by Jeff Sproul
-
Solar Ring
While equipped and while there is direct sunlight (or the equivalent of sunlight) touching your character, this ring will provide 3 GUs a minute.
-
Riley scanned the details. The stats on it weren't bad for a ring that also had an effect. It would be pretty useful, if he was using all of his equipment during the day. But it was currently night time, and he wasn't in sunlight. Not to mention, his goggles were only useful for seeing invisibility if it was during the day anyway. It wasn't a bad effect, by any means. It looked like it would help his battery last a while longer, but again…the sun wasn't currently out.
He had a free ring slot, since he'd just had Aaron dematerialize his ring of expert climbing. So he slipped the ring on. It became part of his loadout and the stat increase was added to his base stats. It was nice that the game now updated those numbers on the fly, instead of players having to think about it themselves.
Even with the increase of stats, it wasn't as if he felt any different, of course.
But it wasn't the prospect of a free piece of gear that made Riley wary of his current predicament. It was the fact that gear didn't just appear on the floor. Someone had to take it off and place it there specifically. Which was only ever done to lure someone to a location, then attack them.
Or.
Someone was killed in this exact location and they dropped the item.
Which was likely the case, as far as Riley could determine. Which left the question, what had killed them? Was the assailant still around? Was it a player or monster? Neither of those notions appealed to him.
Riley took a moment to inspect his surroundings again. Everything was eerily quiet. The only sounds had been his footsteps and that of the terminal starting up a few minutes prior.
Despite his sense of unease, he decided to try and relax just a tiny bit. Which wasn't easy. He figured that anything that had happened here had surely happened days ago. At least at a minimum, hours ago, if their surveillance of the site had been any indication.
Riley returned his attention to the panel that was pulled out from the floor.
He crawled in closer and pulled the panel aside. It wasn't all that heavy, so it moved easily. Once the panel was slid aside, Riley could see that it had been covering a small hole in the floor. He leaned in and looked down.
Inside the one-by-one foot space, there was a small metal crate, much like the one he'd been carrying on his back, but smaller. He reached in and pulled it out, setting it aside. It had a simple latch to open it up, so without further hesitation, Riley flipped the latch to inspect the contents.
The lid popped open and Riley peeked inside. His eyes immediately widened.
"A secret cache?" he muttered under his breath.
A secret cache was something that players had started to do in Bastions. Since players could build and dig and colonize any corner of the game, they were also able to better hide hidden caches of resources. Such storage devices hadn't been available back in the time of Paragons and Hellions. At least, not in this fashion. Generally, players had to carry all the items they wanted to have with them. Or, they could equip a backpack in order to carry more. There hadn't been any real 'resource acquisition and transport' mechanics, except for gear and crafting items. But with Bastions, they could excavate, mine, dig, tunnel, and all sorts of other things. It meant that players could hide items, much like a pirate burying their treasure on an uncharted island.
And Riley had just found another player's stash.
Inside, there were fifteen encrypted wallets. Each wallet was roughly the size of a slice of bread. There was a port on the side that allowed a connector to hook up to it. There were no interface pads or keys or latches. It was essentially a digital device that would transfer Sigil Online Credits, or 'SC' around.
An encrypted wallet was another new feature of Bastions, essentially implemented for the sole purpose of transferring funds securely and secretly, while also allowing players a method of storing funds off their character in case they were killed.
This allowed players to store funds anywhere, whether in a hole in the ground or a guild vault. If that player died, they'd be able to go retrieve their funds. If the wallet was encrypted, then they could put in the passcode via a terminal hookup and access the money.
But if you didn't know the passcode, then you had to crack the code, which was something that Riley was incapable of doing at the moment. It took a hacker's tool of some sort. Some were faster than others, and some could break in the process. He had no idea what sort of encryption these wallets had. For all he knew, fourteen could be empty, while only one had some amount of SC on it. Or, they could all be empty, or they could all have a spread out amount of money.
Regardless, it was a fascinating find. He couldn't help but wonder how much money might be hiding on these wallets. He pulled his inventory up with a quick hand gesture. One by one, he picked the wallets up and with a tap of a button he stored them in his inventory. He didn't really want to let anyone know he'd found them. He wanted the money all for himself.
But.
He needed someone who knew how to crack their encryption. He'd talk to Aaron about it, but nobody else. Hell, he'd happily share some of it with Aaron if he could get these things open. But this was a project for another time. A time when he was more secure. There was still the possibility that he could die out here and lose all of the wallets.
But as he pondered that, he started to think.
Bastions removed the feature that limited what a player dropped on death. Now, players and minions dropped everything they were carrying when they died. So if he was killed, someone else would get all of his stuff.
But this also meant that the person who died and dropped the ring might not have been a player. It could've been an NPC wearing the ring. Or…it could've been an NPC monster that had somehow stumbled across the spot? Or…maybe it was a player, but they only had their ring on them at the time? Or, another player found the spot, but didn't have enough inventory to carry everything. Maybe there had been more of the wallets?
Again, Riley found himself in the middle of a small mystery that wasn't forthcoming with answers. He sighed and stood back up to return to his task. He had to get the printer running. He was vulnerable.
