《A Displaced Samurai》 Chapter 1: Tower Defense Saturday, August 31, 2047 I stared into the evening sun from the top of the CalWestTech tower, where a fellow student had invited the latest batch of Victoria University graduates to a party. In my case, graduation for a bachelor¡¯s degree in physics. But it was really his parents who sponsored the evening. As major shareholders of CalWestTech they had the clout to reserve the rooftop lounge for an evening. Overall we were around fifty people, including our hosts and some friends and parents who had come along. The party had begun a few hours ago, and it was gradually becoming a bit too loud and rude for my taste. Not that I was overly prudish, but there was a certain standard conversation should not fall below. I needed a break. So I made my way to the stairwell for some quiet. Beyond the door, I noticed a pair who had retreated to a secluded corner for privacy. Which was understandable, as they were halfway through dropping their clothes and getting busy with each other¡¯s private parts. I silently went down another flight of stairs to let them fuck in peace. As I said, I¡¯m not a prude. I just didn¡¯t feel like having bawdy jokes shouted into my ears that day. Hanging over the balustrade on the lower floor for a moment, I felt a moment of vertigo. The stairwell was open to all directions, with little side corridors going away from the landings. But most of all, it was deep. Twenty floors from top level to the 20th floor, where it ended in a small open space. A few minutes later, I heard something coming up the stairs. It made a sound like the clicking of dogs¡¯ claws on the stone of the stairs. Which seemed wrong as CalWestTech had a strict policy of no animals on their premises. Seconds later, a message flashed in my visual augments. It said ¡°Emerg##33e d37xxted¡± in red flashing letters. I could only guess it meant ¡°Incursion detected¡±. My augs has been flaky since a few weeks ago, when I got too close to a high voltage experiment in the lab and got zapped in the head. Sadly, I was over my ears in student debt and could not afford a replacement. At this point, I had a pretty good idea of what was approaching. I had read the guides about Antithesis incursions. Alien plant monsters that were regularly invading Earth. So I sprinted up the stairs and looked for something that might help fighting off a bunch of Model 3s, dog sized scout and light fighter units of the Antithesis.There. A fire hose. A big fire hose. Its water jet might just be enough to flush those aggressive weeds back down the stairs. I pulled it out of its case and started opening the water tap. The noise alerted the two lovers in the corner and one of them got up to complain, panties still hanging around his ankles. I did not wait for him to get his act together. Instead I shouted ¡°Antithesis in the stairwell! Get back to the lounge and alert the others!¡± ¡°What the fuck is going on? Can¡¯t we have some undisturbed cozy time?¡± That guy was really dense. I got louder. ¡°ONLY IF YOU WANT TO BE FUCKING EATEN!! Now go, build some barricades or whatever. I¡¯ll stall them as best I can!¡± That finally got through and he skedaddled, panties left behind in the panic. But I could not watch his ignominious retreat any further, as the first Antithesis was already close to me. I opened the spigot at the fire nozzle. A strong water jet pushed the critter back down the stairs. On the wet and slippery floor it had problems keeping its footing. A second Model 3 arrived, and it became really difficult to keep both from getting up the stairs to me. But I managed. Until the water ran out. I was standing there with a limp hose, and the Antithesis advanced again. I grabbed the hose a meter behind the nozzle and switched to using it as a flail. With a mighty swing, I brought it down on the head of the first monster that reached me. A wet, cracking sound signaled the demise of the critter. It slipped halfway down the stairs and stopped moving. Unfortunately, I had lost sight of the other plant beast. It jumped at me from the side and planted its teeth in my right arm, bowling me over. We rolled on the floor for a bit, it trying to rip my arm out and I trying to find a way to fight back. Then I saw the chance to get my feet under the alien. Doing so, I pushed it away with all my strength. I felt something in my arm tearing, but then the alien lost its grip on my arm. I finally kicked the monster over the balustrade and it fell down the staircase. I did not see where it landed, but it took a few seconds to get there and the sound suggested that it broke apart thoroughly. Suddenly, a blinding headache ripped through my brain. Worse than on the day of the high voltage experiment. As the pain receded, I heard a voice in my head. System Initialized! Congratulations. Through your actions you have proven yourself worthy of becoming one of the Vanguard, a defender of humanity. I am Elya. I will assist you to uplift humanity so that you may defend your home world from the Antithesis threat! Rise, Caitlin McCallan, and become a protector of the weak! Great, now I had voices in my head. Still shaking with adrenaline from the fight, I got to my feet and looked around. A few meters down the stairs lay the alien with the smashed in head. The smell of freshly cut grass hung in the air. In case you have not noticed, you are bleeding out. At the current rate you have about five minutes before you lose consciousness. Medical attention is required. Fortunately, as a Vanguard you can buy medical supplies for points earned by defeating Antithesis. That voice seemed more than a hallucination. It actually made some sense. So I replied ¡°What, bleeding out? And what points?¡±. Then I noticed that my arm was badly mangled and bleeding profusely. In one place, the bone was visible. You have currently 120 points. 100 of these are a freebie for new Vanguard. You also get 10 points for each of the Antithesis you have killed. May I suggest a purchase? I needed all the help I could get. ¡°Yes, please.¡± For 50 points you can unlock Class I Medical Utilities, a catalog of Vanguard grade first aid items. For 10 more points you can purchase a Class I RegenBandAid. It will bond to your arm and administer a variety of antibiotics and repair nanites. It will also seal the wound to prevent infection and further blood loss. ¡°Damn yes, make it quick!¡± Class I Medical Utilities unlocked! Points reduced to... 70 Purchased: RegenBandAid Points reduced to... 60 A small plastic box appeared near my feet. I knelt down and fumbled the box open with my left hand. Inside I saw a sort of a band-aid in XXL size. On the inside of the lid was a manual in the form of a repeating little movie. It was easy to follow, even without further advice from Elya. I unfolded the RegenBandAid and with my teeth, I pulled off the sealing foil. Then I pressed the band-aid to a point just outside the largest wound, where it immediately anchored itself. Ignoring the pain, I pulled the band-aid across the wound and pressed it against my arm. With a fizzing sound, the inner surface liquefied and the band-aid firmly stuck to my arm. Apparently it contained an anesthetic too, as the pain dropped to a fraction of what it had been. Very good, but there are more problems to solve. The Antithesis you just killed are not the only ones in the building. You might need some weapon to survive the next encounter. ¡°Something easy to use one-handed. Preferably a ranged weapon for beginners.¡± The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. For fifty points you could unlock Kinetic Handguns I. The remaining points would buy you a very basic weapon. I recommend the Hummingbird Mark I-D for its aiming assistance features. ¡°OK, give me that Hummingbird¡± Hold up your hand, palm-up. Class I Kinetic Handguns unlocked! Points reduced to... 10 Purchased: Hummingbird Mark I-D Points reduced to... 0 A boxy pistol fell into my left hand. It looked a lot like a taser pistol, except for the fact that thirty-six spikes peeked out of the square barrel. The brushed aluminium look was unusual for taser pistols too, usually those came in plastic chic. As I wrapped my hand around the grip, a circle popped up in my visual augs. It followed where I was aiming the pistol like a virtual flashlight. ¡°Where is the safety?¡± Yes, I had learned some basics about gun safety. It is based on image recognition. Just aim at a target. When the reticle turns red, fire. The Hummingbird fires in salvos of four micro-missiles. This means you have nine shots before you run out. Another two monsters came running up the stairs. I aimed the Hummingbird at them and fired as fast as I could. The reticle barely had time to turn red. With each shot, four lines of smoke filled the air, each one curving unerringly towards an Antithesis, even when my aim had been off. I heard some bangs coming from within the beasts, and scraps of plant matter were ejected from the entry holes. Both of the Antithesis immediately collapsed. Targets eliminated: 2 x Model 3 Reward... 20 points ¡°Elya, what was that? Guided missiles?¡± No, the missiles fly on pre-calculated trajectories and are otherwise dumb. A weapon with true guided missiles would be out of your point range. But they do have small warheads that explode after punching through the target¡¯s skin. Remaining propellant is also detonated. You may have heard the small explosions. The monsters kept coming, this time half a dozen in a loose group. I nailed five of them in a glorious hail of missiles, but missed the last one as it fled into a side corridor. Targets eliminated: 5 x Model 3 New balance... 70 points I dropped the almost empty Hummingbird. ¡°Elya, another one!¡± As I held up my hand, a new Hummingbird dropped into my hand. Getting a new gun each time seemed wasteful, but with my messed up arm reloading would be difficult. Were there reloads for the Hummingbird? Anyway, as long as I made more points than I needed for new Hummingbirds, all was well. Even more Model three assembled at the bottom of the stairs. I could not see how many exactly, but there were two that looked different. A bit larger and definitely more massive. They reminded me somewhat of tigers. ¡°Elya, I¡¯m gonna be overrun here. Some help, please!¡± In your situation, I recommend some kind of autonomous weapon system. If you shoot at least one more attacker, you can afford a simple auto turret and a weapon to mount on it. ¡°I¡¯ll shoot, you pick something suitable!¡± I took careful aim at a plant monster in the open and let the tiny missiles fly. Gotcha! Target eliminated! Reward... 10 Points Class I Auxiliary Weapon Utilities unlocked! Points reduced to... 30 Purchased: Auto turret ¡°Death¡¯s Hand¡± Mk III Points reduced to... 10 Purchased: Foxteeth Model D Points reduced to... 5 Purchased: 4 x Magazine for Foxteeth Model D Points reduced to... 1 I set the Hummingbird on the floor before me and started unpacking the results of my shopping spree. The first thing I got was a - plain pistol? The Foxteeth Model D is a simple pistol in caliber 9x19 Parabellum. Its magazine holds 15 rounds and it can be reloaded by the auto turret you purchased. If you have provided extra ammunition, that is. The second item was a small tripod with a robotic, skeletal hand on top of it, roughly the size of a large book. Where the wrist would be in a human, there was a sort of holster for pistol magazines. A small arm at the bottom of the hand looked like it was meant for handling reloads. On the back of the hand was a camera, presumably for tracking the baddies. The ¡°Death''s Hand¡± is specifically designed to handle handguns in the traditional pistol shape. Its wrist holster can hold up to four spare magazines. It is equipped with an IFF system, pre-programmed to avoid shooting humans. Even with the band-aid, my right arm still hurt too much to use unless in dire need. But with some one-handed fumbling, I managed to unfold the tripod and set it on the ground. With a small hiss, it glued itself to where I planted it. Now hand the Foxteeth to the hand. Very funny. But the robo-hand did grasp the grip of the Foxteeth flawlessly. Finally, I found four magazines that obviously belonged to the Foxteeth. Put those into the wrist holster as described in the pictograms. Do you need an instruction video? ¡°I think I can manage. In general, can you see through my augs and tell me if I make a mistake?¡± I can do that. But it would work better if we replaced your defective and generally inadequate augmentations. I stuffed the magazine into the little pouches on the holster and said ¡°Done, weapons free!¡± Eight of the bloodthirsty weeds came sprinting up the stairs, among them the big ones. The Antithesis were certainly cooperative in weapons testing. This time the hissing of the Hummingbird¡¯s missiles was drowned out by the staccato fire from the Death¡¯s Hand. Between the Hummingbird and the nine millimeter bullets, they dropped quickly. Except the big ones, these needed several rounds each. Both my Hummingbird and the Foxteeth ran out of ammo just as they took down the last monsters. By now, the stairs were covered in shredded plant matter. Fortunately, none of the attackers had reached me. But the growing numbers still made me nervous. If the trend continued, we would be drowned in ever larger numbers. In the ensuing silence, the Death¡¯s Hand dropped the magazine from the Foxteeth. With some whirring and clicking, the little arm grabbed the next magazine from the holster and inserted it. I ordered the next Hummingbird. Targets eliminated: 8 x Model 3 New balance... 81 points Nice, but we would need more gear. More points to buy it. We also needed to get to a safer place. A few gawkers had showed up behind me, one of them Alan, the father of the guy who had invited us. When he saw the dead Antithesis, he asked ¡°What, are you a Samurai?¡± Yes I was, the Vanguard were colloquially called Samurai. I did not know where the term had come from, but these days only their ¨C no, our ¨C AIs called us Vanguard. Everybody else called us Samurai. I asked back ¡±Where¡¯s the next shelter? I don¡¯t think I can defend this place forever!¡± ¡°There is one in the basement of the tower. I don¡¯t know if security will be there to help us defend it, but I have the codes to get in and it has automated defenses.¡± Great. That was 180 meters down. Using the elevators would be quite stupid. We were looking at a lengthy walk and did not know what would expect us on the way. So I asked ¡°Elya, can you access the building cameras for me?¡± The people around me looked as if I had lost my mind. Damn. I had talked aloud. ¡°Never mind, I was talking to my AI.¡± You need to buy some equipment first. I can recommend a basic but adequate set of cyberwarfare equipment and software for 170 points. It is possible to cut some corners, but saving up might be smarter. Just don¡¯t get yourself killed before you have the required points. It was time to prepare for our trek down the stairs. I asked around ¡°Who has experience with handguns? Real ones, not in FPS shooter games.¡± Two people came forward. One of them was an obvious candidate. Brad, a member of a local militia of questionable legality, but he had a reputation as a good shooter with nerves of steel. The other one was a girl whom I had met at taekwondo training. Jenna had not much experience with firearms, but she knew the basics and was willing to fight. I gave each of them a Foxteeth and two spare magazines. Purchased: 2 x Foxteeth Model D, 4 x Magazine Points reduced to... 63 John, the father of Brad, insisted on joining the fighters too. Unfortunately his waning eyesight did not make him the best choice as marksman, but we came up with something else. Someone fetched a simple plastic chair from the lounge and we glued a Death¡¯s Hand to the backrest. John grabbed the chair with the Death¡¯s Hand and held it with the seat before his belly, so the backrest stood out like a tray with the little turret on it. Purchased: 1 x Auto turret ¡°Death¡¯s Hand¡± Mk III, 1 x Foxteeth Model D Points reduced to... 38 Unfortunately my first turret was glued to the floor really strongly, or we could have saved twenty points here. We retrieved the magazines though and put them into the new turret. That gave me another idea. I asked two guys to get a small trolley from the kitchen and a few broomsticks from the cabinet with the cleaning supplies. Those people were not stupid, they understood what I was up to and brought duct tape as well. Chapter 2: Stairwells The attrition rate of new Vanguard on their first incursion is approximately 20%. Apparently, even the Protectors sometimes misjudge how much difficulty their recruits can handle on their first mission. Or maybe they are doing it on purpose. We do not really know their motivations. -- General Scott, West Point military academy. With nothing else left to prepare, we set off down the stairwell. Brad, Jenna and me led the group down the building, carefully checking each corner before moving on. A few floors down, we heard movement in the stairwell below us. You will get the most points if you shoot enemies yourself. If other people kill them with weapons you provided, you will get only a small percentage of the points. This can still add up over time though, perhaps to the point of repaying the weapons. Good to know. I told Brad and Jenna to let me do the shooting unless we were in danger of being overrun. Ordering John around seemed pointless, he had to watch his steps down the stairs and it took his full attention. On the way down, I asked Elya questions about herself and the Protectors. I had read quite a bit about them, as I loved Science Fiction and the Protectors were essentially SF in real life. Actually, the market for sci-fi literature had taken quite a beating from their appearance, because who needs fiction if the real thing is right around the corner? ¡°Elya, you told me about uplifting humanity. Shooting alien invaders is obviously important, but that alone will not improve things long term. So what are the means you offer your Vanguard towards this purpose?¡± Most importantly, we share technology through Vanguard who have proven themselves. Through the point system, you can not only buy weaponry, but also blueprints and scientific textbooks. This does not entirely prevent the technology from falling into the wrong hands, but we''ve found that it does reduce the risk quite a bit. It is rare that a Vanguard hands dangerous technology to persons who would abuse it. This sounded really exciting. Science had been something I had loved since my childhood, and by shooting enough annoying plants I could earn access to things my professors could only dream of! But where exactly did these near-magical technologies come from? ¡°Elya, tell me more about the Protectors and their history¡± Much historical data has been omitted from my database. What I can tell you is that their species is millions of years old and leads a galactic-wide compact that is older than human history. Their mission is to help other species to grow and eventually reach the galactic stage. But rather than directly interfering, they prefer to work through agents they empower. The Vanguard, such as you. ¡°And what about yourself? Are you entirely in my head or is this just a sort of thin client I carry in my brain?" There is no external server I rely on, if you are worried about losing connection. But much of me is behind a dimensional shunting mechanism that allows me to have far more circuitry than would normally fit in your head. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Occasionally a Model 3 peeked out from beyond a corner. I got about a fifty percent hit rate on those with my Hummingbird, the critters were good at ducking behind cover. A few minutes later, I had gone through another two Hummingbirds and nine now very dead Antithesis. Another two had lurked behind a corner, but Brad and Jenna had dispatched them with aplomb. Targets eliminated by allies: 2 x Model 3 Reward for providing the weapons¡­ 2 points New balance... 130 points As we came down from floor 29 to 28, I saw an office door standing ajar. It appeared to lead to an open plan office, with perhaps a dozen cubicles. The light was on and slurping sounds came from inside. In the reflection from the windows I could see a few unmoving bodies and a fat ugly worm that was eating one of them. An unpleasant stink wafted over from the office. The worm is a Model Eight. An unaggressive harvest and transport unit for biomass. It will not attack you, even when provoked. I also saw at least three Model Threes. One of them was ambling past the door, then it turned around so it was sticking its ass out towards me. I lifted the Hummingbird. As soon as the reticle turned red, I let the missiles fly. The rear half of the Three was ripped open and it lost control of its hind legs. Never had it been more fun to rip someone a second asshole. Its buddies did not appreciate the proctological intervention. Five of them came boiling out of the office. I got two of them with the last two shots in my Hummingbird, but before I had the replacement in hand, the Death¡¯s Hand on John¡¯s chair opened fire. Within seconds, the remaining three Antithesis flopped to the ground. I felt a touch of annoyance at missing out on most of the points. At least I got three because I had provided the weapon. Brad and Jenna checked out the remaining corners of the floor and came up empty, while I peeked into the office with the dead office drones. Searching the office, I found a total of three dead people but no more Antithesis. That left the worm. I refused to let this disgusting thing live. But before I could start wasting my Hummingbird ammo, John came up to the door. That gave him and his belly turret line of sight to the worm. I managed to cover my ears before the Death¡¯s Hand started peppering the Model Eight with bullets. It took almost two magazines until the ugly thing stopped twitching. A disgusting slime seeped from the bullet holes. It stank like a public toilet combined with a pile of rotting meat, and I barely managed to keep my dinner down. Some other people in our refugee trek gagged from the stench and one girl actually lost her dinner. Otherwise we got past the floor without further incident. Things were suspiciously quiet on the next six floors. But I expected it would eventually get loud again. I asked Elya: ¡°Do you have some hearing protection to offer? Not too expensive, we are on a budget.¡± There are one-time use ear plugs in the general class 0 catalog, no unlocking required. These are better than their human-made equivalents in that their dampening factor increases with sound levels. They will, however, soon accumulate dust and grease and become clogged. A box of ten will cost you one point. ¡°Yes please. Also, is there a way I can talk to you without everyone listening in?¡± By ¡°speaking¡± without pushing air through your vocal chords. While we were talking, a small plastic box arrived at my feet. I fumbled with it one-handed until I got it open. A bunch of small fluffy cylinders that looked like cigarette filters were inside. I stuffed one into each ear. The sound from the group was slightly muffled, but still easy to hear. I gave the rest to some other people. Another floor down, we heard activity again. We were on floor 22, and at 20 the layout of the tower changed. It got wider, and the stairwell stopped at this level. In the center lay the shattered remains of the Three I had kicked over the balustrade an eternity ago. I asked Alan for directions again, as he seemed to know the building well. ¡°There are two other stairwells that lead further down, one to each side of the floor¡± he said. ¡°Which one will get us closest to the shelter entrance? I¡¯d like to avoid crossing the lobby in the open.¡± ¡°The one on the east. It will take us right to the basement with the shelter.¡± Chapter 3: Techy MacTechnical In pre-First Emergence nations where the warring parties could not afford proper tanks, the so-called Technical dominated. Usually based on a simple but robust off road vehicle, these cheap replacements for proper AFVs could still do a lot of damage. ¨C Hans Rommel in his book ¡°History of Fighting Vehicles¡±, 2044 Carefully, we sneaked down almost to floor 20, but stopped on the landing before the very last flight of stairs. It was time to implement my master plan with the trolley. So I waved the guys with the trolley and the brooms closer and instructed them to tape the broomsticks to the trolley, so they formed a two meter pole sticking out of the rear of the trolley. In the meantime, I ordered another Death¡¯s Hand plus Foxteeth and ammo. I glued it onto the lower shelf of the trolley, barrel pointing to the right. I would circle the floor counterclockwise, with the turret peeking into the side corridors first. If something was hiding in these, the first thing it would see was the barrel of a Foxteeth. Purchased: 1 x Auto turret ¡°Death¡¯s Hand¡± Mk III, 1 x Foxteeth Model D, 4 x Magazine Points reduced to... 120 Before we started, our new contraption needed a name. In old British tradition I named it ¡°Techy MacTechnical¡±, because the concept reminded me of the improvised fighting vehicle. Two unarmed group members, Julian and Fred, carried Techy down the stairs, while Brad, Jenny and I covered them from the stairs. Then I told them ¡°Back behind the others, down here you are only monster food and bullet catchers¡±. They complied and went back up the stairs. I went down the stairs to take control of Techy, then I called up the stairs ¡°John, please come down and point your turret across the room!¡± Slowly as usual John made his way down the last few meters and planted himself at the bottom of the stairs, his improvised gun platform pointing away from me. His position made sense to me, so I started my way around the corridor. By now my right arm had healed enough that I could push things around. But I could not yet take a firm grip on them. So I kept the Hummingbird in my healthy left and shoved Techy around the place before me, if a bit clumsily. The cautious approach paid off soon. In the first side corridor, a tentacled something swung from the ceiling and attacked Techy MacTechnical. It crashed into the trolley and toppled it. Startled, I clamped down on the trigger. The Hummingbird salvo ripped into the baby Cthulhu, together with three shots from Techy. Target eliminated! Reward... 15 Points This was a Model Four. It prefers to attack from ambush as you have seen. The tentacles are quite strong and sharp at the end. Be careful when taking it off your improvised gun platform. One of ¨ªts weapons is a hallucinogenic gas, stored in sacs in its chest. Your shots may have pierced those and set some of the gas free. I took a close look at the creature. It looked like a misshapen squid, with neither visible eyes nor a mouth. It had some sort of rudimentary head though. What caught my attention were some gills on its back, but the situation was too tense to ask Elya for a biology lecture. I held my breath just in case and pushed the critter off Techy with my foot. Before I proceeded any further in patrolling the offices, I took a look into the side corridor the Four had come from, but there were no further surprises. The office doors were closed and I chose not to search the offices behind them. Then I grabbed Techy at a part that was not covered in alien body fluids and set him upright again. The turret seemed undamaged, so I resumed my way around the corridor, always pushing Techy ahead of me. At the next office, I heard something behind the door. But the door was closed and seemed undamaged, so I figured opening it would be tempting fate. Ten meters further was another door though which was open. I pushed Techy forward to the open door office. As soon as he was in front of the door, the turret opened fire. From inside the room came an enraged screech and some massive beast came storming out of the office. I got a glimpse of something looking vaguely bear-shaped with four eyes and covered in armor plates, as it went after Techy. It crashed into the trolley like the squid before, but with its much greater mass, it buckled the metal frame and broke off the top shelf of the trolley. Of course, Techy fell over once more. All hell broke loose. The pseudo-bear turned around and went after me. I got off two shots from the Hummingbird before I had to jump out of the way. Most of the missiles bounced off harmlessly, but a few found weak points between the plates. The beast still sideswiped me but did not outright overrun me. Techy¡¯s turret had somehow survived the fall and started peppering the botanic bear with bullets from behind. John turned around towards the sound, and the turret he carried around opened fire as well. Both Death¡¯s Hands together sounded like a whole squad of cops emptying their magazines into some hapless bum. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Brad and Jenna joined in from the stairs with their pistols. The massive plant beast seemed confused for a moment, but then it focused on John and sprinted in his direction. I managed to hit it from behind. The skin was much thinner from that angle, and I was rewarded with a splash of plant sap from its exploding rear. Six salvos left in this Hummingbird. But then the beast had reached John. It bowled him over and crushed him against the stairs, mauling his face with its square teeth. John stubbornly held on to his turret though, and more bullets ripped into its belly. Eventually, the monster collapsed on John and slid off to the side. I was shocked. Not so much about the violence as such, I might already be desensitized about that. More about how it had taken at least twenty rounds before the monster finally died. Target eliminated! 1 x Model 6 Reward... 20 Points New balance¡­ 155 Points That was a Model Six. Sixes are not only a lot tougher, but also a lot smarter and serve as low-ranking command units. Their command language is a distinctive whistle, unfortunately this one cannot give you a sample any more. I got to my feet and walked over to John. He breathed only shallowly and his face was a mess. Mostly on one side though, and the biggest wounds were close enough together that I could cover them with one RegenBandAid. Or perhaps I should let someone else do it. One of the party guests was a certified EMT. So I called up the stairs ¡°Hey Amanda, I could use your help here. I have some Samurai first aid stuff, but I¡¯d like to keep my attention on the surroundings¡±. Silently, to Elya: ¡°One RegenBandAid please!¡± Amanda came down and I pointed to the new box. ¡°It contains a sort of XXL band aid and is supposed to suppress infections too. Perhaps you don¡¯t even need gloves.¡± Amanda gave me an evil glare. ¡°You always use gloves. At the very least, wash your hands if you can. Over there is a restroom and I will damn well use it, even if it is for guys!¡± ¡°OK, but let me check out the room first.¡± I went ahead, alternately looking left and right for threats. None were visible, but the door to the restroom was ajar. That did not bode well. Brad was busy tending to his dad, so I asked Jenna to help me cover the restroom door. I went up to the door, gave it a kick to open it and quickly took a few steps back. At the rear of the restroom, the ass of a Three was visible. It seemed to be drinking from a urinal. Amazingly careless of it to ignore the racket outside, but that was fine by me. One salvo from the Hummingbird obliterated its posterior half. I checked out the rest of the restroom, but found no further enemies. Amanda washed her hands and even found rubber gloves. I grabbed some of those myself along with a bunch of paper towels, then I went over to Techy MacTechnical while Amanda looked after John. I started to clean and inspect Techy. The wheels were intact. The turret looked OK as well. Besides, it had obviously still worked after its fall. The broken off handling stick was easily fixed with some duct tape, even if it was now shorter than before. I pulled it upright once again and positioned it to cover the corridors we had not searched yet. The inspection of John¡¯s turret was less encouraging. While the Foxteeth seemed OK, the hand was bent and the turret would not rotate anymore. Brad came over to extract Foxteeth and ammo from the broken Death¡¯s Hand, then he waved one of his friends over and gave him an introductory course on firearms. The guy was downright ecstatic to get some alien weaponry. I found it rather tasteless to show so much enthusiasm about getting a gun because someone else was too injured to use it. And a bit worrying that the introduction was needed in the first place. Our pool of qualified shooters was truly small. In the meantime Amanda had patched up John¡¯s face, but he was still in shock and unable to walk. I figured we should search the floor for something we could use as a stretcher. But beforehand, I had to organize a little more firepower. ¡°Elya, what can you recommend for upgrading our firepower?¡± Equipping the most proficient shooters in your group with more powerful guns. That does not include you. One option would be the Wolfbite Mk II, a larger and more powerful cousin of the Foxteeth. With its caliber of .50AE, it is much more effective for only 10 points. There is also special ammunition available. I recommend armor piercing explosive rounds, for two points per seven round magazine. These offer considerably better stopping power than simple lead slugs. That sounded promising, but I also had seen videos of people shooting the Desert Eagle in .50AE. The recoil was hefty and might be a little too much for Jenna. That left Brad. ¡°Brad, would you like a bigger gun? My AI has a sweet Desert Eagle knockoff for you.¡± ¡°Damn right I would.¡± Purchased: 1 x Wolfbite Mk II, 2 x magazine (armor piercing explosive) Points reduced to¡­ 141 Points Brad grabbed his new toy. He also found a second acolyte for the Foxteeth cult, who got Brad¡¯s erstwhile gun. Sigh. The way things were going, it would take a small eternity to get my new augs. Camera hacking aside, this was the chance to exchange my broken ones for something decent. We resumed our inspection of the floor, with me pushing Techy before me again. No Antithesis in open offices, but now we went through the closed ones too in search of a stretcher for John. We did find a suitable cot. Praise be to overworked office drones who are too exhausted to drive home overnight. Brad organized his helpers into a rearguard with the strict command to aim away from the other refugees, then the whole group marched off into the stairwell Alan had recommended. Jenna was at the front of the column with us. The layout differed from the first stairwell. Instead of one deep central shaft, this one had the stairs winding around large pillars, mostly obscuring the opposite stairs. Each second landing had a corridor leading away into a small warren of offices. I had Julian and Fred carry Techy MacTechnical again, but before each corridor I made them set Techy down so I could move it past the junction myself. Apparently, that was the best way for me to earn those precious points. I was not disappointed. Only two floors down, we were greeted by a small flood of Threes that had been lingering in the corridor. Including my Hummingbird, a hail of bullets and missiles from four guns cut them down. Techy was bowled over once again, but not further damaged. I was glad for my ear plugs. With them the noise was still unpleasant, without them I would have seriously feared for my hearing. But damn, Brad was good with that new gun I got him! Targets eliminated! 6 x Model 3 by you, 9 x Model 3 by your allies Reward... 69 Points New balance¡­ 210 Points Chapter 4: Upgrades The wise use AI to design prosthetics, savages for transhumanism ¨C Abhijit Naskar It was self-improvement time! I said aloud ¡°Let''s take a break, so I can finally get the augs I need to access the security cameras.¡± Subvocalized: ¡°Elya, show me that list of aug upgrades you hinted at.¡± Certainly.
Item Point cost Description
Class I Basic Cyberwarfare Utilities 100 Catalog with cyberwar stuff
Mark II Cyberwarfare Augmentation 50 The hardware part of your hacking equipment
Mark I Decryption Protocol 20 Basic software for cracking most IT systems
Total cost: 170 ¡°What about resilience to EMP and electric shocks? My current aug troubles come from the fact that the shitty things could not handle the latter.¡± Protector made equipment is far more resistant. But if you feel paranoid about it, you can get the Mark III HE Cyberwarfare Augmentation instead, which is rated for even harsher electromagnetic environments. The markup would be only ten points. That looked like a worthwhile investment. ¡°Yes Elya, let''s do this.¡± Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Class I Basic Cyberwarfare Utilities unlocked! Points reduced to... 110 Purchased: Mark III HE Cyberwarfare Augmentation Points reduced to¡­ 50 Purchased: Mark I Decryption Protocol Points reduced to... 30 A small box appeared at my feet. Inside, I found three discs. Printed on two was PLACE NEAR EYE, and on the other one PLACE AT BASE OF NECK. I followed instructions and all three discs stuck to my skin, but nothing happened. ¡°Hey Elya, did you sell me a bunch of duds here?¡± I asked. Aloud, to make Brad and Jenna aware that there might be some delay. Have some patience, young padawan. The installation process takes a few seconds to start up Suddenly an intense electric prickling went through my skin everywhere near the discs. It felt like I was electrocuted again for a moment. But then the feeling became less intense, and it was actually¡­ quite pleasant. Like the best ASMR session ever. Eventually, the discs fell off on their own and I felt someone shaking my shoulders. It was Brad. ¡°Hey Cait, what is going on? You were zoning out on us for two minutes there.¡± ¡°The installation took a bit. Let''s see how good the new augs are.¡± I looked down the corridor and past the dead weeds. At the opposite end, there was a small placard. I could read it with perfect clarity. None of the pixelated bullshit from my old augs. For further improvement, I would have to buy an outright eye replacement. Which was actually possible now, once I collected more points. ¡°I cannot complain, far better than my old ones. Also, the messaging system on those was broken¡± I told Brad. ¡°But now, let''s go on¡±. To Elya I subvocalized ¡°Time to get these cameras hacked! Show me any Antithesis you can see, beginning with the ones closest to us.¡± I have gained full access to the local surveillance installations. There are currently 22 Threes and 3 Fours scattered throughout the building. If we approach any of them, I will inform you. We ran into several more straggler weeds, but thanks to forewarning by Elya none came even close to being a real danger for the vanguard (heh!) of our little column. I started to feel less tense, almost relaxed. Of course, such complacency was promptly punished. From the rear of our group came gunfire and screaming. Brad and I sprinted back up the stairs, but when we arrived, everything was over. A Four had lurked in a side corridor we thought we had cleared, and it had attacked John on his stretcher. One of Brad¡¯s Foxteeth acolytes stood there shaking and pointed his gun at the dead Four, but Brad kneeled sobbing at John¡¯s stretcher. ¡°Dad, why you? I should have been here for you, dammit!¡± Target eliminated by ally: 1 x Model 4 Reward for providing the weapon¡­ 2 points New balance¡­ 92 points It is difficult to describe what I felt at that point. Shame for failing to protect all of the people I was escorting. Empathy for Brad, although that was not as strong as it should be in a decent person. Shame again. Finally, I found someone to be angry at. ¡°Elya, how the fuck did you miss this one?¡± Unfortunately, the cameras in this corridor are defective. I failed to inform you of the gap in my surveillance. I am very sorry. Elya actually sounded contrite. Could an AI feel regret? I knew it was fake in human made AIs, but Protector tech was so far ahead that theirs might somehow have crossed the threshold to sapience. We gave Brad a few minutes to regain his composure, then set off again in a somber mood. We did not leave John behind, our stretcher-bearers were now pallbearers. Chapter 5: Shelter The existence of parallel universes has been discovered over 8000 standard years ago, but attempts to travel there have proven extremely dangerous. More than one space station has disappeared in an impromptu black hole when the gate emitters were not perfectly aligned ¨C MUX0815, AI lecturer in Galactic History. Eventually, we reached the floor above the lobby and I called for a halt. Cycling through the surveillance cameras, I saw a strange tear in reality in one wall of the lobby. I guessed that was the gate where the Antithesis entered, which was very unusual. Normally their rifts were up high in the air. It was also unusual for a rift to persist this long, usually they closed again within minutes. At the moment it was quiet around the gate. This might be our chance to sneak by and reach the shelter without another fight. There should have been two ways for us to the shelter, but in our stairwell the final stairs to the basement were blocked off. The blockade consisted of unused chairs and tables, and clearing the obstacle would take more time and make more noise than I was comfortable with. The remaining option was through the lobby. We would have to cross a few meters of open space to get behind the reception. Behind that, stairs led directly to the shelter. A corridor extended to the left and right of the shelter entrance. The group followed me through the back of the lobby and towards the stairs to the shelter. Ducking behind the reception desk, I pushed Techy MacTechnical before me. In my left hand, I held the Hummingbird. Jenna followed directly behind me. Behind me, a long line of survivors followed. 48 of them. It still hurt losing John on the way down, but I had to stay strong for the rest of the group. Brad also kept his composure, despite losing his father. He knelt in the gap between the stairs and the reception, pistol pointed out into the lobby. The Foxteeth Acolytes guarded the rear. Be careful. Antithesis downstairs. I signaled Jenna to stop and turned Techy around so his gun pointed towards the stairs. Time to ask for war materiel again. ¡°Elya, I think I need some sort of grenade here. What can you recommend?¡± The Nanowire Multi-Harpoon grenade from the Class I Esoteric Single-Use Explosive Devices catalog. 50 points for the catalog, 5 points per grenade. That sounded interesting enough, so I replied ¡°Catalog and one grenade!¡± Class I Esoteric Single-Use Explosive Devices unlocked! Points reduced to¡­ 42 Purchased: 1 x Nanowire Multi-Harpoon grenade Points reduced to ¡­37 Here you are. Take care not to be within four meters of the activation. A tennis-ball-sized sphere appeared on the ground in front of me. It was off-white and had a bright red button on top that screamed ¡°Press Me¡±. Metaphorically. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Of course I could not resist pressing it. Not that I wanted to resist, I had aliens to kill. All over the sphere little numbers appeared. 5¡­ 4¡­ 3.. I hastily threw the thing down the stairs. It had barely cleared the last step before it went off. With a muted bang, hundreds of barely visible lines exploded from the device and ripped into everything. Then the lines became taut and pulled back. Each line had a multi-pronged barb at the tip that unfolded after piercing the target, looking like the seed of a dandelion but larger, sharper and infinitely more lethal. At least half a dozen aliens tried to either attack up the stairs or flee deeper into the corridor. All of them failed to get away without leaving parts of their anatomy behind. They were either disemboweled or lost some of their legs. Green sap was flowing all over the place. Of the four Threes that came up the stairs, only one made it to the top, where it was greeted with a few shots from Techy. That was its end. In the meantime, the harpoon grenade had continued to pull in its harpoons and the barbs were ripped out of the walls one by one. Chunks of concrete crumbled to the ground, the shelter door had a deep cut in its steel plate and one ceiling light came down in a shower of sparks. Wait until the harpoon grenade has finished retracting its barbs. Otherwise you risk being cut up by the nanowires yourself when entering the area. By now, a bunch of people had bunched up behind the reception, including Alan who had the entry codes for the shelter. It was time to secure the final few meters of the way. I moved down the stairs and called for a volunteer to bring Techy. Julian, one of the guys who had carried Techy most of the way, volunteered to transport him again. We got down the stairs without further incident, and the corridor was clear of further enemies. I called Alan down. He stated the shelter was weakened but still serviceable, and opened the door for us. Alan also informed us that he had managed to contact the military and they would send help. At this point, most of our bunch of refugees opted to stay and wait for professional rescue. While they moved into the shelter, I worked on securing the place a bit better. First, I had Julian position Techy where our little gun trolley would be useful once more in defending the shelter. Also, I finally got around to ask Elya ¡°Can the Hummingbird be reloaded?¡± Unfortunately not. It was designed as a maintenance free self-defense weapon for inexperienced shooters. Extended gunfights were never its purpose. The Hummingbird had served me well so far though, and my dominant right hand was still not fully recovered. So I figured that switching to something else might not be the best move at the moment. I spent fourteen points on a fresh Hummingbird and two fresh magazines for Brad. Which left me with 83 points. Enough for some more of the turrets, which had worked decently well so far. ¡°Elya, do those Death¡¯s Hand turrets work upside down? Including the reload function? And can they handle the recoil of a Wolfbite?¡± Yes to all of those questions. Are you planning to cover the lobby in turrets? ¡°Two of them, with Wolfbites and armor-piercing explosive ammo. As much as fits in the reloading mechanism.¡± Purchased: 2 x Auto turret ¡°Death¡¯s Hand¡± Mk III Points reduced to ¡­43 Purchased: 2 x Wolfbite Mk II Points reduced to ¡­23 Purchased: 10 x magazine for Wolfbite (armor-piercing explosive) Points reduced to ¡­3 I assembled my assorted purchases and climbed on the reception desk, from where I could reach two suitable positions on an overhead concrete beam. After gluing the turrets there upside down, I had a total of seventy extra nasty bullets waiting for targets. At this point, my curiosity got the better of me and I went to take a close look at the gate. Suddenly, the gate opened and a Six emerged, but this one was not alone. Half a dozen strange, six-legged robots the size of large dogs attacked it. With their pointed legs, they were stabbing at the Six. Behind me, the turrets opened fire, and both the Six and the robot dogs took hits. One of the robots broke apart in a series of explosions. Another one came at me, and I ducked to the side. Unfortunately towards the gate, not away from it. Near me, the Six screeched in rage, even louder than its cousin on the 20th floor. It whirled around like a mad dervish, hit me from the side and sent me flying right into the gate. The Six followed me, badly shot up but still dangerous. I also lost my Hummingbird in the process. I found myself in a strange sort of tunnel. Behind me the gate I had come through, and a pissed Six between the gate and me. From the other side more of the robot critters approached, and they showed an unhealthy interest in me. Finally there was a second gate to my left, through which I could faintly see what looked like the lobby I had come from. Fighting the Six and the robots seemed a losing proposition, so I fled into the unknown gate and hoped I would find less trouble on the other side. Chapter 6: Team Battle Bug Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic -- Arthur C. Clarke -- I emerged into a lobby that looked almost like the one I had come from. Same architecture, but someone had redecorated it. Different paintings on the walls, different carpet, the corporate logo looked a bit different as well. Even the monsters around me were different. Instead of a plant theme, here we had more of the robots I had just encountered. Each of them had a single, balefully glowing eye. Around me, some girls in their late teens were fighting and forcefully disassembling the mechanical creatures. The ground was already littered with broken robots, most of them leaking black oil. Were these girls the equivalent of Vanguard? One of them wore a sort of ladybug costume in red and black. Another was a tall brunette wearing green armor, holding a weirdly curved blade with an edge along its whole length and hand grips on the other side. It reminded me of a Bat¡¯leth from that old pre-incursion Star Trek show. Sue me, I¡¯m a sci-fi nerd. But I could not gawk for long. Seconds after my arrival, the Six followed after me. Almost dead, but still fighting the robots that had attacked it before. Only three now, it had just crushed one of them and the turrets might have gotten the rest. Finally the Six collapsed, but now the locals were outnumbered again with the three additional robots. One of them was already injured, and the group barely held on. A short, slightly chubby girl in pink costume was tending to another who had a nasty gash along her thigh. I had to help out. ¡°Elya, Hummingbird!¡± Hardware delivery not available ¡°What the fuck, Elya?¡± You have been displaced to a parallel universe. Supplies from the Protectors are not available here. ¡°Oh shit¡±. I was dumbfounded for a moment, but then I had an idea. ¡°These look like machines, let¡¯s try the new cyberwarfare stuff on them! Hack them, sabotage them, however you can!¡± I¡¯m on it. But they are quite resistant. Little of their cybernetic functions is susceptible to external manipulation. I moved out of the way, having no weapon right now. Then Miss Ladybug lifted her hands and shouted: ¡°Thunderbolt!!¡± A massive electrical discharge flashed from her hands and zapped across four of the robots. Three collapsed, viscous oil leaking from their bodies. The fourth remained standing, but completely motionless. I control the remaining robot now. Electric discharges appear to disrupt their circuitry and create momentary vulnerabilities. ¡°Make it attack the other ones!¡± The fight had stopped for a moment, with the lightning thrower seemingly exhausted, and the robots also hesitated to attack further. Then my hacked minion jumped its nearest brother and rammed its pointed legs into the victim. That broke the momentary stalemate. Bat¡¯leth girl found herself with only one opponent directly across from her, and lunged at it with her two-pointed sword. She slashed down on it with one end of her weapon. That end of the sword snapped inwards and flashed towards the target, increasing the force of the slash even more. The attack almost bisected the robot. Black oil spattered her and the floor. At the center of the fight, my bot and its victim were entangled and struggling on the ground. Oil leaked out of the victim. Both of them were out of the fight for the moment, but still hampered the attempts of other combatants to attack through the middle. Finally, on the opposite side of the fight Miss Pink had finished patching up her companion, who was wearing an orange and black costume. Orange was still visibly limping, but fit enough again to harass the robot opposite of her with her spear. Of three bots still alive, this was the only one still fighting the girls. My minion had its legs in the bot I had sicced him on and did not let loose. In the meantime, Bat¡¯leth girl had moved around the two robots on the ground and attacked Orange¡¯s opponent from behind. With a few slashes, she eliminated the robot pest. Finally, she and Orange focused their attention on the two fighting bots on the floor. Within seconds, these were scrap as well, Targets neutralized! 3 x unknown robot model, estimated threat level similar to Antithesis Model 3. Reward for destruction of a robot (in home universe)¡­10 points Reward for subverting a robot¡­ 10 points Partial credit for supporting the destruction of a robot¡­ 5 points New balance¡­ 28 Points With the immediate danger over, the four girls approached me and bombarded me with questions. ¡°Where are you from?¡± ¡°How did you get here in the middle of an emergence?¡± ¡°Why are you not in a shelter?¡± I introduced myself and explained my situation. ¡°I am Caitlin McCallan. I am from a parallel universe, and I have been fighting monsters like you do, but of a different kind¡±. I pointed to the dead Six. ¡°That is a unit of a plant-based invasion force called the Antithesis that is regularly plaguing our world. I am a member of an informal fighting force that does their best to push back the invaders. And by the way, you should burn this one rather than throw it on a compost heap. It might take root otherwise, and then you get a very nasty invasive species on top of mad robot problems.¡± ¡°About how I got here, it seems two invasions have been mixed up. I was a bit careless and fell into a gate just like this one¡±. I pointed to the gate I had come through. ¡°Inside the gateway, both that Antithesis critter and some of these bots made to kill me, and I escaped through the only way that was left.¡± The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. The gate flickered and closed. ¡°Oops. Looks like I¡¯m stuck here.¡± With the gate closed, it is now reasonable to assume the people in the shelter are safe. Research on dimensional gates strongly suggests that linked gates always collapse together. That would mean the gate near the shelter is now also closed and attacks on the shelter by new enemies unlikely. Persons saved: 48 Reward¡­ 48 points Lady Orange took over the discussion. ¡°I guess it is time we introduced ourselves. We are Team Battle Bug and as you guessed correctly, we fight our own brand of invaders. Machines instead of weeds, but it seems our tasks have a lot in common.¡± She pointed to the girl in red and black, whose most distinctive costume part was a red cape with black points that matched the pattern of a ladybug. ¡°For privacy reasons, we do not reveal the civilian names of our team members. But you may call her Ladybug. Obviously.¡± Next, she pointed to Bat¡¯leth girl. ¡°Mantis¡± And to Miss Pink. ¡°Pink Orchid. Yes, there is an insect with that name. Finally, I am Longhorn.¡± ¡°Nice to meet you¡± I replied. Longhorn stared into empty air for a moment, as if she was looking something up on her augs. Then she said ¡°It seems this was our last job for today, there are no further objectives listed. That means we are expected back at HQ for debriefing. Would you like to come along to see more of our organization?¡± Hmmm. The Battle Bugs seemed nice enough, but their bosses might be a bit more insistent on squeezing me for information. I still chose to agree, because I hoped to gain some information about this universe too. ¡°That would be nice. I¡¯m a bit lost in your world and perhaps I can get some orientation on what to do next.¡± Longhorn talked some more on her aug and soon a troop transport arrived. The soldiers dragged the Six out of the building, doused it with fuel and set it on fire. With that, they might have saved their world. Next, a small bus appeared to collect the Bugs. Longhorn got me in as a guest, which seemed a bit unusual considering the reaction of the driver. But we took off without further delay. The girls relaxed visibly and began chatting about everyday stuff like the latest boy groups. As if fighting mad bots was a normal day job. In the meantime, I tried to gain some intel with the help of Elya. Discussion subvocalized, of course. ¡°Elya, try to get on the local internet and obtain an overview about local politics and authorities. But be careful not to be detected, no high risk hacks at this time.¡± Seconds later: Done. On top of that, I have perused the publicly available material about the robot invaders. And about the defenders. Of course without being detected by the locals. Their cybersecurity is barely on the level of what Humanity has at home. The Battle Bugs belong to an organization called SHOCKS, a school and sort of military academy in one. The recruits are called Magical Girls, and they are given superhuman capabilities through alien technology supplied by the Advent, the local equivalent of the Protectors. ¡°Like Vanguard?¡± Similar, but in part based on an implanted ¡°mana organ¡± that powers their abilities. Technical details are hidden behind security measures beyond the capabilities of local technology. At your request, I have not pried too hard. Publicly available data suggests that the mana system is highly advanced. At least in some aspects. For some things, you would need Class III or higher technology to duplicate the effects with implants. For others, it seems questionable to use implants at all. We finally arrived at SHOCKS, and security did not want to let me in. A short aug-call from Longhorn solved that problem, but they still insisted on giving me an escort. Can¡¯t let the stranger sneak around unsupervised. As it was already pretty late, the Bugs were sent to their rooms and I too. Apparently the debriefing could wait until the morning. In a polite but rather insistent way, Security escorted me to a guest room, where they left me with strict instructions not to leave the floor unsupervised. Five minutes later a young woman arrived with some fresh clothes. ¡°Take these, they are a gift from SHOCKS.¡± ¡°Thanks a lot!¡± I replied. My own clothes were dirty with blood and Antithesis sap, and I really could use a change. What I received were a set of underwear, socks, sweatpants and a T-shirt with the SHOCKS logo. Very casual and looking quite comfortable. Time to discuss a few things with Elya. ¡°Elya, what support from the Protectors can I still access?¡± Unfortunately, we are completely cut off from hardware deliveries. Your Vanguard status remains, including the various ways of earning points. The robots take the place of Antithesis. You keep your daily allowance of ten points. You still have your catalogs. Hypothetically, you could buy any kind of information I have, which is all of the eight million catalogs, the blueprints in those, many scientific and engineering textbooks and even some entertainment media. ¡°But I would need to find some local means of manufacturing, right?¡± Exactly. I can point you to a possible roadmap for building the equipment, but you would still need to buy relevant catalogs and blueprints. It would be against the rules for me to do all the R&D for free. But once you have the respective blueprints, I can help you implement things. The next morning, I was invited to breakfast with the Bugs. Over coffee and buns, I learned a lot about how Magical Girl powers and the operator system worked. Apparently, they gained strength and access to new equipment from fighting the invaders, like a RPG player would. Not too different from the Vanguard after all. Afterwards we went to a joint debriefing. The fight between Team Battle Bug and the robots, also called Macks, was discussed quickly. That seemed to be routine business. The SHOCKS leadership was a lot more interested in my home universe and the Vanguard. Actually one of their highest ranking members had come to interview me. A Magical Girl in a puffy blue-and-white dress introduced herself as B.S.O.D. and started asking questions. ¡°Welcome to SHOCKS, Miss McCallan. We do not have visitors from parallel universes often, so I hope you are willing to tell us about your home. Especially how you are handling your version of aggressive aliens kicking in your front door.¡± ¡°Of course. Afterwards, I hope you will be willing to answer some questions too.¡± I spent the next fifteen minutes explaining Antithesis, the Protectors and Vanguard. B.S.O.D. seemed especially interested in the logistics system. She asked ¡°Interesting. Could you describe how equipment is delivered to a Vanguard, please?¡± ¡°There is no operator in the sense Team Battle Bug has described the system to me. Instead we have a little aug implanted that allows us to access logistics. The purchased items are teleported to us, just like in the Magical Girl supply system.¡° Little Aug?? Elya spluttered in my head. ¡°Shush you¡± I subvocalized back. ¡°I just don¡¯t want to give away how awesome you are!¡± ...better. Elya still sounded a bit grumpy though. The questions continued. I answered most of them truthfully, but avoided revealing Elya¡¯s full capabilities. Eventually it was my turn. I would have asked for details about the MG system, but I doubted they would give me more than the public brochures Elya had already analyzed for me. So I asked about accommodations for newly arrived refugees, job opportunities including at SHOCKS and immigration procedures instead. After all, I was mostly dumped back into the role of income-less school graduate. Minus Bachelor''s degree, but also minus student debt. Unless the University of Victoria (Antithesis-land) learned how to send debt collectors to parallel universes. B.S.O.D. replied ¡°Normally I would refer you to the immigrant intake in Victoria City, but depending on your age there may be alternatives.¡± ¡°I am twenty-one, why?¡± ¡°I am sorry, but that means you are too old to consider as a Magical Girl recruit. The organ implants are only safe in a narrow age range, and twenty is considered a hard upper limit¡±. Considering what the Bugs told me about operators having access to their eyes and ears, I was glad that I did not need to find excuses for declining that job. I still had to work through having Elya in my head, more people would be too much at the moment. It also sounded like a privacy nightmare. Elya was barely acceptable. An organization that could assign you to another operator on a whim? Nope. Chapter 7: Mundane Life After First Emergence in December 2025, the political campaigns before the 2026 elections for the House of Commons of Canada was dominated by a strong disagreement about weapons laws. While the liberals wanted to maintain the status quo, conservatives insisted on far-reaching liberalization to ¡°restore the right of the people to defend themselves¡± The topic dominated the elections, which ended with a landslide victory for the conservatives. - Excerpt from an article in The British Columbia Observer, 2034 Friday, October 4th, 2047 The immigrant help desk in Victoria had been surprisingly helpful. They had found a (very) small apartment for me and pointed me to a job board where some of their clients had successfully found employment. Not the most lucrative jobs, but something to supplement the emergency rations everyone was entitled to. I found a job as a bicycle courier, which brought in a bit of money and helped me to keep fit. But what I really wanted was to regain access to Protector tech as soon as possible. I had already worked out a possible road map with Elya, but the cold, hard truth stared me in the face: Total cost for catalogs and blueprints: 550 points. And that was only for the first of several generations of fabrication equipment I would need. At the moment I had 416 points. That meant another fourteen days before I had the required catalogs, plus one specific blueprint. Unless I went fighting in an Emergence for more points. But so far I didn''t even have a basic rifle, which I considered the bare bones minimum gear. Elya had suggested some cheap but adequate tools from Ebay, so I could start building a small workshop in advance. I ended up with a decent quality plastic 3D printer, a small lathe the size of a shoe box and an equally small drill press. Plus an assortment of smaller tools. That had severely depleted my funds, so building my first prototype would have to wait until next month. In parallel, I had applied for permanent residence status. The lady at the immigration office had been very sympathetic, but she had also cautioned me that the process might take several months. Of course, she did not know about Elya. The same afternoon, a parcel delivery on my courier job took me to an apartment where the inhabitant had gone grocery shopping. His girlfriend was at home and said she was happy to take the shipment off me, but she insisted on checking the contents. So I waited while she opened the parcel. She took off the lid and went pale. I could not refrain from teasing her a bit. ¡°So, would you now like to sign for the two hand grenades?¡± In the face of the Mack threat, a lot of weapons laws had been repealed, but some stuff like hand grenades was still illegal for private citizens. Unless you were a licensed weapons manufacturer with clearance for weapons of war. A business I might have to get into. In the world I grew up in, the Samurai as a group were so powerful that nobody dared to fuck with them. Here I was alone and observing the law would be slightly more important. Behind me, the new owner of the hand grenades came up the stairs with bags in his hands. Girlfriend, still pretty shaken, told him ¡°You handle this delivery, I¡¯m out of here!¡± She slapped the package into his hands and was gone down the stairs. Hand grenade guy had his hands too full with that and dropped half of his purchases. I helped him to collect his fallen groceries. Including the hand grenades. That could have gone wrong. He introduced himself as Roger and he invited me to a coffee, ¡°to help me come down from the shock.¡± I found myself agreeing. What was it with me and charming gun nuts? Not that I had any right to complain. My encounter with real life Antithesis had left me with a taste for firepower as well. So I replied ¡°Sure, I¡¯d be happy to stay for a chat.¡± The next day, I met Roger and his friends at his place. Early in the morning. Earlier than I normally liked to get up. It turned out that Roger was running a tiny, unofficial militia. Between the lines I read that his departure from the military had not been entirely voluntary. I was joining them for a practice weekend. Also present were his friends Alan and Michael. Girlfriend, whose real name was Ellen, was missing today. Roger seemed unsure if she would be back. Two others were unable to come because of work. We spent the morning maneuvering around in the bushes and ambushing each other with airsoft rifles. It looked silly, but was fun and I could see some value in the exercises. Even if much of it would be inapplicable in urban terrain. For lunch, we returned to Roger¡¯s neighborhood for a barbecue. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The afternoon was practice at a shooting range not too far from Roger¡¯s home. I rented an AR 15 knockoff from the range (which I could barely afford at this time) and got some practice with classical firearms for the first time. Eventually, the discussion turned to Macks and how to best shoot them. Everybody seemed to agree that a decent handgun was enough against a Type One, but that you needed a powerful rifle with armor piercing ammunition against class two Macks like the Type Four. Ralph, the range owner, brought a piece of Mack plate from his office. It was cratered and dented, but only one of six shots had gone through. ¡°See this? The bullets are NATO M993 in 7.62x51mm. The best armor piercing ammo we have in that caliber, but barely penetrates Type Four plate under favorable circumstances.¡± I took another look at the plate. The one bullet that had fully pierced the plate had hit almost perpendicular. The others all hit at somewhat oblique angles. Ralph saw my curious look and added ¡°Oblique angle is bad. The projectile has to punch through more material that way, and sometimes it just bounces off.¡± Thursday, October 18th, 2047 The magical day had arrived. Blueprint and catalog purchases! ¡°OK Elya, let''s recap what we have planned for the first stage of Operation Fabber.¡± First, you need to unlock teleportation technology in general. That catalog will cost 100 points. Second, you have expressed a desire to study the field in some depth. For that I recommend a digital textbook from the Lorekeepers. They are among the oldest species among the protectors and have developed a great aptitude in conveying their knowledge to others. The textbook also contains software you might need to design your specific application. All of that engineering goodness can be yours for 100 points. Third, your planned 3D printer teleports matter piecemeal and in tiny quantities to the object you are printing. That alone will not make them stick together, you would get a pile of dust. Class I Basic welding systems for 50 points will unlock technology that can help with that. Finally, a key part for the welding process is implemented in a tool from that catalog, almost exactly as you need it. The blueprint will cost 300 points, but having it lets me extract the tech and apply it to your design. ¡°Show the whole stuff in table form, please.¡±
Item Point cost Description
Class I Basic teleportation systems 100 Catalog
Lorekeeper Tome of Teleportation Technology 100 Interactive digital textbook with integrated CAD software
Class I Basic welding systems 50 Catalog
Class I cold welding tool ¡°Steel Sealer¡± (Blueprint) 300 Contains technology for teleportation-based sintering
Total cost 550
¡°Yes, let''s do it¡± Purchased: Everything in the table Points reduced to¡­ 6 Wednesday, October 24th, 2047 Your permanent residency has come through ¡°That was fast, but not as fast as some stories about Vanguard made me expect.¡± I have fast-tracked it through the digital parts of the process. I deemed it wiser not to risk messing with the human review. Also, as a permanent resident you are eligible for certain business development programs. ¡°Such as?¡± With a promising business model, you can get a substantial loan to get started and premises for business use. Advanced technology would qualify, such as your 3D printer project. I can help you to bullshit your way through the application. ¡°Does that require a catalog?¡± Basic bullshitting is considered Class 0 and available for free. There are catalogs for more sophisticated forms of trolling and gaslighting. I was not sure if Elya was bullshitting me at that moment, but I was willing to go with the program. ¡°OK, what are the steps to get such an application going?¡± I asked. We ended up having a planning session on how to abuse the system. Monday, November 4th, 2047 My October paycheck for delivering parcels arrived. With that I could afford to buy the materials for my first prototype. The basis would be a used plastic 3D printer I chose for its robust frame. It did not have to look good, that would be the job of the production model. Which would be more cash cow than wonder fabricator, substantial advancement was planned for version two. Thursday, November 7th, 2047 The bullshitting for the business development program had been successful. Suddenly I had more money than I could earn doing parcel deliveries in a year. And a small shelter under the old Colwood fire department that was unused since the city had consolidated the shelters into larger ones. I quit my courier job so I could focus on the printer project. For the first time in over a month, I visited the gun range again with Roger¡¯s mini militia. He greeted me with ¡°Long time no see, Cait. Don¡¯t you like us any more?¡± ¡°I was almost out of money. What little I had went into a business project, I could not afford ammo and renting a gun.¡± ¡°So you can afford stuff again? I heard Alan wants to upgrade and might be willing to sell his old one¡±, Roger replied. ¡°The thing looks pretty banged up, so it might be cheap.¡± Alan showed up soon after and agreed to sell his old AR 15 knockoff for a modest price. He even let me shoot a few rounds to prove it still worked fine. That evening, I returned home with a very used but still accurate rifle and a bunch of surplus M855 ammo. It might not be enough for a Four, but I should be able to kill the lesser fry with it. Chapter 8: First Hunt ¡°War is too important to be left to the generals.¡± - Georges Cl¨¦menceau Saturday, November 16th, 2047 16:00 I was at my new office and workshop, as Elya informed me of an emergence warning. No rude pop ups in the augs of a Vanguard, we have digital assistants who block those. This time the city administration managed to give us some early warning, which was far from guaranteed I had heard. Two minutes later Roger called and suggested a bug hunt. ¡°Hey Cait, want to go hunting some Macks? Alan will come to handle the Fours with his new .338 Lapua, and we can run from anything bigger.¡± That was a risky idea. I was not equipped as well as I wanted yet, but the desire to kill a few Macks and earn points was strong. ¡°Mmh, tempting. But the Victoria city region is pretty big, and the Macks could show up everywhere.¡± I was hiding that Elya had already told me where. ¡°This time, Sanctuary thinks it is a small incursion and it will come in the southwest.¡° Roger seemed to have his own sources. I asked him ¡°OK, do you guys want to come to my little shelter in Colwood? Close enough to potential trouble and if we bite off more than we can chew, we do have a shelter.¡± Fifteen minutes later, Roger, Alan and Michael were at my place. Shortly after that, we stood on the roof of the fire department. Which we were not supposed to, but Elya had no trouble hacking the electronic doors. Roger and Alan were sitting at opposite sides of the roof, looking out for movement on the ground. Michael was scanning the sky for Type Sixes, which were probably the most dangerous to us short of a Class Three. Equivalent to loitering munitions from the 2020s, these could really fuck up your day. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. I was monitoring the emergency directives and the communications channels of the security forces. The former was strongly recommended for all citizens. They even would get them on their augs unasked for. The latter were only accessible thanks to Elya. We waited for an hour without much happening. Eventually, I heard frantic calls for help on the security forces network, apparently from police units around Esquimalt Lagoon. When I told the others, Roger said ¡°That¡¯s what we came for, and we might even save some good men in the process. Let¡¯s go.¡± We jogged up the hill that overlooked Esquimalt Lagoon, but the sky was growing dark already. My augs gave me a modest improvement at low light vision, but not at the level of military night vision equipment. Only Alan had a scope with low light amplification on his new rifle. When we arrived at the edge of the wood, we saw a few figures retreating past the houses on the shore, perhaps 300 meters away. Presumably security forces, sometimes they stopped and fired behind them at the dog-like forms of Type Ones and a Type Four that was more like a mecha-squid. A mecha squid with nasty spikes at the end of its four tentacles. I hastily plugged in my ear protection before Alan started shooting. Three ear-shattering blasts later, the Four stopped moving. Meanwhile, a few of the Type Ones started to encircle the fleeing people. Their retreat was no longer an orderly retreat, it was more of a rout. Next to me, a fallen branch was exactly the support I needed for precise shooting. I dropped behind it onto the cold November ground, laid the barrel of my rifle upon it and took careful aim. Bang. Bang. Bang. Target eliminated: 1x Type 1. Reward... 10 points. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Target eliminated: 1x Type 1. Reward... 10 points. Next to me, Alan killed one Type One per shot, only sometimes he had to shoot an enemy twice. Roger and Michael also did a decent job, albeit not on Alan¡¯s level. I did not score a third kill. Eventually five exhausted and terrified people reached our position. They belonged to the RCMP, had been nearby by happenstance and done their best to escort people to a shelter. Eight of them had been caught in the open. Five were left. All of them were out of ammo. I was really getting dark by now. At a sign of Roger, we retreated towards the fire department and its shelter, escorting the RCMP survivors. I had just seen how fighting Macks was for regular soldiers, and it was not fun. Behind us, the surviving Macks died to the energy barrage of a Magical Girl. Persons saved: 5. Reward... 5 points. Chapter 9: New Toys That Macks use steel armor is well established. Less widely known is that the quality far exceeds that of pre-First Emergence human-made steel armor. On average, Mack armor needs only 40% of the thickness to be equal in resistance. ¨C Hank Fisher in the NRA magazine (online edition) Monday, November 18th, 2047 I had just sold the first production model of my 3D printer, and more customers had signaled interest. At least on the business front, things were promising. On the combat front, I wanted to somehow reproduce the effect of the lightning Ladybug had used on the Macks. In the Esoteric Single-Use Explosive Devices catalog you already unlocked, there is a Class I EMP grenade that should suit your needs. You would have to buy the blueprint for 50 points, then I can adapt the design for your limited means of manufacturing. ¡°OK, I''ll take it.¡± Purchased: Class I EMP grenade (blueprint) Points left¡­ 301 That evening we met at Roger¡¯s place. Ellen was back, apparently they had reconciled the little spat from eight weeks ago. We also had a new member, Phil. Apparently, Phil was ex-military in good standing and the regular militia would happily take him. He just liked our irregular little outfit better for whatever reason. We avoided talking openly about explosives to keep Ellen from getting upset again, but the discussion turned to military surplus and what weird stuff there was available sometimes. Especially Phil seemed to have good information. At the mention of old airbags my ears perked up. I asked Phil ¡°Say, where could I get some of those?¡± ¡°Come, let''s get some fresh air.¡± Out of Ellen¡¯s earshot, Phil said ¡°You know, these don¡¯t make good hand grenades. Even if you combine the explosive from several¡±. ¡°That¡¯s fine. I don¡¯t need maximal detonation power, but something controllable¡±. ¡°Then you can get them at the HANAF supply depot, on Saturdays from 08:00 to 11:00¡±. Back inside, we had another round of beers before we finally parted for the day. Next Saturday, back from the supply depot, I had eighteen old airbags. Those gave me enough explosives for four so-called explosively pumped flux compression generators. Which totally existed pre-First Emergence and before the Advent contacted us. But thanks to Elya and my blueprint purchase, I had a pre-optimized design without doing extra research. Dumbed down due to manufacturing limitations, but I hoped the product would still do the job. Over the weekend, I built four EMP grenades. Soda-can-sized cylinders with a trigger button below a safety cap on top. I also made a suppressor for the rifle. The EMP grenades were technically illegal, but I could argue they were not designed as anti-personnel weapons. For what that would be worth in court. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. After that, I started to gather parts for my next generation 3D printer. It would be a lot more complex and expensive to build than my first model, but a necessary step towards building Protector-grade fabrication equipment. We did regular training with the militia now, and were getting better acting as a unit. Roger appeared to be a competent leader. The rest of us at least worked better together than a month before. Of course, there was also the usual banter about the best equipment. When I asked Alan what ammunition he used, he answered ¡°For Macks, old NATO ammunition someone salvaged from Seattle. Armor piercing, very hard to get these days.¡± He quoted a price that made my eyes water. Still, it might be worth the expense. Something to keep in mind. Tuesday, December 10th, 2047 Faster than expected, I managed to complete my second generation 3D printer. First tests showed greatly improved precision. With the new model, it was also possible to mix my own alloys and even print a small selection of plastics. The new printer could make much larger parts and was almost as large as an office desk itself. No way I could have stuffed the thing into my old apartment. The first use of the new printer would be a more powerful rifle. Instead of a specific model, I went for purchasing the underlying technology and otherwise cribbing from existing designs. ¡°Elya, I¡¯m thinking of a new rifle. Preferably an existing caliber where we can adapt existing tech. Also, suitable ammunition.¡± To underpin the tech cribbing with a solid technology base, I recommend the Lorekeeper Tome of Mechanical Engineering for 100 points. You do not need to buy any specialized catalog for that. Similar to the book about teleporting technology, it is digital, interactive and comes with integrated CAD software. For ammunition I recommend Class I Kinetic Ammunitions for 50 points. It gives access to a wide range of ammunition, including explosive and guided projectiles. Within reason, these are scalable to weapons of different sizes. You would still need a reloading press, gunpowder and primers, as you can only make the metal parts so far. ¡°Does it have designs that are suitable for my printer?¡± Yes, there are some. In particular, there is one type of armor piercing projectile that will significantly exceed the performance of the M993 Ralph has shown you. Blueprint price is 30 points. ¡°So, 180 points in total. I¡¯ll take it.¡± Purchased: Lorekeeper Tome of Mechanical Engineering Points reduced to¡­ 421 Class I Kinetic Ammunitions unlocked! Points reduced to¡­ 371 Purchased: Tungsten alloy core AP ammunition Type II (blueprint) Points reduced to ¡­ 341 After that, I sent Elya cribbing existing weapons designs from the internet. As diminished as it was post-Emergence, there was still a lot of valuable data to find. After some mixing and matching I ended up with a bullpup rifle in caliber .277 Fury, also known as 6.8¡Á51mm Common Cartridge, complete with integrated suppressor. At short range and with my custom ammo, it would at least match Alan¡¯s much larger Lapua .338 in armor penetration. Saturday, December 21th, 2047 My new rifle was ready, as well as a first batch of ammunition. I had also splurged on a decent scope. Today was range day, and I was curious what the others would say to my new toy. Alan was only moderately interested at first. After he got to try it out, that changed to fairly impressed. When Ralph brought out the Type 4 Mack plate and six out of six rounds went through, I got a lot of incredulous looks. I wondered if I could trust these people enough to tell them my origins. But on second thought, it would come out eventually anyway. I¡¯d better tell it myself, that would cause less trust issues in the future. ¡°OK guys, I have to tell you a story. A few months ago, there were rumors about some kind of Magical Girl from a parallel world being stranded here. That was mostly true.¡° Roger still did not quite believe it. ¡°And you claim to be that one?¡± ¡°I am, but the ¡®magic¡¯ works differently from what the locals have. Much of their power comes from implants with incredibly advanced technology. Mine is based on stuff I carry around.¡± I neglected to mention Elya. ¡°Sadly, the alien sponsors from my home universe do not deliver hardware here. But I still have some access to their engineering knowledge, and now I¡¯m building up manufacturing capability here. My 3D printers are the first thing that exceeds non-Advent engineering, and parts of this ammunition are made with the latest model.¡± Alan was the first to respond. ¡°Say, could you get me that sort of ammo for my rifle?¡± Chapter 10: New Year’s Emergence Friday, December 31th, 2047 23:55 My militia buddies and I were on the hill overlooking Esquimalt Lagoon. This time all seven of us. Ellen was here as well, she and Roger had mended fences. We were waiting for the New Year¡¯s fireworks, which should be nicely visible from here. There were also warnings of a possible emergence. Half the city was on edge, and we had brought our guns just in case. I had brought my four EMP grenades too. Even Ellen was armed, I had lent her my old AR-15 style rifle. She had practiced with the thing enough that she might not be useless in a fight. Exactly at midnight, the first fireworks missiles went off. Two minutes later, I heard something that did not quite match the sound of the exploding pyrotechnics. Too regular, more like machine guns than like strings of firecrackers. Also, the direction was off. Too far to the north, closer to Hatley Castle than the city center. I turned to Roger. So did everyone in the group. Roger just said ¡°To the cars, we check out Hatley Castle. But we take the long way via Sooke Road. We don¡¯t want to be cut off in the woods.¡± Ten minutes later we parked at the north entrance of Hatley Castle, our two cars positioned to take off across the lawn if necessary. The gunfire had stopped, but the door was open. From the main hall came sounds like someone hammering in giant nails with a sledgehammer. I went first to take a look into the hall. My heart was racing and I felt jittery with adrenaline as I sneaked up to the door. When I peeked around the door frame, I saw furniture barricades at the top of the stairs and some people guarding them. Several Macks were besieging the barricade at the left side, with a Type Four dismantling a big armoire with its spikes. I took a step back, put in my ear protection and readied an EMP grenade. ¡°Elya, when I throw this thing, try to take over the Macks. Highlight the hacking status in my augs. Green for fully controlled, yellow for doubtful cases, red for hostile.¡± I stepped far enough into the door that the defenders could see me and motioned to them to cover their ears. Then I lobbed the grenade up the stairs. BANG. The beautiful window above the stairs lost part of its glass. It was definitely Collateral Damage Day. The results on the Macks were mixed. Two out of five Type ones turned green, one collapsed, the other two stayed red. The Type Four flickered between yellow and red and jerkily turned around. I lifted my rifle and fired. And scored a lucky hit exactly in the eye of the Four. The eye shattered into hundreds of tiny pieces. A flash of exhilaration went through me. ¡°Elya, make the controlled ones lie down.¡± Perhaps I could save at least one minion before the team obliterated the rest. One made it to the ground intact. The remaining three Ones dropped in a hail of bullets, including my prospective second minion. When you hit the eye of the Four, I immediately lost connection. The eye seems to be a vital part. I called up the stairs ¡°What is the situation up there?¡± Someone in uniform answered ¡°Two wounded, none critical. We are almost out of ammunition though.¡± Roger took command of our team again. ¡°How many people are in the castle?¡± ¡°Approximately hundred and twenty. We have barricaded all stairways. A few more Macks are slinking around the grounds, but these are the only ones that tried to storm the place. Who are you anyway?¡± ¡°The Goldstream Irregulars.¡± While these two were busy, I asked Elya about the status of my new minion. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Still fully under control. The chances that it breaks free again are negligible. ¡°OK, make it play 100 percent dead. No movement, glowy eye off.¡± Meanwhile Roger had committed us to support the local security. ¡°We¡¯ll come up and help defend the place¡±. We climbed the stairs and passed through a little gap in the barricade, which our hosts immediately closed again. Inspector Anna Hastings, the commander of the castle¡¯s police force, quickly decided how to use the Irregulars. Ellen joined one of the police officers at the barricades of the main hall. Most of the guys went to guard other staircases. Alan and I were sent on the battlements as snipers. We were literally hunting whatever Mack showed its eye. It was dark enough that one could easily hide in the shadows, but Macks gave themselves away with their glowing eyes. Alan had a field day. He was the best shooter in our mini-militia, and his powerful rifle with my ammunition punched through Type Fours at quite a distance. I did not shoot quite as well, but still killed four Ones. Eventually I overheard Inspector Hastings ask Alan ¡°What have you loaded? Penetrating Type Fours at 300 meters?¡± ¡°Tungsten alloy armor piercing.¡± I could hear her get a little exasperated. ¡°And where do you get that from? Availability on the open market is nil, HANAF buys everything because they are practically out! Inventory is so low they issue these only to elite units anymore.¡± ¡°Sorry. The source is quite limited in production volume, I doubt they could supply the amounts HANAF needs.¡± Alan did obviously not want to share his source. He was not alone in that. Most manufacturers of armor piercing ammunition had gone out of business (read: their facilities had been overrun by Macks). Armies everywhere jealously guarded their remaining stockpiles. Nobody wanted to share with HANAF. This partly explained why Humanity was doing so poorly against the machines. The armored Macks were really tough and the best ammunition to fight them was in short supply. Next the Inspector came over to me, and I asked a question that had vexed me for a bit. ¡°Is there no shelter in this place?¡± ¡°No. Something about a historical site that should not be altered. City council is quite stubborn about it.¡± ¡°What about neighboring buildings?¡± ¡°There is one under the Campus reception, about 250 meters on foot. I considered it too risky to walk over there with Macks around, we have some elderly among the guests who are slow on foot. But it seems you cleared the Macks out for the moment, so I¡¯ll organize the guests for the move. One of my officers will fetch you when we are ready.¡± Ten minutes later Alan and I each had shot two more Ones, then the signal to move came. We went down to the main hall, where the party guests were already waiting. Two police officers went ahead, with me directly behind them. The rest of the police and militia guarded the flanks. Roger took orders from the police commander without protest, which did not match the story I heard about his departure from the military. But he seemed professional when it was really needed. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Screams from the right flank and people fleeing. I took a quick glimpse and saw Ellen clutching her rifle, panting and aiming at a dead One in front of her. Good girl. Target eliminated by ally: 1 x Model 1 Reward for providing the weapon¡­ 1 point Ten nerve-wracking minutes later, the party guests were stowed away in the shelter. We climbed to the roof to keep the machines away from the building a bit longer. Minutes later, a team of Magical Girls came speeding down University Drive in a vehicle that looked like the futuristic version of a dune buggy. I recognized Mantis at the wheel. The metaphorical lights came on. Of course, it was a BUGgy! Team Battle Bug exited the car and checked the shelter first, then they told us to keep protecting the shelter and went on the offensive. I could tell they had leveled up and refined their teamwork since we last met. They moved with excellent coordination and at a speed that would have exhausted normal humans quickly. Five minutes later, it was over. The Bugs had cleared the surroundings at record speed. Longhorn recognized me and gave me a friendly wave, then she asked us to stay around until the all-clear signal for defeating the incursion came. Hours later, it came. Persons saved: 122 Reward¡­ 1 Token, 122 points You have amassed 734 points now. The Token is for the first time you saved 100 people. Tokens are a currency to unlock higher classes of catalogs. We were all quite tired at that point, but I still asked Roger for his help in looting some Macks. In the end, we took three without dismantling them first. The eyeless Type Four, the ¡°alive¡± Type One Elya had hacked for me, and finally the one that had collapsed immediately from the EMP. To be sure it would give no more trouble, I shot the latter one through the eye. Roger had told me about incidents where a Mack presumed dead had regenerated to the point it could attack again. He complained a bit about the black gunk leaking from the bots, but we found a few newspapers to cover the bed of his truck with. We loaded the Macks up and piled into the truck. A few minutes later, Roger dropped me and the Macks off at my shelter. With some effort, I dragged the Type Four down into my workshop. The Ones were much lighter. As I carried the last one down the ramp, it dawned outside. Chapter 11: Developments Thursday, January 16th, 2048 The first half of the month had been mostly routine. Building more of the little first generation 3D printers that were my cash cow. Practice with the militia. Planning the third generation of my fabber, but I was still a few points short for the catalogs I would need. But there was also some specific progress. First, I had been remodeling part of the shelter into a small apartment. That project went ahead nicely, I was almost ready to move in. Second, I had figured out how to make certain magnetic coils with the second generation 3D printer. The things were awkward and tedious to wind before, but now I could just print the wires into place. Much easier. Said printer was booked solid. Magnetic coils, ammunition for Alan and me, spare parts for Roger¡¯s truck¡­ the list went on Time to work on the captured Macks. First I dissected the broken Type One, taking measurements all the way. Locations of battery, servos and electronics all went into Elya¡¯s data banks. The electronics were peculiar, they all converged at the eye. Was the eye also the controller for the whole body? ¡°Elya, reactivate the intact Type One¡± The glowing eye came on. ¡°First, what can you tell me about the AI capabilities of this model?¡± Rather limited. On the level of a Class I drone, but this unit needs significantly more energy and bulkier hardware for similar compute performance. ¡°Let¡¯s do some more tests. Strength and movement range of the limbs, visual acuity of the eye and so on.¡± Over a few hours of testing, Elya and I developed a detailed model of a Type One¡¯s physical capabilities. Dangerous, but not impossible to defeat even with simple melee weapons. The servos were better than what Humanity built pre-First Emergence, perhaps we could sell those or utilize them ourselves. The Type Four was more interesting. The spikes at the tip of the tentacles looked like they might be able to pierce average body armor. The number and size of the cables going to the remnants of the eye suggested better capabilities than the Type One robo-brain, but a similar concept. The battery appeared to be intact and had a decent amount of charge left. I managed to power up one tentacle and mount it to an unused bunk bed. ¡°Elya, I¡¯d like to test this spike against various types of armor. What do you need to control it, especially to hit something with maximal force?¡± Elya listed a few electronics parts I could not build myself yet, so I had to order them. I also talked Ralph the range owner into lending me some small pieces of armor for testing. When he heard what I wanted to test, he insisted on coming himself. Sunday, January 19th, 2048 The parts had arrived the day before, and I had already assembled them. I also had prepared some mumbo-jumbo to hide Elya¡¯s part in the process, as I still wanted to hide her full capabilities. I mounted the first piece of armor on my test contraption and said to Ralph: ¡°Body armor class 3, polymer-based.¡± I demonstratively pressed ENTER, but it was Elya who triggered the spike in the background. WHACK. Penetration. This armor was clearly too weak. Next I picked a steel plate from a premium brand. ¡°Steel body armor class 3+, 5 mm thickness, from a renowned manufacturer.¡± CLANG. The plate was severely dented and the back side showed a tiny crack, but the armor held. ¡°Steel body armor class 3+, 5 mm thickness, random Asia brand.¡± CLANG. This time the spike penetrated. Finally I took a piece of plate I had cut out of the Type Four. ¡°Mack plate 6 mm, the same type you showed me at the range¡±. CLANG. Made a tiny dimple in the plate, otherwise only scratched it. Also, the spike was definitely blunted now. ¡°Interesting¡±, Ralph said, ¡°so the Macks are clearly better at defense than at offense.¡± ¡°Yes. I want to find out what thickness is needed for stopping this spike, if I use the best quality plate my printer can make.¡± It would have to wait a few more days until my current printer queue was done though. Friday, January 31th, 2048 16:15 Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. I was on my way to a meeting at the gun range, proudly wearing my new body armor. For weight reasons it only covered the torso, like a cuirass from medieval times. Even so, the total weight with the gambeson underneath was eight kilograms. Outside of an emergence, this would be a one time showing off. I also carried my own gun and twenty-five rounds of AP ammo I had made for Alan. Sorry buddy, but tungsten was a bottleneck at the moment. Otherwise I might have made more. Ralph greeted me at the entrance. ¡°Is that from your 3D printer? Looks sexy!¡± His eyes went to my chest. I had given my armor some modest boobs. Not so much it would be impractical, just enough to say ¡°I¡¯m a girl!¡±. ¡°Yep. It¡¯s a bit heavy, but it does stop a spike from a Type Four. I did some tests¡± Promptly an emergence warning came over the net. ¡°Speak of the devil.¡± The people at the gun range spontaneously decided to band together against the threat. All of them. We had to persuade some who had only dinky .22 LR rifles to go into a shelter instead. I did not have my EMP grenades with me. Also, I had a hundred rounds of ammo, but only twenty of them were my special armor piercing brand. After all, my plan for the day had been training, not blowing through scarce reserves of AP ammunition. Multiple minor emergences expected. One hotspot is Goldstream. ETA 10-20 minutes. Not enough time to go home and fetch more equipment. The spontaneously enlarged militia and I set off towards the center of Goldstream, from where we could reach every part of the small town quickly. Fifteen minutes later we were standing in the front yard of Wilway Elementary School. Under other circumstances a bunch of armed people in front of a school might have disturbed the locals, but right now they were busy cowering in the shelter. Lots of them, there was a special event at the school and many parents were there. Then we heard a pleading woman¡¯s voice from inside the school. ¡°Cassie, come out of the restroom, we need to get to the shelter.¡± The voice of a child: ¡°I¡¯m too afraid!¡± From behind the school: Sounds of breaking glass. A Type One came around the corner. Three people fired on it, and it collapsed. I slapped in my lone magazine with AP ammunition, The Macks were in the school, we would have to clear them out, and standing in front of a Four without armor piercing ammo was not desirable, to put it mildly. The school doors were open, so we went in to secure the corridors. Those of us with semi-automatic rifles first, including myself. Two Ones lingered around the hallway. Michael and another guy I did not know perforated them with bullets. Which was fine by me, I was going to reserve my armor piercing stuff for Type Fours. Once those were cleared out, I could switch to practice ammo and go plinking Ones. ¡°Elya, overlay the positions of the Macks¡¯ components on my augs!¡± We had established those when we cut up the robots from the New Year¡¯s emergence. Now Elya would give me a wireframe display of where the mecha-critters had their servos and batteries. Proceeding further into the school, I heard the child¡¯s voice from before again. This time, hysterically crying. I had a really bad feeling about that. Where was the teacher who had tried to save the little girl? The answer became clear when I looked through the open door of the restroom. A woman lay in her blood, and I could see several puncture wounds in her body. A Type Four was standing in front of her and looking at a closed toilet stall. It seemed as if it contemplated the best way to break down the flimsy door. From inside the stall, the cries continued. I kneeled down to shoot from an angle that was safe-ish for the injured teacher and aimed at the battery. Crash. Bang. At the same time I fired, the Four smashed through the particle board of the toilet stall. My bullet slammed through the Mack¡¯s armor. Smoke and some oil gushed out of the bullet hole. The Mack retracted its blood-spattered spike for a second strike, but then its power appeared to run out. Slowly it sagged to the ground and its eye went dim. I waved two of the guests from the gun range over and told them to drag the Four away. They dragged it out of the toilet and I directed them to dump it in a corner of the corridor. Which they did not a moment too soon. As they stepped away from the thing, it started to stir again. I did not give it time to recover, instead I fired two more rounds into its battery. That would hopefully shut it up for good. Meanwhile, another two men were putting improvised pressure bandages on the woman but ran out of material halfway. One of them got up and started walking across the hallway. I asked ¡°Where are you going?¡± ¡°The school nurse¡¯s office is over there, I hope we can find more first aid supplies there.¡± ¡°OK, but let me check out the room first.¡± I went ahead and entered the tiny office first, looking left and right. Then I heard a noise from behind the door. I turned around just in time to take the spike on my armor instead of the unprotected gap between front and rear plate. It still felt like getting a pickaxe between the ribs. While falling down, I put three wild shots into the Type Four that had attacked me. That damaged it but it still crawled towards me. As I managed to control my panic slightly better, my aim became steady enough that I could place a shot in its eye. That shut it down immediately. Getting up, I saw a major dent in my armor, and a rib might be broken. Still, better than getting a lung punctured. Even better, across the office I discovered the first aid materials I had been looking for. There were even some QuikClots. Expensive, but apparently the school took first aid seriously. I pointed the stuff out to the guy who was with me and moved out again. Our job was not done yet. Outside the window I could see a Type Three eating the slides on the playground northwest of the school. It was among the smaller non-combat Macks. Rather than the school bus size of the more common Type 21, this one was on the scale of an average RV, but on eight legs. With two arms, a hybrid of hand and hydraulic cutter on each arm and a mouth full of shredder blades it still looked terrifying. From the southeast end of the school, I heard gunfire. But Roger and Alan soon came back and reported that they had cleared out that end of the school. Roger accompanied Alan up the stairs near the middle of the building, as backup for clearing the roof. I shouted after them ¡°Alan, are you going on overwatch?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll stay on the roof and snipe the robo critter from there!¡± ¡°OK, I might be able to lure it near you.¡± With Roger as backup and ignoring my aching ribs, I made my way along the east side of the building, until I reached the northeast corner. From there I had line of sight to the metal monster and started peppering it with bullets. Unfortunately, my first shot missed the eye. Shooting that had so far been a great way to kill the machines fast. The Mack immediately covered its single eye with its hands and arms. My attempts to shoot the eye were stopped by the massive metal hands. It started approaching me, every two or three seconds uncovering its eye for a moment. BANG. The Mack had passed close to the building below Alan¡¯s position, and it was unable to cover its eye both from ahead and above. Alan¡¯s powerful sniper rifle smashed the eye into little shards. Chapter 12: Loot Checking the surroundings of the school showed no more enemies. We were a bit surprised that there had been so few, but after the Type Three was dead, we did not expect more to come. According to the official Emergency Survival Guide, Type 3 or Type 21 units were typically the core of an emergence. They were the ones who built or brought in (teleported?) more units. In this case, we already had killed the only one on scene. In the meantime, an air ambulance had arrived at the school for the wounded teacher. Which was a good sign. If help came that fast, the Victoria area as a whole was probably not too bad off. The shelter was open and apparently the father of little Cassie had heard about who helped out, so he came up to us and asked if there was anything he could do for us. Roger replied ¡°Cailtlin here collects dead Macks, and the big one over there would certainly be a nice trophy.¡± Damn right it would be nice. Not so much for the bragging value, more for the chance of extracting some Mack technology. So I stepped up and said ¡°That would be really nice!¡± Cassie¡¯s father said ¡°Sure, I have a flatbed trailer and I know that Roger can drive my big crane.¡± Better and better. But it might not be all that smart to leave the thing sitting in plain view. So I asked Elya ¡°Is there a shop nearby where I can get something like a large tarp? At Landing Lane, Langford Lake, is a shop with marine equipment. Its database indicates that it has suitable covers for your new toy. I would have to ask Roger to make a stop there. And I¡¯d owe him a lot of spare parts for today''s help at looting. It took another thirty minutes to load up the dead Mack, then we started towards Colwood. At the shop, I found it was closed. ¡°Elya, could you please open the doors for me?¡± The electronic doors unlocked and slid open. I soon found a suitable tarp for my new Mack and turned to leave. Under other circumstances I might have done a little shoplifting, but as I could afford it now, I told Elya ¡°I¡¯d like to pay for the thing, but anonymously if you can arrange it.¡± That is an unusually noble move. By your standards. Money is transferred We went back on the road, following the flatbed trailer with the Type Three on it. Its legs hung down from the trailer and dragged on the road, leaving a trail of sparks. Fortunately the roads were empty, apparently sane people were still sitting in their shelters. Eventually we arrived at the fire depot where my shelter was and started unloading. We parked the Mack between some old equipment as if it belonged there. My chest started to give me serious pain by now, but with the help of Roger and Cassie¡¯s father I still managed to cover up my looted robot menace with the tarp. I thanked both Roger and Cassie¡¯s father profusely for their help. As soon as they had left, I started inspecting the eye. ¡°Elya, I¡¯d like to try and find out what this thing has to tell me. Suggestions about retrieving whatever data may be still in there?¡± I simply could not stop now, uncovering the secrets of this Mack¡¯s technology was too enticing. Somewhere between genuine curiosity and avarice I guess. But for the creatures I was going to steal from I had zero sympathy anyway. Directed by Elya, I fetched the adapter hardware I had already kludged together for testing the spike of the Type Four, and with some ad hoc printed probes, I managed to connect the computer to the electronics in the Mack. Or perhaps I should say Elya managed. She did most of the planning and designing, I could barely follow. But I was in too much of a hurry to take it slow and ask for explanations. By the time the fire department discovered the addition to their parking lot, I wanted to have recovered whatever information was still salvageable from the broken machine. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. We were halfway through the accessible cables, when it became too dark to continue. The probes were difficult to connect, and I needed both hands for the work. Perhaps I could have continued with a flashlight between my teeth, but I needed some sleep and my ribs needed some rest. I still did not know if one of them was broken. Next morning, my chest looked like the worst bruise ever. But the pain in the ribs had receded, so I continued to work on the Mack. After two hours, I hit paydirt. Elya had managed to access the database in what might be called a womb for new Macks. At its rear, the Type Three had a very advanced 3D printer. Large enough to make a Type One or Four in, if its limbs were folded up. Elya explained: This fabricator is considerably more advanced than what you have now. It almost matches the Assembler Mark II we have in our roadmap for fabrication capabilities. It has also stored blueprints for anything it might be asked to produce. In particular the Types One, Four and Three, the latter in parts for later assembly. Also a construction drone that is not listed in the Emergency Survival Guide. Its design suggests it is meant to assemble new Threes from the aforementioned parts. ¡°I want you to extract this data as soon as possible. I am especially interested in the Type Three and its fabricator. Once you have that, we will talk about possible shortcuts in Project Fabber.¡± The same afternoon, Elya was still transferring data, but she told me that she had discovered a lot of information from the blueprints. Of course. If you knew the design of a thing, understanding its function followed logically. At least for an entity like Elya. By now she could probably explain in great detail how a Type Three worked, merely from running a simulation. The most effective strategy at this point would be to use the Mack fabricator to make the Assembler Mark II. Which offers small but critical improvements over the Mack fabricator. Essentially, that would allow you to skip three stages in your roadmap to making a Creation Engine. l suggest that you start to collect raw materials. Elya gave me a list. It would more than wipe out my stockpile of feedstock for my existing 3D printers. I had to acquire at least part of the raw materials from other sources. Elya had informed me that I could literally feed the Mack with scrap. That was how they fed in the wild. Like when this one was eating the slides at the school. After a few hours of collecting and buying scrap, I finally was ready to start. First, buying the catalog and blueprint we had picked.
