Star Warrior

by Isaac Hooke

  “Just a little bit,” Sinive agreed. “But if you’re looking for nanotech, this is the place.”

  “According to my chip, the laws are less strict on this world regarding nanotech,” Tane said. “Since we’re no longer in the Outrim, there are a ton of alternatives to Reconstruct Systems and other official brands. I’m sure we can find good prices somewhere else in—”

  “Forget about the official brands,” Sinive interrupted. “The knock-off nanotech is just as good as the real deal, and costs far less.”

  “Aren’t you ever worried about getting a bad batch?” Tane said. “We’re talking about micro modifications to your mind and body here.”

  “I can honestly say I’ve never had a problem,” Sinive said. “When in doubt, always check the reviews. No one wants to buy from a place that has negative reviews, so of course the vendors are going to make sure they sell the best stuff.”

  Shady looking characters lounged next to fences covered in peeling paint. Some wielded weapons, ranging from power daggers to fully-automatic plasma rifles. To a man, those characters gave Tane and Sinive greedy looks.

  Tane temporarily disabled his digital augmentations, not wanting to have his vision suddenly obstructed by breasts should one of those characters decide to attack.

  “I’m kind of worried I’m going to be robbed before I make it to this perfect place of yours,” Tane said.

  He could hear the amusement in her voice when she spoke: “You have nothing to fear, Big Boy. We’re the most well-armed here. And think about it, with our faceplates mirrored, flaunting the law like that, we look like two badasses. We’re essentially telegraphing to the world: ’don’t mess with us.’”

  “I’m not sure it’s possible to look like a badass in a spacesuit…” Tane said.

  “Trust me,” Sinive said. “It is. Considering that you’re covered in the black blood of aliens.”

  “Oh, first I look like a half-burned marshmallow, and now I look like a badass covered in alien blood.”

  “Just shut up and keep walking,” Sinive said. “Your most confidence gait.”

  “You shut up,” Tane said.

  “He touches an alien lens and comes out alive on the other side, and all of a sudden he gets all cocky,” Sinive said. “What happened to the shy dude who would turn red when I caught him looking at me? When we first met, you stared at me in awe.”

  “I guess hanging out with you for as long as I have has kind of tempered the awe I used to feel,” Tane said. “Familiarity breeds contempt, huh?”

  “I’ll say,” she said, as if to imply, the feeling is mutual. But after a moment, she added: “Though to be honest, I kind of prefer the cocky dude. I don’t like people looking at me in awe. Makes me feel uncomfortable. And I’m sorry for telling you to shut up.”

  “I apologize as well,” Tane said. “Sometimes I can get a bit cocky with those I consider my friends. Especially good friends.”

  “Is that what we are?” Sinive said.

  “How could we be anything otherwise, given what we’ve been through?” Tane said.

  Sinive finally stopped in front of a small storefront located at the base of a squalid apartment complex. The outside of the store didn’t look like much, though to its credit the exterior paint wasn’t peeling like the rest of the building. Still, the graffiti tag covering half the storefront fit right in with this seedy part of town: someone had written ESSENCE in big, bold letters, and another tagger had crossed out the ES and NCE and added an X so that it read SEX. He wondered for a moment how anyone could set up shop here and expect not to be robbed.

  Tane decided to reactivate his external augmentations. Digital signage immediately popped up, proclaiming: “Wayala’s Trinkets: Peddler of the Esoteric.”

  The reviews for the place were mostly five stars. Not that he put much faith in that, unlike Sinive: as far as he was concerned reviews could be faked, especially if you hired out a bot farm. Which probably explained why he had ended up trading the alien energy launcher to Roadroller, a man who had no review listings all all.

  Tane glanced at Sinive. “Peddler of the Esoteric?”

  “Peddler of the Esoteric is the franchise name,” Sinive said. “It’s run by low level Essenceworkers like me who did their time in the TSN and then got out. Esoteric Peddlers sell Branch-based nanotech skills, Essence Imbued gear, fun stuff like that.”

  “What are Branch-based skills again?” Tane asked.

