Luna was scared that Elizabeth would be uncomfortable if she spent the night in a new place, but luckily the child warmed up to Annie quickly. During dinner, Annie performed tons of magic tricks, which left Elizabeth in awe.

One trick, where Annie pretended to have her finger separated, got such a shocked reaction from the child that it left both of them laughing. Luna then offered Elizabeth her own room, and Annie immediately picked up on her fear of being alone. The two of them slept together, and by the next morning, they were instantly best friends.

After lunch, Annie and Baxter toured Elizabeth around the massive mansion while one of Luna’s harvester bots gave the child a ride on its back so she did not have to walk. The two became inseparable, and Luna could not help but smile as her sister managed to win over the child. With Elizabeth occupied, she returned to the armory.

=0o0=

"I don’t get why I had to design interlocking armor for a six-year-old." Ferris said as the numerous automatons around his platform welded armor for Elizabeth.

"You don’t have to go that far." Luna looked away from her chemical station and saw that they had made a heavy child-sized hauberk. "But you can give her some protection at least. Like a thin-plated vest like mine?"

"Oh sure, Meanwhile, what else would you want for her? A modified rifle? Or maybe a talking sword? After all, it’s always a good idea to give children weapons."

"I was thinking maybe a protection bot or a walker that would fit her size." Luna said as she mixed two chemicals in conical flasks.

"A walker for a six-year-old?! Ha! You have creativity, I will tell you that. Be careful mixing the sulphur phosphate, by the way." Luna poured the chemical too fast, and the concoction started to spill over.

“Ah, thanks." She poured it down a barrel and sealed it tightly.

“Well, if we are scrapping the armor, then I am done. Follow me to the combat dresser."

She followed the platform to a giant dais that began to open from the ground. The dais rose and revealed a mannequin that wore a full armor set. On its sides and walls were stacks and crates of new weapons, from shiny silver pistols, throwing knives, various grenades, and numerous options for armored gloves and boots.

"Let me run you through your new armor set. Based on the suggestions you submitted months ago, this may be my finest work yet.

First, I finally finished a light leather vest for you mixed with some thin liquid metal plating to make you more mobile while providing light stopping power. Gunshots won’t even make a dent in this. But fair warning, it’s a thin liquid metal, so you may still feel the hits. The material was expensive and even more exclusive to fabricate, but luckily we got connections. I got you custom-made trousers as well, from the same material, which is form-fitting and slimming. Just don’t gain weight, and you will be fine."

Luna touched the black vest. It felt as though she had touched a wet cloth and metal mixed into one.

"You got your standard arm bracers, made with the same liquid metal as well, which makes them lighter, but with a new feature. It’s my favorite one. Now put that backpack on." An automaton walked up to her and carried a medium-sized backpack with leather straps and helped put it on. The backpack had thin hoses that came from the sides.

"It’s a multipurpose backpack with the insides containing oil tanks and also lined with anti-flame retardant. Basically, if you attach these hoses into your new bracers like so." The automaton did it for her. "Your bracers will act as a flamethrower as well! Try it out!"

Luna wanted to. But she was close to her chemical station, where she had just made a barrel of explosive jelly. "I believe you, but let’s not. Also, it’s a bit bulky. Do I have to wear it all the time?"

“Well, if you want to use the flamethrower, then yes."

"Next." Luna said as she removed the pack and the automaton took it from her.

"Fine, I have your new long coat for you, and it is long and in black, of course. This one is made of a new material that is still being studied here. Professor Egbert and I have already seen its potential. This one will not just act as a re-deployable parachute like your old one, but it will really allow you to glide in the air.

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The material can withstand even heavy arms fire and can sustain high-temperature damage. And also, it’s mixed with cotton and Timbus silk, so it’s comfier, lighter and more breathable. Trust me, you can take a gattling gun head on and it will not puncture this long coat. Your hat is also one I particularly like. I know how you like your hats, which are also incredibly large and black. But before you try it on, put on this circlet. "

Another automaton gave Luna a very thin wire circlet. Once she put it on, it automatically resized itself to perfectly fit her head.

"You remember telling me the wind was your biggest problem? Well, not anymore!" The automaton then placed her new hat on her head. Once she wore it, the automaton tried to pull it off her, but it seemed to have stuck. "The circlet acts like an anchor and the hat was fitted with a specific modified magnet so it will stay on your head even if a tornado passes right in front of you."