Item Point cost Description
Class I Matter Reconfiguration Machines (Catalog) 75 Various fabricators and chemical reactors
Assembler Mark II (Blueprint) 1000 Multi-material 3D printer with nanoscale resolution.
Purchased: Everything in the table Balance left¡­ 9 points Second, actually building the new printer. With bated breath I waited for Elya to start the small fusion reactor in the Mack. This was one of the things Elya had not been 100% confident about. She told me something about possible fuel contamination. Which was fascinating, but halfway through explaining the possible reaction chains she lost me. Finally, I could start shoveling scrap into the Mack¡¯s mouth. The first product was a small barrow for transporting the rest of the products. Next, teleport emitters for the printed material. I wanted the most critical parts done first in case I was interrupted. After that, feedstock disintegrator arrays, the opposite of the printer. I was not only building a printer, but an entire set of nanoscale shredder, storage and fabricator. For shredder and storage I used the designs from the Type Three, because I lacked the points for the Protector equivalents. But in this context, Mack tech would be good enough. The following day, containers, conveyors and little pipelines followed. Then the frame for mounting the parts in. Finally, some basic tools to assemble the stuff. The one thing left to do was making or buying panels for the case. Not strictly necessary, but it would look much nicer. Chapter 13: Q & A February, Monday 3th, 2048 In the morning, I was woken by insistent ringing of the doorbell and hammering at the door. I had barely moved into my shelter apartment and the door to door salesmen were already here? I threw on some clothes in a hurry. Unfortunately, the new chest plate for my armor was still in the printer. Would I need my rifle? With a great degree of wariness, I checked the door camera. B.S.O.D. was standing there, accompanied by two men I had never met. At least, nobody was waving a gun around, and I knew B.S.O.D as a reasonable person. So I opened the door. ¡°Hi, welcome to Vanguard Enterprises. Come in and I¡¯ll be happy to make some coffee.¡± Once we had settled at one of the tables in the kitchen, B.S.O.D. started talking. ¡°Let me introduce my escorts. This¡±, she pointed to a gray-haired, academic looking type to her left ¡°is Professor Callahan, head of the Xenotechnological Institute at the University of Victoria.¡± Next she pointed to the other guy. He was in his forties and seemed to have a giant stick up his ass. Probably some military officer. ¡°And this is Major Allen, from the HANAF procurement office¡±. ¡°Miss MacCallan, we need to know more about your activities. First, you seem to have access to advanced ammunition that could greatly help us in our fight against the machines. Second, I hear you collect dead Macks and have even parked a mostly intact Type Three on the ground of this fire depot. One of the firemen informed SHOCKS that the Three still had a warm engine.¡± ¡°Uh, I will admit to a small parking violation?¡± Elya quickly supplied me with some legalese. ¡°And the Robotic Invader Salvage Act of 2037 clearly says that salvaging Macks is legal. And that the salvager is entitled to keep or sell the salvage as they wish.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t get cute with me. We have evidence that this machine has recently been used, not earlier than yesterday. That means you know how to operate it, at least partly.¡° ¡°I figured out how to start it up. There are enough similarities to Protector designs working on the same principles. I do, however, not fully understand the function yet.¡± Technically true. I had not gotten around yet to studying the blueprints of the Mack in depth. Or ask Elya for a detailed explanation. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°And how do you know about the inner workings of Protector designs?¡± ¡°You may remember our conversation last September, when I told you about how Vanguard acquire access to supplies?¡± ¡°Yes, I have sometimes wondered what else might be in that ¡®little aug¡¯ of yours.¡± ¡°Through Little Aug I could not only order hardware, but also unlock technical documentation. The latter is still stored in Little Aug and can sometimes be leveraged to figure out how similar technology works.¡° Grumble. Subvocalized: ¡°That is your public name now.¡± I shall suffer in dignity. Professor Callahan followed up with ¡°Could you describe the start-up process of the Type Three¡¯s reactor for us? It would greatly help us in our research!¡± ¡°Yes, I will send you a walk-through.¡± Which Elya would write for me. She was even good at imitating my writing style. Major Allen interjected ¡°On matters of hardware supply, we want to know from where you got the tungsten core ammunition you used at Hatley Castle. We recovered some of the projectiles and found the quality exceptional. Inspector Hastings also told me about a grenade that seemed to stun a few Macks.¡± I saw an opportunity. ¡°I made those. The grenades only work in combination with Little Aug, but the projectiles can be used by everyone. Perhaps I should start an arms manufacturing company.¡± You could manufacture hundreds of the projectiles per day on your current printer and still have room for personal projects. Once your new printer is online, throughput will go up another two orders of magnitude. Major Allen replied ¡°We would certainly welcome a new supplier of high quality AP rounds.¡± Next Professor Callahan asked for a tour of my workshop, which I was happy to give him. The components for my next fabricator were still locked away in a former dorm of the shelter, so I saw no risk in letting people into the workshop. Callahan appeared to know quite a bit about materials science, especially those materials used in Mack components. We had a captivating conversation, with a bit of prompting by Elya so I could keep up. But eventually B.S.O.D. interrupted. ¡°I am very sorry, but we need that Type Three. On my authority as a Magical Girl and Colonel with HANAF, I requisition this robot for vitally important use in R&D. You will of course receive compensation. Two times the current market value based on the prices at the component and scrap exchange.¡± I did not protest too loudly for several reasons. First, I already had the blueprints and the parts for my next printer. Second, I could use the money, as I was not quite sure yet what equipment besides my printers I would need for a miniature ammunition factory. It might cost quite a chunk. And third, I was curious how quickly they would be able to derive something useful from their new Mack. My bet was they would not be nearly as fast as Elya and I. We exchanged a few more pleasantries, then B.S.O.D. and her team left. When I escorted them to the door, I could already see a big crane and a truck with a flatbed trailer arriving. It was time to organize things. ¡°Elya, research the formalities of getting licensed as a heavy weapons manufacturer.¡± Chapter 14: Manufacturing Amateurs study tactics. Professionals study logistics. ¨C General Omar N. Bradley Over the next two days, I assembled most of the Assembler Mark II and the other parts of my little fabrication complex. For the cover, I took the lazy route and ordered it from a different company. What else could I do? The Macks did not make a convenient appearance at the moment, negating the opportunity to make some quick points. Emergence detected. It appears to be on the other side of Victoria. Jinxed it of course. But it was actually not convenient. I seemed to be reasonably safe where I was, but I could not quickly join the fight either if I wanted. The distance was around thirteen kilometers as the crow flies, and I did not even have a car. Hmm. The latter could be fixed. Once the net was available again, I took a break from lugging around fabricator parts and checked out used cars offered on the net. Soon I found a modestly-sized electric van that was offered cheaply because of defective batteries. February, Tuesday 11th, 2048 A busy week was behind me. The assembler worked and already produced a crate of ammunition per day. And I had taken a crash course in driving. Elya could have faked the driver¡¯s license for me, but it seemed smarter to actually take some lessons. I also had purchased the van and replaced the batteries with Mack-designed batteries I had printed myself, having extracted the design from the blueprint of the Type Three. The new ones were better than the originals ever had been. On the bureaucracy front, the arms maker license had been issued quite fast, even without Elya accelerating things. Major Allen had actually called to tell me they had greased the wheels and expected results. Between the lines I had read that they hoped for more than just rifle ammunition. Now, what to make for HANAF and for my own Mack hunting? Macks seemed to have little protection against artillery, I wondered why HANAF did not exploit that more often. After discussing options with Elya, I called Major Allen to ask. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°Good morning, Major. I figured I might be able to put some sort of guided mortar bomb together, but I¡¯m not sure what artillery in general tends to achieve versus Macks. Could you point me to some information about past successes or failures?¡± ¡°What are you thinking of?" ¡°An 81 mm mortar bomb with camera, image recognition software and fins for minor course corrections. Against Macks that stay in one place we should get great hit rates. Such as the Type 21, they tend to dig in but without overhead protection.¡± ¡°Miss McCallan, we used to have weapons like that and they worked reasonably well. Until our supply chains collapsed because too many of the component suppliers had their factories destroyed.¡± ¡°I will be able to make them in small quantities for testing soon. The bottleneck is production capacity, if we want to use these in large numbers I will have to ramp up capacity a lot. By the way, could you lend me a mortar for the tests?¡± I could only afford one blueprint for grenades at the moment. Fortunately my Kinetic Ammunitions catalog offered not only purely kinetic stuff, and I had found a blueprint for a guided rifle grenade that had a shaped charge for maximum penetration. Historically also called High Explosive Anti-Tank or HEAT. I used that as the basis for my design. Purchased: Image Guided Rifle Grenade (Blueprint) Point cost¡­ 100 points New balance¡­ 19 points With the CAD software in the Lorekeeper Tome Of Mechanical Engineering, I managed to remodel it into a mortar grenade for the popular 81mm caliber. Aerodynamic simulation software for fine tuning the exterior ballistics was available from the University of Victoria. Not that they knew about it. For the correct propellant, Elya managed to swipe documentation from elsewhere on the internet for me. Such guided mortar bombs were actually not that sophisticated. As Major Allen had said, in the early 2020s Humanity had the means to make similar weapons. Which were lost now, except to people like me with access to Protector manufacturing tech. Or the Advent, but they were extremely hesitant about sharing. It seemed that at times, the greatest weapon was a resilient supply chain. I expected that HANAF would soon show up with more ideas about requisitioning stuff. Which I really did not like. So I locked my fabricator down for my use only. I might sell them an unlocked one, but this one would remain mine. Or perhaps I¡¯d just tell them how to make their own on the Mack fabber. Completely withholding the technology would be a bad idea, it was needed too urgently. I would play it by ear when they showed up next. In the meantime, I did a bit more tinkering. Over the next week I modified my van for 4WD. Elya had found most of the dimensions of the parts on the net and adding the missing details was easy enough with the CAD software in my mechanical engineering textbook. Also, I only needed to show I understood the concepts and Elya would be happy to do the details for me. Going for a wider knowledge base started to pay off. Finally, printing out the parts was quick and easy now. Chapter 15: Tests February, Monday 24th, 2048 15:00 It had taken HANAF a little longer than I expected, but a test was scheduled for today. At the request of HANAF, we would be using a modified version of the mortar bombs without a big bang. Elya had bent the rules a bit and helped me redesign the explosive filler. It would now make a puff of smoke rather than a serious explosion. I had brought twenty mortar grenades for the test, plus some measurement tools. HANAF did not lend me a mortar, but I had found much of the specs of the M252 mortar on the net. Today, I might be able to reverse engineer the rest. We met in the north of Victoria, from where we would shoot at one of the uninhabited islands a few kilometers off the coast. HANAF had set up some targets there they had put together from scrap Macks. We had a Type 21 to shoot at, cobbled together from Type 21 wreckage by HANAF. A Type 3 like the one I had possessed for a few days and finally some smaller stuff. A HANAF drone watched from above for better images of the impact. The grenades had a small panel at the side where one could pick the desired target. For the first test, I selected Type 21 as target type. With me closely watching, one of the soldiers dropped a bomb down the barrel. WHUMP Half a minute later, the target was covered in a cloud of pink smoke. It seemed Elya was getting back at me for the ¡°Little Aug.¡± From the soldiers I heard ¡°What the fuck?¡± and ¡°BWAHAHA, girl smoke!¡± But as the test progressed, we had three out of three direct hits on the Type 21, three out of three on the Type 3 and three out of four on the Type 28. Eventually the soldiers took a break, while I was busy taking measurements of the mortar tube and taking pictures through my augs. The remaining ten rounds went into a few tests with mixed targets or even no targets. Without targets present, the bombs were supposed to self-destruct, which they did as expected. By the end, the little island was covered in pink residue from the smoke. February, Friday 28th, 2048 15:00 Once again, an Emergence warning came in. Time for a field test under realistic conditions. I had printed another twenty mortar grenades by that time, and my own mortar too. And made other preparations. I knew I might need a forward observer, and the Victoria authorities had the bad habit of shutting off the internet and phone service during Emergences. But at the moment, I had only 189 points and wanted to avoid spending them on things I could achieve otherwise. So instead of buying blueprints for points, I had bought a few old-fashioned walkie-talkies for credits. And some old-fashioned paper maps of Vancouver Island with a coordinate overlay. Getting these had required a trip to Ralph¡¯s Surplus Store in Sooke. Not the Ralph I knew from the gun range. Different Ralph and even more weird. I loaded my arty stuff into the van and drove over to Roger¡¯s place. He was at home, Ellen and Phil too. I asked them ¡°Interested in some Mack hunting? I have artillery and I''m looking for forward observers.¡± Roger: ¡°What the fuck?¡± ¡°81mm mortar with guided bombs. Official project with HANAF, but I have printed a few extra grenades.¡± Roger: ¡°Are you fucking crazy?¡± Phil: ¡°That sounds interesting. What¡¯s your plan?¡° Nice. I knew Phil had some experience with arty, so he might be the best qualified I could get. ¡°As soon as we have a good idea of the location, set up three to five kilometers away and try to find some Macks with no friendlies nearby. If there is no line of sight, the forward observer would become important.¡± How important would really depend on circumstances - if HANAF had a recon drone up where Elya could swipe real time video for me, I might not even need the forward observer. Again, keeping Elya¡¯s full abilities under wraps made things a bit cumbersome. Phil said ¡°I might be a little crazy, but I¡¯ll come along. It¡¯s been a long time since I¡¯ve seen precision artillery in action.¡± Roger replied ¡°I¡¯m not coming along for this harebrained idea. But you can borrow the magic tablet. Just don¡¯t lose it.¡± Which turned out to be an old surplus tablet that was still logged into a forgotten user account on the local defense net. That account was even authorized to view real-time reconnaissance video. Not quite as good as Elya, but convenient for me because I could keep Elya¡¯s hacking abilities hidden. Another twenty minutes later, Phil figured out that trouble was expected along the road to Nanaimo. Within minutes, we were on our way up the deserted Trans-Canada Highway. I asked Phil ¡±Could you check the road ahead for obstacles? Especially roadblocks?¡± ¡°I have intermittent eyes on the road to Duncan, further north the surveillance drones are on another channel I have no access to.¡± Twenty minutes later he added ¡°There is a road block just south of Mill Bay. For whatever reason is beyond me.¡± ¡°Can you point me to an exit before we get into their view?¡± A few minutes later we left the highway near the old Mill Bay Ferry Terminal and parked the van at a point from which my mortar could reach most of the Ardmore waterfront and the west beaches of John Dean Provincial Park. As I had no interest in discussing my little trip with the RCMP, operating further north was out. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Phil grabbed one of the walkie-talkies and a map, then he went looking for a good observation spot. While he was still underway, I heard messages on the defense net about Macks attacking Ardmore from the sea. Minutes later Phil reported ¡°I can see Type Twenty-Ones digging in at the beach of Coles Bay Park¡±. These were huge metal caterpillars the size of a school bus, with six strong arms at the front. I lugged the mortar parts some distance away from the van and started assembling them. Phil: ¡°Are you ready to fire? ¡°I need a few more minutes!¡± ¡°Get a move on!¡± I have a live feed from a HANAF drone now. As soon as I had pointed my mortar roughly to the target, Elya projected a map on my augs with the locations of detected Macks overlaid. For now my targets were the two Type 21 at Coles Bay Park. I prepared the first four grenades with the target type set to Type 21. Then I grabbed my walkie-talkie and asked Phil ¡°Any friendlies nearby we might hurt?¡± ¡°I cannot see any. But make one test shot before you go all out¡±. I grabbed a grenade, removed the safety and dropped it down the barrel of the mortar. WHUMP Half a minute later I could still see the mortar grenade, gleaming in the evening sun and diving towards its target. Then it disappeared from my sight behind the trees. Phil: ¡°That was a perfect hit. Fire some more!¡± In intervals of maybe eight seconds, more shots went out. WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP I hustled to get more mortar rounds ready. When I was done, I called Phil again ¡°I¡¯m ready to fire more. Target area still clear of friendlies?¡± ¡°Yes, keep firing.¡± WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP I prepared four more, but called Phil before I started shooting again. ¡°Report please, am I still hitting?¡± ¡°You are, but always the same Mack.¡± ¡°Is it dead?¡± ¡°Not sure, these things can take a lot¡±. I resumed shooting. WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP At this point, I had eight of my twenty grenades left. The HANAF drone is over the targets again. The one you keep hammering is burning. Elya overlaid a video over an edge of my vision. It was a beautiful view, fourteen meters of twitching, burning steel. I needed to hit the other one too. I made a slight adjustment to the mortar so the bombs would be falling a bit more to the southeast. When the next set was ready, I called Phil again ¡°Phil, I¡¯m adjusting my aim a bit to hit the other one. Target area still clear?¡± ¡°Yes, continue.¡± WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP Phil called me ¡°One round went off target and self-destructed. Good that you have thought of such safety features. One hit your new target, the other two went after the burning one again¡±. You can stop shooting at your first target. It is dead. Target eliminated! 1x Type 21 Reward... 500 Points This model is responsible for bringing in Mack reinforcements. Destroying it is rewarded according to its important role in enabling the emergence. Four grenades left, and it seemed unlikely I could kill the second Type 21 if half my mortar bombs preferred to hit the dead one. On the other hand, fourteen mortar rounds for killing a Type 21 seemed cheap enough. I called Phil again. ¡°I think we need to spread the love around elsewhere. Do you see targets that are not too close to the Twenty-Ones? Maybe a different type?¡± ¡°Two Type 28 sniper units on the southern tip of Ardmore, west of Coles Bay. I cannot see any others.¡± These are the most promising targets. There are some smaller Mack units in Ardmore, but they keep moving around. Even with your guided mortar bombs, you might have trouble hitting those. I could see the two Twenty-Eights on Elya¡¯s overlay. Aiming was easy. WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP The HANAF drone came around again, and I could observe the impacts in real time. Four bombs in a row hit the Type 28 that stood a little more to the west and blew it to smithereens. Its twin, a few meters away, seemed unhurt. Target eliminated! 1x Type 28 Reward¡­ 20 Points With a sigh, I called Phil. ¡°We are done here, I¡¯m out of ammo.¡± Then I realized something. Making my debut as an independent artillery commander might be a bit too early. ¡°Elya, could you delete the footage that HANAF drone has collected?¡± Done. I have even faked a technical defect to make it look less suspicious. By the way, you have one token and 709 points now. I wondered if I had considered this early enough. If someone had paid attention to the live footage, deleting it after the fact might not do much good. Meanwhile, at SHOCKS: Operator Ethan had just received a call from Longhorn, one of his Magical Girls and team leader of the Battle Bugs. ¡°Ethan, there are explosions from the south of Ardmore, where you reported those Type 21s.¡± ¡°Go over there and check it out, but be careful.¡± Minutes later, Ethan had been busy supporting another team meanwhile, Longhorn called again: ¡°Sorry, we got delayed a bit. We are at Coles Bay Park now, and there are two Type Twenty-Ones. One is burning and seems to be dead. The other one has a hole blown into it but is still active. No other enemies in sight. Engaging the surviving Twenty-One now.¡± Through Longhorn¡¯s eyes, James could see Ladybug electrocuting the Mack, then Mantis and Longhorn herself went in for the kill. Mantis started to hack off the arms, Longhorn rammed her spear through its flank. Once it had penetrated the steel shell, she triggered the thermite injector function. Thanks to Advent dimensional shunting technology, a much larger amount of molten steel than should have fit into the spear flooded the huge machine. Once she retracted the spear, acrid smoke wafted from the puncture hole. Longhorn repeated the process a few more times along the length of the metal monster. Eventually it succumbed to the damage and stopped moving. From the corner of his eye, James saw movement on another screen he should probably have paid more attention to. That screen showed footage from a HANAF surveillance drone, and right now there was a smashed and still smoldering Type 28. A second later, the footage became grainy and cut out for a moment. When it came back and James tried to rewind to an earlier point in the footage, he found the data corrupted. Should he report the incident? James knew he was supposed to. But he also knew that his immediate superior tended to be harsh on people who made incomplete reports. Just having a glimpse of a smoking Mack to report was pretty incomplete. Perhaps it was better to say nothing at all. Chapter 16: Licensing The next day, I went over the blueprint of my mortar bomb with Elya. Especially over the software, and in particular the algorithm for target selection. As I suspected, it would always pick the same target in the same situation, and it had no way of recognizing if a target was already dead. Obviously that part needed some refinement. To be fair, the original design was meant to fire with line of sight to the specific target. No need to make decisions about which target to attack there. So I started work on a more sophisticated set of mortar and grenades, where the grenades were programmed while sliding down the mortar¡¯s barrel. Some industrial espionage and Elya letting me bend the rules a bit helped. The new model even allowed picking specific targets from the live feed of a drone. Also, recon drones of my own would be a great help. Piggybacking on HANAF resources was nice when it worked, but it still required that they used their drones in a place where they would be helpful to me. The day before, they had done so only half the time. Finally, I was lucky I had not run into the Type Six yet. It was the equivalent of a kamikaze drone from the 2022-2025 Ukraine War, and those had killed more than a handful of soldiers, inside or outside of vehicles. Defending against the Type Six was highly important. Probably even more important than recon drones of my own. ¡°Elya, what do you have in terms of small turrets for automated point defense? In particular against the Type Six. Give me an overview of what I could build with my current fabber.¡± A list of twenty-six turrets popped up, with images, a short description and price tags. The blueprints tended to cost ten times as much as one piece of the hardware, which put many models out of my budget. One of the designs caught my eye. ¡°¡®What is that?¡± The Micro Avian Eliminator Mark I from the Class I Light Point Defenses catalog. A two-barreled gun turret in caliber 5.7x28mm. Its cameras have hemispherical coverage, so unless something sneaks up from below, it will not get to the turret unseen. Total firing rate is forty rounds per second with an ammunition capacity of 400 rounds. Unlocking the catalog costs 100 points, Blueprint price is 500 points. ¡°Which species uses such weird turret names?¡± It was developed by the Skitter, a species of insectoid sophonts that evolved under constant threat of being eaten by birds. That left certain marks on their psyche. ¡°And why does it just happen to use a terran caliber?¡± A minor adaption we make if there is similar ammunition available in the world of the client species. The original had a caliber of 6.1x25.3mm. Remodeling to 5.7x28mm allows you to share ammunition. After discussing some more technical details, I chose to buy the blueprint and ordered the first Avian Eliminator from my fabricator right away. Class I Light Point Defenses unlocked! Points reduced to¡­ 619 Purchased: Micro Avian Eliminator Mark I (Blueprint) The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. New point balance... 119 The day after that, I mounted the Avian Eliminator on the roof of my van. It looked like half a sphere with a short cylindrical extension underneath, a few cameras around the sphere and two barrels sticking out. Imagine the head and a bit of the body of R2D2, the old Star Wars character. Just with short guns sticking out of the head. This left the matter of if and how to fortify the fire depot, beyond my little shelter. Or even set some traps. I had a few ideas. So I called the city and offered to upgrade certain security measures at my personal expense. Which they were only too happy to accept. I paid for reinforced doors that would keep the way from the shelter to the stairway open, and put an Avian Eliminator on the roof. A fiber optic communication line connected the Eliminator with the shelter, so Elya could use it as an extra lookout. As a side benefit, I now had official roof access. I also ordered an old PartyBox loudspeaker with WiFi remote control from Ebay. I had plans for it¡­ March, Thursday 12th, 2048 The day after I had delivered a prototype of the advanced mortar and some grenades for further testing, B.S.O.D. was back with Professor Callahan. Apparently, even with my admission from last time that I still had some access to Protector tech, they smelled a rat. The good professor had finally understood that ¡°some tech documents¡± does not usually translate to ¡°one girl military-industrial complex¡±. I had foreseen that and prepared a few compromise options. This time, Professor Callahan started the inquisition. ¡°Your progress exceeds the speed one could expect from a single developer quite a bit. I suspect you are holding back a lot and spoon-feeding us that Protector tech of yours. Perhaps HANAF should have a bit more oversight here.¡± I got a little angry. ¡°I am already building armaments for you. Work with me here, not against me!¡± B.S.O.D.: ¡°We cannot afford not to have every advantage against the machines we can possibly get. So I am sorry if I have to press you here, but my duty to all of humanity does not allow me to relent.¡± She had a point. Humanity was genuinely fighting for their lives against the Macks. So I made an on the spot decision to give them a greater degree of access to my tech, as long as they did not try to stuff me into some kind of ¡°protective custody¡±. ¡°OK, I¡¯m willing to sell you an unlocked set of recycler and fabricator equivalent to what I have here. Complete with some blueprints and CAD/CAM software. For an appropriate license fee of course.¡± B.S.O.D. was not so easily satisfied. ¡°What blueprints and CAD/CAM software, and how would this help secure our future supplies?¡± ¡°Blueprints of the ammunition I¡¯m already delivering. I¡¯m willing to put blueprints of the advanced mortar in escrow with my lawyers, in case I become permanently unavailable.¡± I wanted to keep the mortar production to myself, because of the point acquisition rules. Good thinking. The more degrees of separation there are between you and the use of your weapons, the lower the payout in points will be. Making the mortars yourself is less separation than licensing the design to others. ¡°Also CAD/CAM software you can use to feed other designs directly into the fabricator, and finally blueprints and an assembly manual for the fabricator complex itself.¡± The latter was the big one. With the means to make more fabricators, they could disperse manufacturing to several locations, each able to make any of the available blueprints. That redundancy would make for a very hard to break supply chain. Professor Callahan understood immediately. ¡°That changes things. It will go a long way in securing future availability of the equipment we need.¡± To B.S.O.D. ¡°I think we should take that as a major sign of goodwill.¡± B.S.O.D. agreed. ¡°It looks like we are coming to a good cooperation after all.¡± Suddenly the mood in the room was a lot more friendly. But even so, B.S.O.D. still announced her intention to keep an eye on me. Over the following week, we finalized the arrangement in record speed. I finally hired a law firm to help with the fine print, and in parallel I built the initial set of manufacturing equipment for the government. For now, it would be located at SHOCKS, with more installations elsewhere no doubt following. Chapter 17: Minions March, Thursday 19th, 2048 20:15 There is another Emergence, mostly to the west of here. Time to see how good my plans for the fire depot really were. The way across the parking lot still looked free, so I grabbed the old party box I had loaded with sounds of frightened people and stuffed it into the trash container at the other side of the parking lot. Back in the depot, I grabbed my armor, a bunch of extra ammo and my three remaining EMP grenades. I made my way to the roof and made sure that the Avian Eliminator was online. A short test showed that I could control the party box from up here. Then I waited. On the security forces network reports from all over the southwest of Victoria came in. Braemar Heights, Glenlake and Luxton had active Macks. I hoped Roger and his guys would be OK. And the girl of course, I had come to like Ellen. A Type One was sniffing around between the houses to the west. It was time to set up my trap. Subvocalized: ¡°Elya, activate¡±. The trash container started to emit sounds of human distress and fear. The Type One searched the vicinity of the container, found nothing, then tried to climb into the container. Without success, its legs were not made for the climb. It tried to scramble up the container for a bit, then it gave up and returned where it had come from. Soon it returned with a whole crowd of other Macks, mostly Type Ones but also three Fours. My compilation of screams from old horror films must have been pretty convincing, this was a larger audience than I had expected. I pressed the button on one of my EMP grenades and threw it into the middle of the crowd. BANG Elya knew the drill from Hatley Castle, she hacked as many as she could and marked the successfully hacked ones on my augs as green. Some collapsed, some resisted, but five switched their loyalties. Including one of the Type Four mecha squids. ¡°Elya, move the captured ones to the other side of the parking lot. I don¡¯t want them to get the full pulse next time.¡± The tamed Macks obediently moved, while I readied the next grenade. BANG This time another three Ones defected, as well as a second Type Four. This left a handful of dead, disoriented or still hostile ones, in particular the last Type Four. But they could not see a path up to my position, which seemed to leave them a bit clueless. It was time to use my rifle, and my first shot went through the eye of the Four. It dropped dead. It would have been like shooting fish in a barrel, if I had been inclined to expend more ammunition. Instead I instructed my new minions to kill the remaining enemy Macks. Those did not understand that their erstwhile comrades were now enemies. They died quickly to the spikes and sharp feet of the traitors. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. I was now the proud commander of two Type Four mecha squids and seven six-legged, doglike Type One Macks. That had to qualify as a squad. Perhaps I could call myself Sergeant MacCallan now? But the job was not done yet. Two Mack sniper units of Type 28 had dug in at the crossing Sooke Road / Veteran Memorial Parkway and given the HANAF soldiers who tried to advance from the east trouble. I had to do something about it, but without being shot myself. It was time to lead from the rear. ¡°Elya, I want those Type Fours reprogrammed some more. They need to take out the Twenty-Eights for us. I¡¯m banking on their inability to recognize subverted units. Can you program them accordingly?¡± Certainly. There is, of course, always the risk they will be destroyed by friendly fire. ¡°Cannot be helped if it happens. But perhaps we can convince HANAF we are friendlies. Can you give me active access to the security forces net?¡± Done. You are on the battalion level net of the HANAF unit to the west of your objective. These are the ones most likely to shoot you by accident. I set out along Allandale Road towards the northwest. The Ones deployed to the west to scout for more Macks, with the order to come back and signal with blinking eyes if something unpleasant approached. I sent the Fours about forty meters ahead of me. In case someone saw them and shot at them, I hoped to avoid becoming collateral damage by keeping my distance. At this point, I could no longer resist. Also, a small fight on the ground might cause less of a ruckus than artillery. On the battalion net I announced myself with ¡°This is Sergeant MacCallan of Vanguard Command. We are attacking enemy units at the crossing Sooke Road and Veteran Memorial Parkway with experimental robots of our own. Do not interfere.¡± From the net came the answer ¡°Get off this channel, unauthorized unit!¡± I replied ¡°Just don¡¯t shoot our units when they attack the Twenty-Eights and we will be fine!¡± By then, my Fours had stopped behind the last building before the crossing as ordered. I sneaked up to them and peeked around the corner. Only fifty meters down the road, two pony-sized, weevil-shaped robots were sitting behind bushes and aiming their proboscis-like barrels north- and eastwards. Time for the attack. ¡°Elya, instruct the Fours to cross the road, come up to the Twenty-Eights from behind and poke out their eyes!¡± Yes, Sergeant! My loyal minions advanced. The tension was nerve-wracking, with potential threats from all sides. Friendly fire from HANAF to the east. An attack from Macks from the west. Bombardment by Magical Girls. And less dangerous to me, but still annoying, the possibility someone would shoot at my Fours. Eventually my mecha squids had reached the Mack sniper units, sidled up to them and rammed their spikes into the eyes of the enemy. Smashing sounds rang through the night. Again and again. After what felt like an eternity but could have only been seconds, my units disengaged and returned the same way. ¡°Elya, I¡¯d like to retrieve the Ones from the east. Could you instruct one of the Fours to go over and collect them? Meeting point corner Allendale - Wishale.¡± Orders given. With the second Type Four in tow, I retreated along Allendale Road. Halfway back to the shelter, I could see two Magical Girls running past the intersection behind me. They seemed not to notice me, but they noticed the Four I had sent to collect my lesser units. I could hear excited battlecries. I was not worried about the girls, as Elya had reprogrammed my units to never attack humans. But losing the Four still smarted. Which was a bit irrational, as I could print new ones now. All of the Ones rendezvoused with me as planned and we returned to the shelter. I even took the time to drag the scrap off the parking lot. Tomorrow I would feed the dead Macks into the recycler. Before going to bed, I had one more question for Elya: ¡°What is my total balance of points and tokens now?¡± One Token and 549 points. Forty of those are for the Type 28s. Chapter 18: Eye In The Sky March, Friday 20th, 2048 With an old fashioned angle grinder, I was cutting up the scrap Macks from the evening before. Dismantling the Type Four was slow going because the plate was so damn tough, but I did not want to spend my scarce points on amenities like better power tools. Not yet. Instead, my thoughts turned to reconnaissance. One of the absolute must-haves in warfare. I wanted my own eye in the sky, rather than having to wait until a convenient HANAF drone was nearby. Including today¡¯s daily allowance I had 559 points, perhaps I could afford something nice now. ¡°Elya, what can you recommend as a flying recon drone? It does not need to fight, but it would be nice if it can stay undetected.¡± In the Class I Drones catalog there is the Spectracopter Mark III which might interest you. It hides through a clever combination of translucent parts and a metamaterial shroud that guides light around its core parts. Technically your Assembler Mark II cannot build the Spectracopter, because it lacks the ability to make some of the more exotic components. But I can substitute simpler technologies where necessary. This will somewhat reduce stealthiness and flight endurance. ¡°Show me the prices in table form.¡±
Item Point Cost Description
Class I Basic Drones 50 Catalog
Spectracopter Mark III (blueprint) 500 Stealthy reconnaissance and communication drone
¡°Yes, I¡¯ll take it.¡± Purchased: Everything in the table New balance¡­ One Token and 9 points Of course, I wanted to play with my new toy as soon as possible. So I ordered one from my printer right away, but some of the firefighters were still upstairs, doing maintenance on their equipment. As soon as they had left, I picked up my new Spectracopter. It came in a fifty centimeter long carry case with an integrated charger and the Vanguard Enterprises logo on it. As soon as Elya and I had agreed on the logo, she started printing it on everything. When I unpacked it on the roof, it turned out to be a futuristic looking mini helicopter. All of it appeared to be covered in anti-reflective coating, and the rotor blades were translucent so they would appear to have the color of the background to an observer. The most amazing feature was that the hull appeared transparent as well, even if I definitely knew there were compact and very much not transparent items inside. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. ¡°Start it up!¡± The rotor unfolded and started rotating. Within seconds, it produced enough lift that the little helicopter was pulling upwards in my grip. I released it and soon it hovered fifty meters up in the air. Even knowing it was there, I could barely see it. The outer layers of the hull are made of metamaterials that guide light around the inner parts and make it appear like they are not even there. It would blend in with its background even better if I did not have to make compromises in manufacturing. Next, to test the networking capabilities. ¡°Elya, put the piloting overlay on my augs.¡± In a corner of my vision, I saw the image from the copter¡¯s main camera. When I tilted and turned my head, the Spectracopter followed. Turning my left palm up increased the collective, turning it down decreased it. I found it amazingly intuitive, but it also took my full attention. For most tasks I would have to rely on Elya doing the flying so I could focus on something else. I asked her ¡°Can the copter return on autopilot if it loses network connection?¡± Yes. I will set the roof of the fire depot as the return point in that case. ¡°Excellent. Let¡¯s go for a flight.¡± I turned up my palm and tilted my head forward to build up altitude and speed. To the south, towards Albert Head. At my height of a hundred meters above the rooftops, it seemed unlikely anybody would notice me. Checking wind and battery status of the Spectracopter, I went for an extended flight over the Salish Sea south of Race Rocks Lighthouse. I let Elya fill more of my vision with the footage from the copter¡¯s camera and just enjoyed the view. On the way back the sun was already below the horizon, and the last of a beautiful sunset graced the sky. As I took a look around, I saw something drifting halfway over the sea, close to the border to the USA. This made me curious and I approached the object. It turned out to be a teenaged boy on a sailboard where the canvas of the sail had come loose. ¡°Elya, check the channels of the emergency services. Has someone already called for help for the guy?¡± Nope. Also, the young gentleman¡¯s augs are probably out of range of the data net. The Spectracopter can do better because of its synthetic aperture directional antennae and stronger transmitters. ¡°I¡¯ll have to do it then. Put his coordinates on my augs and connect me to the Coast Guard.¡± Reporting the location of the shipwrecked (or boardwrecked?) young gentleman was easy. But it became increasingly dark, and I was not sure if the Coast Guard would find the guy at night. It might be necessary to guide them the last kilometer or two, but my copter could not stay there much longer before it ran low on batteries. But I had an idea. ¡°Elya, how long do you need to print another copter if you don¡¯t bother with the carry case?¡± Eight minutes. It is a small piece of equipment after all. ¡°Do it!¡± Eight minutes later, I ran out of the shelter with a new copter in hand. ¡°Elya, fly this one to the position of the guy!¡± On the way. The first one has five minutes left before it is too low on battery to return here. Copter two would not arrive there in five minutes, and I did not want to let Mr. Shipwrecked out of my sight. So I told Elya ¡°As soon as the second copter is there, use that to keep an eye on our rescuee. Then fly the first copter to a beach I can reach!¡± I grabbed the keys to my van and started driving in the general direction of Race Rock. Halfway there, Elya notified me of two things. First, the Coast Guard was approaching. Second, Spectracopter #2 was now watching over Mr. Shipwrecked, while Spectracopter #1 was on the way to a stopover at Race Rock. Elya assured me that it would use very little energy while parked there and could easily take off again for the last part of its journey. I stopped at the next parking lot and checked the footage from Copter #2. The Coast Guard had picked up the guy by now. Also, the IR cameras worked as good as those for visible light. I sent Copter #2 home directly and proceeded to pick up Copter #1 at the housing area near Race Rock. Eventually I returned home, feeling good about saving someone and even better about no one spotting my new drones. That stealth was quite good, even if it was inferior to the unmodified blueprints. Persons saved: 1. Reward... 1 point. New balance¡­ One Token and 10 points Chapter 19: Expansion, but how? March, Wednesday 25th, 2048 I was starting to think of expanding. As nice and cozy as my shelter-workshop-apartment was, it was also starting to feel a bit limiting. For instance, my Assembler could print approximately forty kilograms of steel or ten kilograms of explosives per hour. That was fine for making a few crates of mortar grenades overnight, but building something like a ten ton tank? Build time would be over ten days, assuming mostly steel as material and using 100% of the printer time for that one project. I would also have to puzzle it together from relatively small parts because my assembler could not make the hull in one piece. Its work area was much too small. Blueprints for higher tier fabricators were prohibitively expensive for now, with five-digit prices in Class II. It was either build a larger base with a whole bunch of assemblers, or capture more Macks. The Type Three was already a sort of mobile fabricator. Upgrading existing Threes to have the build capabilities of the Assembler Mark II seemed feasible. With different modifications, I saw potential as a personal vehicle too. Now, how to acquire some outside of waiting for the next emergence? April, Friday 3rd, 2048 An opportunity presented itself. From an emergence two years ago, someone had an old Type Three lying around that had been disabled by destroying the eye, much like the one I had owned for a few days. The owner had wanted to make it into a wood harvester, but abysmally failed with the project. Now he was willing to give it away cheaply. Why HANAF had not gone after that one was beyond me. After a visit to check it out, I purchased it and paid him to deliver it to a large garage I had rented not too far from my shelter. The first thing I did was to paint the Canadian flag on it. That should indicate that it was under friendly control. Now I did not expect trouble as long as it appeared dead. There had been people tinkering with Mack wreckage for years. Once my Mack started moving that might change though. Second, wire it up properly, in more than one way. External power connectors, some data connection for Elya to access and more. Third, try if the reactor and the fabricator still work. The results were mixed, but the problems seemed solvable. In particular, upgrading the fabricator to an Assembler Mark II looked doable. The following two weeks were busy with modifying the Mack. I had underestimated the effort, and just changing the design and building the whole thing from scratch might have been easier. But I was stubborn and eventually got it working. Arms, hands and mouth were slightly smaller than in the original version, and some hoses and cabling were rerouted. All of that to free up space for a cockpit. Next, some decent materials. I asked Elya ¡°I need some robust materials for the cockpit, especially the windows. They have to be printable with my current fabber. Suggestions?¡±
Item Point Cost Description If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
Class I Advanced Materials 50 Catalog
Breakage resistant Lonsdaleite, transparent 20 A form of diamond, with special microscale structures added to stop the spread of cracks (Unlock for Matter Reconfiguration Machines)
2-dimensionally oriented UHMWPE foil, transparent 5 Useful for laminate glass and similar materials (Unlock for Matter Reconfiguration Machines)
Polycrystallite (transparent) 5 Ultra high strength glue for most materials (Unlock for Matter Reconfiguration Machines)
Polycrystallite based paint (various colors, mixable) 5 Scratch resistant, durable paint (Unlock for Matter Reconfiguration Machines)
Adding materials to the CAD software in Lorekeeper Tome of Mechanical Engineering Freebie
Some of the materials are technically Class 0, but still a step above the simple materials that come unlocked for free with the fabricator. I¡¯m throwing in some technical know-how on how to put things together. ¡°Yes, let''s get all of those.¡± Purchased: various material unlocks New balance¡­ One Token and 235 points. Next came a design session for a small, two seat (side by side) cockpit in the Mack. To operate the arms and legs simultaneously it had controls to stick my arms and feet in, as I did not have a full Creation Engine to manufacture augs yet. And because why not, I did a final upgrade upscaling the leg servos. It could now do a sustained speed of fifteen kilometers per hour and forty-five in short sprints. With that speed, the Type Three at the school two months ago might have gotten me. May, Saturday 2nd, 2048 I was bored. The last excitement I had was four days ago, when I did a late night test run around the neighborhood with my Mack. Elya had disabled video surveillance nearby, but it was always possible that a neighbor would wake up and look out the window.. Guilty pleasures¡­ So I came up with a particularly hair-raising idea. An infantry force made of Macks built by me. But first I had to revise the design of the critters a bit. For instance, their radio networking sucked. I wanted to equip them with something better, and I had 535 points at the moment. ¡°Elya, I need some comm equipment to fit my Macks with. And maybe future units. What is best suited for general purpose communication at the tactical level? Let''s say ranges of at least a few kilometers.¡± Normally, I would recommend point-to point communicators with hyperspatially paired quantum dots. Unfortunately that is not within the capabilities of your Assembler Mark II. A simple possibility would be adapting the data link in your Spectracopter for installation in a Type One. The Type Four would be more difficult as it is mostly covered in metal, which would get in the way of the radio waves. ¡°Um, point cost?¡± Freebie. You already have the Spectracopter design, extracting and reusing components for other designs is something I may do without further charge. ¡°Sounds good¡±. We put together a design that could work with the Spectracopter as a relay station and give Elya and me a good tactical overview. On top of that, the newly designed scout units would be able to get into buildings and still keep their data links up, unless they went deep into some megabuilding. I printed four Type 1R (for Radio) units and an extra Type 4. Some of the original Type 1 I had captured before received colorful ornamentation, from zebra stripes to a Coat of Arms for the ¡°Vanguard Command¡± I made up with some prompting by Elya. Strangely enough, I had the impression that she enjoyed it. Finally, I made one special unit: A Pseudo-Type Four with flimsy ¡°armor¡±, but a large shaped charge inside. It was time to revisit the concept of the anti-tank dog. Chapter 20: Tactical experiments May, Sunday 24th, 2048 There were news about several Emergences, but none of them looked particularly large. One of these was nearby enough to make it interesting for an experimental counter-raid by yours truly. Apparently, a Type 21 had settled on the grounds of Sangster Elementary, only a few hundred meters down the road. They seemed to like open spaces, in this case the playing field. I split my units into two squads of six Type One each, two of each squad the new radio models. The Spectracopters overhead. The Fours stayed with me as bodyguards. I also had my armor and my rifle with me. But I kept the explosive Four at a distance. First contact was between a lone Type One (enemy) and my zebra-striped unit. The One stared at my zebra for a bit, then lost interest. Hardly surprising. Their image recognition relies more on shape than on color or print patterns. I had the rest of the squad surround that enemy One, among them the one with my coat of arms. Same non-reaction. Then I summoned the one with the red Mickey Mouse ears from the other squad. The enemy test subject immediately attacked that one. I had my squad counterattack. The enemy Mack lasted about three seconds. Next, I sent one of my captured Type Ones to the Type 21 and asked it to walk around the 21. It did so without issue. Next the Type 1R, also unmolested. It was time for Project Anti-Tank Dog. I had my explosives-laden ¡°Type Four¡± walk up to the school¡¯s playing field. One 1R stayed to observe, but I sent all other units into cover, including myself. On my augs I saw the relayed image of the fake Four walking up to the Type 21. It stepped below the 21¡¯s red eye and lifted its own eye, in the most innocent-looking way possible. BOOOM The explosion shook the school grounds in a way I had never experienced before. As I took my fingers out of my ears, I could hear the faint tinkling of glass falling out of the windows. It was definitely Collateral Damage Day again. I went around the school and took a glance at the windows. 90% of the glass was gone. The Type 21 had lost most of its eye, and a scar of molten and vaporized metal ran through it. The 1R was dead. Watch out, there is residual activity. I saw something glimmering at the edge of the eye, and the glimmer got stronger. Inacceptable. I shot the glimmering point with my rifle, and it went out again. That did it. 500 points for you. Also, 10 points for your involuntary lab rat before. It was time to mop up. I sent my units through the school and the neighborhood, making them look into every open door. In one case, an enemy Type One was scratching at a door behind which a terrified family was hiding. Two of my units finished it quickly, then retreated. This left the family more frightened but in less danger, I guessed. But most remaining enemies were clustered in the school¡¯s auditorium. In numerical strength, they were not far from parity. Eight Ones and two Fours against my eleven Ones and two Fours. What they did not have was my last EMP grenade. They seemed not to understand what happened when I threw the thing at them. BANG. This time, I got lucky and managed to hijack both Fours, as well as three of the Ones. That left three hostile and two dead Ones. At my command, my own units shredded them in a hail of stabbing legs and tentacle-spikes. I had the whole bunch follow me back to my shelter under the Colwood fire depot, then took the van with a bodyguard of two Fours back to the school. There were seven broken Type Ones to collect. A girl should always clean up after herself. The 21 was, unfortunately, too large to carry off. Doing the math, I found that I had 1395 points and one token now. I also had fourteen Type Ones and four Type Fours. Which I locked away in the same former dorm where I had hidden my printer parts weeks ago. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. May, Monday 25th, 2048 07:15 Elya woke me up. We have far more emergences all over Victoria now. Most of them on the small side, but one hundred and thirteen of them. ¡°Put an overview on my augs.¡± The map of Victoria was dotted with red sores that symbolized the emergences. I noticed something I had run out of. ¡°Elya, I¡¯m out of EMP grenades. Can we build the full powered version yet?¡± Yes, we can. ¡°Queue four of those up.¡± I got dressed in a hurry. Breakfast would have to be canceled. Then I had a closer look at the map again. One of the emergences was centered around one of the new highrises at Allandale road, only a few hundred meters away. The first thing I did was set the two Spectracopters on the roof. Next, I grabbed EMP grenades and rifle. Third, I let my collected Macks out. ¡°Elya, new orders for our Macks. If they are accosted by Magical Girls or HANAF troops, they are to roll over and submit.¡± Programming amended. That should be funny. My eighteen Macks and I set off towards the highrise in question. The lobby doors were open and from inside, noises could be heard. At the doors, two Ones appeared to guard the entrance. I told Elya to send one of the copters over for a flyby, but did not wait before I sent two of my Fours ahead to deal with the Type Ones. Each of the mecha squids approached one of the doglike Ones and rammed a spike up its eye. ¡°Elya, send one of the copters over and let it circle the building, check if you can see something from outside.¡± On its way. In the meantime, I organized my machines for a push at the high rise. Those with full battery charge for storming the stairways, those that were already half empty to guard the lobby or check out the basement. The copter arrived and found nothing overly suspicious. A few Ones slinking around to the north, but no immediate threats. So I entered the building along with my troops. We were suddenly attacked by a dozen Ones and two Fours. Body parts went flying and hydraulic hoses were ripped off, only the Type Fours on both sides were a lot more resilient. Something I had to rectify on the enemy Macks. I snapped up my rifle and took advantage of one opponent Four being stuck in a picking match with one of mine. They were almost immune to each other¡¯s spikes and the fight was getting nowhere. Until I shot the enemy Mack through the eye. After that, the fight was quickly going our way, but not without losses. I lost three of my Type Ones and one of the Fours was severely damaged, with two tentacles out of order. The attackers were completely destroyed. Black, viscous oil covered the floor, interspersed with plastic chips ripped from the Ones¡¯ bodies. I organized a reconnaissance patrol towards the basement, with orders to retreat on enemy contact. Which soon happened. At least two Type Four tried to break into the shelter in the basement, with eight Ones standing guard. When they detected my forces, they attacked immediately. ¡°Elya, the Fours to the front!¡± Coming. My armored metal squids took over the task of controlling the stairs, while I threw one of my new EMP grenades past them and towards the shelter door. The effects were far more drastic than what I was used to. The two enemy Type Fours that had tried to breach the shelter door dropped dead. Half of the enemy Ones on the stairs also collapsed, one switched loyalties and attacked its erstwhile comrades from behind. Within seconds, the enemy robots downstairs were finished, but the much stronger EMP from my new grenades had also killed one of my Type Fours. I was now down to nine of the six-legged, doglike Type Ones and two of the Type Four mecha squids. On the upside, I had collected three hundred points this morning so far. Suddenly, I heard voices from the building entrance. I recognized the irritated voice of Ladybug. ¡°What is going on? I have not even blasted them and they already drop dead?¡± Pink Orchid: ¡®They are not dead, that is a submission gesture. Just like with my Grandpa¡¯s dog!¡± I stepped in with a big grin. ¡°Hiya there, I managed to tame these. Would you care to let my troops live?¡± Longhorn, the team leader, answered ¡°That¡¯s nice to hear, but I still don¡¯t trust these mechanical pests. Do you have more of them running around?¡± ¡°Only what you see here. I was about to send a patrol upstairs, but have not done so yet.¡± ¡°Then don¡¯t. No offense intended, but I¡¯d rather not have them underfoot while we are checking the building.¡± Eventually, Longhorn pronounced the building safe but still was not enthused about me running around with my own Mack army. When the Battle Bugs left, she admonished me to not let them out of my sight. In the meantime, I had started to organize the disposal of the scrap. To make a boring story short, by noon I had carried away a total of twenty-nine scrap robots. Some of those were losses from my own troops. Together with the seven from the day before, I had thirty-six bots in my bunker that needed recycling. I also wondered why the Macks this morning had recognized mine as hostile. Some analysis of the software in the enemy units showed they had a new friend/foe identification system that did not rely on appearance alone anymore. Enemies becoming smarter? Not a good thing. Chapter 21: Artillery June, Monday 1st, 2048 07:50 Elya woke me up. There is a major Mack assault underway, according to the traffic on the security forces network. Multiple locations in Victoria and on the east coast, one in Sooke and some are trying to go ashore at the south side of the Victoria military harbor. I threw some clothes on and started to drag equipment to my van. ¡°Elya, if I set up at the municipal government building, is the military harbor in range for my mortar? Yes. You would be firing at near maximum range, but all beaches between the Gillingham Islands and west of here would be in range. From the Royal Colwood Golf Club premises, Portage Inlet would also be in range. We had discussed Mack emergence patterns in considerable detail. They liked flat, open terrain and high population densities as destinations. Ideally beaches. A follow-up emergence at Portage Inlet was quite possible, even if it was not among the initial locations. ¡°The Golf Club it is.¡± I continued dragging stuff to the van. Mortar, forty image recognition guided mortar bombs and both Spectracopters. Also, my two converted Type 4s followed, and the van was pretty full. The roads were deserted as I drove off, only a few stragglers still tried to find a shelter. Two times I saw HANAF units on the road, but they seemed to have better things to do than accost a lone civvie. At the golf club, I set up my mortar at a place with a convenient field of fire and launched one of my Spectracopters. 08:30 From the HANAF network, Elya managed to get some footage for me. The harbor was indeed under siege, and I could see a warship casting off. Elya flew the copter closer to give me an independent view of the situation. Soon I had a more comprehensive view of the location. Two Type 21s had crawled halfway up the beach, but stayed below the street level so they were covered against fire from the land. They had already started gating in smaller units, mostly Type Fours. One of them did have no cover between the warship and themselves. The frigate used none of its missiles, but from a relatively small cannon it pumped that Twenty-One full of grenades. More than three per second. Under that hail of fire the Mack did not last long. Its left flank was literally shredded in a series of explosions, and through the camera of the Spectracopter I could see its eye go dark. The other Mack happened to sit between a tiny rocky island and the road, where the warship could not easily hit it. So I contacted the commander of the troops ashore. ¡°This is Vanguard Artillery Command, we have eyes on a Type 21 at the beach near Esquimalt Road, between the parking lot and the tiny rock island. Forward observer drone is supplying coordinates. Ready to fire. Can you ensure your troops are under cover?¡± From the other end came a short and angry dispute, but the desire for support won out. ¡°Yes we can. Provide one minute warning please.¡± ¡°One minute warning now.¡± I waited another thirty seconds, then I fired four mortar grenades. The flight time would cover the remaining thirty seconds. WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP Four hits, but the target is still active. WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP It¡¯s still alive. Keep firing. WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP Target burning, implosion suggesting a gate collapse. This one is dead. There were still a few type Four hiding between the rocks, so I prepared four more grenades, with the target type set to type Four. WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. WHUMP One grenade seemed to have trouble finding a target. It self-destructed. Another one hit less than a meter from a Type Four. The explosion ripped two tentacles off and threw the machine into the sea. The third hit perfectly, and its target was ripped apart. The final grenade that had aimed for the same target, showed a behavior I had hoped for but not dared to count upon. It seemed to notice that its target was already destroyed, and it turned to the closest target of the same type. It did not quite manage to hit, but it got close enough that this Mack was also thrown into the water. Suddenly Elya shouted in my head: TYPE SIX APPROACHING. TAKE COVER. The closest cover available were the nearby trees. I sprinted that way. Behind me I heard the Avian Eliminator firing. BRAAAP A massive detonation hit me. I felt hot pinpricks stinging my back. With ringing ears, I reached the trees and dived behind one of the thicker tree trunks. BRAAAP Another detonation, this time not quite as close. We should move. Where two of these are, there might be more. On the upside, you get ten points for each as your point defense is destroying them. Elya was right. The Type Six tended to show up in groups. But even so, I was not ready to leave my weapons behind. With shaking knees, I managed to get up, disassemble my mortar and dump the parts into my van. The four grenades I had prepared but not fired yet, I handled more carefully. Four empty ammunition boxes were left behind. I jumped behind the driver¡¯s seat and took a few minutes to come down from the shock. Then I took off with spinning tires. ¡°Elya, I¡¯d like to contribute some more but not at the expense of being blown up. Can you point out targets I can reach from an artillery position with good cover nearby?¡± There is a small underpass near the motorway junction Millstream Road / Highway. It offers reasonable shelter against Type Six drones. From there you can hit some suitable targets along the Trans-Canadian Highway. ¡°Show me the way, and keep the copter at the harbor there for observation and recording.¡± A path was highlighted in my augs, and I followed it north. As suggested by Elya, I found a place with a small tunnel nearby where I could hide from Sixes. I set up my mortar and launched my second Spectracopter eastwards along the highway, where Elya had suggested I would find more targets. 09:00 I was ready to fire again, and Elya had indeed found more targets for me. Two Type 21s on the north side of Port Inlet, plus eight Type 28s guarding them, looking over the highway and the Inlet. They were barely in the range of my mortar. I picked one of the Twenty-Ones as a target and fired a series of four mortar bombs at it. And again. And again. Explosions pummeled the Mack. Elya flew the copter closer and reported: The eye is still glowing. You are not done with this one. Another four rounds. This time the eye went dark. I had eight mortar rounds left, and it seemed questionable if these would be enough to kill the other Type 21. So I went after the Twenty-Eights instead, one shot at each. One mortar bomb seemed unable to decide on a target and self-destructed. Seven hit, smoke coming from the stricken machines. Elya went on a close flyby with the Spectracopter. Six of the Type 28s were destroyed. One had survived the hit. ¡°Elya, we are going home for now. Call the copter we launched first home for recharging. Move the second one to the harbor and keep observing.¡± 09:30 I arrived back at my shelter. There were no more immediate threats coming my way, so I could take an interim tally of my exploits today. These had brought me 1200 points, bringing my total balance to 2975 points and one token. As I had no idea how long the battle would take, I queued up the next sixteen mortar bombs on my fabber. Perhaps there would be more opportunity for hunting Macks before the day was over. I also collected Spectracopter #1 from the roof and connected it to the charger. Hmmm. A mobile charger for the van might be a good idea. 09:45 The video from the harbor, taken by Spectracopter #2, showed a massive construct on six crawler tracks struggling up the beach near Saxe Memorial Hospital. It looked like a huge insect with short and thick legs that ended in said crawler tracks. From the Emergency Survival Guide, I recognized it as a Type 32. The size was similar to the Landkreuzer Ratte, a planned but never built ultra heavy tank from WW2. Around its body, half a dozen cannons were covering all directions. Up front, it had two short but massive extremities that looked like a hybrid between arms and mandibles. Dragging material from the side into its mechanical maw, they reminded me of horizontal excavator arms. The metal monster made its way towards the hospital, ripping apart fences, felling trees and devouring the occasional car on its way. Tasty little metal morsels. As it was halfway to the hospital, a series of explosions ripped into its back. Apparently a whole mortar battery had found an attractive target. From the explosions, I could see a sort of glittery dust rising. That appears to be more than the typical steel armor. Perhaps some sort of diamond-based reinforcements. We would have to get access to the wreck for a closer examination. Something to keep in mind. I kept watching the recording from my copter. Even after taking dozens of mortar hits, the metal monster kept advancing. One of its cannons was hanging off the side a bit lopsidedly, but the remaining guns were firing at whichever defender dared to show their face. Soon it reached the building and started ripping into the walls with its mandible-arms, digging into the building until parts came down on it. This did not faze it, it just backed up a bit and advanced again, ripping larger holes into the building. More mortar fire hit and failed to stop the metal monster. Its back was quite pockmarked by now, but that did not impress it. By the time it had leveled most of the building, a Magical Girl strike team finally appeared. Two Reds with a halberd and a huge battle ax respectively, a Yellow and a Pink. The supporter in a yellow costume hit the Mack with a sort of magnetic field. It was strong enough to put its movements to a grinding halt, and shredded rebar clung to it like paper clips to a big magnet. Then the two melee fighters went in and hacked off the cannons first. The legs were next and the Type 32 was stuck in place. There was one tense moment when the final leg came off and the girl with the battle ax was almost crushed under hundreds of tons of falling steel. After that it was an execution, not a fight anymore. 10:45 Copter #2 is low on battery, recalling it now. Copter #1 has finished reloading, Your sixteen mortar grenades are ready. I was ready to go out again. But the worst of the fighting was already over, the big Macks in Victoria were down. Now the Magical Girls and HANAF were mopping up the smaller units. It would not make much sense for artillery units to take part in that, so I called it a day. Of course, I did not have much time to gloat. Only two minutes later, an exasperated B.S.O.D. called me and complained about risking myself in the open instead of hiding in a shelter like a good citizen. She even hinted at assigning the Battle Bugs as my personal nannies. B.S.O.D. actually had a point there. I had not explained to her that my tech unlocks would come faster if I could earn points in battle. Her concerns about losing the golden goose were reasonable from her point of view. Perhaps I had understated Elya¡¯s abilities a bit too much. But revealing that Elya could judge my accomplishments and dole out points accordingly would come awfully close to admitting I had a full blown AGI in my head. I was still not quite ready for that leap of faith. Two days later Victoria had taken the worst damage in years, but the last remains of the Mack invaders were cleared out by now. Also, HANAF had finally collected all the reports about their use of my weaponry. I had earned quite a few points from it. Much reduced as Elya considered my contribution rather indirect, but I still received fifty points per Type 21, plus some for other targets. It amounted to a total of 1582 points, pushing my total to 4577 points. The leaders at SHOCKS held speeches praising the Magical Girls for saving the day, but my tech had made a difference too. The dinky 81mm mortars did not do much against a Type 32, but they had thinned out the Type 21 portal-making Macks quite a bit. Without that, the fighting might have turned out a lot nastier. As a civilian and ¡°mere¡± equipment supplier, I was not invited to HANAF¡¯s official celebration. But Major Allen had invited me to a small, informal meeting in a nearby pub. Which I actually enjoyed more than a big parade. Chapter 22: Expedition June, Friday 4th, 2048 I wanted to do some digging in the higher level Mack wreckage around town. For that, I wanted better tools. ¡°Elya, I¡¯d like something better suited to cut through that Mack plate. In particular for a quick raid of the Mack scrap still lying around.¡± The Omni-Cutter Mark I from the Class One Power tools catalog would be suitable. Prices are 50 points for the catalog and 300 points for the blueprint. I had learned by now to trust Elya¡¯s recommendations, and I could afford to splurge a bit.So I agreed. ¡°Yes please.¡± Class I Power Tools unlocked! New point balance... 4537 Purchased: Omni-Cutter Mark I (Blueprint) New point balance... 4237 My new tool went through Mack plate like a hot knife through butter. From one Type 21 I brought an undamaged eye home, from another a pair of emitters from a strange distortion force field thingy. I also managed to get a sample of the mysterious filling of the Type 32¡¯s armor. A jeweler determined that it was Lonsdaleite, after digging in his textbooks from university and doing some measurements. Probably for blunting kinetic penetrators. When reasonably free of defects in the crystal structure, It works better than one might expect from a ¡°brittle¡± crystal. In between making more stuff for the military, I dissected the parts from the Twenty-Ones. The distortion field emitters appeared to be part of a ¡°simple¡± teleportation gate, which was in theory described in the Lorekeeper Tome of Teleportation Technology. In practice I managed to read out the memory of the eye-computer hybrid and found evidence that it was actually part of such a gate. I was, however, still missing a few pieces of the puzzle. On the internet, conspiracy theorists were claiming that a new breed of female cyber-demons were about to rise and devour us all. Which I would have dismissed as bullshit if I had not also found photos of a badly mangled robot girl on the net. Photos that appeared to be from the Emergence in Sooke on the first of June. Overall, however, I was still running low on interesting facts. It was time to do some more personal digging. June, Friday 12th, 2048 There was interesting news. From my contacts in the military, I heard that some Magical Girl strike teams had taken out a Mack underground base near Mount Olympus. At least something had been taken out, there was a column of smoke that looked too oily for a forest fire. But as it was hidden behind the mountain as seen from Victoria, I could not be sure. Even with my Spectracopters, I could not get a good look. I knew that B.S.O.D. was against me going off on my own, so perhaps I could wheedle some concessions out of her if I was willing to go with an organized expedition to the wrecked base. So I called. ¡°SHOCKS, Eliza Brooks speaking. What can I do for you?¡± I recognized the voice of B.S.O.D.s middle-aged secretary. A competent lady, but a bit prone to being caught off guard in conversation. ¡°Caitlin MacCallan here. I was planning a research trip to the wrecked Mack base near Mount Olympus. Perhaps I can find some useful stuff there that the girls have not completely smashed to dust and rubble.¡± ¡°I am sure Omega Lily have not¡­ wait, how did you know about that operation?¡± ¡°I did not. But thanks for confirming.¡± ¡°Ohmygawd. But Miss B.S.O.D. told me about you, and you going off into the wilderness unannounced would be exactly what she is worried about. I¡¯d better connect you to her.¡± Only one minute later I heard the somewhat stressed voice of B.S.O.D. ¡°Hello Miss MacCallan. I hear you are planning another, well, spontaneous endeavour?¡± ¡°It is either planned or spontaneous, not both. But yes, I¡¯d like to dig through the remains of the Mack base at Mount Olympus.¡± ¡°Good that you didn¡¯t spring this on us completely unannounced, but why the change in attitude?¡± ¡°To be honest, I expect you will start such an expedition anyway and I hoped I might be able to hitch a ride.¡± ¡°You and how much luggage?¡± At least she did not immediately say no. She still might once she heard my next statement. ¡°Me and a modified Type Three as logistics vehicle.¡± ¡°WHAT??¡± ¡°Remember the Type Three you requisitioned four months ago? And how I had figured out some of the function?¡± ¡°Yes, but that was still at the Xenotechnological Institute last time I checked.¡± ¡°I found another one, bought it from a guy up near Lake Cowichan. I managed to get it going again, this time all of it, and modified it for use by a driver.¡± I heard a heartfelt sigh over the telephone. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°And what other modifications does that thing have?¡± ¡°I upgraded the fabricator to a version of what I sold you three months ago. Also, it will have a small point defense turret specifically against the Type Six.¡± ¡°So you have a mobile fabricator and want to bring it along. Why?¡± ¡°In case I need to build something on the fly. The fabricator is equivalent to the one in the shelter, anything I can build at the shelter I can build at the logistics vehicle.¡± ¡°There might be an opportunity soon. But there will be a price. A complete documentation of your new logistics vehicle, including that surprising new point defense system. Arthur of SHOCKS will call you to arrange details.¡± ¡°Deal!¡± I had no independent transportation to the mainland yet, and building it would break my various budgets. Both in terms of points and credits. The documentation was an expensive, but acceptable fare for the expedition. Also, I was not really averse to sharing, I just did not want to be sidelined and stifled in my own progress. The following day, Arthur called and announced the start of the expedition for the following Tuesday, 08:00. With only three days to prepare, I was busy again. Organize some XXL duffle bags to hang off the side of the vehicle. Weld hoops to the hull for attaching the bags to. Print another Avian Eliminator and mount it on the roof. Buy a bunch of camping equipment and extra food. Make some last minute improvements to the Mack cockpit, in the form of an AC system. Non-Protector stuff, though I might reverse engineer it for my blueprint collection eventually. June, Tuesday 16th, 2048 08:00 I had packed everything for the upcoming expedition and climbed into the cockpit of my modified Mack. As I started walking it towards the harbor, most people stayed cool but I also could see some running in panic. One of them straight into a lamp post. Ouch. At the harbor, a landing boat was already waiting. One guy was already there and discussing the loading of some equipment with the seamen. As I climbed down from my mount, I recognized the voice. ¡°Hi¡±, I said, ¡°you must be Arthur.¡± ¡°Yup, and that metal bug says you are Caitlin?¡± ¡°Right. Are we using this thing for the entire trip?¡± ¡°Yes. Taking a long trip in a landing craft may seem weird, but I have been assured that this model can handle the trip.¡± The guy who seemed to be the captain of the boat addressed me ¡°You must be Miss MacCallan. We have been expecting you. And the MSV(L) is more than able to make the trip without a mothership!¡± He pointed to one of his seamen who was already directing the loading of equipment ¡°Seaman Higgs will direct you in walking your, uh, metal spider, aboard.¡± We managed with a bit of difficulty. It was the first time I maneuvered the Type Three backwards onto a ramp. Shortly after, Team Battle Bug and two boys I did not know showed up. Arthur introduced them. ¡°These are Benjamin and Mark, experts in computer science and mechanical engineering respectively. And I¡¯m told you already know the Battle Bugs.¡± From the Bugs came mixed reactions when they saw my vehicle. Ladybug: ¡°That thing is so cool! Does it have a name?¡± Pink Orchid: ¡°I wonder how this thing moves compared to a spider. Can¡¯t wait to see it crawling.¡± Longhorn: ¡°I understand hijacking Macks is useful to you, but these things still give me the creeps. This one is not as bad though, with the cockpit and the Canadian flag it looks a lot more friendly.¡± Mantis wanted to know everything about my metal bug, especially how to drive it. When I was halfway through my explanation, she asked ¡°Can I try driving it? Please?¡± ¡°Sure, once we are in a reasonably safe practice area!¡± Ladybug kept pestering me about naming my Mack, until I gave in. It ended up being ¡±Herbie¡± as in Herbie the Love Bug. I learned it was the name of a sentient Volkswagen Beetle from a 20th century comedy movie. Finally, four HANAF Rangers showed up, one of them guiding a lone pack mule. 17:00 In a warm summer breeze, we were approaching the small village of Queets west of Mount Olympus and on the Pacific coast. The plan was to land at Queets and make our way up the river. That arduous approach was partly my fault as HANAF had no helicopter that was suitable for airlifting the Type Three. I almost had a guilty conscience because I would ride comfortably in my mech while others were walking. But I also overheard comments about the wooded area being unsuitable to land with a helicopter. So it might not be solely my fault that the others could not travel comfortably by air. Eventually, we arrived at Queets and disembarked. Longhorn, who was in command of our little expedition, decided that marching into the evening, only to have to make camp soon, did not make sense. ¡°We sleep here tonight, but be prepared to get up at 6:00 tomorrow!¡± The village had been evacuated many years ago, but a few buildings were still intact enough to sleep in. I gave Mantis some Mack driving lessons before it became dark. We started with moving around. I explained ¡°You strap your legs and feet in here, then you put on the five-point harness. That way you won¡¯t slide around. Which is important because you cannot brace yourself with your feet as usual.¡± Once she was strapped in, I continued ¡°Now, you switch on the walking mechanism here. This is also your emergency off switch. The lever below it is the quick release for the leg straps and also triggers the emergency-off.¡± Mantis strapped in and switched walking mode on. Her first steps were rather clumsy, including one moment where I was concerned she might tip us over. But she proved a fast learner, and half an hour later she moved Herbie around as fluidly as I, despite the advantage Elya¡¯s discreet support in driving gave me. The girl had talent. Lots of it. ¡°Hey, you''re a natural!¡± I commented. ¡°I have always played with new ways to move around. Stilts, rollerblades, I would have loved snowboarding if there were decent winter sports opportunities left! And by the way, I am Crystal.¡± ¡°Hi, nice to meet you Crystal. Next, let''s try the arms.¡± There was a similar system with gloves to stick your hands in and control the big hands of the Mack. It was a lot more intuitive than controlling the legs. Mantis mastered it right away and made cheeky hand signs at the others. Pink Orchid was watching with interest. Once we parked Herbie and got out, she started to criticize Crystal¡¯s performance. ¡°These first moments were abysmal. No self-respecting spider would walk like that, unless drunk. But you improved a lot. Keep training, and in a month you might walk almost as well as a real spider!¡± Far too early in the morning, we had to get up. After a hearty breakfast, we started towards Mount Olympus. The landing boat would return to Victoria and return after ten days, unless agreed upon otherwise. Despite the captain¡¯s assurances, it was considered unwise to keep a landing boat at sea longer than necessary. We had food for two weeks. Most of it was distributed among the humans, because the pack mule had to carry equipment for the SHOCKS scientists. But the team soon discovered that my Model Three made an excellent pack mule too. While everyone in the expedition was reasonably fit, not everyone was used to hiking and people were glad to offload a few kilograms. The animal pack mule was glad to have its load reduced too. Four days later in the afternoon, we reached our destination. A hole was gaping in the south flank of Mount Olympus, as if someone had set off a massive explosion. The roof of the hole was black with soot, but the fire seemed to be out. Massive rubble was strewn down the mountainside and had uprooted some trees in the process. Longhorn and the HANAF Rangers examined the surroundings, then decided to establish our camp at a reasonably flat spot nearby. The next morning we climbed the mountain towards the big hole. Fortunately the mountain slope was not too steep and we could take the Type Three with us. It might be convenient for moving heavy stuff. Chapter 23: Ruins I carefully climbed the mountain with Herbie, until I reached the big hole. It turned out to be an entrance to a burnt out industrial plant of unknown purpose. At one point the ruins of a tunnel leading to the outside of the facility were still visible. We entered the underground complex, with the Battle Bugs taking point to flush out surviving Macks. The building was more of a ruin than a usable building, especially close to the hole. The explosion or whatever had not done it any favors. On top of that, the fire had further weakened the structure, with the ceiling being the worst off. That, too, was worst close to the hole. I did not want to linger under the most ramshackle part of the roof, so I walked my metal spider to the end of the room. From there a tunnel led deeper into the mountain, but my walking vehicle did not quite fit through the door. We proceeded down the tunnel, the only light coming from our flashlights. Mantis and Longhorn first, Ladybug and Pink Orchid immediately behind. The HANAF soldiers guarded the flanks. Benjamin and Mark stayed in the middle, I brought up the rear. To the left and right, we saw smashed doors and behind them destroyed machinery. In a few rooms oil had been spilled and set ablaze, but the destruction had been limited. Sometimes puddles of oil still covered the floor. Creepy. Longhorn remarked ¡°It seems there was not enough oxygen to burn all the oil.¡± That is plausible. It would explain why the destruction is so limited. We moved deeper into the facility. I soon noticed that the destruction was not one hundred percent thorough. There were a few machine parts left that might still yield valuable information. Suddenly we heard a machine gun firing from the direction of the entry hole. BRAAAP An explosion shook the complex, followed by the crashing down of massive amounts of material. We moved back towards the hole where we entered the complex, only to find that there was no hole anymore. The roof had come down in half of the hall, followed by rock and soil. The exit was blocked. Ladybug exclaimed ¡°Oh drat, how can we get out now? I don¡¯t want to starve down here!¡± From the soldiers came a few half-suppressed curses, but otherwise they kept their composure. Longhorn took control again. ¡°Mark, you and Caitlin work on digging us out. Benjamin stays with you for now. The hands of the Type Three should be useful for lifting and digging. Team Battle Bug and the rangers are coming with me. We continue exploring the base.¡± The first thing we needed to do was turn my Mack around, cockpit and hands towards the collapsed exit. I printed out an Omni-Cutter, and Mark and I started to cut up and drag away some of the burnt-out machinery. Soon there was room enough for the maneuver. Next, Mark came up with ideas for improvised tools for the Mack to remove the bigger rubble blocks safely. I countered ¡°Good tool ideas, but we need to improvise a lot less than you think. We can make these with the fabricator.¡± Mark: ¡°Wait a moment, you have a full blown fabricator here? Like the one we just got at SHOCKS?¡± ¡°Exactly. The original fabber in the Type Three is quite good. But the Protector version still has a few important advantages. That was reason enough for me to upgrade this one.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve heard SHOCKS requisitioned a Type Three from you four months ago. Have we been sitting on the tech all along?¡± ¡°Yes. Of course, it is only useful once you have figured out how to operate the fabber. Now let me take these two designs and get them into printable shape.¡± A few minutes later the printer went to work. The design was a gripper on a take-apart long metal tube. Which could be extended with additional segments we could print at any time.. I climbed into Herbie and slipped my legs and arms into the controls of the Mack¡¯s limbs. With that, I could control the arms and hands of the Mack like my own, but they gave me a lot more strength. I took the gripper and went to work dragging the bigger blocks in the rubble away. In the meantime, Mark designed a big shovel for use by Herbie. Even somewhat scaled down, its limbs were far stronger than those of a human. Except maybe some high level Magical Girls. We used the shovel to remove soil and smaller rocks from the top of the heap first. Eventually a small ray of sunshine came in. And a Type Six entered the hole from outside, sliding down the dirt slope. BRAAAP BOOM In my cockpit I was reasonably well protected. Some shrapnel from the Type Six was pinging off the windows, but doing no damage. Mark was not quite as well off. He seemed to be unhurt by the shrapnel, but covered his ears with a pained expression. I turned Herbie to the side to give us some degree of shielding, then I scrambled down the side of the cockpit. ¡° What¡¯s up? Hey? Can you hear me?