalogs since the Incursion started,” Maggie smiled, “It’s been good times.”

I stared at the woman for a long moment, “Why…?”

“Well, I used to work in reverse engineering, so I originally bought a bunch of catalogs to try and figure out how they worked. After a while I realized I didn’t have time to disassemble everything, but I still wanted to test things, so I kept buying new catalogs. A lot of people, the twins included, think it’s a waste of points, but I’ve tried so many devices and catalogs that I have an answer to pretty much anything the Antithesis can throw at me.” The woman pulled a pouch off her belt, then started pulling various things out of it and either throwing them on the ground or stuffing them into other pouches. The process went on WAY longer than it should have.

“A gift for a new friend!” She said, holding the pouch out.

I took the pouch cautiously, “Thanks?”

“It’s a dimensional storage, one of the few things I bothered to unlock Class II for. Useful for carrying a lot of stuff around.” Maggie glanced down at the various devices on the ground, “And don’t worry about those, most of them are harmless.”

I was stunned for a moment, which gave Maggie time to put on her helmet. “What do you mean most…” I started.

“Welp, I better go help the twins, and let them know I’m alive. Nice meeting you Teddy. Bye!!!!” She spread her arms out, revealing webbing between her arms and her body, then a miniature jetpack ignited on her back, propelling her into the air. After a few seconds she was gone, soaring towards the kelp farms.

I stared down at the miniature pile of devices located at her feet, “I really hope none of you explode.”