Chapter 11: Transformers?

  “No, they’re not company vouchers! We simply want to pay our indentured employees in company non-fungible tokens crafted by our state of the art AI that can be exchanged with our company in exchange for goods and services! They can be exchanged for credits!”

  –Live Q&A answer from SoylentRed CEO, 2044

  ***

  The turrets did not work great against the bigger bastards. Thank god they had those spiked limbs, because eight model fours were coming. Two went down already but three ended up impaling themselves on those spikes. Not looking great so far.

  David did a good job with my old shotgun. The caseless twelve gauge, aka 18mm, hit much harder than normal shells and it showed. 20mm hyper-compressed buckshot made one hell of a fucking mess as well!

  However, those tentacles were thick, and muscled like a bodybuilder with raisins for balls. There was just too much meat to get through!

  I immediately jumped to my feet and grabbed the Paw. My reaction speed clearly increased massively compared to before! It felt like… Not making less mistakes, but noticing and being able to correct those mistakes as I made them?

  Like stomping on the wrong spot. Instead of having to follow through, I could move my foot. So I did. I immediately started emptying everything. My HE and hyper-compressed buckshot shells, even my Collapser! It gave us a bit of space but not much. “Altany! AP-HE!”

  On it, for everybody?

  “Yes! Mono for the ten!” Was it the best solution? Probably not for these, but certainly for whatever fucked up shit would come after. I had to remember that the antithesis may be dumb, but not brainless. Those fuckers could act tactically.

  I started moving and almost tripped at how much better I ran. Not only that, when I got in melee range, I could see the movements, read them and react to them so much faster! Tentacle coming here, it’s going to be there, echo tells me the fucker is aiming for my right leg so I’ll move it, etc...

  I didn’t think about it, of course, my instincts just acted on their own, even echolocation! It just became a part of my awareness. I didn’t analyze anything consciously, I just… knew.

  I lashed out with my hatchet, then made it transform into the larger form to cut entire tentacles. I could tell Lila and David shot around me, quite admirably at that, but it brought something up that I didn’t have the time to address.

  Also, shit hit the fan when I caught a glimpse of the next little surprise!

  “Model five! Altany, I need cover for those two! Fuck, Give me a shield too!” The quilled asshole poked its nose around the corner. Too fucking close for comfort.

  New Purchase, Unspinable Shield mark 12!

  Points reduced to: 485

  New Purchase, Manganese Mound mark 2 x2!

  Points reduced to: 475

  Arriving on your arm, just shield yourself and it will activate.

  The calm voice of Altany helped a lot with my distress. As I registered the arrival of a very thick and heavy bracer on my arm, I did what she told me and layer after layer of metal unfurled like a garage door off of it. In less than a second, it became a large, somewhat thin shield.

  Somehow, it didn’t appear to have any seams, even if I knew they had to be there. Good craftsmanship? A loud ‘Pang’ told me that it did its job well.

  Model fives, I could tell they’d be a fucking pain in my ass, and not the fun kind. Bear sized hedgehogs with green quills they launched at crazy speeds using fucking belly tentacles. Gross.

  I couldn’t shoot properly while needing to protect myself. However, what I didn’t see with my eyes, I could 'see’ with my ears. I had to admit, very reluctantly, the ears were fucking useful…

  I was getting very close to turning the corner and getting the fucker in sight. Every so often, I heard a whip crack and another ‘Pang’, either from my shield or from whatever cover Altany had given the other two.

  I was proud of them for not losing their shit. They gave me covering fire as I moved forward, wounding the asshole with my Collapser.

  Of course, the other aliens didn’t wait so we had to take care of them too while protecting ourselves! I’d never say it aloud, but those damn ears saved my ass…

  Then, after an amount of time and a number of quills that fucked with my nerves, I got close enough. I was still covered by my shield but I could finally unload my Collapser and its beautiful claymore ammunition into the asshole’s stupid fucked up uncanny valley face.

  I immediately felt a lot better, then not as much as I saw what waited in the corridor. Lots of bigger bastards coming along with the little garden hounds. The hive apparently got tired of our shit.

  I felt the same fucking way.