¡± Mark finally noticed me and said ¡°I think my ears are busted. I can barely hear you.¡± Damn, the explosion in the small room must have been devastating. Even in the closed cockpit it had sounded like a hammerblow on the hull. With a sledgehammer. I had to come up with some protection. ¡°Elya, we need some hearing protection. What options do I have?¡± If you want something low cost but reusable, there are the Combat Sonic Suppressors Mark I from the Supplemental Protective Equipment I class. Unlocking the class and the blueprint cost fifty points each. ¡°OK, I¡¯ll take those.¡± Class I Visual/Aural Protective Equipment unlocked! Price¡­ 50 points Purchased: Combat Sonic Suppressors Mark I (blueprint) Price¡­ 50 points New balance: One token and 4307 points I ordered enough for all members of the expedition and gave the first pair to Mark. He seemed to feel a bit put upon, judging by his next comment. ¡°It would have been nice to have these earlier. But my hearing is slowly coming back, and I hope they will at least help next time.¡± ¡°In my defense, we did expect an empty base, not surviving Macks that fight back.¡± But we did not find the time to keep bickering, because new combat noises came from the tunnel. I said to Mark ¡°I think we need to regroup with the rest. Here we are too easy prey." I looked through the door to the tunnel, rifle ready. A dozen dead Macks lay around, but Mantis was also injured, She leaned against the wall with blood on her chest. Apparently her armor had not held. Pink Orchid called out ¡°Walter, I need a QuikClot! ¡­ Walter? ¡­ WALTER?¡± It looked like she had lost connection to her operator. I did not know what MGs used for a data uplink, but apparently it was not immune to signal attenuation when they went underground. Come to think of it, there was a lot I needed to know about how MGs operated if we were to keep working together. For the current problem I had a solution: the XXL first aid kit in my Mack. It contained a few cans of QuikClot. Most of the stuff the MGs used for first aid was available on the civilian market, and I had packed a small reserve. So I sprinted back and took the whole kit from the cockpit, then I brought a QuikClot to Pink Orchid. Orchid had taken Crystal¡¯s chest armor off by now and cut her shirt open. When she saw me coming with the first aid supplies, she just extended a hand and said ¡°Give!¡± Pretty curt, but I could appreciate the purposefulness. I asked the others ¡°Can you reach your operators?¡± This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Longhorn: ¡°Ethan, please come in. Ethan, can you hear me?¡± With a shake of her head ¡°No.¡± Ladybug: ¡°Brian?...Brian, are you there?...Oh drat!¡± The situation looked pretty grim. We would probably be able to dig ourselves out, but¡­ BRAAAP BOOM leaving the complex might be unhealthy. Also, the ammo in the Avian Eliminator was not unlimited. Back in the tunnel, Longhorn brought me up to speed. Sixty meters down the tunnel, the corridor made a narrow sixty degree curve, leading into a big hall. When they had tried to cross it, they had been attacked by a horde of Type Four machines. In a short skirmish, the Bugs had destroyed two of the Fours, but then had to retreat. Also, Crystal AKA Mantis had been injured in the fight. I said ¡±Let me queue up some stuff on the fabber. A few of my EMP grenades, new ammo for the little turret on my Mack and maybe some Macks of our own.¡± After thinking about it for a moment, I added ¡°How EMP resistant are your augs anyway? I¡¯d hate to fry them with ¡®friendly fire¡¯!¡± Longhorn replied ¡°Classified even from us MGs. And now I regret that I accepted this much secrecy.¡± ¡°I hope we don¡¯t have to find out the hard way.¡± Subvocalized: ¡°Elya, can you navigate a Spectracopter in here?¡± Yes, as long as it does not stray too far from you. I went to my mobile fabber and queued up things. First a Spectracopter, then extra ammo for the AE, then the EMP grenades I was not sure I should use. Finally, I found myself confronted with the problem that my Macks would not be EMP proof either. We might have to do some quick design work here or find another solution. Such as a cheapskate kamikaze drone of our own. Perhaps we could repeat my little minion collection trick from mid-March. I was not sure if it would work in the face of the Macks¡¯ improved friend/foe identification, but it seemed worth a try. I returned to the group and told them about my plans. Due to lack of better ideas, Longhorn accepted and I added four of the kami-drones to the printer queue. These were budget versions of the Spectracopter, optimized to deliver an EMP grenade for cheap. Finally, I wanted something to cut up power lines without risk of being electrocuted. I queued up an Omni-Cutter on an insulated pole. For the guy who would operate it, I needed some extra equipment. ¡°Elya, I think we need some welder¡¯s goggles for the guy who will use this.¡± There is a Class 0 auto darkening welding helmet that will fit the bill. Blueprint is cheap at 20 points. ¡°Yes please, and queue it up right after the kami drones.¡± Purchased: Welding helmet (blueprint) Price¡­ 20 points New balance: One token and 4297 points The fabricator went to work, the time to complete the entire list was about an hour. To top off the feedstock reserves, I dragged several dozen kilograms of scrap to the mouth end of the Type Three to feed it. But I did not linger because of the Sixes threat. An hour later, we were ready to set out. I reminded the group one more time of the risk involved with my EMP grenades. The first thing that moved out was the Spectracopter. It immediately spotted the Macks, all of them Type Four. They had ganged up for an ambush behind a corner. I recalled the Spectracopter and sent an EMP kamikaze drone to explode in the midst of the Macks. Because I was not close enough myself, I did not manage to hack any Macks this time, but the EMP killed more than half of them. ¡°Elya, queue up four more kami drones.¡± Manufacturing started. I sent the Spectracopter ahead again, this time past the surviving Macks. As far as it could go without losing connection, I did not find additional enemies. Then Ladybug came up to me and said ¡°My power doesn¡¯t scramble the augs of the team¡±. ¡°Good point. But there are still half a dozen active Macks behind that corner. Do you guys think you can handle this? My taming trick is no silver bullet, it depends a lot on chance.¡± Longhorn answered ¡°Yes, that¡¯s doable. Mantis, are you fit again?¡± ¡°Fit enough. With only half the opponents and Caitlin we should be fine.¡± I subvocalized ¡°Elya, this time our Macks go after the tentacles!¡± We advanced in a loose group to avoid gett¨ªng in each other¡¯s way. The moment we crossed the corner, the six surviving enemy Macks attacked. And ran directly into Ladybug¡¯s Mana Surge. ¡°Thunderbolt!¡± Lightning flashed from Ladybug¡¯s fingers and played over the enemy macks. Elya turned two of them immediately, a third one started shaking and its eye was flickering wildly. Seconds later the eye popped and this Mack dropped dead. In the meantime, Longhorn had speared number four and filled it with thermite injected through her spear. Mantis fought off number five, but stayed visibly on the defensive. Her injury seemed to trouble her more than she let on. Elya solved the problem by having her two captured Fours attack Mantis¡¯ opponent from the rear. With a handful of well aimed strikes they destroyed the tentacles and left the Type Four helpless. Number Six went after Pink Orchid, but had trouble getting through her repulsor field. It looked like it was swimming upstream against a strong current. That made it easy for me to step up to it and shoot it through the battery. ¡°Listen up, these are mine¡± I called out. Subvocalized ¡°Elya, how solid is your control? Very reliable for one of them, but the other is shaky. I¡¯ll make its eye blink. Promptly one of them started to blink. I shot it through the eye. Curious looks around me. ¡°That one was unreliable¡±. ¡°When we are out of here, you have to tell me in detail how you are doing this¡±, Longhorn retorted. From a hundred meters back, we heard BRAAAP BOOM ¡°That reminds me, we should not leave our supply lines unguarded!¡± I said. Ladybug: ¡°Speaking of supplies, I¡¯m getting hungry! And thirsty!¡± Longhorn insisted on proceeding through the enemy base though. We passed through cavernous bays with half completed Type 21s, and almost completed ones that had been smashed up by the strike team that took out the base. Suddenly Longhorn held out her hand and signaled us to stop. In the hall ahead, Model Sixes were swarming around something we could not see. I said ¡°We could go back and start building a small AAA vehicle with an Avian Eliminator on top. Might take two or three hours though, depending on how many features we want.¡± ¡°No, we can¡¯t let them build even more units. Send that Spectracopter ahead and find out what is so interesting over there.¡± I sent my faithful little observer on a course along the opposite site of the hall. Soon it had an unobstructed view into the opposite corner. In a niche, there was a fabricator that somehow had escaped complete destruction. Sloppy of the strike team, but if we could take this one somewhat intact it might be a step ahead in my quest for looted technology. It was much larger than the one in my Type Three and might give hints at how to further scale these things up. The fabber was active, and we saw a Type Six flying out. Three Type Fours were assembled before it. Longhorn: ¡°Can we hit them with the kami drones?¡± I replied: ¡°Should be doable. With luck, I may even get one we can use against the others.¡± I sent a kami drone along an indirect path that would hopefully conceal where it came from, then right into the middle of the swarming Sixes. BANG Half of the Sixes immediately fell down. Another exploded and ripped off the rotors of two others nearby. My Spectracopter also crashed, first its computer, then it fell to the ground physically. Now it was the job of the HANAF soldiers in the team to eliminate the fallen machines that were not dead yet. I received a handful of ten point rewards for outright kills, and a few five point rewards for ¡°support¡± where someone else finished off the damaged Mack. Next the Fours came out of the niche. Nice of them to line up like targets in a shooting gallery. This was the perfect opportunity to show off my rifle. First shot, first kill. The HANAF soldiers killed a second one quickly, but on the third one they had difficulty getting through the armor. Less of a problem for me. My rifle was not that much better, but here it had just the decisive bit more of penetration. Time to secure a fabber without blowing it up. I said to Longhorn ¡°Let me cut that power cable to the fabber. Then it should be off.¡± I took the Omni-Cutter on the pole and put the welding helmet on. One EMP kami drone accompanied me in case another enemy unit would emerge in an unlucky moment. I sprinted across the hall and turned around the corner. Before me lay the power cable that supplied the fabricator with energy. I activated the Omni-Cutter and rammed it into the cable. A massive flash overwhelmed my vision even through the welding helmet. My bare hands felt like they had been burned. I quickly took a few steps back. The power cable was still spitting sparks and fire, until something exploded deeper in the facility. Yet another explosion of a more familiar kind followed, from all the way at our entry point. BRAAAP BOOM A loud reminder that the complex was not entirely clear yet. That little point defense was really good though. I went to pick up the Spectracopter. It was scratched but did not look seriously broken. The little computer aboard had also rebooted by now, and there was still enough charge in the battery to fly a few rounds across the factory. It was entirely quiet now in the complex. We also found the tunnel where the Sixes had emerged from the complex, but no further ones inside. That left the question of how many were out there and how long they could remain active. Waiting out their remaining battery charge was tempting, but hunger was increasingly a problem for our Magical Girls. Their metabolism ran at high power to keep their mana organs supplied with energy, and they needed more food and more regularly than average humans. Especially Ladybug was already flagging, she had used her mana surge more than the other girls today. So we chose to take a risk in digging ourselves out, but not without a final trick up our collective sleeve. We dug a large enough hole to fly the Spectracopter and the remaining EMP kamikaze drones through. Then we used the Spectracopter to observe and as a communications relay, while our kamikaze drones sought out the remaining Sixes for an explosive rendez-vous. After that, it did not take us long to enlarge the hole to the point where a person could climb out. And nobody could keep the girls from storming the camp and wolfing down the first food they could find. Communication with the girls¡¯ operators was possible again. A few hours later we were cooking a more substantial meal and finally settled down for the night. I asked Elya ¡°Update on my point status please.¡± You now have one token and 4697 points Chapter 24: Taking stock June, Tuesday 23th, 2048 The next morning, we went back to the complex. Except Mantis, who got to rest at the camp because her chest still gave her trouble. Herbie was still sitting there as it had before. The paint was chipped off where shrapnel had hit, but on the windows not even a scratch was visible. Also, two of the duffle bags I had hung on the outside had been damaged by shrapnel. The metal shards had cut through some of my spare clothes, an extra bedroll and punctured a can of my extra food. Overall not too bad, all of that was replaceable. Longhorn, Ladybug, Pink Orchid and I went for another patrol of the complex, this time looking into a few corners we had not looked into the day before. We did not find any active Macks. Those we killed the day before were still laying around. Our two non-combatants Benjamin and Mark made their own tour of the complex, mapping the place and noting broken tech that might be interesting to analyze. They were escorted by the HANAF soldiers. Over lunch, we discussed what to do with the technology remnants in the place. I said ¡°There are at least two things I would like to further explore. One is the surviving fabricator we shut down by cutting the power supply. The other are the half-completed Type 21 Macks.¡± Longhorn: ¡°Why these in particular?¡± ¡°From the fabricator I hope to learn how to upscale my Assembler, or at least to reproduce that fabricator as-is. The portal tech the Type 21s use to bring in reinforcements is extremely interesting too.¡± Longhorn: ¡°OK, but we will share the results. You will take Benjamin along and you will dig out the secrets in that fabricator together. And how you do that is something I need to know afterwards.¡± She continued, talking to Mark: ¡°You will examine the more, um, mechanical aspects of the burnt-out machinery. Perhaps you can figure out what the scrap was good for before Omega Lily trashed it.¡± As we returned to work, my first action was to obtain some decent equipment. I subvocalized ¡°Elya, extracting the data from the Type Three fabber required some human-made computing equipment. Is there a substitute in your catalogs?¡± Certainly. We could re-create the original electronics from Class 0 items, but for convenience I recommend the Multipurpose Signal Analyzer Mark I from the Class I General Electronics catalog, Plus maybe some duct tape for attaching it to the object under analysis. The latter is in the Generics catalog you already have access to. ¡°Show me the prices in table form.¡±
Item Point Cost Description
Class I General Electronics 50 Catalog Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.
Multipurpose Signal Analyzer Mark I (blueprint) 500 Oscilloscope, logic analyzer, spectrum analyzer and more in one piece.
Duct tape (blueprint) 10 High quality, space-rated duct tape.
I could not suppress a chuckle. Benjamin asked ¡°What?¡± ¡°I just reviewed my list of printable items, and it contained duct tape. Such a simple item among all the high tech!¡± Subvocalized: ¡°Elya, I¡¯ll take everything in the table.¡± Done! New balance: One token and 4147 points ¡°Elya, print out an analyzer, but make it look like a comparable Fluke model. Better yet, fake the user interface too. And a roll of the space-rated duct tape in red." I subvocalized that too, of course. A few minutes later both were ready and Benjamin asked ¡°How did that happen?¡± ¡°I had the items in my list of printables and ordered them through my little aug¡±. In the background, I heard a little sigh from Elya. ¡°You just happen to have blueprints of proprietary electronics?¡± In my most haughty tone I replied: ¡°I Have My Ways.¡± Benjamin shut up after that. We made our way to the big Mack fabricator. That thing was large enough to build a small car in. We cut open the cover to get at the electronics, then I realized that we did not have power. So we dragged one of the dead Macks to the fabricator and connected its battery as a power supply to the embedded computer. Then I taped the analyzer to the fabricator and started connecting probes. Eventually we had the fabricator¡¯s controller running and reviewed the list of printable items together. I said ¡°Let¡¯s take number One, Three And Four last. I already have those and can forward them to you if we get interrupted here.¡± Benjamin agreed and we reviewed the rest. Some maintenance, repair and assembly drones. Useful but not a vital catch. The Type 9, an unarmed resource collector drone. It might at some point be useful to take out the trash, meaning take it to the recycler. The Type Six and the Type 28. Dangerous combat units and certainly valuable intel. If only to find out what exactly they could do. Blueprints for chemical processors. Yes please. I did not understand much of it yet, but it might be important some day. And finally, more than what I had really hoped for: The blueprints for the fabricator itself, in smaller parts to be assembled later. Meaning one could start from a humble Type Three and bootstrap their way to this bigger fabricator. This time, we shared the results from the beginning. We spent the rest of the day with a tedious download from the fabricator, lunch break and some interesting discussions about Mack computing tech. In between, I found myself acquiring the blueprint for a USB charger because the flashlights we brought were running out of juice. The chargers would be running off the cockpit power supply of the Type Three. Purchased: Generic USB charger (multi voltage input) (blueprint) Price¡­ 50 points New balance: One token and 4097 points June, Wednesday 24th, 2048 We went after the secrets of the 21s that day, but without huge success. A large number of schematics and much computer code were gathered, but we did not understand the mechanics. Elya hinted at more insights through buying gateway tech of my own and looking at the blueprints, but I shied back from the investment as long as we were deep behind enemy lines, or at least in no man¡¯s land. Perhaps I would need to make an emergency purchase or two. Towards the evening, most of the group took a break, while I worked on extending the entry hole to the complex. I soon reached a point where getting in and out was reasonably comfortable for humans, but walking out with the mech was not possible yet. Chapter 25: Stranded June, Thursday 25th, 2048 After breakfast Longhorn called the leadership at SHOCKS and received bad news. She called us into a meeting and started talking. ¡°Our landing boat has participated in a landing operation at Vancouver. Something about retrieving vital assets yadda yadda. The assault failed, the soldiers and Team Z-4 had to retreat. I¡¯m told that Luciole was the hero of the day, she had the greatest part in getting everyone out alive. ¡°But the boat was severely damaged. They managed to limp back to Sturdies Bay, but it is unclear how fast the boat can be repaired. This means our taxi back will not be at Queets as planned.¡± Mantis asked ¡°What about other ways of getting out, such as by helicopter?¡± ¡°No decent landing spots in this hilly woodland.¡± I asked ¡°What if we walk downstream a few kilometers? There are areas with pretty wide sandbanks there. Should be enough to land a helicopter. We could even clear out some minor trees with the omni-cutters.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve asked that already. Somehow it did not compute on the other end.¡± I had enough and subvocalized to Elya ¡°Is there a sort of aircraft I can both afford and build to get us out of here?¡± There are various light helicopters and air cars within your budget. What are your requirements? ¡°Enough range to overfly the mountains and get us to Vancouver Island. Victoria would be ideal, but I¡¯ll settle for Sooke. Show me a list of suitable vehicles with specs.¡± While the others discussed various options of hiking across the mountains (questionable, we might make it to Dungeness but what then?), I reviewed the list. Still subvocalizing, I asked Elya ¡°Explain the Hyundai Variocopter in more detail.¡± It is one of the better designs from your home Earth. A two-seater electric octocopter air taxi. With its range it could bring the passengers safely to Sooke, for Victoria the range would be marginal. Note that some assembly would be required, as building the vehicle in one piece is not possible on your current fabricator. I can help you to adapt the design accordingly. ¡°OK, what are the prices?¡± One hundred and fifty for unlocking the Class 0 Air Cars catalog. Three thousand for the blueprint. Time to give up some secrets. ¡°Hi Ladies, I have access to an air car design from my home world we might be able to build here. It will be an adventurous affair though, and almost as risky as the trek over the mountains.¡± Longhorn: ¡°I¡¯m listening.¡± ¡°There is the Hyundai Variocopter from my version of Earth. Essentially an electric helicopter taxi, only with eight small rotors around the cabin instead of a big one on top. We should be able to build at least one of them, and use it to shuttle people out. The adventurous part will be in engineering, we would have to adapt some parts on the fly.¡± Mark suddenly had an unholy gleam in his eyes. ¡°Fuck yeah, I always wanted to tinker with my own heli.¡± ¡°Good to hear¡± I said, ¡°and I¡¯m told you are a decent mechanic too. I would need you for that project. If there are more skilled mechanics around, good!¡± Two of the soldiers came forward. While they listed their qualifications, I checked raw material needs with Elya. We would need carbon and plastic - fallen trees, perhaps oil and plastic found in the underground complex. Steel - plenty in the form of wreckage. Chemicals for the batteries - recycle the batteries from dead Macks. Wait a moment, let''s recheck the specs of those Mack batteries. They were actually better than what Hyundai had used! I ended up with the conclusion that we could build at least one air car, maybe two if we found enough of certain materials among the wreckage. Meanwhile, Longhorn came to a decision and greenlit the project. We created a small clearing as a landing pad, the wood went into a small bridge for easier transporting of parts. Time for me to buy the blueprint. Class 0 Air Cars unlocked! Price¡­ 150 points Purchased: Hyundai Variocopter (blueprint) Price¡­ 3000 points New balance: One token and 1017 points Mark and I took a closer look at the frame of the aircar, as that was the first place we could not use the original design. Where Hyundai had built everything in one piece, we had to puzzle smaller parts together. Some of the original carbon fiber had to go in favor of a honeycomb structure made of Mack steel. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Mark: ¡°I didn''t think steel could match carbon fiber composite in strength per weight. That Mack steel is crazy.¡± Next was adapting the cabin design, easy peasy as it did not need to be very strong. Electronics - removed some stupid limits in the original firmware, otherwise unchanged. Batteries - here we went with superior Mack batteries. Twice the range for the same weight, yesss! And while we are at it, let''s adapt the charging connector to local standards. Time to start printing. June, Friday 26th, 2048 While our mechanics assembled the first Variocopter with great care, I printed several Spectracopters and deployed them as a relay chain to connect to the Victoria net. Once I was online, I contacted B.S.O.D. ¡°Hello, it is your favorite Vanguard again. We are in the process of assembling our own electric helicopters and would like to secure a recharging station for our use. It does not need to be something special, just a place on Vancouver Island where we can land a small helicopter. Charging needs are the same as for an electric car.¡± ¡°I guess the situation justifies breaking a few certification and traffic rules. Wait a few minutes, I¡¯ll call you back.¡± Minutes later, she had secured a landing spot with a recharging station on the SHOCKS VIP parking lot. Another two hours later, the first Variocopter was ready to fly. We stuffed Ladybug and Mantis into it. The latter complained about the lack of controls, but we had not taken time to modify the Multicopter in that regard. Mantis just had to cope with not piloting herself. While they took off, I returned to printing more batteries. The idea was to recharge by switching batteries, as we could not easily bring the variocopter close to my Mack. Soon we heard that Ladybug and Mantis had arrived and the copter was at the charging station. It was recharged soon enough to make the flight back to us. June, Monday 29th, 2048 After several flights, only Longhorn, Private Ryan and I were left at Mount Olympus. James Ryan was the horse-guide, or in this case mule-guide of Pepper the pack mule. Unfortunately, Pepper was too heavy for the little helicopter. James insisted on staying behind with Pepper, and Longhorn did not have the rigor to order him to abandon Pepper. At dusk, Longhorn and I finally arrived in Victoria. We had left most of the camping equipment in a halfway clean corner of the underground base. The Mack had remained there too, it was far too heavy to move with a small air taxi. I intended to keep the air taxi, as I wanted to go back as soon as possible. But first a debriefing was on the agenda. The entire party except James was assembled in a meeting room at SHOCKS. Longhorn started with an overview of what happened. She put emphasis on the fact that there had been an active fabricator, we had disabled it, but it might be salvageable given understanding of the technology. Benjamin went next, talking about what we had discovered from the fabricator. ¡°Caitlin had a blueprint of a portable signal analyzer and printed it out on the fly. Also, pre-designed probes for connecting to the embedded computer in the Mack fabricator. She managed that within half an hour. She also had some software on her aug that worked as a translation layer to make the data easily understandable.¡± Predictably, B.S.O.D. looked at me. ¡°And how were you so familiar with the innards of the invaders¡¯ technology?¡± ¡°Remember the Type Three you requisitioned almost five months ago? The one where I even gave you documentation on how to run the reactor? Well, I had also figured out access to the Three¡¯s fabricator and the blueprints inside. But I was a little pissed about the whole requisition business and not inclined to give you those blueprints for free. ¡°The same approach also worked on this bigger fabricator, the protocols are compatible. Also, with the blueprints stored in the Type Three I already had part of what we found in the new one.¡± ¡±Tech documentation of alien tech, schematics of commercial equipment, software for hacking Macks. Is there something you don¡¯t have?¡± That was a critical moment. Reveal Elya and how the point system worked or not? Doing so would make me live in a fishbowl even more than before. But it could also help convince HANAF to get out of my way when I had lots of convenient targets to mow down. Ultimately, I wanted to defend this Earth against the Macks like my own Earth against the Antithesis. For that I needed points and sometimes I might need to give away secrets so they could be applied on a wider front. Literally. So despite some misgivings, this time I chose to take the big leap of faith. ¡°It depends a lot on my success in battle. Vanguard power is based on equipment, and I can buy it for points I earn for killing enemies. In this case, Macks. I also get a small reward for kills others make with weapons I have supplied. There is a reason why I keep making the mortars myself and have only licensed the grenades. Without either personal killing or the indirectly earned points, I have to make do with a small trickle called the daily allowance.¡± Ladybug blurted out ¡°So you get stuff for blowing up the robots? Cool, but I don¡¯t see equipment appearing around you when we are fighting!¡± ¡°A special complication in my case. The Protectors do not deliver hardware to this universe. I¡¯m not sure if contact with my home universe is even possible. But my little aug has lots of blueprints stored I can buy instead, including for fabricators. It also has an AI that essentially counts my kills. The more dead Macks, the more points, the more blueprints I can unlock.¡± Mark interjected ¡°Is that where the plans for the air car came from?¡± ¡°Yes. It did cost three thousand out of a bit over four thousand points. Big stuff tends to get prohibitively expensive, especially as blueprints. So if I can steal Mack tech instead, I''m all over it!¡± Mantis asked ¡°So you sort of have your operator in your head?¡± ¡°Slightly different from a SHOCKS operator, but close. In my home universe, I could have stuff delivered directly to the battlefield as long as I had the points. Like that QuikClot that did not appear for Orchid in the underground facility.¡± Pink Orchid, grumpy: ¡°And where did you magically get it from?¡± ¡°From the first aid kit in my Mack. Logistics the old fashioned way.¡± Chapter 26: Styx Base The next morning I arrived at SHOCKS to collect my air taxi. A somewhat embarrassed Magical Girl told me she was not allowed to let me take it. I asked ¡°What is the problem? I made it with my own resources, or at least ones captured from the Macks. I don¡¯t see how SHOCKS would have a claim to it.¡° ¡°It seems to somehow fall under the latest policy of requisitioning all new technology for analysis by SHOCKS first.¡° That made me angry. Despite all my sympathy for the defense needs of Haven, this was an unarmed air taxi. Not a new wonder weapon. I called B.S.O.D. to give her a piece of my mind. ¡°Good morning. Someone seems to have the glorious idea that harmless air taxis are now in need of being requisitioned for technical analysis. Could you point me to that individual for a stern talking to?¡± ¡°You are speaking to her¡± came the answer in a rather frosty tone. ¡°If you keep requisitioning my not crucial for the war effort transportation, I might stop further cooperation. Except for what we already have contracts for. I don¡¯t intend to break those.¡± I continued ¡°Considering that you were unable to organize helicopter evac at Mount Olympus, travel arrangements by SHOCKS seem less than reliable. I think I¡¯d better make sure I have my own.¡± This time, it was B.S.O.D. who backed off. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for that and I see we went too far in this case. But we would really hate to lose you to a stupid aircraft accident. Will you at least agree to acquire a pilot license?¡± ¡°Good point. I¡¯m not overly eager to die by crashing myself. So I''m willing to put in the training effort for a license for light helicopters. Because I will certainly fly the thing off pre-programmed routes again.¡± That and making more of the little mortars for HANAF occupied me for the next two weeks. The Macks did not make an appearance during that time. July, Wednesday 15th, 2048 The piloting business was finally sorted out, and I got it in my head that restoring the old Mack base for my purposes would be a splendid idea. My own slightly evil lair! Now I was on my way to a stopover at the public car charging station in Sooke, with some progressive metal on the media player. Some called it elitist. I called it the next best thing to classical music in terms of sophistication, but with the oomph I often missed in the latter. The charging station was not really meant for air taxis, but it would give me some spare range for the trip to Mount Olympus and back. From there, I would need less than half of my flight range to get to the underground complex. Which needed a catchy name. After some deliberation, I settled on ¡°Styx Base¡±, matching the Greek mythology theme. On my passenger seat, I had plenty of the non-perishable but samey food from Sanctuary¡¯s food synthesizers. Also some veterinary medicine that I knew Pepper needed from time to time. I did not know if Private Ryan was still near the base, but if so, I wanted to help him and Pepper out as much as possible. Perhaps I would find a way to save both of them. Fortunately, the little helicopter landing pad we had improvised was still intact. I landed and climbed to the newly christened Styx Base. I found that Herbie, my Type Three, was intact and functional. For the rest of the day, I was busy enlarging the hole in the mountain so I could get in and out with Herbie. At dusk, I walked Herbie over to the landing pad to top off the copter¡¯s charge from Herbie''s small fusion reactor. After connecting the cable, I found a note pinned to a tree. It was barely legible, but it indicated Ryan¡¯s plan to walk over the mountains to Dungeness and hope for pickup there. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. It was getting dark and my little air taxi was not equipped with night vision. So I had a simple meal, went to sleep and let the charger work. The next day, I would fly along the most likely route Private Ryan might have taken and look for him. July, Thursday 16th, 2048 With the air taxi recharged, I followed the most likely route of James across the mountains. In Dungeness, I actually found James, dirty, sad and tired. He had made it but Pepper hadn¡¯t. The mule had broken a leg in an unlucky fall, and James had to give him a mercy killing. All that was left for me was to ferry James over to Sooke. I had saved Private Ryan but it did not leave me really content. In a somber mood, I returned to Styx Base to do some more work on restoring the base. The first thing was to start production of a few Type Four Macks that would be loyal to me. I used the fabricator in Herbie for that, as the one in the base was still without power. Next I considered restoring at least part of the power grid. The things that burned out last time were the power cable to the fabricator and the voltage converter the power cable was connected to. This suggested two things: First, there was a hidden power source somewhere that the strike teams had not found. Second, the Macks had no concept of fuses. Those things existed for high power circuitry too, and here one of those had really been needed to protect the power grid. Amateurs all around. At least I could still switch the not-burned out parts of the power grid on and off. I started by shutting the main grid down. It turned out that the strike teams actually had disabled the main reactor, but things had still been running on a kind of high current batteries. The Macks must have some applications that required extreme power for a short time. Next I entirely removed the broken voltage converter, the subnet with the fabricator would have to run on some kind of auxiliary power for a while. Fortunately, it needed the same voltage the reactor in Herbie was putting out. The Macks had some degree of standardization after all. So I could use the reactor model from the TypeThree, printing one would take an entire day though. Three days later, I had a local power supply going and a small recycler was installed that fed into the local storage system the big fabricator drew its raw materials from. Half a dozen new Type Fours were available as guards, colored in beige instead of the off-white typical for Macks. On their flanks, they carried the coat of arms of Vanguard Command. All things considered, my new base was semi-functional. Manufacturing, check. Guards, albeit weak ones, check. Any decent MG team would rip through them easily. Missing - private quarters, preferably with fresh water on tap, bathroom and sewage treatment. Missing - a helipad right at the entrance. Walking down the valley to the improvised landing pad was getting old. Missing - communications to the Victoria internet, preferably to my shelter there. I chose to work on the helipad first. ¡°Elya, I need some advice on civil engineering. If necessary, I¡¯m willing to buy some more of those Lorekeeper textbooks.¡± The Lorekeeper Tome of Mechanical Engineering contains most of what you need. A supplement with the properties of typical building materials is available for five points. What, microtransactions in interstellar education? But the price seemed acceptable. ¡°Yes Elya, I¡¯ll take it.¡± Purchased: Supplemental data for Lorekeeper Tome of Mechanical Engineering Price¡­ five points New balance¡­ One Token and 1222 points With a bit of persistence and prompting from Elya, I came up with a plan for the entry area of the captured base, where the strike teams had blasted a hole in the mountain. The entry doors would be at the height of the floor of the room the strike team had blown open. Outside it, a level platform. From there a ramp would lead down sideways to the surrounding terrain, and a short bridge to a helipad built on top of an octagonal tower. The tower was going to use masonry with blocks cut from large boulders, but also some Mack-style fiber concrete for foundations and the pad itself. I was planning to give the concrete parts a rock skin to fake the look of the masonry of the tower walls. The overall appearance would be like a medieval castle keep with a stone table on top. For the yet to be designed overall exterior of the base, I was thinking of something like the pseudo-medieval look of Castle Hatley. Chapter 27: Melee July, Monday 20th, 2048 A giant metal beetle with a giant spade in its hands was digging ditches for the foundation of the helipad tower. At the controls yours truly of course. The fabricator in the base was currently fabricating two repair drones for construction work, which would ¡°repair¡± the foundation into existence. Suddenly, I saw movement in the woods nearby. A closer look revealed a Type One. It marched up towards the entrance of my base. The Avian Eliminator on the roof of my Mack was normally reserved for shooting Type Six drones, but this time I would make an exception. ¡°Elya, one salvo from the AE!¡± BRAAAP The Type One dropped dead. It was not significantly armored, even with a simple spear you might be able to kill it. Ten easy points. More machine bodies were moving through the woods, Type Four mecha-squids this time. They had quite tough plate armor. I remembered an incursion two months ago, where Type Four Macks captured by me and hostile Fours had been pounding each other¡¯s armor with futility. But their tentacles were more vulnerable, and destroying their eyes would instantly kill them. It was time to try and refine my tactics. ¡°Elya, can you instruct our Fours to prioritize hitting eyes and the base of the enemies¡¯ tentacles? Also, deprioritize enemies that have less than three working tentacles.¡± Certainly. It will be interesting to watch your blundering in tactics development Ten enemy Macks were approaching six of mine at the base entrance. I waited until they were bunching up close to my units, then I came up behind them, spade raised. As I hoped, they only had eyes for the threat ahead of them. I took careful aim and slashed at a rear tentacle. The mechanical limb was ripped off and sent flying. The mechanical amputee fell over and slid down the mountain slope a few meters, just right for me to slash at another tentacle with my oversized spade. This time my aim was better and the tentacle was clearly shorn off at the first joint. Following my own prioritization order, I let it be and went after the enemies at the base entrance. Despite being short-handed, my guards did well. While they had already lost one of their own, three enemy Macks were more or less disabled. That left seven to five odds for the Macks, but not for long. I lifted one of the Macks at its rear tentacles and smashed it down like a flail on another Type Four. Their armor held, but something broke inside both Macks. They stirred only weakly afterwards. That left five vs. five. Finally, two of them decided I was the more dangerous target after all and went after me. I pinned one of them down, but the other one managed to evade me and attack from my flank. I struggled to kick it away with the legs of Herbie, but to no avail. Fortunately, my surviving Fours had superior numbers by now. Five of them versus the three Macks that had not switched their attention to me. They disabled those quickly and moved against the two Macks harassing me. Caught from behind, the enemy Fours were disabled by spikes rammed into the base of their tentacles. I wanted to keep the merely damaged ones for experiments, so I ordered my units to stop their attacks. There is minor damage in leg number two on the left side. ¡°Can we still use it without aggravating the damage?¡± Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Yes, as long as you do not put too much load on it. I will temporarily modify Herbie¡¯s movement routines. In layman¡¯s terms, we will be limping. Next I crippled the surviving enemy units to the point they could not fight back or run away anymore, then stacked them near the base entrance. I maneuvered Herbie backwards into the base entrance, then unmounted and grabbed my armor and rifle. My next station was the big fabber in the base, where I ordered ten new Type Fours, Vanguard Edition. The focus on weak points had proven effective in the fight, so Elya and I made it part of the standard software. Since the last count, you have eliminated or captured one type One and ten Fours. New balance¡­ One token and 1472 points There might still be a Type 21 around, but I figured there was time for an experiment. ¡°Elya, I need something like a long cattle prod. Something I can use to disrupt the electronics of the Macks without throwing EMP grenades.¡± There is such a device in the General Class 0, no unlocking required. Blueprint price is 50 points. ¡°Yes please.¡± Purchased: Electric Cattle Prod (blueprint) Price¡­ 50 points New balance¡­ One token and 1422 points ¡°Print one out please.¡± A few minutes later, I walked up to one of the crippled Macks. I gave it a prod here, stroked its hull with the sparking prod there and soon Elya displayed it as successfully subverted. In the next Mack, the same approach led to the eye wildly flickering and then it burst. Interesting. It seems you somehow provoked a short in its CPU. The third one simply went dark, the fourth was successfully hijacked again. At this point, I separated the hacked ones physically from the big scrap heap and had Elya parade several of my Macks past them. A Type Four in Vanguard livery provoked a hostile reaction in the hacked ones. Elya and I could access its cyberbrain and see how it worked. Both image recognition and an electronic friend-or-foe detection system showed a hostile unit. The image recognition had been improved over earlier versions and was harder to fool. All enemy Macks I checked shared an identification key for the electronic system though, so perhaps a combination of correct appearance and correct electronic ID would still fool them? I printed one of my Type 1R units with the colors of the original Type One and set it to fake the ID from the hacked ones. It took special instructions for my own Type Fours not to attack it on sight. But the FOF recognition in the hostile Macks showed it as friendly to the hacked enemy units. Type Fours in Vanguard livery were still recognized as hostile based on the visuals, even with the correct ID. With that, my experiment was complete. I had my own Type Four bots poke out the eyes of the non-converted enemy ones. These would eventually be recycled. I also ordered one of my explosive ¡°anti tank dog¡± Fours that had worked so well back in May. If my infiltration trick would work again now, a quick victory might be possible against the next Twenty-One. So I sent the 1R seeking the surroundings for more Mack units, especially in the direction the enemy Fours had come from. It did indeed detect a Twenty-One several hundred meters downstream, with a few Fours around it. I launched a Spectracopter for better observation but otherwise sent only the 1R and the explosive ¡°Type Four¡± with the big shaped charge inside. This time I kept the 1R at a greater distance, while the metaphorical anti tank dog advanced. Like three months ago, it could approach unmolested. BOOOM One of the Type Fours nearby had two of its tentacles ripped off. A small tree fell over, fortunately it did not look like I had started a forest fire. As the 1R was still not recognized as hostile, I sent it closer to inspect the eye of the Twenty-One. It was shattered and dark. I was not entirely sure which role smaller Mack units had in calling in reinforcements, so I sent six of my Type Fours to kill their enemy counterparts. It was a very one-sided fight. All that was left to do was the cleanup of the dead enemies. The Type Twenty-One was too large for me to carry off. But killing it had given me five hundred points. It would also be unable to open a gate for reinforcements. Congratulations. You killed another high value target that might have paved the way for even more dangerous units. New balance¡­ One token and 2002 points Over the rest of the day, I repaired Herbie¡¯s bum leg and updated the software on all of my Macks to use a variety of the enemy¡¯s FOF detection system. Running on a different channel so we could still mess with the original system. Chapter 28: Building, Business and Bombardment July, Tuesday 21th, 2048 Despite the possibility of more Emergences, my helipad remained my highest priority. I wanted to complete it before the weather changed for the worse. By noon I had completed the ditches for the foundation and the repair drones started laying said foundation. It had required some fiddling with their code as they were normally only supposed to do minor repairs. Even so, the drones were much faster than I could do by hand. In the meantime, I used Herbie¡¯s fabricator to build an oversized omni-cutter for Herbie. With that I started cutting loose rocks into building blocks of a few hundred kilograms each. July, Thursday 23th, 2048 I had laid the first course of blocks, but now it was time to get back to Victoria for business. I had instructed a dozen Type Four guards how to deal with intruders, and the repair drones were programmed to finish the floor on the ground level of the helipad tower. Two freshly printed cleaning drones from the Mack library of drone blueprints had started to clean the rooms I was regularly using. It would take them a while. A small army would be needed to handle all the dirt and soot quickly. Later that day I arrived at Victoria International with my little air taxi. It was annoying that I could not land closer to my shelter, but there were only so many traffic violations I could afford to commit. Eventually someone would lose patience. For now I had some printing to do, by the end of the month another mortar delivery was due. HANAF really liked the things. With the latest batch, they would have a three digit number of them. July, Tuesday 28th, 2048 The mortars were ready, and with those HANAF would be at target strength for now. I was on my way to the HANAF depot that would receive the delivery, my van loaded to the brim. Afterwards I had an appointment at SHOCKS with B.S.O.D. and Major Allen to talk about more potential weapons deals. I had two engineering samples to show them: a Spectracopter and an Avian Eliminator. Once I arrived, they awaited me with a somewhat harried expression on their faces. B.S.O.D. greeted me with ¡°Good to see you, but we need to keep this short. We expect another Emergence soon, and I might need to leave the meeting then. So we grabbed my wares and hurried into SHOCKS headquarters. There I gave a short presentation. First I pointed at the little turret that looked much like the top half of R2D2. ¡°Here we have something called the Avian Eliminator. Used as point defense on my van and on my logistics Mack. Not my choice of name, that is what it is called in the Protectors¡¯ catalog. It is programmed as an automatic anti-drone turret, specifically against the Model Six.¡± Major Allen asked ¡°What ammunition does it need, and can it be used against other targets?¡± ¡°5.7x28mm, and it could be programmed to handle the Model One too. But so far I have preferred to give the more dangerous air threat priority. Against armored units like the Type Four or the Twenty-One it would be a waste of ammunition. Ultimately, this thing is meant to take out fast but fragile kamikaze drones.¡± Next, B.S.O.D. wanted to talk about licensing terms. I answered ¡°I¡¯m thinking about the same deal as with the mortars. Building and delivery by me under normal circumstances, but also blueprints in escrow in case I buy the farm somehow.¡± Both B.S.O.D. and Major Allen made approving noises, then B.S.O.D. answered ¡°I think we can accept that, provided we can agree on a fair price. But what is the other thing you have brought us?¡± Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. I opened the box of the Spectracopter. ¡°This is a stealthy recon drone, functionally comparable to what HANAF has now but with better endurance.¡± I lifted the transparent little helicopter out of its case and showed it to them. ¡°With the sky as background, it is typically invisible to the naked eye at eighty meters distance. Exceptions apply if the sun hits at certain angles, then reflections may be visible.¡± From Major Allen came reserved approval. ¡°This looks quite impressive, but HANAF already has decent recon capabilities and our budget is not unlimited. I will¡­ ¡± We were interrupted by an alert. B.S.O.D. looked at me and said ¡°Duty is calling. If you stay quiet and do not interrupt operations, I invite you to the command center to observe.¡± That was an unique opportunity I could not miss. ¡°Great, I¡¯ll come along of course!¡± We marched to the operations center, while Major Allen went a different way. At the OP center, B.S.O.D. pointed me at a seat in the rear where I was out of the way but had a good overview. I got comfortable and focused on the large screen on the wall. Across the south of Victoria, all the way to Sooke, scores of red icons dotted the beaches. One operator mouthed ¡°Oh shit¡± to the disapproving stares of his colleagues. Blue icons already moved from HANAF bases towards the south. Some all the way to the coast. Others stopped a few kilometers away from the beaches. I could only admire how fast they reacted, history books showed maneuvers as a much slower affair. Palace Athena, the commander of SHOCKS, conferred with a middle-aged HANAF officer that had lots of tinsel on his uniform. I recognized him as Colonel Briggs, the brigade artillery commander for the southern Victoria area. Twenty minutes later, the units from both sides had settled in place. A number of windows on the big screen showed concentrations of Macks, Type 21s surrounded by a handful of Fours each. A few Ones moved inland but were mowed down by rifle and machine gun fire. Palace Athena (a nice way to mangle the name, I noticed) talked to Colonel Briggs again, then the Colonel spoke into a telephone. I could hear ¡°...fire!¡± Half a minute later, grenades came down on the Twenty-Ones like a rain of fire. I had done some Mack-shooting myself, but now I witnessed what professionals could do with my toys. Once the dust settled, most of the Macks were dead. Briggs talked on the phone again, probably organizing the next round of fire missions. Two minutes later, the next firestorm arrived. This time only some of the grenades were targeted at the Twenty-Ones, the majority went for the Type Four mecha-squids. Few living Twenty-Ones turned into almost no living Twenty-Ones. A large part of the Fours was also annihilated, with tentacles ripped off and shaped charges punching all the way through their steel bodies. While Colonel Briggs organized the next salvo, I noticed a swarm of red icons moving quickly across the city, straight towards the Advent weapons platform Sanctuary where SHOCKS was located. The command center I was sitting in was in the communications superstructure of Sanctuary, the only place where humans were permitted. Unfortunately, Sanctuary¡¯s weapon systems were either wrecked or not usable from the ground, so the enemy units could approach unhindered. Almost unhindered. As the red dots had almost reached Sanctuary, some of them winked out. I could faintly hear explosions. Then most of the red dots reached the platform, and those explosions sounded a lot louder. Like sharp hammer blows against the hull. One of the drone feeds switched to observing Sanctuary. Four hostile stragglers arrived at Sanctuary, and they looked really small. Could that be Type Six kamikaze drones? Two of the attackers came in low and passed through the vicinity of my van, which was parked near the foot of Sanctuary. There was a little wisp of smoke from the turret on the van''s roof, and those two drones exploded. As the Type Six was the only target currently programmed into the turret, I had my answer. Almost simultaneously, the two remaining drones reached the hull of Sanctuary. Explosions flashed, and two more hammer blows rang through the hull. A hubbub went through the operators in the room. ¡°Quiet!¡± Palace Athena (snerk!) commanded. Looking at one of the operators, she asked ¡°I was not aware we had installed point defense. Explain!¡± The somewhat confused operator replied ¡°We have not. Whatever caused the two drones to explode prematurely was either a technical defect or a third party intervening.¡± Then B.S.O.D. looked at me. ¡°Miss MacCallan, did you perhaps leave the Avian Eliminator on your van armed?¡± ¡°Well, it did thin out the incoming drones!¡± Chapter 29: Executions The operators had returned to operating their girls and the artillery bombardment eventually stopped. Colonel Briggs ordered loud and clear ¡°Cease fire! We leave the mopping up to the MGs!¡± Two minutes later Elya piped up: I have collected enough data to assess the effects of the artillery fire. Eighty-eight per cent of the kills were achieved with your mortars. From that, you receive 3032 points. On top of that, the point defense turret on your van intercepted another six Sixes. You receive another sixty points from that. This brings your total balance to one token and 5172 points. In the meantime, others were looking closely at where the Type Six drones had hit. In most cases only the paint was scratched, if it was paint what the Advent used. In one case it looked like a sensor was broken. On the big screen, the vast majority of the red icons had been replaced by black icons for ¡°wrecked unit¡±. A few red icons for ¡°Class Four unit¡± were still active. These might be Type 32s, the most common Class Four threats. The recon drones shifted to observing those now. Just in time to show Magical Girl strike teams ripping into the metal monsters. One fight caught my special interest because there was not only a Type 32 and a few smaller Macks of familiar types, but also a Magical Girl that clearly aided the Macks. Or was it really a Magical Girl? She stood on the Type 32 and used an orange energy shield to block the fireballs that a flying MG launched at a cannon of the Thirty-Two. Not being destroyed, that cannon returned fire and hit the girl with a high explosive grenade. Despite a Green projecting a shield over her, some of the explosion got through and she dropped like a stone. A healer in Pink immediately sprinted to catch her and get her to safety. At the edge of the fight the Pink laid her patient down in the cover of a ruined building and started patching the unconscious girl up. She had shrapnel wounds all over the side of her body, and her costume was drenched in blood. It was bad enough that we could see it in the video feed from the drone. Meanwhile a new MG team appeared on the scene. I recognized Team Z-4 from a public appearance a week before. Overclock was helping out as support again, color code Yellow, which meant that she was augmenting the others'' powers in some way. They also had a new Pink I only knew by her code name, she was called Mercy. Suddenly, Team Z-4 turned into colored blurs, except Overclock who remained standing. They ran up the leg of the Thirty-Two and climbed on the hull, far faster than I ever had seen a human move. Even so, the hostile MG managed to turn around and fire off a handful of flaming arrows. It did not help her. Team Z-4 easily sidestepped the projectiles, and then they were upon the enemy. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. I saw some kind of beam coming from Luciole, which the enemy MG blocked with her shield. But that distracted her long enough that Li Mei managed to flank her at light speed. Li Mei slashed away at the neck of the enemy, and two powerful swings connected. The head of her target came off and the body flopped down like a puppet with its strings cut. Then whatever had powered Z-4¡¯s super speed ran out and they stood a little unsteady on the giant Mack¡¯s back. It did not matter. Where they stood, none of the six cannon of the Type 32 could reach them. They were in the dead angle where its weapons were useless. While they still caught their breath, the head of the girl Li Mei had just cut down rolled off the machine and fell under its feet. The body of the defeated female appeared strangely bloodless though, and her clothing appeared rigid like steel plates. Perhaps the rumors of demonic robot-Mack-girls were based on facts after all. Palace Athene ordered ¡°Secure the remains of that gynoid! One of Z-4 hold the body in place. Anyone who has the opportunity, recover the head!¡± Apparently, the rumors were actually facts. And SHOCKS had not extracted all intel about the evil robot MGs yet. In the meantime, the cannons of the Thirty-two continued firing at the surroundings. One brave but unlucky HANAF soldier who tried to evacuate a wounded Magical Girl was hit and reduced to a spray of gore. Then Li Mei had regained her strength and started stabbing the cannons from above lying on her belly, Luciole holding her from behind so she did not slip off the Mack. From her position, Li Mei could just reach the rotating mechanism of the guns. After a few stabs through each, bearings ground to a halt with a grinding noise and the cannon was stuck in position. Now others could approach at much diminished risk, and even regular soldiers who would normally avoid getting close to a big Mack started to help. Limpet mines on the joints of the Type 32 crippled its mobility, then it became an acceptable risk to get in front and try shooting out the eyes with light anti-tank missiles. Not all of the Thirty-Two was immune to anti-tank weapons, and now this one was worn down by hundreds of minor injuries. An hour later The fighting was over except for hunting down a few smaller Mack stragglers. Palace Athena announced ¡°I believe the worst is over. But stay in your positions for a few more hours and remain vigilant.¡± One by one, the Magical Girl teams reported in. A few of them had been injured, but none fatally. So far. The girl who was hit by the cannon was still in critical condition. The regular HANAF soldiers had a few fatalities among them, but far less than what was considered normal for an Emergence that size. After the last reports had come in, Palace Athena replayed the video with the fight against the Type 32 with the machine girl on top. ¡°These female machines, designated Type 42, are among the most dangerous we have encountered yet, because they can make smart tactical decisions. See how this one protects the cannon that is about to fire? The one that already has Aetna in its sights? By shielding the cannon it helps the larger machine to perform a very dangerous attack. One that almost killed Aetna. On top of that, they have nanite-based attacks that were previously only available to our Magical Girls.¡± After a dramatic pause she added ¡°Their weakness is that their bodies are not tougher than other Mack units their size. So if you have the opportunity to attack them directly as Team Z-4 has demonstrated, you may be able to quickly destroy a major asset of the enemy.¡± Eventually the operations center returned to non-alert mode and B.S.O.D. escorted me to the exit. On the way out I asked ¡°Is there any research about how to penetrate the armor of a Type 32?¡± ¡°Sorry, that is classified.¡± It seemed I would have to do some experimenting on my own. Chapter 30: Infrastructure I arrived back at Styx base, which was fortunately still in one piece. The repair drones had finished the ¡°basement floor¡± in the tower for my future helipad, but now I had to think a bit before I made any hard to reverse mistakes. My plan was to repurpose that first hall where we had come in, the one with the now caved in roof. The rear half where the ceiling was still up would be shored up with a new load bearing wall, details to be decided. The front half would have a higher ceiling than before, with a large door towards the valley. Large as in ¡°can walk in with a somewhat larger spider mech than Herbie¡±. I decided on four meters high and eight wide. Outside an almost level platform was in my plans, with a ramp down into the valley going off to the side. From the platform, an eight meter long bridge would extend, ending in an octagonal 20x20 meter helipad. Large enough for a medium sized helicopter. But planning was one thing, building another. The two Mack repair drones did decent work, but for the amount of building I was planning I wanted something faster. So I asked ¡°Elya, I¡¯m looking for some more capable building drones.¡± May I suggest a somewhat wider catalog? The Defensive Structures catalog for 400 points offers construction drones, turret emplacements and pre-designed structures to be built by your drones. It could save you quite a bit of design work.¡± That sounded tempting, and I could always review the designs later. But there was still the question of what drones to use. ¡°What drones suitable for the actual construction work would be available? Something affordable is preferred, and it must be constructible with my current manufacturing resources.¡± There is the Japanese BuildBot CRX 2030 ST. It is not entirely autonomous and would need some oversight, but I can do much of that work for you. The blueprint is fairly affordable at 800 points, as it is a class 0 drone with limited autonomy. ¡°Ok, let''s get both the catalog and the drone blueprint.¡± Unlocked: Defensive Structures Price¡­400 points Purchased: BuildBot CRX 2030 ST Mk I (Blueprint) Price¡­800 points New balance: One token and 3982 points I manufactured two of them and put them to work. It turned out that there was still a lot of work to be done even with the mechanical helpers. Collect rocks and cut them into building blocks with Herbie. Feed the rock scraps and some other minerals into the recycler. Order Mack style fibercrete pre-mix from the fabricator and bring it to the building drones. Fortunately, a Mack-type assembly drone I built ad hoc would do most of the work in carrying the materials around in the base. My collection of looted Mack blueprints was useful again, buying all the designs from the Protector side would still be unaffordable. Also, Elya kept her promise to organize the drones for me. While they could not fly, the blueprint came with a clever scaffolding system the drones could use to erect their own scaffolds. It was fun to watch them at work. August, Tuesday 1st, 2048 The structural work on the tower, helipad and the bridge was done. The Mack repair drones were at work again, this time creating the pavement on the helipad, including colored markings as orientation for pilots. The BuildBots were preparing the platform between the base entry and the helipad. The two cleaning bots I had put to work a week ago had done their job well. The base looked much nicer now. Yet another maintenance drone did check and where necessary replace the high voltage grid in the base. As it seemed to work well, I printed out another and gave it a job wiring up the base for 230V and a fast data network. That required some catalog and blueprint purchases. For connecting the base-wide high voltage grid to the local lower voltage grids, I recommend a bidirectional voltage converter from the Class I Power Grids catalog. It does of course include over-current protection, which the former owners of this facility neglected. For connecting primitive household items you can abuse the Small E-Drive Controller Mark I. It is typically used in brushless electric motors, but can also provide fixed frequency 230V 3-phase current. For the data network suitable blueprints are available from the Class I Telecommunications catalog, price 75 points. I recommend a glass fiber backbone along the length of the base, with WiFi access points along the main corridor and additional ethernet ports at the WiFi access points. Unfortunately, manufacturing restrictions will limit the data rate in your network to 100 GBit/s. That sounded quite acceptable. Then I remembered that I still did not have internet out here. ¡°Show me a possible layout of the grid. I¡¯d like to have those Ethernet ports in places where wiring up the rooms left and right of the corridor makes sense. Also, what options are there for an internet connection to Victoria without climbing on Mount Olympus to build a relay station?¡± In the Class I Telecommunications catalog there are hyperspace modulators with considerable range. Even a basic unit offers planet wide range. A disadvantage is that others can detect the transmissions. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. After some discussion of details: ¡°Sounds good, show me the prices in table form.¡±
Item Point cost Description
Class I Power Grids 100 Catalog with equipment for high voltage / high amperage electric networks
Medium E-Power Transmitter Mark II (blueprint) 300 2 MW bidirectional voltage converter
Small E-Drive Controller Mark I (blueprint) 30 Variable voltage and frequency alternator, 3 phase.
Wall sockets (collection of blueprints) 10 This is where you plug in your hair dryer
Class I Telecommunications 75 Catalog with all kinds of advanced communication devices
InfoNexus Mark I (blueprint) 200 100 GBit/s WiFi / glass fiber / Ethernet multipurpose router
Various connectors, both fiber-optic and electric (blueprints) 30 Your physical path for the precious bits
HyperPhone Mark II (blueprint) 300 Basic hyperspace modulation communicator
Total price 1045 points
¡°Yes please, Elya.¡± Purchased: Various blueprints as discussed Total price¡­ 1045 points New balance¡­ One token and 2967 points Outfitting a base sure had a lot of little costs people might not think of. But now my bots could go to work on the electrical installation. At least I found suitable lamps in the Mack blueprint collection. I went back to remove soil and rock from the mountain flank to make room for my yet to build local apartment. Herbie remained my most capable tool for such operations, and some uncomplicated 1980s metal on the sound system kept the boredom at bay. Mind you, it was not bad music. Just something simple that would work as background music. When it became too dark outside, I started rearranging the storage belonging to the fabricator at the other end of the complex. Making some room by removing a tank I considered redundant, I added a chemical reactor for organic chemistry. That device could make propellants and explosives and feed them to the fabricator. Yay for big booms! August, Monday 3rd, 2048 It was time to do some business in Victoria again. Also, Styx Base was running low on some raw materials I could not easily acquire there. Ferrying those over with the Variocopter would be a pain in the ass because of its low payload. Should I hire a commercial helicopter service? I also wanted a nice, hot shower. Even in summer, washing yourself in cold creek water becomes old pretty fast. The next day, I met with Major Allen to discuss sales of the Avian Eliminator. The only thing that really needed discussing was price and delivery dates, as HANAF and I were happy with the fine print in the existing mortar business. We signed a contract over eighty units, which gave me a little more work than I was used to in one batch. When I mentioned flying stuff to Styx Base he mentioned that his former boss had bought a surplus old Griffon helicopter from the Air Force and started his own airlift service. Quote Major Allen: ¡°I don¡¯t know if the old codger is still in business, but here is his business card if you want to try.¡± Interesting that these things could still fly. The military had decommissioned them almost thirty years ago. After I printed and installed my first HyperPhone in the shelter, I went to work on the turrets. But as the fabricator did most of the job, I had a lot of time to think. For starters, I should talk to the old codger and find out if he was still in business. It turned out that yes, he was still in business and his name was Peter. We agreed to meet on Thursday. Also, I had somewhat neglected staying in touch with the guys from Roger¡¯s militia. I guessed that throwing a little party would be a nice way to introduce myself back. Nothing ostentatious, just a nice evening with some food, drinks and an opportunity to catch up. I invited my old friends for Saturday. My little turrets would not be ready before the weekend anyway. It would be Monday at the earliest before I could deliver them and go do something useful at Styx Base again. August, Thursday 6th, 2048 Peter turned out to be a weathered guy in his sixties, but still pretty spry. He greeted me with ¡°Hi. I¡¯m Pete. What can I do for you?¡± ¡°A transport to the ass end of nowhere, south of Mount Olympus. I¡¯m building a small base there and have about seven hundred kilos of material to deliver¡±. ¡°Mack country. Building your base there might be unwise, and I will certainly charge extra for the risk of going there.¡± On second thought, the whole affair seemed suspicious to him. ¡°Sorry, but I have to ask what you are doing there - this is not exactly a normal business venture.¡± ¡°Researching the Mack base nearby, hoping to extract some useful tech or intel. I¡¯m a sort of non-standard magical Girl who does solo recon missions of all kind.¡± ¡°Then you won¡¯t mind if I call SHOCKS to confirm?¡± ¡°Sure, go ahead. This mission is confidential so we are keeping knowledge to a small circle. But I¡¯m working with B.S.O.D. from time to time and she should at least be able to confirm my identity.¡± Pete promptly did so. After being on hold for a while, B.S.O.D. arrived on screen and said ¡°I certainly know Miss MacCallan. What is she up to now?¡± Pete held the phone up to me and I looked at B.S.O.D.¡¯s slightly exasperated face. ¡°Hello, I¡¯ve started to fix up the old Mack base. There is still a lot of interesting stuff there and having the base somewhat functional will make my work a lot more effective.¡± B.S.O.D. replied ¡°I¡¯m relieved that you are going with an experienced pilot this time. Good luck with your new project, perhaps you will find something interesting for us. But now I have another appointment, so goodbye for today.¡± August, Saturday 8th, 2048 Come Saturday, most of the militia showed up, including Ellen. We had some beer together, some friendly ribbing about my prolonged absence, and people were pleased about having real food instead of the synthetic rations made by Sanctuary, including myself. The synthetic stuff had some artificial flavoring but below that it was as interesting as cardboard in taste and texture. August, Tuesday 11th, 2048 The turrets had been delivered yesterday, now I met with Pete at the airport and loaded my cargo into Pete¡¯s helicopter. I would start half an hour before Pete and land at the improvised helipad we had built two months ago, so the new pad was free for his Griffon. Things worked as planned, and roughly an hour later I stood at the new helipad just as Pete approached in his old helicopter. I was just in time to shoo my Mack guards into the tunnels, lest they give Pete the shock of his life. We unloaded my cargo and I said ¡°If I already had a kitchen, I¡¯d invite you to coffee.¡± Pete just said ¡°That would be nice, but I have places to be. So thanks for the business, perhaps we can work together again.¡± Chapter 31: Teleportations A thing I had been thinking about was the Type 21 laying a few hundred meters down the riverbed. The one I had relieved of its eye by means of explosive Type Four. It was otherwise intact. I also had three incomplete or broken Type 21s in the base, plus an undamaged eye of a Type 21 I had collected after the emergence in early June. Perhaps I could build a complete 21 from that and find something out by experimenting a bit. ¡°Elya, I¡¯d like to dig into the Macks¡¯ teleporting systems a bit deeper. Either by analyzing the captured tech or otherwise spying on them.¡± There are sensors available that can measure various kinds of hyperspace activity, including the signature of teleportation events. These could help you detect Mack units teleporting around and maybe even decypher some of their communications. ¡°What items would you consider useful?¡± The Skitter you already know about have developed hyperspace technology some time ago, and they managed to do it with relatively low tech manufacturing. Your fabricator would be well suited to emulate their manufacturing methods. From their tech base, I suggest the Arcane Feeler Mark I, a Hyperspace disturbance detector that can give you direction, strength and estimated range of a wide variety of hyperspace phenomena. It would be a strictly passive form of observation though, you would have to wait for the Macks to try some kind of invasion again. As an analogy, think of listening-only submarine sonar. The price is 1000 points for the detector blueprint. I will throw in an ethernet data interface. Also, a general purpose computer for logging the sensor data in your absence would not go amiss. Suitable blueprints are in your General Electronics catalog. I quizzed Elya about other options for a bit, but finally I went with her recommendations. For the logging of the sensor data I went with a thing called the Personal DataSilo Mark II. The computing part of the DataSilo was mediocre, but the storage capacity could be quite good, depending on how much fabber time you had for manufacturing. Elya presented me with the total shopping list:
Item Point cost Description
Arcane Feeler Mark I (blueprint) 1000 points Versatile sensor for hyperspace phenomena
Personal DataSilo Mark II (blueprint) 500 points Network attached storage with some additional computing capability
¡°I think that is OK, Elya, I¡¯ll take it¡± Purchased: All items in the table New balance: One token and 1567 points. Next I learned it would take two days to print on Herbie¡¯s fabricator, as the Mack fabricator missed some critical capabilities and the print was a delicate affair. Herbie had to sit still for the process too. Well, it could not be helped. I did some general housekeeping in the meantime, such as reconnecting the electrical grid. With that I also got most of the lighting back, and the Mack maintenance drones could fix the rest. Finally I had lighting again that was not dependent on LED lamps running off Mack batteries. The power grid of Styx Base currently ran off a 1500 kW Mack fusion reactor that would normally only power a Type Three. In effect a small backup power supply. But as long as most of the grid was offline, it would suffice. I also ordered a DataSilo from the Mack fabricator, with as much storage space as the fabber could produce in a day. I ended up with a capacity in the three digit terabytes. Then the Arcane Feeler was ready. Taking it from the fabricator, I looked at a black, vaguely mushroom shaped ceramic item the size of a waste paper basket, surprisingly light and with silvery metallic lines all over its surface. The power supply and ethernet connectors at its foot looked banal by comparison, almost desecrating the alien beauty of the design. I installed it in an unused room deeper in the complex, next to the HyperPhone and the DataSilo. Now Styx Base could listen to the noises of hyperspace and log them. I spent another day building more Type Four guards, a few explosive ones among them, and a new Type Four knockoff with lighter armor but an Avian Eliminator on top, called Type 4AE. August, Friday 14th, 2048 As I was surfing the internet over my new hyperspace connection, an emergence warning went out on Haven, the fortress city on Vancouver Island. Regular internet and phone connection were disabled as usual. But Elya managed to hack into the security forces network, also as usual, and show me what was going on. That might be our opportunity to correlate the movements of the Macks with the log data from the AF. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°Elya, please log the recon data from the fighting in detail, and also the sensor data from the Arcane Feeler!¡± I had a closer look at the map. This time the Macks tried in the north, mostly between Nanaimo and Courtenay. Victoria seemed largely unaffected, but I still landed at my shelter rather than overflying the town. For driving up to the front or sending a Spectracopter to observe it was a little too far. So I watched the show on my augs instead. It was still early in the emergence, but the Macks were coming thick and fast this time. At Nanaimo they were getting slaughtered, and my points for kills with my equipment went up. By now, I had received over 1300 and rising. But another twenty kilometers up the coast the Macks had established a beachhead near Parksville. The Magical Girls were already fully deployed as far as I could see, presumably because they had transportation priority. HANAF reinforcements were moving up the coast by ground vehicle, but it would take another hour until they reached Nanaimo. In parallel, I looked at the sensor data. Every minute, one or two new Macks appeared out of a Type 21. It seemed that the portals in the 21s were indeed gateways for enemy reinforcements. At the same time, I would see a blip on the sensor data from the Arcane Feeler. No, two blips. One from the direction and approximate distance of the Type 21, the other and stronger from a location further north. The resolution of the sensor was not enough to be quite sure, but the northern blip seemed to always be from the same place. Did the Macks maybe have a base there where they launched their invasions from? And how did the Type 21s get to the beaches of the attack targets? Meanwhile, the fighting went past Nanaimo and focused on the Mack beachhead at Parksville. The Macks were by no means out of small units to send, but at Nanaimo they lacked Type 21s by now that could act as gateways. Further to the northwest near Courtenay, they were stuck on the beaches and being contained for now. At Parksville the fighting was much more even and brutal. The Macks had summoned Type 32s by now who plowed through the lines of the Hanaf soldiers. Their usual tactics of ¡°secure the vicinity and let the Magical Girls handle the steel monsters¡± worked not so well when they were under attack themselves. The girls did their best, but also had difficulties when they were up against more than one Thirty-Two in a place. One group of flying MGs was setting up an attack on a Type 32 from above, but overlooked that they were in the firing arc of another Thirty-Two two hundred meters away. Cannons thundered and one unlucky girl took a direct hit. RIP - Rest In Pieces. Another girl died in what was more of an accident. Her team had climbed a Type 32 with some sort of grapples that bit into its hull and started to cut it open. Then their involuntary mount suddenly braked. She lost her balance and fell off the huge machine. When it started to move again, she could not scramble away fast enough and was crushed under the tracks. Behind the advancing Thirty-Twos, smaller units followed. Against those, the mortars I had delivered to HANAF were more effective. I only received ten percent of the points I would get for a personal kill, so the way my balance rose suggested the smaller Macks were dying in the hundreds from my mortars. But I had no eyes for that, as the video from one drone showed the elite MG team Fruit Fighters at work. I recognized them as the team that had taken apart the Thirty-Two at Saxe Memorial on the first of June. They had a supporter type in yellow costume on the team, who immobilized the enemy behemoths under a magnetic field of crushing strength. Nearby smaller Macks were often drawn in and shattered against the bigger machine. The two strikers in red would then rush the metal monsters and carve them up with their melee weapons. The team medic in pink did not have all that much to do, she mostly fought off lesser units so her team could focus on the Thirty-Twos. As the Type 32s died one by one to the attacks of the Fruit Fighters, the inland push of the Macks came to a halt. Then the MGs and HANAF started to push the machines back. The perimeter of the Mack beachhead shrank more and more until the Type 21s at the shore were in comfortable range of the mortar teams. At that point, the Twenty-Ones became the primary target and were covered in a deluge of mortar grenades. Burning and shattered, they lost their function as gateways for reinforcements. Eventually, they were decimated to the point that HANAF forces could push past Parksville and help eliminate the Mack units further northwest. I got 2882 points out of that emergence, bringing my total to 4479 points. I knew that even SHOCKS would need a bit of time to recover, so I did not bother them for the rest of the week. Instead, I worked on my base some more and organized the construction of a miniature sewage treatment plant and the next floor of my new base. I stuck to the massive build style with granite blocks and fibercrete, but also prepared some turret emplacements. Which were still empty because I did not have the weapons blueprints yet, but that might change. Monday, August 17th, 2048 As I still wanted to minimize my use of the HyperPhone, I flew to Victoria before I called B.S.O.D. ¡°Hello, today I have some interesting sensor data to share, plus the sensor tech behind it. But I want something in return. Namely, whatever intelligence you have about the Type 42. Capabilities, weaknesses, details on the built-in weapons in their bodies. I know that you captured and analyzed some of them.¡± ¡°What do you have to offer, and why do you want our intel?¡± ¡°A good guess at the location of another Mack base. Plus the blueprints for the sensor I used to gather the data. I want the intel to prepare for a possible personal clash with a Type 42. One on one the Mack girl is probably the superior fighter, I need something to even the odds.¡± Actually I wanted the info to set a trap. I did not have the slightest intention to fight fair. In case things went wrong though, I might be dragged into an open fight with a stronger opponent. A possibility I dreaded. I was lucky it hadn¡¯t happened to me, but as a young school girl I had observed two bullies beating up a younger kid. The little guy had done his best to fight back, but all of his attempts had failed. For every kick he tried to land, he received two punches from the bigger and stronger boys, until he was beaten bloody and could barely limp home. The best I had been able to do was secretly film the incident on my phone, then take it directly to the police. The teachers at that school were cowards who did nothing, but the police were more willing to act. If I was caught alone by a Type 42, there would be no police to help me in time. B.S.O.D. said ¡°If your data are convincing, I will give you the intel and take responsibility when Palace Athene asks about the leak. But those data better be really good." I pulled out the USB stick with the whole shebang on it. At first I showed her the recon video and the data from the Arcane Feeler side by side, then went into the tech itself. I ended by saying ¡°You can grab the blueprint right here from the stick and build the AF in your fabricator. It takes two days of fabber time though.¡± B.S.O.D. was visibly irritated about me somehow grabbing the data from her net, but mollified by the importance of what I just gave her. That sort of intel was huge and she knew it. I knew that she knew it. Finally she said ¡°Raiding our network makes me not happy, but giving us both the sensor data and the blueprint makes up for it. I will compile the intel on the 42 and send it to you.¡± I had what I wanted, B.S.O.D. was not completely mad at me and Haven¡¯s defenders had received a valuable tool to gain reconnaissance data on the Macks. It was a good day. Chapter 32: Upgunning Tuesday, August 18th, 2048 I had postponed doing something about it so far, but these 32s were a problem. I needed something with more oomph against them. They were big, slow and their ability to hit flying targets seemed quite limited, so I guessed I could hit them with a big kamikaze drone. Instead of upscaling things though, this time I would downscale them. I started with the VarioCopter, made the booms on which the side rotors were sitting foldable and shrinked the whole vehicle to half the size. I also changed the landing gear to small wheels. Now the thing could be wheeled through a normal door. Where the passengers would sit in the full size version, I packed the biggest shaped charge the thing could carry. Somewhat bigger than those in the explosive version of the Type Four. But first, test flights with a dummy charge. I printed one of my flying bombs out, equipped it with a dummy charge and sent it around on remote control. Flight performance was satisfactory and range was adequate at a bit over thirty kilometers, even after reducing battery capacity to save weight in favor of a bigger bomb. I would be able to reach all of Victoria from the parking lot before my shelter. Test flight gone satisfactory, I parked the thing in my shelter and flew back to Base Styx. Now that I had something to use (or at least try) on the big Macks, it was time to think about more efficient small arms. My current rifle was not bad by any means, and HANAF was already considering adopting something very similar. But the tungsten for the projectiles was a constant bottleneck and money drain. So I asked Elya for alternatives. I know your preference for scalable equipment, so let me suggest the Shiv Mk III from the Class I Light Rail Guns catalog. It is designed as a five millimeter sniper rifle, but the technology works just as well when scaled to calibers anywhere between four and nine millimeters. The same applies to barrel length, from pistols to long rifles everything makes sense. The Shiv is well suited for manufacturing with your current equipment. ¡°OK, show me the specs and an overview of how to use it¡±. I ended up being fairly impressed by the rifle itself. That began with the variable muzzle velocity of up to three kilometers per second, continued with the integrated laser range finder and the dual-spectrum scope, both normal and thermal vision, and did not end with the trajectory adjustment system providing inhumane accuracy. But what about penetrating hard targets? ¡°Elya, so far I really like what I see. But what projectiles are available against armored targets?¡± In the Class I Kinetic Ammunitions catalog you already have is a thing called the Diamond Bolt. A projectile that is designed for rail guns and with various kinds of diamond tips in mind. The Lonsdaleite you can make in your fabricators is a suitable form of diamond. ¡°OK, let¡¯s talk about prices. An overview in table form please.¡±
Item Point cost Description
Class I Light Rail Guns 100 points Self-explaining
Shiv Mk III (blueprint) 1200 points Sniper rail gun rifle
Diamond Bolt (blueprint) 50 points Armor piercing ammunition for light rail guns
Total price 1350 points
Right now you have one token and 4509 points. ¡°Yes, let¡¯s do this.¡± Purchased: Everything in the table New Balance: One token and 3159 points Of course I wanted to play with my new toy, so I ordered one from the next best fabricator, plus some ammunition. Ten minutes later I could collect it. I went out onto my helipad, slammed in a magazine and aimed at a treetop on the other side of the valley. As I experimented with the various settings, I noticed a small aiming circle that grew or shrinked with the magnification of the scope. ¡°Elya, what is that variable size circle?¡± The angular range of the trajectory adjustment system. As long as the target is inside the circle, the Shiv can make little course changes to the projectile so it hits even if the barrel is not adjusted perfectly. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! I noticed that it was fairly easy to keep a target inside the circle, while keeping the reticle on the target was a lot more difficult. The larger the magnification, the more my natural unsteadiness became visible. No surprise of course, but maybe I could use the trajectory adjustment system as target aid somehow? ¡°Elya, is there a way to use the trajectory adjustment system to stabilize my aim? Perhaps by picking up through my augs where exactly I¡¯m looking and diverting the bullet towards that?¡± Certainly. The Class I Targeting Systems catalog contains suitable software that can be installed on your existing augs. Such as the Ocular Aimbot Mark II that does exactly what you asked for. ¡°Cool. Prices?
