Leaving the guys' company, I briskly headed home. Vega should have finished the calculation by now, so I was expecting to see the results ready. There was no one in the workshop, which meant I could peacefully focus on my own tasks. Lately, Rick had completely stopped tinkering with tech, focusing instead on missions outside the camp. Apparently, the guy urgently needed money, but for what, I wondered?
Not wanting to clutter my mind with unnecessary thoughts, I approached the computer, still displaying some calculations that were incomprehensible to me. It seemed Vega needed much more time than she anticipated. It looked like AI was trying to create the most advanced armor possible with our current resources. Out of curiosity, I put on the visor and connected to the simulation program.
"Wow," I exclaimed in admiration as I looked at the final prototypes, assessing their tactical and technical characteristics.
Right now, the AI had managed to create three full-fledged suits of armor of different protection classes. The weakest one corresponded to the eighth class, which was more typical of Gemini rather than an ordinary person, even one loaded with implants and additional gear. Speed was a crucial factor in such protection, so among other things, special sensors were installed in the mechanical muscles to read information in advance, thereby increasing mobility. The helmet, in turn, was made of a special composite material used in the windows of our cars. This thing could easily withstand a sniper rifle shot from a hundred meters away. The wearer would only feel a strong jolt, thanks to the kinetic dampeners. Segmental shields, slightly modified for tight corridor conditions, were built into the hands. The suit was codenamed "Icarus."
In addition to the lightweight armor, the heavier models also amazed me; I would even call them tank-like. My wanderer was taken as the basis. It turned out much heavier and streamlined, thus increasing mobility. I couldn't create something like this before due to the limitations of my printer station. Now, with the help of the nanofactory, it was entirely possible. In addition to reinforced armor and muscles, a backpack was added to the suit, allowing the wearer to jump from great heights without harm. In addition, Vega studied the data from my reactor and managed to create a synthesized material that increased the reactor's power from 20 to 40 percent. The heavy version of the wanderer had first-class tank armor, but its mobility allowed the armored suit to be used in building assault conditions. The armor could withstand a direct hit from a grenade launcher without losing mobility. In such a suit, one could truly feel like an invincible soldier.
The exoskeleton also underwent many improvements. Now the wanderer could reach speeds of up to thirty-five kilometers per hour while running. The speed was quite impressive compared to my old twenty-five. A little more, and I'd fall in love with this AI. I never thought she'd be so useful.
And the third suit could even be called slightly redundant. A huge third-class tank armor. Its appearance was more reminiscent of a combat cyborg variant used in corporation arsenals during open conflicts. The armor weighed about three hundred kilograms and could only be lifted by its hydraulic muscles, carrying several tons of cargo. My old reactor would hardly be enough to power all the Suppressor's systems. That's exactly why I decided to name this armored suit "Crusher." Huge armor, heavy servomotors, as well as knuckle dusters installed in the hands for close combat. An additional computational cluster and energy batteries powering it were installed on the back to control this death machine.
"The simulation process is complete; I'm making the final adjustments," Vega's voice chimed in.
The appearance of all the suits underwent changes again, mainly focusing on cosmetic functions to facilitate operation and repairs.
"Greetings, creator Alex," AI's image wavered, and before me stood the beautiful woman who had been paying more attention to her appearance lately. The AI seemed to be trying to tailor her appearance to my taste, monitoring my reactions. Her current appearance seemed to be a blend of Susan and Inga, something in between the two. It was amusing in a way, but I couldn't understand why she was doing it and, more importantly, for what purpose?
"Vega, you have no idea how glad I am that you're here," I said, feeling like I could almost kiss this electronic beauty.
"Compliment noted. I'm glad you liked it," the girl's face attempted to smile, but it came out rather crooked.
The AI's speech patterns had also started changing rapidly, no longer resembling the emotionless stone I met at the beginning. Her learning speed was truly something. It scared me a little, but I wouldn't take any actions that she might consider a threat in the future. I needed an ally and a reliable companion, not a potential enemy constantly fearing for her life.
"You still need to work on that smile, but you're doing pretty well, Vega," I praised her. It was easy for me, and it seemed to please her. I wasn't sure if she felt something akin to human empathy, but she deserved praise nonetheless.
"Let's skip the flirting and get down to business. I've completed the request based on your requirements. The list of necessary resources is in the email," she continued.
"Just a moment," I said, finding the necessary email and delving into the dry lines under the heading 'must-have.'
"You've made quite a few requests. I'll have to place an order, but there's nothing here that I can't get in a short time. When can you start working, and how much time will you need for construction?" I inquired.
"It will take about three days to create each suit of armor from scratch, considering the availability of the necessary resources. Upgrading your current armor will take 14 hours," she replied.
"So, a little less than a week in total if we start right now... Listen, how do you feel about me upgrading your computational power? Let's say I buy a few computational servers for your needs," I suggested, folding my hands in front of me, awaiting her response.
"Positive," the girl nodded.
"In that case, start working right away, and I'll take care of the rest," I said without waiting for her reply, finding the necessary store online and adding the materials I needed to the cart. I also had to buy a couple of Millitech computational stations, each costing 15,000 eddies. It was a hefty sum, but I couldn't afford to skimp now. Altogether, I had to spend 72,000 eddies, not counting delivery. It was half of my remaining savings. My heart ached as I finalized the drone delivery, which cost another 3,000, but it would all go towards our cause, so it wasn't the time to be stingy.
"The order has been placed; the estimated time of arrival for the goods is one hour," I informed my assistant of the work done and patiently awaited the delivery.
***
"Here it is," I muttered to myself as the drone delivery arrived.
I had to warn John that I would order drone delivery to avoid unnecessary commotion in the camp. After all, hot-headed individuals might accidentally shoot it down, and I didn't need that. The package was enormous, weighing roughly a ton. To drag the container into the workshop, I enlisted Chad and Kirk's help, lending them working exoskeletons for the task. The three of us quickly hauled the iron box inside.
"Let's see," I pressed a special button, opening the container's door. "Nicely done, they've placed it carefully," I remarked. It wasn't surprising. The sum involved was quite substantial, and negligence in this matter could tarnish our reputation with a potential client with a heap of eddies. "Looks like everything's in place. I'll get to connecting the servers now."
After installing the additional computational power for Vega, her work sped up by about 25%. It wasn't groundbreaking, but it significantly hastened the entire process. The details of the suits would mainly be created on the printer under the direct control of the artificial intelligence. Thanks to the nanofactory management, each piece would be flawlessly crafted, and Vega's core's additional computational power would shorten the production time. All that would be left is to manually assemble and solder all the parts using a special production arm. It boasted high precision and allowed for microscopic adjustments. Such arms were used by ripper technicians for servicing clients.
In my workshop stood three different suits ready for the upgrade. Icarus wouldn't be suitable for this mission, so I would create a group of four Wanderers. It wouldn't be safe to extract the children, so sooner or later, we'd face resistance. We'd have AI and Bartmoss on our side. Raych would handle cyberspace, while Vega would take care of our defense against runners. She might not know how to attack yet, but ensuring reliable protection against potential hacks was crucial.
Kivi would cover our backs. I think the lightweight Icarus would suffice for her needs. She wouldn't fight alongside us but would remain to tend to the wounded. Still, providing her with some form of protection was necessary.
"So much to do and so little time..." I sighed.