  I let go of my shield and started unloading all of my mono-molecular filament ammo. They made such a beautiful bloody mess! “Bring that cover!” I barked out only to realize that my awesome friends were already on their way. Good enforcers!

  The death spinners did damage, and a lot of it, but not enough. At first, surprise did most of the work when it came to not dying. Also, damn model fives didn’t have a shot between all those massive bastards. However…

  “Fuck!” I shouted as a quill hit my jacket and miraculously only pounded my ribs instead of stabbing me in the chest.

  I recommend that you take cover. Model five venom is quite potent.

  “I gotta buy some mother fucking armor fucking hell…” A few of those AP-HE slugs to the chest solved the problem for now but that fucker wouldn’t be the last. “Give me something better, Altany!”

  As you wish. Ten gauge refilled in 3… 2… 1… Go. The next drum is ready whenever you want.

  On ‘go’, I started seeing subtle red dots in my vision. They centered on alien heads, so I got the concept. I fired the ten gauge and suddenly, with my new mental augments, I could see what happened.

  Apparently, those shells launched eight micro-rockets that steered themselves to a target’s head. Holy fucking shit. I’d been spraying and praying for the most part on this one. Given the amount of weeding this situation required, spraying worked well, but this did a little better.

  The other two arrived with large shields on… Floating platforms? After placing one per corner, Lila and David stomped on the flat bases.

  Just like that, they became unmovable. Not only that, they blocked the quills like it was nothing and could adjust! I saw David lower a small section to aim from cover.

  After switching drums, I was once again impressed with Altany’s ingenuity. “My sweet sweet AI, what the fuck is happening? To be clear, I fucking love it, but I’m curious.”

  The H in HE just got a whole lot more kick. The explosions were like small grenades instead of firecrackers. Could lose fingers from firecrackers, but this was fucking hot as hell!

  I can see your disgusting brain chemistry. These are high explosive fragmentation slugs. They are rather expensive, but recoup the cost very quickly. It is my great pleasure to see them in action. I’ve been working on those for entire milliseconds.

  To be clear, you have not even started plumbing the depths of your catalogues. We should do some shopping when you are not about to die. On the subject, would you like to buy some armor? You have the points for it.

  “Alright, buy me some turrets, six of them to give me a bit of time. A better model please and thank you.”

  New purchase: Spiney Spiners, mark 5 x 6!

  Points reduced to… 755

  The same turrets dropped but the heads were bigger, and the ammo appeared just a tad smaller but more plentiful. The new model roughly doubled the rate of fire. Nice! They also had a wedge shaped panel at the front, probably to block projectiles.

  Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

  “Alright, need armor!” I stepped behind cover and my enforcers increased their fire. I almost bit the bullet back there. That wasn’t an option. People needed me alive, so, armor!

  The options are rather limitless, you will have to be a bit more precise. May I recommend you stay within Mole-Bear technologies? However, some features may not be available without extra tier one catalogues.

  “Ah, shit, I thought… I don’t know, I want armor! Something tough! The kind of thing I can get into CQC with. Oh! Shit, right, I also want an upgrade to the Paw. Something like a halberd with a lance head but that can become a tomahawk? Shit, sorry, focus, armor hum… It should be airtight I think?”

  I looked over the barricade to make sure we weren’t being overrun real quick and put my head back down. “Lila, got any ideas?” She instantly came up with the obvious, of course.

  “You want a great helmet. No question about it. It’s the one thing you can’t truly live without.” Huh, should’ve thought of that.

  “Yes! Helmet, great helmet, love helmets. Maybe… Something that acts like brass knuckles? Hell, maybe even blades. Wait… You called the higher tiers of Large Bore Kinetic Weapon Systems like mobile artillery right? Can… Is it possible to have something like a railgun disassembled all over my armor?”

  David looked weirded out. “You want to be a transformer, boss?”

  “No, not full on transformer, but, like, a railgun! It’s doable! I think…” Altany, the amazing, the beautiful (I imagined, who the fuck knew), took my fucked up weird non-plan and started creating something over comms.

  A highly morphic armor with a high focus on protection. With this type of armor we can look into several hidden weapon systems. I imagine that if you intend on melee combat, you will want a suite that does not hinder your movements, correct?

  Lila looked impressed and I couldn’t blame her. That sounded kind of perfect.