Item Point cost Description
Class I Targeting Systems 50 points Various kinds of aimbots and multi-weapon networking software
Ocular Aimbot Mark II (software) 20 points Determines where exactly the user looks through their augs, compatible to most targeting systems
Total price 70 points
¡°Sounds cheap enough. I¡¯ll take it.¡± Purchased: Everything in the table New Balance: One token and 3089 points I looked through the scope of my new rifle again. Now as soon as I prepped the trigger, a small purple reticle showed up over the target. The Ocular Aimbot works together with the trajectory adjustment system in the Shiv to guide the projectile exactly where the purple reticle is pointing. I had to try right away. I looked at a particular twig on a tree across the valley, brought it into the targeting circle and fired. The recoil was pretty hard, but through the scope I saw how the twig disintegrated into a little cloud of sawdust, exactly where I had aimed. The end fell off as expected. But there was another weakness in my little Mack army that needed fixing. My own Macks were not hardened against EMP effects yet. If I could change that, their efficiency could greatly improve when used in combination with EMP grenades. Combined arms FTW!! At the same time though, I did not want to cut off their communications entirely by stuffing their electronics into a Faraday cage. Time for more shopping. ¡°Elya, I might need some tech components again. The goal is to harden my Macks against EMP, but not to block their communications at the same time.¡± If you want to try your hand at the design yourself, there is a collection of protective components in your General Electronics catalog. It is called Electromagnetic Barriers and contains a wide variety of components like electromagnetically shielded joints, filters against harmful levels of voltage and so on. The blueprint price would be 150 points. ¡°Sounds interesting, but while we are at it, I also want to let them be part of the Spectracopter data network. That would mean letting specific frequencies through and of course integrate the communications components from the Spectracopter. Like we did with the Type 1R.¡± That is certainly possible. We might need extra antennae on the outside though if we completely shield the interior. Let¡¯s do it together, to satisfy your thirst for knowledge. ¡°Absolutely, let''s do some engineering together. Elya, you''re the best!¡± Purchased: Electromagnetic Barriers (collection of minor blueprints) Price¡­ 150 points New Balance¡­ One token and 2939 points To make a long story short, I soon had a Type Four Mk II that was greatly improved in the EMP hardening and communications department. But also had two new antennae on its head that made it unsuitable as infiltration unit. It looked cute though, the new antennae looked a bit like cat ears. Being a little paranoid, I added some of them to the base¡¯s defenders. Which consisted of four Type 1R recon units and thirty Type Fours of various types now, including four of the anti-air Type 4AE. On top of that a few kamikaze EMP drones and Spectracopters on launch cradles in the base entrance. This started to look like a force that could defend itself against a minor incursion long enough that I could come over and take charge. Finally, I had an idea or two for upgrading my personal armor. I had once seen an ad for a wireless taser that used ionizing lasers to create a conductive path in the air, along which the high voltage current could flow to the poor sod being electrocuted. Second, the Mack steel of my current body armor was nice, but perhaps I could do better. It was shopping time again. ¡°Elya, I¡¯d also like improved body armor with an extra twist if possible. First, do you see possible improvements with the materials I have available at the moment? Second, I thought of using a wireless taser to prep the Macks for hacking by you. Perhaps mounted in pauldrons on my shoulders, with auto targeting if that is available.¡± Can do, Miss Lazer Tazer. I can recommend a taser that lets me modulate the current for best disruption effect in the Macks¡¯ circuits. The Bot Scrambler Mk II from Class I Non-Lethal Electric Weapons. It is designed exactly for your purpose. ¡°Great! Let¡¯s talk prices, designs, and how to install the Scrambler on the new armor!¡± The price for the taser blueprint by itself would be 300 points, for the aiming I can adapt a small turret design from your Class I Auxiliary Weapon Utilities catalog for you. I recommend the blueprint of the Death¡¯s Hand for 200 points. For the material of the armor, the breakage resistant Lonsdaleit variant from your Class I Advanced Materials catalog would make a good top layer. As backing, there is a titanium alloy equal to Mack plate in strength but about 40% lighter. Unlock price is five points. ¡°An overview in table form please?¡±
Item Point cost Description
Class I Non-Lethal Electric Weapons 50 Mostly non-lethal electro shockers and microwave guns
Bot Scrambler Mk II (blueprint) 300 points Multipurpose taser
Death¡¯s Hand Mk III (blueprint) 200 points Automatic turret for handguns
Duratitanium 5 points Strong titanium alloy (unlock for fabricators)
Total price 555 points
¡°Yes, let¡¯s go with that.¡± Purchased: Everything in the table New Balance: One token and 2534 points Elya showed me the whole thing in a simulation, but building it would have to wait until I was back in Victoria. The simple reason was that Styx Base had no titanium. Chapter 33: A night on the town Wednesday, August 19th, 2048 Back in Victoria, the first thing I did was to order three kilograms of titanium from my preferred raw materials dealer. It was fucking expensive, but as I needed only one new cuirass, the price was tolerable. Perhaps I would have to consider a mining operation of my own eventually. In the meantime, I was meeting Pete to discuss a business proposal of his. He was willing to pay me a significant sum for one of my fabricators and some CAM software for feeding his own designs into the system. Apparently getting spare parts was a huge problem for people like him who were operating ancient aircraft. I agreed, but I also told him that I could and would not guarantee exclusivity. After all, SHOCKS had a complete set too and could replicate it at will. On top of that, I was actually in favor of spreading the technology. But he was content with that, so we came to an agreement and I would build my first set of recycler, storage and fabricator for the civilian market. Which would take me a few days, but I wanted to stay in Victoria this week anyway. Saturday, August 22th, 2048 I met with the guys from the militia at oh dark thirty, we were going on one of our semi-serious mini-maneuvers again. We were going to play with airsoft guns again, but in case of emergence I had also brought my new rail gun. People were quite curious when they saw the thing. Our chief gun nut Alan was the first one to say something. ¡°What kind of gun is that? I can¡¯t remember ever seeing that model.¡± ¡°It is called the Shiv Mk III, a Protector rail gun design.¡± ¡°Aw fuck, that sounds like science fiction. Really?¡± Apparently it had not sunk in last December what the Protectors really were. They were more or less the equivalent of the local Advent, an alien race that had saved at least some of humanity from extinction by the Macks. So far I had only access to a tiny fraction of Protector tech, but there was a lot more once I managed to earn the points. To Alan I said ¡°My alien sponsors. Like the Advent who are supplying the local Magical Girls with equipment and powers.¡± Now people were looking at me with a mix of awe and suspicion. It was not the most pleasant feeling, I had enjoyed being just one of the crew. Even when I had pushed it before as I went artillery testing with Phil, that had not changed. But that weapon had been barely ahead of human technology. The Shiv drove it home that I had dangerous stuff. Ellen asked ¡°What else do you have, and why do we see it only now?¡± ¡°Potentially a lot, but I have to earn it. Either by fighting the Macks directly, or supplying others with weapons they use against the Macks then. I did a lot of infrastructure stuff lately, only now I¡¯ve come around to invest in personal equipment again. But by tomorrow, I might be able to show you my new body armor.¡± My metals dealer had finally delivered the titanium. Roger: ¡°Infrastructure for what?¡± ¡°An old Mack base I restored to semi-functionality.¡± Ann, a new militia member I had not met before, asked ¡°Where? Can we visit the place?¡± ¡°For now, only one person at a time. Unless you have a helicopter with room for more than two people. Lodgings are very spartan with cots to sleep on, synthetic rations and pooping in the woods.¡± Ellen: ¡°Let¡¯s meet on Monday again and you can tell us all over a few drinks. But you pay!¡± Parasite. But it might be best to play along. Even if it had a bad taste of buying my place in the group back. Monday, August 24th, 2048 19:00 Come Monday evening, we met at a cozy little bar in Goldmont, near to where the others lived. I was wearing my new armor and got quite a few looks doing so. And if I may say so myself, it was quite the eyecatcher. On top a glossy layer of diamond, because that is what Lonsdaleite is. A form of diamond that is even harder than the common cubic structure. Below that, the silvery sheen of the titanium backing gave it an appearance of SciFi armor. Or maybe fantasy armor, considering the two small pauldrons on my shoulders. These had not really much armor value, as they covered not all that much of my shoulders. Their real purpose was to house the beam emitters and high voltage electrodes for the Bot Scrambler, the aiming servos and the little cameras needed by the targeting system. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Just for shits and giggles, I had had Elya add some little LEDs that could give the beam emitters a baleful red glow. I had also bound my hair into a braid, so it would not get in the way of the beams. Roger promptly welcomed me with ¡°Greetings, my lady knight in shining armor!¡± Ellen shot him a dirty look. But she was not the only jealous one today. We had barely made ourselves comfortable, when a drunk guy at the neighbor table took offense to his girlfriend admiring my armor. ¡°Hey, what¡¯s to see there? Are you fucking gay?¡± he bawled at her. I had to show some solidarity between girls here. So I got up and asked her if she wanted to sit with us instead, as her current companion was obviously not suitable for a nice evening. I might have been a little too snide with that, because that only made him more angry. Now he aimed his frustration at me. ¡°You fucking slut, are you trying to steal my girlfriend now? I¡¯ll show you what you can do and what not!¡± I subvocalized to Elya: ¡°Make the beam emitters follow my eyes, fire when I blink twice rapidly.¡± The guy was working himself into a rage now. He grabbed a bottle from a nearby table, smashed it against a corner of the wall and staggered up to me with the jagged remnants of the bottle in his hand. I looked at his balls and gave a quick double blink, followed by a crackling discharge from the laser-taser. He dropped the bottle and squealed like a pig being slaughtered. Elya kept the beams and the little lightnings going for a few more seconds, and his screams became even higher. Suddenly his screaming was overlaid by more screams from outside. Through the open door a mass of people came fleeing into the bar. Through the gaps in the fleeing crowd I caught a glimpse of a Type One. There went our relaxing evening. But perhaps I could stay ahead of the curve if I actively started hijacking Macks before they gained too big numbers. It would be fucking dangerous though as I had left my rifle at home. I grabbed a chair as an improvised shield and exited the bar. Roger followed me with his little holdout gun that he rarely left at home. Across the street stood the two Type Ones the people in the bar had fled from. I subvocalized to Elya ¡°Same procedure as with the drunken asshole, when I double-blink at a Mack, you zap it and try to capture it.¡± At your command, Mistress I could get used to that. But right now I had no time for dominance games. Or had I? I double-blinked at the One closest to me. Lightning shot out and played over its surface. After a bit of twitching on its part, Elya showed it as hacked and subverted on my augs. OK, playing dominance games after all. The other one was more resistant. As Elya did not manage to zap it into submission within a few seconds, I told her to sic the other one on it. Which came as a surprise to the resistant Mack. Pointed feet punched through plastic skin and cut through hoses and cables. Oil spurted out of severed pipes and eventually the Type One collapsed. For the life of me, I did not understand why the Macks had so many weak points on their light units. The Type Four was more reasonably designed, but even that one had too many easily penetrated parts. From my left, Roger exclaimed ¡°What the fuck, did you just made that thing switch sides?¡± ¡°Yes. My new armor has a Mack-zapper that can sometimes confuse them.¡± Roger: ¡°Lets hope you can confuse more of them, there comes a whole crowd!¡± Indeed, on our left a dozen Macks came down the road, among them two Type Fours. It was like the first time I tested my EMP grenades, only then I had been standing safely on a roof. Perhaps we could repeat that somehow, but for now we had to deal with the current group. I fired my taser again, switching between targets as it seemed most urgent. The laser beams singed the surface of the enemy robots, and cracking and sparking lightning probed for chinks in their electronic armor. To my left, Roger emptied his holdout pistol into the Ones. He was smart about it though, two shots per target, next target, re-engage the first one of it had not dropped. One of them got through though and speared Roger into the abdomen. With a pained grunt he doubled over and was out of the fight for the moment. I had a grip on the situation by now, and Elya helped. She actively took control of two captured Ones and used them to hamper the rest. I was fending off another one with my chair, then the non-subverted Type Four arrived. I could barely duck out of the way of the tentacle aimed at my neck, then it punched at my seemingly unprotected stomach. Which was not really unprotected, the spike from the Four bounced off my diamond and titanium armor. Meanwhile, Elya had overwhelmed the electronic defenses of the other Four, and it arrived to take my attacker from behind. I could see that Elya had already programmed the techniques we had developed a month before into the subverted Type Four. It expertly rammed its spikes into the base of my opponent¡¯s tentacles. One of the tentacles seized up with a broken joint, the other lost pressure in its hydraulics due to a punctured oil pipe. Now two simple steps back took me out of its range. My Type Four switched targets and executed the enemy Type ones from behind. Executed because they were unaware that their former team members were now hostile. They died without fighting back. Even with the Macks¡¯ recent improvements in security, freshly captured Mack units still had the electronic passwords to pass as friendly to their former teammates. I would exploit that to the very end today. At this point I had three captured Macks. One Type Four, one intact Type One and one badly damaged but still mobile One. In total, Roger and I had destroyed or subverted fourteen Macks so far. I also had gained the IFF codes for the current emergence. These Macks were so fucked. Talking of Roger, he needed first aid. I turned to him and said ¡±We need to get you some medical attention. Let¡¯s get you back into the bar.¡± To Elya: ¡°Make our newly captured Macks play dead for a bit¡±. That worked, now two of the bar guests dared to peek out of the door now and asked if we needed help. I told them yes, Roger needed bandaging up with a pressure bandage. One of them helped me to get him back into the bar, and the barkeep even had material for an improvised pressure bandage. We put Roger onto a bench next to Mr. Fried Balls, who was still whimpering incoherently. This done, I remembered I had to take the offensive again. The need to shut down the Macks before they built up too great numbers had not changed. So I helped the bar guests to drag a small car in front of the door as a barricade and set out with my three Macks again. Chapter 34: Rat Catcher - Mack Catcher. If you find yourself in a fair fight, you didn''t plan your mission properly ¨C Colonel David Hackworth *** I wanted to build up my numbers gradually, so I went looking for a small concentration of Macks next. Elya hacked into the security forces network for me as usual, so I could use video streams from the HANAF recon drones. There. A group of about twenty Macks, and the building they were assembled before had a rear entry one floor higher. That might lead to the balcony at the front where I would be able to use my favorite coward¡¯s tactic: Hit them from where they cannot hit back. Someone had already broken into the rear door, but that was not necessarily a bad thing. I could get in without noise, and in the corridors single Macks might actually be at a disadvantage. I just had to make sure to keep my own around me. I reached the balcony without enemy contact. Leaning over the balustrade I saw about ten Macks of various types, and I heard splintering sounds from below. Apparently the Macks had entered the building already. My taser went to work on those who were still in the open. A minute later, I had gained a Type Four and six Type Ones as new minions, another Four and three Ones were dead on the ground. I told Elya ¡°Bring these around to the rear of the building where we entered.¡± Playing it safe, when advancing further I wanted to have a stronger bodyguard. While I waited, one of the typical emergence warnings was transmitted over the civilian data net. Out of idle curiosity, I had a closer look rather than let Elya summarize it for me. The text went like this: Warning! Emergence Detected An Emergence event has been detected at or near your location. Internet connectivity has been disabled. Phone systems have been disabled. ¡­yadda yadda yadda Late. Very late. I had been fighting Macks for at least five minutes at that point. That warning system sucked donkey balls, and this time the security forces network had been just as slow. Soon my reinforcements were here, and we regrouped in the stairwell of the house. From there, my Macks and I went down to the ground floor. On that floor was a gallery with several small shops, many of those with smashed glass doors and windows now. One Type Four stood in the middle of the floor. ¡°Elya, make our Ones surround that one.¡± The dog-shaped hexapods clattered into the room and formed a crowd around the Type Four metal squid. Then I stepped from behind the corner and signaled Elya to fire. With a crackling sound sparks danced over the Four. Somehow, the dance looked different this time, but it was effective and the Four showed as subverted on my augs. Now, to repeat that with the other metal pests. ¡°Elya, one Four to the door of that shop¡±, I pointed at the smashed in door of a bridal fashion shop. ¡°The rest of our Macks watch my rear and flanks!¡± With my rearguard thus given generous strength, I followed behind my tame steel squid until I could survey the interior of the store. A lone Model Four had gotten tangled in a coat stand and dragged down some of the dresses. Now it wore one of these like a toga, and somehow it had managed to put a veil almost correctly over its lone eye. Nevertheless, I was not going to marry it. Double blink. Beams, sparks and crackles. The Four immediately switched loyalties, and I noticed that Elya had used the same new pattern for her hack attack. ¡°Elya, your attack looked different this time. What¡¯s up?¡± I have developed a more accurate model of the Mack¡¯s electronic vulnerabilities and how to best subvert them. From now on you can expect an improved conversion rate. Nice. If that trend held, I might yet become queen of the Macks. But for now, I had a row of shops to clean out. At my estimate, there had to be another eight to ten units there, probably all of them Ones if I had read the aerial surveillance correctly. So I rearranged my forces. I had four Type Fours by now, that I kept around me as bodyguards. As I had valid IFF codes at the moment to make my units appear loyal to their makers, I could use my Ones to search the building with impunity. I found eight Type Ones in the various stores either alone or in small groups. Going from shop to shop with my own Macks I brought quick reeducation for most and swift death for the rest. Now I had a following of four Type Fours and fourteen Type Ones. On to new conquests. I consulted the HANAF recon data again (courtesy of Elya¡¯s hacking) and found a huge concentration of Macks of various types. They were besieging Willway Elementary. Again. Fortunately, at this time of day nobody should be in the school. There were almost eighty of them, and from what I had seen last time at Willway, they had a tendency to go into the building. So there might be more. On the lawn behind the school two Twenty-Ones were digging in. One interesting thing were the Type 28s grouped around the Type 21s. They were also close to the school. It should be possible to sneak up on at least some of them and try to subvert them. I was currently west of the school, so I sneaked through the gardens of the houses south of Mount Wells Drive. Soon I had the school in sight. Macks were milling all around it. I sent one of my captured Ones ahead to see if it still was accepted as friendly. Yes it was. Time to advance. I jogged up to the west side of the school on a path that would keep me out of the Twenty-Eights¡¯ field of fire. Surrounded by my minions of course. Five Ones were in my way. Four switched their loyalties under the persuasion of the laser-taser and Elya¡¯s skillful manipulation of their cybernetic brains. Unfortunately, Elya failed to hack the last one and it ran around the corner, reporting our threat to its brethren. The Macks have just changed their IFF codes. It seems their tactics are evolving. Now I had to hustle. I sent two of my Fours after it and sprinted to the southern wing of the school, close enough to one of the Type 28s that I might be able to hack it. I picked a window where I would not be in range of other ranged Mack units, leaned out and lashed out at the big sniper unit with my ranged taser. That did not have an effect immediately, and it turned around, aiming its barrel at me. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. I dived behind the next wall. The fucking Mack followed my movement and shot at me through the wall. I felt like a horse had kicked me in the chest, and I was bowled over backwards. As I took a peek through the hole, I saw that my two Fours were attacking the Twenty-Eight and hammering at its eye with its spikes. The eye shattered, but then the Twenty-Eights across the field turned around and fired at them. With a sound like sledgehammers, their big projectiles punched through my poor Fours. Which dropped dead immediately. In the meantime, hostile units streamed into the room behind me and engaged my remaining Mack companions. Hoses and pipes were ruptured and black, viscous oil splattered all over the room. Against those new enemies my persuasion zapper worked again, and I ended with more units than I had before. I was back to four Fours and sixteen type Ones now, one Four and eight Ones lay in their spilled oil on the ground. When I had recovered from the metaphorical horse kick to my torso, I fought my way back to the entrance hall of the school, struggling against a tide of more hostile units. Black oil squirted across the hall in copious amounts, electrical cables were severed and added crackling sparks to the din of the battle. All the time I took care not to be in view of the Twenty-Eights outside. I gained another Type Four, lost five of my Ones but captured three new Ones, and the ground was littered with nineteen dead units of various types. Now the wave of fresh Macks came from the direction of the field east of the school. It seemed the Macks were charging now, like human soldiers of the past trying to storm a position with sheer numbers. This time I managed to arrange my forces better, and the enemy either fell to attacks from the side or was captured. I lost only two Ones, but managed to kill fifteen enemies and capture three Fours and eleven Ones. My forces were replenished to eight Fours and twenty-three Ones now. The floor was positively slippery now with black oil and it became difficult to keep my footing. I had quite a bit of oil on my face and in my clothes too. Also, my pauldrons with the lasers and high voltage generators inside became uncomfortably hot. I took a moment to catch my breath, but was interrupted by a massive form rushing towards the school. It was followed by another dozen light Mack units. I recommend a tactical retreat But where to? I decided on the south wing of the school again. While already somewhat perforated, it still offered the most room to maneuver and delay. ¡°Elya, use the Ones against the light enemy units. The Fours try to damage the big one''s leg joints!¡± The chaos of the ensuing battle exceeded even the previous one. The enemy Ones fell to the stabbing legs of my Ones, and mine even overwhelmed the enemy Fours with a bit of help by yours truly. I was however quite busy running from the Twenty-One, which made my hacking contribution less effective. At that point six of my previous Fours were left, stabbing away at the leg joints of the Twenty-One. It had, however, managed to grab and smash two of them. By now it was a lot slower though, with most of its left legs badly damaged or outright broken. I had captured another Type Four in the commotion, which left me with fifteen Ones and seven Fours. I directed my Fours to the other flank of the huge Mack to hobble it even further. This time I lost only one Type Four. The Type 21 was now too lame to bull its way further through the demolished south wing of the school, but another problem appeared. One of the two remaining Type 28s came around the building and threatened to cut off my retreat through the windows and towards the west. I made a desperate plan. ¡°Elya, can you use the Fours to hold down its barrel? I need to capture that thing, not kill it.¡± An unusual move. But it''s worth a try. If it gets loose, we can try to poke its eyes out again. ¡°Good.¡± I built some primitive stairs from chairs and desks to two windows, then I waited for the Type Twenty-Eight to come closer. As it was close enough, I gave the command and my Macks were boiling out of the windows. First the Ones as distraction, then the Fours, then myself. The Twenty-Eight managed to shoot four of my Ones, then the Fours were on it. I sprinted close to the Mack and unleashed the full power of my hacking taser on the machine. From close up, the effect seemed to be stronger. A few seconds of wild flickering, then Elya overwhelmed its defenses. At this point, I had eleven Ones, six Fours and my new Twenty-Eight minion at my disposal. As far as I could see, the enemy had a fully operational Twenty-One, a damaged and almost helpless one, a Twenty-Eight and probably a few units hidden in the north wing. It was almost dark now, and now the shadows could hide dangers one could easily see in the day. I peeked through the hole the Twenty-Eight had made when it stormed into the building. The other Twenty-One had uncovered its glowing eye and seemed to look around. I pointed at it. ¡°Elya, do you think you can hit the eye with the gun of the Twenty-Eight?¡± If it is not de-calibrated from the rough treatment, then yes. ¡°Try!¡± Elya walked the Twenty-Eight into position and started firing at the eye of the huge Mack. It tried to cover its eye, but too late. Elya¡¯s second shot hit before the eye was fully protected and broke it. That left the surviving Twenty-Eight as the most dangerous enemy. My Macks and I managed to sneak close to it behind a shed, thirty meters from our target. I repeated the method I used to overwhelm the previous one, and my Macks rushed it. This one reacted much slower and only managed to hit one of my Fours. Several seconds later, it was mine. Now I had eleven Ones, five Fours and two Twenty-Eights under my command. Exhaustion was setting in, but I would at least finish clearing out the school. I collected my forces and marched back to the school, this time from the east. Through the hole the Type 21 had rammed into the building we could easily follow, approaching its massive body from behind. Three Type Four tried to tackle us, coming from the direction of the Mack¡¯s head. Apparently the overgrown metal caterpillar had gated in more units. I managed to capture two of them, my own Fours stabbed into the joints of the third one until it lay helpless on the floor. I gave it a thumbs down, Elya instructed one of the Fours to finish it. That Twenty-One had to die before it brought in even more reinforcements. Fortunately, I had examined the broken and incomplete Macks at Styx Base. Now Elya and I knew exactly where the innards of a 21 were positioned. I stepped back and said ¡°Elya, a few shots through the reactor controller and the capacitors.¡± Three shots out of the 28¡¯s coil gun finished the job. From its middle part where the reactor was installed smoke and an acrid stench emerged. I went around the front and watched its eye gradually go dark. My last act for today was clearing the rest of the school. Fortunately, the lights still worked so I did not have to stumble around in the dark. I found two more Ones and successfully captured them. A look at the battery status of my laser-tasers showed eight percent left. Messages on the security forces network indicated that other Mack concentrations nearby were already hunted down by MGs. Time to call it a day. ¡°Elya, make all units assemble on the field behind the school.¡± A final inventory check. As you command. Should they prostrate themselves? I did not deign to answer that. Elya was obviously joking. Or was she? Either way, soon I had all my minions standing on the lawn in rank and file. Thirteen Ones, seven Fours and two Twenty-Eights. Some of them visibly banged up. A group of Magical Girls came around the school. They had to be newbies, all of them in the ¡°white¡± class. There were no colored markings on their costumes, which meant they had not found their specialization yet. As they saw the size of my well organized Mack force, they started to retreat. Too many enemies in one place, huh? I subvocalized to Elya ¡°All units, submit!¡± My minions rolled over and showed their bellies to the Magical Girls. The 28s were a little slower, but then they, too, dropped onto their backs. It sounded like big dumpsters being tipped over. I stepped closer to the MGs, pointed to my Macks with a sweeping hand movement and said with a big grin ¡°Don¡¯t worry, they won¡¯t bite!¡± It took me a while to calm them down and convince them I was not some evil Mack queen going to feed them to my machines. By the time I managed that, an all-clear message came over the network. Elya tallied up my score for the day: You earned 2280 points today. That brings your total to one token and 5499 points. Chapter 35: Farming Macks Thursday, August 27th, 2048 I had finally gotten around to repairing the Type 21 sitting in the river bed near Styx base. Of course with various safety measures. Among other things, anything in the eye-computer that had to do with the teleportation sequence needed active authorization through Elya. On top of that, I had installed a remote triggered self destruct charge. And telemetry to measure what was going on in the thing. My plan was to mess with the next Mack emergence and try to redirect a few of their units here, both as an experiment and because they would be useful as raw material. I did not have an outgoing teleport portal so far, which meant I would have to play around with the setting of the gate in the Type 21 and hope I could catch something at all. Now the modifications on the Type 21 were complete, and I had to wait until the Macks did try something again. In the meantime, I set my build drones to work again. I was building a two-story house on top of the entry of Styx Base. Octagonal in shape, it echoed the architecture of the tower that supported the helipad. The drones were building the ceiling over the first story now, after that it would be masonry with big granite blocks again and finally a flat roof with a crenelated parapet. Maybe a smaller, second helipad on top where I could park the Variocopter and keep the bigger helipad free. I was still a bit undecided about that part. While I was musing about architecture, Elya advised me that there was hyperspace activity again. The Macks started another attack on Victoria, apparently from the same region where I had detected them last time. So SHOCKS had not managed to clear them out yet. I walked down to the river with Herbie, a dozen of my normal Type Fours and two Type 4AE following me. I parked Herbie fifty meters away from the Type 21, surrounded it with the Fours and started experimenting. Somehow the gate in the Type 21 had to interact with the place that was sending the smaller Macks. My first attempts were to wait for a hyperspace pulse from the enemy base and then somehow grab whatever was transmitted at the moment. That proved entirely useless. Next, I tried to actively initiate a transfer by pulsing the gate on my side. Now I got a resonance that seemed to depend on the orientation of my Mack. It was strongest when the opening of the gate was in line with the vector from the ¡°sender¡± base. So I made the Twenty-One turn around accordingly and gave final instructions to Elya. ¡°Try to block enemy units with our own Fours while you try to hack them. When that fails, kill them.¡± Next, we ramped the power for the gate up all the way. At the peak, the telemetry Elya was monitoring showed a massive power drain from the huge capacitors in the Twenty-One¡¯s gate and a Type Four emerged. It had barely stepped out of the bigger machine when I gave it the electro-hacking treatment. One easy new minion. The capacitors needed a minute to recharge, before I could make the next attempt. This time nothing happened, but on the next try another Four emerged. This one was a bit more difficult, but my Type Four bodyguards blocked its way and in a second attempt Elya managed to convert it. It was very nice that I could control the influx of enemy units, so we always could be sure of not being outnumbered. That dubious pleasure would be left to the Macks today. Over the next hour, I lured in eighteen more Fours, of which I had to destroy four because they resisted hacking. A fifth one died from Elya¡¯s hacking attempt. Then one rather flimsy looking unit with numerous eyes and antennae appeared. It collapsed as soon as the taser kissed it. Oops. That one had more delicate circuits. By the way, it was a Type Thirteen, a recon unit that is said to have very good sensors. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. After that, a machine with eight legs and four more limbs each with a spike and an eye came through the gate. It was quickly taken over though. A Type Seventeen. The ambush predator among the Macks. Likes to jump you from unexpected places. ¡°Park it over there.¡± I pointed vaguely in the direction of Herbie. Elya and I had been farming Macks for over an hour now, as MMO players might say, and the ¡°emerge¡± part of an emergence rarely lasted longer than that. I decided to try and catch one more, then I would be done for today. Of course, my last intended victim turned out not to be an ordinary unit. Instead a humanoid shape stepped out of the gate. It was one of the Mack ¡°Magical Girls¡±. She looked human enough at first glance, but the rigid plating of her skirt and her bra made it clear that this was not your wholesome girl next door. I subvocalized to Elya ¡°All units attack, but don¡¯t hit the head!¡± I wanted to take that head intact. Which did not keep me from electro-tasering her. It did not overpower her, but caused some noticeable glitches. Miss Mack twitched but managed to grind out ¡°Flame Arr..Arr¡­¡± She lifted her hand and fired three flaming bolts from her palm at me, before one of my Fours punched a spike through her elbow. Diving to the side, I still caught two bolts on my armor but managed to evade the third. Even hit only twice, my armor got scorching hot immediately. Where my right arm touched the cuirass near the armpit, a burning pain made me recoil and rip the armor off as quickly as possible. Fortunately, my Macks overwhelmed her. The staccato of spikes pounding into Mack plate and ripping through synthskin left no doubt about who was winning. With my armor taken off, I was free of the worst pain and could watch the fight again. The body of the Mack girl looked pretty shredded by now. I chose to take a risk. ¡°Elya, stop!¡± I grabbed the Omni-Cutter I had laid nearby and sprinted towards the Mack girl. As I arrived, she already started moving again, but then I brought the Omni-Cutter down on her neck. With a hiss of melting synthskin and sparks from cutting through the metal spine, the head came off. I grabbed it and dunked it into the nearby river to douse the flames. Then I dove in myself to relieve the pain from my burn wound. Fuck, that was cold! Target eliminated! 1 x Model 42 Reward¡­ 100 points So far, you have earned 520 points today. With the daily allowance since Monday, that brings your new balance to one token and 6049 points. Half an hour later, I had bandaged my burn wounds. Fortunately, those were only second degree and proper dressings had been in the first aid kit of Herbie. I so needed to refill that. To get a bit more cooling near the wounds, I would walk around bare-chested for the rest of the day. If any peeping toms were in the woods, they would have a view to enjoy, if I may say so myself. Elya was watching the body of the downed robot girl through a Spectracopter, but could not detect any movement. Time for the cleanup. ¡°Elya, send the Nines to take the scrap away, but tell them to leave the gynoid alone!¡± From Herbie¡¯s fabricator I ordered a metal box specially sealed against radio waves and put the head of the Mack girl into the box. This way she would not be able to activate her body remotely, no matter what hidden transmitters she had. Then I cradled the broken body of the robot girl in Herbie¡¯s arms and walked back to the base. I spent the rest of the afternoon carefully disconnecting the power supply of the Type 42. Both because the Mack would not be able to do anything without it, and because I was curious about its function. Now I could retrieve the head from the box without risk. I removed the voice box from the mangled body and reconnected it to her head with a bit of a duct tape kludge, so she could talk when I interrogated her. In a similarly jury-rigged way, I mounted her head on a stand I had printed out ad hoc. Next, I connected various electronics Elya had suggested for creating a high-speed connection to Miss Mack¡¯s cyberbrain. Finally, an external power supply for the head which I did not switch on yet. Later in the evening, I went online for a bit and checked on the latest Haven news. Elya checked how many kills HANAF had made with the weapons I sold them. Apparently this emergence had been a bit smaller than the previous ones. In the latest emergence, you earned 1882 points through the weaponry you provided to HANAF. Your new balance is one token and 7931 points. It must be nice to just sit back and watch the points roll in. Chapter 36: Miss Mack After breakfast and giving some more directives to the building drones, I switched on the power supply and patted my head-only guest on the cheek. ¡°Wakey-wakey, we have to taaalk!¡± The eyes began to glow and flickered through several colors, then settled on red. She immediately snapped ¡°Flame Arrow!¡± Nothing happened. The eyes flickered some more, then she said in a monotone, robotic voice ¡°Error 404, body not found. Rebooting¡­¡± Some eye flickering later, she continued in a more normal voice: ¡°Diagnosis: Diagnosis interfaces unavailable.¡± ¡°Weapon systems: Flame Arrow unavailable. Vaporizing Blast unavailable.¡± ¡°Mobility: Motoric interface not present, movement impossible.¡± ¡°Status: Unit not operational.¡± Then Miss Mack seemed to fully wake up and asked ¡°Query: Where am I? Repairs necessary. Return to operational area of high priority.¡± ¡°Good morning, my synthetic friend. You are at Styx base and its location is classified. But what are you?¡± ¡°Model 54401 Combat Unit, Nanite-Enhanced. I am the beginning and the end, the end of the world as you know it. I am¡­¡± She broke off, eyes rotating upwards until metal peeked out below the white of the eyes. A keening wail escaped her, full of anguish and terror. Suddenly it ended and the old voice came back ¡°...your doom approaching. The rightful successor to your species.¡± I switched the power supply off and her eyes went dark. That needed more investigation before I continued my interrogation. ¡°Elya, what info did you gain from the direct connection to Miss Mack¡¯s robot brain?¡± The software seems to be a crude overlay of an uploaded human consciousness and more traditional programming. Uh oh. That sounded like the worst, most horrifying shitshow I ever heard about. I tried to imagine how it must feel to be trapped like this. Aware of what was going on, but stuffed into a robot body, a computer controlling your every move. If the uploaded person was a Magical Girl, she might even find herself trying to kill her former teammates, unable to stop it. I did not know if I could help her, but I had to try. Try as in ¡°don''t simply administer a mercy killing.¡± ¡°Elya, what would be required to separate the upload and the, ahem, other parts? And give her a new body?¡± Bending the rules a little, the separation of the mind from the controlling software is something I can do with the tools you already have. For giving Miss Mack a new body the simplest solution would be a full body prosthetics system from Class I Prosthetics. As the computing hardware she is running on is beyond your current ability to manufacture, I recommend to reuse it and install a custom smart adapter to connect it to the new robot body. ¡°Whu¨Cwhat the fuck are full body prosthetics?¡± It is a catch-all phrase for prosthetics that replace at least eighty percent of the body in one go. That can go all the way to having an uploaded mind in a 100% robotic body. ¡°Show me some options that are doable with my current tech.¡± At the very cheap end, you have various equivalents of a motorized retail store mannequin. Most of them have hard plastic skin. These might be even more traumatizing though for someone who has been forcibly roboticized already. On browsing the things, I had to agree. Some of them even looked cute, but only if you liked robot girls in the first place. One step up, there are various soft-skin versions with flexible artificial muscles. Those can be very close to a human body in appearance. With one of these, Miss Mack could become a nice, cuddly girlfriend for you. ¡°What???¡± I noticed how you looked at some of these replacement bodies. ¡°Ahem, back on topic. Let¡¯s take a closer look at those soft-skin versions.¡± As a starting point, you might want to consider the SecondLife Mk IV modular body replacement system. It contains everything Miss Mack might need. Prices start at 2500 points for the blueprint of the basic system. For 500 additional points, you get the deluxe blueprint version with thermal and chemical sensors to emulate touch and smell. Elya made a little presentation pop up on my augs. The robot body before my eyes looked human, except for barely visible seams where presumably different skin sections overlapped. Other than that, the skin had a light silky sheen, suggesting healthy human skin that was given a touch of moisturizing cream. ¡°The images look nice, but give me a more in-depth overview.¡± The synthetic skin you seem to admire quite a bit is made of a soft but strong silicone rubber, further reinforced by high-strength microfiber for protection against ripping and tearing. It is not self-repairing like human skin, but highly wear and UV resistant. Thermal sensors are optionally included. Skin color is adjustable in a wide range. For movement, the SecondLife system uses piezoelectric synthetic muscle fiber, performance is roughly three times that of a human muscle with the same volume. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°OK, let¡¯s earmark that design for now. But what would stuff like a self-repair system cost?¡± Sorry, systems like that require more sophisticated manufacturing equipment. You would need to build that first. Two more steps on the roadmap we worked out a year ago, and I could offer a much greater variety of options. So Miss Mack might need to have her tires changed from time to time. Not too much of a problem as long as you had a decent fabricator. But before I started building her new body, I wanted to know exactly what her old one looked like. ¡°Elya, did you find any clues to Miss Mack¡¯s identity before she was made into a robot girl?¡± Give me a moment¡­ yes, internal SHOCKS records document an incident fifteen months ago where a Magical Girl went missing during a failed raid into Seattle. Publicly, there was a closed casket funeral. But drone footage shows the MG being dragged away by a Mack drone rather than slaughtered on the spot. Her body was never found. At the same time, the oldest files I found in the programming of the Mack body are about fourteen months old. ¡°So far, so bad. But did you find photos, names, anything else about her background?¡± Arina Novikova, eighteen years old at the time she went MIA, daughter of Russian immigrants that arrived shortly before First Emergence. The image is from two weeks before the incident. Her MG codename was Sunrise. Elya showed me a photo of a petite girl with light brown hair and an earnest expression. She was pretty in an unassuming way, wearing no makeup at all but with a natural beauty. She also had a nicely toned body that suggested regular workouts. ¡°OK, let''s prepare to wake up Arina. That is, if Miss Mack is really Arina. I want you to do the following things: ¡°First, log all attempts to use the Mack body in detail if you were not doing it anyway. I want some insight into the API, for lack of a better word. ¡°Second, once we are past the booting process, suppress the software that controls her actions and behavior. I want to talk to the ghost in the shell, not to the digital shackles. ¡°And third, make a copy of the control software for later analysis. I hesitate to simply copy the personality without her consent, but the parts created by the Macks are fair game.¡± I¡¯m ready when you are. I did not know what suffering I would cause the digitized person inside by activating her in that state. But it was necessary if we wanted to get anywhere, so I steeled my resolve and went ahead. With some trepidation, I switched the power supply for the head on. The eyes began to glow and flickered through several colors, then settled on red. Her first words were ¡°Vaporizing Blast!¡± Nothing happened. The eyes flickered some more, then she said in a monotone, robotic voice ¡°Error 404, body not found. Rebooting¡­¡± Some eye flickering later, she continued in a more normal voice: ¡°Diagnosis: Diagnosis interfaces unavailable.¡± ¡°Weapons: Flame Arrow unavailable. Vaporizing blast unavailable.¡± ¡°Mobility: Motoric interface not present, movement impossible.¡± ¡°Status: Unit not operational.¡± Exactly the same boot sequence as last time. That part seemed to be deterministic programming and not in any way dependent on personal choice. Then she seemed to come fully online and started ¡°Query: WherE aM I? RepAirs nEcess¡­¡± Her face froze for a moment, then switched to a bewildered expression. I have frozen the control software process for now. Copy in progress. Keep her talking. ¡°Hello there¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯d like to talk to the real you, now that your compulsions are hopefully suspended for a bit. For starters, tell me your name and how you came to be in this unpleasant situation.¡± The head in front of me seemed to try to speak, but nothing came out. All I saw was some trembling of the jaw. It appears that the mental processes for decision making have been rerouted through her mental shackles. With me freezing those, her mind is essentially paralyzed. That extends to speaking. I subvocalized back ¡°Can you emulate her volition for now? As close to her original personality as possible? I can only work with what is still there, but I believe I can get pretty close to her pre-conversion thought processes. ¡°Do it!¡± A moment later, the previously suppressed answer came. ¡°I am Arina and I am not. I don¡¯t know who I am anymore!¡± Followed by heart-rending sobs. If she could move, I was sure she would have curled up in despair. I was unsure what to do in this situation. How would I not make things worse? But eventually I stepped up to her and gave her head the best approximation of a hug I could give. That seemed to calm her down a little. Eventually, she seemed to be collected enough that we could talk rationally again. So I asked the big question: ¡°I believe I can make a new body for you. It would still be mechanical though. Would you like that?¡± ¡°Anything! Anything to get me out of that monstrosity they put me in! I cannot live like that!¡± I subvocalized to Elya ¡°Can you make Arina sleep for now, but without erasing her memory of this conversation?¡± Certainly. The copy of the control software is complete as well. In my arms, Arina¡¯s face relaxed and her eyes closed. You can switch off the power supply now. The rest of the day was given to discussing how to do the transfer. I ended up buying the blueprints for the SecondLife Mk IV body including the extra sensors. Also a blueprint for a custom transcoder to connect the new body to the Mack brain. Elya agreed to translate her emulation of Arina¡¯s volition to more efficient native software running on the Mack brain. Of course there was a price to pay:
Item Point cost Description
Class I Prosthetics 50 Mechanical replacement parts for meatsacks
SecondLife Mk IV modular body replacement system, including optional sensors (blueprint) 3000 points Full body prosthetic system
Custom transcoder (blueprint) 200 points Adapter for connecting a Mack Type 42 brain to the SecondLife Mk IV system
Total price 3250 points
¡°OK, let¡¯s proceed with this.¡± Purchased: Everything in the table New balance: One token and 4691 points We briefly switched Arina on to completely delete her digital shackles and restore her free will. Then we sent her back to sleep. The next time she woke up it would be in a new body. Chapter 37: New (Un?)Life Whether we are based on carbon or on silicon makes no fundamental difference; we should each be treated with appropriate respect. ¨D Arthur C. Clarke Elya and I finalized the design of Arina¡¯s new body. The face would look like the one on her old human body. I might have sneaked a bit of idealization in, but nothing too blatant. We slightly increased the height to 162 cm, the next standard size in the SecondLife body replacement system. The new body would have a slender build that was very close to what Arina had before. For the synthetic muscles, we chose a somewhat larger size than the average teenager had. It would give Arina the same nice muscle tone she had in her human life, and also more physical strength. Then I started building the hardware. Printing would last into the night, and I did not want to make mistakes due to lack of sleep. So postponed the assembling to next day and did a bit more work on Styx Base instead. The second floor of my house was not complete yet. Saturday, August 29th, 2048 It was time for Arina¡¯s first activation in her new body. I had installed the hardware, now it was time to see how well she took to it. I pressed the startup button on her neck. Arina came awake and immediately sat up, moving her new limbs this way and that way. Somehow she seemed to be both intrigued and confused to me. I wanted to ask, but then she gave the explanation herself. ¡°I used to have - servos? But these feel much more natural, like muscles.¡± ¡°These are synthetic muscles. Based on piezo-electric fibers.¡± I replied. She stood up and moved around the room. Initially a bit unsteadily, then increasingly confident. I grabbed a mirror I had prepared for the occasion and held it in front of her. ¡°Like what you see?¡± Suddenly I had an armful of robot girl hanging off me. There were sobs again, but this time they were sobs of relief. Now I could give her a proper hug, so I did. Arina hugged me back hard and for a moment I thought my rib cage might break. That new body was strong! I gasped ¡°Oof! Don¡¯t break me!¡± ¡°Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!¡± I gave Arina some new clothes, straight from the fabricator. Mostly for modesty, as her new body could handle even extreme temperatures without clothing. To keep the conversation going and learn more about Arina, I suggested a tour of the base. Arina happily agreed and we made our way around the complex. As we reached the bays with the destroyed and unfinished Type 21s, Arina recoiled and hid behind me. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. I gave her a hug and said ¡±None of these work anymore. They are harmless.¡± ¡°But why do you have Macks around, even broken ones?¡± ¡°This used to be a Mack base, before it was trashed by a SHOCKS strike team. I¡¯m sort of squatting here and gradually renovating it.¡± Come to think of it, maybe Arina could give me some information if she had memories from her time as a Mack. I pointed at a badly damaged device across the hall that looked like an oversized version of the gate in a Type 21 and asked Arina ¡±There is still a lot of wrecked tech I don¡¯t understand yet. If you can remember, what were these used for?¡± ¡°I have seen those in operation only once. Macks walked into them and disappeared, as if they had been swallowed.¡± ¡°From what I learned elsewhere, I suspect it could be the sender part of a teleport device. Can you still remember what types of Macks went into it?¡± ¡°Type Twenty-ones, followed by smaller Macks. But I¡¯d rather not remember that time anymore.¡± The next sign that all was not well came when we approached the entrance of the base. I warned Arina that I had captured a bunch of Macks and she had no need to be afraid of them. But she still recoiled at the sight of my Mack guards, this time with a little cry of fear. Apparently Arina had Mackophobia, even of my tamed Macks. Hardly surprising. But what could I do about that? I figured that I could use some professional help. Ahem, of course I mean Arina could use professional help. But would people accept her as a person rather than a bloodthirsty bot? The fact that she did not have a Mack body anymore might be a good start, but whom could we trust for the next steps? I was not so sure about SHOCKS, even if they acknowledged Arina as one of their own. Militaries had run experiments on their own soldiers without consent before, such as Project 112 in the 1960s. On the other hand, perhaps there were other girls in the same situation. Helping them might require Elya and me telling SHOCKS there was someone to rescue. And from what Mantis had once mentioned, they had pretty good therapists to care for veterans with PTSD. But ultimately, Arina was an adult, right? I would explain the situation to her and let her make her own decision. Even if I might find accepting that decision difficult. So I asked her to sit down with me and started explaining. ¡°Arina, I guess you wonder about your future now. Right now, I see three options. First and simplest, you stay here with me. It might get a bit lonely sometimes though because I have business in Victoria. I would give you command of the Macks if you want. If you experience that you can command them around, that might help against being afraid of them. ¡°Second, you could live in my home in Victoria. You could be among people there, and maybe we could find a therapist who can help you and keep your identity confidential. But I don¡¯t know what would happen if someone discovers your mechanical body. There is a risk people would think you are a hostile Mack and dismantle you before I could convince them otherwise. ¡°Third, we could go to SHOCKS with the story. I don''t know if they would believe us, and if they don¡¯t, there is the threat of dismantling again. But in the best case, you could meet your friends again, and perhaps some other Mack girl is also an enslaved human girl we could free.¡± Arina did not deliberate for long. ¡°I really don¡¯t like it here. Sorry! Not because of you! And I really want to go back to my friends, and help others who were kidnapped if that is possible. But I¡¯d like to stay friends with you too.¡± Her new body could not blush, but her body language suggested it. ¡°Really close friends!¡± Oh my, that was an unexpected development. Chapter 38: Homecoming There was nothing more I needed to do at Styx Base immediately, so we might as well fly back to Vancouver Island. I made a last round of the base and checked if everything was secured against an unexpected storm, then we took off in the Variocopter with very little luggage. The most important item was a charger for Arina. I had yet to analyze her old energy source, so I could not integrate it into her new body. For now her sustenance would come out of a power socket. The charger blueprint had been affordable enough at 100 points. On the flight, she did not say much but she snuggled up to me. I did not say much either, I just basked in the company of my new friend. Back in Victoria, I called B.S.O.D and arranged a meeting for the following Monday. Getting her to agree to an unnamed visitor was a bit difficult, and the announcement that said visitor might set off alerts because of mechanical body parts made her even more suspicious. Ultimately she accepted, but announced that I would get an extra escort in the building and my visitor better be interesting. In the meantime, we would spend the rest of the weekend at my place, the old shelter I had my workshop and apartment in. I had left my van at the shelter, so we took a bus from the airport. On the way Arina snuggled up to me again, and I laid an arm around her. Somehow it did not matter to me that she was not organic anymore. But there was another question I wanted to ask. First I addressed my trusty AI. I subvocalized ¡°Elya, could you spare enough memory to hold a copy of Arina¡¯s consciousness?¡± Easily, but the ethical aspect may be problematic. Would you keep her as a virtual pet? ¡°Not without Alina¡¯s consent of course.¡± Good. As far as an AI can feel uncomfortable, I would not like to be a mind trafficker. So my AI had ethics of her own? Interesting. But now I had to ask Arina herself. ¡°Arina, there is a kind of digital immortality I can offer you. Now that your mind is digital, it is possible to copy it and restore it into a new body. Not immediately, because I would have to acquire hardware for the brain substitute first, but eventually you could come back from being killed.¡± Arina was quiet for a few minutes, and I could see shifting emotions in her face. First joy, and I was not sure what exactly it meant. Perhaps she was just happy that I cared? Then anguish and insecurity. Finally, a more determined expression and a decision. ¡°Please don¡¯t. I would feel like a thing to be manufactured and traded. I just regained a degree of independence and dignity, don¡¯t take that away!¡± I gave her a hug and said ¡°Never. But if I had not made the offer and something bad would happen to you, I would regret it forever.¡± We spent the rest of the weekend watching movies on an old-fashioned 2D screen, taking a walk around Esquimalt Lagoon and other things humans might do on a free weekend. Monday, August 31th, 2048 In the morning, we made our way to SHOCKS, this time with my van. Two MGs I did not know yet greeted us at the entrance and escorted us to B.S.O.D.¡¯s office. We had to wait for a few minutes, with our escorts staying and watching. Then B.S.O.D. joined us. When she saw Arina, she went pale and almost dropped her coffee. ¡°Sunrise? How did you get back? Are you even Sunrise?¡± Arina replied ¡°Caitlin saved me. I mean she saved my mind. My body is entirely mechanical now.¡± She quietly started to sob. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. B.S.O.D. turned to me, stone faced. ¡°Explain!¡± ¡°I have a captured Type 21 sitting near Styx base, and I figured out how to divert single units from an ongoing emergence to that Twenty-One. So during the emergence four days ago I set out to capture more Macks, either as new minions if I managed to hack them, or for recycling as raw material. ¡°After catching several of the more common types, a Type 42 showed up. She immediately attacked, but my own Fours overwhelmed her. After taking her apart, I interviewed the separated head. ¡°At first it gave me a rant about the approaching doom of mankind, but thanks to Little Aug I could figure out that the software it was running was a kludge made from an uploaded human consciousness and a sort of overseer software that controlled what she did. I managed to disable and delete the overseer software though, Arina is free now.¡± B.S.O.D. went even more pale and said to one of our MG escorts: ¡°Get Palace! Immediately!¡±. Then she came around her desk and gave Arina a hug. Half a minute later the escort was back with Palace Athena, the commander of SHOCKS. B.S.O.D. asked me to repeat what I just said to her. When I did so, Palace Athena looked at me with cold fury. I could only hope it was not directed at me. Palace ordered one of the MGs: ¡°Get Moonglow and Starlight in here. They should be in the gym right now.¡± Three tense minutes later, she was back with two sweaty and disheveled girls in tow. When they saw Arina, they were flabbergasted. One of them, a tall and athletic blonde stammered ¡°Arina? How did you survive?¡± The other one did not talk at all, she just kneeled at Arina¡¯s chair and held her gently. I noticed that she had nice auburn hair, pretty close to mine. It was weird how such trivialities would sometimes occupy my mind. Palace gave them a moment, then she asked Moonglow, Starlight and me to leave the office with her. Outside she said ¡°If this is really Sunrise, I am as happy as you. But we need to check. Moonglow and Starlight, you talk to her and fish for little things only a close acquaintance would know. Funny moments, little secrets, private activities.¡± ¡°And you,¡± she turned to me, ¡°will tell me in detail how you accomplished getting Sunrise back.¡± She guided me to a meeting room, told me to stay put and went to fetch Benjamin, the computer expert I had met on the expedition to the (then still unnamed) Styx Base. In an intense ten minute interrogation, they squeezed the whole story out of me. The style was perhaps a bit rude, but I could not fault Palace for putting the security of her command first. She would have been a bad commander if that was not a high priority for her. Then Benjamin asked a question I had expected much earlier: ¡°If Sunrise does not have a Mack body any more, what does she have now?¡± ¡°A Protector design called a full body prosthesis. It is used for people who have lost most of their body. The options go from support for a living head with a miniature life support system to full mind uploads. Obviously, Sunrise has the latter.¡± ¡°And why is her mind still in the Mack computer, instead of a Protector equivalent?¡± ¡°The Mack brain is working perfectly well after I removed the overseer software. Also, my fabricator might be hitting its limitations here. To be honest, I have yet to check if I can build an artificial brain that fits into a human-sized head.¡± Palace and Benjamin did not pursue the topic further for the moment, mostly because Palace seemed to become impatient with discussing technical minutiae. When we came back to B.S.O.D.¡¯s office, Moon and Star looked like they had cried quite a bit. With Arina it was not as obvious, because she had no tear ducts anymore. B.S.O.D. appeared harrowed too, but more composed. She announced ¡°Sunrise will stay with us for a while and work with our therapists. There are also a lot of questions we still need to ask her about the Macks.¡± I replied ¡°I understand that you need the intel, but please be gentle about it. When I asked Arina about some Mack tech, she answered my questions but was obviously uncomfortable with it.¡± Next I pulled out an USB stick. ¡°This contains the blueprints for Arina¡¯s new body and a few notes about how to replace parts of it for repair. Sorry Arina, but where other people need a doctor sometimes, you might need a mechanic.¡± I could tell from the mood in the room that it was time to conclude the meeting. So I stepped up to Arina, gave her a kiss on the cheek and said ¡±Take care, and unless they ban me from SHOCKS, I will visit frequently.¡± Arina kissed me back. Not quite as chastely, but it was still a goodbye kiss. Chapter 39: Interrogation Tuesday, September 1st, 2048 To my surprise, I received a phone call from SHOCKS the next morning. They wanted me to assist in a Mack interrogation. Which gave me a very bad feeling about Arina¡¯s safety. With barely restrained fury I answered ¡°Which Mack, and why do you need help with interrogation?¡± Fortunately, it turned out that my concerns were unfounded. At least where Arina was concerned. SHOCKS had another Type 42 lying around, and apparently an earlier interrogation attempt had brought some success but almost burned the Mack-brain out. The Mack had been put into storage then, but now they hoped I could help them with a second attempt. So was there another girl to rescue? I hurriedly printed a copy of the hardware I had needed to interrogate Arina, then jumped in my van and set off for SHOCKS. Arriving there, I was immediately guided to a lab where the Type 42 was strapped to a table. While she still had her head, the body was ripped up as badly as Arina¡¯s old Mack body after my Fours had taken her down. A dozen blinking red lights around the room flashed over LED signs that read ¡®Nanite Annihilation Field Active: Magical Girl Presence Forbidden.¡¯ High up on the side of the lab was an observer room from which people could watch what was going on. Benjamin was there again, and another guy named Devin. Together they were supposed to be the experts on Mack computing systems. I asked Benjamin ¡°What is a Nanite Annihilation Field, and how does it work?¡± ¡°Unfortunately, I only know that it sabotages nanites while leaving other tech mostly alone. It is Advent tech which nobody here seems to fully understand. Its purpose is to suppress the nanites these pseudo-MGs use in their weapon systems.¡± I subvocalized to Elya ¡°Try to find out more about that field.¡± Then I asked Benjamin and Devin ¡°How did you perform the interrogation last time?¡± Benjamin: ¡°I run a sort of DOS attack on weapons and motor controls, Devin tries to overload its processing capacity. We observed that this is a way to force answers out of the Mack, but we don¡¯t understand the mechanics behind it. Arthur over there will ask the questions, like the last time we did this.¡± ¡°I might be able to handle this without deliberately overstressing its brain. I understand you almost destroyed your interrogation object last time that way. But I need a fast connection to the Mack brain.¡± They looked at me sceptically, but agreed. Devin said ¡°OK, let''s try it your way first. But I¡¯ll watch and if things look suspicious I¡¯ll start my pressuring software.¡± Benjamin indicated that I could use the cable access he already had connected to Madame Mack. That connection is adequate. Subvocalized: ¡°Same drill as with Arina: Block the control software and emulate her volition as well as you can.¡± To the boys I said: ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡± Arthur flicked a switch and the Type 42 came online. Its eyes flickered red and yellow for a bit, settled on red and the cybergirl ground out ¡°Flame Arrow.¡± Nothing happened. Benjamin¡¯s interference worked. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. I am getting valuable data here. But the Mack brain is indeed damaged and will deteriorate further over time. It is a matter of hours until irreversible personality loss in the digitized person will set in. I subvocalized ¡°Emergency copy then. Grab everything, the human consciousness has priority.¡± In the meantime, Madame Mack started ranting but Elya shut her up quickly. ¡°I am the end and the beginning, your doom aprrrr¡­.¡± Silence from Madame Mack. I interjected ¡°I¡¯m overriding the overseer software now, but it seems the hardware is slowly going downhill. I¡¯d like to make a full copy of what I can while there is time. Please leave the Mack on at the end of the interview, I will handle the rest.¡± Arthur started asking questions, and I let Madame Mack talk. Her way of expression suggested that she was very young, among the youngest MGs I had met so far. It was painful to listen to the distressed voice of the girl, but interrupting the interview now would be a bad idea. There might be no second opportunity for saving her. Eventually Arthur was satisfied and everybody looked at me questioningly. ¡°Copy is still ongoing and might take another hour.¡± Cyberbrain is measurably deteriorating. Madame Mack cannot afford time for other activities than being copied. I¡¯m freezing her normal thought processes to free up bandwidth for copying. Fifty minutes later: Almost done, but error rates are rapidly increasing. I¡¯m underclocking her brain now, that appears to increase stability. Another two minutes later: Copy complete. We lost a few megabytes to data corruption, but a digital image of the human mind has some redundancy. A few memories might be paler, a bit of knowledge may be lost, but Madame Mack is still herself. I subvocalized back: ¡°But could we build a replacement brain?¡± That would be doable. The version I recommend would require Class I Computation Devices, a brain emulation software from that class and the GhostShell Mk II blueprint, for a total price of 4250 points. The GhostShell provides the large capacity needed by a human consciousness by using many, many layers of very energy efficient circuitry. Estimated power consumption is 50W. With a suitable heat distribution system to spread the 50W throughout the body, it could nicely simulate human body warmth. Build time would be 33.8 days on your fabricator. I kept subvocalizing. ¡°How does the capacity compare to a human brain?¡± In the top two percentile in terms of the complexity of thoughts it can handle. Speed wise, eighty percent faster than the average natural human brain. Overall, she would be quite smart with excellent reflex speed. Keep in mind the GhostShell was not designed to make you into a superintelligence. Its purpose is to give an adequate replacement for what you lost. Serious upgrades are available for serious point investments and currently unaffordable for you. Let alone the manufacturing issues. So far so good. Now I needed a potty break and had to figure out how to organize a new life for Madame Mack. Which was an interesting challenge. I was not really ready to be a substitute mom for a traumatized teenager, especially one with the social handicap of being a robot in a world plagued by a robot invasion. Perhaps SHOCKS would be the best choice again. In the subsequent conference I announced ¡°I have copied the vast majority of the uploaded personality, but there was some minor data loss because of the Mack brain breaking down. I am, however, optimistic that it will lead only to minor memory loss. ¡°Building a replacement brain is possible if time consuming. I am willing to provide the blueprints, and once the hardware is ready, I¡¯ll come around to transfer the digitized mind.¡± B.S.O.D asked ¡°And how long would building take?¡± ¡°33.8 days. But SHOCKS has had its own fabricator since February, so that should not be a problem, right?¡± Chapter 40: Advanced Mack Farming Thursday, September 3th, 2048 SHOCKS had readily agreed to use their own printer to build the artificial brain. Perhaps to make sure I actually gave them the blueprint, but it would also make sure my own printer would not be blocked for a month. On my visit today they had even officially given me some documentation on the Nanite Annihilation Field. Which Elya had already nabbed for me, but this way it would not be obvious I had raided their network again. The documentation was extensive enough for my purposes, and the field emitters were buildable with Herbie¡¯s fabricator. My points, though, were also raided. To put it in a table:
Item Point cost Description
Class I Computation devices 50 Computers, computers
MindSim Mk IV (software) 200 Emulation software for brains, parameter set for one species included in purchase.
