Kellin's eyes flitted open slowly, his right hand slightly numb as he pulled it out from underneath his back. Soreness erupted across the limb from the awkward placement and when he tried to use it to rub the sleep out of his eye, he was met with a slap to his face reserved for when one tried to move a sleeping limb.
The slap did the trick to wake him up though, Kellin finding himself startled to consciousness, though still mostly lost. He hadn't dreamt at all last night, sleeping deeper than he had in months. His body felt heavy, yet rejuvenated, as he slowly pulled himself up and yawned, stretching a bit as he stood, cradling his slowly regenerating arm.
[Marine Condition:
Maimed, Exhausted
Integrity: 99/100
Energy: 87/110]
The [Condition] report he noticed in the upper corner of his vision reflected his current lack of an arm, but also left him wondering as he didn't exactly feel that tired, just in serious need of coffee. He was also a bit confused as to why their integrity was at 99, but a glance over to the repair bay answered both questions rather quickly. Hundreds, if not more, of bullets laid scattered across the ground of the Hutch, a small pile having built up at the feet of the Combat Suit.
-Good morning, Kellin, would you like some toast and eggs?- Gypsy asked, voice coming in sounding just a bit out of it. -I made these things-
"Really, Gyps. I couldn't have guessed," he chuckled out. "You shouldn't be doing that all night. You need to rest... I think," he continued after a moment, having made his way over to the pile of metal and bending over to start cleaning it up.
-That makes no sense, Kellin. AI's don't need sleep-
He nodded and reached down with both of his hands, immediately changing his mind to instead tipping over backward and pressing his back into the Med Table while doing everything in his power not to jostle his right arm again. The tingles had set in and the static was brutalizing his will.
-Just... try to focus on nothing for a bit, then. That's an order,- he sent, jaw clenched. -And good work-
"Yes, sir," came a vocal response as Gypsy went entirely quiet, the next few minutes only punctuated by the sounds of his own squirming against the ground every time he accidentally moved.
Finally, things in his arm calmed down and Kellin stood up, looking at the pile in wonder and with questions mounting. Turning his eyes toward the computer, he decided to ask the one other thing in here that might have an answer.
"Flip, how many bullets are on the ground right there?"
"156 Canister Rifle bullets were made by user Gypsy over the course of the last 8 hours," came the instant response.
"Jesus," Kellin mumbled, glancing over at the workbench and seeing his completed [Canister Rifle] as well. "Must have seen it finished and thought it would be a good idea... What a sweetheart," he continued, beginning to pick up handfuls of the ammunition while carrying them to the workbench.
A few dedicated minutes of work saw all the ammo placed in a manner such that they wouldn't roll off the bench, Kellin looking at the beautiful, stock gun before him with pride. His gun.
The gun had a faint glow to it, indicating there was a notification linked to its existence and sure enough when he focused on the corner of his vision, three new notifications hovered.
[Build has finished producing Blueprint: Canister Rifle]
[Conditions met - New Profession Skill Tree choice: Assembly Line]
[Assembly Line(100 Credits): Creation of the same item over the course of several hours increases the speed item can be made at by 5% for each hour, up to 50%, spent Creating]
Kellin was pleasantly surprised to see that Gypsy had managed to meet specific criteria without likely meaning to. It helped that they were given a larger [Credit] soak option in the event they had more than needed, helping them reach a higher [Threat Level] while at the same time always being an easy one hundred points if they became bottlenecked by more expensive options. Kellin had seen the issue arising when going from one [Threat Level] to the next for an [Evolution] becoming a daunting task when people's [Classes] and [Professions] were stuck.
Finally, every single bullet was set on its end, one hundred and fifty-six bullets plus the one he had made himself earlier all resting neatly atop the desk. Reaching forward, he finally permitted himself to pick up his gun.
[Would you like to claim ownership of this Weapon: Canister Rifle?]