  “Designs of the Essence,” Sinive said. “Only usable by people with the Ability, like me?”

  “That’s right, rub it in,” Tane said.

  “Hey, you asked,” Sinive said. “Anyway, Esoteric Peddlers also pay well for Essence Imbued gear and other loot. If anyone will give you a good price for that crystal, it will be the owner of this place.”

  “We’ll see,” Tane said. “If she doesn’t offer me at least ten thousand credits for it I’m taking my business elsewhere. Considering everything we went through to get the damn thing.”

  “Some of which was completely unnecessary,” Sinive commented.

  She opened the door and went inside before he could come up with a retort.

  Tane followed her and found himself inside a shop lined with shelves filled to the brim with various curios and knickknacks. There were anti-grav game sets. A series of glowing, spiraling shells that looked taken from some enchanted ocean. Small cast iron statues with glowing runic symbols on the plinths. And even a strange elongated skull with three horns on the top that had to belong to some race of kraal.

  Tane zoomed in on the digital price tag floating above the skull.

  Price: Twenty-five thousand credits.

  Nice.

  Tane followed Sinive toward the glass counter. A woman sat there, but Tane’s attention was immediately drawn to the display cases behind her, where various pieces of rune-covered power armor awaited. They were all of different colors and shapes, none forming a complete full body set. If all the pieces were worn by one individual, it would look like a mishmash of parts, but no doubt would provide immense protection.

  Tane was starting to wish he and Sinive had looted this place in the Umbra. His faceplate was still sealed, so he felt confident speaking to her over the comm without worrying about the woman overhearing.

  “If you knew about this place, why didn’t you take me here in the Umbra?” Tane asked.

  “We needed weapons, remember?” Sinive replied.

  “With armor like this, who needs a weapon?” he told her.

  “Can I help you?” the woman behind the counter interrupted rather rudely. It wasn’t that he considered her interruption rude—she couldn’t have known that Tane and Sinive were speaking. But rather, her tone of voice itself was rude. Condescending, almost. Like Tane and Sinive were up to no good.

  He hadn’t paid her much attention before now, but he gave her a good look-over. She reminded him of a fortune teller in her gypsy headdress and long flowing blue robe covered in mystical symbols. A couple of those symbols even glowed, hinting that the item was Essence Imbued. All she needed was a scrying mirror and a small round table set with a black cloth and she’d be good to go.

  Then again, the longer he looked at her, the more he thought she looked like a Volur instead. Her fingers were covered in thick silver rings. She wore long bracelets of the same metal, almost gauntlets actually—they covered the upper half of her hand, but not her fingers. All made from Chrysalium, no doubt. He knew now why no one robbed the place.

  Tane glanced at Sinive, but was met by his own mirrored helmet gazing back at him, reflected from her faceplate. With both of their faces hidden like that, it was no wonder the proprietor was rude to them.

  Tane deactivated the mirror effect, as did Sinive.

  “Time to remove our helmets,” Sinive said.

  Tane followed her lead and took off his helmet, setting it down on the counter. Sinive meanwhile looped her helmet to her utility belt, where it hung rather awkwardly.

&nbs
p; The gypsy woman’s shoulders relaxed slightly. Tane noticed for the first time she had a hand hidden underneath the counter, probably ready to fire a weapon.

  “We’re here to offload some goods,” Tane said.

  The proprietor smiled widely. “Well then, why didn’t you say so, sweet things?” She removed her hand from where it was anchored behind the counter and lifted it into full view. “I’m Wayala, your Peddler of the Esoteric!” Placing both elbows on the countertop she leaned forward slightly and folded her fingers together. “Show me what you got.”

  Tane reached toward his harness, where the pulsating crystal was secured. The position of his arm assembly at his side had hidden the item from her view until now, and Wayala’s eyes watched him eagerly as he unhooked the crystal and set it down on the counter beside his helmet with a heavy thud. He kept his glove firmly on top, ready to pull the crystal away if she made any move to take it.

  “You know what this is?” Tane asked.

