"Finally!" Sy sunk back on his chair with a soft smile. He had just finished writing an algorithmic pattern for the welding-bots. Sweeping his gaze around, another smile appeared on his face when his eyes landed on the three Straggler S1-2s carefully placed near the hallway of his virtual workshop like giant guards - the other one was already delivered to spacecommandeer by the game system. Thus, his Gold had reached a whopping 5,00,012,000 - well, for him it was astronomical since he hadn't held something that many, and he could do a lot with that amount.
'Time to work!' He stood up after processing the material needs of his project.
The welding bots were divided into two types. The bigger ones were stationary, while the small ones were mobile and could do almost everything - supply the big ones with welding batteries, lift heavy items, clean the workshop or operate almost all of the equipments.
Sy was planning to build the smaller bots first which he called 'aviator-bots', named after the two groups of mech pilots who bickered every time they met.
The aviator-bots were programmed with a powerful AI which took Sy a little more time to finish.
He couldn't help but put a little conflict to make his virtual workshop more lively, as the bots could distinguish 'friend' and 'foe'.
By putting a few speeches the bots would say, 'Help me!' when their computers processed that they won't be able to perform the task alone. Any bots that managed to respond would be considered a 'friend'. By then, the bots' computers would sync together to form a solution and then performed by all of the parties involved in perfect synchronization.
A 'friend' will be responded quicker than others while a 'foe' was a bot that failed many times to respond to the call of another bot. Now, the speech; 'You are scum!' would be voiced by a bot when coming across a 'foe'.
Sy also uploaded all the data from the market into the aviator-bots' memory chips. With this, they could accurately identify damaged parts and components. He wanted to do more with their computers but the timespan limited his ability to incorporate more.
Now, the bots could levitate or move through the floor using four wheels - enabling them to carry heavy objects faster across the workshop. They sported a box-shaped body and a round head armed with scanners. Their hands were flexible almost that of a human's and had five fingers in order to operate the equipments and the welding tools. The arms could also expand reducing the mass of their body. They even had bipedal legs. All limbs were compiled perfectly into their box-shaped body through multiple joints. As such, when both arms and legs were extended, they would look like a humanoid robot.
Sy began purchasing the materials for one bot. After spending 5,000 Gold, he proceeded to fabricate the machine. When the aviator-bot slowly formed into existence, the young Pioneer manually installed its computer parts, not trusting the delicate process to the slow fabricator.
The bot purred as it came to life when Sy inserted its batteries, scanning its surroundings. It immediately rushed to the mess of hybrid titanium alloys scrapped from the Straggler S1s, and started piling it up into the storage room.
Letting out a satisfied chuckle after watching the dutiful machine for a few seconds, Sy also went back to work, fabricating more bots. As they grew in number, they started making speeches.
'Help me!'
'Help me!'
Other bots would rush to the direction of the sound.
They hadn't yet made any 'foe'.
'Whoo! That's 50,000 Gold for ten Aviator-bots! I already spent 65 hours in the game, and I need to log out for sustenance or I will be indebted to Tiff again if she slip another nutrient pack in my pod.' After a quick survey, Sy was content as the bots were gazing up at the three Straggler S1-2s as if in amazement. He logged out.
-----
Tiff was eating when Sy came out from his pod. With a smile, she motioned him to join her. She looked fresh in a ponytail while wearing a white shirt and baggy long pants.
"This is the real deal!" Sy exclaimed while inspecting the bread the blonde gave him.
"My mother owns a farm. Baking and cooking real stuff is in our genes." Tiff said while chewing.
"A hydroponic farm?" When she nodded, Sy asked, "How much for the bread?"
Tiff frowned, giving him a sharp stare.
Sy could only chuckle awkwardly as he took a bite, "This is good!"
He finished his food in one go, surprising the blonde who instinctively handed over a bottle of water.
Gulping a mouthful of water, Sy stood up, "I need to get back there. I'm on to something."
"Let's exchange comms when you wake up." Tiff suggested. Upon seeing the man nod, she activated her projected screen and watched the news.
-----
"You are scum!"
Back in his workshop, the bots were already making foes. Sy began constructing the Gamma Welding Machine. He needed a high quality energy-reflective glass to make a basin for the highly elusive Origin energy and a containment field.
This energy was discovered by a Pioneer over a century ago - managing to harness it from a mysterious cosmic particle and then successfully recreated it using other energies. It is intangible and incapable of being studied as it showed no data in the simulators. However, when compressed, it had an effect that would earn it the nickname, 'Origin of the Universe' which would be argued by most.