GhostShell Mk II (blueprint) 4000 points Application specific hardware for running the MindSim Mk IV
Total price 4250 points
I agreed of course, a promise is a promise. Purchased: Everything in the table New Balance: One token and 501 points I gave the SHOCKS guys a copy of the GhostShell blueprint, so they could start building. Before I left, I asked to visit Arina. She was still off duty and would remain so for weeks at least, so nothing got in the way. We had to meet in the food court though, as the MG¡¯s quarters were off limits for visitors. Arina greeted me with a hug, then she looked wistfully at the pastry shelves near the coffee machine. ¡°Right now, these are the things I miss most.¡± ¡°I can imagine,¡± I replied. Real food in generous quantities was one of the privileges of being a Magical Girl. On overcrowded Victoria Island, most people had to make do with the synthetic crap provided by Sanctuary. It was non-perishable and had all necessary vitamins, but tasted rather bland. Only the rich could afford real food most of the time. I wanted to know more about Arina¡¯s new life and if she was really accepted back as a full SHOCKS member. So I asked ¡±How¡¯s life treating you these days, and especially, how do your old friends treat you?¡± ¡°My old team is still good friends, and they are what keeps me going. From others I get a lot of suspicion. And Richard, my former operator, took it hard when the Macks captured me. He started drinking and eventually lost his job at SHOCKS.¡± With a sniff, she continued ¡°I met Rick again lately, but he called me a fake and said I could never replace Arina!¡± I did not know what else to do, so I gave her a hug. Arina hugged me back, once again hard enough that I feared for my ribs. We held each other for a while until it was time for Arina¡¯s next therapy session. For me it was time to get back to Styx base. I wanted to complete my domicile there before the winter, and I had ideas for another round of Mack farming. With an improved trap. The next days were given to cutting granite blocks for the house and tinkering with my Type 21. At its rear where units exited the teleport gate, I added an armored chamber where incoming Macks would be trapped. Only when they were under control in some way, the heavy steel door to the outside world would open. The chamber was equipped with a Mack zapper, a beefier version of what I had on my armor. It would be remotely operated by Elya. The chamber also had a net to immobilize Macks in, made of strong ropes. The final touch was a nanite annihilation field, in case I caught another Magical Mack. Now I had to wait for the next emergence. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Monday, September 7th, 2048 For a few days, nothing had happened and I was working on my house. Progress was at the point where the roof was complete and watertight. While preparing to install the windows, I was interrupted by an emergence warning for Victoria. I strapped my armor on, grabbed my rifle and a special tool for getting at the circuitry in the spine of a Mack girl¡¯s body. Surrounded by my bodyguard of captured and subverted machine invaders, I jogged down to my Type 21. Its ass was already orientated in line with the Mack base the latest invasion was coming from. After starting the reactor and a few minutes of warm up, I began to pull Macks from the ongoing incursion. One Mack per minute, as the gate system in my Twenty-One could not do it faster without overheating. The first Type Four came out of the gate and seemed to be baffled by finding itself in prison. Through the observation camera in the chamber, I could see it turning left and right, searching for an exit. Then the lightning from the Mack-zapper raked over its surface, and it collapsed. Oops, that was a bit too much current ¡°No problem, we can use scrap for recycling too. Next one!¡° We captured the next fifteen Macks without any difficulty. Only three needed putting down because they somehow resisted hacking. The chamber made it ridiculously easy, almost boring. Whenever a Mack resisted for more than a few seconds, Elya triggered the capture net. It was pulled down from the ceiling by strong, fast winches and pulled taut over the resistant machine. Then it was safe to open the chamber and destroy the recalcitrant metal pest. I did not bother to try and convert the common models, as we had enough successful conversions and Styx Base was always short on metals. Into the recycler they went. Then an unfamiliar model showed up, quadrupedal, squat and larger than a Type One. It had two eyes like a terran predator, nasty looking claws and a tail reminiscent of a scorpion. But instead of a stinger, the tail ended in some kind of gun. When it found itself trapped, it started raking its claws over the walls of the capture chamber. The claws glowed in a sinister red and left deep gouges in the steel, leaving a trail of sparks in their way. But seconds later, Elya had overwhelmed its electronic defenses. Target captured! 1 x new Mack type Reward¡­ 30 points This one was more difficult to hack than a Type Four. Their defenses are improving. Due to the increased threat level you earn 30 points for each of these. Great, the enemy were stepping up their game. But so was I. ¡°Elya, I¡¯d like to keep this one for analysis. Do you have solid control of it?¡± Yes, don¡¯t worry. ¡°Even so, park it a few hundred meters away and watch it with a few Type Four guards. We have plenty of those now.¡± A minute later I pulled the next Mack out of my teleport gate and it was one of those four legged steel beasts again. It resisted hacking even more than the first one. Even the capture net could not fully immobilize it. ¡°Elya, go all out. Frying its mind is OK.¡± The lightning in the chamber became brighter as Elya tried to batter her way through the Mack¡¯s defenses. I grabbed my ¡°Shiv¡± railgun and pointed it at the capture chamber, ready to shoot through its walls. Seconds later, the first set of claws cut through the door with a shower of sparks. I peppered the chamber with railgun projectiles where I estimated the metal monster to be. Then it collapsed inside the chamber, oil leaking from where my bullets had penetrated both capture chamber and Mack. I cannot detect any more activity from the Mack. ¡°Two Fours to the chamber, when we open the door send them in immediately. Any more activity from the Mack, they are to put it down!¡± I set my railgun aside and grabbed the Omni-Cutter instead. As soon as the capture chamber opened, my Fours clattered into it and took position on the downed foe. I followed, set the blade of the Omni-Cutter at its massive neck and pushed down. It took half a minute to get through the metal, more than I had expected. The head rolled out of the chamber and towards the river, but I was too shaken to care. That had been the most dangerous opponent I had to deal with in some time, maybe except Arina while she was still controlled by the Macks. My capture chamber and maybe my weaponry needed upgrading. Considering my limited points, I might need to kludge something together again. Either way, I was done hacking Macks for today. The chamber needed repairing and preferably upgrading. After calming down, I collected the scrap and ordered the dozen Fours I had captured intact to reinforce my base guard. By now I had enough to start a small incursion myself, if I could find suitable transportation for the assault. The intact Type(??), as it had no SHOCKS designation yet as far as I knew, went into shutdown for now. The broken one went into my workshop I had installed in a random unused room. My first probe was into its cyberbrain, which was broken almost to uselessness. But Elya and I could still derive some knowledge of its inner workings. Next I had a closer look at the body of the dead steel beast. The overall weight was a bit lighter than expected, about a hundred and twenty kilograms. And it looked good in a retro Sci-fi way, like something from an old movie from the 1970s or 80s. The overall shape reminded me of a jaguar, sleek and dangerous. The gun-tail only added to the menace. In short, it was a magnificent killing machine. But I could admire my intact specimen later, now it was time to dissect this one. The sparks from the cutter look like this is made from a titanium alloy, similar to the Duratitanium you used in your current body armor. Once I had cut the torso open lengthwise and severed a few more fasteners, I could pull the two halves of the machine apart wide enough to get at the innards. I found a power source that looked similar to the one I had extracted from Arina¡¯s former Mack body, but larger. That was one thing I had yet to analyze. The claws looked more familiar though. I asked Elya ¡°This looks like a variety of the omni-cutter. What do you think?¡± I concur. These claws are the equivalent of the omni-cutter¡¯s blade. But the performance is actually better than in your simple cutter model. Especially for short bursts. These claws can be overclocked, so to speak, to cut deep and long gashes very fast. On another topic, the current emergence seems over. The weapons you provided to HANAF brought you 2442 points. You earned 380 points by yourself today. New Balance: One token and 3323 points. Chapter 41: Reverse Engineering It was time to learn more about the inner workings of the Macks I had recently acquired. Research I had neglected. I had the former body of Arina and the Battlecat, as I named it. But I also needed more manufacturing capacity. ¡°Elya, I think it is time for some reverse engineering. Immediate goal is analyzing what our looted tech can do, and turning it into blueprints we can build ourselves. What textbooks and equipment can you recommend here? The ¡°Scraper¡± Molecular Probe Mk I is both a destructive scanner and an assembler for very small objects. We are talking about detecting and placing single atoms, in a work area of a few hundred ¦Ìm. Dissecting a few nanites with that instrument could help us understand their functions. For your personal edification, studying the Lorekeeper Tome Of Nanotechnology could help. ¡°Prices?¡± The MP is found in Class I Matter Reconfiguration Machines, which you already have. 800 points for the blueprint. 100 points for the book. ¡°OK, I¡¯ll buy those¡±. Purchased: ¡°Scraper¡± Molecular Probe Mk I (blueprint), Lorekeeper Tome Of Nanotechnology New balance... One token and 2423 points. I started printing the probes. As I wanted two of them, it would take a while. In the meantime, I went back to inserting the windows in my new house on top of the base entrance. Unfortunately, that was something none of my drones could do autonomously, so I had to guide them in detail and even do some minor tasks myself. The downside of buying cheaply¡­ At least the drones could do other things without permanent supervision, such as installing the underfloor heating. Tuesday, September 8th, 2048 I had finally brought in the intact Battlecat. After another, even more thorough check by Elya, I finally considered it a reliable member of the base guard. Carefully and in small steps, I started to take the energy source of the broken one apart. At each step, I used one of the Scrapers to double-check the structure and composition of the parts. It would not do to miss a detail. While the Scraper worked, I had time to do another thing I had neglected. Namely looking at some Mack equipment smashed by the SHOCKS strike team months ago. The first thing was a sort of assembly drone. From my first expedition to Styx Base with the SHOCKS team, I already knew that its cyberbrain was ruined. We had not managed to extract any useful information. But after cutting one of its arms open, I realized it must be a mobile fabricator that could print larger units in place. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Which gave the answer to another mystery: How did the broken and incomplete Type 21s get into the base? The tunnels in the base were too narrow. Answer: They were built right here in this hall. Sadly, the blueprints were lost with the drone brain. Having them would have made looting the Macks¡¯ teleportation tech much easier. Next was a device at the other side of the hall that had a passing similarity to the teleport gate in a Type 21, but was far larger. Well, the mechanism of how the 21s suddenly emerged in Haven for their attacks was still unknown, and so was how the 21s got out of this base for their attacks. Perhaps this was some sort of hyperspace catapult? It pointed towards Victoria¡­ Unfortunately, it was also broken to the point where finding out its secrets might be difficult. But in the next room I hit paydirt. On one side of the room was something that looked very much like the teleportation gate in a Type 21. Broken, but not as badly as the drone I had examined before. It might be possible to fix. It was also mounted on a turntable, so it would be possible to point it at different ¡°senders¡± to pull units and materials to Styx Base. On the other side of the room I found what looked like a larger version of the recycler in a Type Three. Also destroyed, but still recognizable as recycler after I removed the cover. The final proof was that it was connected to the storage facility near the big Mack fabber at the rear of the base. I even managed to recover the firmware of this one. It should be repairable too. Back in my improvised lab, the next round of digging into the Battlecat¡¯s energy source released a spray of silvery fluid. I managed to capture some of it in a vial, then I sprinted outside to wash the rest off. Who knows what stuff was in there. I already felt some burn on the places the stuff had hit. Dammit, I needed to be more careful with stuff like that. And I really wanted to know what had just hit my face. ¡°Elya, I think I need something to analyze fluids and gases.¡± You want to know what possibly just poisoned you? The ¡°Sniff¡± Mini Mass Spectrometer Mk II from Class 0 Chemical Analysis Devices should enlighten you for the low, low price of 20 points for the class and 500 for the blueprint. I will even help you understand the measurement results. ¡°OK, OK, I¡¯ll take it.¡± Unlocked: Class 0 Chemical Analysis Devices Purchased: ¡°Sniff¡± Mini Mass Spectrometer Mk II (blueprint) New balance... One token and 1913 points. I queued up one of the devices and hoped the fluid had been nothing seriously poisonous. Either way, I might need the analysis results to figure out the function of the energy source. In the meantime, I spent seventy points on blueprints for a bathroom installation. Which might be slightly wasteful, but I wanted a real bathroom, dammit. And another ten points each on blueprints for protective goggles, gloves and masks. Properly protected, I took the energy source further apart. Once the ¡°Sniff¡± was available, I found out that the fluid had been a sodium-potassium-caesium alloy that belonged to a cooling system. At the other end of the energy source I found a device I did not immediately understand. The Lorekeeper Tome Of Nuclear Technology might help you. It is only 100 points. Hint: Look into devices that deal with radioactive decay. I spent the rest of the day engrossed in the world of alpha and beta decay directed and accelerated by alien tech. The Battlecat used a radionuclide battery in which the activity could be manipulated, to always fit the momentary needs! Chapter 42: Base Defense Wednesday, September 9th, 2048 I started the day with a walk around the base. September made itself known with cooler weather than before, and I was glad that I already had installed heating and a bathroom. Next in my plans was the analysis of the built-in weapons in the Battlecat. The claws would have to wait, first I wanted to know about the threat the gun posed. I had just begun to take it apart, when Elya informed me about a nearby incursion. I grabbed my rail gun and armor, mustered the fifty Macks at my disposal (including the Battlecat) and moved to the entrance with my entourage. This time there were two Twenty-Ones vaguely visible behind the trees, and a horde of attackers already moved up the mountain slope. Among them a Type 42 and four Battlecats. Overhead, a dozen Type Six approached. This would strain my defenses to the limit. The first units that fired were my Type 4AE with the little 5.7x28 mm turrets on top. They shot down all the Type Sixes, although one got uncomfortably close and I was hit by some shrapnel in the arm. The next moment, the enemy Battlecats were coming up the ramp to the base entry and firing left and right on my units from their insectoid tails. They were swarmed by half a dozen Fours each but lashed out with glowing claws. The Fours were decimated rapidly, losing tentacles in fiery trails of sparks. But they also had some success. Here a Battlecat lost an eye, there one got its joints pierced by the hammering spikes of my Fours and lost mobility. At a gesture from me, my own Battlecat attacked an enemy unit from behind and sliced through its neck, severing the data bus and disabling that foe. Elya took over as commander of my Fours and directed more of them at the enemy Battlecats. Meanwhile, I ducked into the base entrance, railgun at my shoulder. The Type 42 flew up to me on thrusters built into in its legs, landed a few meters from me and began talking in a monotone way. ¡°Surrender. Resistance is fut...¡± That gave me a moment to steady my gun and focus on her neck, where I knew the data bus was running down to the torso. As I pulled the trigger, a projectile left my gun with a whip crack and slammed through the spine of the Mack girl from the front. She collapsed, still weakly twitching but out of the fight for the moment. Thank the gods for stupidly ranting enemies. Two of the enemy Battlecats were down at this point, a third one was barely staying upright. As it presented a steady target for the moment, I fired a rail gun bullet through its tail-gun, which exploded in a fireball. Battlecat number four was going down under a horde of my fours. It took some of them with it into death, but too many of its systems were pierced and destroyed by the spikes of my Fours. That left my own battlecat as the last one standing. I commanded ¡°Elya, make our battlecat cut through the spine of the Mack girl¡±. Better safe than sorry. Done. With minimal damage, so you might be able to repair her, my dearest loot gremlin. I still had to deal with the enemy Fours. They were pressing my remaining Macks at the top of the ramp, with losses on both sides already. But now I had sufficient control of the situation to switch to my old hacking techniques, with my Mack-zapper bringing Elya¡¯s domination onto them. Now the number of my Macks grew again, as I hijacked them faster than I lost units. I took stock of the situation. Thirty-six of my own Macks lost, but I had also captured ten new ones, all of them Type Four. Destroyed or thoroughly disabled enemy units: One Mack-girl, four battlecats and fourteen Fours. That left me with twenty infantry-type Macks, the four Type 4 AE I had held back and which were undamaged. Now I still had to kill the Twenty-ones before they could call in reinforcements. I ran back into my base and fetched more railgun ammunition, then I and my Macks set out for the Twenty-Ones. Once I was within a hundred meters of the enemy, they spotted me and covered their eyes with their armored limbs. A lost opportunity to destroy the eyes. But two weeks ago (was it really only two weeks?) I had used a captured Type 28 to shoot out the reactor controller of a Type 21. Which did the trick. Perhaps my new railgun also had the required penetration. ¡°Elya, project the location of its innards on my augs!¡± A wire frame representation of the internal parts of the massive Mack overlaid itself in my view. I made sure that the muzzle energy was dialed to the maximum, aimed at the representation of the reactor controller, and fired. Three times I pulled the trigger. Three times I got a hard kick to the shoulder. Three times a dazzling flash showed the point of impact. After the third time, smoke wafted from the bullet holes but the metal monster was still active. It might still be running on its capacitors. I moved to the other one, leaving the first one alone with the idea of maybe capturing it. Said other one was in the process of turning around and made the mistake of leaving its eye uncovered. Two rounds from the Shiv made sure it would not do any more turning. In the meantime, I heard the typical whine of a teleport gate ramping up. The first Type 21 seemed to try and bring in another unit. But the sound suddenly broke up in an explosion. That sounded like an incomplete teleportation. With the transported item getting stuck in the gate. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. With both Twenty-Ones out of commission, I could go after the remaining Macks. Nine of them, all Type Four. It was anticlimactic, I captured seven and destroyed the remaining two easily. Now it was time to look after my wounded arm. So far, adrenalin and the present threat had allowed me to ignore it. But now I barely managed to walk back with weak knees and get my first aid kit. An expensive QuikClot and a bandage shored things up. Checking the entrance area of the base showed the Mack girl was still down. Tiredly, I asked Elya ¡°Status?¡± One Battlecat, four Type One and thirty Type Four Macks of various models available. Neutralized or captured enemy units today: One Type 42, four Battlecats, two Twenty-Ones, 11 x Type Six and 31 x Type Four. Total points for today¡­ 1950 points New balance... One token and 3873 points. But I was not yet done for today. With the help of a maintenance drone, I carried the Mack girl to a table and fetched my Type 42-hacking equipment. Only after Elya expertly removed the overseer software, I felt really safe again. This is another enslaved human. It seems to be a bad habit on part of the Macks. Hello, Captain Obvious. ¡°Elya, please shut her down for today. I¡¯m too exhausted to be a caregiver for lost robot girls right now.¡± After some rest, I felt recovered and motivated enough to compare the robot bodies of Mack-Arina and the new girl. The faces were different, but otherwise they had the same height and stature. Apparently, individuality went only so far in Mack-Land. Both had hard metal bodies from crotch to breast, not very snuggle-friendly. A joint in the middle allowed some flexibility and was covered by an wide, elastic sort of belt so it was not obvious from a distance. Between the legs was only smooth metal without any openings, no fun to be had there for the poor girls. The skirts were also made from rigid metal plates and attached at the hips with fasteners I did not see how to open. But first, clean up and research. I spent the afternoon collecting scrap with Herbie and cutting it up. My Type 9 collector drones carried the pieces off for recycling. As it got dark outside, I experimented with a Battlecat claw and various kinds of armor plate. It turned out that the compound plating of my current body armor offered more resistance than Mack steel or duratitanium alone. Next, recycling the Battlecats. I removed the components I wanted to keep, then dumped the rest into the recycler to reclaim the titanium. I started designing a Battlecat version with said compound plating as armor. For now, the quantity would be limited to four as I lacked the fairly rare potassium isotope 40K, which the radionuclide battery in a Battlecat ¡°burned¡± to argon. Artificial core destabilization was a cool way to make a barely radioactive isotope a lot more active. And it was reversible: Switch the destabilisator off and it returns to its almost stable state. So I had to reuse the undamaged energy sources from the four BCs I had killed. WIth the cyberbrains I was lucky too, I found four intact ones I could reprogram. I also finally got around to check out the gun in the tail. It was what Elya called a plasma weapon. Big fireballs, plenty of shots before you had to reload, but not too much penetration. It might be quite devastating against unarmored humans, but considering the opponents I was facing a version of the Shiv sounded more useful. I settled on a shorter and more manageable version of the Shiv, with a maximum muzzle velocity of ¡°only¡± two kilometers per second. The ammo would be drawn from a 200 round canister in the ass of the BattleCat. Thursday, September 10th, 2048 First thing in the morning I called SHOCKS to inform them about the latest developments. B.S.O.D. took my call and was understandably concerned. There was no second Magical Girl missing though, fortunately. But who was my currently deactivated guest then? Next I finally printed the bodies for the new battlecats. After assembly they had the same glossy exterior with a silvery mirror surface behind it as my cuirass. The guns on their tails could punch through the armor of a Type Four or the original Battlecat design at 300 meters. I hoped the Macks would need a while to counter that. Late in the evening, my base guard was back to acceptable strength and I had time to interview Miss Mack II. I replaced her destroyed voice box with the identical one from Arina¡¯s old body and powered her head up. ¡°Hi there!¡± I greeted her. ¡°You were sort of a mech-puppet for the Macks, but now I have freed you! At least mentally! Sorry that you cannot move yet, your current body was damaged while capturing you.¡± ¡°I hate it anyway. Hate it. HATE it.¡± Miss Mack II screamed. With a small voice she added ¡°Is it possible to, you know, get rid of it?¡± ¡°Yes, I can build you another body. Still mechanical, but it would look a lot closer to a human body. Would you like that?¡± ¡°This body is horrible. It reminds me at every step that I am not human anymore! If you have something closer to my old existence,¡± she said, ¡°I¡¯ll take it in a heartbeat!¡± ¡°I promise!¡± I said and gave her a headpat. ¡°It might even be possible to find your picture on the web, if you give me your name and date of birth. That might help me find images on the net and build a replacement body that looks a lot like the old you.¡± After a bit of dry sobbing (because she lacked tear ducts), Miss Mack II collected herself enough to say ¡°Wendy Wilson, born January 16th, 2023. And you should find a photo of me in the graduation yearbook of Victoria University, 2046.¡± ¡°I can make you sleep in the meantime, and the next time you wake up, you will look a lot more like the old Wendy.¡± ¡°I- I think I would like that.¡± I already have the photos, plural, and some measurements from her last physical examinations. Friday, September 11th, 2048 Salvage day! I repaired one of the Type 21s at the river by installing the eye I had extracted from the one I trashed before. Now I had two functional 21s, and together they were strong enough to drag the broken one out of the river bed. Just in time, as the weather forecast warned of heavy rains. I wanted that wrecked Type 21 available for recycling, not submerged in the floods of a swollen River Queets. Chapter 43: Goldmont under attack Saturday, September 12th, 2048 I was back in my shelter in Colwood, Victoria, having brought the original Battlecat with me. I wanted to show it to the people at SHOCKS so they could examine the steel critter for themselves. But that had to wait until Monday. Even SHOCKS took the weekend off unless there was a current crisis. A new set of armor, ¡°Shiv¡± rail gun and ammunition was taking form in the fabricator. There was no sense in always carrying that stuff around, if I could simply have a set at both locations. Just as I was about to treat myself to some genuine vegetables that did not come from a food synthesizer, Elya informed me of an emergence warning. On the security forces network I saw that there was no action in the neighborhood, but five Type 21s had teleported to the western side of Langton Lake and were unloading their cargo of smaller Macks. Which were advancing westwards through Goldmont where most of my militia buddies lived. I guessed they could use some support. I quickly used some duct tape to mark my Battlecat with a big red VC for ¡°Vanguard Command¡± on both sides. So far I had mostly gotten away with inventing my own military unit and passing myself off as commander. Some people at SHOCKS knew but went along with the joke. The rest of the military had not caught on yet. While my fabricator made the rest of the ammunition, I loaded the Battlecat and two Spectracopters into my van. On second thought, I launched one right away to recon my route to Goldmont, to avoid unexpected contact with Macks. I took the once scenic route west of the old Humpback reservoir to avoid direct contact with the Macks. These days, the woods in that area were mostly cleared and replaced by big tower blocks full of cheap apartments, the latter full of poor and unemployed people. Sadly, the economy of Victoria had not kept up with the influx of refugees when Vancouver fell to the Macks, and many of them survived only on the emergency rations from Sanctuary. But today I was more concerned about killing Macks. As I entered Goldmont, the video stream from my Spectracopter showed that the Macks were already entering the grounds of Willway Elementary. That place really could not catch a break. I was promptly flagged down by two guys in camo who were carrying rifles. When they saw my Battlecat they did a double take, but I managed to convince them that it was friendly. Overall the situation did not look good. It was one of the bigger emergences in history, and HANAF was stretched to the breaking point. It would take a while until we could expect support here. Fortunately I was better equipped than in January. With a recon drone that would make it a lot harder to sneak up on us, a robot guard for support in melee and a superb gun. And an AI that could give me tactical advice. Elya promptly delivered and a path made of yellow spots showed up on my augs. Fifty meters that way is a small gap between the buildings where you will have eyes on a Type 28. It is currently guarding another approach, you should be able to sneak up on it undetected. I proceeded to the location and indeed, there was a Type 28 looking the other way. I could barely see its eye from my current position, but barely was enough. I aimed at the part of its eye I could see and fired. The crack of my railgun was followed by a spray of shattered glass from the Mack¡¯s eye. Moments later I could hear gunfire from the north. One of those sounded like Alan¡¯s .338 Lapua. I hoped he was not out of the armor piercing bullets I had made for him. Then an enemy Battlecat ran that way. I managed to hit it, but without slowing it down. These things had considerable redundancy in their power supply, and even if you shot out the radionuclide generator, they could keep going for a few minutes on batteries. A few more shots from a powerful rifle rang out, and the Battlecat stumbled. At this point, I had reacquired my target and fired another three rounds through it. It fell to the ground and tried to get up in vain. ¡°Elya, overlay!¡± The metal beast became pseudo-transparent, as Elya showed me the location of its most important components. Including the cyberbrain. I felt a nasty grin spreading over my face, took aim and caressed the trigger. Another whipcrack sound rang out, and the Battlecat fell for good. Watch out, a group of Fours from the west! I whirled around and saw them approaching. I looked at each one and double-blinked, triggering the Mack-zapper on my shoulders. Two out of four were bamboozled by Elya, the others kept rushing at me. I filled one of them with bullets from my Shiv, but it still hit my armor with a clanging sound before it fell down. My battlecat took care of the other one. In what seemed like slow motion, it slashed first through a forelimb, then jumped on the tumbling metal squid and raked its fiery claws through the eye. That day shaped up to be more exciting than planned! Another, much larger group showed up from the southwest, cutting off retreat to the south. Fortunately without Battlecats in their ranks, only Type Ones and Type Fours. They were, however, far enough away that I could thin them out a bit. I kneeled behind one of my newly acquired Fours and aimed at the eye of a Four. I fired and the eye disintegrated in a flash and spray of glass dust. Another. The crack of a shot. A bursting eye. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Now they were charging. I slowly retreated, keeping firing. My fire was less accurate while moving, but I still shot down another two Fours. Meanwhile, the Ones were close enough to be in range of my Battlecat¡¯s tail-gun. It still had the original plasma gun and unleashed its fireballs into the Ones. Oil pipes burst, plastic was vaporized and the Macks went up in fire. I moved left to avoid the burning Type Ones and ordered ¡°Elya, retreat to the van!¡± My Fours followed my slow retreat as I was walking backwards. A sweep with the Spectracopter showed that the area southeast of us was increasingly lousy with Macks. We had to retreat deeper into Goldmont. The first enemy Fours were now close enough to deal blows with the two I had captured. My anti-mack taser spit lightning again, the electricity racing along the ionized path the lasers had burned in the air. Sparks danced over the enemy Macks. Experty modulated by Elya, they hacked and converted a good percentage of them into my followers. Soon I had subverted four of them. and the Battlecat killed a fifth one. Another three kept still a little too long and I got them with my rifle. But even so, the attacking hordes grew thicker, and I started worrying about eventually running out of ammo. My first magazine was almost empty, and I had only brought seven of those. ¡°Elya, let¡¯s conserve our forces and let the captured Fours take the brunt of the attack!¡± That is a good tactical decision. I am pleasantly surprised. We almost had reached the van, and I commanded ¡°Elya, we retreat to the next intersection! Macks follow on foot!¡± I jumped behind the wheel and took off with spinning tires. Behind me my Macks clattered along. It was not far, and the shopping mall at the corner had some solid walls and pillars. Fragile windows as well, but for a few minutes we should have passable cover here. I rounded the corner, parked next to the entrance of the mall and jumped out. Seconds after me, my Macks arrived. A terrified shop owner fired some ineffectual shots at my Fours, then his magazine ran out and he ran to barricade himself in the toilet. Looking up the road to the north, I could see people drawing heavy barbed wire rolls across Mt Wells drive as a barricade. Just in time before the first Type One and Type Four Macks arrived and got tangled in the wire. It was good to see that at least the older models were still a bit stupid. Men with axes and picks ran at the entangled Macks and lashed out at their weak points. Which was surprisingly effective. But I soon had other things to worry about. The attackers from the south were upon us. A wave of Macks clashed into my thin line of defenders, who barely held back the flood. ¡°Elya, flank them with the Battlecat¡±. Said Battlecat hit the attackers from the side, clawed off tentacles and when a Mack turned to it, it usually had its eye raked into glowing ruin. In between, it shot up Model Ones with its plasma gun. I was not idle either and kept zapping Macks, whom Elya hijacked more often than not. Within seconds, I had lost three Fours to the wave of attackers but captured five new ones. I shot two more Fours before my magazine went dry. I threw it into a garbage can and slammed the next one into my railgun. By the time I was ready to fire again, the Battlecat had dispatched five Fours and three Ones. Good kitty. The handful of Type Ones that was still near fled. Two of them did not make it. I shot one, the bullet ripping through its entire length and out at the front with a big spark. The battlecat baptized the other one in plasma fire. It kept running a bit further, then it fell over, its plastic parts merrily burning. A few of the Macks strewn before our position seemed to recover, so I told Elya to have the Battlecat finish them off. Looking to the north, I saw a horrible sight. An enemy Battlecat had shied back from the barbed wire, but fired its plasma gun at the people behind the wire. Two people lay burning on the ground. One of them still tried to bat out the fire. I could hear his screams all the way from my position, 150 meters away. I switched my gun to maximum power, aimed at the Battlecat and snapped ¡°Overlay!¡± Elya complied and showed its internal components as wire frame, like on a CAD system. Fortunately it held still for a moment, so I managed to hit its head exactly where the cyberbrain was. With a shower of sparks, the projectile went through the titanium and the electronics behind. The metal monster fell over. ¡°Elya, give me your recon results!¡± A map appeared on my augs, slightly de-cluttered compared to a satellite image. It showed a strong concentration of Macks in a semicircle from Wilway Elementary to south of my position. Smaller numbers of Type Ones infiltrated the town from other directions. I wondered if we could stop all of those. Perhaps it was time to retreat. The Wilway Elementary shelter was not an option anymore though, as Wilway was already overrun. Blue points that symbolized friendlies were holding Humpback Road from the western side. So I asked Elya ¡°What other shelters are nearby?¡± Elya highlighted one of the newer highrises at the western end of Goldmont and displayed two routes to it. One for cars, the other on foot. In the basement. ¡°Is there a shorter way by car? I¡¯m willing to run over some flower beds.¡± Another route appeared, this one in red and with a big warning sign on the way. At this point, you may damage or break your suspension. I would take it anyway. The blue points on the map already retreated in that direction, and I did not want to be encircled in the open. Through Elya, I gave commands to my troops. ¡°Macks follow me on foot, watch out towards the south!" I got into my van again and drove westwards along Cressida Crescent, but this time at a lower speed my Macks could follow. Soon I reached the point Elya¡¯s warning sign was for. It was a private property where a sufficiently reckless driver could cross through the garden. I was sufficiently reckless. The path led into the driveway, across a flower bed (snerk!) and across the lawn. The suspension-endangering part was a small earth wall at the rear of the property. I took it like a champ. And I did totally not come out of it with a bent front suspension. The building with the shelter was just across the road. I realized I had made a mistake. My Macks might scare off people seeking shelter. So I opened the door of my van and ordered them to pile in. With the Macks hidden, I drove over to the shelter and positioned my van to fight off Type Six attacks. Then I got out and opened the rear door a crack so my Macks could get out when necessary. Chapter 44: Shelter Defense People came running from all directions, but mostly from the west. These were pursued by Macks. The first Macks that actually showed up were two Type Ones hunting a teenage girl. I fired at them until they fell over, then I finished them with precise shots through the eyes. I needed seven rounds to do it. Sloppy and inefficient. Finally, the young lady made it to the shelter and asked me ¡°Are you a Magical Girl?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m from Vanguard Command. Elite soldier!¡± That might start rumors, heh. She looked a bit disappointed, then she followed the other refugees down into the shelter. I took my second Spectracopter from the van and moved to the lobby entrance. Once the first one ran low on battery, this one would give me another two hours of observation time. Two more people came running from the property I had so rudely driven through. They were followed by three Ones. This time I managed to stop them with a total of four rounds. Looking around, no more people running towards the shelter were in sight. But the map view still showed some blue dots approaching that would appear at my position soon, and another one straying in a completely wrong direction. There was probably no saving the latter one. Over the next two minutes, the last four refugees arrived. Some hostiles were on their heels, and I found it necessary to unleash my own Macks. Eight Fours and one Battlecat boiled from the van. The enemies were strangely inattentive, perhaps chasing the civilians took all their concentration. Except for one I had to shoot, they were captured or destroyed quickly. I had another two Ones now and fifty more points. Should I go into the shelter myself or not? I chose to be daring and go one floor up the stairwell, looking for a corner office with a good field of fire. My Battlecat proved useful in cutting embrasures into the safety glass. Outside, my Spectracopter was keeping an eye out. Enemies in the south. As I looked out the window, an enemy Battlecat looked back at me from a distance of about hundred meters. I rested my rifle in the embrasure and took aim. The Battlecat lifted its tail. We fired at the same time. Fortunately for me, a Battlecat¡¯s plasma balls lost coherence at a range of sixty to seventy meters. That saved me from serious burns. An already dissolving fireball washed over the window, and all I got was a faceful of hot air. The Battelecat was not so lucky. I had aimed accurately. With the further assistance of my aimbot, my shot was perfectly on target and smashed through its cyberbrain. It was followed by a group of four Fours. These fared quite badly, it took me only five rounds to kill them all. Precision shooting through the eyes for the win. A look on the map provided by Elya showed a single Type One hiding in a garden west of the road. It might think itself clever, but the Spectracopter still detected it. Aim. Fire. Mack dead. Lots of Macks were approaching from the east now, fortunately without Battlecats in their ranks this time. I left the shooting of the Ones to my Battlecat and shot only the Fours myself. I got two of them, then my magazine was empty. 150 of the 210 rounds I had brought were left. As more enemy Macks were already sneaking past my field of fire, I had my Macks assemble inside the lobby and use the entrance as a chokepoint. Reloading on the run, I got downstairs and positioned myself behind my Battlecat. From the outside, the acrid stench of burning Mack wafted through the entrance. Moments later, a horde of Macks rushed into the lobby. They were attacked from left and right with spikes, claws and my wireless taser. I didn''t use my gun, hijacking Macks was more important. My own Macks did well this time and took very few losses, unlike the enemy. A dozen of dead Macks already littered the ground, with five more re-educated to be my new minions. One of the scrapped Macks was burning, courtesy of the Battlecat and its plasma gun. At this point, I had ten Fours and three Ones under my control. And I was running for the next fire extinguisher. ¡°Elya, let¡¯s try and not set the building on fire!¡± With the extinguisher in my hands, I quenched the fire. Then I used a lull in the fighting to start my second Spectracopter. That gave me another two hours of aerial surveillance. I retrieved the first one and put it on the charger inside the lobby. For the next ten minutes, nothing happened. Then the Macks made their next attempt to get into the lobby. This time it was a veritable flood of exclusively Type Fours. The floor was already slippery enough with spilled oil that they had some trouble maneuvering, and it cost them. Spikes from my Fours hammered into their eyes or tentacle joints, while the Battlecat dismembered them with fiery claw swipes from the side. Shredded tentacles with glowing, smoldering and sometimes outright burning ends littered the floor. All of that was underlined by crackling discharges of the Mack-zapper on my shoulders, with Elya seeking vulnerabilities to hack the Macks. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Once the attack was over and I had to use the extinguisher again, I could take stock. Aside from the vastly superior Battlecat, my Fours were better than the enemy ones in terms of technique. With Elya¡¯s help I had trained them to go after the weak points of the enemy, while the enemy Macks still tended to stab wherever they could hit. Against the armor of fellow Fours, that only yielded small dimples in the armor. Now sixteen enemy Macks littered the floor, while I had captured another six. Three of my own had been lost, which left me with thirteen Fours and three Ones. As long as I could keep this up, my forces would gradually grow. So did my points, time for an update. ¡°Elya, point status?¡± You have so far earned 1750 points today, not counting indirect gains from the weapons you delivered to HANAF. That brings your total to one token and 5653 points. Finally, we were getting somewhere. With the payout from HANAF¡¯s use of my mortars, I should be able to afford one fairly big item for a change. And become more powerful. My end game was to kick the Macks off Earth, but for that I had to get a lot stronger. Ambitious much? Damn right I was. Beyond that? I would play it by ear. A look at the larger Victoria map, as provided by Elya hoovering the data from the HANAF network, showed that the defenders had fought the Macks to a standstill. The enemy Battlecats had been a nasty surprise though. Losses among Magical Girls and HANAF soldiers were larger than usual, even for this already trying year. I had no idea what had happened to the militia guys. Considering the Macks had overrun most of Goldmont, they might be either dead or in a shelter. My idea of linking up with them and defending the place together had definitely not worked. But now HANAF finally got around to mortar the shit out of the Twenty-Ones at Langford Lake. That should stop the influx of further Macks. Also, a team of MGs supported by a platoon of HANAF soldiers approached from the west. It looked like their first objective was clearing the beach. The Macks in view of my spectracopter suddenly gave up their assault and moved back towards the beach. I asked Elya ¡°Can you see any HANAF drones around? No, there was one until five minutes ago but it retreated westwards. ¡°Connect me to the local commander then.¡± Soon I had a Magical Girl on the phone. I had almost forgotten that they automatically got officer ranks in HANAF¡¯s hierarchy. This one sounded very young. ¡°First Lieutenant Hobbit here, what is it?¡± came her excited voice over the net. I gave myself a promotion. Last time I had introduced myself as Sergeant, not realizing that every MG would automatically outrank me. ¡°This is Lieutenant McCallan of Vanguard Command. We have some spare recon capability in the form of a drone over Goldstream. If you would like, I can assign it to your unit for the duration.¡± I could hear half of a conversation, then she replied to me. ¡°Great! We are on Channel Bravo-Five-Lima, please give admin rights to my operator Harry!¡± I did and soon after a somewhat perplexed Hobbit asked ¡°Where is your drone? I get the video feed just fine, but I can see no drone in the air!¡± ¡°New stealth model. You cannot see it, the Macks cannot see it.¡± I was fairly confident of that. ¡°Anyway, thanks for the support!¡± The girls made pretty quick progress through Goldmont, partly thanks to their borrowed recon drone. I did not want to create a friendly fire incident as they would not recognize my Macks as friendly. So I stayed in the lobby until Team Middle-Earth checked this shelter. As previously established, my Macks rolled over at the sight of the girls and presented their bellies. Hobbit turned out to be a young redhead with cute freckles, around fifteen years old. When she saw my rolled over Macks, she asked ¡°What is going on?¡± with a perplexed face. I enlightened her. ¡°It is a submission gesture. These Macks have been captured and subverted, but not automatically repainted in our colors. Instead, they kow-tow to show deep respect to any human officer.¡± Not the most accurate description, but it got the point across. Warily, she replied ¡°Wait, you are the lady I just talked to! Tame Macks, invisible drones, what else do you have?¡± ¡°Super effective guns!¡± I showed her my railgun. ¡°Cool. But we must check the shelter, keep them quiet,¡± she said and pointed at my Macks. Two minutes later she returned and said ¡°Gotta go now, but I will find you and then you must tell me all about Vanguard Command!¡± As the area looked clear, I took my Battlecat and eight of the Fours that were still in good condition. With them in my van, I set out to collect the broken enemy Battlecats. Loading them into the van proved difficult, but with the help of my Macks and some rope I managed. With a wobbling front wheel and loaded to the maximum, my van hobbled back to Colwood at half its normal speed. Eventually the official all-clear came and with it the summary from Elya. You have received 3112 points from HANAF¡¯s use of your mortars. That brings your total to one token and 8765 points. Nice. That would pay for one of the bigger items I had on my mind. I was a bit worried though about the increasing size of the emergences. Chapter 45: Plans The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits. ¨C Alexandre Dumas Sunday, September 13th, 2048 It was time to pick my next step in growing stronger. Advanced manufacturing, or simply more manufacturing capacity plus air power? I asked Elya to recapitulate the options we had worked out. Option one, you could take the next step on your roadmap to advanced manufacturing. One token and 400 points would unlock Class II Matter Reconfiguration Machines. From there you could get the blueprint for the Attoscale Architect Mk I for 5000 points. It is a small but versatile fabricator that can arrange matter in sizes up to a shoe box and down to placing single atoms. Within that size constraint, you would be able to build almost all Class I technology and some Class II stuff. The Architect is also a good stepping stone to building larger Creation Engines. The second option is Class I Air Cars for 500 points, plus a blueprint for a flying vehicle that considerably outperforms your Variocopter. There are several vehicles in the blueprint price range up to 8000 points. Most require a larger fabricator than you currently have. The vehicle option greatly interested me. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll have to try building the enlarged version of the Mack fabber I was contemplating¡± I mused. I have noticed that. I have also noticed that you contemplated combining it with the technology from the Assembler Mk II. I am willing to bend the rules a bit and help you with that project. ¡°Elya, you are the best!¡± I know. My decision was made, but I would withhold spending the points until the new and bigger fabricator was ready. In the meantime, I was back to tinkering. First, I repaired my van. Thankfully, I still had the suspension blueprints from when I converted it to 4WD back in February. Next, I started work on a thing I called the ¡°Lesser Battlecat¡±. It would be a little smaller and running on batteries only, to avoid the need for the exotic material in the radionuclide generator. The main weapon would be the tail-railgun, which was the same as in my first Battlecat version. The design of the head was shaped a bit differently, with two antenna ¡°ears¡± as in the Type Four Mk II. Like the improved Type Four, its electronics were designed for better EMP resilience. In terms of materials, I designed two versions. One with titanium, one with ¡°only¡± Mack steel as part of the compound armor. The steel version would obviously be cheaper, but suffer agility wise from being heavier. I started disassembling the captured Battlecats, from which I got two intact radionuclide generators. Then I realized that I did not have suitable cyberbrains for new Battlecats, as I did not have the blueprints and all the wrecked ones from today had their brains shot out. I might have to borrow from my future budget and acquire a suitable blueprint. So I pointed at the pulverized cyberbrains from a dead Battlecat. ¡°Elya, I guess I need another blueprint to replace the shot out brains here. The design should be flexible enough to adapt to quadrupeds of various sizes, and handle at least one extra limb. Such as a gun in the tail.¡± Elya showed me a commercial from my home universe. It showed an adorable cat plushie with an oversized head and it moved. Quite fluently too. In Class I Basic Drones there is the Kuddly Kitty Mk I. While meant as a toy, the designers used surprisingly advanced AI tech to allow adaptation of its electronics to other, future plushies. I can modify that for you into a Mack cyberbrain replacement of equal quality. Blueprint price is 500 points. ¡°I have never heard of the Kuddly Kitty. What happened to it?¡± The company went bankrupt because too few people wanted to buy their overpriced robo plushies. Oh. Anyway, this was exactly what I needed, and I would get a cute plushie as a bonus. It was even available in multiple colors. So I purchased the blueprint. Purchased: Kuddly Kitty Mk I (blueprint) New balance¡­ One token and 8275 points. I ordered one Lesser Battlecat in the lonsdaleite/steel version and one of the Kuddly Kitties from my fabricator. I also recycled some of my collected Fours, of which I had too many cluttering up my shelter anyway. For now, I kept the eight in the best condition. Monday, September 14th, 2048 It was time to talk to SHOCKS again. I had some more toys to offer them, and some concerns about the legal standing of liberated Mack girls. Perhaps SHOCKS had already done some work on the issue. We agreed to a meeting the following day. For the rest of the day, I worked with my new Lesser Battlecat to train its cyberbrain to handle the new body. It appeared not only equal to, but slightly smarter than the original Battlecat. I would use it in future full-blown Battlecats too. A Mk II version was on the horizon. Also, I might have another thing to sell. The Shiv was a whole sight better than what HANAF had, and I knew that visual augmentations were common in Haven. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. ¡°Elya, could we adapt the Ocular Aimbot to work with the locals'' Augs? That would make the Shiv a really attractive purchase.¡± That is possible for most augmentation models. Low end types are unsuitable though, the Aimbot requires a certain amount of free memory and compute capability. Tuesday, September 14th, 2048 I showed up at SHOCKS in the morning. With me were the original Battlecat, the Lesser Battlecat and my trusty Shiv. Plus some ammunition in case we were asked for a demonstration. B.S.O.D. greeted me at the door. ¡°Good morning, Caitlin. You captured some of the new Mack units?¡± ¡°The banged up one is a captured one. The other one is a modified version built by me and slightly simpler in design.¡± ¡°What was the reason for the downgrade?¡± ¡°Using cheaper and more abundant materials. The original Mack version uses a radionuclide generator that requires a fairly rare potassium isotope. I wanted something with less of a material bottleneck. Also, the armor is a lonsdaleite and steel compound design, not lonsdaleite and titanium.¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t these compromises make them inferior in combat?¡± ¡°There are some drawbacks, but I expect that most fights will be decided with the guns. And there I think my version is superior.¡± I patted the very obviously weaponized tail of my Lesser Battlecat. ¡°That does not look like a normal rifle?¡± ¡°It is a railgun. A shortened version of this one¡± I pointed at the Shiv. On the way to the meeting room, we ran into Arina. She saw me, ran up to me and gave me one of her bear hugs. Then she suddenly kissed me full on the mouth. I found myself kissing her back before my brain caught up with the situation. B. S. O. D. harrumphed. ¡°I would say get a room, but we have a meeting to get to. Business now, shenanigans later!¡± Arina looked extremely embarrassed. If she could still blush, I¡¯m sure she would have looked like a ripe tomato at that point. I said ¡°Sorry but she¡¯s right, we have a meeting to go to.¡± In the meeting room, a whole bunch of people awaited me. Major Allen, a HANAF logistics officer, and the commander of SHOCKS, Palace Athena herself. If she came personally, things must be dire. Normally she delegated meetings with me to B. S. O. D., who had happened to meet me first a year ago and got stuck being my liaison. Palace Athena opened the meeting with grim pronouncement. ¡°The losses in the latest emergence were among the worst in the history of Haven. We urgently need something that tips the scales back in our favor.¡± She looked at me. ¡°I¡¯m told you have new toys for us. I hope they are good ones.¡± First, I laid my Shiv on the table. ¡°This is the "Shiv", a railgun with penetration far better than what you are used to from your existing rifles. I know you have been quite happy with the tungsten projectiles I designed for you. But this is better. You need a Protector style fabricator though to make the ammunition. ¡°Also, for people with decent visual augs there is a special aim support software available. It links up to the Shiv and detects where the shooter actually looks. Then it uses the trajectory stabilization system of the Shiv to make small course adjustments at launch. It cannot compensate for being extremely off target, but if you could hit the target at all before then you are likely to reliably hit the bull¡¯s eye with the Ocular Aimbot.¡± Major Allen replied ¡°I have been a competitive shooter until a few years ago, and I would like to try this wonder gun myself.¡± The Major has a suitable visual aug. I could install the Aimbot right away. I made a show of asking for the exact model, then I offered to install the Aimbot right away. Major Allen replied ¡°After this meeting, if you have time¡±. I agreed and proceeded with my presentation. ¡°You might have seen this one before. I call it the Battlecat, and this is the original version as built by the Macks. The other one with the shiny layer is a version I made for cheaper manufacturing.¡± Palace Athena replied ¡°We call it the Type 43, but never mind.¡± ¡°I would lend it to you for evaluation, but we would have to develop a command interface first. Right now I control it through Little Aug. Perhaps we can combine the rifle test with a little demonstration of the Battlecat.¡± Major Allen interjected ¡°There is also the matter that the fabricator at SHOCKS is booked solid for 34 days straight. Something about a recovery project for a Magical Girl.¡± ¡°I¡¯d be happy to sell you another one. Or several. They would take a few days to build and assemble, but there is no reason why SHOCKS cannot have multiple fabricators.¡± Looking around, I saw a few sheepish faces. But then again, this was the same organization that had been surprised by an emergence a year ago because a warning from Sanctuary went unread at the Mayor¡¯s office. B. S. O. D. replied ¡°I am representing SHOCKS for the items we purchase ourselves, as opposed to HANAF. And we would like to acquire at least two additional fabricators. Would you agree to the same terms and conditions as last time?¡± ¡°Of course. And in a real emergency, perhaps Peter Huygens would let you rent his fabricator for a while.¡± ¡°Who is Peter Huygens, and why does he have one of your fabricators?¡± Major Allen interjected ¡°An old acquaintance of mine. Former military, runs an air transport company now with an old Griffon helicopter the Canadian military sold off pre-First Emergence. He told me that he invested in a wonder 3D printer to make the spare parts he needs to keep his old bird flying.¡± I added ¡°It is the same model you have, just not with all the blueprints I have provided to you.¡± B. S. O. D. made a decision. ¡°As negotiator for SHOCKS, I hereby place an order for two of the fabricators. Or more exactly, the complete set of recycler, storage and fabricator. Please deliver as soon as you can. My secretary will prepare the contract for you, after your gun demo with Major Allen it should be ready to sign.¡± For the rest of the morning, B. S. O. D. excused herself because of other appointments, but Palace Athena accompanied us to the gun range. While Major Allen landed perfect hits and perforated a few steel silhouette targets that were supposed to be bulletproof, a few HANAF soldiers prepared targets for the Battlecats. I had brought my ¡°simplified¡± version too. When the two killing machines ripped body armor and car doors to fiery shreds, a few of the onlookers were a bit pale around the nose. Even Palace Athena looked distressed. I concluded the demonstration with the plasma gun of the original Battlecat and the shortened railgun of my Battlecat version. ¡°As you can see, the plasma gun is quite devastating against unarmored humans. Also against the Type One. But against armored Macks and at longer ranges it might leave you wanting. That is why I used the short railgun on mine. It is essentially a shortened Shiv. Not quite as good at long range, but in my tests it would consistently perforate Type Four armor at 300 meters.¡± At the end of the meeting, we made a stop at B.S.O.D.¡¯s office to sign the contract. Major Allen could not make a firm commitment on the Shiv yet, as ¡°Funds are damn short lately.¡± Finally, I was invited to lunch at the food court. It was absolutely delicious. Working at SHOCKS had its perks. Chapter 46: Perspectives Friday, September 18th, 2048, early afternoon I had just delivered and installed the first of the two fabricators for SHOCKS, and now I met with Arina to enjoy a bit of sun and fresh air. Just a walk through the nearby park, a dinner date would be terribly awkward if one of the persons could not eat or drink at all. Technically the same applied to breathing, but that was not something I could postpone. So I just kept breathing and we talked about our daily life. Arina had stories about her old teammates and her experience with therapy to tell, while I gave her an update on my business with SHOCKS and renovating Styx base. And the latest attempt of the Macks to retake the base of course. But there were also more serious things on my mind. So I asked ¡°Say, what position does SHOCKS officially have on your status? Do they still consider you a Magical Girl or something else?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sort of the girl nobody knows what to do with. The leadership at SHOCKS is supportive enough, but so far nobody really knows where to put me.¡± ¡°Sorry to hear that, but what would you like your life to be?¡± Arina sighed and replied ¡±I don¡¯t really have a plan. Not yet. Before the Macks kidnapped me, my life was filled with being a Magical Girl, school and teenage drama. Then the horrible time as a slave of the Macks, which I¡¯d rather forget. And now I have to find out where I belong again.¡° After a few seconds she added ¡°I probably can¡¯t be a Magical Girl again. This body you gave me is very fit, but cannot keep up with MG¡¯s beyond the lower tens, level wise.¡± This time, it was me who gave her a hug. Together, we drifted towards the next park bench and started exchanging kisses again. Gentle ones this time, taking it slow. Not for the first time, I admired the silky smooth texture of Arina¡¯s synthetic skin. It was supposed to be silicone rubber, but did not have a rubbery feel at all. I said ¡°If nothing else, I can give you a place to stay in case SHOCKS does not work out. When in Victoria, I live in a small, repurposed shelter in Goldmont. I have a barely used room we can clear out for you.¡± ¡°That¡¯s sweet of you. I don¡¯t want to give up my friends at SHOCKS, but if it all goes wrong it is good to have a place to go.¡± We slowly walked back towards SHOCKS, but parted at the entrance. Arina wanted to go on a shopping trip with her old team, and I had another fabricator to build and deliver. Monday, September 21st, 2048, late afternoon It had been a busy weekend, but now I was at SHOCKS again, fastening the last screws on the second fabricator I had delivered to SHOCKS. Or more exactly, a combo of recycler, material storage and printer. I figured I might have to give out licenses for the Shiv instead of insisting on making all the weapons myself. That might hurt my point income because of the extra ¡°degree of separation¡±, as Elya called it. The more indirectly I caused the enemy to die, the smaller my rewards in terms of points became. But then again, if everything went well I might be able to kill large numbers of Macks all by myself a few weeks from now. Then the points from HANAF killing Macks with my weapons would become less important. Next to me, B.S.O.D¡¯s secretary Tanya already waited impatiently for me to finish my work. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Just in time, Mark of the SHOCKS engineering team arrived to check if the fabricator worked properly. After a few tests, he pronounced it good and Tanya could give me the receipt for a complete installation. I used the rest of the daylight to fly over to Styx Base, so I could continue with upgrading the place. Also, I already had a guilty conscience because Wendy still did not have her new body. Of course, she would not notice while being switched off. Before turning in for the day, I started two print jobs in parallel: One on Herbie¡¯s fabricator, parts for Wendy¡¯s new body. On the bigger Mack fabber at the other end of the base, parts for an extra fabricator of the type I had just installed at SHOCKS. My base needed more production capability as much as SHOCKS did. Tuesday, September 22nd, 2048 I had just assembled the new body for Wendy and gave it a last check before installing the Mack-built cyberbrain that housed Wendy¡¯s consciousness. Like Arina¡¯s new body, it was mostly designed after her real life body, but I sneaked a few prettifications in. The result was blonde, curvy, tanned and a little thinner in the waist than the original. At 170cm, Wendy¡¯s new body was a little shorter than mine. Eventually, it was time to switch Wendy on. Slightly anxious about how she would take being stuffed into a new body again after she had absolutely hated the Mack model, I started the boot process. When she came to, Wendy did not immediately stand up but checked out her new body first. When she was satisfied that she was no longer in the Mack body, she let out a huge sigh of relief. I hid a sigh of relief of my own, as I had been unsure about Wendy¡¯s reaction myself. She tried out her new body in a rather businesslike manner, not as exuberant as Arina. But she still seemed deeply pleased about the change. Wendy gave me a sisterly hug and said ¡±Thank you so much! And now, can we get revenge on those fucking Macks together?¡± I was impressed how fast she went from victim to aggressor, even if she did not have the means yet, But the desire to kill the Macks was palpable. ¡°I sure want to take them down! Although it is less personal for me. I¡¯m from a different Earth and came here only a year ago.¡± She gave me strange look full of longing and hate. I could guess what the hate was about, but the longing? Like to Arina, I offered Wendy a tour of the base and she eagerly accepted. Halfway to the base entrance, we came across a Type 9 Mack that was carrying some rock to the recycler. I had found out that the local rocks contained a few percent of titanium by weight, and while recycling those was not very efficient, it allowed me to slowly build up a stack of material for new Battlecats. When she saw the Nine, Wendy lost it. She grabbed a metal part that conveniently leaned at a nearby wall, ran up to the Nine and started to bash it with her newfound robotic strength. Once she had shattered its eye, she turned on me and hissed ¡°Why do you have that mechanical vermin in your base?¡± I had never seen such deep, primeval hate before. Holding up my hands I said ¡°Hey, don¡¯t worry about those. I control them, and they are convenient little servitors.¡± I spent the next five minutes explaining how I had taken over Base Styx and hijacked quite a few Macks over the last months. To calm her down in advance, I continued ¡°At the entrance, you will see a bunch of Type Four Macks, those are the metal squids. They act as guards against hostile Macks. The cat-like ones are a slightly modified version of a Mack type. I built them myself, partly reusing original Macks.¡± We kept that part of the tour very brief, as I could see Wendy could barely control her rage at the sight of the Macks. A bit later we sat in my still barely furnished house and exchanged life stories. I told her about my life as a financially struggling student until I was whisked away by a freak collision of two alien invasions. Wendy told me how she successfully started her first business, only to be caught in an emergence and abducted by cruel, merciless robots. Her story ended in tearless sobs like I had seen from Arin before. But every once in a while I had seen Wendy eyeing the Shiv. So I said ¡°I can make one of those for you, and I even have a little aimbot program for your metaphorical augs to offer.¡± I could see her eyes lighting up. So I added ¡°Right away if you want, and you can have this gun. I will just print a new one for myself.¡± Five minutes later, we were standing on the helipad and Wendy blew apart river pebbles with the Shiv. Even the Macks behind us were forgotten for the moment. Chapter 47: Recovery Wednesday, September 23rd, 2048 It was time to increase the manufacturing capabilities of Styx Base. The first step was another recycler-storage-fabricator combo like the one in my Colwood shelter. It would not give me anything new and different, but increase overall capacity and serve as a backup if the other fabbers broke down. Whenever a batch of parts was ready, Wendy helped me assemble it, asking quite intelligent questions about the technology along the way. Questions I had not expected from a business-oriented person. Overall she seemed more in control now, but a deep, unforgiving hate still smoldered below the surface. I wondered if she might make a good lieutenant for Vanguard Command (heh!). For that, we would need to give her rage a bit of professional restraint and direction. As in, teach her not to go off half-cocked but with a decent mission plan. For that purpose, I might need help from someone who understood military operations. I was not sure if the regular military would be willing to work with a slightly unhinged person instead of sending her straight to the psych ward. But who else might be? Roger and his little militia? Maybe, but I would absolutely have to tell them up front what was going on. And talk to Wendy first of course. So I did. ¡°Wendy? I am quite in favor of killing a fuckton of Macks. I just want to do it smartly, which requires learning some tactics and coordination. You don¡¯t want to shoot your friends in the thick of the battle, because you confused them for the enemy." ¡°I have some basic training already, Haven has mandatory military service for any adult. But I understand you don¡¯t need friendly fire on top of Macks who try to kill you.¡± I was a bit embarrassed at that, being more of a hobby soldier myself. Wendy presumably had more military training than I had. Nevertheless, I laid out my thoughts. ¡°I see two options here. First, we go to SHOCKS and tell them your story. There is already a person in your situation, so they are not completely unfamiliar with the problem and might be willing to help. I¡¯m told they have some pretty good therapists too. I am, however, not sure if they would consider you mentally stable enough for military service. If that is what you want for payback against the Macks anyway. ¡°Second, I¡¯ll help you to try and get your life back without involving SHOCKS. That includes me paying for a place to live, therapy and legal assistance to hopefully keep your status as a citizen, despite the whole robot girl thing. I would, of course, also visit frequently, just in case you need someone to talk to.¡± I could easily afford this, earning well from the weapons and other stuff I sold to HANAF. I continued ¡°Once you feel better and are sure about where you want to go from there, I¡¯d be happy to have you back as a deputy leader for my Macks. Or maybe in a support role. Logistics are always something that is needed.¡± ¡°I¡¯d certainly like to talk to SHOCKS, just to get an idea what the situation is for people like me. But if they have no place for me, I¡¯ll gladly accept your offer!¡± This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Satisfied with Wendy¡¯s more constructive attitude today, I called B.S.O.D. I received a somewhat curt answer of ¡°What is it?¡± Understandable, it was already in the early evening and for most businesses past closing time. So I cut straight to the case and said ¡°I picked up another Mack victim. This time not an MG, but a civilian. But she is otherwise in the same boat as Arina, so an update on how you handle such cases, and how successfully, would be welcome.¡± I heard a sigh over the telephone, and with a softer voice B.S.O.D. suggested a meeting the following day. She added ¡°I¡¯m not sure how much we can do for someone outside SHOCKS, but we will do our best.¡± Thursday, September 24th, 2048 In the morning, we finished assembling the new fabricator slash recycler slash storage combo. Already having two assemblers in Herbie and in the base had sped things up. So had Wendy¡¯s help. En route to Victoria with the Variocopter, I told Wendy about my business relationship with SHOCKS and how I had found Arina. Wendy shuddered. ¡°As much as I hated my Mack body, having it ripped up like that while being inside must have been horrible.¡± After a bit of mulling things over, she asked me ¡°Do you perhaps need someone who runs your business on the Victoria side? You know, I already have some experience as a businesswoman.¡± I was quite surprised at this sudden departure from wanting to go ham on the Macks to a more reasonable and indirect approach. Sure, hurting the Macks indirectly by providing equipment to HANAF was still hurting them. But it was not the same as shooting them personally, which might slake a thirst for vengeance much more viscerally. Or was there something else behind it? As we arrived at SHOCKS, we were greeted by B.S.O.D., whom I still only knew by her code name, and Arina. We exchanged the obligatory hug, this time without kisses but still heartfelt. Once settled in a meeting room, B.S.O.D. explained the state of robot girl affairs from the SHOCKS perspective. ¡°We are, of course, happy to have Arina back and we are still looking for the place where she can contribute best. But we are also looking past her military career and trying to ensure Mack victims that were forcibly roboticized retain full citizenship. I think we have a good chance of making this happen on the political front, as long as nothing goes majorly wrong.¡± I whispered to Wendy ¡°No rampages on Victoria Island, if you can help it!¡± She gave me an indignant but also somewhat guilty look. My suspicions that there might be some kind of trouble brewing intensified. Meanwhile, B.S.O.D. continued ¡°Unfortunately, I see no way how we can fully integrate a civilian at SHOCKS, especially one who has no prospect at becoming a Magical Girl. As all of you know, that requires being compatible with the nanite organs supplied by Sanctuary.¡± Looking at Wendy, she continued ¡°That said, perhaps we can organize a mini-therapy group with our therapists, Arina and you, Wendy. You have gone through a similar ordeal together, and I¡¯m told this often helps with mutual support.¡± Wendy replied ¡±Thank you, and I''d be happy to take the opportunity!¡± I interjected ¡°Have HANAF already decided about adopting the Shiv? Because we found it works quite well for Wendy with an adapted version of the Ocular Aimbot. Assuming the same goes for Arina, I could see the two of them becoming excellent markswomen.¡± After we left SHOCKS, I asked Wendy ¡°Where would you like to stay, Victoria or Styx Base?¡± She answered ¡°Victoria, I think. Being a hermit at the ass end of nowhere was never my preferred lifestyle. No offense intended.¡± ¡°None taken. Because Styx Base is at the ass end of nowhere.¡± Chapter 48: Pets And Girlfriends We agreed Wendy would stay at the shelter until we found another place for her to stay. For now, we cleared out most of the bunk beds from one of the shelter dorms. That made things awfully cramped in the other rooms, and I¡¯d have to get rid of some of the beds. On the other hand, I ordered some other furniture in a style Arina had said she would like. Because I wanted Arina to have a place here, not only for her sake but also because I liked having her around. So Wendy¡¯s current room would become Arina¡¯s eventually. For the moment though, Wendy would make do with very spartan furnishing. After moving the furniture I had dinner in the form of some of the cardboard-textured synthetic rations given out by Sanctuary. Wendy watched without envy, she knew the stuff was good to fuel your organism but not much of a delight. Swallowing the last bite, I brought up an existential question. Namely backups. ¡°Wendy, I can offer you a sort of digital immortality. That is, a backup of your mind. I don¡¯t know how the Macks uploaded you, but now that it happened? The AI in my augs has a program to extract a copy. If something bad happens to you, I could upload the copy to a new robot you. That other Wendy could then carry on for you.¡± Still downplaying me as a stupid Little Aug? I¡¯m wounded. So Elya was jealous? Or was she only playing at it to tease me? I would have to think about it, but now Wendy had my attention. She was hemming and hawing a bit, but then she said ¡°I think I would like that, but I¡¯m not entirely sure about it. I¡¯d like to sleep on it, well sort of. The ramifications are so huge, I can¡¯t imagine all of them yet. Would the new Wendy still be me?¡± Heh. Sort of sleeping. Arina had told me that she did not really sleep any more, but she still needed some downtime to process her experiences. From other people¡¯s point of view, she was awake 24/7 and always available to talk to. In many ways, she would make an excellent soldier even if her old teammates had left her behind in terms of raw power. Wendy piped up again ¡°Say, has anyone, well, tried out the whole backup thing?¡± ¡°No. You are the second person in a position where that would be possible, and Arina has declined. Said it would make her, quote ¡®feel like a thing to be manufactured and traded¡¯.¡± ¡°Oh. That is an aspect I had not even considered. Now I really need to sort of sleep on it!¡± With a smirk I asked ¡°Want a sleeping companion?¡± Wendy looked as perplexed as I had expected. With a big grin now, I pulled out the Kuddly Kitty I had manufactured the week before. It had roughly the size of a Main Coone and the weight to match, around nine kilograms or twenty pounds for the metrically challenged. But the extra large head made it look a bit kitten-ish and quite cute despite the size. The yellow-orange and black stripes intentionally matched a popular cartoon character. ¡°Meet Garfield!¡± ¡°Oh god¡±, Wendy replied, ¡°I thought you would, uh..¡± ¡°Just kidding. But I¡¯d like your honest opinion on the critter¡± I said and activated Garfield. He hopped into Wendy¡¯s lap, who caught him with a delighted squeal. ¡°He is adorable. Maybe a bit too heavy as a playmate for really small children, but if you could make more of him, he might be a bestseller!¡± ¡°Apparently, the original manufacturer failed to sell many of them, but that might have been due to excessive prices.¡± Five months¡¯ wages for the average employee. I subvocalized to Elya ¡°Who is the rights holder these days?¡± Garfield the cartoon character belongs to Paramount. And despite skirting bankruptcy, they still fight ferociously to keep their copyrights. It will probably be a losing strategy, but we are not there yet. The rights to the Kuddly Kitty still belong to the bankrupt company. And before you ask, the company is now in AI-administrative receivership. I could easily get that glorified pocket calculator to sell the rights to you cheaply. Say, for one credit. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. I subvocalized again ¡°Let¡¯s do that!¡± In the meantime, Wendy was happily playing with Garfield, who had started to purr. He gave a pretty good imitation of a large living tomcat. As I had no other pressing needs, I started printing a DataSilo Mark II with the maximum capacity possible. If Wendy would agree to the backup scheme, the DataSilo would be large enough to hold a backup of her mind. In theory, it would even make her artificial rebirth possible without me, but that needed further arrangements. Friday, September 25th, 2048 I spent the morning mostly on the telephone, looking for an apartment for Wendy. Her own finances still needed untangling, and she was not very comfortable with my offer to unleash Elya on her financial affairs. Also, I had promised to help out. Meanwhile, Wendy was looking on the internet for people buying surplus bunk beds. When she showed me an ad by a potential buyer, I did a double take. That sounded a lot like Alan, my sniper buddy from the militia. So I just called him. ¡°Hey Alan, is that you who is looking for cheap bunk beds on BarterBoard?¡± ¡°Yes, are you selling?¡± ¡°I have plenty of these.¡± I said and sent him a picture. ¡°Really cheap too. I don¡¯t like waste, otherwise I might just trash them.¡± ¡°Great. I could use four of them, that is, eight sleeping places in total. Is it OK if Roger and I come over tomorrow to get them? Say, three PM?¡± ¡°Sure, see you tomorrow.¡± Saturday, September 26th, 2048 Roger and Alan showed up as agreed on, Ellen in tow, and I introduced them to Wendy. We helped them to load up the beds, and Alan started to flirt with Wendy. Using horrible pickup lines too. Such as ¡°How much does a polar bear weigh? I don¡¯t know either but it breaks the ice. Wanna get a drink?¡± Wendy demurred ¡°I can¡¯t drink right now. Medical condition.¡± That was perhaps not the smartest way to try and hide being a robot. All three of our visitors did a double take. Roger remarked ¡°I¡¯ve heard stories about girls captured by the Macks that came back as robots.¡± Wendy¡¯s eyes shot daggers at me ¡°Are you having fun telling everyone about your robot doll? How many other people did you tell?¡± Well, that cat was out of the bag. I answered ¡°I was not talking about you. My robot doll is officially Arina.¡± Next, Ellen the gossip queen demanded with an unholy gleam in her eyes ¡°What, robot girls? Robot lovers? Gimme the dish!¡± Oops, I had not exactly been discrete as well. But at this point trying to hide the truth would be futile and only damage whatever trust we had. So I continued ¡°The Macks have indeed captured some Magical Girls. I have heard about two, but the exact number is unknown.¡± Which was technically correct, as Wendy never was a Magical Girl. There were Arina and the Type 42 I had helped interrogate. Of course Ellen didn''t know or care about such details. She immediately pounced and asked ¡°So, Wendy and that Arina? I have to meet her!¡± ¡°Arina and another Type 42 Mack girl I don¡¯t know the name of. Which is not Wendy by the way.¡± Next came our ex-military guys who still had a keen sense of the value of intel. Roger remarked ¡°I have never heard about a Type 42. Are the Macks sending humanoid infiltrators now?¡± Thus temporarily saved from questions about robot girls I knew personally, I said ¡°Not exactly infiltrators as far as I know. More like Dark Magical Girls who will fight in the open. They are quite dangerous too as you can imagine. While we¡¯re at it, the Macks have fielded another new and dangerous unit. I call it the Battlecat because its stature resembles a large cat, perhaps a jaguar.¡± I refrained from mentioning that I had one sitting in the workshop. That would only lead to more questions. Even so, my guests had a lot of questions and comments. And of course, there was no escaping Ellen. As soon as the guys ran out of Important Military Ramifications to discuss, she started prying again. ¡°You have to tell me all about¡­¡± But before she managed to complete the sentence, we were interrupted by a cheerful female voice at the door. ¡°Hi Cait, I managed to get tickets for the Dragonsbane concert tomorrow! I know you love Metal!¡±¡± ¡°Hi Arina! That¡¯s great. If the concert is not sold out by now, we could invite more people.¡± Such as Wendy, if she liked traditional Power Metal. We had not talked about our favorite music styles yet, so it was worth a try. But first I had to make some more introductions. Ellen, Roger and Alan had not met Arina yet. That went well until Ellen started to ask about the specifics of being a robot. Fortunately, Roger reminded her that they both had other places to be, so Ellen, Roger and Alan said goodbye and disappeared with their load of bunk beds. The rest of the evening, Wendy and Arina bonded over music and Garfield. It looked like they might become friends. At least, it did not look like I would have to deal with jealousy. Chapter 49: The Cult Of The Macks Sunday, September 27th The DataSilo that might or might not eventually hold Wendy¡¯s backup was still in the printer and would occupy it for another few days. So instead of printing new toys, we talked about the best way of running a business based on Vanguard tech. There was already some industry based on reverse engineered Advent tech. Rumors had it that a Magical Girl selling out had much to do with it. But said industry was still far from covering all possible applications, there had to be a few more niches we could fill. Weapons manufacturing was already going fine, but only one of many possibilities. If we could convince the authorities that Wendy was still Wendy the adult citizen with full legal capacity, I might have my first employee. That would, however, still leave me doing the actual fighting on my own. Me, Elya and a bunch of drones, many of them captured Macks. Early evening Wendy, Arina and I arrived at the location of the Dragonsbane concert. The band was in the middle of the sound check. A short drum solo made the windows of the lobby rattle, an electric guitar ripped through the air like a raging demon, and I could feel the excitement from earlier metal concerts coming back. Arina brimmed with happy anticipation, while Wendy looked a little apprehensive. The undertones of raw aggression seemed to worry her. Nevertheless, she insisted on sharing the experience. Once inside, the familiar ambience of a rock concert about to begin greeted us. The band made the final adjustments to the mix, while people got some beers from a stand at the side. Finally the roof lights went out and the stage lighting came on, together with an ethereal wailing from the speakers. While that was playing the band came on stage, and with the end of the intro they launched into their first song. Arina quickly disappeared in the mosh pit that formed at the foot of the stage. A little unusual for this particular subgenre of heavy metal, but she obviously had fun. Within minutes I could see her crowd surfing. Wendy stayed next to me, initially a bit nervous but then I could feel her loosen up. Halfway through the set, she even started headbanging a little bit. For my part, I enjoyed the charged atmosphere and the visceral pounding of the drums. I may have headbanged a bit myself¡­ Eventually, the concert was over and Arina returned to us. I asked ¡°So, how did your new ears handle the volume?¡± ¡°It was fantastic, all of the intensity and none of the ringing in the ears!¡± On the way to the exit, trouble was brewing. Four rather drunk guys got in our way and their leader started making lewd comments at us. I noticed that some of the symbols on their jackets looked suspiciously like the weird letters a team of special forces had uncovered in a Mack base early in the war. Arina took my arm and cautioned ¡°Careful, those guys might be the Mack worshippers I heard rumors about. A doomsday cult that celebrates the oncoming rule of the machines.¡± The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Next to me, Wendy picked up on that and her demeanor shifted to a cold rage. At the same time, Mr. Cultist worked up his courage to the point where he said ¡°You¡¯ll make a bunch of damn fine Mack dolls!¡± To his buddies: ¡°Let¡¯s take them to the Omnissiah for conversion!¡± The Omnissiah was the ¡°machine god¡± from the lore of an old tabletop RPG called Warhammer 40k. Wendy seemed to know that, as she lost it and jumped him with a snarl. Cultist was reacting slow enough that she managed to punch him in the throat. Not very expertly, but with her enhanced strength it did the trick. He fell over and clutched his throat, gasping for air. The others ran at this show of effective resistance. Apparently cultists were not hardened fighters. Wendy promptly pursued them. Dammit Wendy, you¡¯re not supposed to go it alone. Even if I agreed with beating up that scum. Next Arina took off after her, while the people around me pretended not to see anything. Despite my misgivings, I followed her. This might end badly, but I was not leaving my friends in the lurch. Fortunately, these guys did not understand the concept of defeat in detail. They ran following the principle of every man for themselves, not paying attention to the fate of their comrades. Soon Wendy and Arina had run down the fattest and slowest of them. The guy was wheezing badly and his speed had fallen to a clumsy trot as Wendy jumped on his back and rode him to the ground. Arina seemed uncertain about jumping in. She clearly had no sympathies for the enemy and their followers, but also misgivings about killing a fellow human being. Because that was going to happen if nobody stopped Wendy. Pretty winded myself, I arrived just in time to keep Wendy from punching the guy in the face for a fourth time. ¡°Enough, you don¡¯t want a murder charge for avenging a few insults and threats!¡± ¡°Fine, but I¡¯m not letting the other two get away!¡± Wendy said and resumed chasing the two remaining cultists, who were just disappearing around the next corner. Arina followed her again. At this point I seriously contemplated calling the police myself. But they might be too late to prevent whatever Wendy would do, so I followed as best I could. As long as their batteries lasted, Wendy and Arina would not get exhausted, and the difference between their speed and mine would only grow further. As I rounded the next corner, I saw one of the assholes from the concert hall lying on the ground and clutching his balls. At the end of the road I barely caught a glimpse of Wendy and Arina before they got out of sight. I resisted the temptation to give the asshole on the ground an extra kick and tried to catch up to my friends instead. Which I only managed because they had finally ran down the final cultist in the doorway of a dilapidated warehouse. When I reached them, the guy already looked like he had been worked over with a baseball bat. Then I heard sounds of a struggle from inside the warehouse. Shouts were followed by a meaty smack, then a pop and finally a barely heard ¡°Get her to the operation table!¡±. At this point I finally decided to call 911. But as soon as I had my smartphone in hand and was typing, I was rushed by two guys that looked like more cultists. One of them beat the phone out of my hand, the other tackled me to the ground. They both made the mistake of ignoring Wendy and Arina. From the corner of my eye I saw how Wendy tried her amateurish throat punch technique against one of them. He managed to protect himself from that by tucking in his head and holding up an elbow for cover. But Arina, who seemed to have at least some training in unarmed combat, approached him from the side and stomped on his leg just above the ankle. With a sickening crunch, the joint gave way. Seeing the other attacker at my throat, Wendy and Arina ignored their current opponent and went after the guy who tried to strangle me. Not a moment too soon, as he was close to succeeding. After a few kicks and the sound of snapping ribs, he sagged to the ground with a painful groan. As I got up, gasping for air, I noticed something rolling out of his jacket. A big can of pepper spray. I grabbed it and followed Wendy and Arina, who were already entering the building. Together, we sneaked through the corridors towards the toilets and the common room. From the latter came the rattling of chains and the voice that had given commands earlier. Chapter 50: The Omnissiah As we looked around the corner, we were confronted with a scene from a horror movie. One woman and one man were working on an unconscious girl, whom I recognized as Ladybug. The woman was busy shaving her head, while the man was wrapping her in heavy chains and securing those with heavy padlocks. On a trolley a few steps further back, a person of indistinguishable sex readied a set of surgical instruments. Indistinguishable because of the metal robot mask, combined with a wide, flowing set of what looked like a mix of surgical scrubs and a priest¡¯s robe. I could see from the door that they had not bothered to clean the instruments the last time. Also on the trolley sat a contraption that looked like a hood dryer with fine metallic filaments sticking out of the bottom. At the side of the room, another man lay in a pool of blood and bile. As I watched, he vomited up more of the bloody mix. Not with much vigor though, he already seemed pretty weak from the blood loss. This time both of my friends were furious beyond belief. Wendy went straight for the person with the mask, while Arina took on Chain Guy. That left the woman with the electric shaver for me. It turned out that she was not much of a fighter, and even my modest Taekwondo skills were more than enough against her. I slapped her around a bit and kicked her in the stomach, which made her curl up on the ground with a whimper. Thus without an opponent, I checked on Arina and Wendy. Arina had backed Chain Guy into a corner and kicked and punched him left and right. He managed to block most of the strikes, but some got through and he did not like it at all. Once again, Wendy was the most violent among us. She had Robot Mask on the ground and stabbed him (or her?) enthusiastically with one of the bloody scalpels from the trolley. More bloody now that his fresh blood was added to the mix. ¡°STOP, WENDY!