  There is a system that may fit all of your criteria if you buy a few catalogues. It is a Mole-Bear based design. However, you will have to spend more on neurological upgrades. You have a few and I believe you may be well served by buying a single, powerful system.

  Lila looked quite creeped out while David seemed worried for me, but I liked the idea. My brain was my most important organ. The one that not only controlled everything else, but it was also, well, me. Making it better sounded amazeballs!

  “Oh shit, before that, connect me to the militia. We need to hold this position, and then send out rescue squads. Militia can kill from cover and we have that. How many enforcers do we have available? I want one to stay over there, but the rest should come over here so we can start organizing a proper offensive. Lila, thoughts?”

  I could see pure, steely determination in her eyes. The fuckers invaded our home, the one we’d built with a fuckton of blood, sweat and tears. Especially blood. We lost so many in the revolt, and now these mother fucking plants came to reap even more lives? Fuck that bullshit!

  “There are only two that we can get here, upgrade your shit and we’ll take the extra. We have to expand out and get to the shelters. Ground floor’s a lost cause, but three floors down is doable. Altany, do you have enough info to find survivors?”

  The little cyber-panda avatar sat on its haunches, trying to be all serious. It looked both silly as fuck and cute as hell. She answered on comms since gunfire’s loud as fuck.

  I do, some are easy to find while I only suspect others. I believe that a formation composed of vanguard grade armed and armored enforcers at the back and vanguard Louis at the front may be enough to evacuate many of them. You will still have to be wary of intersections and ambushes, but you should manage with routes as straight as possible. I can plot them for you.

  The avatar looked directly at me before continuing.

  You must finish your improvements before any rescue operations. You are currently too vulnerable to ambush, in my opinion.

  I had to agree. A single snipe from a model five and I might just die on the spot. Especially without a fucking helmet. “Altany, set up some makeshift comms by piggybacking through wireless relays. David, organize the enforcers and militia please? Tell them to haul ass. I’ll have some samurai grade toys for them soon. Lila, might need your help and advice for the upgrades.”

  Those damn nanites still caused issues. I felt them, the busy little beehive scrambling my insides. “Altany, you aren’t too busy to do the upgrades, right?” That got me a snort and an eye roll from the avatar. Alright then! “So, you said something about neural augmentations?”

  May I propose the rather generic Nervous System Augmentations catalogue? By combining it with Mole-Bear technologies, you may be able to create a united neural net that will act as a comprehensive link between all your upgrades.

  You’ll be able to download information to your brain and integrate it a lot faster and more seamlessly. It will also allow you to send commands on an instinctual level and integrate new information into your muscle memory and instincts without issues.

  As an example, if you instinctually raised your arm to block a hit, you could deploy a small shield from your armor as a part of that response without any noticeable delay.

  I blinked dumbly for a second. That description hit me at a weird angle. My instincts? That was… odd. Instincts had always been this mystical thing I never analyzed. They kept me alive so I didn’t doubt them. Everyone told me to trust my instincts. Would they be mine anymore?

  Lila, because she was an amazing friend, instantly cut to the core of my issue before I even voiced it. “Pandad, I know it’s weird, but consider it like… learning something super quickly. In a fight, you’ll still be you, your old instincts won’t go anywhere and the new ones will just integrate, you know? They’ll add on top of what’s already there. It’s not a change, it’s an addition.”

  Alright, nice way to see it. I’d learned martial arts before. It would be the same, just accelerated, right? “What does that have to do with the new armor?”

  Morphic armour has the ability to change based on the wearer’s will. The platform I have in mind is more protective than none-morphic armour for the same mobillity. This is accomplished via additional, stronger plates that move in the way of incoming hits. Thanks to a comprehensive neural wreath, it should move with you seamlessly.

  It is technically power-armour, since it requires energy. Compared to classic power armour however, the demands are minimal for now. I recommend augmenting your options with both morphic armor and weaponry catalogues for all the features you wish.

  It will contain several different metals for different purposes, but the bulk of it, before upgrades, will be programmable memory alloys. They permit the wearer to move between multiple pre-programmed states.

