Dealing with the PRT afterwards was not a fun experience. We couldn't leave until our statements were taken and due to the fact that most of the troopers were clearing out the mall, we were basically stuck until further notice. The few PRT officers that were on duty were taking their time going through each person's testimonies and getting as much as they could.
Luckily, they did have the sense to set up temporary chairs and seats for us while we waited. Plus a few bottles of water were passed around from coolers. Leaning back in my seat, I twisted the cap with a satisfying crack and took a gulp of water. Spending an hour running around certainly dehydrates you. I didn't even realize how thirsty I was.
"If it isn't the man of the hour." Johnny approached me after finishing his talk with one of the officers. Maria smiled and gave me a small wave before turning her attention back to the lollipop in her hands. Taking a seat next to me, he reached over to grab a bottle as well.
"I don't think I deserve that high of a praise." I shook my head.
Scoffing, he narrowed his eyes. "Of course you do. In fact, from the testimonies of some of the other members, you were the only reason we survived that–" He shot a glance at Maria. "–blasted 'Sudden Death'. The moment we started splitting up more and more, the zombies became confused and couldn't chase after all of us, making it much easier to evade them. We even managed to regroup somewhat without them following and hid until they finally shut down."
I nodded slowly. "Glad to see that it worked."
"Incredible stuff. Are you sure you're a Uni dropout? I don't think a university student can immediately pinpoint that Leet," his face curled with slight disgust as he said it, "can't split up the zombie horde."
I laughed awkwardly. "It was more of a spur of the moment intuition. When you get into 'The Zone', and like you work at 110% sort of deal." I deflected. "Say, you offered me a job at the Dockworker's right? When can I cash that in?"
Johnny nodded. "I did say that, didn't I? Well, I'll have to pass your name to Danny first and then have you come in for a short interview. Nothing much probably, with me vouching for you, and your skills you displayed back there." I swallowed but he was probably talking about like leadership qualities right? Yea, no need to overthink things. "You planning on going back to University?"
I blinked for a moment before giving an instinctual response. "Yea." And immediately regretted it. "Just something to tide myself over while I piece my life back together. Once I'm on firm ground, I'll try to finish a bachelor's degree." I dug my hole deeper. I probably didn't need to go back to school in anycase. Even just having Hammer Jammer and Savant's Understanding should put me at genius level or something. But I didn't need him to think less of me.
"Hmm… Something part-time then? Or maybe flexible hours?" He shot a glance at me. "I'll be sure to pass it along. It shouldn't take more than a few days to set it up for you. Got a way to contact you?" I gave him my phone number. "That'll do. I'll call you when we're ready then."
Time passed, mostly being killed via scrolling through the PHO thread for the stream. A lot of shocked comments came up about the whole 'zombie apocalypse' but then it quickly died down after Leet provided an informational during the duller moments. Afterwards, there were quite a lot of comments going 'Oh yeah! I knew that. They aren't that big of fucking idiots'.
Those caught by the zombies were roughed up a bit before being dragged somewhere… Leet said that they would be safe but 'removed from the game'. Quite a number of groups did quite well, until they encountered the roaming Uber and were promptly beaten.
The most surprising part of the stream was the final part. The stream followed Uber until he reached our group and Sudden Death was announced. Following that, it mostly focused around our escape until we started splitting up, in which it turned back to the fight between Uber and Crystal. At a certain point, Uber started trying to pull away from Crystal, but her flight and laser blasts forced him to stay put and fight. Eventually, one of his arms shorted out and he was forced to detach that limb. The resulting figure was pretty lop-sided to say the least.
Finally, the PRT broke through the isolation barrier and Uber made a hasty retreat before ending the stream. Quite a few comments were about me and the group, with quite a few more complimenting my looks. Looking at the few screenshots, I rubbed my jaw thoughtfully. Really compared to the others, there was a slight but noticeable difference to everyone else.
"Shit." I muttered. "Am I going to be recognized on the streets?" Uber and Leet streams were pretty popular, though most of them were there to watch them lose or otherwise have some spectacular failure. Fortunately, it seemed to be one of those rare streams where most of their equipment was working.