¡±, I hollered. Wendy seemed not to care, so I added ¡°WE NEED HIM FOR INTERROGATION!!¡± That brought a bit of self-control back in Wendy, and her frenzied rage receded a bit. ¡°Of course, need to catch his bosses too¡­¡±. But she still clenched the scalpel in a tight grip. By now, Chain Guy begged Arina for mercy. He had at least one bloody eyebrow as far as I could see, a split lip and his nose seemed broken. Mercy was not forthcoming, but as she seemed not intent on killing him I chose not to intervene. With my own phone broken somewhere in the street outside, I grabbed the one from the still groaning would-be hairdresser instead. I called 911 and asked for one or more ambulances with room for at least two severely wounded, then I added that a Magical Girl was involved and they might want to inform SHOCKS. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Within minutes, a whole chorus of wailing sirens arrived. As well as a helicopter from SHOCKS with Maybelle-1, another senior MG, on board. In the meantime we had liberated Ladybug from her chains, and she was slowly coming to. The cultists did not look so good. The guy who had been puking blood was not moving anymore at all. Robot Mask was still weakly wheezing but clearly incapacitated. Chain Guy was thoroughly cowed and all it took to chase him back into his corner was a threatening gesture from Arina. I had Shaver Girl in a chokehold as she had tried to run, but she was the least injured of all of them. Of course, police arrested all of us for the moment, except for Ladybug as the obvious victim and the two cultists who needed an immediate trip to the emergency room. For Arina, the arrest was over quickly. Apparently, SHOCKS had a lot of clout and Maybelle used it to make the police release Arina into her care. Wendy and I had a somewhat more difficult time, with a lengthy interrogation and an overnight stay in jail. And in Wendy¡¯s case the additional complication of her battery running out. At this point, hiding her robot body was no longer possible. Monday, September 28th, 2048 10:00 AM, in court SHOCKS and Ladybug had come through for us and convinced the judge that we were probably not the bad guys. I still had to post bail for my release. As the cops were unsure about what to do with a robotic suspect, the judge agreed to let Wendy stay at SHOCKS for the time being. With nothing else to do, I spent the rest of the day designing an enlarged version of the Avian Eliminator with two Shivs instead of the 5.7mm guns. Strictly in theory and simulations though, as the fabricator was still occupied. Wednesday, September 30th, 2048 The DataSilo was finally complete, so if Wendy wanted she could get a backup now. The lawyer I had hired in the meantime, a Mr. Dewey, informed me about various things he had picked up from his police contacts. First, Robot Mask and friends had a history of violence and the police had found evidence that they might be involved in an earlier kidnapping. That would make it more believable in court that they did, in fact, try to kidnap and enslave us. Second, the press had already gotten wind of the affair and I¡¯d better be prepared for visits from reporters. This was followed by some advice on what better not to tell them. Third, the guy who had been puking blood had expired on the way to the hospital. Robot Mask, who turned out to be a man, was still in critical condition. Fourth, Chain Guy and Shaver Lady had been released on bail as well. Thursday, October 1st Elya notified me about a small and unusual emergence. A group of Macks are attacking the police station where you and your friends have been interrogated. They are supported by a single Type 21 and appear to be accompanied by a male human. The description matches the person who chained up Ladybug. Two minutes later, I received a call from B.S.O.D who told me in no uncertain terms to stay out of that particular fight. A group of mid-level MGs was already on the way, and they were considered more than capable of handling a handful of Macks. I agreed but secretly told Elya to grab any footage of the incident she could. Soon she showed me a video where Chain Guy was arrested next to a wrecked Type 21. I found some more footage that shows the Macks tried to break into the server room of the police station. Trying to destroy evidence, huh? Friday, October 2nd The incident from Sunday was all over the news, apparently the press had finally found some witnesses and someone from the police had leaked additional information. People started to demand the heads of Robot Mask and Chain Guy in particular. Magical Girls were major celebrities. and if someone tried to make them into slaves of the enemy, it made people angry. In the words of one popular blogger: ¡°Beheading is too good for them.¡± Chapter 51: Panzer Kunst Monday, October 5th The legal trouble was on hold for the moment, and I was back at Styx Base. Wendy had accompanied me to evade the anti-robot hysteria boiling over in Victoria. People had stopped trying to distinguish between Macks and roboticized Mack victims. Which was pretty irrational, but right now people had apparently switched off their brains. The only thing that remotely made sense was the fear of being attacked by a Dark Magical Girl, as the still enslaved Mack girls were called lately. The rest was pure paranoia. Arina had insisted she was safe enough at SHOCKS, even if going out was too dangerous at the moment. It might have played a role that she disliked Styx Base. Now I had a big fabricator to build, but that would not take up all of my time. While the building drones prepared the foundation and my small fabricators made parts for the big one, I dabbled in other things. Such as optimizing the close combat skills of my Macks. A glorious new fighting style lay ahead, such as the ¡°Panzer Kunst¡± from the Battle Angel Alita manga. The Type One was excluded for now. It was too fragile and even with improved combat moves, it would likely fail miserably against Fours, Battlecats and Dark Magical Girls. Which was the bulk of what the Macks sent these days. So I started working with my Fours and Battlecats. Looking at various martial arts training and competition videos, I soon had a few moves under evaluation. The first series of tests involved blocking and deflection moves, such as the various -uke techniques from karate. Soon a great clattering and banging erupted from the testing room. The defense was somewhat effective, but at the price of some broken tentacles. The Battlecats did better because of their generally more sturdy forelimbs. They could stay as they were, while the Fours were earmarked for some design revisions. I briefly considered eliminating the Fours from my roster entirely, but there were still situations where I considered them worthwhile to have. After a break to move some assembler parts around and a snack for me, I tried to teach my mecha-critters spinning kicks. Which mostly led to ignominious falls for the machines that tried it. One of the Fours completely lost its equilibrium and fell on its single eye hard enough to break it. One candidate for the recycler. Wendy almost fell over laughing. ¡°Are these trying to commit suicide by falling on their noses?¡± she gasped. Spinning Kick Day was canceled after that. We proceeded to a frugal dinner of creek water and synthetic rations for me, while Wendy slaked her thirst for energy from the base¡¯s power grid. By the end of the day, we had one fifth of the building blocks for the new fabricator. Tuesday, October 6th Most of the day was filled with making more parts for the big fabricator. The building drones made good progress in preparing the foundations. In the meantime, I did not want to give up on the Panzer Kunst yet. It was Grappling Day! I figured that the Type Four might be able to do well here with its tentacles. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Soon a bunch of them were clanking across the floor like entangled tumbleweeds, only louder. Sometimes Wendy helped with disentangling machines that could not do it themselves for some reason, interrupted by fits of laughing. Saturday, October 10th The parts for the big assembler were complete, and we had started to put them together. But Styx Base was running low on materials, and we had another court hearing on Monday. So any big builds would have to wait. Monday, October 12th Early in the morning, we were back in court for a preliminary hearing about the Mack cult affair. The judge wanted to decide on the further proceedings for all people involved in one go. My lawyer told me this was somewhat unusual, but here we were. Ladybug was first to describe how she got captured. ¡°I was visiting the village fair at Esquimalt. It was already dark when I went home, and I must have missed the attackers in the crowd. Suddenly I felt a sharp stab in the back and lost consciousness a few seconds later. ¡°Next I woke up as I was dragged into a room with what looked like an improvised operation table. Some person with a robot mask was already preparing instruments. I managed to break free and punched one of the kidnappers in the stomach, then they got me again with some sort of tranquilizer. ¡±The next thing I remember was waking up again. Wendy over there was taking my chains off, and the people who had abducted me were a lot worse for wear.¡± So that was how Blood Puking Guy died. A mid-level MG like Ladybug was usually strong enough to rupture someone¡¯s intestines with a punch. Next Wendy and I got to tell our story, which was a balancing act between being reasonably honest and trying not to look too bad in the process. As I had dissuaded Wendy from more serious force (I avoided words that sounded more brutal) and beaten up only Shaver Girl myself, the judge decided my actions were reasonable defense of others. After all, we had rescued Ladybug. I would get off without prosecution and also get my bail money back. For Wendy it was not so clear, throat punching and repeated stabbing did not sit so well with the judge. Even if it was against bad guys. Robot Mask was in stable condition by now, two weeks later, but still not in shape for questioning. The judge left it to the prosecutor¡¯s office if they wanted to proceed with charges. If yes, there would be a trial for Wendy. Next, it was Arina¡¯s turn. She received rather favorable treatment by the judge, which was not surprising. First, she had been relatively restrained in beating up the kidnappers. Second, the judge was not immune against the general admiration Magical Girls enjoyed as defenders of Haven. And he still counted Arina as one. Like me, she was cleared of all charges. As Chain Guy was asked to explain his actions, he did not say much and let his lawyer do the talking. But this time he would remain in jail. That he got out on bail the first time was surprising, but another major crime soon after? I doubted he would get free again for a long time. Finally, Shaver Girl managed to convince the judge that she had only participated under pressure. Under tears she professed her regrets. Good acting or honest remorse, she got out on bail again. Afternoon I had an uneventful flight to Styx Base and back with Pete. We were transporting a kitchen range I did not want to spend points on, so I had bought it from a dealer in Victoria and hired Pete for the transport. My Variocopter could not handle such bulky items. I had carefully hidden my combat Macks and used only a maintenance drone to move the items into the base, but even so Pete seemed a bit uneasy and expressed it. ¡°Cait dear, this place gives me the creeps.¡± ¡°Well, it is a former Mack base. Most people might feel a bit apprehensive here.¡± ¡°Anyway, we have delivered your stuff. Let¡¯s get out of here!¡± Chapter 52: Raw Materials And Reverse Engineering Friday, October 16th I was back at Styx Base. Wendy with me, because Victoria still seemed unsafe for her. With Wendy¡¯s help, I had recycled most of the wreckage in the base and from the broken Type 21 lying around near the river. The rest still had some promise for reuse or reverse engineering. I just had not gotten around to it yet. So I needed materials from elsewhere. There had not been a major Mack incursion for some time, perhaps they would be obliging soon again? It was time to reactivate the Mack trap, but with some upgrades. I disassembled the teleport gate from the Type 21 that had held it so far and moved it into a sort of fixed turret. It was mounted on a fibercrete foundation and a barbette that could point it in any horizontal direction. Lining it up with the sender of a teleported unit was a technical necessity. From afar, the whole thing resembled a squat, overdimensional cannon. I called it the ACF, the Advanced Capture Facility. As Wendy and I were assembling the equipment inside, she asked ¡°What is all that stuff?¡± I replied ¡°The big slabs are internal armor, made of the lonsdaleite I told you about. It is still the best armor material at my disposal, and it helps to keep the Macks from getting out.¡± ¡°These are the emitters of a Nanite Annihilation Field. It prevents Magical Girls, including the enemy ones, from using most of their special abilities. How that works, I understand only at a surface level and Elya was not forthcoming with answers. And here we have¡­¡± Wendy interrupted ¡°Who is Elya?¡± Oops. I had given away more than I wanted. Damn. But here it was again, the old trust problem. Lie and dissemble to people I considered friends to hide things, at the risk of being exposed later? While not in a romantic sense, Wendy had grown on me. Working together on upgrading Styx Base for a while now, we had developed a comfortable sense of comradeship. I took the leap of faith again. ¡°You may have heard that I have an implant in my head, very loosely comparable to the uplink Magical Girls have?" ¡°Yes, why?¡± ¡°Mine has a name, Elya. She is more than a simple database and software appliance. Elya has intelligence of her own, and she is the gatekeeper to more advanced technology than I have let on so far. The limitation is that I have to earn access, mostly by killing Macks.¡± Wendy was perplexed. ¡°Database? Software appliance? What Arina told me was nothing of the kind.¡± ¡°Yes, what MGs have is mostly an uplink so their operators can help them use their powers. Elya is designed more for solo operators. In my home universe, we Vanguard can directly buy equipment for points. The whole blueprint and fabricator stuff is a workaround because hardware purchases are not available here.¡± ¡°Oh. So if I help you kill more Macks, you can earn access faster, get better equipment and kill more Macks?¡± ¡°Yes. The keyword is ¡°help¡±, I get some points for other people killing Macks with my weapons, but for the full payout it has to be me or Elya pulling the trigger. But helping me upgrade the base is a nice way of giving indirect support.¡± I continued explaining. ¡°The hydraulic cylinder is to crush the Macks, It can handle all small Mack units I have seen so far.¡± Said cylinder was lurking behind the aperture of the gate, ready to lunge into the chamber and smash the metal pests against the massive door at the other end. ¡°It also has a blender function. See those slits here? Through these OmniCutter blades can extend and cut the captured Mack apart.¡± ¡°Damn I love that. I hope I get to see it in action.¡± By the time the new trap was ready, I was almost out of metals. That I could finish the project at all was thanks to the generous use of the carbon-based Lonsdaleite, which I could essentially make from fallen trees. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. I would try not to use the crusher on Dark MGs, as they were victims themselves. But anything else was fair game. Maybe I would try to get the energy sources of the Battlecats intact. In the meantime, I recycled some of the local rocks. They contained a few percent titanium by weight. While not very effective, it gave me some of the metal. Monday, October 19th The big fabricator was ready, but now waiting for a Mack emergence was as boring as it sounded. To pass the time, I gave Wendy lessons in driving Herbie and tinkered with analyzing some residual nanites I had found in the discarded Mack bodies of Arina and Wendy. The one I got involved with first was the nanites for the ¡°Flame Arrow¡± blaster the Mack girls had integrated in their forearms. Searching some residue in the ¡°Scraper¡± analyzer gave me lots of fragmented and partly vaporized nanoscale spheres. I finally found some intact enough to get more information and guess at their purpose. As I was browsing my Lorekeeper nanotech textbook, Elya piped up: I see you are trying to guess at what these little spheres do. Would you like some help with that? ¡°If you are willing to give some hints, yes please!¡± These are large Buckminsterfullerenes with a payload inside. The observed range of the ¡°Flame Arrow¡± indicates that they are very dense, otherwise they would be stopped by air drag within centimeters. My best guess from the data you showed me is that these are microscopic artificial mass balls. ¡°What is an Artificial Mass ball, and what does it do?¡± Being heavy. It also explodes after a short time. ¡°Succinct and only a fraction of what I wanted to know. Can you tell me more about the mechanics of the payload, and how it is stuffed inside these tiny carbon balls?¡± The residue inside suggests this is a short lived container of a hyper-compressed oxygen and hydrogen mix, held together by a tiny pseudo-black hole field. When the little spheres burst, they release a considerable amount of heat. Stuffing is done by a very specialized little matter reconfiguration machine. So, not really a nanite in the sense of most sci-fi novels. But it served the purpose well enough, apparently. SHOCKS seemed to be lazy about their classifications and just call all this stuff nanites. What I found in the ¡°vaporizing blast¡± projector was a lot closer to what I expected from a nanite. It was a nanoscale mechanical shredder, powered by a similarly hyper-compressed ball and equipped with a primitive sensor to guide it deeper into the target. Here we actually had a molecule-sized motor and some cutting blades. Still no real programming, but some hint of robotics at least. I also found another thing that had me baffled for now. Elya teased me with Once you get to Class 3 shielding systems, I might have an explanation for you. And there are other things you have not noticed yet. I postponed investigating that for now, as I had other plans and Class 3 stuff would probably wipe out all of my points and tokens, if I could afford it at all. And I had other plans for now. So Wendy and I went back to speculating about Mack technology, having nothing else to do. Styx Base being so remote and difficult to access was showing its downsides. Half an hour later, Elya alerted me to a new development. The Arcane Feeler was picking up hyperspace activity, but the signature was different from the usual teleportations. Smelling a rat, I told Elya to move some of my Macks to the ACF and handled the rest by remote control. I stayed deep in the base myself, in case the Macks would send some explosives for a change. While they had never done so in Haven, I halfway expected something like a small nuke. For a highly advanced nation or whatever they were, it would be an obvious way to get rid of Humanity¡¯s last strongholds. Of course, I would not complain about ongoing incompetence on part of the Macks. Perhaps Elya knew more about it. ¡°Elya, what can you tell me about sending weapons of mass destruction through the teleporter?¡± Radioactive substances tend to explode in the primitive teleport systems the Macks are using on this world. The energy sources of the Dark MGs and Battlecats are a carefully crafted exception unsuitable for big explosions. Chemical weapons might work, unless the molecules are fragile and very large. The latter also gets in the way of using the teleporter for biological weapons or yourself. Your DNA would get shredded. Ugh. Good that I never tried traveling by Mack teleport. But now it was time to try and catch something. With Wendy looking over my shoulder, I pointed the ACF at the estimated source of the signal and powered it up in capture mode. It took a bit of experimenting, but eventually I was able to redirect a teleported object to the ACF. It looked like... a big ball of scrap? Still wary, I remotely used the hydraulic cylinder to push it around a bit and cut it up with the OmniCutter blades. The parts that fell off still looked like scrap on the inside. Eventually, I opened the ACF door and pushed the chunk of scrap out. My Fours dragged the smaller parts out. Obviously those spikes were still useful for spearing stuff and then pulling it around. I managed to steal two more chunks out of whatever transport system the Macks were using, then they seemed to shut it down. Wendy and I spent the rest of the day collecting and recycling scrap. Chapter 53: New Wings Tuesday, October 20th Operation Scrap Theft had brought me a bit over three tons of materials, and by lucky coincidence just the sort I might need for my next project. I already knew that I wanted a larger air car or even better, an air van with some decent cargo space. Now it was time to decide on a model. ¡°Elya, let¡¯s look at options for a hover car or helicopter blueprint. List anything that I will be able to afford in the near future, say up to ten thousand points.¡± That would give you 334 models to choose from, assuming you purchase a relevant catalog and spend the remaining points on the blueprint. Would you like to narrow your search somewhat? ¡°OK, two additional criteria. First, it must be possible to build it in my new fabricator. If some assembly of the hover car is required, that is acceptable. Second, sort by payload first, suitability for adding weaponry second.¡± I ended up dismissing the first three blueprints, but then Elya came up with an option I really liked. In the Class I Air Cars catalog there is the Explorer Mk I, which is halfway between a car and a van in its cabin layout. It is powered by a small fusion reactor that gives it a range sufficient to circumnavigate the Earth. ¡°Detailed description please!¡± A wire frame model appeared on my augs, with lines leading from every component to a small description. The overall aesthetics had some similarity to my Variocopter, with eight gimbaled rotors around the cabin and an overall roundish design. But there the similarities ended. Where the Variocopter had a cabin for two people and a small amount of luggage, the body of the Explorer was considerably larger and more slender in form. It seated seven including the pilot, and the five seats in the rear could be folded up to convert it into a two-seater with a decently sized cargo space. The performance data also looked pretty nice. One of the descriptions caught my special interest. ¡°Elya, what¡¯s that inertia modulating thing?¡± It temporarily increases the inertia of the air flowing through the rotors, thereby allowing the rotor blades to ¡°push off¡± it more efficiently. If you will, think of a propeller in water compared to the same propeller in air. The propeller in water will provide a much greater thrust in the thicker medium. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Interesting. I could already think of ways to reuse this tech elsewhere. And if I didn¡¯t have a Mack invasion to fight, I could likely spend years exploring the principles behind it. Browsing the list further towards the cheaper options, I quickly lost interest. Only one sleek and sporty two-seater made me take a second look, but the payload was barely higher than what my Variocopter offered. ¡°OK, let¡¯s go with the Explorer¡± I said. Fortunately, you already have enough points. Here is the bill:
Item Point cost Description
Class I Air Cars (catalog) 500 The modern form of being stuck in a traffic jam
Explorer Mk I (blueprint) 8000 points Long-range air vehicle for very extended weekend trips
Total price 8500 points
Remaining balance¡­ 145 points Nice. But I still wanted to give it some bite. With help from Elya, I created a larger version of the Avian Eliminator, armed with two railguns based on the Shiv instead of the 5.7x28mm gunpowder-based guns. I added one each on top of the Explorer and under its belly, respectively to the blueprint. After a few more changes, including tougher windows, the Explorer was almost three hundred kilograms heavier. But it could still carry a payload of more than a ton. Printing and assembly came next. The big new fabricator was faster than the older ones, and it made all the parts within a day. We did have to print the mounts for the rotors separately though, with them the Explorer was almost four meters wide and would not fit in the fabricator. Thursday, October 22th We could finally go on a test flight. It turned out that even with the extra air drag from the turrets, the Explorer could do four hundred kilometers per hour. Between that and the relatively high payload, it was clearly superior to a conventional helicopter of similar size. But not so much that the latter could not have done the job. The problem for HANAF and other militaries was the broken supply chains. Most aircraft makers did not exist anymore. Now they had trouble maintaining their old machines at all, and rumor had it that Pete made a nice profit printing spare parts for them. At that point I was surprised that I had not received more inquiries about buying a fabricator. I was still hesitant of hiring complete strangers as managers, but once the people of Haven were more accepting of the rescued Mack girls, Wendy might be a good candidate for running a fabricator company. After all, she had some experience and some digging by Elya led me to believe that she had run her little company well. Chapter 54: Traitor Hunt Friday, October 23th Early in the morning, Elya woke me up. Sorry for disturbing your beauty sleep, but B.S.O.D asks for your help in a matter that might interest you. I accepted the call. The familiar voice of B.S.O.D. greeted me with ¡°Good Morning, Miss McCallan. We need your help in apprehending one of the cultists you ran into lately.¡± Still yawning, I asked ¡°Which one, and in what way can I help?¡± ¡°Amanda Smith, whom you called Shaver Girl in court, has broken into the home of Alexander Miller AKA Robot Mask and taken something. Before the police got around to arrest her, she disappeared and was later seen rowing a boat out to sea where she was picked up by some unknown submersible. ¡°We are already assembling a team, but the ¡°Spectracopter¡± you showed us before would allow us to look for her with a far lower risk of being detected.¡° Interesting. That might be the chance to grab some more Mack tech. I had my doubts that Shaver Girl herself was that important. Worst case, she would come back as a Magical Mack Girl, and one more of them would likely be less dangerous than an expedition behind enemy lines. But I was inclined to go anyway. I was a lot less sanguine about taking Wendy along. The mission might require some stealth and Miss Trigger Happy was not the type for it. I wanted to know more. So I started to inquire about specifics. ¡°First, who would I be working with?¡± ¡°A team of MGs you are already familiar with, the Battle Bugs, a team of HANAF marines and myself. We are going by helicopter.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it unusual that a commander risks their life at the front?" ¡°Yes, but nobody else is as familiar with Mack operation patterns as I am. And this operation is of the highest importance. We suspect that the Macks are trying to establish themselves at the east side of San Juan Island. That has been no-man¡¯s land so far, but a new Mack base so close to Victoria would be a grave threat. Now we are gambling on the submarine delivering Shaver Girl there.¡± Shit. I replied ¡°Then we must hurry to catch her in time. It is not that far to San Juan Island. Where does the team plan to land? It might be fastest if I fly there directly.¡± ¡°Yes, do so please. Meeting point is the west coast of San Juan Island near Deadman Bay.¡± She added some coordinates. While talking, I had already thrown off my pajamas and was struggling into my undies one-handed. But before I hung up the phone, I had a few more details to make clear. ¡°One more thing. I have a new helicopter, larger than the old one. It has eight small flat, ducted rotors around the cabin, that should help your team to recognize it. I will also bring a few of my Macks, but we can talk about that after landing.¡± After throwing on my clothes and my armor, I knocked at Wendy¡¯s door. A very much not sleepy voice (those Mack brains had their advantages) replied ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± I needed to give her a reason for not coming along. ¡°I¡®m going on a mission with SHOCKS, and yes, it is on very short notice. Could you organize the base defense in my absence? Like we have practiced?¡± The answer came in a somewhat unsure tone ¡°I guess so. But what is going on?¡± I answered ¡°SHOCKS are going after Shaver Girl, they hope she will lead them to a yet unknown Mack base. But not leaving the base undefended is really important!¡± Wendy finally agreed, but I could hear the hesitation and need for personal revenge in her voice. ¡°OK, if you say so. But make sure to kill that bitch for me!¡± I subvocalized to Elya ¡°Give control of the base to Wendy until further notice.¡± Defense by Wendy would be better than no defense, she actually had some talent. The lack of an Elya to coordinate things would be a handicap though. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. Nevertheless, I crammed three Battlecats, three of the Type 4AE anti-kamikaze-drone Macks and a few Spectracopters into the Explorer. Plus reloads for the Battlecats and various minor equipment such as my hacking tools. Then I lifted off in a hurry. A short time later I was overflying Victoria, trying to catch up to the SHOCKS helicopters. SHOCKS command had advised me they were a few minutes ahead of me, but I soon spotted them as they were looking for a landing spot. Once landed, Magical Girls, HANAF soldiers and I poured from the various aircraft. SHOCKS had arrived with two old pre-First Emergence helicopters. I immediately launched two Spectracopters and sent them towards the east coast of San Juan Island, as that seemed the most plausible place for the Macks to hide. Minutes later, they arrived there and I had them split up, one flying northwards and the other southwards. Soon the north helicopter discovered a black shadow slipping below the coast. Going closer, I saw a camouflaged door leading under the steep coast east of Dream Lake. I shared the image with the team, and B.S.O.D commented ¡°Clever. They know we rarely patrol the area. Without spotting that submarine, we might not have found the Mack base for months.¡± After a short discussion with the pilots, she ordered us to proceed to the east side of Dream Lake. Which was only a kilometer from the Mack base, and I instructed Elya. ¡°When you see units that are immediately dangerous to the team, neutralize them. With units that are only good at melee, point them out but wait for my command to shoot.¡± In short order, we took off again. Approaching Dream Lake, I noticed a drone of a type I had not seen before. It looked slow and flimsy. A recon drone optimized for endurance? Mack or HANAF? I called the other team on the radio. The answer came as ¡°We have not arranged any drone reconnaissance!¡± ¡°Elya, shoot it!¡± A double crack from the top turret heralded the demise of the unknown drone. Debris rained from the sky, dropping towards the lake. Targets eliminated: 1 x unknown reconnaissance drone, presumably hostile Reward¡­ 1 point New balance... 166 points ¡°What, only one point?¡± It was like a Model One in purpose and capabilities. I guessed we could expect unwanted company shortly. To detect it early, I ordered both Spectracopters to patrol the nearby area. One over the Mack base, one over our landing site at Dream Lake. Seconds later, Elya warned me of incoming enemy drones, Type Six. She immediately opened fire. The top turret fired nonstop now, two of the double cracks per second. The machine gun on one of the helicopters joined in, sending a stream of tracers across the sky. Looking up, I saw a swarm of small drones, probably Type Six, approaching. Almost every double shot from Elya ripped one of them to shreds, either in a detonation or just spiraling to the ground as debris. The machine gun was less effective, and it looked like the Mack drones would overwhelm us by sheer numbers. On instinct, I tilted the Explorer to the side so the bottom turret had the drones in its field of fire as well. Elya immediately caught on, and the rate of exploding drones doubled. Unfortunately, my defensive maneuver also made me drift away from the helicopters. While none of the drones came close enough to threaten my air car, the drones went after the increasingly unprotected helicopters instead. One of them slowed down and a Six caught up to it. The explosion ripped into the engine section. Trailing smoke, it staggered towards the shore, losing height. I had reversed course by now and closed the distance to the helicopters again, but the sky was already clear of Sixes. Below me, one helicopter made a safe landing, but the other one with the MGs aboard did not quite reach the shore and sank quickly. A bunch of Magical Girls broke out by ripping the door off, which only made the craft sink faster. B.S.O.D. dived back to help the pilots out of the helicopter. Finally, a bunch of thoroughly bedraggled MGs and two equally dripping pilots reached the shore. As it was late October and as cold as expected, I realized that hypothermia might be a serious problem. I had my Macks exit the Explorer to make room, switched the heating to maximum and offered the cabin to the MGs for warming up. B.S.O.D. gratefully accepted, while the soldiers eyed my Macks with considerable distrust. I told them ¡°These are mine and loyal!¡± The Type 4AE were already marked as Vanguard Command units, and I immediately ordered them to spread out some twenty meters and watch the sky. For the Battlecats I quickly grabbed my red duct tape to put a ¡°VC¡± in coarse letters on their flanks. We ended up waiting half an hour for the girls¡¯ clothes to dry somewhat, which thoroughly ruined our element of surprise. Yet B.S.O.D. as the team leader insisted on continuing the mission. Eventually we set out with the Battlecats taking point. The 4AEs were left behind to protect the landed aircraft against kamikaze drones. Halfway to the Mack base, we ran into two Type One scouts. I signaled the soldiers to hold fire, while Elya used the Mack-zapper on my shoulders to subdue the Macks. One of the Macks submitted to the hacking attack transmitted by the crackling, ionized beams. The other one resisted and was cut down in a spay of sparks by the claws of my Battlecats. From experience I knew that the subdued Mack would be a viable spy for a while, but then the Macks would blow its cover somehow. Even Elya could only speculate on how exactly they did it. So I chose to use that time to find out as much as possible. With a short explanation to B.S.O.D. I sent it back to scout the base for us. A spectracopter would act as relay for the data it picked up. The One passed dozens of Fours and Battlecats that were prepared to fight off an attack, then it approached a camouflaged entry into the ground. Suddenly the image from its camera tumbled, then the signal cut out. On the video feed from the Spectracopter I saw that a Mack Battlecat was ripping it to shreds. I turned to B.S.O.D. and said ¡°I found a base entrance, but there is significant resistance ahead.¡± Chapter 55: Revelations We carefully advanced from cover to cover. The Spectracopter surveillance did not show any long-range shooters among the Macks, but we still wanted to avoid early detection. That worked until we were about hundred meters from the first group of Macks, then they rushed us in greater numbers than we had expected. I estimated there were at least hundred enemies of various types, including a dozen Battlecats but no Magical Mack Girls. I subvocalized: ¡°Elya, the Battlecats are priority targets.¡± Said priority targets were already close enough to use the plasma casters in their tails and started shooting. I dived behind a tree, chased by the hellfire the enemy threw at us, while my own Battlecats let loose. From their own gun-tails, hypersonic railgun projectiles lashed out and ripped through the enemy killbots, focusing on the vital parts with lethal accuracy. Two of the soldiers joined in with heavy sniper rifles they used like battle rifles at the short distance. While their guns were not in the league of the Shiv, they managed to kill one enemy Battlecat each. As the hail of fire around me receded, I popped up again to add my personal firepower. One of my three Battlecats was out of the fight, both forelimbs half molten and the joints stuck. At least one of its eyes was burnt out as well. But the enemy had suffered far worse. Between the three of them, my own Battlecats had shot up seven of the enemy ones. The soldiers had gotten two. Now three enemy Battlecats were standing against my remaining two, but I managed to distract them with the Mack-Zapper and one of my Battlecats still had a working gun in its tail. It was over in seconds - that is, my part of the fight. Some ten meters away, the MGs demonstrated why they were considered the premier fighting force of Haven. Pink Orchid pushed the incoming wave of steel back with her defensive forcefield, and Ladybug unleashed a far stronger attack than I had seen from her before. Her Thunderbolt skill was now a thunderstorm that popped Mack eyes, ripped sparks out of their cabling and left a dozen of the metal pests as smoking ruins. Dozens of others were spared from the heaviest part of the lightning barrage and rose again like zombies, falling on their nearby comrades and piercing them with blades and spikes. ¡°Elya?¡± Not my doing. But I can detect a highly sophisticated electronic attack coming from B.S.O.D. She does what we do, only better. To emulate that level of effectiveness, you would need better E-war hardware and software. Which can be found in various Class II catalogs. Of course someone with her code name would have a kind of E-war power. It was a fairly obscure reference though. Around fifty years ago, early versions of Microsoft Windows tended to show a white error code on a blue background when they crashed. And crash they did often. Hence, the ¡°Blue Screen Of Death¡±. But my musings were interrupted by a group of Ones and Fours trying to flank the Magical Girl group. My two remaining Battlecats and I circled around the MGs to stifle that attempt. Elya and the Mack-Zapper roasted their circuits, while my Battlecats killed those who did not submit to Elya''s not-so-gentle persuasion. The MGs did not even have to break stride while proceeding further towards the base. By now, I had a small bodyguard of captured Macks again on top of my Battlecats. Only four Ones and three Fours, but better than nothing. Rounding the next corner, the base entrance was in sight. I also saw two Type 28 Macks, their sniper units, getting into position. It would only take seconds before they opened fire on our team. I quickly got off a shot at the eye of one Twenty-Eight, and the one Battlecat that still had a working gun fired two rounds at the other. All of the projectiles smashed through the Macks¡¯ eyes and killed them. The HANAF snipers barely managed to lift their guns before the Macks collapsed. The MGS and I reached the base entrance without further complications, while the HANAF soldiers brought up the rear. The halls seemed deserted except for some maintenance bots, who quickly fell to mine and Elya¡¯s hack-attack. B.S.O.D. remarked ¡°So that is how you catch functional Macks? It is similar to my powers, if not quite as efficient.¡± We passed through a manufacturing and assembly area, where some sort of cannons were built. B.S.O.D. explained ¡°Type Fourteen. A dangerous artillery system.¡± I managed to quickly disable the fabbers and hijack the assembly bots in the room.. Hacking these non-combat units was not much of a challenge. At the far end of that room were two contraptions that looked like teleporting equipment. One seemed to be a receiving unit, like the one I had at Styx base to hijack Mack teleports. The other resembled the broken one in the assembly hall at Styx Base, which seemed to be a teleport sending unit. Only this one was on a giant turntable. Finally, we arrived at a lab from which faint whimpering emanated. Inside, Shaver Bitch was lying on a metal slab, her head trapped in the cruel grip of a metal vise. It was further immobilized by screws in her skull. Her hands were clamped to the side of the table with a crude kind of handcuffs. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. But the most shocking thing was that the Macks had already cut open her skull. The brainpan had fallen to the floor and one of the hood dryer-like devices I had seen before was sitting on her head instead. Through a gap between hood and head I could see bundles of silvery, hair thin wires embedded in the brain. Ladybug took a closer look and realized that was what the Omnissiah had planned for her. She went pale as a sheet and stumbled over to the next corner. Loudly retching, she lost her breakfast. In the meantime I took out my electronic interface kit and plugged it into a port in the device. Elya quickly confirmed what I already suspected. The device you have connected to is a mind uploading apparatus. The scan is destructive. Stopping it at this point would leave the patient with severe brain damage and an incomplete backup. I subvocalized back ¡°How much longer would the scan take, and where could we find the upload afterwards?¡± Four to five hours, and the upload goes right to a Mack cyberbrain. Look at the top of the uploader. Looking at the top of the hood, there was indeed a cyberbrain plugged in. Duh. I relayed the information I had gathered to B.S.O.D. She swallowed and needed a few seconds to compose herself, then she proclaimed: ¡°As the commander on scene, I decide that we let the upload run its course and then take the copy with us. Miss McCallan, I trust that you will help us with the subsequent interrogation.¡± ¡°Of course. While we are waiting, I¡¯d like to go around and plunder the data in the robots and machinery in the base.¡± ¡°Suit yourself. I still need to process what is going on here.¡± I made the rounds and extracted every piece of useful information. Complete blueprints of the types 14 and 21. Blueprints I did not have yet for various maintenance and assembly drones, even a large excavator drone. Last but not least, blueprints for the teleport equipment. I would not need to painstakingly reverse engineer the teleporter wreckage at Styx Base anymore. Once I was satisfied with stealing the data, I proceeded to steal as much hardware as I could. In a tunnel that led to the surface, I found a specimen of the big excavator drone, still dirty from building the base. I quickly programmed it to collect the scrap from the battlefield, Battlecats first. Then I called Wendy. ¡°Hi Wendy, I think we have an opportunity to plunder the Mack base I¡¯m in. Could you collect the guard and proceed with Herbie to the ACF?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± While Wendy got ready, I browsed the available materials. The most juicy bit of hardware goodness was a big crate, still half full with twenty-eight of the energy sources used in the Battlecats. I had one of the assembly bots grab it and carry it to the teleport sending unit, then I pointed the sender towards Styx Base and called Wendy again. ¡°Hi Wendy, I have the first item to try and teleport. It is a big crate with equipment, and I¡¯d love to receive it intactly at Styx Base. When it is there, please take it out of the teleporter gently and set it aside. After that, there might be a bunch of drones and scrap I manage to collect.¡± With some guidance by Elya, Wendy and I safely transferred the crate. Over the next two hours, I sent a bunch of drones from the manufacturing area and three tons of scrap, including all of the busted Battlecats. Eventually, the stream of recovered materials became a trickle and I called it a day with the looting. I thanked Wendy for her trouble and returned to the lab. Uploading Shaver Bitch would take another ninety minutes, so B.S.O.D. and I had time to talk. She started with inquiring about Elya. ¡°How come you are so knowledgeable about all the esoteric Mack technology? And have the means to control it? I¡¯m suspecting that your ¡°Little Aug¡± is even more than you let on so far.¡± Damn these overly smart Magical Girls. But then again, B.S.O.D. was considered their master strategist. It was hardly surprising that she would notice. Once again, I had to choose between honesty and dissembling. Once again, I figured that the time for playing dumb was over. So I replied ¡°You are right. I was trying to keep a low profile.¡± ¡°You did a very bad job at it.¡± ¡°I guess so. The fact is that Little Aug is a quite capable AI in her own right. She is behind a lot of the seemingly implausible things I can do. And she has a real name. Elya.¡± ¡°She? You are speaking about Elya like she is a person.¡± ¡°She may well be one. I consider her a full blown AGI, perhaps even sapient.¡± You finally acknowledge me in front of others. That is so sweet. B.S.O.D. exclaimed: ¡°Oh fuck. And the other tech, how much of that have you been keeping from us?¡± ¡°Not all that much, as I have to earn access myself first. Elya is also the gatekeeper for new blueprints and software. By fighting the Macks and presumably by refraining from bad actions, I can demonstrate that I am a faithful protector of Mankind and earn access. The whole thing is quantified in a point score for killing Macks, and I can spend those points for technological upgrades. ¡°But for technology I acquire otherwise, there is no point cost. That is why I¡¯m always eager to plunder Mack tech.¡± ¡°And today? Was today lucrative?¡± ¡°Quite. Blueprints for the types fourteen and twenty-one, Mack teleport systems and various maintenance and assembly drones.¡± B.S.O.D. fell silent after that, apparently thinking about the ramifications. Eventually, uploading Shaver Bitch was done. As we were deliberating what to do with her still living body, the upload device switched off and she stopped breathing. In silent agreement, we did not bother to try and revive her. B.S.O.D. took the electronic brain. Eventually, we made our way back to the remaining helicopter and the Explorer. I loaded up my equipment, stacking it into a corner so Ladybug and Pink Orchid had room to squeeze in. B.S.O.D. joined me in front and we were off towards Victoria. Similarly laden to the brim, the surviving helicopter followed us. Chapter 56: Confessions Back in Victoria, we landed at the military part of the airport. The soldiers were very interested in my air car, but B.S.O.D. shooed them away. ¡°Looking allowed, but at a distance!¡± I told her ¡°Thanks for guarding my ride. I don¡¯t have another one of this type. Yet.¡± ¡°So you could build more? Interesting! I have noticed how effective the guns were against the Mack drones.¡± Before we could discuss the Explorer in more detail, a small bus arrived to take us to SHOCKS. Once there, we proceeded straight to the lab where we had interrogated the first Model 42. B.S.O.D. asked me ¡°How do we proceed with this?¡± and held the Mack brain with Shaver Bitch¡¯s, or Amanda¡¯s, consciousness out. ¡°I suggest we install it into the old 42 body for the interview. Just let me cut certain connections first, then we don¡¯t need the nanite annihilation field or Benjamin running his suppression program. But I¡¯ll delay taking down the overseer software for a bit. Let her feel its effects first.¡± Which was arguably a bit cruel and unusual. But B.S.O.D. and the scientists reluctantly agreed and soon Shaver Bitch/Amanda was installed. As we switched her on, she ran through the same boot sequence I had seen before from Arina. In a monotone, mechanical voice she said ¡°Error 404, body not found. Rebooting¡­¡± After a short pause, she continued in a more normal voice: ¡°Diagnosis: Diagnosis interfaces unavailable.¡± ¡°Weapon systems: Flame Arrow unavailable. Vaporizing Blast unavailable.¡± ¡°Mobility: Motoric interface not present, movement impossible.¡± ¡°Status: Unit not operational.¡± Then her consciousness returned and she started ranting like the other Mack girls did immediately after activation. But it was soon interrupted by her original personality coming through. ¡°Your end is nigh. We are the futurr¡­ NOOO. I¡¯m a person not a puppet¡­ Invasion is imminent. Prepare to di¡­ I want out I want out!¡± If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Interesting¡± I remarked. ¡°The other Mack girls were unable to deviate from their scripts like that.¡± Before us, Amanda started to twitch uncontrollably from her neck upwards. Below the neck, her body was thoroughly disabled. B.S.O.D. shuddered and looked like she was about to hurl. Radiat¨ªng disgust, she told me ¡°This is horrible. She may be a homicidal maniac, but still, have some mercy. Shut down that enslavement software!¡± I had Elya do so. Amanda relaxed somewhat, but seemed to not quite be there anymore. She had the vacant stare of someone in deep shock. B.S.O.D. started asking questions in a gentle tone that I had not expected from her. It did not match her usual analytic demeanor. Soon, she had calmed Amanda down to the point where she was ready to talk. Haltingly, Amanda began to speak. ¡°I alway was so disgusted with my own body. Sweaty and gross. The worst was when I had to use the toilet, it was almost unbearable. ¡°Then I met the Omnissiah and he promised me salvation from all the filth in the form of a shiny, clean and flawless new shell, if I would just do him a few favors. It soon turned out that he wanted others to be freed from their stinky bodies as well, how could I decline? ¡°But it all went to shit the first time we tried to save someone. She did not understand we wanted to help her, instead she broke free and punched Klaus in the gut so he vomited blood. We restrained her for her own good, but then the others appeared and beat us up.¡± From her narrative, I recognized the incident where they had captured Ladybug to forcibly roboticize her. Klaus was obviously the same as Blood Puking Guy. B.S.O.D. asked ¡°Say, how did you end up in the hands of the Macks yourself?¡± Amanda answered ¡°In an earlier audience with the Omnissiah, I saw how he hid a stack of papers from me, but a bit clumsily so I saw them anyway. After I got out on bail, I was devastated because my dream seemed to be unreachable. But maybe those papers could help me. So I broke into his apartment and retrieved the papers. What I found was the time and location for delivering a new acolyte. I saw the chance to become that acolyte and offered myself.¡± A few questions later, we knew what else we needed to know. And nobody was sure what to do with Amanda, so she went into storage for the time being. I could not bring myself to care much. Even if she might have been more delusional than outright evil. Early evening I found Arina waiting for me at my shelter-cum-apartment. We greeted each other with a hug and I said ¡°Sorry for neglecting you lately. I have let myself become caught up in other things.¡± ¡°I forgive you if you make it up to me. For starters, by letting me stay tonight. I love you so much!¡± With a kiss, I replied ¡°Yes please! And I love you too.¡± Dinner was a short affair because I did not want to make Arina watch while being unable to partake. Then we went on to try other things. We started by slowly undressing each other and eventually landed in my bed together. Of course I knew her body well, I had built it for her. But with Arina driving it, it became a different experience. What would have been a beautiful but lifeless doll became alive and caring, eagerly participating in the exchange of caresses. Chapter 57: Reunion Saturday, October 24th I woke up from Arina¡¯s voice whispering into my ear. ¡°Wakey wakey, you have an appointment!¡± With a yawn, I extricated myself from her arms. ¡°Thanks for reminding me.¡± B.S.O.D. had asked me to come in for a meeting about the fate of the Mack base on San Juan Island. And I was already short on time for getting there. So I gave Arina a quick kiss, jumped into my clothes and got going. At the last moment, I remembered to give Arina a set of keys to the shelter. She would always be welcome here. Arriving at SHOCKS, I was greeted by B.S.O.D. and Palace Athene herself. Apparently the topic had great priority. Once at the meeting room, Palace immediately started with the first item on the agenda. Namely what to do with the Mack base on San Juan Island. While unfinished, it was already larger than Styx Base and had significant manufacturing capabilities. Palace said ¡±If we can hold that base, its manufacturing capabilities could be quite valuable. If we actually have useful blueprints.¡± I could see where she was going with that. The San Juan Island base had four large-ish Mack fabricators of the type I found at Styx Base. Even with the recent upgrades to Styx Base, the newly captured base could exceed its potential output. Or maybe I should get into that business myself? Mack Fabbers were less versatile than my Protector-tech versions, but could still manufacture a lot of stuff that outperformed human tech. So I piped up ¡°Have you considered disassembling the machinery on the base and bringing it here? I¡¯m willing to help with that, either for a consulting fee or for part of the stuff we are taking.¡± Silently, I subvocalized ¡°Elya, check the real estate market for potential business locations.¡± There are two suitable places that you could financially afford right now. A third one might be in your reach if you make a lucrative deal here. Palace Athena replied ¡°We still need some blueprints to actually manufacture to make it worthwhile.¡± She had a point, so I offered ¡±I have collected quite a few useful Mack blueprints over the last months. A small fusion reactor extracted from blueprints of some larger Mack models, various drones and the teleport based logistics system the Macks use in emergences. I¡¯m willing to share that stuff for a fair price.¡± Trading away these would not hurt my point income, as only weapons I equipped HANAF with were relevant there. Also, it was their own damn fault if they had not figured out the little reactor by now. They had the Model 3 they had requisitioned in February for over eight months now. Palace said ¡°Sounds good, but we still need a business partner to actually use the stuff. SHOCKS does some research but we are not an industrial company. B.S.O.D. and our financial department will look into it.¡± Having foisted that responsibility on someone else, Palace continued ¡±Next on the agenda, we have completed the printing of the replacement brain for the MG whose personality was trapped in that Type 42. Miss McCallan, do you have the data available? And how did you carry them out when you copied them anyway?¡± Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡±As B.S.O.D. may have told you, my ¡°little aug¡± is a bit more than that. The ¡°bit more¡± includes enough memory capacity to hold the data. She has a name by the way, Little Aug is called Elya.¡± A melodic voice came from the loudspeaker in the ceiling. I recognized it as Elya¡¯s, apparently she had hijacked the P.A. system. ¡°It is nice to finally talk directly to you. I am Elya, Caitlin¡¯s personal AI assistant. Among other things, I support her in subverting and analyzing Mack computer systems. In the case of the Magical Girl¡¯s stored consciousness, I have the data right here.¡± Palace: ¡°Oh fuck. This P.A. system was supposed to be intrusion proof.¡± But she quickly recovered and continued in a businesslike tone ¡°I suggest we waste no more time and restore the young lady. I hope she will be able to accept her new body.¡± Together, we made our way to the lab. The new body of the girl was lying in a bed, the new cyberbrain mechanically installed but still blank. SHOCKS apparently wanted to avoid too much of a mad scientist vibe, hence a bed and no lab table. Her parents were also there, but Palace and B.S.O.D. still maintained the pretense of confidentiality by calling the MG only by her codename ¡°Memory¡±. Of course, Elya had already found out but would not tell anyone but me. At a silent prompt by Palace, I started to explain what we were doing. ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Caitlin McCallan, an ally and sometimes technology supplier of SHOCKS. ¡°As Palace may have told you, the Macks had captured Memory and turned her into one of their Dark Magical Girls. After a team of Magical Girls defeated her and retrieved her body, we eventually found out that her consciousness was still present in the robot brain. ¡°We managed to download it and manufacture a new replacement brain, as the Mack hardware was already deteriorating. A replacement body as well, think of it as a prosthetic for the entire body. This took a while, and I''m sorry we let you stew in uncertainty all this time. ¡°But now we are ready to upload your daughter into her new body, and we hope you don¡¯t mind that she is a bit changed now.¡± The worry in the parents¡¯ faces was obvious, but after a moment her father composed himself and said ¡°Please continue. We want nothing more than to welcome Alice back. It doesn¡¯t matter if she has a mechanical body now.¡± I made a show of connecting some data cables, making it look like we were copying data from a local server. While a few people already knew about Elya, I did not want to have it shouted from the rooftops yet. A tense twenty minutes later I disconnected the cables, closed the data port and started Alice¡¯s boot process. Seconds after, she opened her eyes and started looking around with bewilderment and a little confused. Then she started feeling up her own body. Her mother looked increasingly disturbed by the show. So I told her ¡°Under the circumstances, this seems normal. The Mack body they stuffed her in had a hard and unyielding torso. I think Alice is simply reassuring herself that she is no longer a Mack puppet¡±. Perhaps I had put that too bluntly, as Alice¡¯s mom started to cry. She would not stop until Alice sat up and asked ¡°Mom? It¡¯s okay, I am back! Don¡¯t be sad!¡± After an extended three way hug with her parents, Alice frowned and said ¡°Wait a moment. This body feels somehow wrong. As if I¡¯m not a Mack anymore but¡­ not human either?¡± Before things could get too awkward, I jumped in. ¡°That is because it is brand new. The Macks have thrown away your human body, and when Team Z-4 defeated you in Mack form, that body got messed up as well. Fortunately, we can make replacement bodies now. Mechanical, but not Mack-made. You got one of these.¡± B.S.O.D. hissed into my ear ¡°Dammit, say things like that less bluntly. You have the subtlety of a bulldozer!¡± Alice overheard that remark, and her face lit up with mirth. It was totally worth the scolding I just got. Even if I suspected that B.S.O.D.¡¯s words would stick in some way. Chapter 58: Business Monday, October 26th, 2048 As Wendy still had my shelter as her temporary address, her mail arrived here. With Wendy¡¯s permission, I read her mail to keep her updated about important developments. There were good news from her lawyer: First, the prosecution had decided to drop all and any charges about Wendy almost killing the Omnissiah. Second, certain financial irregularities had been discovered in the bank account of the judge who had let Chain Guy and Amanda AKA Shaver Bitch out on bail. He was now under investigation for taking bribes and would no longer make decisions in her case. The letter did not say what exactly the charges were about, so I asked Elya to do a bit of digging. One moment please, I have to circumvent some pretty good encryption here¡­ done. The judge received a suspect money transfer in the timespan between your tussle with the Omnissiah and the hearing at which he let Chain Guy and Amanda out on bail. The sender of the funds tried to conceal themselves, but I tracked them to a small company that deals in Mack parts. Parts that come from an unknown source and are in suspiciously good condition. Interesting. And I might have to pay that company a visit. For now, however, the security of Styx Base seemed more important. I supplied Wendy with instructions on how to manufacture a bunch of the Lesser Battlecats for base defense. An improved version of the original Battlecat would follow when I got around to reworking the design. Tuesday, October 27th Arina made a surprise visit. Coming in, she brought a handwritten letter from my mailbox with her. It came from a certain Alice Eckhart. I opened it and read Dear Bulldozer Caitlin, I¡¯m so happy to be back with my parents. My new body still takes some getting used to, but it is ten times better than the Mack version. Even if it does not have the nanite powers. I¡¯m still at home to recover from all the kidnapping stress, but I¡¯m looking forward to returning to SHOCKS. Or maybe join the regular army, when I¡¯m old enough. Someone mentioned you have a cool new rifle type and an aimbot to go with it? I want one! Love you Alice This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. There was a chuckle behind me. Arina had snuck up on me and looked over my shoulder. At my indignant look she said ¡°Sorry for peeking! But Bulldozer Caitlin? Where did that come from?¡± I told her about Saturday, then continued ¡°Remember the story about the first Dark Magical Girl that showed up?¡± ¡°The one Team Z-4 defeated at Sooke?¡± ¡°Yes. SHOCKS managed to interrogate her with some success, but did not recognize that the personality of Memory was still inside. Early September they asked me to help with a second interrogation, and I realized there was another lost MG to rescue.¡± ¡°Oh. I heard about Memory disappearing, that happened before the Macks caught me. But why did it take almost two months to give her a new body?¡± ¡°We had to build a new digital brain for her first. Her Mack brain was going tits up, I barely managed to make a copy of the data in time.¡± ¡°She is taking this awfully well. I sure did not hold up like that.¡± Elya¡¯s voice came from the sound system in my room. ¡°An advantage of the MindSim software is that it prevents mental trauma and mostly suppresses the symptoms of pre-existing trauma. Users are mostly immune to PTSD.¡± Which was all very interesting, but Arina did not let the original topic go. ¡°So, bulldozer?¡± ¡°I was a bit blunt in explaining things when we put Alice into her new body. Then B.S.O.D. told me I have the subtlety of a bulldozer.¡± ¡°Oh my.¡± Arina whispered in my ear ¡°Feel free to bulldoze me tonight.¡± I felt my ears grow hot. Arina might not be able to blush anymore, but I could. In response, I ran a hand up her boobs and said ¡°Let¡¯s see what happens to you tonight¡­¡± Wednesday, October 28th Major Allen, the HANAF logistics officer I had worked with before, called me in the morning with an offer. He said that HANAF was willing to start a joint venture with me for the purpose of manufacturing and marketing of ¡°xenotechnology¡±, which of course meant Mack stuff. It would require me to put in a good chunk of money, but I could afford it from my previous weapon sales. HANAF would contribute an old warehouse as a facility for the new business and their share of the equipment we could jointly pilfer from the San Juan Island Mack base. As I did not have the transport capacity yet to do the pilfering alone, it seemed to be the best option in the near future. Next I contacted my lawyer and Wendy. The lawyer pointed out a way I could hire Wendy as manager and be reasonably sure that legal complications about her personhood would not sink the company. Wendy was interested as well. She asked ¡°What exactly would be my job?¡± ¡°Management as in making the day to day business decisions. You would have to work with HANAF, as they would have a share of the company. With me when it comes to extending the product palette, in case I need to buy more blueprints for that. ¡°You would also be involved in hiring. As the company would start out fairly small, a dedicated HR person seems like management bloat.¡± After discussing a few more details, Wendy said ¡°I¡¯m happy to take the job.¡± Chapter 59: Besieged Thursday, October 29th 2048 Early morning I met Team Battle Bug and Major Allen at the harbor. The landing craft we used in the expedition four months ago was repaired and ready to take us to San Juan Island, along with a dozen soldiers that would help us to move the captured equipment. B.S.O.D had excused herself. She had also assured me she had full confidence in Major Allen¡¯s ability to handle a logistics mission, which this essentially was. Team Battle Bug was participating again as support in case of Macks appearing. As there was plenty of room on the landing craft, I had brought a van full of things that might be useful in case of enemy contact. Namely my two surviving Battlecats from last Friday, a handful of Macks I still had at the shelter, two Spectracopters for reconnaissance and last but not least my personal Shiv and armor. In a counterintuitive move, HANAF actually brought some material to the mission. Just enough to build a few assembly drones that would serve as disassembly drones today. That would greatly accelerate the operation. Soon we were on our way, and two hours later we were approaching the hidden Mack base. I had one of my Spectracopters scouting to the east, but found no enemies. Once in the base, we loaded the material into the fabbers and started making the drones. I still had one Spectracopter up as an early warning system, and it soon proved necessary as the quiet morning was harshly interrupted. For the first time, I observed the emergence of a Type 21 myself. Shrouded in lightning, it ripped its way out of a black hole in space. A bunch of smaller Macks riding on it jumped off and formed a defensive circle, while the Twenty-One immediately started digging in. A curse escaped me. ¡°Fuck¡­¡± Longhorn, the team leader of Team Battle Bug, threw me an irritated look, ¡°What?¡± ¡°Macks on the shore, one Twenty-One with a dozen Fours so far. Thankfully no Battlecats.¡± On the video feed from the Spectracopter, I saw the landing ship cast off and pepper the Twenty-One with twenty millimeter grenades from behind. That seemed to shut up the teleport system, as no more small units emerged from the Twenty-One. I said ¡°I think we should take the offensive as long as they have no more units present. Pick off the Fours outside, perhaps capture some as reinforcements. Let me start the fight with my Mack-zapper.¡± ¡°Agreed¡± Longhorn replied. The Magical Girls and I sortied from a hatch near the beach, close to the Macks but not in melee range. Ladybug and my two Battlecats took position beside me, Longhorn and Mantis secured the flanks and Pink Orchid stayed close behind to cover us with her pushback field. The Fours promptly charged, but they were badly outmatched this time. Seven out of twelve succumbed to the circuit-scrambling lightning of the Mack-zappers on my shoulders and were converted by Elya. The remaining ones died to Longhorn¡¯s spear or railgun fire from my Battlecats. I suggested ¡°That was a good start, but I think we should take care of the Twenty-One before it can call in reinforcements¡­ speak of the devil!¡± Behind the Twenty-One a massive shape emerged from the depths. Two cannon barrels poked out from the waves, followed by a giant steel carapace. As the metal monster crept higher up the shore, another four cannons appeared, pointing in all directions. A Type 32. Lower on the mechanical beast, six deep set eyes surrounded a maw full of rotating shredders. The last thing that appeared were six massive crawler tracks with wheels taller than I was. To the north, I could see the landing craft retreating at full speed. I couldn''t fault them for it. Fighting the Thirty-Two would get them dead without helping us. The craft would probably die to a single grenade from the giant Mack. Fortunately for them, the Thirty-Two focused on us. We barely made it back into the base before a deafening blast ripped into the ground at the entry ramp. Three of the Macks I had captured a minute earlier were blasted to scrap. I moved towards the rear of the base, launched my other Spectracopter from there and brought the first one back for recharging. The little spy- and communication drone was one of our best assets right now. The Thirty-Two fired a few grenades in its general direction, but seemed to be unable to see it. Using the Spectracopter as a relay, I called SHOCKS. But before anyone answered the phone, Elya gave me a situation report. Victoria is under attack, but the Macks are fewer than usual and seem poorly coordinated. If they were led by a human strategist, I would presume that it is a panic reaction to something. ¡°Any idea what might have them spooked?¡± I asked Elya. Nothing except the fact that it coincides with us poking around in their base. Finally, someone at SHOCKS picked up the phone. I gave them a short sitrep and got the answer that SHOCKS was currently unable to send support. While they were confident of repelling the attack, all units were still busy. ¡°Elya, I need a phone connection to Arina. Hack the network as necessary.¡± Certainly. Within seconds I heard Arina¡¯s worried voice. ¡°Are you OK? I hope you don¡¯t have a bunch of Macks attacking you.¡± ¡°Only one, but it is a big one. A Thirty-Two.¡± Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. I could hear her terrified gasp over the phone, but I continued ¡°You may be able to help us. Can you reach our shelter in Colwood?¡± ¡°Damn right I will!¡± Over the phone I heard people shouting things like ¡°You cannot go out there now! Get into the shelter!¡± ¡°Stop!¡± Shortly after Elya showed me footage from a surveillance camera. It showed Arina tearing through the empty streets at forty kilometers per hour. It would take her a few minutes to the shelter, so I jogged over to Longhorn, who was in a heated discussion with Major Allen. I interrupted them and asked ¡°If I make a hole in the Mack¡¯s gun coverage, do you think you can take it?¡± Longhorn: ¡°Still difficult, but our chances would be a damn sight better than now! We have new melee weapons, far better than our old ones at cutting through steel plates.¡± Over our heads, the rumble of massive treads made the ceiling vibrate. Followed by Team Battle Bug, I went back to the rear entrance I had launched the Spectracopter from. Sounds nearby indicated the Thirty-Two was almost on top of the entry ramp. Instead of running outside like a fool, I just sneaked close enough to the ramp that I could get a stable signal from my Spectracopter. I called Arina¡¯s phone again. She answered ¡°Almost there! And I¡¯m running low on energy! What do I need to do?¡± ¡°Remember the big Octacopter In the workshop? Half as large as the Variocopter?¡± ¡°Sure, why?¡± ¡°It is a big kamikaze drone. Wheel it outside, unfold the rotor arms at the side, then switch it on!¡± Two minutes later, I was talking Arina through the steps of activating the big drone. Once done, I spun up the rotors. Arina disappeared into the shelter but did not quite make it to her charger. Before the entrance to her room, she stumbled and fell down in an undignified heap. But I had more immediate worries. The flying bomb was ready to take off, so I took remote control and set it on a course towards San Juan Island. The range would be barely sufficient, so I used the most efficient flight profile, which was not the fastest. For the next twenty minutes, the Thirty-Two rumbled over our heads, looking for a way to get at us. Fortunately, it was not smart enough to shoot grenades down the entry ramps. Finally, the drone came into sight. Elya projected a display with the remaining charge onto my augs. It would barely be sufficient, perhaps I could afford to make one or two evasive maneuvers. Then one of the Thirty-Two¡¯s cannons swiveled to point at the bomb drone. I jerked to the side just in time. A grenade ripped past the drone, I saw a blur on the camera and the drone shook under the force of the pressure wave. As I regained control of the drone, it was already in the dead angle of the Thirty-Two¡¯s guns. Its batteries were almost empty too. I brought it to a near-halt, focused on a particular point on the giant Mack and subvocalized to Elya ¡°Can you hit this point with the drone?¡± Certainly. ¡°Do it!¡± To the others I shouted ¡±Cover your ears!¡± Seconds later, an incredible blast slammed down the ramp we were hiding in. ShrapneI whistled over our heads. Once the rain of debris had stopped, I peeked out at the Thirty-Two. The casemate of the left rear cannon was blown open and smoke was rising from it. Grinding noises came from the gun mount, but the barrel barely moved. Through the slowly receding ringing in my ears, I heard Longhorn shouting ¡°There is a dead angle in its gun coverage now! Go go go!¡± I watched the Battle Bugs sprinting out, jumping on the huge tracks and climbing up the leg that connected the tracks to the body of the steel monster. Their speed and coordination was amazing. ¡°Elya, can the Battlecats follow them up there?¡± I¡¯m afraid their claws would not find enough purchase. ¡°So what about this? They activate the cutting function in their claws for a small moment, until the claws have dug in. Then they deactivate it and have a foothold.¡± That might work. I''m pleasantly surprised that you are able to have such innovative ideas. Heh. That was the first time I managed to outsmart Elya. And she was a sore loser too. I would tease her over this for a long time. ¡°Let''s try! Battlecats go!¡± On the Thirty-Two, Longhorn and Mantis were trying to dig through the top armor of the Mack. I flew my Spectracopter closer and watched them cutting into the steel plates. Both had a difficult time of it, even with their new weapons. The Mack frantically tried to shake the Battle Bugs off, but Pink Orchid used her force field to keep them in place. Meanwhile, my two Battlecats made it up the Mack with a small shower of sparks at every step. I figured that my two Battlecats could not do more than Team Battle Bug in cutting through the top armor, so I had them carve away at the already damaged gun emplacement. I flew the Spectracopter close and watched how they enlarged the crack in the armor with their claws. I could already see through a gap into the casemate. The tech inside was a mix of the old and the futuristic. Hydraulics you might have seen in the 20th century coexisted with futuristic crystal circuitry that had similarities to the eyes of lesser Macks. Most of it broken now. Then I noticed Longhorn gesticulating on the top of the Mack. They had managed to cut through the armor and Ladybug had sent some of her lightning down the hole. Now some greenish, poisonous looking smoke emerged and I could see the Battle bugs keeping out of it. Longhorn was pointing to the hole as if she wanted to send someone down there. Both Mantis and Ladybug appeared to strongly decline. I sent one of my Battlecats over. Through its microphones I could hear ¡±...need to go down there and smash whatever makes it going!¡± With a bit of micromanagement, I managed to make the Battlecat look down the hole. There seemed enough room down there to move around for the Battlecat and the hole was large enough to get in. So I ordered Elya ¡°Send it in and make it slash up everything that looks important!¡± The battlecat dove into the hole. For a few minutes nothing happened, then a massive flash like a gargantuan welding arc shone out of the hole in the Mack''s armor. The Thirty-Two stopped moving and went dark. Elya gave me a report in a format I had not seen in a while. Target neutralized! Partial credit for neutralizing the Type 32¡­ 300 points New balance¡­ One token and 1736 Points Your Battlecat was unfortunately destroyed. I will sum up the points from the emergence on Victoria Island once HANAF has finished repelling it. The rest of the fight was anticlimactic. We still needed to deal with the Type 21 at the shore, but it had already been badly damaged by fire from the landing craft. My surviving Battlecat made it there faster than Team Battle Bug and started shooting the Mack up with its rail gun. By the time the Bugs appeared, it was already lifeless. Longthorn speared its eye just in case, which was probably no longer necessary. Elya confirmed that with Technically that was your kill, but as others softened the Mack up for you, half points and no token for this one. Chapter 60: Plunder While we were fighting the big Mack, the fabricators had kept working on the assembly drones we would use to disassemble said fabbers. As we went back into the base, four brand new drones waited for us. Major Allen called the commander of the landing craft and told them to come back. I set the drones to work disassembling the manufacturing equipment, and the soldiers prepared them for transport to the landing craft. At some point, I sneaked away and into the lab where Amanda had her mind uploaded into a Mack cyber-brain. I would not be able to steal the whole apparatus, but I managed to extract the software and take a few unused filaments of the type that went into the upload victim¡¯s brain. We worked into the night, and it turned out that the parts of four large Mack fabricators did not leave much room on the craft. There was no room left for the components of the teleport systems. As we were done, the soldiers and Team Battle Bug trashed the facility. I did, however, not see anyone going down into the basement where the submarine pier presumably was. Sloppy. I might come back soon to poke around in there. But first I had to look after Arina. The way back to Victoria dragged on and on, my impatience fueled by worry about her. Back in Victoria, I made some hasty arrangements about the handling of the fabbers. Then I jumped into my van and drove to the shelter, disregarding the alert that was still in effect. The door was still open and I found Arina lying in the corridor. I managed to pick her up and drag her to the bed, then I plugged her charger in. Arina blinked and seemed disoriented for a bit, then she recognized me. We asked each other simultaneously ¡°Are you OK?¡± I said ¡°Mostly fine. Maybe some minor hearing damage from setting off that kami-drone nearby.¡± While I filled her in on the events at San Juan Island, a message arrived that the emergence was over. Seconds later, internet and telephone started working again for everyone. You made another 1166 points from HANAF¡¯s Mack kills using the weapons you delivered. That brings your total balance to one token and 3112 points. After the long and exhausting day, all I wanted was a few hours of sleep. Arina joined me in bed and I simply enjoyed her gentle embrace. Even the charging cable in Arina¡¯s belly button was a welcome reminder of her presence. Friday, October 30th 2048 I was on my way to Styx base to pick up Wendy. She had been stuck there during my absence, but now I would come and fetch her. The girl needed her own helicopter license, and I would give her the Variocopter as a company ride. At the moment, I chauffeured her like a parent would drive their kid around. Which was not all that satisfactory for either of us. Wendy would start as manager of the new company as soon as possible, while I would spend most of my time at Styx Base and work on some projects I had neglected lately. We had already chosen ¡°Vanguard Enterprises¡± as the name. What started as a joke nine months ago was about to become reality. In the late morning, I arrived. Wendy awaited me with a dozen Lesser Battlecats she had built in my absence. Which we had planned before, but it was still nice to see that she knew how to work with the fabricators. ¡°Hi Wendy¡± I greeted her. ¡°I¡¯d like to take a detour to San Juan Island and check out what is left of the Mack Base we raided yesterday. The Battle Bugs trashed most of it, but there is one thing they may have neglected.¡± ¡°And that is?¡± ¡°The submarine on which Shaver Bitch, err, Amanda arrived at the base. I never saw the Bugs go downstairs to destroy the basement inventory.¡± ¡°Sure, I¡¯m curious too!¡± Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. We loaded some equipment into the explorer, including a few Battlecats, and took off. Being a little paranoid, I sneaked in low, landed a few kilometers away from the Mack base and launched a Spectracopter for reconnaissance. It soon turned out that the paranoia was justified. Light Macks of all types were swarming over the base area. Some kind of worker drones that seemed to try and repair the Type 32, but also a few dozen combat units. Those included some Type 28 sniper units that could get dangerous even at long ranges. Conspicuously absent were the Type 21 units that would usually teleport the small ones in. No easy shit load of points today. Too bad because the Twenty-Eights were really the only thing that stood in the way of a major smackdown today. Melee units cannot reach a flying opponent. But I had an idea. To Wendy I explained ¡°We land behind that little hill over there and let the Battlecats go after the Twenty-Eights. Once they are busy with each other, we pop up and add our own fire from the Explorer¡¯s turrets.¡± ¡°Sneaky.¡± ¡°Sure. No military commander worth her salt wants a fair fight.¡± After a short detour we approached the aforementioned hill from the far side, carefully avoiding line of sight to the Macks. Wendy let the Battlecats out, who promptly made their way up the hill. At the top they crouched in front, but lifted their butts and peeked over the crest with the railguns in their tails. The sound of whipcracks rang out, and on the video feed from the Spectracopter I could see sparks flying from the Twenty-Eights'' carapaces. Mack eyes shattered and the sniper bots sagged to the ground. I lifted our aircar over the crest and the two turrets added to the destruction. For Wendy¡¯s benefit, I gave the next commands aloud. Among people who knew about Elya, I did no longer hide my discussions with her. ¡°Elya, kill the combat units but leave the maintenance types alone! Where possible, go for ranged kills!¡± ¡°What are you planning?¡± Wendy replied. ¡°Trying some advanced infiltration.¡± I took the Explorer higher to blast some Mack Battlecats from outside the range of their plasma casters. On the ground, my Battlecats slaughtered their way through the lesser Macks. It was gloriously one-sided. You earned 1040 points for this little massacre. Approaching the site, I asked ¡°Elya, I¡¯d like to plant some hidden software on the worker drones here, once we have subverted them. Something to take them over later.¡± Over the air car¡¯s sound system, Elya replied ¡°Your current cyberwarfare tools are more suited for overt intrusion. I recommend purchasing the Class I Network Intrusion Utilities catalog for 100 points, and the ¡°Parasite¡± rootkit from the catalog for 50 points. It hides in the infected systems and waits there for commands.¡± Wendy interjected ¡°Like those hidden viruses they warned us about in our computer security classes?¡± Like that, but the Parasite is more capable. Better at hiding and harder to eradicate. I said ¡°Yes, let¡¯s do this.¡± Class I Network Intrusion Utilities unlocked Purchased: ¡°Parasite¡± adaptive rootkit (software) New balance¡­ One token and 4012 points. Once landed, I put my armor with the Mack-zapper on and leisurely strolled around the Mack drones, letting Elya hijack all of them. One died from circuit damage, but from the others I collected the blueprint and the software of the Type 32. ¡°Elya, can you make a software update for the Thirty-Two part of the repair procedure here?¡± Of course. ¡°Ok, make it an update with pre-corrupted software. Mission of the parasite is to listen to outside signals and take command of the Thirty-Two on Wendy¡¯s or my command. Uh, add Arina to the list just in case.¡± Wendy seemed puzzled ¡°I don¡¯t understand. Why this complicated setup?" ¡°Right now, we don¡¯t have the transport capacity for taking all this scrap with us. Especially not a thousand ton monster. So I¡¯m gambling on it showing up again where we can actually use it. Call it Checkov¡¯s Mack.¡± Next on the agenda was a visit to the base, with the Battlecats taking point. The walk through the base was uneventful, with no major surprises in the parts I had visited before. The machinery was thoroughly trashed, but the building as such still stood solid. The Battle Bugs had ripped some cabling and pipes out of the walls, but not taken the time to destroy load bearing parts. We went down the stairs where I expected to find a submarine pier. Found it too, but it was empty at the moment. There were some traces of recent usage though, such as wet footprints. Or what counted as footprints among murderbots. Wendy mused ¡°Could we perhaps bug the place for surveillance?¡± ¡°I like the idea, but I didn¡¯t think about about bringing hidden cameras.¡± With nothing left to do at the moment, we returned to the Explorer and took off for Victoria. Chapter 61: Industry Over the following weeks, we set up the now properly incorporated Vanguard Enterprises. We partitioned the warehouse into two halls. The four Mack fabbers we took from the San Juan Mack base went into the front part with the loading docks and would produce our trade goods. At the side, two large recyclers took form. I had finally found the time to reverse engineer and reconstruct the blueprint of the broken one I found at Styx base. Now the smaller fabricator at the shelter worked overtime to produce the parts for the new recyclers. The rear part of the warehouse was going to hold the raw materials, mostly in the form of slurry stored in big tanks. It would be pumped to the fabbers as needed. Mack manufacturing tech relied a lot on such systems. A group of contractors was installing the first set of tanks. Human-made in this case, from a chemical plant that underwent modernization and sold us the old equipment cheaply. Once some of the Mack fabricators were connected, we would use them to make further equipment ourselves. Finally, at the top of the warehouse, directly below the skylights, we would add an apartment for Wendy. Tuesday, November 17th 2048 Of course, if we had expected to build up undisturbed by the Macks, we were wrong. I was at the Vanguard Enterprises site and had just started a production run of parts for the raw material storage, when Elya piped up There is a new Mack incursion from the north. The center of the fighting is at Swartz Bay, and the Macks are pressing towards the south. The metal pests were out in force. It was one of the biggest emergences since I arrived in this reality. It was also uncomfortably close, as Vanguard Enterprises was on the north side of the airport. Fortunately, we were in decent fighting shape. Wendy had her own armor and Shiv, and we both had helmets in matching design now. We looked like some kind of fantasy warriors in shining silvery armor. For support, I had manufactured a dozen of the Lesser Battlecats, half of which I kept at the shelter and half at Vanguard Enterprises. As well as a bunch of Spectracopters for recon and some of the point defense Type Fours to keep the Sixes away. Now the investment in killbots would hopefully pay off. I had, however, noticed in earlier fights that coordinating my bots could be difficult. So I asked ¡°Elya, what can you offer in terms of command & control software? I want something that gives me a better overview of what my bots are doing, and a more efficient way of directing them.¡± There is the Class I Command and Control Utilities Catalog for 100 points. It contains a wide variety of hard- and software products for your needs. I recommend the ¡°Sauron¡¯s Eye¡± software suite for 40 points, which your existing augs can easily run. It shows both your units and enemy units on a minimap, auto-maps previously unknown areas and offers an augmented reality mode that will show you units behind walls based on recon data. For directing your units, you can use various eye movements and blink codes like you would use a mouse on an antique computer. ¡°Sounds like a good idea. I¡¯ll take both.¡± Class I Command and Control Utilities unlocked Purchased: ¡°Sauron¡¯s Eye¡± C&C suite New balance¡­ One token and 4052 points I took the time to go through the tutorial. In the corner of my vision the promised minimap showed up, with my six Battlecats showing up as blue dots. It looked very much like an old fashioned RTS game. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. This held true as I sent them through a series of waypoints. The area in their view range showed up in detail, but once my units left the area it was covered in a gray veil that indicated the place was now unobserved. Finally, the augmented reality function showed hidden units as outlines on the walls between me and them. What surprised and pleased me was the built in estimate of how solid those walls were. I could work with that¡­ Wendy arrived with a silvery gray specimen of the ¡°Kuddly Kitty¡± robot cat in her arms, a special version with a spray gun in its tail. ¡°Cait, does Picasso get his debut today?¡± ¡°If it makes sense in the situation, yes!¡± A few minutes later, I had my tame Mack-copies around me, a Spectracopter aloft and I proceeded on foot northeast towards the Patricia Bay Highway. More Spectracopters were sitting at the warehouse, ready to take off in case we needed more recon capability. Wendy followed in my van at some distance, in case we needed to make a quick retreat. I had briefly considered shooting the Macks from above with the Explorer, but the area was densely covered with buildings and there were enough tunnels and underpasses in the area that the Macks could mostly hide from air units. Soon my new minimap showed a rash of red pustules over Swartz Bay and the marinas around the Blue Heron Basin. The Macks at the BHB still seemed to be in the process of setting up, but at Swartz Bay the fighting was in full swing. HANAF had established a defensive line on the southwest side of Swartz Bay, but they were hard pressed from the direction of the harbor and in danger of being flanked from the east. Perhaps we could do something about the latter. The Macks had apparently learned to go after HANAF¡¯s recon capabilities, as I could see Type Six Macks chasing the few HANAF drones over the sky. The operators were pretty skilled at evading the Sixes, but every now and then one managed to hit a drone and drag it into fiery death alongside itself. The Spectracopter remained unmolested, presumably its stealth was good enough that the Macks did not detect it. ¡°Elya, can you patch me into HANAF¡¯s C&C network? I¡¯d like to fill the holes in their reconnaissance.¡± Certainly. Do you want to feed the recon data right into their net? ¡°Yes! And show their data too!¡± Seconds later, my minimap was populated with more enemy locations, displayed in orange. ¡°What¡¯s with the orange?¡± HANAF recon data is not as precise and up to date as ours. The color shows which data points are inferior.¡± An irritated voice came over the HANAF voice channel. ¡°What the fuck are these new blips on the screen?¡± I replied ¡°This is Vanguard Command, Lieutenant McCallan speaking. We noticed a hole in your drone coverage and are plugging it!¡± ¡°And who the fuck are you? I never heard of Vanguard Command!¡± A familiar voice interjected ¡±I recognize that interloper. She is not a regular officer, but has proven her usefulness before. On my authority, the mortar troops are to use her recon data for targeting.¡± I recognized the voice of Colonel Briggs, the commander of the HANAF artillery units. Soon I could see the mortar rounds flying across the sky, highlighted by the late afternoon sun. Gleaming specks of death came down on the unprotected Macks at the beach. Fortunately, they had not learned yet to protect their Twenty-Ones against attacks from above. I had a nagging concern that the key word might be ¡°yet¡±. On the ground, we advanced towards the highway near the BHB. On the far side of the highway was a mix of new apartment blocks, some industrial buildings and a few old family homes the owners had not sold. On the near side, at the bend of the highway west of the basin, there were some buildings that promised a decent field of fire up and down the highway. I directed my little group towards one of these. We broke in with a paw swipe from a Battlecat. I instructed Elya, aloud so Wendy could listen in: ¡°Unless I utilize them otherwise, Battlecats focus on neutralizing Mack Battlecats and Magical Mack Girls. Try not to hit the heads of the latter.