Augmented Tycoon

by Marcus Sloss

  “Next we have the electrical microprojectiles. This is the mix of laser and projectile. You take an electrical charge and apply it to a small object until it causes a reaction and your bullet as you say, travels to its target. Oh, a good time to mention we sell no auto targeters, banned by the Onatics. Mila mentioned you may ask dumb questions because you space monkeys are uninformed. I think that is an insult based on your change in expression. I apologize, her words not mine.”

  “Baruni you are fine, she has been agitated and rude since we arrived here on Lunish. Not sure what her issue is. More important things are at work though, tell me of these lasers please.” I replied.

  He unclasped a pistol and let it float my way. I snatched it from water and found that it fit nicely into my palm. The weight was hard to judge.

  “Salvaged from a battle on planet Inkad, my father fought there. I was sad when we luni lost the planet was our hundred and third. Always brings up depressing memories, and throws up a lot of guessing to what went wrong. Great weapon though, only takes a few seconds to melt doors or armor and will last longer than plasma. Downsides are the range and limited juice… Odd translation but I think it works.”

  I handed him the weapon back and noticed his belly shift as an infant kicked. I was shocked they did not facilitate their young like we humans did. Actual births were archaic. I shuddered thinking of having babies in my stomach.

  “Mila mentioned you wanted all my nanotech for sale. It is in the unauthorized zone, so keep it on your ship unless you get into a combat situation that allows it. The tech is fancy and awesome. Come let me show you.” We swam to the counter at the back of the store. The girls were patiently hovering. They asked no questions but I knew they were paying attention.

  Baruni pulled out a dark gray combat knife and handed it to me. “Hold it in your hand and think of claws.” I decided that might cause my mites to form. I handed the weapon to Starla who hesitantly received it.

  “Give it a try.”

  “I have been coming to grasps with the changes of my life, while I am a pacifist at heart I understand the universe has very few places for weakness. Oh wow did you see that? This is so neat!” Starla said and adjusted the nanobots. Her hand morphed into claws, and then she made a shield with a superhero woman symbol on it. I laughed at this.

  Baruni provided some insight into how they operated. “The nanotech is outlawed from general warfare because it can change the tide of battle so swiftly. When it was allowed I watched replays of these little terrors being ordered to break down to billions of individual units. In the actual scene, it was a sword that was given an order. It disintegrated into a pile on the ground. Its handler gave a command to each tiny bot to seek an enemy soldier and burrow into the skin to gain access to the brain. They then went and slowly killed their targets by turning brains into mush. It was horrifying to witness. Not long after the ministry said they were outlawed from that function, and outlawed unless utilized in an unlawful zone. Pirates love this tech, it is cheap and extremely efficient.”

  Starla had transferred the weapon to Astrid who was now morphing it around her hand. They had big smiles on their faces. They were clearly enjoying the advanced technology.

  “Are the larger weapons much different than the handhelds?” I asked Bruni.

  “Depends really, the plasma hits the ten meter limiter so your projectiles are smaller, but you run out of ammo slower. Actually, they all have their subtle differences but again I recommend laser. It can be used anywhere, is hard to miss, easy to learn, and a reliability score of ten. Mila mentioned you have a starship that will not need upgrades but this last wall is my larger battle emplacements. Never know when you will need to take down an armored vehicle.” Baruni motioned the small assortment of overly large weapons.

  Interested in their designs I swam down to them. I was not a big weapon or gun enthusiast and knew I would be needing to train and familiarize myself with them. Baruni stopped at the first large barrel weapon with a seating mount.

  “Zone four artillery piece, rounds are limited to twenty meters and only ten per square kilometer may be emplaced. Quality weapon for sending a message to hunkered down opponents. Over here you have the anti-vessel weapons. All these can be fired by an individual or on a mount. They will destroy most troop transports and if hit correctly hover tanks. Oh… This weapon got placed over here because it is unique and allowed a fifteen meter splash. The dragumi designed this gem. Whatever your species does, do not piss off the dragumi. We lost three planets when our government denied a trade agreement.