After ego-browsing, a PRT officer finally arrived to take my statement. The simple stuff like my name, then what occurred, blah blah blah. It took a while, with the officer asking for clarification several times. I didn't mention my power nor any of my findings from the tinkertech I inspected, again using my curiosity with tinkertech as an excuse. And I definitely didn't tell them about me beating the absolute shit out of Leet.
Oh right. Leet knew my face… I cocked my head. Well, I don't think he would tell the PRT as well. Not unless he wanted them to come to my protection. Probably keep his mouth shut until the revolving door of the PRT lets him out. Then rebuild, maybe team up with Bakuda if all things were left the same, except drop a few special bombs on my head as well.
Well now I definitely need Bakuda. To not have to deal with whatever fucking bombs Leet will make her drop on me if anything else.
'Leet, the Worst Tinker, being my arch-nemesis…' I thought as I leaned back in my chair. There was certainly a form of irony there.
"Excuse me, sir?" The officer interrupted my musing. "Did something come to mind?" I blinked and shook my head. I was still making a statement. Best I don't forget that.
"Nothing much. Just remembering how well I managed to evade those zombie bots." I said with a laugh. "Just like actual gamers, they never look up." I joked. The officer quirked the corner of his lip before nodding. Seeing that I wasn't gonna get a laugh, I hurriedly finished up the rest of my statement.
The officer nodded and left, leaving me alone. Grabbing my stuff, I was about to leave when the doors opened once more and an actual surge of people poured out. Led by the PRT troopers, the crowd were spread out as they finally stepped out into sunlight. And acted like they haven't seen it in years. Squawking, I was caught up in the surge and pushed as they made their ways to the shelters.
Cursing, I tried to push past and felt like a salmon climbing a raging river. Every step I took was made up with another three steps back. Suddenly, I felt a force hooking me underneath my arms and pulled me up. A brief and alarming flight later, and I was back in a relatively isolated area. A few seats were set up for the officers to rest as well as a dedicated cooler. Shooting a brief glance at me, their eyes flickered up before turning back and resting.
Before I had the chance to see what they were looking at, the Celestial Forge spat out its tendril towards the Resource Constellation. Wrapping around a Star and a smaller node, the light flashed and let out a burst of power as the new perk settled over me. And boy was it a good one.
Reclaimer. The ability to salvage and reclaim components and technology from wrecked machines. Needless to say this was an absolutely perfect power for my current status as a tinker without jack shit to his name. Plus, I had an added benefit of having a higher chance of pulling out more delicate and valuable components intact. Once I had a decent costume going, the Boat Graveyard suddenly became a helluva lot more enticing.
That and like… garage sales and dumpsters where people usually dumped their broken appliances without ever checking what was wrong with them. Frankly, with both Reclaimer and Hammer Jammer, it would be like getting a full machine for dirt fucking cheap. Or even free!
I wondered if I could even salvage tinkertech components… I clicked my tongue. If this occurred a little earlier, I might have gotten something interesting from Leet's gear. Though smuggling it out would be a little difficult. Ah well, it was something to keep in mind if I ever encounter wrecked tinkertech. Or maybe I could sell my services to salvage old projects for tinkers? Especially if they were made in a fugue state and they didn't quite have the knowledge required to disassemble it without screwing it over.
The Mote provided was called Lingua-Technis, an entirely new language that I just know now. The best way I could describe it was a derivative of pure binary. A burst of something close to pure code that carried with it a ridiculously dense amount of information. Incredibly useful since most people would just hear noise and even if it was converted to something resembling a language, it was complex enough that deciphering it would be a futile effort.
Small problem. I couldn't speak it. It required implants to even produce the 'sounds' used for Lingua-Technis, much less translating it to and from the sound I heard. And since it was code. I couldn't exactly write it either.
Well, it was something to keep in mind for the future.
"Um… You good?" Fingers snapped in front of my face. Blinking, I realized that my thoughts had drifted. Crystal stepped into view, arms crossed in front of her. "You seemed pretty out of it."