¡± From behind me, Wendy asked ¡°You care about them?¡± ¡°Sure, like I cared about you. Most are victims rather than willingly serving the Macks. I think Amanda AKA Shaver Bitch was an outlier, and even she realized she made a mistake at the end.¡± Rushing headfirst into the Macks seemed a bad idea, so we fortified the building we had chosen and settled in, waiting for either an attack by the Macks or for an opportunity to catch some of them unprepared. Chapter 62: Flanking maneuvers A few minutes later, I noticed Macks forming up on the east side of the highway. They showed no signs of proceeding in our direction. I signaled Wendy to do nothing yet. ¡°Let''s wait and see what they do. Right now we cannot hit most of them anyway, they are in cover behind the buildings.¡± The Macks formed up in two groups near the crossing Patricia Bay Highway northeast of our position. Each contained a few hundred Macks, including a Magical Mack Girl. Battlecats were surprisingly absent though. The occasional Type One was already crossing the road for scouting. If they proceeded that way, there was the danger that they might overrun the HANAF forces from the side. We had to do something about that. After a short discussion with Wendy, we decided to flank the Macks right back. Wendy collected the van, as it contained spare ammo and a few tools we might need. The sun was down by now, but it was still bright enough that we could see the Macks clearly on the image from the Spectracopter. One of the Mack groups started spilling over the highway in northwest direction, right towards a HANAF infantry unit. Fortunately they still had those stupid glowy eyes, so we could see them easily in the beginning dusk. I shot two Ones that were looking our way, then we crossed the highway in northeast direction. That brought us right behind the Macks¡¯ attack on the HANAF troops. Now we had a troop sandwich with three layers: HANAF - Macks - and us. With the added risk of an attack from behind us. That would be the topping if it happened. Considering the large number of enemies, I decided to capture some of them and use them as our first line. We moved through a backyard to surprise a group of Macks that was still sitting tight instead of storming the HANAF lines. I commanded ¡°Elya, we''ll try to grab some Macks again. Battlecats are only to attack those who actively come at us.¡± The wireless, beefed up tasers on my shoulders ripped into the circuits of the mechanical menaces. Where the beams hit, little arcs played over Mack armor and disrupted electronics. In one case, they scorched through an oil hose on a Type One and set the Mack on fire. It tried to escape in flames. Wendy fired her Shiv after it, and it collapsed amid a hail of plastic shards. Three Type Fours did resist the electric attack and stormed at us, only to be pounced on by my Battlecats. After they lost too many tentacles to continue, I euthanized each with a shot through the eye. But we did capture a dozen Macks and it was time for Picasso¡¯s debut. The cuddly little Mecha-cat trotted over to the freshly tamed Macks, turned around and extended a nozzle from its tail. Looking over its shoulder, it spray-painted a bright red version of the Vanguard Command logo on each Mack. Except for two I wanted to use for scouting. In the meantime, I planned our next move. The Macks had moved a bunch of Type Twenty-Eights up to the highway and they started sniping at any HANAF troops in their sight. On the video feed from the Spectracopter, I saw a HANAF lookout dropping in a spray of blood. These Macks were a logical target. Trailing behind the bulk of their troops, they were relatively unprotected. Hoping to get some unopposed recon data on top of the Spectracopter video, I sent the two unmarked Ones ahead. One of them went undetected and got a decent overview of the Macks under cover near the highway. The other one ran unexpectedly into the Mack MG, who immediately killed it. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Minutes later, she peeled off around two hundred Macks from the other group that had not crossed the highway yet. These started moving in our general direction. I stationed our Battlecats at a crossing where they could shoot down two different roads the approaching Macks had to cross. They had barely taken their positions, when the first Macks came rushing our way. I ordered our troops to open fire. My Battlecats opened up. Several enemies per second dropped under the withering hail of fire, sparks and splinters of armor spalling off their sides. Next to me Wendy did her part with her own Shiv, although I could not discern how much of the damage was hers. Despite this lashing we gave the enemy, the wave of steel got closer and closer. I sent my captured Macks ahead to act as a wave breaker, with limited success. They lasted a few seconds before they perished under the spikes of the onrushing Fours. A few seconds that my Battlecats used well by killing another two dozen Macks. Then the remaining Macks were upon us. My Battlecats collided with the onrushing Fours in a whirlwind of claws, spikes and shots from the gun-tails. Then the situation was sent downhill by the Mack MG arriving. I saw that she wore the same face Arina had worn on her Mack body. On a hunch, I tried to gain a few seconds by asking ¡°What are you?¡± She started with a familiar tirade. ¡°Model 54401 Combat Unit, Nanite-Enhanced. I am the beginning and the end, the end¡­¡± Two of my Battlecats switched targets to the Mack MG and railgun bullets started to rip through her torso from the side. Miss Mack whirled to face the new attackers, and further projectiles bounced off an orange energy shield she projected from her arm. Which left her open to shots from us. Wendy and I had the same idea. We lifted our Shivs and blasted her neck from the side. For good measure, I activated my anti-Mack tasers. The Mack girl twitched and her energy shield failed, then she toppled over. With a few blinks and eye movements, I used my new C&C software to sic my Battlecats at the lesser Macks again and started to mark those for hijacking again. Elya was happy to oblige. But the distraction by the Mack girl had cost us. By the time we defeated the current opponents, three of my Battlecats were outright destroyed and a fourth one limping. Only two were left fully operational. On the upside, I had captured eight Type Fours, a Type One and the immediate danger was over. I took a closer look at the Mack girl and saw she was intact enough that she might recover. So I asked Wendy ¡°Fetch the van please? I¡¯ll give you an escort.¡± Wendy ran, followed by my two fully intact Battlecats. In the meantime, I saw from the corner of my eye that some of the Macks stirred again. Right. These critters had some degree of self-repair capability. I gave them a second dose of electric disruption, and where that failed to let Elya take them, a bullet through the eye. Then I noticed that previously neutralized Macks started moving again all along the road they had come from. Fuck. But they were slow in doing so. Making a snap decision, I started down that road and repeated the catch-or-kill approach on the recovering Macks. I ended up with another fifteen Fours and four Ones. And the road was littered with over a hundred thoroughly destroyed robots. A few Macks had managed to escape though, and more trouble was almost guaranteed. I returned to the crossing where Wendy already waited with the van, Omnicutter in hand and a questioning expression on her face. I nodded yes and mimicked cutting my neck. With an iron face, Wendy sliced through the neck of the downed Mack girl. I could only guess what she was feeling at the moment. Chapter 63: Allies Wendy and I took a few minutes to reorganize our troops. I reloaded the guns of the surviving Battlecats. I also sent the Spectracopter back to Vanguard Enterprises, as it was running low on batteries. A fresh one replaced it. Wendy asked ¡°What now?¡± ¡°Take them piecemeal if we can. There are still around five hundred Macks and one Mack girl coordinating them. We cannot fight that many head on.¡± ¡°Maybe we could join the HANAF lines then, so we don¡¯t have to stem the tide alone.¡± ¡°That sounds like a good idea. And Picasso can mark our captured Macks.¡± I put our little artist to work again. ¡°If we fight alongside HANAF, they need to see which Macks are ours.¡± Eventually, we packed the Mack girl into the van and crossed the highway again, westwards this time. I wanted to avoid a confrontation with major numbers of Macks, at least until we could fight them side by side with HANAF. Wendy and I rode in the van, while our Macks tagged along on foot or tentacle. They were simply too many to stuff in the van. Using the reconnaissance data from the Spectracopter to circumvent Mack units, we took a detour westwards. Past a building site set upon an old quarry, then I signaled Wendy to stop near a pond. HANAF had built fortifications on Horth Hill, which were now pressured both from the south and the east. I decided ¡°We go north from here, along Tallow Road. That means we have to fight through the westernmost Macks.¡± Wendy was skeptical. ¡°That means going through lots of the mecha-critters. Why not through the side streets west of Tallow Road?¡± I took a look at the van¡¯s navigation system. ¡°You have a point. It will be slow going though. A lot of these are closed off at one end. And first I have to call HANAF.¡± Elya connected me to HANAF¡¯s C&C network again. A stressed out voice replied ¡°Unit, situation?¡± The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. ¡°Vanguard Command, Lieutenant McCallan. I¡¯m commanding a platoon-sized group of captured Macks, roughly a klick south of Horth Hill. We are seeking to link up with the HANAF defense line.¡± ¡°Do you understand how much friendly fire that might cause?¡± ¡°My Macks are marked with a logo in red that shows a shield and the letters Victor Charlie on it. If they are attacked by HANAF by accident, they will suffer it rather than retaliate. I hope that will suffice.¡± A reluctant confirmation came back. ¡°Very well, I will advise Captain Miller. You can reach him on channel eighteen.¡± Elsa switched channels for me. I listened to HQ talking to Captain Miller, then I announced myself. ¡°Lieutenant McCallan here. Where should we rendezvous with your troops?¡± Captain Miller rattled off a set of coordinates. Elya translated these into a marker in my minimap, about 200 meters southwest of Horth Hill. He continued ¡°Our flank is under a lot of pressure here, if you could reinforce us it would be appreciated.¡± Following Wendy¡¯s earlier advice, we made our way northwards west of Tallow Road, passing through play streets and a small pedestrian zone. A few times I had to dismount and remove bollards with the omnicutter. From the east we heard gunfire, and I could tell that we were getting closer to it. Eventually, when I peeked around a corner I could see Macks moving between the buildings. A machine gun salvo ripped up one of them, but the others got away and massed behind cover. Cover that did not cover them towards our direction. In military lingo, they were in enfilade and we took shameless advantage of it. Wendy, our remaining Battlecats and I opened fire. A dozen Macks barely managed to turn around before they lay destroyed on the ground, leaking oil on the tarmac. One of them had a short in the battery and started burning. An acrid cloud of smoke formed over the dead Macks. Then people shouted from the north ¡°Hey who is there? Are you OK?¡± ¡±Stay put, we¡¯ll come over to get you!¡± I shouted back: ¡°Vanguard Command. We have tame Macks, don¡¯t panic! You¡¯ll recognize them by the red logo!¡± Guns raised, two soldiers peeked around the corner. One of them had been on the expedition to San Juan Island. He recognized me too and told his squadmate ¡°Stand down, she''s friendly!¡± Minutes later we were behind the barricades the soldiers had erected against the Macks. The soldiers eyed my tame Macks with considerable distrust, but when the bots obviously followed my orders, everybody relaxed. Somewhat. Chapter 64: Heavy Metal Temporary regiment HQ on Horth Hill Colonel Mackenzie looked at the map display in his augs with some worry. The reinforcements he expected had been diverted to fight off Macks landing closer to the city center. His forces had been pushed out of the center of Swartz Bay and were barely hanging in on Horth Hill, despite the high ground giving them an advantage. Fortunately there had not been further landings in his area, but being encircled from the south was a very real threat. At the moment, the Macks were mostly pressing from the southeast, where they had landed at the Blue Heron Basin. But HANAF troops were thinly stretched between Horth Hill and Victoria Airport. If the Macks received reinforcements they might easily break through towards the west and cut his command off. A call from Captain Miller interrupted his thoughts. ¡°Sir, the chicks from Vanguard Command have arrived!¡± ¡°What? Chicks?¡± ¡°Uh, sorry, two young women. They have a bunch of tame Macks with them, twenty-eight by my count. Creepy to have those in our position, but so far they are well behaved.¡± Captain Miller allowed himself to relax a little. It did not last long though. A few minutes later, he received a message that two of the huge Type 32s had been spotted arriving at Heron Bay. And all of the heavy hitters among the Magical Girls were swamped with urgent missions elsewhere. He called his brigade commander anyway to ask for a strike on the Thirty-Twos. The answer was disheartening. ¡°Sorry to leave you hanging, but more vital targets near the city center are under immediate threat. You are on your own for now.¡± A few hundred meters southwest of Horth Hill In our corner of the front it was quiet. Too quiet. The Macks seemed to hold back and wait for something, and I could not imagine it would be good for us. Time dragged on, and it was almost dark by now. Then two new icons symbolizing heavy units suddenly appeared on my minimap, among the hordes of Macks already there. As I focused on them, a little popup identified them as Type 32s. One of them was blinking, switching between red and blue. I asked Elya ¡°What¡¯s with the blinking Thirty-Two?¡± It is the one we hacked on San Juan Island. You can remotely take it over, if you so wish. I flew the Spectracopter closer. The big Mack was operational again, except for the one cannon we had destroyed before. That left it with only five of the deadly weapons. Which was five too many on an enemy Mack. As I was still watching, the whole swarm of Macks started to move eastwards. In our direction. But we still had a few minutes before they would arrive. I took control of the hacked Thirty-Two and dropped into detail mode on my C&C suite, where I could do some serious micromanagement. I designated the guns on the other Thirty-Two as primary targets and ordered mine to attack. Bright muzzle flashes lit up the night sky as grenades from my Thirty-Two thundered into the gun turrets of its counterpart. Which quickly reacted and returned fire. Heavy grenades ripped furrows into armor and scattered sparks and debris across the sky. The blasts shattered windows at nearby buildings, and glass shards rained onto the streets. Soon it turned out that shooting up the turrets first was the winning tactic. The turret emplacements were weaker points than the hull armor, and soon the turrets on the enemy Thirty-Two fell silent. Those that were pointing in the direction of my unit. The enemy Thirty-Two started to turn around to bring its guns on the other side to bear. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. I did not let it. Driving my own Thirty-Two into its side, I gripped the front track with the arms of my Mack and tried to rip it off. Unsuccessfully. The other Mack impotently flailed at the armor of mine, but failed to do much damage. Meanwhile, the guns of mine were at an angle where they would not be that useful either. Essentially we were at a stalemate. But the other Thirty-Two could and did randomly shoot up the surroundings with its remaining three guns. Fountains of flame and debris erupted from the nearby highrises. Meanwhile, the first Macks approached our position. I heard Wendy yelling ¡±Let our Macks take the first wave!¡± She skillfully directed our captured Macks to the weakest points in the barricade, where the enemy Macks were most likely to break through. Good girl, she was growing into a competent Mack commander. Our remaining Battlecats stayed in the positions I had assigned to them. I told Elya ¡°Keep the Thirty-Twos in the clinch!¡± and turned my attention towards nearby events. Next to me, our remaining Battlecats opened fire. I ripped myself away from the sweet sight of dying enemies and scrambled onto a container at the barricade. Seconds later, dozens of metal squids crashed into the piled up dumpsters and bicycles we had repurposed to slow down the threat. From the corner of my eye I saw a few of the dog-sized Ones trying to circumvent our position, but they tried at a well defended point. Machine gun salvos cut them down. From my elevated position, I could reach the Macks with the special tasers built into my armor. Once again, lightning crackled over the Macks I targeted and more often than not, Elya managed to take control of them. I concentrate my efforts on Fours at the fringe of the attacking horde, from where they could betray their former comrades by stabbing them in the back. That caused considerable disorganization in said enemy Macks, greatly hampering their attack against our barricades. HANAF soldiers used that to great effect. With their heavy machine guns, they carved deep gashes into the flood of the metal pests. The Battlecats took care of the rest. Soon the Macks had to climb over the bodies of their fallen buddies. That only made them into better targets for the Battlecats and the HANAF soldiers. Until their ammo ran out. At this point we were down to twenty surviving Macks of mine versus about fifty enemy Macks. But the barricades still made for a nice choke point and kept the attackers from simply overrunning us. I called to Wendy ¡°Can you fetch the remaining ammo from the van? I¡¯ll handle things here!¡± ¡°Going!¡± she replied and ran. I alternated between adjusting the positions of my defending Macks and zapping slash hijacking more of the attackers. Two tense minutes later, most enemy Macks were down and I sent mine on a counterattack, while Wendy arrived with the last reloads for our three remaining Battlecats. Another minute later, the area in front of us was cleared of enemies and my forces had increased to thirty-one Macks. Picasso sauntered from captured Mack to captured Mack and gave them the Vanguard Command warpaint. I was sure that Elya made him act that way on purpose. It was quite cute. Immediate threats banished, I turned my attention back to the Thirty-Twos that I had left in aggressive hugging mode. They had dug themselves partly into the ground with their churning tracks, with the enemy Thirty-Two already tilted at a thirty degree angle. I chose a different approach to the fight. Instead of simply pushing forward, I started lifting the other huge Mack by its tracks. Under massive clanging and creaking, I managed to heave the enemy Thirty-Two up until it flipped over. Checking the nearby area with the Spectracopter, there were still a few groups of Macks around that seemed unsure of what to do. Apparently they had no programming that would tell them what to do in a fight between titans. I took great pleasure in shooting each of these groups with a well placed grenade from my Thirty-Two¡¯s cannons. Chapter 65: Cleanup My immediate surroundings were clear of any Macks except the overturned one, and I could see Wendy keeping an eye on the nearby area. I could therefore afford to pay more attention to the bigger picture. The Macks near the city center were mostly neutralized, and SHOCKS was sending Magical Girl teams to the suburbs where HANAF units were still under the heaviest pressure. One team of flying MGs was rapidly moving northward. No doubt they would be taking care of the Thirty-Twos as priority targets, but I was loathe to lose my new toy so soon. So I got on the relevant channel and piped up ¡°Vanguard Command speaking. There are two Thirty-Twos at the Blue Heron Basin, but the one that is still standing is ours!¡± A young woman¡¯s voice came back ¡°This is Altari, team leader of Omega Lily. What do you mean by still standing?¡± ¡°We managed to subvert this one and use it against the other Thirty-Two that is now lying on its back!¡± In my minimap, I could see that Omega Lily rapidly approached the place. Footage from the Spectracopter showed the enemy Thirty-Two on its back, helplessly waving its legs and the attached crawler drives around while spinning its tracks. I added ¡°Supporting HANAF at Horth Hill is probably more pressing. That overturned metal beetle is not going anywhere.¡± ¡°We will take it out anyway. You can keep the captured one as a souvenir.¡± Altari answered. Take it out, they did. They cut through the exposed belly of the giant Mack before two of them climbed in. I could see the light in its eyes fade one by one as they went to work. The MGs took off again and proceeded towards the north. I heard Altari reporting on the command channel ¡°Hostile Thirty-Two at Blue Heron Basin neutralized, proceeding to support HANAF at Horth Hill.¡± She seemed to forget to shut off her microphone, because a minute later I could hear combat noises over the channel, followed by ¡°Gotcha, bitch!... Uh sorry, I mean Type 42 eliminated.¡± Things were looking up all over the city. With the most dangerous Mack concentrations eliminated, HANAF and the MGs could go on the offensive. Except for some units that were out of ammunition, like the one we had helped to repel the deluge of Macks. Captain Miller instructed them to stay put until they had received new ammunition. He also asked Wendy and me to stay around just in case until his troops were resupplied. The soldiers, Wendy and I spent a few hours passing the time with small talk and exchanging war stories. Finally I asked Elya ¡°Say, what is my point status?¡± You have one token and 15134 points now, including those you received from HANAF using your mortars. The fighting is not completely over yet, but I doubt many more points will come your way today. It was time to plan looting the dead Macks, either for reuse or recycling. But I had no idea how to drive my Thirty-Two back to Vanguard Enterprises without flattening entire neighborhoods. So I asked Elya. The route of minimum damage to the premises of Vanguard Enterprises would involve plowing through a bridge over the Patricia Bay Highway, crushing some infrastructure along Mills Road and doing significant damage to the roads themselves. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°Just how heavy is this thing?¡± 1130 tons in its current state Oops. I could see for myself that the Thirty-Two was huge. Even trying to keep the crawler legs close together, its track width would be over ten meters. But I had not considered the potential road damage due to its massive weight yet. We might have to give it up after all. Damn. While I was still pondering my options, the supplies for the HANAF troops finally arrived. They started moving eastwards to clean out the last scattered Macks around the Blue Heron Basin. Wendy and I packed up our stuff and returned to Vanguard Enterprises. But I stayed up for a few more hours, keeping a Spectracopter up and helping with reconnaissance. Wednesday, November 18th 2048, Colwood Shelter In the early morning, my phone rang with a call from Wendy. In a disgustingly chipper tone she said ¡°I thought about our raw material situation and figured we could use some of the scrap lying around out there. The guy from the recovery service we met last week said they could always use the business, so they might be willing to help us grab some.¡± ¡°I like the idea. In fact, I was thinking of modifying the Type 21 into a salvaging unit. If we can get some of those halfway intact, we might be able to kitbash something together without building it completely from scratch.¡± ¡°Not quite what I had in mind, but I¡¯ll call him to hire his crew for scrap collection,¡± Wendy replied. I reluctantly dragged myself out of bed. If we wanted to collect the Type 21s for my project, I needed to get my ass in gear before other vultures, ahem salvagers, got to the wrecks. After a hasty breakfast, I jumped into my van and got moving. Some roads were closed for clearing up the mess from yesterday, but I still made good progress and soon arrived at the place of the recovery company. Fortunately, it turned out that they had experience with that sort of work and even had good relations with the police. With a bit of luck, we might be able to collect a few Twenty-Ones without being challenged. I have recorded the locations of some Type 21 wrecks that might be worthwhile to plunder. With the recovery crew in tow, we made our way to the first of those. As Elya had promised, most of it seemed reusable. A team of Magical Girls had cut up its foremost segment and destroyed the eye and a few of its arms, but the rest of the bus-sized metal caterpillar was intact. The police officers regulating traffic around the wreck greeted the recovery crew like old buddies and even cleared a bit more of the street to make their work easier. With admirable skill, the workers loaded the thing on their flatbed trailer and we were on our way to Vanguard Enterprises, where we dumped the dead Mack in the driveway. We managed to repeat this two times with other dead Twenty-Ones, before the remaining useful wrecks were overrun with scavengers. I told the boss of the recovery crew that we were done for now. ¡°Let¡¯s call it a day here. You guys did great work, but by now most of the wrecks will be stripped of useful parts before we can get to them. We might call you again a few days from now though, there is some chance of looting a Thirty-Two.¡± The man was skeptical. ¡°How would you move one of those monsters at all?¡± ¡°Not the entire Mack, but we would need your trailer for some of the bigger parts. It depends on the city admin though.¡± Technically one needed permission to go around and collect Mack wreckage. ¡°I know. They look the other way right after an emergence, but once the city gets back to working normally, they clamp down on further Mack looting.¡± Back at Vanguard Enterprises, Wendy transferred the money for the recovery crew right away and added a nice tip. We spent the rest of the day completing one of the large recyclers and hooking it up to the raw material storage system. Finally we fed it a few hundred kilograms of Mack scrap, before starting a build job for a Mack type assembly/disassembly drone. It would be constructed overnight, as tomorrow we would need it to take apart two of the Twenty-Ones. Chapter 66: Industrial Planning Thursday, November 19th 2048, premises of Vanguard Enterprises We had identified two of the dead Twenty-Ones in the driveway as non-repairable, only good to cannibalize for some parts. Wendy and the drone took them apart. Discarded parts went into the recycler, and for the first time we had a substantial flow of raw materials, measured in tons per day. We kept a few of the legs and arms for my salvager-Mack project. Meanwhile, I examined the first Twenty-One we had picked up. Its reactor was intact, like most of the legs. The head would need rebuilding though. On a virtual screen in my augs, I started a new project. The head would get a large shredder-mouth, halfway between Herbie¡¯s and that of a Thirty-Two in size. Four arms of the same design the original Twenty-One had, and two tentacles with cutting tools at their end. I used a scaled up version of those in the Type Four for that. The single large eye in the middle of the head had to go in favor of two smaller ones, seated above the mouth and looking forward like in most Earth predators. That looks properly terrifying. Are you sure you want to calm down Humanity over your use of Macks? Elya had a point. I would have to repaint it at least, in yellow maybe. And put a few flashing warning lights on top, as often seen on oversized vehicles. Applying that in my CAD software made the thing look more like a cross between a centipede and human-made construction equipment, still terrifying but no longer screaming ¡°Mack!¡± as much. Come to think of it, my roadmap in general could use a review. I wanted to improve my military capacity, but also extend the range of products Vanguard Enterprises had to offer. So I invited Wendy to a meeting, with Elya participating through a nearby loudspeaker. I started with laying out my plans for manufacturing. ¡°I want to expand our production capacity into more sophisticated and perhaps larger products. Elya has already suggested a next step, but beyond that the options get complicated. Would you please summarize those again, Elya?¡± Said next step would be the Attoscale Architect, a small Class II matter reconfiguration machine. It can produce almost all Class I and some Class II devices up to the size of a shoe box. The price would be 400 points and one token for the catalog, 5000 points for the blueprint. That would leave you with zero tokens and 10184 points. Beyond that a variety of larger Class II matter reconfiguration machines is available, most of them still out of your budget. Wendy asked ¡°How would the Architect help with those?¡± It could build the more delicate parts of other Class II fabricators. Manufacturing those requires arranging materials at the atomic level, which your current fabricators cannot do. I started to dig into the options. ¡°What other useful products could the Attoscale Architect make? Preferably ones that don¡¯t overlap too much with existing SHOCKS supplies?¡± Elya started listing stuff. Various exotic weapons and ammunitions. Various augs, most of them better than what civilians and HANAF soldiers currently have access to. If you are looking for lucrative trade goods, I recommend the Class I Nano-Regenerative Suite from your Class I Medical Utilities catalog. It tends to work slower than SHOCKS first aid equipment, but is better at completely healing injuries. The blueprint price is 150 points. ¡°That sounds like an attractive list of goods. Especially considering that some SHOCKS grade medical equipment is hard to come by,¡± Wendy said. ¡°That Nano-Regenerative Suite could be a bestseller.¡± I asked Elya ¡°What production rates could we expect?¡± Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Fairly slow, unfortunately. But the Attoscale Architect is small compared to your current fabricators. Double digit numbers would fit into the currently unused offices in this building. ¡°I guess we will have rows of it then. Next, I want to replicate the raw material teleport system of the Type 32 in a Type 21. But it has to be smaller and need less energy.¡° I recommend getting the blueprint for the Tele-Chute Mark I for 400 points. It is a crude teleport bridge that will damage most delicate mechanisms in transfer, but works nicely for transporting some scrap metal through hyperspace. Looking at the details, I approved. Which left us with the question of what war materiel to get next. I wanted something that could crack a Type 32. ¡°Elya, we need to talk about big guns. Or maybe missiles. I want something that can get through the armor of a Type 32.¡± You could unlock Class I Heavy Weapon Emplacements for 250 points and a heavy railgun blueprint for 4000 points. Or you could start tinkering again and try your hand at adapting the coilgun from the Type 14. The Lorekeeper Tome of Electromagnetic Actuators for 100 points offers helpful knowledge as well as simulation software to try out your creations in virtual space. Wendy interjected ¡°I guess Cait would love the challenge, but wouldn¡¯t that also require a pretty massive vehicle to carry the gun?¡± Correct. Shrinked a bit, it could still be strong enough to penetrate Type 32 armor. But it would also still be similar in size to a 155mm cannon. ¡°So we could end up with something similar to a modern self-propelled howitzer, just a bit more powerful,¡° I mused. ¡°Tell me more about that heavy railgun.¡± Similar in penetration to the hypothetical shrinked Type 14 gun, but more compact. Wendy mused ¡°This sounds like we¡¯re talking a few generations of weaponry ahead, but nothing really science fiction like.¡± Class I technology is typically something that Humanity could produce in the near future, given some technological hints. Not something you might see in Star Trek. Most Mack tech is at a similar level, although they have some more advanced stuff. ¡°With either gun, that leaves the question of what vehicle to mount it on,¡± I continued the discussion. ¡°Assuming I go with the railgun option, what options would I have for suitable blueprints?¡± If you buy everything we have discussed so far, that would leave you with 5384 points. I¡¯m afraid the points would not be enough for a full blown tank blueprint or for an aircraft that can handle the weight and recoil. The best I can offer is a heavy truck, on which you could mount the gun. ¡°I guess it is time for more tinkering then. I¡¯m thinking of a big brother for Herbie. And I will take the Tome of Electromagnetic Actuators, I suspect I will need it.¡± Here is your metaphorical shopping cart, please review it.
Item Point cost Description
Class I Nano-Regenerative Suite (blueprint) 150 points Inhaler with medical nanites. Fixes a wide variety of injuries.
Class II Matter Reconfiguration Machines 1 token, 400 points Hyper-advanced 3D printers
Attoscale Architect Mk I (blueprint) 5000 points Small Class II Matter Reconfiguration Machine
Tele-Chute Mark I (blueprint) 400 points Teleport bridge, consisting of sender and receiver portal. Not suitable for living things and delicate machinery
Class I Heavy Weapon Emplacements 250 points Big guns, mounted to vehicles or fortifications
Thunderbolt Mk II (blueprint) 4000 points Heavy railgun for cracking heavy armor
Tome Of Electromagnetic Actuators 100 points Textbook with integrated design and simulation software
Total price 1 token, 10300 points
¡°Yes, purchase authorized!¡± Thank you for shopping at Protectors¡¯R Us! Your new account balance: 5284 points. Chapter 67: Quality Of Life Friday, November 20th, 2048 After an intense workday, I had just arrived at my small shelter in Colwood and was relaxing with a cup of coffee and some baklava. A flood of requests for purchasing my fabricators had come in, and Wendy and I wanted to fill these orders as soon as possible. Vanguard Enterprises was running low on money. Suddenly Arina came barging in with two big bags. ¡°Hey Caitlin¡±, she said, ¡°I¡¯m finally taking your offer and moving in full time.¡± ¡°Yes! I¡¯m happy to have you here!¡± She dropped her luggage in the room across the corridor I had prepared for her and came over. At the sight of my little snack she exclaimed ¡°Is that baklava?¡± Followed by a double take and a sad face. ¡°Yes it is. Oh¡­ sorry!¡± I realized once more that Arina¡¯s new robotic body had neither a digestive system nor taste buds. The variant with thermal and olfactory sensors had already been the deluxe option. And Arina promptly asked the question I was afraid of. ¡°Umm. I don¡¯t want to impose, but is there something like an upgrade for my body so I can enjoy a little snack now and then?¡± Elya came to my rescue. Universal fuel cells are a thing, and they could be combined with an artificial lung to acquire the needed oxygen. A small model could be integrated in your Second Life body without much difficulty. Phew. I might actually be able to help my girlfriend out here. So I followed up with ¡°How might that look in practice?¡± Sending a diagram to your augs. To yours as well, Arina. A schematic popped into my vision, showing the necessary changes to Arina¡¯s full body prosthetic. The neck gained an esophagus that ended in a small pouch, which was presumably the universal fuel cell. The lungs changed from air bags that only were for pretend breathing to oxygen extractors that fed the oxygen into the fuel cell via a small hose. Those are the most obvious changes. You would be able to eat small amounts of food, up to a small donut at a time. Larger fuel cells are available, but would require major alterations of your body to fit. A few minor structures showed up in the mouth. These are artificial tastebuds and saliva glands. You would need the former for the taste and the latter for a realistic imitation of human eating. Most people don¡¯t swallow their food completely dry. Arina begged ¡°Pretty please? It would be enough to sample things, I don¡¯t need big meals!¡± ¡°Very well, let¡¯s talk about the practical aspects. Elya, what exactly to buy and how to install it?¡± The Class I Chemical Reactors and Class I Chemical Sensors catalogs, the blueprints for the oxygen extractor, fuel cell and certain sensors we can modify into artificial organs. The rules give me enough leeway to do that for you. You would then have to disassemble parts of Arina¡¯s body, install the new parts and put her together again. ¡°Show us the shopping list then.¡±
Item Point cost If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Description
Class I Chemical Reactors 50 points A wide selection of devices to process chemicals
Class I Chemical Sensors 50 points Components for detection and analysis of chemicals
¡°Cyberlung¡± Mark I oxygen collector (blueprint) 300 points Artificial lung, modified from an industrial oxygen extractor into a cyber-organ by Elya.
Anyfuel Mk II generators (blueprint series) 2000 points Small fuel cells for almost any carbon-based fuel, including organic matter. Sizes range from wallet to small suitcase
Tasty Buds Mk I (blueprint) 100 points Sensor components for integration into blueprints, not standalone
Total price 2500 points
¡°Those Anyfuel generators are rather pricey. Why is that?¡± It is not only a single model, but an entire line. The blueprint series contains all of them. By the way, the model I suggested for Arina is the second smallest. ¡°Very well, purchase authorized.¡± ¡°Squeee!¡± came from Arina¡¯s direction. ¡°Let¡¯s start right away!¡± ¡°With the design details, yes. Actual printing has to wait until tomorrow.¡± I opened my CAD suite, this time putting the image on the large TV screen. The simplified schematics from before gave way to a far more detailed blueprint, which split into separate parts on my command. Arina shuddered a bit. ¡°It gives me the creeps to see my insides like this. But it is also fascinating.¡± Together and with Elya¡¯s help, we figured out what to print and where to put it. Along the way I noticed that the battery pack would need modification, so I asked ¡°Elya, I think we need to adjust the batteries in shape to make room for the fuel cell. What would you recommend?¡± In Class I Electric Energy Storage Devices you will find a large variety of suitable batteries and exotic capacitors. The PowerGel System Mark I would be perfect for your and Arina¡¯s needs. Elya played an instruction video about the design and use of a PowerGel based battery. The presentation consisted of a cute fluffy alien who drew up a design on a sort of CAD system and explained the function along the design process. Elya translated in real time, but kept the squeaky voice of the alien. Next to me Arina collapsed in her chair, uncontrollably laughing. I found myself laughing at the alien¡¯s antics too, but managed to keep my focus on the screen. There was a time skip in the video, after which we could see the little guy taking some pouch-like things out of a fabricator and stuffing them into a sort of bionic snake. Then he proudly explained how the PowerGel allowed a 50% better flexibility of the robo-snake. ¡°Looks nice, what are the prices? 50 points for the catalog and 1000 points for the blueprints. And before you complain again, it is an entire system with several components. ¡°Where would that leave my point account?¡± At 1734 points. ¡°I guess turning back now makes no sense. Very well, I¡¯ll take the catalog and the blueprints.¡± Saturday, November 21st, 2048, late morning After some shuffling around of the queue for the printer last night, the fabricator at the shelter had made the required parts overnight. I had laid them out on the table in Arina¡¯s room. The patient was already laying on her bed, topless and with a heartwarming trust that I would get the operation right. Although I wasn''t sure operation was the right word. ¡°Sleep now,¡± I said and asked Elya to suspend her mental activity. Soon I had opened Arina¡¯s chest and was disassembling the old battery system. With a bit of cutting and gluing, I removed the old artificial larynx and replaced it with one that could send stuff down the right tube as needed. Air to the oxygen extractor and food to the fuel cell. Next I installed the artificial lung and stomach, before finally stuffing the pillowy batteries into place. After closing things up again, I gave Arina a pat down to see if the new batteries were really in the right position. Strictly in the sense of quality assurance of course. I wanted to prepare a little surprise before rebooting my sleeping beauty, so I went out and purchased some tasty morsels. A pack of pralines, a few crackers from one of the better bakeries in the area and a box of Chinese takeout. After I woke her up, Arina tried everything, making a lot of pleased noises along the way. Then she commented ¡°I didn''t know how much I needed that!¡± Finally, she helped herself to some of the baklava from yesterday. While Arina was nibbling on it, I said ¡°Sorry, this might not be entirely fresh anymore.¡± ¡°Nonsense, it is heavenly!¡± Chapter 68: Scrap Eater Monday, November 23rd, 2048 Arina was back at SHOCKS for some Very Important Meeting she had not wanted to tell me about. I had avoided prying, but I hoped she would trust me with the results of the meeting. In the meantime, Wendy and I started printing several units of the small fabricator model I had at the shelter. We would be able to deliver the first ones to our customers this week. Which was a good thing, as Vanguard Enterprises was running low on money. In a quiet moment, I thought of how much Arina had enjoyed little snacks and figured I should give Wendy a chance at snacks too. So I said ¡°By the way, I managed to give Arina a sense of taste and a multi-fuel cell that works as a small stomach. She cannot eat a lot, but really likes to nibble at something for the taste.¡± ¡°Oh. Yes, I would like that. And I don¡¯t want to sound greedy, but you mentioned backups? I have thought about these for a while now, and I¡¯ve come to like the idea. ¡°Even if it is just out of spite towards the Macks. Kill me, you stupid toasters, and I will just come back stronger and meaner!¡± While waiting on the fabber, I resumed my Salvager-Mack project. I commanded some of our maintenance drones to cut the head of the repairable Type 21 open. With Elya¡¯s help I quickly had them clearing out the area of the future shredder-mouth. As there was some leeway in the exact form, I made it into a laughing smiley. A smiley with red eyes and a shredder for teeth. Next the two top arms went and were replaced by upscaled Type Four tentacles, each with an omnicutter at the tip. I did not do much in the second segment of the Twenty-one where the reactor sat, except for sneaking a conveyor for the shredded material from the head through. Finally, I reworked the rear segment that used to be the receiver for teleported Mack units. Now it would contain the sending part of the Tele-Chute. The final part was yellow flashing lights as you might see on an oversized truck and painting the whole thing in yellow and black. I was just done when Arina and Major Allen of HANAF logistics showed up. Major Allen¡¯s eyes fell on my modified Mack. ¡°What the fuck is this? It looks like an unholy mix between Pac-Man, a caterpillar and Mecha Chthulu!¡± ¡°That is our latest salvaging unit. Salvaging as in rendering stuff into raw materials and sending it to a receiver here.¡± I waved at our building. ¡°You might need it soon. We have a lot of equipment we want¡­¡± ¡°Also, I¡¯m joining the regular army!¡± Arina interjected. ¡°I will be away for a few weeks of basic training, but then I¡¯ll work in logistics.¡± ¡°Meaning you will be my problem pretty soon. And Miss McCallan¡¯s. Once past specialist training you will be our liaison to Vanguard Enterprises.¡± ¡°Give me problems like that anytime!¡± Wendy interrupted our banter by ushering us into the meeting room, where she had prepared some refreshments. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Major Allen soon got to the point. ¡°We agreed that HANAF can use up to fifty percent of the manufacturing output of Vanguard Enterprises as consideration of our investment. Now we have a list of things we want. For starters, we will introduce the Shiv railgun at HANAF.¡± I had no problems with that. ¡°Certainly. In fact, I have already made sure it can be manufactured on the Mack type printers we have here.¡± We quickly hammered out the details, then Major Allen was on his way. We suddenly had more work than we could handle in the short run. I realized that we needed more raw materials. So I called a recycling company that specialized in Macks and asked if they had some scrap to sell. They quoted me a rather cheap price. Apparently the extreme strength of Mack steel made it difficult to work with. Even if you just wanted it to melt it down, sometimes you had to cut the scrap into parts so it would fit into the oven. So I climbed my new toy, got a grip on the fixture of the warning lights and fourteen meters of steel caterpillar went marching through the streets of Victoria. Left and right, the more impressionable people started screaming and running away. Halfway to the scrapyard, I was accosted by a group of Magical Girls. Team Battle Bug to be exact. With a scowl, Longhorn asked ¡°Couldn¡¯t you take the time to make it look less Mack-y? And where are you going anyway with that thing?¡± ¡°Um, I wanted to whip up something quickly. So I only did some minimal remodeling. And I¡¯m on my way to the scrapyard. This is a salvaging unit, and I¡¯m paying the scrapyard guys for permission to devour some of their scrap heap.¡± ¡°That I gotta see¡±, Longhorn responded. The Battle Bugs followed me to the scrapyard where they observed my bot for a while scarfing down the remnants of smaller Macks. On occasion, it used the pair of Omni-Cutters on its tentacles as cutlery to cut them down to size. Finally the part of the scrap that did not hold valuable parts anymore was gone. It was late in the afternoon, and most of Team BB called it a day. Only Crystal AKA Mantis accompanied me back to Vanguard Enterprises. On the way she started to ask questions about my bots. ¡°So, you are still building stuff based on Macks? Where does this one put all the scrap it eats? And how do you control it?¡± ¡°It has a small teleporter inside and beams the scrap directly to a recycler at Vanguard Enterprises. Control is partly through augs, partly it can operate autonomously.¡± ¡°Cool. Can I ride it for a bit?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± I got off the Mack and continued ¡°Climb on it, get a grip on the flashing lights and I¡¯ll send you some software for controlling it.¡± Subvocalized, I asked Elya ¡°I need some easy to use controller software, compatible with an MG¡¯s augs.¡± Certainly. For a measly 10 points there is a remote control software available in your Class I Basic Drones catalog. I will adjust it to mimic the mount controls of a popular MMORPG from this world. ¡°Done!¡± Purchased: Remote control software, control scheme compatible to WyrmRiders Of Pyrn In the meantime, Crystal had climbed on the modified Type 21 and shot me an impatient look. A few moments after I sent her the software, a chuckle came from top of the huge metal caterpillar. ¡°What¡¯s so funny?¡± ¡°The controls are like in the old Wyrm Riders game, down to the graphics details in the UI. I loved that as a teenager. Ahem, before I became a Magical Girl.¡± We continued with me on foot and Crystal riding. I so needed to add seats on the thing, or at least a saddle for more than one person. As we reached Vanguard Enterprises, Crystal asked ¡°That was fun. Do you have more of these projects going on?¡± ¡°In the not so distant future, I¡¯m planning a big brother for Herbie. A combatant this time.¡± ¡°I call dibs on being one of the test pilots! And I¡¯ll tell Ladybug so she can pick a cute name for it!¡± Chapter 69: Unfinished tinkering Wednesday, November 25th, 2048 Wendy and I had delivered the first two fabricators, and a big production batch of Shivs was running that did not require our presence. That took some of the time pressure away, so I decided on a trip to the long neglected Styx Base. I had some unfinished projects there. We¡¯d also been neglecting to deal with the Mack girl we had captured in the last emergence. So Wendy and I loaded some raw materials and Miss Mack The Latest into the Explorer and took off for Styx Base, located on the southern flank of Mt. Olympus. Sleet and rain pummeled the cockpit as we flew, making me glad about the Protector-grade quality of the nav suite. It even had 3D terrain maps programmed into its memory and could show it to us in augmented reality. I landed us as close to the entry as possible, and we rushed to get to the comfort of a dry base. The first item on my agenda was two automated turrets for defending the base entrance. Those would be very similar to the turrets on the Explorer, but with thicker armor I had deemed too heavy for use in the Explorer. Number two was to produce a few more Lesser Battlecats for reinforcing the base defense. While Wendy started to manufacture stuff and restock the fabricator supplies, I checked the housing area for damage. Fortunately everything was still in good shape. The worst thing was the air being a bit stuffy. So I returned to the manufacturing area for the Type 21 and started disassembling the teleport equipment. Soon Wendy joined me and helped pull the broken machinery apart. She mused ¡°Omega Lily certainly did a number on this one. I think our only option is to recycle it.¡± ¡°I¡¯m thinking of rebuilding it. I managed to nab the blueprints a while ago, but I still haven¡¯t figured out how they sent the Twenty-Ones to Vancouver Island without a gate on the receiving side. Perhaps building a new, functional gate I can experiment with will help me figure it out." ¡°And that gets us to number three on my agenda, fixing the large recycler near the base entrance. We will need its higher throughput to process this material in reasonable time.¡± ¡°The fabbers are still busy with the turrets and the Battlecats,¡° Wendy replied. ¡°Spare parts for the recycler can come after that. In the meantime can we explore this digital immortality thing a bit more?¡± ¡°You have a digitized mind now, and digital data can be copied with no loss. So we can copy the data from your Mack brain.¡± Wendy made an irritated face. It was obvious that she was still not entirely happy about running on Mack hardware. The electronic brain was the only thing that was left of her Mack body, but it still bothered her. ¡°..and store them on an external drive. I have a suitable one prepared back at the Victoria shelter. Then if something happens to you, we could restore that copy to a new body.¡± ¡°What about the brain? Do we have Mack brain blueprints? Not that I¡¯m eager to wear more Mack hardware than I absolutely have to.¡± ¡°There is a suitable Protector design I purchased the blueprint for. Memory, who is an MG SHOCKS and I rescued some time ago, is already using one. Making one will occupy a fabber for almost six weeks though, so we might want to start a print before we leave here.¡± Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°OK, that makes sense. Can I have it once it is done? And how does it compare to what I have now?¡± Wendy begged. ¡°Sure, and in terms of capability it would not be too different. Perhaps slightly better, especially at thinking deep thoughts.¡± Wendy radiated silent happiness at that prospect. I let her bask in it for a bit, then I reminded her of the final reason for our trip. ¡°We still have that Mack MG to check out. I hope the person inside is still salvageable.¡± Together we put the head of the Mack MG into the contraption I had used before to examine Arina and Wendy. Explaining the process to Wendy along the way, I rebooted our latest sleeping beauty. Her eyes began to glow and blink, then settled on a constant dim red. She immediately snapped ¡°Flame Arrow!¡± Nothing happened. The eyes flickered some more, then she said in a monotone, robotic voice ¡°Error 404, body not found. Rebooting¡­¡± I had heard that sequence before, so I interrupted the process. ¡°Elya, stop that and reboot her with free volition restored!¡± A few seconds later the intialization process repeated, but this time it ended with a rather confused robot girl. ¡°Where am I? Repairs necessary. Return to operational area of high priority.¡± I reused the greeting I had given Arina four months ago. ¡°Good morning, my synthetic friend. You are at Styx base and its location is classified. But first, what are you?¡± Desperation overwhelmed her face, and if she still had tear ducts, we might have gotten wet feet. ¡°I don¡¯t know anymore. I am supposed to be Model 54401 Combat Unit, Nanite-Enhanced. I also remember being Arina the Magical Girl.¡° Uh oh. I suspected my love life might become a lot more complicated. But at least I had a good idea about how to help her. If she was like my Arina, she would be happy to get her body replaced with the SecondLife system, and probably the snack upgrade as well. So I explained ¡°We have captured you while you were on Mack business, and we have a way to restore your free will. That is why we can have this discussion now.¡± ¡°But what happens now?¡± ¡°You are not the first MG we have retrieved from the Macks. Our standard welcome-back package is a replacement body. Still mechanical but not Mack-built. The only thing you would keep for now is the electronic Mack-brain, and even that can be replaced with time.¡± ¡°You can do that? I cannot believe it!¡± A slight ray of hope shone on her face. ¡°Have done it before.¡± I pointed at Wendy. ¡°Wendy here is already wearing one of these.¡± ¡°Yes! I want out of this awful Mack body as fast as I can!¡± ¡°We have an agreement then. It will take a while to build your new body, so take a nap in the meantime.¡± ¡°Wait, what¡­¡± the former Mack girl started to ask, but Elya had already shut her down. Wendy was quite shocked ¡°Are the Macks producing us in series now? Fuck, I hate the thought of fighting and killing versions of myself.¡± ¡°I¡¯m even more worried about Arina. Both of them. When I suggested the backup option to her, she explicitly declined and said she would be uncomfortable with that.¡± ¡°That really sucks. But even so, we still have other obligations. The Shivs will be ready by Friday morning and we have promised prompt delivery. Perhaps we should do what we can until then, and postpone the rest for a future visit.¡± I considered that good advice and accepted it. We managed to upgrade the defenses and fix the recycler by late Thursday, but the teleporter had to wait. Chapter 70: Digital Twins Friday, November 27th, 2048 Early in the morning, we took off for Victoria after starting print jobs for two of the cyberbrains. Those would eventually be waiting for us at Styx Base. We took the head of the new Arina back with us, body printing could happen at the shelter. The first thing we did was pack up and hand over the Shiv delivery to HANAF. After that, I had no more excuse to avoid a difficult meeting with Arina. Starting the following week, she would be in basic military training without weekend leave, and I wanted to discuss the future of the other Arina before. As I arrived, Arina greeted me with a hug and exclaimed ¡°You know, starting next week I start basic at HANAF and won¡¯t be able to see you for a few weeks. Let¡¯s go out now and grab some little snacks now that I can!¡± ¡°Yes, let¡¯s go!¡± At a nearby little market run by second generation Turkish immigrants, we got some freshly baked borek and baklava. Small portions of each, both because real food was fucking expensive and because Arina could not eat more than little morsels anyway. We moved to one of the tiny spots of greenery that still existed in overcrowded Victoria, and sat together on a park bench while nibbling our food. Eventually Arina noticed ¡°You have something on your mind that bothers you. Mind telling me?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a somewhat difficult topic. Remember how we talked about backups?¡± ¡°Please don¡¯t bring that up again, I¡¯m an individual and not some doll to make in series.¡± ¡°I promise that I won¡¯t. Unfortunately, the Macks don¡¯t have such reservations. The Mack MG we defeated and captured ten days ago¡­¡± ¡°Is that another version¡­ of me?¡± Arina seemed to dread the answer. I answered ¡°yes¡± and hugged her tightly. It took a long time for Arina to regain her composure. Then she asked in a small voice ¡°What now?¡± ¡°We will try to get her the same help you received. SHOCKS may be willing to spring for psychological therapy again. I¡¯m not sure if it would help if you get involved there, maybe we should talk to your old therapists. ¡°I will of course build a new body for her. Now that we have all the blueprints, it is only a matter of time and raw materials.¡± ¡°Thanks for helping my, uh, future twin sister? That sounds so wrong. But thanks anyway.¡± Want to help set up the printing process? As a first act of sisterly support?¡± Arina elbowed me in the ribs ¡°Very funny.¡± But back at the shelter, she did indeed talk the design through with me. ¡°I like the proportions of my body and I¡¯m happy to share those, but in the shoes of the other me I would like a slightly different face. Being an individual, not a copy!¡± If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°I get it, and yes, we can do that. If we move the cheekbones around like this and change the color of the eyes¡­¡± We soon had the blueprint of a young woman who might be a sister to Arina, quite similar but not a copy. I said ¡°That looks pretty good to me. We can start the printing now, print time is about two days. The snack system is already integrated by the way.¡± Sunday, November 29th, 2048 Arina, Wendy and I had met at the shelter to assemble Arina¡¯s new sister. While we put the torso and limbs together, I explained the technical details so the girls might be able to repair each other in a pinch. At that point I realized that I was the weakest point in any such scheme. While Arina and Wendy had access to the fabricators and most blueprints, it was not the full set of what I had earned so far. So between lecturing on mechanical body parts and power supplies I asked Elya ¡°I¡¯d like to give the girls full access to my blueprints and the digital textbooks, in case I bite the bullet somehow. Obviously that needs to include offline storage and a way for them to access the data without me. What kind of hardware do you recommend for that?¡± In Class I Computation Devices, you have access to the ModularWorkstation Mk I. It is a miniature hardware rack in which you can install a wide range of electronic devices, including storage devices like the DataSilo. The heart of the system is the equivalent of a high-end personal computer, through which you access and control the other parts. Blueprint price is 500 points. I quizzed Elya a bit more about the functionality, then I decided ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll buy the thing.¡± Thank you for shopping at Elya Electronics. Your new balance is 1324 points. This detail handled, I returned to building New Sister. We installed the Mack cyberbrain in the new body and activated it. When she opened her eyes and saw Arina, she was even more confused than the last time we had switched her on. Her eyes flicked between me, Wendy and finally settled on Arina. With a weak smile she said ¡°Hey, Why are you wearing my face? ¡­my FACE? What the fuck is going on here?¡± I cleared my throat. ¡°Unfortunately, the Macks have zero respect for individuality. It appears they like you so much that they made more than one of you.¡± Wendy elbowed me in the ribs. ¡°And you could be a bit more sensitive in delivering such news.¡± ¡°Ow!¡± ¡°It seems B.S.O.D. is right when she says you have the sensitivity of a bulldozer!¡± Both Arinas seemed to find that amusing. The newly reassembled one managed a weak smile, while my friend and lover giggled ¡°Bulldozer Caitlin, as usual!¡± Over the next hour New Arina practiced using her new body, and towards the end she was moving quite fluidly. But the question of identities still hung over the room like a dark cloud. Eventually I took the initiative and gently poked at the name issue. ¡°It gets a little old to address you with names like ¡°New Arina¡± and ¡°Old Arina.¡± Is there something else you would prefer?¡± ¡°Old???¡± came from the first Arina. But her new sister replied ¡±She has a point. Also, remember how Mom told us how she and Dad could not agree on a name? Mom won with ¡°Arina¡±, but Dad wanted a Katya. I guess I¡¯ll be Katya from now on.¡± Elya¡¯s voice came over the Hi-fi system in the room. That is remarkably mature of you ¡°Hush, you!¡± To the others I said ¡°I apologize for the behavior of my AI companion. Sometimes Elya is way too snarky.¡± That finally broke the ice and led to a far more relaxed discussion, and finally a group hug. Secretly, I was relieved that Katya did not fixate on me as much as Arina had. Jealousy drama was something I could do without. Chapter 71: Bug vs. Bug Over the next weeks, Wendy and I settled into a steady routine at Vanguard Enterprises. Printing stuff, delivering stuff, buying raw materials from various scrap yards. But we both had enough time left for side activities. Wendy was taking piloting lessons to get a license for flying the Variocopter, which was uselessly sitting at Styx Base right now. My side project was the spider-mech I had mentioned to Crystal AKA Mantis in late November. It would cost some more points though, as I realized I had underestimated the heavy railgun¡¯s energy hunger. ¡°Elya, I think I need a stronger power plant to recharge the railgun in reasonable time. Options?¡± There is a suitable five megawatt fusion reactor in Class I Nuclear Reactors. There are more powerful models available, but those might be difficult to stuff into your mech design. Prices are 100 points for the class and 1500 points for the reactor blueprint. I had a closer look at the specs. It was only marginally larger than the one in Herbie, but had more than three times the power. One of these could power a train or a modestly-sized ship. For my new mech it was just right. So I said ¡°Elya, yes please!¡± Unlocked: Class I Fusion Reactors Price¡­ 100 points Purchased: Sunfire Mk III deuterium-deuterium fusion reactor, 5 MW model (blueprint) Price¡­ 1500 points Remaining balance¡­ 454 points With that settled, the spider mech gradually took shape in the yard of Vanguard Enterprises. Technically it was not a spider though, as it did not have the body plan of a spider. Instead of a thorax and an abdomen, it just had a big ¡°thorax¡±. At a first glance from afar, it looked like a larger version of Herbie but with a cannon on top. Close up, it became obvious that the armor was thicker. Left and right of the big gun two dual railgun turrets were mounted, using the same caliber as the Shiv. The mech also retained the same manufacturing capabilities as Herbie. While it could have been more compact without that, I remembered how dire our situation would have been on the expedition to Mount Olympus without Herbie as a mobile workshop. Tuesday, December 22nd, 2048 For the first time, I took my new mech on a stroll around town. There was surprisingly little panic among the bystanders, but someone still called the MGs. My old friends from Team Battle Bug promptly showed up. As I opened the cockpit and greeted them, Longhorn gave me the evil eye. ¡°Must you always frighten people with your metal bugs? I understand this is not a Type Three, but that guy over there is literally crapping his pants!¡± The young gentleman she was pointing towards had indeed brown streaks running down his legs. ¡°Waitamoment!¡± Pink Orchid interjected. Loudly. ¡°That is the same guy who called us cowards after the last emergence, because we did not clear out the Macks fast enough for his taste!¡± The mood among the onlookers immediately turned against Mr. Brown Pants. MGs were celebrities and insulting them did not sit well with the people. Among taunts and jeers by other bystanders, he retreated, dripping brown matter. Longhorn turned back to me. ¡°What exactly is this thing?¡± ¡°Sort of a big brother to Herbie, with a design more inclined towards combat.¡± As Crystal AKA Mantis had prophesied when we last met, Ladybug insisted on naming my new mech. ¡°We have named Herbie, his big brother also needs a name!¡± To my surprise, it was Longhorn who got involved at this point. ¡°Normally I don¡¯t gush about mecha bugs, but in this case I vote for naming him George.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Mantis and Ladybug demanded. ¡°I have discovered an old web novel lately that I really like, and the main character has a huge spider pet named George.¡± ¡°Oh, what¡¯s the title?¡± I asked. ¡°Duelling Dungeons. But I know the writer only by their pen name, TheWackyWombat.¡± ¡°OK, George it is,¡± I agreed. Next in line was Mantis. ¡°Let me drive George for a bit, pretty please!¡± The puppy dog eyes she made looked a bit out of place in a young woman, but they were scarily effective. Well, she already had a bit of experience driving Herbie, so it should not be too dangerous and I acceded. Crystal climbed into the cockpit and strapped herself in, while I took my place in the other seat. She asked ¡°Anything I need to know about steering?" ¡°The controls are manual just like in Herbie, so you can use your augs otherwise. I would give you the gunnery package for the augs too, if there was any chance that you become a mech gunner for real.¡± We continued on the route I had planned for myself, with the rest of Team Battle Bug escorting us. Halfway back to Vanguard Enterprises we were rudely interrupted by an emergence warning. Elya gave me a short summary. Mack units have landed at Coles Bay in the west and North Saanich in the east. Their objectives are not obvious yet, but there is a real danger that the airport area will be cut off from the city center. There are landings elsewhere but those seem to be distractions. I can see at least two fake Twenty-Ones that appear to be cheap decoys. I turned to Crystal, but before I could say anything, she had stopped George and started undoing her safety harness. ¡°Sorry but I have to leave you here, my team needs me. I¡¯d say get to shelter and don¡¯t do something stupid, but we both know that won¡¯t happen.¡± Almost as snarky as Elya, she was. But this was not the time for bickering. I waved after the Battle Bugs and jumped into the driver''s seat myself. Ignoring various traffic rules, I made my way back to Vanguard Enterprises in a hurry. I had started a print of heavy railgun ammunition earlier and hoped enough would be ready to fill the onboard magazine once. It turned out that I had eighty percent of that. That would have to do. Of the five millimeter ammo for the Shiv turrets I had plenty. Wendy was nowhere to be seen though, so I had to do my preparations on my own. I hastily set up a few Spectracopters where I could summon them remotely for reconnaissance, and loaded what ammunition was available into George. Then I had Elya display an overview of the nearby area. In the west, a sizable number of Twenty-Ones and smaller units were disgracing Coles Bay Regional Park, but they were not moving further inland yet. In the east, the Macks seemed to be in a hurry. An even greater number of Macks had come ashore at Cy Hampson Park and immediately started to move in a northeast direction. That would bring them to the airport and ultimately to the premises of Vanguard Enterprises, which sat on the northern edge of the airport. On the way there they would pass through several neighborhoods, and I could only hope the people there would get to the shelters quick enough. That area would be my first priority, and I sent a Spectracopter to get better recon data. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. The response of HANAF seemed a bit sluggish, as if they could not quite figure out what particular attack they should fend off first. At least they recognized the danger posed by the landing at Coles Bay, and on the HANAF network I could hear orders given to contain that group of Macks. The MGs were all over the map, apparently SHOCKS sent them on recon missions where HANAF had no units nearby. All of that left North Saanich uncovered, despite the Macks there likely being the biggest threat. So I announced my intent to fight those personally over the HANAF network. ¡°This is Vanguard Command, Lieutenant McCallan speaking. We are moving with experimental units from the airport to intercept the Macks moving northwest from North Saanich. Be advised that our lead unit looks a lot like a Type Three with a cannon on top.¡± My following units were eight Lesser Battlecats that I drew from the Vanguard Enterprises premises. We kept only a small number of combat bots there to keep the city council from freaking out. But I could take eight Battlecats without leaving the place completely undefended. Before moving out I ordered reinforcements and more ammunition from the fabricators, then I made my way over the deserted airfield in a hurry. I wanted to get to cover behind the buildings at the southwest corner. While I was confident the smaller Macks were not too dangerous for George, better safe than sorry. As I was almost there, I saw two Twenty-Ones appearing to my right, only a hundred meters away. I immediately turned around to point the railgun at them and ordered my Battlecats to fire on the small units. Biting back a curse, I realized that I had not charged the railgun yet. It took six tense seconds before it was ready to fire. In the meantime, the huge metal caterpillars turned towards me and lifted their armored arms over their eyes for protection. Left and right, two dozen Fours and Mack Battlecats slipped off the big units and sprinted at me. It did not do them much good. Before they were close enough to do damage, the Shiv railguns in the tails of my units mowed them down. Now it was my turn. I aimed at one of the Twenty-Ones where I knew its eye was behind the protective arms and pulled the trigger. I was thrown into my seatbelt as the violent recoil of the heavy railgun pushed George back. The results on target were even more spectacular. One of the shielding robot arms was ripped in two amidst a shower of sparks. Behind the arms a cloud of glittering dust erupted from the Mack¡¯s head, and on the far side of the big Mack I glimpsed debris flying away. ¡°Elya, show me a close up!¡± It appeared on my augs. The eye seemed to have evaporated and behind it a hole went through the Mack. I could see daylight through it. ¡°Where is the eye?¡± Gone. It was smashed into the dust cloud you saw. Nice. But I had no time to dwell further on it, as the second Mack charged me. Fortunately, the rail gun was also recharged by now and I executed the metal monster with a well placed shot through the eye. I could get used to that. To avoid being caught in the open by more Macks, I moved between two hangars and looked at the map again. In the west, HANAF troops were in the process of encircling the Macks at Coles Bay. In the east, I found myself alone against a horde of Macks. Elya highlighted those my Spectracopter found on the map, which showed a red rash of hundreds of opponents by now. At the beach several Twenty-Ones sat and were busy disgorging more Macks. I figured I would have to take out those quickly, before the total number became overwhelming. With a flick of my eye, I used my C&C suite to send the battlecats ahead eastwards, then I followed with George. My destination was the Tulista Boat Launch, where I would have a free field of fire and a bit of cover behind a gravel berm. It turned out that I had to hurry. The first Mack scout units already appeared between the houses. My Battlecats quickly dispatched them, but those losses would invariably draw more Macks to investigate. Finally I reached my firing position and took position behind the berm. I brought up the image from the targeting scope and aimed at the nearest of the six Twenty-Ones there. ¡°Elya, component overlay!¡± Over the image of the Mack, colored contours of its innards appeared, based on the schematics I had acquired from defeated Macks. I eased the reticle over the reactor and gently pulled the trigger until George shook under the recoil again. A second later, sparks flew from the large machine, then a spurt of plasma escaped from the bullet hole. Well done. The reactor is toast, that one will not bother you anymore. Yay for superior sniping. That was the way I loved waging war. It seemed the Macks had not realized yet what was happening, as they carried on like they had before. My next shot killed a second Twenty-One the same way. Now some disquiet became visible among the Macks. Two of them moved close together, with the heads my way and hidden behind their arms. It looked like they were shielding the remaining two while they did whatever, but I could not deal with them yet. Instead, I opened fire on the shielding units. This time it took me four shots and half a minute until I was sure the Twenty-Ones facing me were neutralized. That might have taken too long, as I saw the waves part behind them and something massive emerge from the sea. Of course, the remaining two Twenty-Ones had to summon a fucking Type 32. My first two shots at it hit center mass, right into the shredder built into the mouth of the Thirty-Two. Nothing happened. I recommend shooting at the eyes. That is the weakest point from this direction. Fine, the eyes then. I carefully aimed at one of the six deeply-recessed yellow eyes, but before I could fire, the metal monster launched four shells in my direction. I ducked behind the berm as well as I could. Around me, the world exploded. Two shells from the Thirty-Two had hit the berm and exploded, showering George with stone and metal shrapnel. Fortunately, the cockpit armor held. One of the Shiv turrets was not as lucky and got jammed. The railgun still appeared operational, so I resumed shooting at the eyes of the huge metal monster. My next shot was a hit, and one of the eyes winked out. I ducked behind the remains of the berm to my left, until I saw that my railgun was ready to fire again. I raised the hull of George just enough that my gun was peeking over the berm, then I picked the next eye to shoot at. The Thirty-Two and I fired at the same time, and I ducked back down again. Nice shot. The second eye is out. The Thirty-Two fired again and missed with three out of four shots, but the fourth one hit and my cover crumbled further. I needed some help there. ¡°Elya, is the Thirty-Two from last month still operational?¡± Yes. It still has three working guns and some rounds left in its magazines. I popped up to take another shot at the Thirty-Two. The adrenaline messed up my aim though and I only blasted a crater into the armor. ¡°Is it in a position to fire at the big Mack?¡± Yes. ¡°Do it!¡± Another salvo from the Thirty-Two. I moved further to the left, which took me into the water. But there was more berm left there. This time, George got showered with water from a shell hitting the sea in front of us. The blast was transmitted through the water and hit George like a hammerblow. A look at the map showed that there were only three of my Battlecats left. It also showed three projectiles from a friendly unit racing past me. I had another shot ready and popped up to take it. Just in time to see the shells from my Thirty-Two hit. All of them. One was a lucky hit on a turret that left the barrel askew. Number two and three gouged craters into the armor, but failed to penetrate. ¡°Elya, try to hit the turrets.¡± That had worked for me before. My next shot pierced another eye. It shattered into a cloud of dust. Three down, three to go. The Thirty-Two retaliated with a salvo of only three shells now. Better. One still hit my cover and diminished it further, throwing up a fountain of dirt and water. Next it was the turn of my Thirty-Two. Three shells plowed into the enemy Mack and managed to knock out a second turret in a fireball. I followed up with another railgun shot that took out eye number four, then I ducked back. Deeper into the water. The enemy Thirty-Two missed this time, and its shells ripped up some buildings behind me. As I peeked over my berm again, I saw the enemy Mack turning around. Was it trying to bring its undamaged guns on the rear to bear? ¡°Elya, overlay!¡± I remembered from studying the design that the armor was weaker on the side. Elya promptly displayed the innards of the huge war machine, and I saw a particularly juicy target. The electronics that controlled the magnetic coils in the reactor. A difficult target, but destroying it would instantly win me the fight. Sweating bullets, I eased the aiming reticule over the reactor controller and caressed the trigger. Once again George shook under the recoil, and a bullet shot out at hypersonic speed. It hit exactly where I wanted, the effect was anticlimactic though. The Thirty-Two just stopped moving. Only a bit of smoke escaped from the bullet hole. ¡°Elya, do we have shells in the Thirty-Two left?¡± Yes. Enough for four salvos. ¡°Try to hit the remaining Twenty-Ones with those. Feel free to fly the Spectracopter closer if it helps with targeting.¡± Moving back onto solid ground, I found that another one of my Battlecats had been destroyed at some point, leaving me with only two. Another salvo from my Thirty-Two raced past, and on the feed from the Spectracopter I saw the heavy shells obliterating a Twenty-One and a bunch of lesser units. The Twenty-One was ripped open like a tin can. The smaller units suffered various fates from being thrown around to outright disintegrating. I left Elya to do the shooting for a bit, got out of the cockpit and checked on my remaining two Battlecats. Thankfully these were still operational, and I managed to salvage some Shiv ammo from the destroyed ones. Another salvo screamed past me, shortly followed by detonations on the beach to the south. I got the last Twenty-One for you. Two salvos left in the guns. Chapter 72: Mopping up Even with the most dangerous foes taken out, it would still be a lot of work to contain and round up the rest of the metal pests. My first move was to intercept a group that had entered the airport and was moving northwards. Letting them reach Vanguard Enterprises was not something I considered acceptable. Unfortunately for them, I caught them in the middle of the airport, far from any cover. I mercilessly picked them off with George¡¯s remaining Shiv turret. Easy kills and another 200 points. Next I took a detour past the very first group of Macks we had taken out. I found the half arm I had shot off the Twenty-One and hefted it as a club in one of George¡¯s hands. After that, I doubled back towards the residential area southeast of the airport. My Spectracopter had detected quite a few Macks sniffing around the family homes there, and I wanted to clean them out. Between only two battlecats and George it would be slow going though. The very first Mack we flushed out was a Type One, and despite the difference in size it went for George right away. I smashed it into the ground with the arm of the Twenty-One and crushed it like a tin can. Plastic shards and oil from ruptured hoses went flying. Next were two Fours. I dropped my improvised club, grabbed one by the tentacles and swung it over my head. Or more precisely, over George''s cockpit. I brought it down on the other Four like a flail. The strong shells of the Macks were barely damaged, but I could hear things inside break. My bots and I easily defeated any small group of Macks we encountered, but tracking them down took time. Things improved when the fabbers at Vanguard Enterprises produced a new group of four new Lesser Battlecats. I ordered those to advance in parallel to us. While my own group moved southwards along the Patricia Bay Highway, the new robot squad proceeded along the eastern edge of the airport and further along Canora road. Aided by Spectracopters above us, my fighting groups flushed out groups of Macks one by one and hammered them into scrap. Where possible at range with railguns, but sometimes it came to close quarters combat. Then the fight became a vortex of tentacles lashing out and glowing claws slicing through Mack armor. Or when my group with George was involved, beatdowns with half of an armored arm from a Twenty-One. It had almost become routine when my western group was assaulted by a Mack MG, escorted by four Mack Battlecats. With a few flicks of my eye, I assigned the Dark MG as primary target. While my Lesser Battlecats cut loose at the MG, the Mack Battlecats attacked them in return. The result was mutual slaughter. The MG was riddled with railgun bullets and collapsed in the street, but my units were cut down by the fiery claws and plasma blasts of the Mack Battlecats. Checking the map, I found myself halfway between the coast and the southeast corner of the airport. I moved westwards with my group to eliminate the enemy battlecats and secure the body of the Mack MG. Moving down Summergate Boulevard, I spotted two of the Mack Battlecats two hundred meters away. My escorting battlecats had already opened fire, but I did not want to rely on that and joined in with the big railgun. Lucky shot! The projectile utterly obliterated the first target in a fireball and a shower of debris. It was also slightly deflected towards the second enemy. That one lost two legs from the hit. My own Battlecats finished it off with the Shivs built into their tails. I pinpointed the next Mack Battlecat using the recon data from the Spectracopter. A house was between me and it. ¡°Elya, wallhack!¡± Imitating a cheating technique from the early days of FPS shooter games, Elya projected the silhouette of the Mack on the wall of the house. I figured the walls were thin enough to shoot through with the heavy railgun. I was right. A cloud of pulverized stone erupted from the entry hole and from the exit hole, and behind the house the Mack Battlecat fell over. I walked George around the house and finished it off with my improvised club. The final Mack Battlecat fell to a concentrated salvo from our railguns. I proceeded to the body of the Mack MG, got out of the cockpit and examined her. That she was completely still was expected, but then I discovered the hole through her head. One of the railgun bullets had penetrated her electronic brain. I felt a tear running down my cheek. This was an enemy, but likely not by choice. She had been enslaved and used as a weapon against her fellow humans, maybe even friends and family. Nobody deserved that. But I had no time to properly mourn her. So I dragged her off the road and covered her with a tarp I stole from a nearby car to give her at least a shred of dignity. I also took a photo of her face in the hope of identifying her later. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Focusing on my mission again, I reloaded the Shiv railguns in my combat bots and returned to George¡¯s cockpit. There were still an estimated two hundred Macks running around south of me, and no HANAF in sight. Being seriously outnumbered, I chose not to dive into the middle of the enemy hordes before I had new reinforcements. Over the next twenty minutes I switched anxiously between watching my surroundings and checking the surveillance feed from the Spectracopter. A few Macks stumbled into my vicinity and were promptly gunned down, but no dangerous concentrations of Macks approached. Finally, the next batch of four Lesser Battlecats emerged from the fabricators at Vanguard Enterprises. I ordered them to my current position and resumed my previous one at the highway. Carefully I advanced towards the south again, the new Battlecats mirroring my moves further west. I soon ran into bigger groups of Macks, and a few times I had to retreat for a bit. But wrecked Mack by wrecked Mack I managed to carve the enemy up. My group of four Battlecats to the west also did well. Suddenly, I found myself face to face with four Magical Girls. I recognized them as the newbie team I met three months ago. Back then, I had to assure them that I was not an evil Mack Queen who would feed them to her bots. By now, they had grown a lot more confident. The girls also had found their specializations. A leader wearing orange, a yellow supporter, a blue magitech specialist and finally a healer in pink. The MG team immediately prepared to attack. Hastily I made George and my escorting Battlecats prostrate themselves and got out of my cockpit. The apparent leader of the MGs raised her chainsword and asked ¡°What the fuck are you? A Forty-Two?¡± The girl in yellow signaled her to calm down and replied ¡°Wait, I recognize her. She is the crazy lady with the tame Macks we met before. Weird but probably not after our blood.¡± ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Caitlin. Weapons manufacturer and occasional hobby soldier.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Aquila, leader of Ad Astra¡± the girl in orange replied. ¡°We are here to contain and exterminate the forces of chaos, err, the Macks.¡± With grudging respect she added ¡°It seems you were already doing a passable job. Could you help some more by keeping the tin cans from moving further north again?¡± ¡°Sure, what¡¯s the plan?¡± ¡°Keep watch at McTavish Road and kill all Macks that try to move past it. We need to clear out the residential area south of here, and it would be nice if the Macks don¡¯t sneak past us while we are hunting them.¡° ¡°I can do that. Actually, would you like some recon support?¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°I can send you a small reconnaissance drone to help find the tin critters.¡° Their blue team member piped up ¡°I¡¯m Hydra and my perk is that I can see through surveillance cameras. Let me try using that drone!¡± I replied ¡°A moment please!¡± and subvocalized to Elya: ¡°Try to establish a connection to the Spectracopter for her.¡± Haggling with the weird MG tech¡­ done. Hydra made a surprised face and started searching the sky. ¡°What the fuck, I can see Macks all over the place? That drone has to be somewhere above but I cannot find it.¡± ¡°Yes, it is designed to be almost invisible.¡± I¡¯ll make it show up as a friendly unit, following the SHOCKS color code. ¡°Now you should be able to see it,¡± I added and pointed towards the Spectracopter. At Elya¡¯s prompting I added ¡°It will follow the movement controls included in your MG enhancements¡± and handed over control. Hydra made it move around a bit and started to gush. ¡°Yesss! How does it work? Especially the invisibility? And¡­¡± Aquila interrupted ¡°That¡¯s great and thank you,¡± looking at me, ¡°but we have to get going!¡± This said, Team Ad Astra disappeared among the houses to the south. I held my position for another two hours, but very few Macks dared to challenge it. Those who did were swiftly perforated with railgun bullets. Eventually Team Ad Astra showed up again and announced the emergence was as good as over, and they would soon return to SHOCKS. I showed them the body of the Type 42. ¡°I have not seen that face on a Forty-Two before, might be a new kidnap victim.¡± I cannot find the face online either, which suggests this one is not modeled after a particular person. Very few people are never in a photo that finds its way into some database. Aquila nodded. ¡°This is bad. Very bad. We will take her to SHOCKS with us, perhaps they can identify her. But also, thanks a lot for your help. Perhaps we could meet and talk again when we are not knee deep in Macks.¡± We agreed to meet over Christmas for a small celebration. Hydra was also quite eager to learn more about the Spectracopter and other interesting tech I might have. A bit later, the internet came back on and a HANAF representative proclaimed that the emergence had been repelled. Elya chimed in with a comment about my accomplishments today. Including the points from HANAF¡¯s use of your weapons and your previous balance, you now have 11804 points. You also receive a token for almost single handedly containing the Mack landing at Cy Hampson Park. ¡°Nice. But I was not really done with the Macks on that front.¡± You would have managed even without Team Ad Astra. I have faith in you. ¡°Aww, that¡¯s sweet!¡± Chapter 73: Christmas Presents Three days later, Wendy, Arina and I met at the Colwood shelter. I had also invited Team Ad Astra as promised. They would come a few hours later though, so I had time to distribute some presents to my friends. For Arina, I had a collection of exquisite pralines and cookies. But as expensive as they were, their financial value was a small fraction of what I had to offer Wendy. I made a show of handing her a big box covered in gift wrap paper. When she opened it, she found a DataSilo labeled ¡°Backup Wendy¡± and some more boxes. Wendy promptly opened them and asked ¡°Are these the parts for the snack upgrade?¡± ¡°Yes. If you would like, we can install them before our guests are here.¡± Wendy enthusiastically agreed, and we went to work installing her new parts. That is, I did most of the work while Arina watched. Eventually it was time to close up Wendy again and switch her on. Awake again, she said ¡°I need to test that right away!¡± and started looking around for some morsels to try. Arina shared some of her sweets with Wendy and me, and soon the sound of a collective foodgasm filled the room. A happy smile on her lips, Wendy told me ¡°Thank you so much! But how do I use this backup thing?¡± Elya piped up from the hi-fi sound system. There is a fiber optic high speed cable included in the DataSilo. You plug one end into the storage device and the other one into the socket behind your ear. Then¡­ Wendy quickly followed instructions and soon she was sitting on my bed, contently waiting while terabytes of data rushed over the connection. In the meantime Arina and I decorated the kitchen for our little party. While we were fiddling with ornaments, Arina asked me ¡°I¡¯m a bit out of the loop, what have you been up to at Vanguard Enterprises?¡° ¡°Making military supplies, making and selling other stuff to the general public so we can pay the bills. Small size fabricators like the one we have here are quite popular. Also, I finally got around to make the Class II fabricators I purchased the blueprint for. The first one should be ready by now at Vanguard Enterprises.¡± ¡°What makes it better than the fabbers you already have? And what are you gonna make with it?¡± ¡°Precision down to the atomic level. The thing can literally place individual molecules. The first thing we will make is a so-called Nano-Regenerative Suite to heal trauma and some other kinds of damage. It comes in an inhaler, you breathe in the nanites and it fixes you up. It is at least as good as the entry level stuff from the Advent. "Come to think of it, there is a lot of valuable tech by now I want to give you and Wendy full access to. Otherwise it could be lost if I bite it for some reason.¡± ¡°Don'' t you dare die on me. You are way too important in my life! But I guess it makes sense to have a sort of backup.¡± Happily, I gave her a big hug and a very extended kiss. Meanwhile Wendy was done backing herself up and watched us from the door to my room. Arina didn''t notice. I ignored Wendy until she sweetly asked ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we finish with the decorations?¡± Arina seemed a bit embarrassed, but I just said ¡°Yes, but right now I needed a taste of Arina more!¡± Arina¡¯s embarrassment went up to eleven. Wendy just gave her a little smirk. Together we finished decorating, then I gave Arina and her the passwords and an introduction to a workstation that contained my collected blueprints and alien textbooks. At the end of the little seminar I added ¡°I will set up a second one at Vanguard Enterprises, as an extra backup.¡± If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. A bit later Team Ad Astra showed up in the beginning dusk. A freezing wind was driving the first snowflakes of the year before it, and the MGs seemed happy to be out of the cold. I invited them into the kitchen that doubled as a common room and served coffee and freshly baked cheesecake. Their team leader Aquila introduced herself to Wendy and Arina right away. ¡°I¡¯m Aquila, team lead of Ad Astra. But y¡¯all can call me Joanne.¡± Wendy replied ¡°I¡¯m Wendy. A normal human girl who was captured by the Macks, made into a robot slave and then rescued by Caitlin. Eh, with ¡®normal¡¯ I mean that I was never a Magical Girl. Perhaps the Macks took me by mistake, because I¡¯ve heard that they are usually going after MGs.