Sy took almost 60 hours to finish the Gamma Welding Machine and the Big Welding Bots. He integrated these new additions to the computer core of the workshop before setting up an interface for his customers.
After spending almost 200,000 Gold, his new project had finally manifested. He made a test for one Aviator-bots by splitting a Hybrid Titanium alloy into two using a laser-torch.
The bot glanced at it for a few seconds before it went to the welding machine to grab a tool, charge it with compressed energy, and then came back - its hands worked with surgical precision using the welding tool and successfully put together the split alloy. When the bot was done, it left the alloy and rolled away as something needed its attention elsewhere.
Sy picked up the hybrid titanium and inspected it. There was no sign of material bonding. It was as if it was never cut in half!
Being thoughtful for a moment, he could not come up with an entertainment for his customers. He climbed up to the Stragglers and disabled some of their functions. When he was done, he put one of the mech on sale and made a holographic display; 'Free Test Drive' for the two remaining mechs.
With that, his workshop can now operate independently without his supervision. He toggled his workshop online, available for repairs and then exited Steel Arena.
Meanwhile, Kerby and Hanz' groups were making a name for themselves, divebombing enemies and mercilessly skewering them. Some had survived and managed to engaged in a melee fight, but with the spears encumbering them, the flyers switched to their knives and finished them off. They had not yet perfected this tactic as they dawdled in a one on one combat instead of regrouping together and doing another charge.
After a dogged match, they saw that Sy's workshop was online. They immediately entered the workshop, but found that the man was not present.
Kerby walked around scratching his head. He then caught an interface.
[Repairs]
He tapped a hand on the display and another panel appeared.
[Please put your mech on the assembly line]
The orange head obeyed and transported his Mathilda 800. It suffered a piercing energy blast on its chest, damaging a single component.
Suddenly the workshop came alive as robots rolled around and began scanning the Mathilda 800. The rest of the groups soon rushed toward Kerby's location and marvelled at the view.
"Is this the future!" One of the aviators joked.
"Haha! This workshop is awesome!"
A new message appeared on the panel, grabbing their attention.
[To begin repairs, please present the following components on the assembly line:
ZT Regulator]
"Self service, huh?" Kerby went to the market and bought the component. When the product appeared, a bot came - seizing their eyes. It then extended its arms, grabbing the ZT Regulator and took it away.
"What a cute thing!" The only woman in the group, remarked.
The bot passed by another bot and voiced in a robotic tone, "You are scum!"
The aviators glanced at each other, and before long, started cheering.
"Hahaha!"
"Feisty robot!"
"They also talk to each other?"
The pilots watched in awe as the entire scenery started repairing the damaged mech in harmony. It only took about a few minutes before another message appeared on the panel.
[Repairs complete!
Fee: 5,000 Gold]
"What?" Kerby was shocked. He was expecting that it would take hours before the repair was finished as he had ample of experience going to other workshops. The fee was very cheap. He anticipated to pay about 20,000+ Gold.
He paid the gold and waited as his Mathilda was hoisted by heavy duty machines and gently dropped in front of them. Taking a hover platform, he went inside the cockpit and checked the mech's integrity.
"Is the mech sound?" One from his group called out. He also did not believe that the bots were capable of such feats.
"Haha! Boys! This workshop is the future!" Kerby roared inside the cockpit.
The groups were overwhelmed with excitement and anticipation. With the cheap repairs, they could save up a lot of Gold as every mech battle was tough. They would lose 80% to 100% of their Gold rewards in every match. And not to mention the super fast repairs which could potentially put them into a match quicker. Soon, they were lining up for repairs.
While the repairs were ongoing. Some wandered while others watched the robots. The wanderers would soon find something, and their throats resounded after swallowing hard.
"Are those.. are those Straggler S1-2s?" They started sweating profusely as they were traumatized by one of these mechs. The very sight of these two mechs sent chills down their spine. Imagine three Straggler S1-2s grouped together, bombarding other mechs, and hulk smashing something.
"Holy shit! Sy made another two!" Kerby joined the wanderers.
"Maybe.. maybe he's selling them?"
"Don't even think about it! We're in a training session. We can only pilot flyers so we can improve our skills!"
"Oh, look! There's a hologram saying 'Free Test Drive'."
A chaotic battle to be the first one on the cockpits ensued.