"Oh." I shook my head. "Nothing. Just a little something on my mind." I snapped my fingers. "Thanks for pulling me out of that crowd." I glanced at her empty hands. "Lost the fan?" I asked with a grin.
Immediately, her face fell into a pout before breaking into a slight smirk. "Yea… Dropped it somewhere when Uber and Leet showed up. I could probably find it again… but it's a bit of a hassle." She sighed. "Besides, the PRT will compensate me for my help so I don't mind." Her eyes flickered to the bag in my hands. "I see you managed to keep yours on hand."
I shrugged. "What can I say? I don't have a governmental organization compensating me." I lifted the bag in my hands. With all the jostling and moving, the corners of the box managed to break through the plastic but it was still holding up. The box itself was a bit banged up but the fan should still be in good condition.
"Here." I grabbed the fan and tossed it over. "For you then." Yelping, Crystal was caught off-guard as she hopped forward. With a little boost from her power, she managed to keep the fan from hitting the ground. Which would've been a bit awkward if it happened although not particularly bad.
Picking it up, she looked a bit confused. "Wha? Didn't you like fight off zombies so you… didn't have to get a second one?"
"Out of the kindness of my heart." I stated. When I caught her quirked eyebrow, I coughed and shrugged. "Well… having the gratitude of a cute girl as well would be helpful as well." The moment the words came out, my brain caught up with my mouth. And sounded the cringe alarm.
My face started to feel a little hot. "Um… so, I'll be going now! See you around." I spun on my heel and half-powerwalked and half-ran out of the little barricade. Situated outside were several news vans that I had to avoid, lest be held up by an interview. Reaching the bike racks, I grabbed my ride and swiftly made my way back home.
There was really no way to escape if Crystal really wanted to chase after me. After the first minute passed and I wasn't somehow snatched off the ground like a fish facing an eagle, I let myself slowly relax. I had no idea if she was actually receptive to me but hey, building connections to each team wouldn't hurt.
Shutting the door behind me, I drew the curtains and tossed the rest of my stuff on the table. Taking a quick rinse and changing into a set of fresh clothes, I sat down and started pulling out all the items I bought for my tinkering. Unfortunately, without the fan motor to act as my winch, the grappling hook couldn't be made. And I wasn't dumb enough to cannibalize my old fan for its motor instead.
Firstly, the motor might give out on me since it was pretty old, and secondly I didn't want to die from heatstroke in my apartment.
But my wireless taser should still be possible. Clearing my desk of textbooks and old papers, I set the stun gun, airsoft gun, and bundles of electronics aside. The idea was fairly simple. A way to shock a person from a distance without needing prongs to jab into a person's muscles to conduct the electricity.
Extracting the internals, I carefully cursed myself out for not getting a solvent for glue. Cooking oil was a… usable replacement. Using careful and precise application of my screwdriver, I eased the voltage amplifying circuit out, ensuring I didn't accidentally snap it. The capacitor was removed carefully and discharged. Then the rest of the less important stuff.
The airsoft guns were easily disassembled. The springs could be useful for something. Maybe for the teeth of the grapple? Oh well. The space was a bit tight… But I was going to have to tinker with the circuitry a bit to make it a bit better. And miniaturize it in the process.
It wasn't particularly difficult. Hammer Jammer provided quite a bit of knowledge to help me build this. A portion of it will be placed in the magazine, with some of it in the barrel as well. I also hooked up the safety to the circuit as well. With a simple flick, I could turn my taser from non-lethal to conditionally lethal. It wouldn't kill, but it might if I kept it on them or if I shot it at something vulnerable.
Yes, it also does mean that this does not have an 'off' state. The closest thing I could have was by removing the battery entirely. But what were the chances that I would shock myself while stowing it away? Which also reminded me to get some holsters to store my guns.
The main problem was inducing a charge at range. Inducing a charge wasn't difficult really. Just hold a charged object near a neutral one and voila. The object was charged. Small problem, I needed to do that from a distance ranging from anywhere between 5-15 meters away with a gun. Plus generating a large enough charge to drop someone in the first place.
