“I’ll have you know that I can hear you,” Laurie said, stroking the feline. “And that I quite love my cat and it has a wonderful future ahead—”
“Could have, maybe it won’t, we can’t tell until it happens,” Kaiden interjected, really not keen on being distracted by a cat and looking to end a potential argument quickly.
“As long as you continue being that smart when you make your choices, this will be a fruitful evening.” The professor landed on the ground, walked over to the General talent window in front of Kaiden, and moved it to the side with one hand while the other continued to hold the cat. He replaced the General window with the EI tree window. “Getting back to the task at hand, I decided to leave your bonuses up to you.”
Kaiden eyed him quizzically. “What do you mean?”
Laurie smiled as he expanded the window, showing all the options in the tree. “The bonuses that I said you would receive…I changed them into talents.” He pointed at several boxes for emphasis.
“What the hell? Why?” Kaiden barked a scornful laugh that held affront rather than amusement. “You said I would get them with the implant.”
“And you still can,” Laurie assured him. “Just in due time and at your own discretion.”
“I thought we had a deal.” Kaiden sneered at the hologram, wishing he could shake the imaginary figure to vent his frustrations.
“We certainly do. I had you sign a contract before the procedure, remember? I’ll let you look it over again when this is done if you like, but nothing I’ve done invalidates the agreement.”
“Man, gotcha hook, line, and sinker there, bud.” Chief chortled.
Laurie frowned slightly. “Kaiden, you must relax. Your blood pressure and heart rate are increasing rapidly.”
Kaiden could feel a twitch in his eye again, and his hands balled into fists. Anger wouldn’t do much good as the only thing he could hit was himself, but that also felt deserved.
“Semantics are a bitch…” He sighed, unclenched his fists, and relaxed his shoulders.
“To some, certainly, but quite helpful to others. Besides, this is to help you actually use your points. I didn’t make them some unachievable goal. Look here, right at the top.”
Kaiden looked at the talent Laurie pointed out.
SXP Boost: Allows for a fifteen percent boost to SXP Gain with each point.
Status: 0/4 (1 SP to unlock)
“Only one? So I can get all of them with four points?” He read the description again. “I thought the boost was only fifty percent?”
“It was, based on the fact that it would be loaded in all at once. But since it will be done in increments, I was able to find a way to get a bit more out of it for you. My treat.”
“How unbelievably kind of you. And in a way, I’m sure, that doesn’t get you anything in return,” Kaiden quipped.
Laurie examined the fingernails on his free hand. “I like to show off my generosity and skills in equal measure. As for the points, for each one you put in, the next upgrade will require one more point until you get all four upgrades.”
“Meaning it will take ten points to get the full usage,” Kaiden surmised.
“Still, you’re getting the boost, so it’ll even out eventually. You’ll get your dollars’ worth and all that,” Chief pointed out.
“I suppose you’re right.” Kaiden looked over the rest of the tree. “What else do we have?”
Advanced Battle Suite: Allows for longer usage of the Battle Suite without repercussions to the user, also increases awareness and movement speed.
Status: 0/2 (1 SP to unlock)
“Ohh, that would be nice.” Kaiden crowed, already imagining the possibilities.
“Ya don’t really use the suite that much as it is,” Chief said. “Even when you should, like with the laser-shark incident.”
“You love to remind me of that. Besides, why the hell do sharks need lasers? They’re sharks.”
“With lasers, which destroyed your armor and turned you into a chewy hors-d'oeuvre for the swimming nightmare blenders that would have killed your dumb ass if Luke hadn’t swatted them away with that unreasonably big hammer of his.”
“Is that the Isle of the Fiend map?” Laurie inquired. “A team of my technicians made it for fun. It got quite popular with the class of 2183, but I always thought it could have used a mutant giant squid.”
“What exactly do you think about in your free time?” Kaiden grimaced.
“Mutant giant squids. And I’m sure other imaginative things,” Chief said with surprising sincerity.
Kaiden pointed to the orb. “Did you do something to him? Or has he always been a suck-up and I simply haven’t noticed?”
“Well, I am technically the father of all EIs on this island.”
Kaiden shook his head. “At least I haven’t heard you call him Daddy.”
“Not that it concerns me, but I think even I would find that creepy,” the EI admitted.
Kaiden chuckled as he went back to look at the options.
Next-Gen: Increases EI processing, scanning, and hacking capabilities.
Status: 0/3 (1 SP to unlock)
“Hey, look, we can make you smart.” Kaiden jeered.
“Pity we can’t do the same for you.”
“Chirpy bastard.”
Increased Casting: Increases the range (15m) that the EI can cast and the distance allowed between the user and EI before losing connection.
Status: Locked (Requires at least 1 upgrade into ‘Next-Gen’)
“Hey, Prof, how does this work?” Kaiden asked, pointing to the talent. “I thought the casting ability was tied to the implant, not to Chief.”
The professor nodded. “It is, but the ability is latent. I shut down or decreased certain functions before installing it into you.”
“Please find another way to say that.” Kaiden winced.
“Oh, hush. The more you increase Chief’s capabilities, the more options you will have further down the line.”
