Kellin woke up earlier than he was used to, right cheek peeling off what it had been laying on. When he reached up and rubbed his hand on his face, he felt the indent of several small squares imprinted on his cheek and when he looked forward, he found he was at the desk. Still, after rubbing his face a bit and stretching, he couldn't complain much. He felt refreshed.
Next to the keyboard were a few drawings that he'd fallen asleep while working on and an old book he'd found in the Hutch's computer archives. He remembered that overnight he'd woken up, found himself unable to sleep, and needed a way to relieve some of the stress from the day. Thus, he moved to the desk and worked on sketching the various weapons and adjustments that could be made to their suit in an effort to get back to the same level of strength he'd been at prior to being reset. One didn't need to spend [Credits] on their [Stats] if they could increase the capabilities of their suits, after all.
The book he'd found to fall asleep reading touched on that, in fact, a history of the last few millennia of the Universe. The Empire was in the large volume's retelling, a brief section describing their rise to and sustained power throughout the many recent centuries, winning countless engagements and wars. A blitz tactic, they had gone from occupying one small planet to several of the nearby galaxies in less than a hundred years, other countries, [Races], and indigenous rulers in the area unable to compete with their supportive-type usage of [Credits] and technology, rather than just raw strengthening of their individual forms. It was a new take on a way to do war and until several enemy factions had banded together and begun colluding with traitors, they had advanced practically uncontested.
Eventually, though, victories stopped being a forgone conclusion. Countermeasures for their suits were found and at some point, while everyone was distracted by war, the surface of every planet in the known galaxies became overrun by Savul. It wasn't known what had changed in the relatively weak [Race], but it didn't matter how to the people of this day and age. Just thinking of a time the Savul weren't the strongest [Race] was impossible to picture. Without warning, the rug had been swept out from underneath thousands of different peoples, home continents run through by a wave of death over a few months once the Savul were sighted on the Planet. The habitable worlds began to slowly die after being cleared of most life on the surface until it became a burnt, dead visage of what used to be. An ideal environment for the Savul, but entirely uninhabitable by other [Races] except the Elementals. Every single new world found by the Empire was similar, already overrun and slowly rotting away despite their best efforts.
The Expansion had been the only surefire way for them to find planets not already overrun or dying, the [System] either creating them anew or finding what was already there, just hidden or undiscovered yet. No one knew and not many cared to find out, the book showcasing the mad dash for resources that began the moment it was confirmed a new Expansion was upon them, up until the point those worlds fell to the Savul as well. If there was any silver lining to the endless tide that were the Savul, it was that they, for all their sentience, could not take to the stars. If there was ever an Expansion that did not include their kind, the Planet would become the most important piece of territory in the known universe.
To the Empire, at least.
Leaning back in the chair, Kellin closed the pages before him down and set the Hutch PC on standby. Nothing he'd read was new to him, but the act of reading had always been a soothing past time and after finding a book he was familiar with, it seemed to have helped again if the drool on his collar and the desk was any indication.
Standing up, he verified their topped off [Condition] quickly before taking his morning shower.
[Condition: Normal
Integrity: 100/100
Health: 80/80
Energy: 110/110
Stamina: 110/110
Mana: 56/56
Psionic Energy: 33/50]
Looking over the numbers, it was clear Gypsy was also asleep or... whatever it was she did. Once done showering, he headed out into their main living area, took a breath, and addressed the arm that was now awake and again working at the project area, coffee already brewing.
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"Are you ready to head out again?" he asked with a fake, upbeat attitude in an attempt to ease her into the idea.
It didn't matter if he didn't exactly want to go, he was disciplined enough to force himself to, but convincing Gypsy to stay the course was the task before him. Like most prior incidents, he expected pushback at leaving the Hutch.
"Leaving the Hutch while a Savante in the area is taking things too far. Captain Finnel should understand risks and wait a week, at minimum."
He sighed, shoulders deflating a little. He knew it would be a conversation, but he had held some hope.