Letting out a sigh, I let Hammer Jammer help me as I fiddle with the components, while keeping track of the information provided with Savant's Understanding. It took a while, as well as creating several smaller prototypes using some of my electronics and self-testing. The first one was nothing more than a static field generator, making my hair stand on end and little else. The second one was a bit better, making me flinch with a mild shock. A few range tests found that, yes, it did work from a distance.
Though my room wasn't too big so maybe I would have to do some more extensive testing when it was completed.
With the mechanism tested, I started working on the one that was going into the gun. It would have to be a bit bigger to handle the output from the voltage amplification circuit. And a little more robust to handle any impacts and external shocks.
The final component was a bit on the bigger side, requiring me to alter the position of the other components. However, it did as I required it to, inducing an electrical charge on the target. Well, two charges really. One negatively charged point and one positively charged. Then simply allowing nature to equalize the charges through a painful discharge between them.
There were some issues. Though nothing I could really do about it. Charges couldn't be effectively induced during rain or fog, the water messed with the induction process, weakening it and slowing down the rate of which it was induced. And metal was a no-go since the induced charges discharged itself fast enough that the taser was ineffective.
On the flipside, it was also capable of shorting out circuitry. I just needed to actually be able to aim at the exposed circuits.
Looking at the completed taser, was it what I wanted? Yeah. Was it what I expected? Not really. It looked cobbled together. Despite having the base of an airsoft gun, it looked like something that would give Accord a heart attack. Asymmetry and crude were two words that came to the forefront of my mind, along with a little sprinkling of 'slapdash' for good measure.
If someone pointed this at me, I would be inclined to think that they were fucking with me. Hell, even while looking at it, I was half-tempted to believe it wasn't going to work despite the fact that I had tested it. But even so, it wasn't completely disgusting to look at. More of a… deliberate design choice than simply poor craftsmanship.
Which reminded me. I needed to design a costume for my persona. And come up with a name. Personally I would like one major persona and a smattering of smaller deniable identities. Basically, turn 1 person into a whole group or team. It shouldn't be too hard since the Celestial Forge had honestly too many fucking tech trees.
The major persona should be something that represented the full might of the Forge. Both in terms of sheer power and breadth of capability. There was no way I was going to get to that point anytime soon but it was a good anchor from which the rest should branch out from. Biotech… Robotics… My mind drifted for a bit before I wrestled back to focus.
"No. No. This identity now." I stared at my first proper creation. Some sort of gunslinger? My mind flipped through the possibilities, with Hammer Jammer providing a lot of legwork to tell me if it was feasible. I mean… it wasn't its specialty but it was good enough to create some pistols. But anything bigger and it started to move to… less helpful designs. Things that looked like they should be anchored down rather than carried around in a single hand.
Which seemed to be a running condition with the Forge. Each perk wasn't a definite line, where anything that fell outside its domain was left to dry, but more of a gradient. Things that fell in its domain, it would work 100% no problems. But the further you stepped outside of that domain, it decreased in efficiency, to 80%, 50% down to like 5%. And of course each domain overlapped. Like the DIY boost from Hammer Jammer working alongside Reclaimer to make me much better at salvaging equipment than either of them individually.
As I was considering the nature of the Forge, it surged to life. However, something was a bit different this time. Instead of seemingly randomly flinging tendrils all over the place, it instead shot a tendril to the 'other' 19 Constellations. 'Painted On' was part of them, so maybe I was getting something similar? Though I remembered that the description of 'Painted On' was slightly sexual.
And it failed miserably, aiming for one of the extremely high Stars on the Magic Constellation. Oh well, there was always next time.
Anyway, if I was using Hammer Jammer for its main purpose, all I could produce were 'gadgets' and 'contraptions'. My taser fell into that umbrella so it got a pass. Larger weaponry fell into 'contraptions' which were larger and more unwieldy. A mess of machinery that did a certain function. But they weren't exactly what one would call resource-efficient. Letting my power guide me, I tried to draw up a few designs that would work as a lethal option in combination with the taser while making sure I didn't go too far off.
There was something there. Again, it was pretty crude-looking like my taser, but they worked and did what I intended to do. Drop the other guy. One was a pipe launcher. A shitty-looking one, but a pipe launcher that launched explosives. I carefully tore that one off, crumpled it and set it to the side.
