It took me longer to recover from my own attack than it did to clean-up the mess. I was still a little dizzy when applying the flesh melters to the corpse, and my ears didn’t stop ringing until I finished applying a thick layer of quick setting foam to fix the hole the shrimp opened in my defensive line. When I was done the street still looked like a disaster area, but at least it was relatively secure again.

You should sit down, your body is still recovering. Nyx said, as I stumbled my way back into the base.

“Thanks, I hadn’t considered that,” I paused as the two bots that I had bought to cover me on the roof jumped down from the wall to join me. “Nyx, why am I looking at two rabbits?”

You wanted something fast, so I had to make some adjustments to the basic bear pattern. These are much faster than the other models, but less tanky.

“And they’re rabbits because…”

I figured you’d want a way to differentiate them from the others. A ‘rabbit response squad’ if you would.

I grabbed my head with one hand and groaned, “My head is still killing me, and you’re making puns.”

If I hadn’t made the pun you would have, eventually.

“... you’re probably right, as much as I hate to admit it. So how fast are these guys?”

About four to five times faster than your bears, fast enough to keep up with you at a dead run.

I paused, “I’m not that fast.”

You didn’t notice, but Bandit tried to follow you when you confronted Magpie, and only really caught up as she was leaving. You’re significantly faster than your team now.

“Ahhh…” I glanced at my bears, which were still methodically killing off Antithesis approaching from the north, then sighed. “Now that I have the points they’re due for an upgrade. Plus I should really establish a few standard bot models that’ll be needed going forward. What’s my point total right now?”

You’re at 104,523 points, and two tokens.

“How much?”

I said 104,523 and two tokens, but that value has been increasing rapidly due to the number of Antithesis smashing into your defenses.

“Fuck me… I thought I had a lot when I had eight thousand last week. Can I upgrade my bears to Class III with all that?”

Unfortunately no, one of the rules the protectors established is that in order to open a Class III catalog you need to have already unlocked multiple Class II catalogs that are related. You already have the Class II Robotic Sensor Modules catalog, but you’ll need a few more before unlocking Class III.

“Awww… fine then, I guess I can work with the Class I and II stuff for now. Where to start…”

I sat on the bumper of my truck and pulled off my helmet, my eyes skimmed over the team and were quickly drawn to Heavy. Unlike the other bears he just refused to take cover and, over the course of a few minutes, he took a couple O-Nines to the face, already dead from the PDS system but still flying, and half a dozen model fifteen spines that got through.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“What is up with him, is he defective or something?”

It seems to be how his AI is developing, working towards a protector and front line combat.

“He looks like a pin cushion.”

I didn’t say he was great at it.

“Then let’s fix that. Can I purchase the remaining environmental hardening blueprints, along with some heavy armor and apply it to him?”

It would be difficult. He’d have trouble carrying all that weight, so you’d need a slightly bigger frame and heavy duty actuators for it to work.

“But he’d be able to take whatever’s thrown at him, right?”

To a point. His frame would be about as strong as Bobs was, and you saw even that had limits.

I winced, and turned to look at the big bear. Bob was still sitting in the repair bay, but he was looking better… ish. Less concave. Progress was slow, but I still held out hope that his auto repair functions would kick in soon.

“Add everything required for it to the top of the list, right after Class II Matter Reconfiguration Machines.”

You want to upgrade your Creation Engine?

“If I’m going to standardize I might as well get the forces up to Class II, less losses that way and,” I glanced at Bob’s frame again, “more options for getting my boys back on their feet.”

Noted.

“As for the others. I want to get some AI into at least one bear on each team, so I don’t have to micromanage when my forces grow. That’ll go into Spooky. Dusty can get the new rabbit speed upgrade, without the facade, and for Deadbeat.” Evelyn paused for a moment, “I probably need a support bot, but I’m unsure what that’ll entail right now.”

You know you don’t need to figure this all out right this moment.

“I know, but it doesn’t hurt to start getting this down. Weapon wise Bandit needs something with more punch, maybe the ability to mark targets.”

You could unlock a Designated Marksman Rifle, or DMR, catalog. They have more accuracy, and power, than battle rifles, while being more maneuverable than sniper rifles.

“Perfect. Rabbits get the XRs going forward, since they can reposition, along with a lighter weapon. SMGs maybe?”

That could work.

“Finally Heavy and his contemporaries need something to sweep hallways, or tunnels. Maybe a heavy machine gun?”

If I may, the Class I Shotgun catalog might also be an option. There are a couple fully automatic, even belt fed options, which would be exceptionally powerful in close quarters.

I hmmm’d. “Let’s split the difference, maybe find a heavy weapons catalog that has both energy and conventional weapons so I can adjust to the situation. Plus that probably meshes better with my Area Denial catalog in the long run”

I’ll add it to the list.

I nodded, my eyes were strangely heavy and I was having trouble keeping them open. “We’ll upgrade the Creation engine first, then work on individual upgrades after that.” I yawned, “I’m feeling pretty tired all of a sudden.”

You’ve been running off adrenaline, fixing issues and fighting ever since your team landed. I could give you a pick me up…

“No drugs!”

Or I could give you a meal and let you nap for a couple minutes. The area is relatively safe at the moment, and I can wake you if there are any issues.

I thought for a moment, then nodded. “Nap now, upgrade after. Also, remind me to check in with the rest of the team when I’m up.”

Can do.

Slowly I made my way around to the side of my truck, opened the back door, and collapsed on the back seat. I was asleep so fast that I didn’t even get a chance to close the door behind me.