  “It was my father’s prized possession obtained near the end of the wars. Selling it to help raise some funds to get him a new clone. He is getting old and needs a fresh body. Sorry I get over emotional when pregnant, a luni thing. This weapon is heavy, takes a five of strength to haul it around.” Baruni paused while studying something. “Oh wow, wouldn’t have figured your stat was that high. Well, this gem is a class four weapon. Dumbed down for the zone restrictions. It will do three of the four weapon types, holds enough ammunition for a prolonged engagement, and to my knowledge will never jam. The unique factor is the armor piercing bolt it fires. It only has one shot but can cut through shields and armor. Its downside is…”

  I interrupted him as I reached for the weapon and Baruni unlatched it for me. I waited as it floated my way. The weapon was a meter long with three barrels at the end. Two large drums rested in front of the trigger. A bolt on the top of the weapon reminding me of a speargun attachment. The grip, shoulder stock, and weapon looked like they would fit my form. I did recall the dragumi I killed was similar in upper body stature. Well… the lady I killed had amazing tits, but you know, mostly the same. I snatched the weapon out from its drift and placed it to my shoulder. It fit perfectly and I loved it.

  The girls noticed my grin and lit up. I bet they were excited to move to the next shop. Time to make an offer. Whatever downsides this weapon had I was in love. I was tempted to get Mila to help but she had drifted down to an air pocket that held a fish vendor. Her helmet was off and she was lazily eating. I realized I could handle the transaction without her.

  “Well, Baruni your time has been invaluable. I want you to know that. Also, I will give you a tip. My great grandfather passed away not six months ago. Telling emotional stories during your sales will help if they relate. Especially for us humans. I digress though. I am interested in your weapons. It was told to me you were at discount pricing already. This rack here,” I said pointing to the swords, axes, and other handheld items. “For hand to hand weapons, we only want the nanotech. Everything else, that can fit our bodies add it to a list and send me a quote. I will probably accept it. Humanity needs weapons, and I want to try them all out of water. It is a win for me, and a win for you, if you price it right.”

  “You honor me, Mack, it will take a few moments to generate… and done.”

  I had figured it would take a lot more time than seconds to generate the bill. At least Mila was not around to call me dumb. A ping hit my display and I opened the invoice. Four hundred thousand and change. I signed it and watched the funds siphon out of my account.

  “That was excessive but smart. We can resell a lot of this for a profit.” I looked to Mila who waved while eating.

  “Thanks for your business Baruni. Here is my contact. Always on the lookout for bargains, feel free to send them my way. My ship is the Griffin, only lancer ship in orbit. Have the weapons delivered please. Until next time,” I gave the luni a polite wave and swam out of his store.

  The next vendor was an art dealer, much like the opening store in the mall up top. The big difference was the first section of the store was water, which led to a transition point, and then opened up into an air pocket. I did a quick glance and told Astrid and Starla I was going to check on Mila. I utilized a wall and pinged my way rapidly across the water. My movements fluid and planed. I hit the vendor’s air bubble and splashed down landing on my feet meters from Mila.


  “I forget you excel in zero-g. That was an impressive display, you would do circles around most lancers. We rarely find ourselves outside of gravity. I was getting cranky dealing with the luni, sorry for earlier. I have eaten a nice meal and feel refreshed. What can I help you with Mack?” Mila asked as she snapped her helmet over her head.

  “Where did Maruni take off to, didn’t even notice he vanished?”

  “He is hunting through the armor sellers, trying to find the best deals. We should join the girls while he works. There may even be some valuable relics in the mix of these stores. The luni are known as avid explorers.” Mila commented as we shifted through the protective barrier and back into the water.

  We were intercepted by Maruni before we reached the girls. “Mr. Raul, an armorer that is favored among my people wanted to attract your attention. She enjoyed your performance in the royale last night and extends some special offers your way. Follow me please.”