The others were of varying levels of lethality. But they… weren't exactly fit for what I envisioned for a gunslinger.
I leaned back in my chair. If I wanted a proper gunslinger, then I would probably need a proper gunsmithing power. Still… It wasn't exactly impossible… Shaking my head, I dislodged that idea and stuffed it to the back of my mind. I shouldn't be bashing my head trying to force it to work. I had much better things to do in the meantime.
Some sort of professional tinker like Uppercrust? A formal three-piece suit, leather shoes, a featureless white– okay maybe not that last one. I didn't need to draw Mannequin's attention as well. I definitely wouldn't be able to sell big pieces like coastline forcefields, but that shouldn't matter. Something for other heroes, rogues, maybe some villains. Equipment basically. Highly specialized equipment. The Q to their Bond.
I mean… I drummed my fingers on the table. Maybe when I got a few design powers that would make my stuff look better. A formal suit would project a certain classiness that I simply didn't have. Both in my products and my attitude to a certain extent. I could use my Solar memories to grant myself a certain air of superiority and self-assuredness but it would ultimately be undercut by the fact that I knew that I had nothing to back it up. And it still didn't solve the issue of having absolutely garbage-looking products.
Maybe I should lean into the crudeness? Some sort of eccentric inventor, unbound by morals and simply creating things for the joy of creation over anything else? That… could work. Wouldn't exactly be easy since I wasn't exactly unhinged. But eccentricity came in many forms. I was sure there was something in my Solar memories I could draw upon. Or pull a Dragon and only converse via speakers and screens, citing 'unwillingness to leave my lab'.
I slipped the designs into a drawer and pulled out a fresh piece of paper. This could definitely work. Some sort of trench coat, top hat, worn leather gloves… Mechanical arms… I cocked my head. Yeah, Hammer Jammer did provide help with mechanical arms. It wasn't a Doc Ock set of arms, just simple mechanisms that extended my reach or held things for me, controlled with a mix of finger and body movements.
As for protection… Hm. Armour, like high-caliber snipers, were not part of Hammer Jammer's domain. Perhaps a protection gadget…? I tried probing and they were mostly reactive protection. Which meant I needed to see the attack incoming to even start blocking it. Which wasn't the safest of protection. Not with people like Oni Lee teleporting all over the place, and Victor who could fire a bullet from across the damn city.
I tried asking for passive defenses but got painfully little. Either requiring stretching my non-existent resources or requiring some painful amount of time and effort to create. Neither of which I had right now.
Sighing, I settled on a deployable shield/arm guard. A three metal plates that formed a bracer and deployed to a slightly larger shield. It wouldn't be winning any prizes for the most protective equipment, but it should hold up against small arms. Or the occasional punch. I should probably test its limits before going out on the field though.
And finally something to hide my identity. I spun the pencil around my finger. Goggles definitely, with a few upgrades because what type of self-respecting inventor didn't have super-observation goggles to keep track of their nine hundred different projects all at once? Again, it wouldn't be that good but something like Spiderman's Stark suit? Capable of zooming in, expressing emotion and maybe having some alternative vision.
It fell underneath the gadget umbrella thankfully, so Hammer Jammer worked perfectly as it helped design the blueprint for it. Some sort of adjusting mechanism for the lenses to allow me to zoom in and out, shutter to constrict the amount of light that enters so I won't get blind by a single flashbang. A reader mechanism to track facial movements so I could actually control all the mechanisms.
The final look was a bit on the bulky side, with a clear half-cobbled together look. In fact, if I wasn't the person who made it, I probably would have thrown it out based on pure looks alone. But it did work, with several labels and notes on how I could create the components I needed to make it or what I could probably tear apart to reuse. Unfortunately, fitting a thermal or night vision capability would make it far too bulky to be practical. Especially if I was running around with it on my head. Even more so designing another mechanism to switch between normal and the alternate view.
It would be much better, both for my neck and the goggles, if I simply made a separate one for each one. Or maybe attachments? That would work. Then I could have the goggles for both tinkering and my actual costume without all the excess bits weighing me down. Plus I could only bring the visions I needed without any redundant items.