  The eager glint in Wayala’s eyes instantly vanished, and she sniffed in disgust, as if it was worthless. The action was a little too theatrical to be believable.

  “Of course I do,” Wayala said.

  Tane glanced at Sinive, then told Wayala: “Enlighten me.”

  “The kraals feed on these,” Wayala said. “It is a Dirac, a dark energy store. Useful to explorers of the Umbra when a distraction is needed. You see, kraals are naturally drawn to the energy in the human body, confusing it for a food source. But when you have one of these, it overpowers that energy. Throw it at the creatures and run. They’ll definitely leave you alone afterward.”

  “I told you to drop it,” Sinive told him.

  Tane had to wonder, if the crystal was such a draw, why did the kraals run away from him and Sinive in the end? Where they afraid of the black lens in the town square? Or perhaps the dwellers lurking in that same square?

  “What can you give me for it?” Tane asked the woman.

  She waved offhandedly. Again it seemed a little overdone. “Two thousand credits.”

  “Ha.” Tane snatched the item off the counter. “No sale.” She was definitely interested, he thought. I call your bluff.

  “All right, three,” Wayala said.

  “How many Umbra explorers pass through here in a typical week?” Tane said.

  “None,” Wayala said.

  “How about in a year?” Tane said.

  “Maybe two,” Wayala said. “Sometimes more, if there’s a Hunt that year.”

  “And how many of these ‘Dirac’ do you keep in stock?” Tane asked.

  “None,” Wayala admitted.

  “I see.” He secured the crystal to his harness and kept his arm out of the way so that it dangled enticingly in front of Wayala. She kept glancing at it, and he thought she was trying very hard not to lick her lips.

  “All right, you got me,” Wayala said. “I’ll give you five thousand credits for it.”

  “Why don’t you show me what nanotech skills you have to trade?” Tane said. “Maybe we can work out a fair exchange.”

  “All right,” Wayala said. “This is my standard skill list.” A sharing prompt appeared on his screen, and he accepted. In addition to Detect trap, Mixed Martial Arts, Pistoleer, Sharpshooting, and Sneak, which he had seen before courtesy of Roadroller, there were quite a few new additions.

  Battle Armor. Level 1. Looking to wear some battle armor? You’ll have to learn how to use it, first! Required to equip Essence Imbued battle armor. Increasing levels improve mind-body connection between brain and armor, allowing for higher armor protection levels.

  Cardiovascular and Endocrine Mastery. Level 1. Don’t let that heart rate abate! Learn how to control your heart, lung, and endocrine systems like a pro.

  Chip Database Upgrade. Level 1. Lift the wool from your eyes! Identify most weapon types and human classes, in addition to some alien.

  Grenadier. Level 1. Kaboom! Improved bonuses to target accuracy, damage, and critical hit probability. Eligibility: all grenade types.

  Hacking. Level 1. Leave your hammer at home! Break into shops, cars, low level vaults, and more!

  Hot-Wire. Level 1. Steal the vehicle of your dreams! Note: Not for the moral of heart. But since you’re shopping at my store, I assume your morals are probably somewhat questionable anyway.

  Land Vehicle Pilot. Level 1. Learn how to drive. Required to operate land vehicles. Increasing levels provide for more aggressive driving skills.

  Pain Control. Level 1. Be the master of your own domain! Block out most pain.

  Shuttle Pilot. Level 1. Let’s fly baby! Operate everything from flyer taxis to starship shuttles.

  “I can sell you up to level three in any of the listed skills,” Wayala said. “Like most buy lists, mine auto-updates to reflect your existing skill levels. So if your Pistoleer skill is level two, you’ll see level three available for purchase. If you don’t have the Pistoleer skill, you’ll see level one on the buy list.”

  Tane nodded impatiently, wanting to show her that he already knew all of that. He sort of did. Okay, not really.

  “One thing I wanted to ask,” Tane said. “I’ve got a couple of smart targeting weapons, which you may or may not haver noticed.”

  “Oh, I noticed,” Wayala said.