[Yes]
[No]
Kellin selected the first option and felt as the gun became linked to him. Looking down at it yielded information that none others would be able to see anymore.
[Canister Rifle:
Damage: 5
Capacity: 20
Ammo: 157
Durability: 25/25
Upgrades: None]
"Expand."
[Canister Rifle:
Damage: 5
Fire Rate: 180, Single Fire
Capacity: 20
Ammo: 157
Durability: 25/25
Upgrades: None
Upgrades Available - Barrel(20), Stock(20), Magazine(20), Structure(20)]
A glance to his HUD showed him 36 [Credits] available, Kellin already planning on taking the Magazine capacity increase. Every upgrade to a weapon would grant access to another tier of the same and eventually allow different upgrades, like effects to the bullets, when the gun became strong enough to support it. Back in the Empire, nearly a quarter of all the [Credits] he'd ever spent had gone into his gun and was one of the plethoras of reasons why he was sad to see it go.
Still, a glance to the note page Gypsy had created and given him access to showed that her priority seemed to be the [Cloak] skill, among other things, and he wouldn't be using their [Credits] without her agreement, even if he could. There were strange gaps in certain parts of the notes, but there was nothing he could do about those except ask when she woke.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
If she was actually sleeping.
In any event, the gun had come with a singular magazine so, without further adieu, Kellin began to load it by hand and check the cost of making a second mag.
"[Create] Canister Rifle Magazine."
[Canister Rifle Magazine:
Complexity: Basic
Cost: 2 Material
Creation Time: 10 minutes]
A glance to the table had him sacrificing 10 [Health] and 15 [Stamina] a moment later and accepting the [Skills] activation, the resources likely to be done regenerating by the time Gypsy woke up. The phenomenon was still miserable as he felt the two [Resources] being ripped from his body, but five minutes later a second magazine dropped to the desk in front of him and Kellin got to work filling it up, wondering if he should start making bullets too.
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"Good morning, Captain Finnel," came a voice from over Kellin's left shoulder, startling him out of his trance.
It was like the voice of a goddess as Kellin finally stopped moving his hands and smiled.
"Good morning, Gyps. Feeling better?" he asked, standing and stretching.
Five hours had passed as Kellin sat at the workbench, drenched in sweat. Five magazines sat on the bench, Kellin having made another three after the initial one. In addition to the bonus few magazines were a sort of fanny-pack-styled pouch that would allow him to hold the extra mags close to his waist for quick access, and a sling that he had attached to his gun. It hadn't come with any holes for straps but a bit of fiddling with the expensive [Skill] [Unique Basic Manipulate Technology], practiced on a standard wrench first, allowed him to warp a hole in the metal of the gun large enough for a clip to fit through.
After all of this, he was sat at the bench, making bullets in his spare time. A while ago he'd gone past his [Stamina's] regeneration rate and was sitting about 10 [Health] under his limit as well, but he'd gotten some useful work done at least as well as brought their total bullet count up to 200.
"Indeed. It would seem AI functions were impaired," Gypsy replied as he made his way towards the shower nodding.
"Just a bit. Still offering that toast and eggs?" he asked with a chuckle before entering the bathroom, receiving no response for a few moments as he turned the shower on and sat on the closed toilet, waited for the water to heat up and finding it would not.
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Another two hours passed and the pair found themselves outside finally, headed south and deviating to the east in an attempt to avoid instigating another fight with the Savul. The goal for them today was an attempt to find out what was on the other side of the river in the other patch of forest not associated with mindless murder monsters. They had yet to even see another animal that was larger than a rodent and the fact was a bit disconcerting to Kellin. The effects of their existence could still be seen here and there though, so he knew eventually they'd run across something at least.
"So, how is it?" he asked, hopping over a log and watching the Combat Suit flicker in and out of existence, sometimes making noise, sometimes visible but silent, and sometimes just entirely not there.