I spent the next hour or so creating them, as well as redesigning a portion of the goggles such that they could fit over the lens without smashing anything in. One for thermal, night, and infrared vision. Was it a bit much? Probably, but I mean, since I was designing one, I might as well design for all of them.
They would attach to the top of the goggles before falling over the lens to change it. Not really useful to quickly change on the fly, but it wasn't supposed to. Either they were for lab work, or in situations that didn't require quick changes in the first place. Finally, I made sure that they could attach to either eye without problem and we were done.
I leaned back in my chair and cracked my knuckles. The costume was pretty much done. I wasn't sure if I wanted a mask to cover the lower half of my face. It would provide another layer of protection but I wasn't inclined towards it. I was pretty sure I would look like a tech-priest to a certain extent.
Eh, we'll see. If Lisa would get away with a domino mask, I was sure that my goggles would do just fine. But… just for a bit of caution, let's make sure that the goggles broke up my features a bit more…
I fought back a yawn as I finished up the last of my design work. Taking a good look at the blueprints, I crumpled all of them up and tossed them into a drawer. With Savant's I could easily recall the plans whenever I needed. I just needed to burn them to properly get rid of them. Wouldn't want some nosy person piecing the scraps back together.
Actually, I was pretty certain that if they tried, anyone could replicate my items. I hummed in thought. I should probably blackbox it. Probing Hammer Jammer, it gave a few ideas but nothing more than that. It was too far out of its domain to even start helping.
Oh well, I guess I should just be a little careful when it came to my tech.
I composed a brief shopping list in my head. Lenses, gears, straps… I grimaced. Buying each item individually was bound to point a target at my head. Cameras would be easiest for the goggles… Metal plates… I probably needed to harvest from somewhere. I doubted there was any good supplier of metal. And that they weren't being observed by gangs for possible tinker activity.
Right, there was always Toybox as well. I cocked my head. The tinker group really slipped my mind when I was thinking of groups to join. They should provide resources to up-and-coming tinkers right? It was never explicitly stated anywhere but it should work. I just had to join them. And unlike the other major factions, I wasn't stuck with them. I could leave when I fully established myself. The question was if they took manpower as payment due to my extreme lack of money. Well, it was worth a shot.
I weighed if I should ask before or after I got the rest of my resources. On the one hand, it would be best if I could show off more of my stuff to make them more willing to accept my demands. On the other hand, I still required resources to actually make those items… to then make the demands.
I ran a hand down my face. Well… it was better than everyone else in this goddamn city. Maybe I could even use Loremaster to negotiate for a looser relationship. I took a glance at my laptop before blinking at my idiocy. Obviously I wasn't going to contact the big tinker group from my personal laptop, what the fuck?
It was coming to the evening, with the sun starting to set over the horizon. If I rushed… I could probably make it to the library. Using the computers there would be safer, and probably couldn't be traced back to me…? I don't think they had any one specific tinker that specialized in hacking. I quickly ran through my memories. Nope.
Throwing on my dirty clothes, again, I grabbed my bike and rode off for the second time today. Hopefully there wasn't a villain attack on the way back or something stupid like that. I had enough excitement for the day.
New Perks:
-Reclaimer (Warhammer 40k - Adeptus Mechanicus) (200CP)
Rare is the heretek with wealth or connections enough to acquire the resources to pursue innovation without raising suspicion. Most must make do with whatever they can scavenge or build for themselves, and fortune seems to often favor them when harvesting useful components from wrecked machines. More often than not, the most delicate and valuable pieces of technology can be pulled intact from wrecks you find or create.
-Lingua-Technis (Warhammer 40k - Adeptus Mechanicus) (FREE)**
Known only to the devotees of the Machine God despite the best efforts of outsiders over millennia, the adepts of Mars speak to each other in bursts of binaric code. This allows for a great deal of information to be communicated quickly and discreetly. Even if translated, it is a complex language thick with ancient and arcane terminology that few outsiders could ever hope to make any sense of. This language allows you to communicate quickly with other adepts, transferring messages and code many times faster than ordinary speech.