  “Good eye,” Tane said. “Anyway, what’s the point of increasing Sharpshooting, Grenadier and so forth, if a given weapon will target for me?”

  “Some of the most powerful weapons don’t have smart targeting,” Wayala said. “Besides, smart targeting isn’t a panacea. Take grenades. A Grenadier Level 1 will have more kills than someone who’s never tossed a grenade before, smart targeting or no. Based on the grenade type, say a frag, they know to aim the grenade in the center of a group of foes to cause the most damage. Most smart grenades won’t do that for you. Someone with no experience will let the smart grenade target the lead enemy, causing the least overall damage. Make sense?”

  “Actually it does,” Tane said. That was good then, because he had already invested in Sharpshooting, bringing himself up to level two, and he’d hate for that to have been a waste, given his new smart targeting rifle.

  “All right,” Tane said. “Here’s what I’ll do. In exchange for this crystal, I’ll take every skill you have, level three in all of them. Plus I want a point added to all my attributes... Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, the works. Plus ten thousand credits.”

  Wayala stared at him with an astonishment that he wasn’t sure was real or feigned, and then she burst out laughing. The latter was definitely real. “Are you really so daft? That’s well over a million credits. Get out of my store.”

  “Wait, I take it back,” Tane said.

  “Get out, get out!” Wayala said.

  “But—”

  “You insult me, you get out!” Wayala said.

  “Look, I’m sorry if I insulted you,” Tane said. “I’m new at this. Please, just give me another chance.”

  She stared at him, her arms crossed, then finally nodded briskly.

  He had a feeling she was already getting the upper hand on him, negotiations wise.

  Shouldn’t have asked for the whole house...

  “Maybe I can get six skills?” Tane said. “All level one?”

  “That’s better,” Wayala said. “But still too much. I can give you three.”

  “Make it five, and the Dirac is yours,” Tane said.

  Wayala hesitated. Then: “Three skills, and two attributes.”

  “All right,” Tane said. “Done.”

  Three skills was about equal to the ten thousand number he had in mind anyway, considering that Roadroller had previously offered him two skills for seven thousand credits. And with the two attributes thrown in, that put him over his target number.

  A notification icon on his HUD caught his attention, and he enlarged it.

  New skill learned.

  Bargaining. Level 0. This is your second time successfully negotiating to your advantage. You’re getti
ng good at this!

  Yeah. Level Zero. Real good.

  And he wasn’t aware of the “first time” he had successfully negotiated. Unless the notification was referring to the personal storage sack Roadroller had given him as a gift back when Tane sold the alien weapon. But that little bargaining session hadn’t exactly been a smashing success, given that Roadroller basically admitted afterwards that Tane had sold the item for far too little.

  Tane was starting to suspect that these level zero teasers were a way for Reconstruct Systems to whet his appetite for the full upgrade package. After all, he now knew he had some bargaining skill in him, and if he thought he was getting good prices now, imagine the deals he could arrange with the full-blown level one or higher, courtesy of Reconstruct Systems nanotech of course. Not that he’d ever support Reconstruct again...

  The more he thought about it, the more he began to see just what a genius marketing technique it was. Whether or not he’d actually learned the equivalent of a level zero, or his chip had merely assigned a placeholder, Reconstruct Systems had planted the seed. Now whenever he viewed his skill list, he’d see Bargaining sitting there at level zero. And he’d want to upgrade it. Yes, definitely brilliant marketing. And that was only on the more perceptible side of things. It did make him wonder what other mind tweaks and unconscious biases the chip might have installed in his subconscious.

  “Before you pick your skills, let me give you a brain scan first,” Wayala said. “To determine your neural compatibility. Some of these skills won’t work unless you have a military upgrade in your chip, for example.”

  “I don’t have a military upgrade,” Tane said. “If that helps you…”

  “I still need to do the scan,” Wayala said. “To confirm compatibility with your chip type and firmware. And to get an idea of how the nanotech has expanded into your neural tissue. Full brain scans are mandatory for all of our clients. We can’t have repeat business if we kill off our clientele now can we?”