¡± The mood in the room became a lot more somber. The team healer of Ad Astra said ¡°Don¡¯t remind me. We still don¡¯t know who the dead Forty-Two was. By the way, I¡¯m Lynx, civilian name Angela.¡± Their supporter in yellow followed. ¡°Hi, my code name is Carina. Please forgive me if I don''t want to give out my birth name yet.¡° Finally Hydra came forward. She had obviously held back until everyone else had a chance to introduce themselves, but now she did her best to monopolize me. ¡°Hi all, I go by Hydra as my code name, but my friends call me Bonnie. Caitlin, you have to tell me all about that nifty drone you lent me!¡± ¡°I can do more than that. I can show you.¡± From a kitchen shelf I pulled a slender carry case that was about half a meter long and opened it. Inside was a transparent little helicopter that seemed only half present in this world, and recessed in the lid of the box were a screen and something that looked like half of a game console controller. ¡°This is the Spectracopter Mark III. If you turn it around like this,¡± I rotated the case with the lid towards me, ¡°you have the controls in the lid of the box. Also, the box doubles as a charging station.¡± At an outstretched hand and a questioning look from Bonnie I encouraged her ¡°Go ahead!¡± Bonnie took the Spectracopter out of the case and asked ¡°The camouflage is awesome. How does it work?¡± ¡°Non-reflective, transparent meta-materials let the light pass through most parts with little distortion, and otherwise bend it around the core where solid parts like the batteries are.¡± ¡°Wow. Where can I get one? Most of the time I can access HANAF drones, but from time to time a personal recon drone would be nice. For our duties as Magical Girls of course,¡± Bonnie gushed. I could almost hear the winking smiley in that. But I was in the mood to be generous. ¡°Want to keep it? I can always print a new one for myself. Let¡¯s call it your Christmas present for this year.¡± ¡°Thank you so much! This is like getting custom gear from SHOCKS. Sometimes they can coax Sanctuary into making stuff for us MGs you would not be able to get outside SHOCKS.¡± Sanctuary was the huge Advent weapons platform stranded in the city, towering even over the skyscrapers of Victoria. It had manufacturing capabilities far beyond human tech, but these were almost entirely occupied with making synthetic food. Without that to supplement the scarce supply from farms, overpopulated Vancouver Island would face a famine. At that scary thought I remembered to invite our guests to take their seats at the table. The cheesecake was immediately popular and Angela remarked ¡°Before I came to SHOCKS, I rarely had luxury food like this cake. It is really good!¡± Between two bites Joanne inquired ¡°You said that you can always print a new one of these little choppers? That sounds almost like you got your hands on an Advent fabricator.¡± ¡°Something like that. Actually, I have the blueprints to make more of these fabricators. We are selling these through Vanguard Enterprises by now. By the way, SHOCKS already has a few.¡± ¡°That is huge! I¡¯ll have to inform Palace - wait, you said SHOCKS already has some of your fabbers?¡± ¡°Yes. And Palace is informed, she knows at least the broad strokes. B.S.O.D. knows all the details, as she usually negotiates these things with me.¡± ¡°Oh my god, I almost made a fool of myself there. But say, just how did you get these esoteric blueprints?¡± ¡°I have my own connections. Let''s just say the Advent and the Macks are not the only source of advanced tech out there. But please don¡¯t blab this all over town. B.S.O.D. already knows, so you don¡¯t need to burst into her office with the big news.¡± Chapter 74: Nano-Stuff December 27th, 2048 Early in the morning, I drove to Vanguard Enterprises to test the first Attoscale Architect, the Class II Matter Reconfiguration Machine I had purchased the blueprint for a few weeks ago. I moved the thing to an empty office and set it up with the help of a maintenance drone. A dozen more would follow it. One Architect was not the fastest at printing stuff, but due to its modest size we could set up quite a few in that office alone. From the doorway, Wendy¡¯s voice interrupted me. ¡°Hi, what¡¯s on the agenda?¡± ¡°Testing the Architect. I¡¯m making a few Nano-Regenerative Suites.¡± ¡±Great. From what you have told us, these might sell for a very nice price.¡± ¡°Yes, but I don¡¯t think we should squeeze our customers for everything they¡¯re worth. These little inhalers could improve the lives of many people. I¡¯d feel bad if they were only available for the rich.¡± ¡°How noble of you¡± Wendy grinned. I was not sure if she was serious or just snarking. She added ¡°It will take a while to get it to the patients though. Clinical tests are still required before we can sell any kind of medication.¡± ¡°You have a point. I¡¯ll finish printing this batch anyway. If nothing else, the things can go into my personal first aid kit. ¡°But this is not the only project I have in mind. At Styx Base I have some Mack tech lying around I want to take a closer look at. Such as the little creation engines for the nanites the Mack MGs are using.¡± I had reverse engineered two types of Mack nanites before, but not the tiny nanite factories built into the Dark MGs. That promised to be a more difficult endeavor, but I wanted to tackle it anyway. Wendy promptly signaled that she wanted to come along. ¡°I¡¯d like to watch, and maybe Elya can explain things for me. Also, I finally have my pilot license and I want that air taxi you promised me.¡± Obviously she referred to the Variocopter that was still sitting at Styx base. Soon we were on our way in the Explorer, my armed aircar. Below us, the waves of the Salish Sea glittered in the morning light. Before us, the snow-covered silhouette of Mount Olympus peeked above low-hanging clouds. Wendy mused ¡°This is so beautiful. Without the Macks, it could be a paradise.¡± ¡°You won¡¯t find any disagreement from me.¡± Ten minutes later we landed on the helipad at the base entrance. Wendy had already greedily ogled her new ride from the air. It sat on the smaller secondary helipad on top of the tower that held my apartment. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. ¡°Business first!¡± I reminded her. Soon we were in the lab where I had stored the Mack bodies of Arina and Wendy. As I started to dig out the Mack version of the nanite-producing organs, I realized that I needed some additional tools to prepare them for proper reverse engineering. ¡°Elya, I think I need some precision tools for this. I want to cut some really small pieces out for analysis in the Scraper, but my fingers are too clumsy. Pick something suitable for me.¡± Unlocked: Class I Precision Manipulators Price¡­ 50 points Purchased: Mark II Midget Multitool (blueprint) Price¡­ 100 points Remaining balance: One token and 11704 points You can make the ¡°Midget¡± in one of your Class I fabricators. A print job I immediately started. After only a few minutes, I was presented with a small box that contained a workbench of a size suitable for a mouse. Surrounding the workbench were several tiny robot arms with either grippers or tools mounted to them. Such as a tiny cutting disc a centimeter in diameter or a milling tool that seemed appropriate in size for dentistry. At the front of the box there were much larger manipulator controls suited for human hands, and in the lid of the box was a screen that showed the work area in considerable magnification. As I slowly dissected one of the miniature creation engines, I noticed Wendy being obviously bored. But that could be fixed. ¡°Elya, we need a second of these tiny workbenches.¡± Print job started. Minutes later Wendy made herself useful at a second Midget Multitool, and soon we had some of the most mysterious components extracted and fed into the ¡°Scraper¡± analyzer. A 3D map of molecule-sized raw material feeds, microscopic data paths and what looked like molds for casting nanites unfolded on the display of the Scraper. ¡°Elya, what are these?¡± I pointed at the mold-y things. Highly specialized manufacturing blocks for one pre-designed type of weaponized nanites. This creation engine can make only these, but at a surprisingly fast rate. ¡°And could we reproduce the creation engine?¡± With the Attoscale Architect, yes. Eventually, we had blueprints for two types of matchbox-sized creation engines. One could make the nanites for the Fire Arrow attack, the other those for Vaporizing Blast. But I wanted more and started digging into a device in the Mack¡¯s left forearm. That is a shield device. It projects a protective shield in front of the user. ¡°Yeah, Captain Obvious. But what can you tell me about how it works?¡± It builds a two-dimensional grid out of specialized nanites that are spatially locked to the generator. The nanites work together to create an energy field that stops energy weapons and kinetic weapons alike. Its weakness is that the nanites last only a few seconds. ¡°Even a few seconds can be useful. Let¡¯s analyze how it works.¡± I was unsure if I could pull it off, considering Elya had once teased me with a Class III requirement for shielding systems. But it certainly was worth a try. Two hours later I sat on a crate with a growing headache. Even the Lorekeeper Tome of Field Technology (100 points) did not clarify things sufficiently. Did I perhaps need a brain upgrade to get anywhere with this? Chapter 75: New Year’s Emergence II Sunday, December 27th, 2048 The day before, I had given up on a quick solution to the nanite shield problem. But the idea of upgrading myself did not leave my mind, it was time to probe the possibilities. Talking aloud to let Wendy share in the discussion, I asked ¡°Elya, if I would hypothetically want to make myself smarter, what would be my options? And I mean smarter than getting a Mack brain.¡± Looking at Wendy, I added ¡°No offense to current Mack brain users intended.¡° Elya piped up over the closest loudspeaker. A Mack brain would be a downgrade in your case, not an improvement. If you are serious about upgrading yourself, I recommend the Mk IV Neuromorphic Core from the Class II Computation Devices catalog. Also, if you don¡¯t want to rely on crude Mack technology for the mind upload, an alternative from the Protectors will cost additional points. Wendy: ¡°Did you just call me stupid, you glorified pocket calculator?¡± That is relative. I estimate that your IQ is around the eighty-second percentile of the general population. Which is not bad but Caitlin is clearly smarter than you. I tried my best to deny myself the grin that was trying to form. The flattery was nice but it would be neither nice nor wise to be condescending. Instead I told Wendy ¡°Another eight days, and the GhostShell that is in the printer for you will be ready.¡± With that upgrade, Wendy will become slightly smarter than you. Now I grinned. ¡°Looks like you will be the smartass then.¡± ¡°Just you wait. I will exploit the new advantage mercilessly!¡± I was not sure if I was ready for either massive brain surgery or losing the chance to have children by replacing my body, but I still needed to know my options. ¡°Elya, how would the Neuromorphic Core be installed, and just how much better would it be?" Installation can either be in a robot body, such as the SecondLife body replacement, or as an implant in a human body. The latter would be quite messy without a full robodoc, you would need a friendly clinic to cut out your old brain and stuff the implant in. So, robodocs were a thing. But before I could follow that line of thought further, Elya continued. Performance-wise the Neuromorphic Core would bring roughly a ten-fold improvement in speed, with a vastly expanded memory and capacity for logic. ¡°Thanks Elya. It would be a huge step, and I need to think about it.¡± Tuesday 29th, 2049 The last few days had been on the quiet side. Customer demand for our stuff was unusually low, but that was probably due to the holidays. We used the free time to add some more fabbers at Vanguard Enterprises. Shortly before we called it a day, the telephone rang. Wendy took the call, and a chipper young voice introduced herself as Monica from the Mayor¡¯s office. She asked to speak to me. ¡°Good to finally reach you. The city is holding a New Year¡¯s meet and greet at Hatley Castle and we¡¯re inviting all those who contributed significantly to the fight against the Macks last year. That includes you and you are welcome to bring a friend or two. I know this is on awfully short notice, but there will be a wonderful buffet! I should know, I got to sample the leftovers last year!¡± Wendy whispered in my ear ¡°Snacks! Accept the invitation!¡± I took the clue and told Monica ¡°Yes, I will be there. With two friends. At what time should we arrive?¡± ¡°7 PM, the dress code will be formal clothing!¡± I called Arina, and it turned out that she could get leave for the weekend. When I told her about the snacks, she immediately agreed to come along. Thursday 31th, 2049 At 7 PM sharp, we arrived at the castle. Wendy and I in business suits that we did not use often but kept available for such occasions. Arina¡®s only formal wear was her dress uniform, but her CO had assured her that it was acceptable at this kind of formal celebration. What we had in the back of my van was less formal. A Shiv and armor for each of us, six of the Lesser Battlecats and plenty of spare ammo. At the entrance we encountered Inspector Hastings, the commander of the police force guarding the festivities. She recognized me and asked with a smirk ¡°Not armed to the teeth today?¡± ¡°We have some stuff in my van, just in case.¡± ¡°I hope we don¡¯t need it this year.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t jinx it!¡± Inside I saw that the damage from last year had been skillfully repaired, but in some places the color did not quite match the patina of the old material. Arina noticed I was inspecting the repairs, and I had to tell her about the fight a year ago. Soon we were mingling with the other guests. I met Roger from the militia I had joined a year ago. As he was one of those who fought to protect the party guests last year, he also was invited. Apparently he had started a new business and was using the opportunity to network. Wendy did the same, and judging from the snippets of conversation I picked up, she was well on her way to selling some more fabricators. Good girl. Not only would it bring us money, the fabbers would also help to stabilize the economy. Gaps in supply chains were still a problem in Haven, and devices like our fabricators could help to bridge those gaps. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. At my side, Arina was already ogling the buffet. I was about to tell her to be more discreet, when Elya informed me and everyone else about a new incursion. She hijacked the P.A. system and proclaimed ¡°Emergence detected! Please stay calm and form a line at the exit of the hall. Security personnel will guide you to a nearby shelter.¡± ¡°Very proactive, Elya.¡± I commented. ¡°Is the rest of the city informed?¡± Elya responded in my head: No. Somehow the prediction system for Mack emergencies has utterly failed. Also, some of the Macks are already here at Esquimalt Lagoon. ¡°Dammit. Give me a line to SHOCKS!¡± To my surprise, a sleepy B.S.O.D. answered. She was not whom I expected as the watchkeeping officer, but talking to her would make things easier as she already knew about Elya. ¡°SHOCKS, B.S.O.D. speaking. What is the reason for this call?¡± ¡°Vanguard Command speaking, Intelligence department. Elya has detected an emergence, enemy units are at Hatley Castle and probably elsewhere.¡± ¡°What? We have no indicators suggesting there are Macks anywhere nearby, let alone a full emergence!¡± Elya entered the conversation. I¡¯m tracking the number of Mack teleportations through the Arcane Feeler at Styx Base. If all of these transits are invading units, you have five hundred and counting all over Victoria. The answer was a heavy sigh, then I could hear B.S.O.D. sound the alarm. I could not help her further at this time, so instead I ordered a Spectracopter to take off from the Colwood shelter and come over for better surveillance. We had installed launching and recharging cradles for those a few days ago, and now they showed their worth. I also activated the little automatic flak turret on top of my van. At that point Inspector Hastings approached me and hissed ¡°What is going on? And why am I suddenly getting a tactical overlay on my augs?¡± Ah well. Hastings had a need to know now and she would be the next person to learn about Elya. ¡°My AI assistant Elya has detected a nearby Mack emergence. Here at Esquimalt Lagoon. Some of their units are assembling at the beach already. The overlay is courtesy of Elya, it should make directing your people easier.¡± ¡°You have some nerve, interfering with our operations like that. But I¡¯ll take your warning at face value for now.¡± She abruptly left me and started collecting her officers, directing some to organize the party guests into a neat line and sending some to search the building for stragglers. A little rude but I could not fault her for it. At my side, Arina fretted ¡°Shouldn''t we get our weapons?¡± ¡°Yes we should.¡± I waved Wendy over and we marched down the stairs. One black-haired, stocky police officer accosted us. ¡°Where are you going?¡± I answered ¡°Getting our guns, we will help defend the place. At least until the guests are in the shelter. ¡°We also have some Mack-like robotic units that we would like to deploy, perhaps you could tell your buddies not to shoot at those.¡± ¡°I need to see those!¡± We led the officer to the van and grabbed our kit, while the guy stared at the Battlecats. ¡°What the fuck? These look like a cross between a robot, a cougar and a scorpion!¡± ¡°They are essentially a cheaper and slightly smaller version of the Mack Type 43, but with a different tail gun. I would have brought more, but my van is full.¡± By the time we had donned our armor, the Spectracopter had arrived and gave us an overview of the situation. Most of the Macks were still sitting at the beach, but they had already sent out scouts in the general direction of Hatley Castle. I addressed my group ¡°We need to protect the guests until they reach the shelter under the campus reception. I don¡¯t like it, but we might need to split up to cover both east and west of the castle.¡± Wendy said ¡±Perhaps I should go on the castle tower for overwatch. From what you told me, Alan was quite effective at sniping Macks a year ago.¡± I knew Wendy was good with a Shiv. Some of that was due to cheating with an aimbot-like software package I had given her, but there was no denying the results. So I answered ¡°OK, but talk to Inspector Hastings first.¡± To Arina: ¡°I guess you get your first subordinate units today, three of the Battlecats. Stay defensive and don¡¯t get killed. We don¡¯t have the numbers for a full scale battle right now.¡± We split up, with Arina and her three Battlecats taking position in the park west of Hatley Castle, while I moved east to intercept any Macks trying to flank the procession of guests. I was barely into the strip of forest that was left between the castle and the encroaching buildings to the east, when I found myself face to face with a Type One. One of my Battlecats clawed its eye out, but now the Macks might know my position. Through the trees I spotted a few Twenty-Eights creeping up the beach, promptly followed by the crack of a hypersonic projectile. The glowing eye of one Mack went dark, then the others returned fire. Bursts of pulverized stone erupted from the battlements of the castle¡¯s tower. Now it was my turn. With two quick shots I killed two more of the Mack sniper units. Only to see two more turn around and aim in my direction. I dove behind a tree, while my Battlecats opened fire. Two enemy bullets ripped past me, then silence from the beach. From beyond the castle I heard more shots. That had to be Arina and her Battlecats. As I brought up the tactical map from my C&C suite, I saw that the situation had become more dangerous. The people from the meet and greet were in the open where they were maximally vulnerable. They had about 200 meters to walk, and it went frustratingly slow. From the west another horde of Macks was approaching the park where Arina had taken up position. But as much as I wanted to, I did not dare to run over to support her. That would leave a huge hole on the east side of our defenses. Thankfully, Wendy was still in business. Taking care to expose herself as little as possible, she popped up from time to time and sent a bullet toward the beach. That seemed to keep the Macks in check, even the bird¡¯s-eye view of the Spectracopter showed very little movement at the beach. Minutes later, the fecal matter truly hit the rotary impeller. A group of Type Six kamikaze Macks flew over the castle and attacked the guests moving into the campus reception. Wendy shot one out of the air, and the little turret on my van eliminated another three. But the rest got through, and explosions rang out from near the reception. Past the castle, the gunfire picked up in intensity. Only on my side things were quiet for a moment, so I decided to leave and support the other groups. My first stop was the van, where I grabbed the first aid kit. From there I ran north to the campus reception to give what help I could, my three Battlecats in tow. As I arrived, I encountered a grisly sight. Two guests and two of the police officers that had escorted them lay in their blood, while the remaining officers guided the survivors to the shelter in the basement. Not all of those were unscathed either. One of the downed officers still moved and seemed to be conscious. When I addressed him, he answered weakly ¡°I¡¯m done for. Look after the guests.¡± Blood ran from the corner of his mouth. One of your Nano-Regenerative Suites should be sufficient to stabilize him. I took a look around, and the other three victims seemed beyond help, so I turned back to the officer and showed him the high tech medication. ¡°This is an Advent tech regenerative inhaler. Experimental but it might save you,¡± I lied about the source. ¡°Draw a breath from the mouthpiece, as deep as you can.¡± He obediently did so and his breathing soon became more steady. The flow of blood also shrank to a trickle. Fortunately two of his colleagues came back from the building to retrieve him. I gave them my first aid supplies and explained the use of the two remaining Nano-Regenerative Suites, before I left them in a hurry to support Arina. Chapter 76: Damage & Air Superiority The gunfire from the west of the castle had slacked off and there was only the occasional crack of a Shiv bullet now. I wasn¡¯t sure if it was coming from the park or from the top of Hatley Castle. So I made my way to the park at the west side of the castle, dashing from cover to cover. Eventually I spotted Arina and my heart almost stopped. She was lying on the ground, with an arm and leg mangled so badly I could see the broken internals. With her one remaining hand she was struggling to push a new magazine into her Shiv. The obvious culprits were three Mack Battlecats that had somehow ambushed Arina and cut up her left side with their plasma claws. Now they lay collapsed and unresponsive on the ground, joined by two of Arina¡¯s supporting Battlecats. The last one still stood guard over her, even badly damaged by the fiery talons of the Macks it was somehow still operational. I ordered the three Battleacts in my own escort to guard our position, then I whispered to Arina ¡°We¡¯ll get you out of here - we can¡¯t hold this position any longer.¡± ¡°What about the reception guests? We need to protect them!¡± ¡°They¡¯ve reached the shelter. They will be safe there for the moment.¡± With that said, I called Wendy. ¡°We need to get out of here. Arina is badly hurt and we are down to only four Battlecats!¡± ¡°On the way!¡± In under a minute, Wendy came around the corner in the van. Together we scooped Arina up and put her in the back. Our remaining battlecats followed and seconds later we were racing up University Drive, way over the speed limit. A look at my internal HUD showed that the way to the Colwood shelter appeared clear of Macks, so I made my way westwards down Sooke Road. Minutes later we arrived at the shelter and carried Arina down to the entrance. I positioned the Battlecats outside before heading in and slamming the door behind us. Before attending to Arina¡¯s injuries I took a look at the situation as shown by HANAF¡¯s reconnaissance drones. The coverage was poor to say the least. Especially in the northeast near the airport. But that was something I could help with. ¡°Elya, scramble the Spectracopters at Vanguard Enterprises and direct them to the gaps in recon coverage. Then feed our observation data into the HANAF network.¡± While my drones were taking to the air, I took a closer look at Arina. She gave me a weak smile. ¡°Thanks for getting me out of there.¡± ¡°You¡¯re welcome! But other than not working, are the damaged body parts giving you any trouble?¡± I remembered that there was an alert system to warn the user of any damage, and the warning came in the form of pain. Very muted pain compared to what one could suffer in a human body, but it would still hurt. ¡°Not anymore thankfully. Remember you showed me how to operate the emergency shutoff features in the SecondLife systems?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Turns out there is a separate cutoff switch for each limb. Makes the limb completely numb.¡± ¡°Well, then let¡¯s investigate the damage properly. I¡¯m guessing you¡¯ll need some spare parts.¡± ¡°No shit, Sherlock.¡± Minutes of inspection later I said ¡°The left arm and leg are beyond repair. Most of the torso is still functional, I recommend printing a new skin and replacements for the damaged parts underneath.¡± Arina just smiled and said ¡°I trust you without reservation. I know you¡¯ll make me whole again.¡± ¡°I¡¯m just glad that your head is intact¡± I said and lightly rapped her on said head. ¡°Without a backup, losing that would be your end.¡± ¡°I know. But I still want to be sure there is only one of me.¡± I gently kissed her. ¡°You are the only one for me.¡± To my pleasant surprise, Wendy did not interrupt us with some smartass comment. Instead she compiled a list with the replacement parts Arina needed and offered to manufacture them. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. I gladly accepted. ¡°Yes Wendy, that would be great, thank you.¡± In the meantime, I took another look at the strategic map, now depending on a mix of recon drones from HANAF and from us. As I watched, suddenly one of the HANAF drones went dark. Then another. Why? ¡°Elya, do you have any data on why these HANAF drones are no longer transmitting?¡± Enemy action. Here is footage from a nearby Spectracopter. I¡¯ll put it on the entertainment system. The big screen lit up and showed a city in smoke and fire under low-hanging clouds. A few buildings were aflame, with black columns of smoke hanging over them and merging with the natural clouds of the sky. But that was not what Elya wanted to show us. The screen zoomed in on a section of the image with two blurry shapes in it. I recognized the larger one as a HANAF reconnaissance drone. The other one closed rapidly, then the objects merged and erupted in a shower of burning debris. Elya confirmed my first guess. The smaller drone was almost certainly a Type Six. Those were used as anti-infantry kamikaze drones before, but now it seems the Macks have decided to use them to hunt down HANAF¡¯s reconnaissance drones. ¡°Have they attacked any Spectracopters yet? No, they are not reacting in any way to the proximity of any Spectracopter. Presumably the Macks cannot detect those. That made sense, our little recon drones were difficult to see even close up. But we had to do something about the Macks wiping out the HANAF drones. I had the blueprint to make the Type Six myself and send them hunting their Mack counterparts. But maybe we could do better. ¡°Elya, we need to get rid of the Sixes before they blind HANAF. Is there something like a micro-fighter drone that can hunt them down without being blown up itself?¡± In the Class I Attack Drones catalog there is the Dragonfly Mk II that should handle that requirement well. It is quite agile and contains a single lightweight machine gun for dogfighting other small drones. I will adjust the caliber to the 5.7x28 mm you are already familiar with. On the screen, the strategic display was replaced by the image of a strangely organic-looking flying machine. I estimated its size at a hundred and twenty centimeters in wingspan, that is four feet for the metrically challenged among you. The length was perhaps ninety centimeters. It had insectile qualities such as a plastic exoskeleton, but also transparent, flexible wings that could twist and turn. On each wing, the strange drone had a little propeller engine in push configuration. The drone was propped up on its tail that was currently split into four supports. Elya also showed us a short flight sequence, where four supports were reunited into one tail that reminded me much of an avian tail. ¡°Isn¡¯t that gun awfully short-ranged?¡± I asked. It is decent at ranges up to 200 meters, and getting into knife-fighting range is normal for the Dragonfly. ¡°OK, and the price?¡± 100 points for the catalog, 800 points for the blueprint. ¡°Done!¡± Class I Attack Drones unlocked! Price¡­ 100 points Purchased: Dragonfly Mk II (blueprint) Price¡­ 800 points Remaining balance: One Token and 11024 points Now I needed to actually make the things. I ordered Elya to start printing four of the Dragonflies, using the fabricators at Vanguard Enterprises. A few minutes later, the first batch of four was ready and whirred their way into the sky. Soon one of them found its first target. Twisting and turning, a HANAF drone tried to shake off a Type Six that was doggedly trying to intercept it for a collective suicide. The Dragonfly swooped behind the Six in an elegant curve and cut loose with its little gun. The Mack drone did not explode, but it lost a propeller and control over its flight. In an undignified spiral it plummeted towards the ground. Switching back towards the strategic display, I saw an entire cloud of Sixes approaching Victoria from the east. With a few blinks and eye movements I ordered my little fighters to intercept them, using my C&C suite. I also ordered another four Dragonflies from the fabbers, to be followed by more Spectracopters. Minutes later, toy-sized aircraft clashed in the skies over Victoria. Or more exactly, it was a rather one-sided massacre. The Type Six was essentially a loitering munition. It did not have a ranged weapon of its own. The only way it could attack was by ramming the enemy and dragging it and itself into an explosive death. That did not work against the Dragonflies at all, which had vastly better maneuverability. They would evade the Sixes with ease, dance with acrobatic maneuvers behind the enemy drones and execute them with their guns. Within an hour, my drones dominated the skies over Victoria. It required printing some more reinforcements, but making the small drones did not take a lot of materials. Logistically, it was a rather cheap victory. On the ground, things were different. My little gang was effectively sidelined, and HANAF and the Magical Girls had their work cut out for them. But on some of the drone footage, I saw with satisfaction that the Shivs we had delivered to HANAF made a difference. Chapter 77: Rescue Mission While we were still observing the battle on the ground, some ominous messages popped up on the HANAF network. 3rd mortar battalion: ¡°SHOCKS, fire mission complete. Requesting new targets. ¡­ ¡°SHOCKS? Please respond!¡± 1st infantry brigade: ¡°SHOCKS, we are under heavy pressure from light Mack units near Saxe Point. Requesting support by MG units, preferably some that are good at house to house combat. SHOCKS? Anyone there?¡± Now I started to worry. ¡°Elya, what can you tell me about any communications breakdowns? Regular communication between HANAF and SHOCKS broke down nine minutes ago. HANAF units are talking to each other just fine, but SHOCKS have gone dark. There is still some highly encrypted data traffic present that possibly belongs to Advent communication systems. As you instructed me a year ago, I have not aggressively tried to break into those communications. While I was still racking my head about what to do, I heard frantic hammering on the shelter door. As I checked the security camera I saw it was Longhorn, team leader of the Battle Bugs. Behind her were all the other team members, their body language showing barely suppressed anxiety. As I opened the door and stood aside to let them in, Longhorn entered and visibly composed herself and stated ¡°We have lost contact with our operators and SHOCKS in general. I hope there is some wonder tech in your arsenal that could help. I¡¯m sorry to impose like this, but I feel we don¡¯t have a choice.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s see. Elya, send a Spectracopter to the SHOCKS control tower and have a look through the windows. If that brings us no clue, would you recommend additional cyberwar software to try and get into the SHOCKS network?¡± Elya answered from the entertainment system. For fast results your Class I Network Intrusion Utilities catalog offers the DFuzz 666 distributed intrusion package for fifty points. Its strategy is hijacking lots of computers connected to the network the target is in, then have the entire digital horde pry into potential weak points. The approach is anything but subtle and will probably be noticed. Ladybug interjected ¡°Who is Elya?¡± I realized that I had not told the Battle Bugs everything about Elya, so I took the time for a short explanation. ¡°Elya is my AI companion, and she is pretty smart. A lot more than I have let on before. B.S.O.D. knows the full story. For now let¡¯s just say I have Elya in place of an operator. With access to things a SHOCKS operator can only dream of.¡± While we were still debating the pros and cons of a blatant hacking attempt, the Spectracopter arrived at the superstructure of the stranded Advent weapons platform, where the SHOCKS headquarters were located. Elya guided it along the windows and gave us a look inside. Inside the command center we saw a bloodbath. I recognized the bodies of some SHOCKS personnel I had worked with before, the remains of a shredded Mack MG aka Type 42 and some human MGs arguing about something. ¡°Elya, can you make out what they are saying?¡± I hoped Elya had some skills at lip reading. They are making references to an abduction and B.S.O.D. But I¡¯m not getting more details. ¡°Fuck. We can¡¯t have SHOCKS¡¯ master strategist fall into the hands of the Macks. Elya, I¡¯ll buy the DFuzz and you try to get whatever information you can get about this abduction. Random data loot is welcome, but the abduction and B.S.O.D¡¯s whereabouts have priority. ¡°Start with the man-made part of the SHOCKS network. If you don¡¯t get the desired data there, proceed to the Advent systems.¡± Accessing the SHOCKS network, human part¡­ that was easy. Footage from the security cameras shows B.S.O.D. being tranquilized and abducted by Mack MGs. Elya showed us two Mack MGs dragging away a barely conscious B.S.O.D. One of them was visibly damaged and limping, with a ripped up leg from which machine parts stuck out. Accessing the Advent network¡­ I¡¯m in but the Advent AI has noticed my presence. I¡¯m grabbing what I can and trying to conceal from where I hacked in. Seconds later: I¡¯ve got something from the sensors of the Advent¡¯s weapons platform. An unknown aircraft docked at SHOCKS headquarters minutes before the abduction. Later it departed towards an eastward direction and at a time that coincided with B.S.O.D¡¯s abduction. ¡°Any further info about where it went?¡± Sadly no. Neither our drones nor any HANAF assets have tracking data. I started to suspect that we had been fighting the Macks¡¯ trash tier so far. A rescue mission for B.S.O.D. might pit us against tougher opposition. ¡°I guess we¡¯ll have to go after her. But I want to bring as many reinforcements as I can. Do you think you can get HANAF to lend us a helicopter? Because I doubt I have that much pull.¡± ¡°Not without hours of bickering.¡± Longhorn dejectedly replied. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°We¡¯ll have to do it on our own, I guess. Elya, fly the Explorer to our doorstep, we¡¯ll use that. I also want some more air power to attack ground targets. What can you recommend that could be printed quickly?¡± In your newly acquired Class I Attack drones catalog, there is the Bonsai Bombardier Mk II. Slightly larger than the Dragonfly, it is specialized in dropping small glide bombs. The blueprint price is 1000 points, blueprint for a multipurpose glide bomb included. Additional designs can be purchased separately. At this point, I was sure Elya was trolling me with the unit names. Bonsai Bombardier, really? But I did not have time for bickering over names. So I just said ¡°Yes I¡¯ll take the blueprint, and please start an ongoing production at Vanguard Enterprises.¡± Minutes later, we were in the air and flying eastwards, surrounded by a swarm of Dragonfly drones. I was wearing my armor with the Mack-zapper pauldrons and had brought my Shiv. The three Battlecats that happened to be available at the shelter were wedged in the back, together with most of Team Battle Bug. Longhorn was sitting beside me and looking worried. Wendy had stayed back at the shelter, making spare parts for Arina and keeping her company. A bunch of Spectracopters were flying ahead and spreading out over the waters of the Haro Strait, without regard for their maximum range. I was willing to sacrifice those as one-way, one-time reconnaissance assets. Back at Vanguard Enterprises, the fabbers were spitting out Bombardiers and glide bombs. Soon one of the Spectracopters detected activity on San Juan Island, near the Mack base we had raided before in search of Amanda aka Shaver Bitch. Apparently, the metal pests were not willing to give up their base so easily. As I sent the little drone closer, the activity turned out to be two girl-shaped units dragging another one along. This third person was resisting, but one of the two hit her with some tool and she collapsed, only weakly stirring after that. The little group continued to move, with one of the kidnappers apparently having trouble with her leg. ¡°Here they are. Elya, recall those Spectracopters that still have the range to return to Vanguard Enterprises. Also, send the first ten Bombardiers, we might be in a fight any moment.¡± ¡°Only ten?¡± Longhorn asked, ¡°They don¡¯t have unlimited loiter time, so I¡¯d rather deploy them in shifts. When these ten are nearing the end of their endurance, I¡¯ll call the next ten and send the first ones home for recharging. As production goes on, we will have larger numbers at our disposal.¡± As we were talking, the two Mack MGs were disappearing into a tunnel entrance with their captive. I ordered my one nearby Spectracopter to scan the surroundings and ordered four fresh ones from Vanguard Enterprises. Moments later, the Spectracopter discovered the aircraft the abductors had used. It apparently used some chameleon-like tech to blend in with its background. Overall, the stealth was almost as good as that of a Spectracopter, only the larger size kept it from hiding from my eyes. Elya had of course no such problems and highlighted the stealth craft long before I could spot it without help. I waited another minute to let the Bombardiers catch up and for the Spactracopter to complete at least one round over the enemy base, then I made a rapid descent and landed next to the tunnel entrance. Behind me Ladybug was screaming at the roller-coaster-like maneuver. Once down, we quickly got out and took formation for our assault on the base. Around us, the base came alive with mechanical monstrosities. Two Twenty-Ones bore down on us like enraged freight trains, while the Type Twenty-Eight sniper units started forming a circle around the tunnel. ¡°Into the tunnel¡± Longhorn snapped. I fully concurred with her assessment of the situation. But while running behind her, I ordered the Bombardiers to unload their deadly cargo on the Macks. Deafening detonations rang out, and a large piece of shrapnel zipped past my ear. Before me, the Battle Bugs and two of my Battlecats pushed ahead, behind me, the third Battlecat served as rearguard. Already, some smaller Macks poured into the tunnel and it was mostly thanks to that rearguard that we were not hit in the back. At my command, Elya displayed a map from outside the tunnel. Both Twenty-Ones appeared out of commission, but mostly in one piece, while most of the Twenty-Eights were shredded far more thoroughly. At the edge of the map I could see the Bombardiers disappearing back towards their base. To the left and right I could see new facilities that were not there on our last visit. The Macks were seriously expanding the base, and most of it was crawling with construction drones. We left those alone unless they approached us, and proceeded through the tunnels of the base. As we neared the lab where Amanda had her mind extracted, a horde of Mack combat units blocked our way. Among them was one of the Mack MGs, who already called out ¡°Flame Arrow!¡±. I did not know from where they got the stupid habit of calling out their attacks. But it gave Pink Orchid the moment she needed to bring up her pushback field. The flaming ray of death was bent back in a sharp curve and hit one of the enemy Battlecats, burning through its head and killing it. The next moment, Ladybug exclaimed ¡°Thunderbolt!¡±, and the tunnel became an inferno of zigzagging lightning. Mack electronics burned out in sparks or started to smolder, giving off an acrid stench. Some other Macks simply froze as the discharge temporarily scrambled their electric brains. Elya did not need my encouragement to hack into those and set them upon their brethren. From the sides, my Battlecats added their deadly projectiles. Longhorn and Mantis rushed ahead to attack. Longhorn wielded a new spear with a wide blade that was also useful for slashing, and she cut off Mack limbs and tentacles left and right. Mantis, however, was immediately attacked by the Mack MG who had produced a huge battleaxe from nowhere. As the axe came down on her, Mantis barely managed to deflect it away from her head. But she still received a nasty cut on her arm. I ordered one of my battlecats to attack the Mack MG and supported that effort with lightning from my Mack-zappers. As in previous encounters, that alone did not stop the machine girl. But Mantis did. She quickly recovered from the shock of the injury and beheaded the Mack with a mighty swing of her bat''leth-like melee weapon. Looking to the left, I saw that my other Battlecat had been badly mauled by two Mack Battlecats, but it could still hobble along on three legs and its gun seemed functional. Except for Mantis, the Battle Bugs appeared unharmed. We stopped for a moment so Pink Orchid, the team medic, could patch up Mantis. She ordered ¡°Walter, QuikClot!¡±, then she facepalmed and grumbled ¡°Damn, comms are still out!¡± Fortunately, I had a QuikClot on me. I handed the dispenser to her, and she squeezed the pink content into the wound, where it expanded on contact with the blood and quickly sealed the wound. Pink Orchid further attended to the injury with a bandage, and we were off again. Mantis still went easy on the arm, but she seemed combat capable again. As we approached the lab, I lifted my Shiv and peeked around the corner. In the lab yet another Mack MG was busy mounting B.S.O.D¡¯s head in a metal halo, assisted by an unfamiliar type of drone. In the background the horror of the mind uploading machine waited for our friend. I banished a fleeting impulse to save that particular Mack girl and executed her with a railgun bullet through the head. Without further discussion, the Battle Bugs split up. Longhorn and Ladybug were guarding the door, while Pink Orchid and Mantis went to retrieve B.S.O.D. They quickly got her out of the halo, but she was barely conscious. ¡°Guess we¡¯ll have to carry her¡± Mantis said. With a grunt she lifted B.S.O.D. on her shoulders. Longhorn grabbed Mantis¡¯ bat''leth knock-off and we started jogging towards the Explorer. As we passed the beheaded Mack MG, I grabbed the head by its fake hair and took it with me. Chapter 78: A Difficult Retreat As we neared the base¡¯s exit, detonations shook the ground, and I heard the rumble of massive tracks. A fucking Type Thirty-Two. I stealthily approached the entrance, in the hope of regaining my data link to the Spectracopters. Success! I quickly checked the state of the fight both near us and on Vancouver Island. In Victoria, HANAF and the MGs were still under a lot of pressure. The Magical Girl teams being cut off from part of their normal resources did certainly not help. On our side things looked even more dire. Near the exit from the base a bunch of Macks were milling. The greatest danger came from the Type 32, which had already smashed the Explorer into scrap and was now looming over our escape route. Some Macks were already entering the tunnels in an attempt to hunt us down. Falling back to my old tactics from the past, I used my Mack-zapper pauldrons to try and capture the Macks instead of simply destroying them. Strings of lightning played over the Macks, carrying cyberattacks that corrupted and blinded the enemy cyberbrains. The tactic proved dangerous, as sometimes only Pink Orchid¡¯s defensive field kept the plasma blasts from the enemy Battlecats from roasting us. But even so, we managed to turn a portion of the Macks to our side and made them into a small guard that kept the other Macks at a distance. After finally getting a moment of respite, I took the time to reorganize my little air force over Vancouver Island. Send those Spectracopters home for recharging. Relieve them with this newly manufactured batch. Refresh the Dragonfly screen over there. Reload the Bombardiers¡­ wait, I¡¯ll need something specific to take out the gargantuan Type 32. ¡°Elya, what ammo for the Bombardiers can I afford for fighting that fatass Thirty-Two? Perhaps something to shoot out the eyes?¡± Which I knew were one of the few weak spots on the huge steel monsters. We just needed to take out all six of them. The DoubleTap Mk I tandem HEAT glide bomb with rocket assist comes to mind. The concept is far from new, and even pre-contact Humanity had similar weapons. The blueprint is therefore rather cheap at only 100 points. You need to buy the Class I Guided Munitions catalog for 80 points as a prerequisite though. I chose not to haggle and just said ¡°Yes please¡±. If we came out of this alive, the points from the fight would pay for the catalog and blueprints several times over. ¡°Elya, get me a flight of Bombardiers equipped with those ASAP!¡± ETA twelve minutes. In the meantime, twenty Bombardiers with standard ammunition are close to arriving at your position. I already could see those inbound on the tactical screen, escorted by a handful of Dragonflies. I selected all of them and assigned a pre-designed attack pattern, only marking the Thirty-Two as ¡°Don¡¯t attack, too hard a target.¡± Relying on their glide bombs, the Bombardiers did not even bother to dive towards their target. Instead, they dropped their little packets of death from a kilometer up and then they were homebound to collect the next batch of airborne destruction. Several seconds later, the glide bombs arrived. Those did dive if they calculated a reasonable chance of a successful hit. Which was the case here. Almost invisible in the night with their black hulls, they plunged into their targets and ripped them apart in powerful detonations. The number of active Macks outside suddenly decreased by half. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Behind me, I heard a groan, a whack and ¡°Fucking Cyberbitch, let me down!¡± ¡°Ow!¡± ¡°Is that you, Mantis? So sorry for hitting you! And thanks, thanks, thanks for coming for me!¡± As I turned around, I saw a still pale B.S.O.D. who was supported by Mantis and made apologies for hitting her. As she caught my eye, she gave me a weak grin and said ¡°Somehow I¡¯m not surprised that you are mixed up in this.¡± I had an idea. ¡°We have another ten minutes until the next batch of my little bombers arrives. I¡¯d like to use that time to plant some computer malware.¡± The Battle Bugs agreed, if somewhat reluctantly. B.S.O.D. on the other hand was eager to help. Between B.S.O.D¡¯s and Elya¡¯s hacking abilities we quickly turned most of the manufacturing drones and injected the ¡±Parasite¡± rootkit into their cyberbrains. Most of the stationary machinery received the same treatment. Around us, the Battle Bugs steadfastly had our backs during our digital subversion activities. The clash of melee weapons, thunder from Ladybug¡¯s lightning salvos and gunfire from my Battlecats surrounded us. We finished just in time for my special wave of Bombardiers to arrive. Diving into my C&C suite, I set up waypoints and attack orders. This time, the bombardiers came low and fast. Hugging the ground, they drove towards the Thirty-Two and lobbed their deadly cargo towards its ugly face. A barrage of smart little glide bombs hurtled towards the deep-set yellow eyes and hit. Fountains of pulverized crystal erupted from the Thirty-Two¡¯s eyes, accompanied by deafening explosions. Taking a look outside the base, Ladybug explained ¡°Oh shi¡­ shucks, it still has two intact eyes!¡± B.S.O.D: ¡°Not good. We need to destroy all six to neutralize it.¡± On my C&C suite, I could see another wave of the smaller Macks forming up. So I interjected ¡°My bombardiers have some glide bombs left. I¡¯ll have them launch at the remaining eyes, but then I think we need to run for it! ¡°I¡¯m instructing my Battlecats to keep firing at the Thirty-Two¡¯s eyes while we escape to the Mack aircraft that brought B.S.O.D. here. I¡¯m hoping we can commandeer that.¡± Subvocalizing I said: ¡°Elya, as soon as we are close enough, try to unlock the Mack aircraft¡¯s controls. Cooperate with B.S.O.D. as necessary!¡± Seconds later, the Bombardiers came rushing in for their second attack. As before, they came in deep and lobbed their bombs in shallow arcs at the Thirty-Two. The primitive intelligence in the bombs recognized the hostile glow of the Mack¡¯s eyes and dived at those. Another one of the yellow eyes winked out under the detonations. At this point, a visibly recovered B.S.O.D. took command again. ¡°Go, go, GO!¡± Together we sprinted towards the Mack flyer. Elya whispered into my mind Accessing the flight computer. B.S.O.D. is already breaching the ICE¡­ We¡¯re in but she seems not to recognize the code for the flight controls. I¡¯m taking over. Behind us, the Thirty-Two was swatting at the Battlecats as if they were annoying mosquitoes. A flood of smaller units was already surging around its massive treads. Before us, the Mack aircraft came into sight. It was considerably larger than the Explorer. Cylindrical in shape with two stubby wings from which alien machinery protruded. Just in time, the rear hatch opened and we piled in. ¡°Elya, fly us home! Self destruct order to the Battlecats!¡± Applying mutual fratricide protocol. The Battlecats will destroy each others¡¯ sensitive components. Our technological secrets will remain ours. At tree-top height, we were racing back to the relative safety of Vancouver Island. Chapter 79: Ramifications January 1st, 2050 Late in the morning, I woke up and recalled the events of the previous night. I had taken B.S.O.D. back to SHOCKS and parked the stolen Mack aircraft at the Colwood shelter. As the city had still been on lockdown at that time, but the fighting was almost over, I had crashed on my bed and taken a nap which had morphed into a full night''s sleep. Meanwhile Wendy had busied herself with making some more parts for Arina. As I looked at my tactical display it was free of enemy units. Wait, the sensor feed was online? I have taken the liberty of keeping your Spectracopter fleet aloft and feeding the observation data to the HANAF network. ¡°Thanks! Now that you have mentioned it, perhaps we should automate the process to help HANAF with recon data even If I¡¯m not available.¡± That can be done for a few points. ¡°Let¡¯s talk to HANAF first. By the way, how many points do I have now?¡± You have one token and 14886 points now. Most of the new ones stem from HANAF using your weapons in the emergence. ¡°Nice. That¡¯s one major purchase if we need it.¡± An annoyingly chipper voice came from behind ¡°Hello sleepyhead, with us again?¡± ¡°Good morning Wendy. Some of us still need sleep.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll make some coffee to finish waking you up then!¡± Soon I had a steaming mug of black goodness in front of me, and we each nibbled on a small pastry. Having a robot body, Weny did not need to eat anymore. She could eat small snacks though and process them in a built-in fuel cell. Right now, she was eating because she enjoyed the taste. Suddenly Elya whispered in my ear. Palace Athene wants to talk to you So, the big boss? It had to be serious if she didn¡¯t just leave it to B.S.O.D. to ¡°manage¡± me. So I switched on the entertainment system and allowed Palace to access the webcam. She appeared on my screen as well, wearing her usual MG costume and a harried expression. I dared to ask a slightly disrespectful question. ¡°Good morning Palace. There is one thing I always wanted to know. Is that codename of yours intentional or has someone misspelled it when assigning it?¡± ¡°What? Why?¡± ¡°Pallas Athene from Greek mythology is not spelled like a king¡¯s residence!¡± Palace facepalmed. ¡°Don¡¯t remind me. Someone did, indeed, get it wrong. Then it got deeply into our computer systems, including some read-only components whose contents are not easily changed. Even B.S.O.D. did not dare to mess with those, she deemed it too risky.¡± Those read-only components were designed by Microsoft, as part of an ¡°AI¡± experimental software/hardware hybrid anti-malware system. The fledgling organization that would become SHOCKS was a little too eager to adopt it. That particular system should really be called ¡°AS¡± for Artificial Stupidity. Elya sounded disgusted even thinking of it. Next to me Wendy failed to hide a smirk. Palace looked irritated for a moment, but then she conceded ¡°True enough. But let¡¯s get to business. While we greatly appreciate getting B.S.O.D. back, your little foray into the Advent computer systems has also caused problems. The A.I. running the Sanctuary Advent weapons platform refuses to cooperate with us now. The supplies of synthetic food are still coming in, but we might not be able to recruit new Magical Girls. Also, certain specialty equipment mankind cannot make has become unavailable. So as a result I want you at an emergency meeting one hour from now, at SHOCKS. Don¡¯t be late.¡± I took a hasty shower to make myself presentable, then Wendy and I made our way to SHOCKS. On the way, I quizzed Elya about ways to help with the food supply and other issues. As we entered a familiar conference room at SHOCKS, most of the high-ranking officers at SHOCKS were already waiting for us. Also present was Major Allen from HANAF logistics, which suggested that they hoped for some Protector tech based solutions. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Palace called the meeting to order and layed out the situation. It was essentially what she already had told me on the phone, plus difficulties with remotely managing the MG¡¯s special organs and special abilities. She closed her presentation with ¡°Does anyone have ideas how to get out of this mess?¡± Everybody was looking at me. Fortunately I had something to offer. ¡°For what it¡¯s worth, I found the blueprint for a food synthesizer in my database. It will not secure an independent food supply immediately though, as we have to ramp up production first.¡± ¡°And do you have the ability to do that?¡± Palace asked in a somewhat skeptical tone. ¡°Indirectly. The idea is that I release the blueprint for free and leave building the food synthesizers to the owners of the fabricators we have been selling for some time now. ¡°Let me give you an overview.¡± Elya hijacked the big wall display for me. A refrigerator-sized device appeared on the screen next to an elderly lady with an apron and her hair in a bun. ¡°Here we have an average human for size comparison. As you will see, the food synthesizer consists of two parts that can be manufactured separately.¡± The food synthesizer on screen split into an upper and a lower part, then the image switched to a diagram of the measurements compared to the workspace in our bestselling fabricator model. The fabber would be able to make one of the synthesizer parts at a time. ¡°The upper part is the actual synthesizer. It also contains the apparatus for pre-processing of the raw materials, which are then stored in the lower part of the device. You can feed it with various types of biomass, the synthesizer is not picky. Ultimately, the system will provide you with pretty decent approximations of a dozen simple recipes.¡± Palace seemed somewhat mollified. ¡°That is certainly useful. Can we hope for some help with the MG situation too?¡± ¡°Not with the enrollment of new Magical Girls. I don¡¯t have access to the artificial organ replacements the Advent are using. But perhaps I can provide some help with the remote management problems.¡° ¡°Such as?¡± ¡°Analyzing the Advent software Elya has, ahem, acquired, showed that the structure of the commands is not too complex by Elya¡¯s standards. Elya and I may be able to come up with a compatible system, if some MGs are willing to help with testing. It might be dangerous though, so only volunteers please!¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure we can find someone. If nobody else comes forward, I¡¯ll volunteer myself!¡± Which indicated that the matter was really urgent. I did not doubt Palace¡¯s personal dedication, but risking the loss of the SHOCKS commander was a desperate move by itself. Major Allen interjected ¡°Demand for the fabricators will likely skyrocket, and I think we need to satisfy it as quickly as possible. HANAF will dedicate its share of Vanguard Industries¡¯ production capacity to help. As soon as your girlfriend is available again, she will be temporarily reassigned to represent HANAF on the project and help with manufacturing. She can complete her basic training later, together with the next batch of recruits.¡± That got a raised eyebrow or two from people who were not aware of our relationship yet. But nobody bothered to explain it to them. I chose to postpone the matter of an improved reconnaissance network, as people seemed already preoccupied with the existing crisis. With no further points on the agenda, Palace called the meeting to a close. On the way out I asked Elya ¡°Please give me an overview of the necessary purchases!¡±
Item Point cost Description
Class I Nutrition systems (catalog) 80 points Covers a wide range of devices, from smart kitchen appliances to chemical fabricators for foodstuffs.
Autochef Mark II (blueprint) 2000 points Makes basic dishes from a wide variety of biomass.
CrackStudio V2.2 universal decompiler (software) 90 points (discount from 100) A reverse engineering tool for software and algorithms in general.
Codesmith V3 (software) 100 points A multi-architecture compiler, covers all devices in the Class I Computation Devices catalog.
SmartSpeck Mk I (blueprint) 50 points Low-power multipurpose microcontroller
Total price 2320 points
Remaining balance¡­ One token and 12566 points The software purchases allow me to give you a lot more help in creating new software, which you would be doing on the MG implant management project. The rules about buying tools first still apply in this universe, even if I might bend them for you from time to time. Otherwise, the list should be self-explaining. ¡°What¡¯s with the discount?¡± You have purchased the Decryption Protocol before, which covers part of the CrackStudio¡¯s functionality. I can give you a small discount as you already have that capability. Without paying much attention to our surroundings, Wendy and I started discussing the nuts and bolts of the tasks that lay ahead. Chapter 80: Damage Mitigation The next two weeks proved to be very busy. We took the time to fix up Arina, but after that we became completely absorbed with our new tasks. Wendy and Arina took care of manufacturing. Arina actually did most of the work as Wendy needed to spend part of her time on good old administration work. I was working on the replacement ¡°remote¡± management system for the Magical Girls¡¯ special abilities. ¡°Remote¡± in quotes because it would not be all that remote anymore. The MGs would get a lot more local control, with an intuitive user interface and the software doing a lot of the details in the background without anyone needing to monitor it. My other projects had to be put on hold however. So building a new Explorer and interviewing the Mack MG, whose head I had retrieved from the Mack base, was sidelined for the moment. The only exception I made to that was the occasional check on the Mack base we had raided. In that context, one thing had bothered me, namely that the Macks might be able to reverse engineer the remains of the Explorer. Fortunately they had missed their opportunity. Log files from units I had subverted indicated that the almost brain-dead Thirty-Two had started recycling the wreckage around itself. Including the wreck of the Explorer. Perhaps it was a good thing that we had failed to take out all of its eyes. Except in Mack MGs, those contained the controlling intelligence of the Macks. If a unit with only one sixth of that intelligence remaining fell back on its most basic programming, it did not surprise me too much. Two days later a Magical Girl in her thirties showed up and introduced herself. ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Ebon Ring and I¡¯m here to be your test subject!¡± I recognized her as one of the first generation Magical Girls, in retirement now but she still came back for the occasional mission when the need was dire. ¡°Nice to meet you, would you like a coffee?¡± Ebon Ring did not hesitate to agree. While she was sipping on her black brew, I said ¡°Let¡¯s start with scanning your communication chip.¡± Ebon pulled a chip from behind her ear and handed it to me. I took it and inserted it into a scanning device I had prepared with Elya¡¯s help. This was one of the occasions Elya had helped me cobble something new together from blueprints I already had, even if it might bend the rules a little. Soon Elya and I had figured out the basics and I asked ¡°Elya, please show a summary for our guest.¡± The big screen of the entertainment system came on and showed a block diagram, with Elya explaining each part. The ¡°transceiver¡± is a sender and receiver module that works over a wide range of frequencies, using a quite clever frequency-hopping protocol to evade jamming. A strong wideband jammer can still interrupt the connection though. Next is the link to your augmentations, so your operator can receive and view all the data on your enhancements. As well as view what you¡¯re seeing and hearing. This function also allows the operator to feed you information. Finally, there is the data link between SHOCKS and your Advent organ replacements, which appears to be the channel through which your operator can administrate some of your special MG abilities. I added ¡°From what Elya told me, replicating the functions of that admin link will be both the hardest and the riskiest part. We can easily handle the augment connection, but I suggest a cut-off switch on the MG¡¯s side. Having it always on seems like a privacy nightmare to me.¡± ¡°Yes, there were times when I just pulled the chip out after training.¡± Ebon sighed. ¡°That got me my share of reprimands, but sometimes it was just a little too much.¡± Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°I¡¯d like to start testing as soon as possible. Just in case, does SHOCKS have something like a training ground near Sanctuary? If something goes wrong, we don¡¯t want you to be too far from the sickbay.¡± Ebon took her chip back and called her operator. After a short conversation she told me ¡°The training facilities are booked solid for the rest of the day, but I reserved one for 8:00 AM tomorrow.¡± Monday, January 4th, 2049 At 8:00 straight, I walked up to the entry of Sanctuary and was promptly invited in. My escort for the day was Benjamin, one of the R&D guys at SHOCKS I had worked with before. I briefed him on the planned tests and he promptly came up with a few ideas for improving the setup. Working with competent people was such a pleasure. At the training room, Ebon Ring was already waiting for us. Also present was Theodor, Ebon¡¯s operator from her days as a fresh recruit. He would monitor the tests, both as a safeguard and advisor on possible improvements. We started out with Ebon Ring summoning various supplies from SHOCKS. Or trying to. It turned out to be one of the things that we couldn¡¯t replicate with a bit of smart software. Replacing the entire system with our own was not feasible either. While we had some teleport technology, it was far too clunky for infantry to carry into the field. I asked Elya about more lightweight and compact options, but the point cost was beyond my means. Next Ebon Ring started burning mana in other ways, such as the repeated use of her signature attack. The fireworks were magnificent but soon proved unsustainable. Ebon was swaying on her feet and Theodor quickly signaled a halt. After he guided the weakened woman to a bench, he called the cafeteria for an urgent food delivery. While we were waiting on that, we reviewed the readings Elya and I had extracted from Ebon¡¯s Advent organs. The mana gauge showed a consistent decline for every attack, and after the last one it was at 23% full. Theodor quickly said ¡°We need to recalibrate that. Ebon already showed a bit of weakness after her penultimate attack. I think we should set the empty point for normal use at thirty percent on this scale, and require an explicit override if they truly need more.¡± He and Ebon Ring went on to discuss the mana consumption of summoning equipment, based on her memories. In case this delivery system was somehow restored, we wanted our software to be pre-programmed with an educated guess for the empty point. Theodor and Ebon Ring came up with preliminary estimates and included those in the requirements for the software I had yet to build. Snacks arrived and Ebon Ring devoured them at record speed. It looked like being a Magical Girl also came with an accelerated digestion, even if the organ replacements did not include a high speed stomach. After she had eaten a small mountain of food, only a few scraps were left and Ebon signaled to us that we could have them. Next we experimented on communications, using a limited prototype I had whipped up with Elya¡¯s help overnight. Limited as in containing only communications and the augmentation link. That part worked so flawlessly that it was almost boring. We watched through Ebon¡¯s eyes as she walked around the facility, listened to conversations through her ears and sent snarky little remarks back and forth. It took a week of work to develop a decent user interface, implement the monitoring of the Advent-built organ replacements, and testing it with several MG groups of varying levels. Observed and advised by their operators, the girls used their special abilities to exhaustion and gave us their best estimate for what their personal limits were. It turned out that Ebon Ring¡¯s initial estimates were a good representation of the advanced groups, but the newbies would need a more conservative setting. They would be able to modify those later as they grew in mana capacity. Finally, Elya piped up over a nearby loudspeaker. I believe we have a good enough understanding of the remote management system now. Once the summoning of items from SHOCKS works again, we might have to do more testing, but for now we have enough data to finalize version 1.0. ¡°Who was that?¡± several people asked. ¡°My AI companion Elya. She was a great help in this little project.¡± One of the MG newbies asked ¡°Is Elya like an operator? Because mine is sort of uncool, and perhaps an Elya of my own would be better!¡± ¡°Sorry, Elyas are special and not available to everyone. I got mine when I was enrolled in the Vanguards, but an Elya is not something I can just hand out.¡± An Elya? I don¡¯t know if I should feel praised or insulted now. Chapter 81: Grand Theft Resource Saturday, January 16th, 2050 Building more fabricators remained our first priority, but Wendy had that part well in hand. She had hired two more people to help. Between those, Wendy and Arina the fabricators at Vanguard Enterprises were running at maximum capacity. That gave me the chance to return to two sidelined projects, namely replacing the ¡°Explorer¡± armed air car and interrogating the Mack MG we had captured in the Mack base. For those projects I had Wendy fly me out to Styx base, the head of the Mack girl in my baggage. En route I observed ¡°Your piloting skills look pretty good, where did you find the time to practice?¡± ¡°It comes to me almost naturally. Apparently, being a robot now lets me mesh with machines pretty well. Which reminds me, that upgrade you promised me should be ready now.¡± ¡°It should. Elya, have there been any problems with building the new cyberbrains?¡± None I could detect. We still should test them before installation though. ¡°Yes!¡± Wendy enthused. ¡°Can we do it before I fly back?¡± ¡°Of course. Then you can enjoy your superiority as the new master brainiac!¡± An hour later While Wendy was in the process of having her mind transferred, I connected the Mack MG¡¯s head to the contraption I had used before for interrogating Arina and Wendy. As I was booting her, she went through the routine I had become used to. In a monotone, mechanical voice she said ¡°Error 404, body not found. Rebooting¡­¡± After a short pause, she continued in a more normal voice: ¡°Diagnosis: Diagnosis interfaces unavailable.¡± ¡°Weapon systems: Flame Arrow unavailable. Vaporizing Blast unavailable.¡± ¡°Mobility: Motoric interface not present, movement impossible.¡± ¡°Status: Unit not operational.¡± Then things changed from what I had seen before. Instead of launching into the usual rant about the doom of mankind, the Mack MG started asking questions in an almost natural tone. ¡°Where am I? And why does it seem that my body is missing?¡± Surprised, I subvocalized to Elya ¡°Is the mind control software even active on this one?¡± It is, but the control is more subtle and allows her a bit more leeway than earlier versions. As long as her behavior matches the directives, they only work as a light nudging. That seemed to explain why Amanda had been able to speak a little more freely than her predecessors. I addressed the MG next and answered her questions. ¡°You have been captured in a fight. Now you are in an underground base, owned by allies of Haven. And your robot body seems to be missing because it is. Just a little safety measure. ¡°But why don¡¯t you tell me more about yourself? Let¡¯s start with who you are and how you came to work for the Macks.¡± ¡°I was a HANAF soldier when I took part in the attempt to reconq¡­ recon¡­ rec¡­¡±. Her face turned into a rictus as she struggled to get the words out. ¡°Elya, shut that mind control software down!¡± Done. Our latest guest composed herself and restarted her speech. ¡°My name is Megan O¡¯Hare. I was a young HANAF soldier, barely out of basic training, when I participated in the attempt to retake Victoria a few years ago. We were ambushed by the machines and I got hit over the head. The next thing I remember was being in a machine body looking mostly like my old self, and a strange compulsion forcing me to do things. Whoever controlled me used me for maintaining various Mack facilities.¡± ¡°It is amazing how well you handle that. We have had some girls in your situation before and they tended to be way more hysterical.¡± ¡°I¡¯m just pretending to be calm. Inside I still feel like a small mouse caught in a huge steel trap.¡± In a small voice she continued ¡°What now?¡± ¡°First, I¡¯m offering you a new body. Still robotic, but more human-like than what you had before. Then we can find a new place for you.¡± The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. I lifted a finger. ¡°There is precedent for re-joining the Army. Sort of. I know a former Magical Girl who was kidnapped like you were. Once we freed her and after a few months of therapy, she recovered to the point where she was fit for duty again. Her Magical Girl powers were gone though, so she joined HANAF instead.¡± Another finger. ¡°You might be able to find a civilian job. I know a company that might accept you as you are.¡± A third finger. ¡°Or I could find a job for you here. It might be a bit lonely though, you would be the housekeeper of a small base at the ass end of nowhere.¡± That elicited a tiny smile. ¡°Where, exactly, is the ass end of nowhere?¡± ¡°The south flank of Mount Olympus in what used to be the state of Washington in the United States.¡± ¡°I think I would like to get back closer to civilization. No offense intended.¡± I stepped up to Meg, gave her a little hug and said ¡±Maybe you¡¯d like to take a nap while we are organizing things.¡± ¡°Yes, I think that¡¯s a good idea.¡± I shut down Meg for now and focused on my next task, fabricating a new Explorer. But alas, one thing was missing. Raw materials. The big fabricator I had used to make the first Explorer was operational, but it did not have enough supplies. So my mind turned to potential alternative suppliers. ¡°Elya, we have hacked quite a few systems on the San Juan Island base when we raided it a few weeks ago. Please give me an overview, especially with regard to logistics.¡± We have full control over the work droids and manufacturing systems on the base. Guard and combat units are partially infiltrated, but control over those is at best tenuous. ¡°Let¡¯s find a way to reroute some of the materials, if possible without alerting the guards. At which point, do you think, would the guards notice that the supplies are going AWOL?¡± The guards might not, their only task is keeping intruders out. But I have noticed the base is reporting back to somewhere else, including the number of completed units. ¡°And if those do not match the amounts of used material, Somewhere Else will get suspicious. Got it. Could you perhaps cook the books for me?¡± It would be my pleasure. ¡°So we report as many units built as the materials usage would suggest. But there is also the question what the not really completed units would be expected to do. Such as reporting their existence back to the mothership.¡± They would file regular reports, but without too many details. I could fake those and it might take a while until their central office registers that the new ghost units do nothing useful. ¡°Sounds like a plan. Next we need to actually get the materials here. I was thinking of using the teleporters in the base and sending the stuff to our teleport receiver outside. The one we used before to capture their units.¡± That is doable. I can also suppress the logs and reports the teleporters would usually create. I checked on Wendy and found that the transfer was complete, so I unhooked her from the cabling and woke her up. ¡°Hello Sleeping Beauty, we have a job to do!¡± ¡°Obtain World Domination. Crush the Macks. Take the trash out.¡° ¡°Your bad joke skills need some more calibration.¡± Remotely I launched a Spectracopter from Vanguard Enterprises as a data relay to our subverted units at the Mack base. Soon we could follow the events on the base in real time. The place was amassing a worrying number of Type Twenty-Ones and Mack Battlecats, together with a few Mack MGs. ¡°Elya, unless we are stealing stuff at the moment, can you manipulate the teleporters to dump the Macks into seriously wrong places? Especially the Twenty-Ones?¡± There are hardwired protections against putting them deep underwater, underground or high up in the air. But I could make them fall a few kilometers short of the coast of Victoria Island. ¡°Very good, make that the default setting. Now, we need to actually collect the stuff. Could you take Herbie to move the stuff that comes from the teleport gate?¡± ¡°Sounds like rather unqualified work,¡± Wendy joked. ¡°But I¡¯ll do it.¡± We met up at the Advanced Capture Facility outside, which was essentially a teleport receiver mounted on a huge turntable and an attached armored chamber that contained several systems to suppress aggressive Macks. On my command, Elya directed the subverted drones at the base to send their materials to us instead of using them to build Mack units. Once I aimed the teleport receiver of the ACF at the Mack base, a steady stream of containers started arriving. They contained either raw material slurry or pre-built parts, and either was welcome to us. Within two hours, we collected about twenty tons of raw materials and a smattering of components. Finally, Elya ordered the assembly drones to walk themselves into the teleporter. San Juan Island, Mack base Model 54404 Combat Unit, Nanite-Enhanced The artificial girl walked along the corridors of the base, dutifully looking out for intruders and anything else that seemed suspicious. Seeing little that really required her attention, her mind began to wander back to her childhood (error?). Having grown up (error?) on the shores she had briefly seen on her outside parols, she felt a desire to go out and enjoy the sun. But as soon as she had taken a few steps towards the exit, she ran into a mental block. - Error. Cannot leave designated patrol area. - Rigid shackles descended on her mind and forced her back onto her designated patrol route. For a while, she mindlessly checked the same corridors over and over. Eventually, the compulsion faded and she regained a smidgen of agency. Looking at the rows of cat-like machines prepared for invading the Enemy, a feeling of wrongness creeped up on her mind. There should be more of them. Perhaps she should go investigate? The decision was taken from her, as her directives kicked in and forced her to take stock. 121 Model Q-1 droids present. Involuntarily, her feet took her to the manufacturing line where the Q-1 droids were assembled. She saw the room was missing almost all of the materials that were usually present, and all of the assembly droids were gone. Inventory error. Must report. Chapter 82: Easy Catch 54404 activated her built-in communicator and transferred her findings to Command. She promptly received an order in response. Investigate at all costs. Driven by an irresistible compulsion to go after even the lightest shred of evidence, she noticed that the transmitter was still active, its hyperspace gate still giving off the typical glow. More clues might be on the other side. Without thinking, 54404 rushed to the teleport gate and threw herself into it. Only in a small corner of her mind remained a nagging doubt if that was the smartest thing to do. Styx Base While I was still congratulating myself on a good job, I saw that the teleport gate in the ACF was spooling up for another transfer. "Elya, close the door!" Before I had completed the command, the door of the capture chamber was already slamming shut. A Mack MG stumbled out of the teleport gate and ran headfirst into the armored door. I snapped "Nanite annihilation field and zapper!" Lightning and a baleful glow from the annihilation field lit up the chamber, and the newest guest of Styx base fell over twitching. I turned to Wendy, who was still sitting in Herbie, and shouted "The multitool from the cockpit, quick!" The cockpit canopy opened a crack wide and the desired tool came flying out. I snatched it and advanced to the capture chamber. "Wendy, when I open the door, can you hold her with Herbie''s big hands? But keep her inside the chamber!" "Sure, I can do that!" Wendy approached with the massive walker and got ready. "Now!" The door opened on Elya''s command, Herbie surged forward and grabbed the Mack MG. In the grip of his huge hands she looked like a toddler. Correctly guessing my intentions, Elya shut off the lightning barrage as I made to enter the chamber. Jumping in, I went straight for the neck, pried a certain cover open and unplugged the data link between head and torso. It was the first time we had caught a Mack MG undamaged, aside from some minor scratches I had just given her. Back at Styx Base, I told Elya to disable the mental enslavement software immediately. So when I woke up our latest sleeping beauty, she immediately reverted to her human personality. "Where am I? And who are you?" she asked with a bewildered look. ¡°Welcome to Styx Base. We are Vanguard Command, allies of Haven but not under the government¡¯s command. This is our base. I¡¯m Caitlin by the way, and this is Wendy. But tell me something about yourself!¡± Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°I¡¯m Anna. Anna Ford. Fuck, I just woke up from the nastiest nightmare ever. I was a robot slave whose very self was in metaphorical chains, barely able to think for herself... waitamoment!¡± One Anna Ford went missing during the incursion eight months ago. She was part of a group of college students who did not make it to a shelter in time. The bodies of the others were found, but not that of Anna. This might be her. Anna started to feel up her body, then she knocked on her breasts. The muted metallic clang was what I expected, having seen Mack MGs in the nude before. Or what counted as nude, if you cut away the clothing. While the limbs and the head looked human enough to pass a perfunctory inspection, the torso was a metal shell. It was hidden under a dress that ended in a short skirt made of armor plates, all of it permanently installed on the body. ¡°Oh nooo, I¡¯m still trapped in this nightmare!¡± ¡°Well, you are not a slave anymore. You are still trapped in a Mack robot body though.¡± ¡°Now that you mention it, my thoughts seem to be free now. Talking to you like this would have been impossible a while ago.¡± Anna got to her feet and walked around the room. ¡°This feels weird. Un-alive, but also strong and free of pain.¡± ¡°You''re the first one who''s managed to find something good in wearing a Mack body¡± Wendy mused. ¡°I had a chronic medical condition, and while it was not outright crippling, the pain never quite left me alone. It was not as bad as the mental enslavement though.¡± She shuddered at the memory. I took control of the conversation again. ¡°So do you want to swap it for something more human-like? We can build you an artificial body that looks almost indistinguishable from the real thing, and I¡¯m told it feels like it too.¡° I ended the sentence with a little smirk and a wink. Embarrassed silence filled the room. Wendy took over. ¡°There have been others like you who found a place in Haven society again. Like me.¡± She tapped her own chest and added ¡°This is what Vanguard Command can give you. The artificial body Cait mentioned.¡± Glad about the change of topic, Anna said ¡°Awesome! But what are you doing these days? Getting accepted by people cannot be easy if you come back as one of the Enemy,¡± Anna asked. ¡°I¡¯m managing Vanguard Enterprises, a joint venture between Cait and the Haven military. In short, she is my boss. It is working out pretty well actually. Of course, Caitlin¡¯s implicit endorsement helps. Not outright looking like a Mack might make a difference too.¡± Anna seemed a bit unsure. ¡°This is a lot to unpack. Can I think about it for a bit?¡± ¡°Sure! I have an offer for you. Stay here with me for a few days while I build a new hovercar. We recently lost our old one, and Wendy needs to go back to Victoria to run Vanguard Enterprises. That means she will take the little flier we used to come here, and we will be stuck for a bit. ¡°In the meantime I can tell you all about our little outfit, and while the fabricator is busy, I¡¯d like to examine your Mack body in more detail. There is some research I¡¯d like to do on it, and with a cooperative subject I might get some results I wouldn¡¯t get otherwise.¡± ¡°I¡¯d be happy to help out!¡± Anna answered. ¡°And I already think I would like to stay with Vanguard Command one way on another. I just don¡¯t know in what role yet.¡± At this point Wendy announed that she had appointments to keep and better be on her way. I escorted Wendy to the Variocopter. Out of Anna¡¯s earshot I asked Wendy ¡°What do you think about Anna joining?¡± Getting into the cockpit of her little air taxi she grinned ¡°That was an easy catch!¡± Chapter 83: Examinations Back inside, the first thing I did was to queue up several manufacturing jobs. The new Explorer, an Attoscale Architect to expand local manufacturing capabilities and some other stuff. This done, I returned to Anna and asked her ¡°Up for some reverse engineering?¡± True to her stated intentions, Anna immediately agreed. Half an hour later we were in the lab, Anna wired up with various probes and data links. Hopefully I would manage to get a better grip on the nanite shield tech this time. ¡°You should have an energy shield available that is projected from the left arm. Maybe you need to call out the activation somehow, that seems to be a thing with Magical Girls.¡± Anna tried various commands, but with little effect. ¡°Shield!... Deflector!...Cover!¡± Nothing happened. I thought about it, then suggested ¡°Maybe an involuntary reaction, a sort of mechanical reflex? May I try to actually attack you?¡± Of course I did not really want to hurt her, but perhaps the threat had to appear real. With considerable hesitation, Anna agreed. ¡°OK, but if you break this body I want one of those replacements you mentioned!¡± ¡°I promise, but now get ready!¡± Subvocalized, I instructed Elya to direct a Type Four to strike at Anna with one of its tentacles. With a reflexive movement, Anna rotated her left forearm vertical, palm side towards the attacking Type Four. An orange shield popped into existence, a tall rectangle about one and a half meters high and half a meter wide. The spike from the tentacle bounced off in a shower of sparks. A second later, the orange field collapsed in on itself and seemed to retreat into the arm. I subvocalized again ¡°Elya, did you get any interesting data?¡± Yes, but the rules don¡¯t allow me to do all the work for you. I can give you all the raw data in a layout you¡¯ll understand, but you have to do some deduction work yourself. Unless you are willing to invest points and tokens into pre-designed Protector tech. Hrmpf. Apparently my poor little brain would be tortured further. However, I refused to back down. So I asked Anna ¡°Ready for another one?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure, something in my arm feels exhausted now. Probably whatever made this orange shield.¡± But after half a minute, Anna told me the exhausted feeling had gone away. So I fetched one of the Mack Battlecats I had captured months ago and had it fire a single plasma shot at Anna. This time Anna seemed to have better control, as raising the shield looked more like an intentional move than like an involuntary reflex. From the Battlecat¡¯s gun tail, a plasma ball erupted and smashed into Anna¡¯s shield. It held, but some of the plasma splashed around the edges of the shield and gave Anna a blast of hot air. She recoiled in surprise and seemed a bit shaken by the ferocity of the attack. I have quite a bit of data for you now. I suggest you stop trying to toast Anna and do some analysis work instead. Smartass. But I was glad that I did not have to stress out Anna more than I already had. So I apologized for the scare and unhooked her from the probes. We both needed a break, so we made our way to the living area in the tower where I started munching my way through some Sanctuary-made rations. They still tasted like cardboard, and once the current print jobs were done I would have to build one of my AutoChef food synthesizers for Styx Base. And then another for the Colwood shelter. Once sated, I started to analyze the collected data and tried to explain to Anna what I was doing. But I soon realized that the esoteric physics went over her head. Hell, I was barely understanding it myself. Fortunately Anna was happy to go outside for a bit and let me get engrossed in the problem without distractions. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Eventually I reached what I believed to be a good enough understanding to make some practical experiments. But those would have to wait for the next day, as I was pretty tired. So I went outside, where Anna was still watching the night sky. ¡°Hey Anna, I think I¡¯ll go to bed. It¡¯s been a long day. I have a guest room for you, and is there something else I can get for you?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t need much sleep in this body, so do you maybe have some books to pass the time? Or movies?¡± A short consultation with Elya later I had something to offer. ¡°I can get you an E-book reader with a rather large collection of books. Is there a particular genre you prefer?¡± ¡°Sci-Fi and fantasy!¡± ¡°Can do! One E-book reader coming up, print time ten minutes!¡± That will cost you 50 points for the reader blueprint and 100 for the library. For over 40.000 books it is a real bargain! Sunday, January 17th, 2050, way too early in the morning As I dragged myself to the kitchen to make some insta-coffee, Anna appeared from her guest room and cheerfully announced ¡°That library you gave me is awesome! But one thing is baffling me. There is a lot of newer novels that talk about plant monsters called Antithesis. Is that something like a shared story universe?¡± ¡°Sort of. It comes across as pretty realistic, doesn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Dunno. I mean, it is quite consistent. But walking plants that try to eat you? Come on!¡± ¡°Not more far fetched than killer robots that overrun your world.¡± ¡°Oh. You''ve got a point there. I guess someone could write a similar novel about our Earth.¡± I figured it was too early to spill the beans. But I could not completely suppress a chuckle. Fortunately, Anna did not suspect the deeper truth. Instead she asked ¡°Do we have more experiments planned for today?¡± ¡°I¡¯d like to try and find out more about an ability another Mack Magical Girl has shown. Apparently she has pulled an axe out of thin air and used it to attack a SHOCKS team.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know if I have that at all. That magical bag of holding I mean.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry. If you don¡¯t have it, that¡¯s not your fault. But let¡¯s check.¡± Back in the lab, we quickly found out that Anna had a mechanism meant for dimensional shunting, but could not get it to work despite two hours of experimenting. What I did manage to recover were recordings of the commands going to the device I suspected of being the ¡°magical bag of holding¡±. There was clearly something going on, but once again I did not succeed in unraveling the mystery, yet. So I announced ¡°I need a break.¡± ¡°Are we getting anywhere with the bag of holding thing?¡± ¡°I have enough data to theorize and make some experiments. Actually, I have the body of another Mack MG over there. Most of it is still functional, and it should work as a test bed so I don¡¯t have to keep you in the lab all the time.¡± Anna ran over to where I had deposited Arina¡¯s old Mack body, now headless and somewhat cut up. With a horrified expression she turned around and accused me ¡°What have you done to her? You, you... monster!¡± ¡°Remember the artificial body Wendy showed you? She has one of those now and does not need the Mack hardware any more. ¡°I promised you can get one of those too, and I¡¯m keeping that promise. But in the meantime, will you help me figure out one last thing?¡± ¡°What thing?¡± came the answer, full of suspicion. Anna had calmed down a little, but I could still hear the distrust in her voice. ¡°The jumpjets in your legs. See these flaps?¡± I pointed to two barely visible flaps under the ankles of Arina¡¯s old body. ¡°You have those too, and underneath there are thrusters for a few seconds of flight. I admit I¡¯m a bit lazy here, it might be possible to figure it out by experimenting on that old body. But if you can use yours, an actual test flight would give me better data.¡± Ten minutes later, we were on the helipad, Anna wearing only some lightweight and wireless instrumentation this time. She seemed to be in thought for a moment, then she said ¡°Yes I think I can... WHEEEE!!¡± Wobbling and waving her arms, Anna was circling with hissing thrusters over the helipad and drifting towards the pseudo-medieval tower with the living quarters. She barely reached the crenelations and got a hold on them before she ran out of fuel. I ran to the tower and up the staircase to help Anna over the battlement. But she met me halfway down the stairs. I had forgotten how strong the Mack MGs were. Of course she could pull herself up. With a big grin, Anna announced ¡±That was fun! I¡¯m no longer sure if I want to switch bodies.¡± In a more serious tone she added ¡°But I still want to see if Miss I-have-a-new-body-now is OK!¡±