  I notified the girls where we were going and to follow the blue line in their display when they were done. We arrived at the armor shop that was much larger than the weapons store. It also was split into two sections of wet and dry. We bypassed the water section as nothing could be tailored to fit my two legs and dried ourselves off in the land portion.

  I was disappointed by what I saw. There were limited options and I felt underwhelmed. My expectations had been of intense suits of armor that won the battle for you. I quickly understood that was not the case, and based on the displays partitioned by zones, the ministry limited armor more than weapons.

  “Welcome to my store competitor. I am Wavu, and I would be honored to make a suit of armor for you. I always welcome the tailoring of a new species. Your form will be no problem. Let me scan you then go over some options.” Dozens of tiny robots soared out of a pouch Wavu held. They paused and hovered around my suited body. “Remove your suit please.”

  I stripped naked and was thoroughly scanned. I even felt one slid between my butt cheeks. Awkward. Astrid and Starla arrived to see me naked with questioning looks. I waved them over and had them strip naked. Wavu needed no instructions, she transitioned the bots to read the contours of the girls as well. When all the little devices vacated my area I got dressed again. I slapped Starla’s ass causing her to blush and me to get scolded. The bots did not like the way her bum rippled from the contact.

  “Okay, the scans are complete. I can have a custom armor set done. It will be the nicest thing you could possibly have for a zone four. The unrestricted is where things get interesting. I can generic pod you, they are designed to flex and fit most species. Yes, you will have no issues in a standard Onatics’ pod. Then you can have mechanized armor. Of course, none of that is displayed in this small store. I do have a brochure if you accept my display send.”

  I got a notification to accept the display. There was not much here but I saw was epic. When I imagined war out in the far reaches of the galaxy this is what I envisioned. I saw a tank, it was low to the ground and the operator was placed horizontally into the mech. It was low profile, high damage, and hovered. It was too wide. I wanted something that I could use in the halls of Griffin if I needed to.

  The next mecha was a forty meter towering robot of destruction. I looked at the weaponry and it was a damage dealer while being able to take an incredible amount of punishment. I worried about its size. Sure it could kick ass and take names but, when would I ever be able to use it?

  An armored scout unit called the ‘butterfly’ was next on the list. It had blending camouflage as its main feature while being only four meters tall. I could fit inside the Griffin in this unit if I hunched to avoid scraping the ceiling. It had thick armor that contoured to a wrist cut off. This allowed the species wearing the suit to utilize their hands, paws, webbed flippers, and more to fit most weapons. The need for specialty weapons or built in armament was gone. This unit would serve my purpose if I had enemy borders on the Griffin. Which pirates were real, never could be too safe.

  “Three suits of zone four armor please, and I will take your squad of butterflies,” I said decisively.

  “The suits are fairly basic. Since I have your measurements, they will be done in a few hours. Three thousand Ds for them.” I nodded at this, much cheaper than I expected. “The butterflies are expensive, well in comparison. But they are remnants of a lost war purchased for resell at a bargain. They are considered without honor… unhonorable to use. Camouflage is unauthorized except for unrestricted zones. I can do six hundred thousand D-coins for all six.” She offered.

  I glanced at Mila who nodded. I shook Wavu’s sticky webbed hand and the deal was sealed. I said the same thing I had to Baruni about where to deliver.

  We exited the shop and I followed Astrid and Starla as they window shopped. I patiently waited while they endlessly browsed. They bought dozens of artifacts, artistic sculptures, and paintings. It was fun to watch them enjoy the whole process. This was a dream come true for any person so fascinated in aliens they were willing to devote the effort to make it a career. In one air pocket I mentioned their video may be studied in universities. I got a big kiss by both girls for this comment. While they shopped I had taken the time to study everything I could on my purchases. That way I had utilized the time efficiently, at least I told myself that. The reality was I kept checking out Astrid’s in her spacesuit. She had noticed earlier and swung her hips extra wide for me. I could only grin.