With an increase in urgency from finding a mysterious sum of money, he walked quickly around the floor until he came to a section that had been a little obscure in the distance. It was a flat, square space on the floor, roughly the size of a bed. He had no idea why it was here, and not closer to the terminals. Maybe he'd ask the designer of the building, if he ever met them.
The bed-sized area had various inputs, connector ports, slots, and a display. It was weird that it was all inlaid to the floor and not a wall. Regardless, Riley found the slot he was looking for. He took the baz rod and socketed it in. Once in, the display pad on the floor lit up. There were no buttons to press on the pad itself, but there was writing on the display. It read:
-
Printer: Online
Power: Manual Power
Schematics: Loaded
-
Riley read the words and then shifted his gaze around the large interface, looking for the schematic slot. He only noticed it because there was a noticeable thumb-sized button next to a slot the size of one of the encrypted wallets he'd found.
He pushed the button, and a device that looked a lot like one of the wallets came out. It had a slightly different overall design but it was evident that it was a data-storage device of some sort. At least, the kind of storage devices that Sigil Online used.
He pulled his inventory up and quickly put it away. He'd have to give it to Aaron later and let him peruse whatever was on it. He would've checked the schematics himself, but he wanted to save time. He had resources for the schematics on a data-drive in his inventory. Even if the schematics on the one he'd just pulled out were better, there was no telling if he had the resources to actually make a
ny of the stuff.
So for now, he withdrew the schematic drive from his inventory. He slotted it into the floor-based interface and then stood back up. He checked the readout on the screen, seeing that it was reading the schematics just fine. He turned and headed back for the terminal at the center of the room. He made a mental note of where the floor panel was, just in case he'd need to get back there soon. The data-drive wasn't all that expensive. It only had the schematics he'd need to get things up and going, but it was never good to leave resources behind for others, if you could help it.
He reached the terminal, which was still running just fine with the baz rod he'd socketed into it earlier. The rod should last a good many hours, since the terminal wasn't a huge power sink. The printer itself would use most of the rod that he'd put into it, but he had some spares.
He pressed the button for 'printer' again and was then greeted with some changed icons. He looked up at the display, which showed different categories. He selected the one that said 'Personnel.' Then, the menu changed to arrows and an enter button, and a return button. He tapped the arrows, which moved the selection box around the upper screen. He selected the one that read 'Ground Ops Trooper Mark 3.5.' The name didn't mean anything other than what Aaron had set it to and didn't relate to the stats or capabilities. It was just how Aaron differentiated it from other schematics.
Riley hit enter and was then given some more buttons. He tapped the details to double-check the stats on the NPC he was about to print.
-
Schematic name: Ground Ops Trooper Mark 3.5
Name: Change Me
Hitpoints: 300
Energy: 500
Command Potential: 0
Primary Stats
Power: 5
(5 Base damage. (Modified by Power.))
Constitution: 3
Toughness: 5
Mind: 0
Stamina: 5
Dexterity: 10
Command: 0
Secondary Stats:
Stealth Rating: 0
Stealth Detection: 0
Accuracy: 65%
(Weapon Dependent.)
Skills:
Handgun Proficiency
(Increase accuracy with handguns by 10%)
Carrying Capacity: 40
(25 Base + 15 from stats.)
Character weight: 200 Pounds
Cost:
General Biomass: 30
Waste Rock: 18
Iron Ore: 4
Copper Ore: 1
-
After reading over the details, he queued up five for printing.
A soft hum reverberated through the building. He glanced around and suddenly wondered where the NPCs would come from once they were printed. Why was this building so weirdly laid out? Maybe it was just cheap and that's how they worked?
BOOM BOOM BOOM
The building trembled beneath his feet. Riley looked all around. Was that…an explosion? It sounded as if it had come from outside, but he had no good idea as to which direction. It certainly sounded as if it had happened in the compound. Was it because he was printing something?
TSHHHHH
Riley glanced over to see part of the ceiling descend into the room, about ten feet from the terminals themselves. It was only a few feet wide and a few feet across. His eyebrows lifted when he realized that it was some sort of elevator. An elevator carrying a single occupant.
The figure was wearing a pair of black cargo pants and boots, along with a zip-up form-fitting gray shirt with long sleeves.
There was a name tag on their uniform. Currently, it read 'Change Me.'
Well, that didn't sound like a very fitting name at all.
The NPC stepped forward and saluted Riley. "At your command, sir. What are your orders?"
The elevator then slid back up into the ceiling.
Riley stepped around the terminal. "You're under my command, then?" he asked, as he'd never really given orders to an NPC before. At least none that he'd controlled.
"Affirmative, sir. What do you need me to do? Do you need to know my capabilities?" the NPC asked.
"No, that's alright," said Riley. "First off, can you change your name to…let's call you uhhh…Trooper One."
The NPC nodded. "A fine name, sir."
Without any further prompting at all, the name tag on the NPC suddenly shifted to Trooper One.
"Alright," Riley murmured, looking up to the ceiling where Trooper One had just descended from. "Are more of you coming—"
TSHHHHH
Riley jumped at the sudden sound, having not quite expected it right then.