"Gypsy, we talked about this. Savante don't typically stay-"
"In the event it is resting and did not vacate the nearby area, leaving the relative safety of this Hutch should be avoided. Even one more day would leave probability of encounter several times lower than current."
Kellin nodded and opened his mouth to refute her but then stopped himself, thinking about it from her perspective. He always bulldozed her suggestions, despite his claims of a partnership and a somewhat equal relationship. Plus, if it was just a day...
"Alright, a day then," he replied after a moment's hesitation.
One day wouldn't cripple his resolve to do anything.
"If Captain Finnel is still unwilling, then- ...what?"
"A day. You can have your day," he said again, nodding with a smile at how much more Human she appeared to become day by day. "If you really think that our chances are that much better, several percentile better after just a day, then I'd be a fool not to give it to you when something as uncommon as the Savante are involved."
"It's not that- It's..." she started a few times, seemingly trying to get her bearings with the situation as Kellin watched on, finding it both funny and a sad reflection on his part seeing her so confused by his acceptance of her suggestions.
"Are the numbers not actually that much better?" he prompted after a few moments.
"They are," she replied firmly.
He nodded.
"Then a day. It's only been a few days but... even I can admit I'd like a brief pause from the tension, and a project I'd like to start working on," Kellin admitted. "But only a brief pause," he continued, interrupting Gypsy as she began to suggest taking longer.
Thusly, it was decided they'd take the fourth day they'd been in this world off, letting their minds reset a bit from the constant blender of anxiety the new planet had put them through so far.
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"So what's that you've been working on the last couple days, anyway?" Kellin asked, motioning toward the small project Gypsy had going whenever they had spare time lately.
It seemed she was at it in full force currently, their [Integrity] having been sacrificed to 30 within less than a minute after it had been decided they'd stay for the day, likely as a measure to keep it that way. Or, Kellin would have done that if he were her, but he doubted the AI had such devious thoughts.
"AI crafting a body suitable for needs other than battle."
Kellin waited for more elaboration, but it didn't come and... well, it had been about three hours into their day off yet Kellin had already run out of his need for a break from it all. He'd never been the idle type unless he had a book on hand that he was interested in, and after checking over their [Status] page multiple times and confirming to himself that yes, they should save their remaining [Credits] for a quick heal in the event they needed one... He became bored.
So, he dug deeper.
"Oh? Like what?"
"Movement practice when Captain Finnel sleeps, gathering intel outside without risk, cooking food, among other things. Do you desire more examples?" she asked a bit curtly.
"No, that sounds pretty helpful..." he replied, leaning back in the desk chair again while idly making a few more bullets that he stuffed in his pouches, loosely jingling as they made contact with the other loose ammunition he had inside.
It never hurt to have more on hand for a quick reload, if you could handle the extra few pounds.
"I'm surprised the [System] is letting you do that. I'd think a robotic body would be too high of a complexity," he added at the end.
"[Robotic body] designated as [Complex]. [Metal Sheeting] designated [Basic]. [Copper Wire] designated as [Basic]. Building from parts entirely possible; tests ran yesterday indicate building from base materials is more expensive both in time and [Material], but allows creation of many different complex items through combination of their parts. Additionally, ratings found so far in testing are as follows: [Basic], [Simple], [Moderate], [Complex], [Specialized]."
"Wow, you've been busy," he mumbled, realizing he had nothing to add to the findings other than that he hadn't been able to find a single piece of detachable tech for them to try and assimilate in the Hutch. "Good stuff then, keep at it?"
He began to wonder what exactly he could make for them again, but quickly came to the conclusion he had last night: While he understood tactics, combat, and leadership, he did not have a strong understanding of the technical aspect of his job. The only reason he knew exactly what went into his gun is because he'd dismantled and reassembled it more times than he'd probably spoken hundreds of individual words throughout his life. However, thinking of his Canister and Gypsy's parts discovery, he realized there were some things he could make for his gun specifically besides magazines and more ammunition, settling on a scope and a red dot attachment for now.
Satisfied, he got to work at his own desk, bothering and being ignored by Gypsy every few minutes as the day passed by relatively uneventfully for them.