"Uhh Ferris... It’s a bit heavy." The hat felt like it was made of metal.

"Ahhh wait, hang on. It’s heavy because it's also made of the same material as your coat." An automaton showed her a ring with a button instead of a gemstone. It pressed the button and suddenly her hat lost its weight and felt light as air. "There we go. It uses a very new technology that uses electronic waves. Press the button as long as the ring is close to the hat and it will energize the metal, which will stiffen up and act as your light shield. Pretty neat and it’s stylish too!

Now your staff, I gave a little upgrade as well after what you told me with the Voltagh. This end can fire a projectile with the same force as a rifle." Luna touched something and it accidentally fired. It hit an automaton and shattered its head.

"Oops."

"Don’t do that. Do you know how long it takes to load the chamber? Lastly, I finished the upgrade on your grapple gun." The last automaton handed her a new gun that was still handheld but much bulkier and bigger than her old one.

"Ferris, how will this work?" Luna observed it. "It won’t even fit in my holster. I only asked you to fix the overheating barrel."

“Well, I finally fixed it, not me, but Professor Egbert did. We used your crystal formula to act as a coolant. It’s bulkier as we need a place to store it. Now you can use it all you want without the barrel and the winch melting." Luna picked it up. It was the same weight as the one she had before, but the size made her wonder where it would fit on her belt.

“Also, the rope is incredibly strong and durable; it can even lift a bull! And yes, we actually tried that. And the range is now a good thirty meters, so you can scale any wall with ease now."

"What about my order of the anti-walker cannon?"

"Well if you want your arms blown clean off while taking out a walker you can take the latest design I have." Ferris said as his platform turned to the side to point to the pipe launchers stacked against the wall. "There are also some rockets as well so just feel free to take a bag full as well."

Luna walked towards the stack of launchers when she saw a large backpack that was fitted with a steam engine and exhaust pipes. "What is that?"

“Ahh, the jump pack. It’s a good idea in theory, but I don’t have the power source to make it work. It can give you a nice distance from the ground, but it is reliant on the pressure charges. Magicore makes it too hot, steam does not generate enough charge, not to mention the overheating will cause it to explode-"

"I’ll take it too!" Luna lifted it up and wiped some of the dust off it.

"Of course you will. Well, that’s it, aside from your bike. I can assign the bots to start making you a new one, but with all your new suggestions, it will take a couple of weeks at the latest."

"No chance of getting it sooner?"

"Nope, but I will make it sturdier. Who knew my design was useless against a quillbear." Ferris said as the automatons carried all her equipment up to the manor.

"What do you want in exchange this time, Ferris?"

"Well, you can share with me your formula for the adhesive grenade. Professor Egbert wants to make some modifications to the formula." Luna grabbed a piece of paper and wrote it down, then inserted it into the base of the platform.

"Is Xiera doing alright, by the way?"

"Well, we are up from one hundred twenty-six enzymes out of one thousand thirty-three, so there has been progress on her condition."

"I mean, how is she doing? Is she doing alright?"

"She’s fine. She ate my dinner last night and trashed our room, so she is more than alright."

"Also Ferris, did you remember to write down the findings I gave you regarding the creatures?"

"Yes, Yes. I’ll contact the biology and chemistry departments tonight."

"Also about Elizabeth-"

"Yes, Yes. We will also inform the enforcers in Ardite and September as well. Hopefully, if you find a secure connection, we can update each other then."

"Remember to-"

"Yes, Luna. I’ll be sure to remain anonymous."

"Also about Captain Ketil and the convoy-"

"Yes Luna I’m on it! Yeesh! Just go already!"

"Fine, right, well, I am going. I promised Annie and Elizabeth we would go out to dinner tonight. Try to cheer the kid up a bit, you know. She has had it rough recently." Luna waited for the elevator to arrive.

"Oooooh, where are you going?" Ferris said as his platform parked along the sides.

"Our favourite place in the world, of course. Vhlad, has a costume buffet theme going on, so hopefully Elizabeth will enjoy it. We might be meeting Baldric too, so hopefully we don’t kill each other tonight."

"Have fun then."

"I’ll talk to you when we get back tonight." Luna said as his platform shut down and the elevator doors closed.