Another NPC came down from the ceiling and stepped out of the elevator, only for the elevator to slide back up into the ceiling.
This second figure was wearing the same outfit as the first one, but their facial features were slightly different, even if both of them had pretty similar short-cut brown hair.
"At your command. What'll you have me do?" the new NPC asked, as he stood position beside Trooper One. Apparently, their AI and personalities were slightly different. Which was kinda nice, Riley thought. Else, this might actually get rather monotonous.
"Change your name to 'Trooper Two' and standby," said Riley.
BOOM BOOM BOOM.
The building rocked again.
"Crap, what the hell is that?" Riley asked as he looked up toward the ceiling, then over to the door.
"Sounded like an explosion, sir," said Trooper One. "Shall I go out and check?"
TSHHHHH
Another NPC came down, which Riley was quick to tell, 'Your name is 'Trooper Three.'
"Sounds good to me," said Trooper Three.
"Alright, Trooper One, uh…just standby," said Riley. "This will be easier once—"
TSHHHHH
Another NPC. "Your name is 'Trooper Four,'" said Riley. His arms crossed against his chest as he waited for the fifth one. "I was kinda hoping you'd all be made at once."
The four Troopers looked around at each other, but said nothing immediately.
Riley waited, until…
TSHHHHH
"You're 'Trooper Five,'" Riley quickly blurted out. Once he saw the newly arrived NPC's name change, he pointed over to the crate in the middle of the terminals. "Everyone grab a pistol and three power cells. Everyone should be on high alert for threats. Threats are monsters and non-alliance members. If an alliance member fires on you directly, you can shoot back." Riley knew he could've programmed each of those things into the troops before making them, but he wanted to test out talking to them first.
The five troopers moved and went right for the crate. They collected the five pistols and power cells amongst the five of them, then stood around, weapons at the ready.
"Alright, I need…Trooper One and Trooper Two, escort me. Troopers Three, Four and Five, you scout the three other structures while we head for the central one. You'll see which buildings need to be scouted when we get outside. Once you've scouted the buildings and cleared them of hostiles, return to me in the central building and report your findings."
Riley was given a series of head-nods. There really was no question of dissent among NPC troops that were commanded by players. If a player was trying to command more than they were capable of, they'd have to relinquish control of an NPC and have them return somewhere to sit idle, so that they didn't serve any purpose until they could fall under the command of a command module, or a player. Of course, only the player, guild or alliance could tell an NPC to follow them if they were the ones that built them.
Troopers Three, Four and Five all headed off toward the door that Riley had come in through. He looked between the last two, who were his designated escorts. "Alright…we gotta find out what those explosions were." He was mostly thinking out loud, even if he was also talking to the NPCs.
Riley packed the crate back up and retrieved the baz rod from the terminal he'd used to print the NPCs, but he decided he'd leave the one in the printer for the time being. It wouldn't rea
lly consume much power unless it was actively making something.
There was plenty of room to messily put things back in, since he'd dispensed the firearms and cells. He closed the crate and hefted it around his back. "Let's move. Uh, Trooper One, ahead of me. Trooper Two, cover the back."
The troopers moved into position and escorted him accordingly as he headed for the door.
As they walked, Riley realized something. "Oh, crap…Can you guys see in the dark?" he asked, looking to Trooper One.
"Slightly better than normal, but we don't have dark vision," Trooper One replied. "So, not entirely well. We're bound to miss seeing a lot of things, I imagine. It's hard to see in here, if that matters."
"Crap crap crap. We need to catch the other three. I can't have them searching the base blind!" Riley kicked up his pace a bit. It was hard to run with the crate backpack, but he was doing his best. The increase in speed would also temporarily sap a little of his energy.
He reached the door and then made his way outside.
Thankfully, the sky had lightened to something other than pitch black. It was now slightly dark, dark blue. Which, was an improvement over earlier. But it was still a ways away from sunlight.
He spotted the three troopers nearing the edge of the building he'd left. They hadn't quite made it to the dividing streets yet. "Troopers, return and escort!" he called out to them.
The three of them came to a stop, checked their surroundings and then started heading right back to him.
"Man I feel like an idiot. Good thing nobody will ever know," Riley murmured to himself.
"I certainly won't tell anyone, sir," said Trooper One.
Riley looked to Trooper One and slowly narrowed his eyes.
In less than twenty seconds, the three troopers returned to him, as he was heading in their direction. Once they reached him, they fell in line in the back with Trooper Two.
He'd just have to have them all on escort duty until he could get the power running. So much for micro-managing.
He sort of felt as though he had five of Laura's clones with him. To a certain extent, Laura had always been in a bit of a micro-managing role. She'd had command of her duplicates, which she directed around to great effect, even if they were individually weaker than a regular player. He wasn't sure what Laura's stats were nowadays. He didn't know if these guards were stronger or weaker than her duplicates. It was likely that they were weaker, since Laura was probably around level 125. But maybe she was closer to 140? Riley wasn't sure. He hadn't asked in a while. But one benefit that Laura had with her copies was that she could direct them with thoughts, and not vocal commands.