  Also, they can be reprogrammed at need. Think of it as the most upgradable platform at your disposal. It will not help your strength, speed, or reflexes yet. You could also buy something more protective, but it acts as a platform upon which you can build ever stronger armor. It is, in short, a big investment with a lot of future potential.

  Lila and I stared at each other. I’d heard of memory alloys. They were a big deal some years back, but no one found a use for them as far as I knew. A metal-worshipping race like the Mole-Bears would definitely figure it out better than we did.

  Oh, and this came from a tier two catalogue, so beyond humanity’s ability to produce, damn! “Hum… Alright. That sounds fucking amazing. Can it self-repair? Also, importantly, how much?”

  That will depend entirely on what you wish to include. The memory alloy will self repair as it remembers its proper shapes, however the extra plating cannot, unless you wish to include a self-repair system. I’m guessing blades are a must?

  That gave me a lot to think about. A self-repair system? That made sense, but probably fucking expensive. Blades? Fuck yes, I wanted blades. “What kind of blades are we talking? Can I have something better than just a sharp edge?” This was fast becoming a full discussion, so Lila and I sat with our backs to the wall, facing the other way from the fighting.

  We needed to breathe, the both of us. Fighting took a lot out of you, especially when the adrenaline wore off. Energy drinks helped, but small breaks were a must. “Hell, you know what, can you include Robin in this discussion, is he busy? I need opinions.”

  Connecting him now…

  “Hi love, hi lover!” Robin greeted us happily, making us both chuckle.

  “Hey darling, are you busy? I don’t want to intrude…”

  “No no, I’m here! The kids are okay, Rach wants a gun, of course. Alice is less scared now that she has a big bad samurai papa bear!” I groaned.

  I’d never escape the bear thing but maybe I could shift towards red pandas? Were they bears? Fuck it, didn’t matter. His voice made my shoulders untense and my heartbeat slow. Even the buzzing under my skin didn’t bother me as much.

  “How’s Jack, is he hungry?” Lila perked up as I asked. We didn’t have any formula right now, so my son would need her, but the woman really liked breastfeeding.

  Apparently it was a very strong bonding experience or something like that. “No, thankfully he was full when the alarm rang. So, why did you call?”

  I smirked. “Aside from hearing the pretty voice of my pretty boy?” That earned me a smile I could hear over comms.

  “Yes, aside from that you smooth bastard.” Lila gave me a raised eyebrow. Right, mission, stuff to do!

  “Need your advice! Sorry, you make me forget stuff with that - Ah!” Lila punched me in the ribs, right where the model five hit me! Thankfully, I was high as a kite. “I need to buy armor, not sure what to add to it. It’s morphic, the metal modifies itself, so, pretty customizable! Ideas?”

  To his credit, Robin actually took his time and thought about it. “What about a big gun? For when you’re shooting, I mean. Something that’s not just occasionally useful. You got Large Bore Kinetic Weapon Systems, right?” I blinked for a second. Did I tell him that? “Altany’s nice and she likes to talk.”

  I could hear the smile in his voice. That was… good? Sure, I’d go with that. I loved Robin and would be stuck with Altany pretty much forever. Getting along was good!

  “Seems like you want protection most of all, and yes, I very much approve, but if you’re going to have morphic armor, might as well have something you don’t have without it right? A big gun to deploy over your other shoulder while you’re shooting would add a lot to your firepower.”

  “ Since it assembles itself, it won’t be in your way when you don’t need it. Altany can make it adjustable. That cannon could go from big, heavy, slow moving warheads that can pack a huge punch to smaller, faster projectiles that can be precise at long range and pierce armor. I know you love your shotguns, but you need a long distance option honey!”

  Lila and I looked at each other, speechless. “Oh don’t give me that! I’m smart!” Our eyes went comically wide at the same time.

  “Yes darling! You’re smart and awesome and amazing and I love you. Just didn’t take you for the tactical type is all, I’m so sorry! Shouldn’t have underestimated you, you’re the best and smartest and cutest!” I could feel the glare from here!

  “You’re damn right! Oh, and Altany, please make sure he’s still got a nice ass in that armor.”

  Of course, thank you for your input Robin.

  I could hear a little voice on the other side. Apparently, my daughters had ideas, and it would be a surprise. Knowing them and Altany, I got a bit scared.