“Kinda seems like a waste though, if you think about it.” Kaiden considered the potential regretfully.
The professor continued to stroke his cat. “How do you mean?”
“Some of this stuff is useful in the long-term, but other things seem like they would only be useful while I’m here. I’m only here for three years, so it would kind of be a waste to put anything in those sorts of talents, yeah?”
“That would be a reasonable observation,” Laurie agreed. “However, think of it like this—what can you get out of those talents while you are here, and what makes you think the Animus is the only place that it is useful?”
Kaiden gave him another quizzical look. “Do you speak in riddles to mess with me, or is it some weird habit?”
“I believe you’ve asked me that before.” Laurie chuckled. “Sasha, too, come to think of it.”
“I’m simply hoping I don’t pick up the habit while I’m here.” Kaiden flipped through the different trees once more.
General:
Rider: Increases knowledge of grounded vehicles and skill while driving them.
Status: 0/3
Gear Head: Increases knowledge of most basic machinery (such as engines, appliances, simple electrical devices, etc.)
Status: 0/3
Culinary: Teaches the basics of cooking, along with granting fifty recipes chosen and created by Nexus Academy chefs.
Status: 0/10
“Lots a lot of damn points to put into Culinary…” Kaiden observed and followed it with a low whistle
“Yeah, someone probably had a field day trying so many dishes that they had to write it off as ‘testing’ for a talent. You think anyone ever has?”
“Maybe you can combine it with poison or something, get multiple uses out of it.”
“Good idea, maybe bake a cake with explosives too…roll that devil’s food right into a merc camp and really catch them off guard.”
Kaiden raised an eyebrow. “Are you being serious right now o
r was that a joke?”
Chief’s eye looked away, puzzled. “I started it as a joke, but I kinda grew into the idea by the end.”
Soldier:
Shock and Awe: Increases ability with heavy weapons and explosives.
Status: 0/5
Martial-Boxing: Increases hand-to-hand combat ability and knowledge of boxing form and attacks.
Status: 0/5
Martial- Jiu Jitsu: Increases physical defensive form and teaches grapples and holds from the Jiu-Jitsu martial art.
Status: 0/5
Armor Smith: Grants the user knowledge of various armors, their capabilities, and functions. Teaches the user how to repair their armor in the field and what enhancements would be most beneficial.
Status: 0/5
“That could actually be quite handy.” Kaiden contemplated the options and their potential with growing interest.
“I suppose, but I’ve got all sorts of info about armor in my banks, plus instructions on how to do all that.”
“True, but actually having the information would be nice, rather than trying to read a manual in the middle of a firefight.”
Chief laughed. At least, that’s what it sounded like. “No, the Phillips' head is for the shoulder plate. The flathead is for the nipple guards.”
Ace:
Surveyor: Learn how to read and create maps along with the different elements and terrain of the world and how to best deal with them or use them to your advantage.
Status: 0/4
Botanist: Learn about all the different flora and fauna of the world, and how to grow and cultivate them along with how to make remedies or poisons using them.
Status: 0/5
Guardian: Reduces the number of active pain receptors, allowing the user to push through even the toughest predicaments.
Status: 0/5
“That sounds risky.”
“Probably would have helped out today,” Chief goaded.
Kaiden shrugged. “I mean…yeah, but you need a little pain. It tells you when you need to improve.”
“And where you’re getting stabbed or shot.”
He looked at the floating orb, giving him an annoyed stare. “The bullets flying in my direction and the knife stuck inside me gives me plenty of info on that front.”
“Touché.”
Strategic Mind: Learn dozens of strategies per upgrade and how to apply them in the field, increasing your ability as a leader.
Status: 0/10
“Another one with a lot of points.”
“But this one is far more useful to you than cooking.”
“I agree.” Kaiden nodded. “Strategy is a weak point for me. I usually—”
“Wing it, and that’s great and all, but we could always have some proven stats in the back of your mind to help out every now and again.”
“You think I should go for it?”
“I certainly think it would help. Plus, it’s only one point. Might as well choose something to get this train rolling.”
Kaiden looked down for a moment, considering his decision. For some reason, he was still reluctant to commit himself, a truth that stirred his natural impatience. He took a deep breath and pressed the icon for the skill, holding it down as it loaded.
“And here we go.” Laurie smiled.
In a flash, he could see battles throughout history, hear the commands, and see actions taking place. Visions and sounds blurred together until he was back in the dark space, the feeling over almost as soon as it began.
“Man, even I felt something weird going on. You all right?”
“Yeah…yeah, I’m all right. It was just…intense.” Kaiden looked at Laurie. “I’ve got all this…the new memories and ideas. Did it work?”
Laurie tapped a finger against his cheek. “You are in a group of fifty soldiers, the hostile forces are coming at you through a ravine in which you are at the end. They are better armed with almost twice the men, but you and your men are in a defensible position. What do you do?”