Gypsy had been experimenting with the new extension of their [Cloak] now for about a minute and the lack of any serious dent in their [Energy] usage was telling to how much waste it had been applying before. He'd tried to play around with it already as well when they were [Equipped], though, it had left him feeling disoriented and nauseated. There were too many spectrums and different aspects to the [Skill] now, no longer off and on. It was more akin to a dimmer switch that went in three different dimensions, and then another direction he didn't understand even slightly.
Gpysy seemed to be loving it, though.
"Optimal," came the single, satisfied word as they continued the walk.
-Don't you mean optimal,- he replied.
Two normal beeps sounded off, Gypsy seemingly uninterested in banter.
She was getting better at using the [Cloak] as well, Kellin watching the suit going from invisible to simply camouflaging into the environment behind it. It was mesmerizing, the way the hundreds of panels on the suit seemed to fold themselves out of existence. She was getting a lot better at walking, too, an extremely fast learner all around. Already she was almost able to jog without trouble, when on flat ground at least. Still, for now, she always took the long way around the fallen trees as he waited, or asked him to [Equip] depending on if it was one of the much longer ones.
Shaking his head, Kellin focused back on the area before him. They had ended up going up the same hill they'd sprinted down their first day, but were nearly a mile further down the river than where they'd crossed.
Minutes ticked by as nothing of note happened until eventually, Kellin found another game trail. Unlike his favorite one, this one seemed more frequented. It was headed east as well about halfway up the hillside and so without much of a choice, they turned and followed it along the slope.
A few minutes down the trail, Gypsy broke the silence.
-Are we also looking for Humans?-
Kellin stopped briefly to think about it, but ultimately shook his head as he continued along the hillside.
-No, I don't think we should do that. Humans aren't exactly trustworthy-
-Then what is Captain Finnel's plan after the Hutch has run dry of medicine and food?-
Kellin slowed his walk, the Combat Suit behind him slowing in tandem once it had caught up. He hadn't really thought too much about it, or it would be more accurate to say that he didn't know what to do after. Scouting was in an attempt to... find out what they would do after, if anything. If after a few weeks of searching around, they still continued to find nothing and no civilization, eventually they'd have to set off in search of something. As much as he could just hunt for food, even Savul were edible if extremely tough, and stay put until they eventually died, he didn't want that.
"I'm not sure what-"
-Silence,- Gypsy interrupted, the urgency depicted in her tone causing Kellin's body to still quickly.
His eyes swivelled around, not picking up any movement or hearing anything yet as [Disruption] applied to the first round of each five of his magazines. Slowly, he backed up and [Equipped] the suit. The moment he was integrated into it, he noticed minute changes in their surroundings and a quiet tapping being picked up from a hundred or so feet to their front.
-What is it?- he asked.
-Unsure. Noise and change in air composition detected-
Kellin carefully stepped off the path they'd been following, their [Cloak] off for now to not waste more [Energy] than needed. Even with Gypsy in full control, utilizing the ability was taxing.
Heading uphill, Kellin noted the lack of a canopy above them for the first time in a while. The geography had practically lost all of the tall trees in the area, relegated to sparse overhead coverage but a dense brush line. It was ideal for staying hidden, but not for moving quietly. Especially not for a fifteen hundred pound blue metal suit with four burning exhaust ports on its shoulders.
In an attempt not to start a fire, Kellin did his best to use [Stamina] and vent the remaining heat out through the gauntlet's exhaust ports instead, doing his best not to touch anything with his palms. Five minutes of creeping forward later and one small forest fire that was put out with a quick stomp of his boot, a clearing opened up before them. A small five-foot drop below them and another line of brush were the only things separating them from what they'd been slowly creeping up on.
-Deer, Gypsy?- he sent, slightly relieved but making sure not to speak out loud just yet as they remained crouched.
She didn't justify his words with a response as they watched the small mammals move around the clearing with their family, ignorant to the predator watching it.
A minute passed and Kellin was just opening his mouth to suggest they turn to leave around when the clearing exploded.