  After hours of shopping, I was ready to go back to Griffin. I missed my bed. Unfortunately, we were not able to buy sheets. Luni do not sleep on beds and they did not produce the materials to even make a set if I wanted. I decided to take us back to Earth to finish off our must buy list. We transitioned back to our ship and we said our goodbyes to Lunish. Within minutes we entered slip space to head home.

  CHAPTER 15

  The course was set and we were still three hours out from Earth. All three of the girls were situating the new artwork we purchased. They were working as one to liven up the halls. I decided to let them bond and walked to the clone chamber.

  I entered the room and slid the cover open that held my standard clone. I gazed at my motionless body with the tube in its mouth. It was odd to stare at myself, I was conflicted. It sunk in and hurt. I died. My old life died. My ethos was to never give in and to always achieve. Yet I stood there staring at this replica and wanted to break down. I knew I was stronger physically and emotionally than before, but that didn’t mean I had no feelings.

  Dying sucked, and I was fairly certain yesterday would not be the last time. I swallowed those weak thoughts. There was only one path forward. And that was to be the best. Giving up was never an option before and it would not be now. Which led me to a hard choice.

  I propped open the cryo chamber beside mine to swap bodies. Instead, I found Astrid’s clone. Which reminded me of something. Her tits were fantastic… no that was not it. Oh, right she needed to swap into this clone. They both did for the enhanced display augmentation. They were not mite clones, but we knew that. I wondered if they worried about leaving the bodies they were born in.

  “Let Astrid and Starla know to swap clone bodies when they are able to. Explain the new display system and information, please. I am swapping mine now, we will discuss why over dinner. Going to the gym until then to start to bulk up this clone.” I sent a text message to Mila.

  The reply I got was an image of a bunny creature smiling with jagged teeth. Creepy as fuck. I shook my head to clear the image from my mind and display. I found an empty pod and went through the process. I wanted to dodge the tube when it snaked for my mouth but I was locked rigid. Best to just take it like a man with your eyes closed. It was perverse to have a tube shoved down your throat after prying your lips. I hated it. This time I had no headache going into the transfer and when my brain felt the squeeze before the shift I did not mind it…

  Blackness turned to blurriness and over time my vision cleared. Alright, I was comfortably in my new clone. I exited my pod
and realized I was an idiot. I forgot to take my spacesuit off my other body. Then that hamster kicked a dumpster can inside my brain and a spark ignited. There was a fresh suit of armor waiting for me in the hold. A quick query on the ship’s inventory list resulted in a new blue light illuminating the way.

  A light jog allowed the air to breeze past my lighter smaller body. I wondered if it would ever feel normal to shift clones. It then dawned on me I could be a super spy, but it was probably cost prohibitive. Human E-bits would never be enough to pay for the clone. It was still cool to think about. I became so enthralled with this notation I was passing by the new decorations without much notice. The blue arrows had me turn left where I promptly bumped into Astrid.

  We stumbled and I barely managed to catch her from falling with an expensive painting.

  “What in the verse Mack, why are you racing through the ship? And why are you naked?”

  I watched her eyes light up when she pieced it together without me saying anything. Astrid was just as smart as she was pretty. She tucked the painting under her arm and with her free hand pulled me down into a kiss.

  “Careful running naked in the halls big boy. Never know when you might get lured into a sheet wrestling contest.” She smirked and ran a hand across my hairless muscled chest. “I like this lighter look, plus we can fuck like rabbits and you can simply pull out. Watch out Mack, Starla owes me one, and tonight I am cashing in. Who knows, if our group talk at dinner goes well you may even get a bonus gift.”

  Astrid placed a soft moist kissed on my neck. I was losing focus fast and pulled us apart. “What dinner talk, and hells yes to the gift!?”

  “You will find out tonight, now go get in armor before I lose control and have my way with you.” She pushed me toward a crate, and when I started to go on my own slapped my butt to encourage me to keep moving. “Go, go, and go. My goodness, your big toned ass is divine.”