“Send all the marksman to the top of the ravine, while the heavies take the front and form a wall, with medics standing by to heal after any attacks that get through while the gunners fire from the defense of the heavies. Make it seem like a last stand while the marksmen take position and eventually take out enough of the enemy forces from their higher vantage point that the enemy cannot return fire to. This will lead to the end of the enemy or their surrender with minimal casualties.” Kaiden relayed the information in a rapid fire of words, catching his breath as he finished. His eyes flashed in amazement.
“Ah, the Lecrae scenario, a classic. He didn’t lose a man that day,” Laurie said wistfully. “I would say it worked just fine.”
“No kidding,” Kaiden stammered, a little awed by the change though he took care not to show it.
Laurie chuckled as the cat disappeared from his hands. “Congratulations on choosing your first talent, Kaiden my boy.” He clapped cheerfully. “Now, once you’ve gotten over that initial shock…” His clapping slowed, and he clasped his hands behind his back. “You’ve got five more points to go.”
Chapter Twelve
The group of Red Sun mercs walked up to the gate of their stronghold. The leader, dressed head to toe in heavy crimson armor and a horned helmet with a full-face visor, held a modified Reaver shotgun as he walked up to the gate. He knocked slowly five times.
“Password?” a voice asked, coming from a panel to the left of the large doors. The leader grunted as he made his way over.
He placed his hand against a scanner on the panel, looking at the shadowed figure on the screen. “Junk Fiend.” He earned a small nod from the man onscreen.
“Good to see you again, Lord Malek. What brings you to our humble fortress?” the retainer asked.
“Hurry up and open the gates. We have a shipment of assassin and raider droids here, and I want to have a chat with Lalo,” Malek answered, his gruff voice accentuated by a crackling voice modifier in his helmet.
The man nodded one last time before the screen turned off. The large doors of the gate began to open, sliding into the walls beside them. Malek turned to the mercs, pointing them at the entrance, and commanded them to move.
One in the front nodded, turned to the three dozen behind him, and waved them forward. Their caravan began to move through the gates and into the stronghold.
The grounds of the Red Sun base consisted of dozens of tents, large, nondescript warehouses, buildings cobbled together, and a handful of slightly dilapidated structures left behind by the previous owners of the site. The Red Sun mercs had personally “evicted” them around a year ago. No one had come to look for them yet, either because they were too afraid to see what happened to them or because they knew there would be nothing left of them to find.
The caravan, comprised of three floating storage units holding twenty droids apiece, maneuvered its way through, heading to the holding warehouse where the devices could be examined and activated. They entered the building, which stood mostly empty save for some random technical devices in the corner that had yet to be dealt with. Several handy-droids—humanoid-design robots—approximately six feet tall, with long limbs, rounded heads, and only a single large, blue, glowing eye and white bodies, were also present. Dirty from their work and the jungle terrain, they walked around the floor, cleaning or moving a few objects into place.
One of the bots approached Malek. “Good day, sir. Anything that I can help you with?”
Malek placed the barrel of his shotgun against the droid’s chest. “You can get the contents of these containers ready for processing. Until then, get out of my face.” He sneered as he pushed the bot back with his gun for emphasis.
“Of course, sir, right away. Sorry to be too close to your face,” the droid acknowledged and apologized. The containers halted in the middle of the warehouse and moved around to line up side-by-side. The mercs with the caravan left the shipment, following Malek out of the warehouse and to the center of the stro
nghold.
The handy-droid that Malek had talked to made its way over to one of the computers on the side of the building. It reached out to the dirty keyboard but froze for a moment, though this hesitation was nothing any of the others would notice. Their state of general disrepair caused this to happen from time-to-time. It began to move again and punched a command into the computer that would temporarily freeze and then block any incoming signals to the warehouse.
That successfully accomplished, it shuffled over to the storage container in the middle, unlocked it, and opened the doors. Chiyo stepped out and onto the floor.
She nodded at the droid. “Thank you. Please unlock the other containers and stand by.”
The droid bowed before walking to the container behind them.
“Madame, now that we can break our silence, I must stress that this mission is not particularly well fitted to our strengths, if you’ll forgive me,” Kaitō pleaded.
“I know, Kaitō, and I do forgive you—as I have the last several times you’ve told me during the mission,” Chiyo muttered as she walked over to the computer station on the side of the building.
“This is one of the more difficult missions available to you, madame, and it is meant for teams of at least three, and a trinity at that. A technician, a soldier, a medic…something along those lines would make this a lot smoother.”
Chiyo removed a tether device from her gauntlet and placed it into a slot on the computer. She activated her holo-board and interface. “I agree, but for now, I need to practice missions like this to prepare for the tests at the end of the semester.”
“And I applaud your dedication to study, but this mission is much more…hands-on than you are accustomed to, and the equilibrium is scaled to five. That is slightly higher than normal, and considering the foes you are facing—”
“That’s why I’m going to even the odds. In a moment, after I’ve made sure no one will be able to trace me easily.”
“Just do be careful,” the EI fretted.
“I’ll do my—” Chiyo went silent as she heard a door in the back open. She ducked down behind the station, glancing over to see a single merc walk over to the random assortment of devices in the corner and pull a few things out.
Animus Boxed Set 1 (Books 1-4): Initiate, Co-Op, Death Match, Advance Page 40
